I've found that running Bile Blight main-board and sideboarding in Drown in Sorrow for aggro decks is really strong. Bile Blight just has so much more utility than Drown in Sorrow and it's a full 1 cmc cheaper to drop.

I have seen some very interesting decks with heavy planeswalkers and I am wondering if I should lose the 4x Reaper of the Wilds and 2 Sidisi for 3x Kiora Crashing Waves, 1 more Ashiok, and 2 Garrucks. Thoughts?

Thanks for the kind comment. This deck doesn't look bad at all. My main recommendation would be to drop the 2x Sidisi for a 4th Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall

Not bad, the spells are a good layout of versatility. I honestly would move the land around a bit. Opulent Palace is going to slow you down quite a bit especially with no benefit from it coming in tapped. Perhaps cut it down to 2. Toss Yavimaya Coast in it's place, or Temple of Malady and benefit from Scry.

What an amazing community, thank you so much for helping out a new player. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this.

Hearld of Torment + Rakshasa Deathdealer seems like it could be very good. Both appear to be decent creatures on there own as well. Thoughts?

Disdainful Stroke will be one of the strongest counterspells in the new meta, I'm sure.

Hits soooo much. Every walker except Ashiok, every god except Thassa, Athreos, and Pharika (though only Keranos, Nylea, Xenagos, and Purphoros are really seeing much play, either mainboarded or sideboarded).

Not to mention the creatures it hits. Siege Rhino , Butcher of the Horde , and Sagu Mauler to name some new ones; Polukranos, World Eater and Stormbreath Dragon to name some new ones.

Not even counting any other spells in the format, this hits so so much, definitely warrants inclusion.

Certainly worth the Maybe Board. I contemplating running Negate and Dissolve in the main board. If I did, I would replace Dissolve probably with Disdainful Strokes. Comments regarding this?

I am also contemplating Slyvan Cataryids worth and if Herald of Torment is worth a spot (HoT + Raka Deathdealer seems strong)

As for Herald of Torment vs Reaper of the Wilds , it is a tough choice.

When you bestow Herald of Torment , they need to use two kill spells to kill it (unless it it bestowed on Rakshasa Deathdealer ...then they need more kill spells than you have ) That really hurts opponents.

To kill Reaper of the Wilds , they need to have more kill spells than you have . Or just End Hostilities , which actually solves a bestowed Herald too (even if bestowed on Rakshasa Deathdealer ...the regenerate won't save Herald there).

Ok..so they're both hard to kill.

Granting evasion to your Rakshasa Deathdealer , or another creature, will be hugely powerful.

Scrying from Reaper of the Wilds is really powerful too though, and it has an amazingly strong body for only 4 mana (5 toughness puts it beyond Stoke the Flames , standards current best burn spell). Plus it gains deathtouch with .

Both cards are looking really powerful so far. Lets look at some of their cons.

Herald of Torment dies. To basically every removal spell. But thats no reason not to play him. It is simply a 1-up that Reaper of the Wilds has over him. The main downside is he dies to Anger of the Gods , but that can easily be played around by bestowing him.

He also causes you to lose life every turn, and theres nothing you can do about it. This will be insignificant most of the time, but can be a bad disadvantage in long grindy matchups.

Reaper of the Wilds has no evasion. This dude is easily chumped by any smaller creature you don't want to use a kill spell on.

Really hard to pick which one to play. I'd honestly try and fit both and test to see which performs better, or just test with one, test with the other, until you decide which you like better.

Personally, I'd go with Reaper of the Wilds . It seems a much better fit for this build (Herald of Torment feels like an aggro card to me).

Thanks a lot man, I appreciate the feedback. Amazing!

I would definitely not replace Dissolve with Disdainful Stroke . As good as the latter is, Dissolve is so much better. It is able to hit so much more, and a lot of that is important, such as Brimaz, King of Oreskos , to name just one.

Also, Sylvan Caryatid , along with Courser of Kruphix , are too strong to not play. They will make up the backbone of ANY deck running green (unless it is just a splash). Together they block everything aggro, and Courser of Kruphix can trade with Goblin Rabblemaster , which is amazing.

One more thing regarding Disdainful Stroke and Sagu Mauler ; if it is played face down as a morph, Disdainful Stroke cannot counter it because it is then considered to have a CMC of 0.

And finally after all that, let me say this:

+1 for a great deck!

Good luck to you wherever you may play. May your topdecks be ever in your favor!

Compare notes- mine is a lot less walker-heavy and a lot more creature/tempo heavy.

Bile Blight is good enough to run mainboard. You want to make the deathdealer a threat even if you don't pump him, and sometimes even your Courser will have to be swingin', so Bow of Nylea makes them better threats (and with so much hexproof, feel free to drop those counters like crazy! A Prognostic Sphinx that triggers Ferocious [if you want to play Stubborn Denial instead? Yes please!]), and you can even tackle their pesky flyers with a little more efficacy.

Reaper is a better option than Herald, Herald's much more of a final push in mono-black aggro, in my opinion, and the added scry helps you cycle to your more useful stuff.

I would love to fit Thassa in this deck simply for the scry and casting unblockable on Rakasha Deathdealer. Am I overthinking this or would that be a good addition and if I do add it, what should it be in place of?

Your mana curve and pie chart need some strong adjustments. I'd concentrate on that, if things aren't showing up when they can be cast, it doesn't matter what's in the deck.

Hah, I had actually looked and upvoted the deck prior to you visiting mine.

I agree with what other people said regarding needing card draw.

I'd recommend a Treasure Cruise or 2 for you as well. Since you're running 15 noncreature spells along with several Rakshasa Deathdealer and Sylvan Caryatid which will be suspectable and easy targets for nurn spells.

I admit I don't play Standard but I'm watching and reading a lot about it so I can't help you with much atm.

I also play sultai control, but I play it a little bit different.feel free to check it out :).

as a suggestion. try to find a spot for 1 Prophet of Kruphix . the synergy with Rakshasa Deathdealer is insane and keeps all your mana open for your counters and removal

oops, forgot to add my deck in the comment XDwhy so sultai?

I don't know how I feel about Courser of Kruphix .. Revealing all of your counter spells seems bad to me. Maybe drop it for Divination / Sultai Charm / Dig Through Time ?

Courser of Kruphix helps get your lands out fast so I'd keep it in, anyone who knows their stuff is going to know what is in your deck if they know your colours and see you not actively placing permanents.

I think your mana curve/pie chart are much improved, like the deck, good luck with it!

also, you're sitting at 58 cards currently, I'd consider adding a 25th land and 1 Villainous Wealth as a fun finisher.

I have a love/hate relationship with courser because I like to bluff cards to influence them not to swing. But pulling mana off the top is a good thing while gaining life at the same time..

I think he can get away with 24 lands cause there are only 4 come into play tapped lands plus the addition of courser/caryatid.. Card draw wouldn't hurt at all imo. Dig Through Time allows you to search for a heros downfall or a planeswalker if your lucky.

If you were looking for more Walkers, Jace, the Living Guildpact and Liliana Vess are two great choices to chose between the two would be difficult, overall I'd probably give Jace the Mainboard spot, and Liliana the Sideboard spot against control.

and you're still @ 58 cards mainboard.

If you find yourself struggling against aggro match-ups (which I'm not sure that you do) might I suggest Sultai Flayer . Recent testing has indicated that this is probably some of the best lifegain available to green atm. Most aggro decks at the moment are built to deal with Caryatid -> Courser, but following that up with a Flayer becomes absolutely brutal for their game plan.