Unhallowed Undying Monsters!

Blood Artist would be better than Falkenrath Noble since the flying isn't benefiting you much. Or you can have both to double your life gain.

August 16, 2012 9:45 p.m.

Both sounds like a solid plan =)

Thanks for the advice hadn't seen that one much better cmc to get the lifegain started quickly.

Thanks pie108 =) Appreciate the help.

August 17, 2012 7:59 p.m.

I just thought that I'd say that I really really like this deck. +1 :) -Big Rosco

August 20, 2012 12:34 a.m.

Thanks very much bigrosco =)

August 20, 2012 1:08 a.m.

To make it standad use Hex Parasite instead of Power Conduit . Since you play zombies why not add four Gravecrawler and add two more card:Geralf's Messenger. Remove Morkrut Banshee , its cmc is too big and you have to wait for a morbid triger. Remove Royal Assassin you wont need it, will only be a burden if you try playtesting it, the reapers are better once you get them out. If you want to keep Skinrender limit it to two there are more cards out there that would fit your deck better. And oh.. You need to have more lands. 18 lands will surely make you mulligan more frequent. 22 or 23 lands will suffice

August 20, 2012 6:30 a.m.

This is a pretty solid deck, and has some stability if played in standard. Just fyi...skinrender's ability is ETB, not a sac trigger. Unless you were referring to the chance that Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is out to bring him back if he dies. Gravecrawler isn't the best option...with only 8 zombies altogether. Definitely up the Geralf's Messenger. And I'm trying Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis myself...worth a look. Definitely deals with shroud and hex proof once you've removed all other threats.

August 20, 2012 7:26 a.m.

Sorry one more thing...18 lands is not consistent for any creature based deck not named Tempered Steel. Add 2-3 more lands, 2 Geralf's Messenger, maybe fume spitter, and dismember for grasp of darkness...

August 20, 2012 7:28 a.m.

Massive thanks to both Lordson and cnmoore27 it is this kinda advice I really look for with my decks =)

Lordson i switched out the Power Conduit for Hex Parasite but it still doesn't seem to have any legal formats, any suggestions? The Hex Parasite is still better as I can do it more than once a turn and it is an extra creature so if it is destroyed it still benefits my game.

The Morkrut Banshee is gone aswell because I was finding it was rarely useful anyway when I was play testing yesterday. The Royal Assassin s are out aswell which should keep my friend happy as he hates them =)

And following both of I have upped the card:Geralf's Messenger replacing two of the Skinrender s

cnmoore27 I love Nefarox!! Because thinking back I don't actually do much attacking in this deck so a creature attacking by himself is more than likely so thanks =)

I upped the lands to 20 but i feel any higher when running the four Pristine Talisman aswell could be a little overkill.

Thanks very much for the advice, hope you like the deck =)

August 20, 2012 12:41 p.m.

I guess because of Consume Spirit having a different expansion but it has a reprint in m12 so you pretty much standard just edityou deck and put standard in the format tab. Ok just some of my opinion cause ive been playing black whit lately.I think Pristine Talisman and Consume Spirit is not needed if you want life gain try Exsanguinate , just add two or one. Add 1 more Hex Parasite for it to be out more frequent. Put only 1each demon Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis and Reaper from the Abyss because of high cmc. You need a sac engine which i think is Disciple of Griselbrand it is a combo or Hex Parasite and card:Geralf's Messenger. Is they are in play, sac messenger thru disciple by paying 1 generic mana and you gain 2 life, messenger dies and returns with undying and opponent lose 2 life, then use hex to remove the counter by paying the 2 life you gained earlier, sac again messenger and repeat the process until you have mana.

If you really want to go 20 mana add draw cards, drawing card is a very good advantage, add four Sign in Blood . If you want enchantments i think Blood Reckoning is better. Also Gravepurge is better that morbid plunder since it has a draw bonus. Also try adding control cards like Duress , Mental Misstep and before i forgot since your mono black you should exploit Mutilate and Liliana of the Veil

August 21, 2012 12:34 a.m.

Just here to use my constructive criticism to the best of my ability. Appreciate that I'm not wasting my time doing so lol. Anyway, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Army of the Damned, Reaper of the Abyss, and Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis, are only good if you have the land base to support them. Especially since they are way up on your mana curve costing 6 and 8 between them. You need to consistently be able to drop these cards by turn 6/8, which I will agree is helped by Pristine Talisman (a great card in and of itself). Chalice of Life is very out of place here, depending on pristine talisman and consume spirit to get you there, and hope you aren't taking damage as well. DEFINATELY consider Vampire Nighthawk. I play kessig wolf run black and humans, and I can tell you now, it is SEVERELY annoying, and leads to crazy life gain against many decks. Instant 3-4 of in my opinion for this deck. Love Skinrender in this deck. I would replace 1 or 2 removal cards, because the -3/-3 counters Skinrender provides are permanent, removing many of the annoying creatures out right now in aggro decks, and making big fatties look not so fat. With Vampire Nighthawk and your other life gain, Bloodgift Demon is a very viable option, as the 1 life lost each round is negated, and you have inherent card draw on a 5/5 body. Either this or Sign in Blood would be great for this deck. Card advantage fixes A LOT of problems that you can't even imagine. Dismember is great, as it removes the vast majority of creatures from the battlefield, and allows you to drop a fatty and just pay 4 life (again where life gain comes in) as to not put you back a turn. Vampire Nighthawk...just saying...

Anyway, now that I'm done advocating for this amazingly efficient card, let me know what you think. If you want, I can make a list based on what you're trying to do in deck builder and see what you think about it...just to see if it tickles your fancy

August 21, 2012 6:25 a.m.

Wow thanks again for your suggestions and your help it is vastly appreciated =)

Starting with Lordson, Exsanguinate is awesome as i was normally only targeting players with Consume Spirit anyway. Also in the multi-player games i do it is going to be insane. I love the idea of that combo with Disciple of Griselbrand and i would agree with the amount of draw and life gain in the deck now the Pristine Talisman can go so I've boosted the land count as well.

Duress is in the sideboard as most of the decks i play are heavy creature decks but I do know a few control decks it will be helpful against =) Mutilate I find is risky considering a lot of my creatures aren't particularly beefy it could do more damage than good.. thoughts?

And I am trying to avoid planeswalkers for this deck no particular reason.

Now cnmoore27 Vampire Nighthawk for the win, lifegain and stuff dying all in one nice card don't know how i missed it considering I knew that one existed =) So thanks! Yea the Chalice of Life  ^Flip has been removed and the Bloodgift Demon has been added to go along with the other draw cards like Sign in Blood

I love all the suggestions I had one or two thoughts but want your input as well.

I put a few cards in the maybeboard, I run a white lifegain deck which involves exiling and bringing stuff back. That seems like a fairly decent combo with Disciple of Bolas using the card:Conjurer's Closet combine that with the card:Geralf's Messenger and Hex Parasite it is another option for a combo?

Also Blade of the Bloodchief on the nighthawk? Very beefy lifegaining deathtoucher?

Thanks in advance!

August 21, 2012 12:32 p.m.

I liked what you were doing, so I just gave you all the options that will help you to make it a more consistent, flexible deck. I can give you options for anything you want to do in standard, since that's all I play. Anyway...to your changes:

Before I say anything, I'll match you a Blade of the Bloodchief and raise you a Lashwrithe (fyi please tell me how to link cards!). Lashwrithe is brutal in ANY mono-black deck running a good amount of creatures. It rotates out soon, but just for fun, I would definitely keep it around for anyone playing any kind of deck. It's just that good. Hex Parasite is GREAT for dealing with Olivia Voldaren, Planeswalkers, your own Geralf's Messenger, etc. Disciple of Griselbrand is interesting in this deck, though I believe it is more of a "mixing it up" type card. I would say...again haven't played with your deck, that either Falkenrath Noble or Disciple should go in exchange for 2 more Vampire Nighthawk (yes...it's THAT good), and add one more Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis. I do see that you are playing with ways to have life gain, so I'm trying to stick to the overlying theme. But Nighthawk fits any theme regarding black. One last thing. Despise. This is your answer to all the creature decks you are playing, at it removes both creatures AND planes walkers. I'm gonna work on a deck similar to yours, following the same theme, and see what you think about it.

August 21, 2012 10:34 p.m.

Check out my deck Mono-Black Life and Death. It does stray from some of what you were wanting to do, but it seemed like the most efficient way to use many of the cards you wanted to use, and making, in my opinion, more efficient cards that do what you are ultimately trying to do, using beefier creatures to do your bidding. Let me know what you think! And when rotation happens, some of the cards will rotate out, so I'll update it to the new standard when the time comes...

I'll be following the deck because I like what you're doing with it!

August 21, 2012 10:55 p.m.

Ok first things first is you use double square brackets to link stuff. Card name, Player name or deck name =)

Secondly I thank you again for the Vampire Nighthawk s those things are cruel and I have switched 2x Disciple of Griselbrand for 2x Vampire Nighthawk . The Disciple of Griselbrand are slightly different but work amazingly with card:Geralf's Messenger and have saved me a few times. I survived a 25/25 trampler when i was on 18 life by sacking my own 3 creatures with him. 1 was a Blood Artist and i had out exquisite life, so i gained 6 life from the blood artist and and another 3 from the lifegain off of Disciple of Griselbrand . I then won next turn so he has saved me a few times =)

And yes Despise is the answer, i can switch it out for Duress when playing non-creature decks. Someone i know plays a deck with 0 creatures it is pretty funky and works really well =)

I had a look at your version and it is pretty impressive =) Two different ways of doing the same thing, the main reason I'll stick with my version is the majority of my old decks are all about big beefy creatures so my two new ones try focus more on effects.. just a slightly more reserved play style for me, I'd like to try my deck against your one.. should be interesting.

P.S Lashwrithe is ridiculous and i will be getting some I think but I do think early game the Blade of the Bloodchief has it, especially considering there is normally at least two creatures dying per turn. That is 4 counters per turn on a Vampire Nighthawk compared to the one counter for playing a swamp.. thoughts?

Really glad you like the deck and I appreciate the feedback you should check out some of the other decks I made see what you think =)

I gave your black one +1 =)

August 22, 2012 2:46 a.m.

Fair enough. I'm running a G/R/B Kessig Wolf Run Deck as well that I'll make unprivate as well. I play mono-black vampires a lot, so my deck already has issues with the removal cards, and vampire nighthawk really puts a quick clock on the field for doing something, and draws removal faster than Chuck Norris delivers a roundhouse kick to evil-doers. Turn 3 Vampire Nighthawk into turn 4 Lashwrithe gives you a 5/6 flier with flying, death touch, and lifelink. Also makes your Blood Artist an actual creature to attack with. If you want shenanigans, Disciple of Bolas that's in your Maybeboard would be super good, but probably more so in my beater build. Also, if you want creature card draw to help even further with blockers, Phyrexian Rager deserves a look. I like to have creatures that do abilities of instant and sorcery spells, as well as give you a body to set off morbid triggers/block/swing with. One last card about to rotate out that would definitely tickle your fancy: Mimic Vat . Death decks make maximum use of mimic vat...which is an overpowering 1 or 2-of card for your deck. I will say that Phyrexian Obliterator only costs 4 swamps, so its not an expensive beater, but encompasses what you'd want from a black creature with the normally green ability of trample. Without a removal card from your opponent, this Horror ends games turn 5. And who wouldn't love a turn 5 lash writhe on a turn 4 obliterator? A 10/10 trampler? Yes, please...

When rotation happens, if you care about that, then Harvester of Souls will definitely fit in your deck if you're having a lot of creatures dying. Just more built in card draw. And Killing Wave will definitely fit well with 4 blood artist and the 2 falkenrath nobles, if you decide to keep using them. Your new kill cards will be Tragic Slip which you already have, and Murder , which is super sexy for any mono-black deck, and only costs one more to negate the "can't kill black creatures" clause of Doom Blade and "can't kill artifacts" clause of Go for the Throat . I like pristine talisman, since it gets your creatures out faster, and leads to a relatively solid amount of life gain. When exsanquinate rotates, well I forgot the replacement but I'll come back to that. One last note for now. Sign in Blood is not only card advantage, but can also be used as a Shock or Galvanic Blast (without metal craft) to get in that last two damage, making it a very flexible card to run in mono-black. That is all for now my friend...

August 22, 2012 9:12 a.m.

Valid point with Lashwrithe early game i'll need to look into getting some =)

Yea I am going to skip the Disciple of Bolas as it would fit better in bigger decks and only work with the card:Conjurer's Closet out which is wasting a turn just putting that into play.

I would put in Phyrexian Obliterator apart from the fact I think it is far to powerful and considering I play casual play I don't want to annoy people =) If I am ever playing higher level or we have some games with our overpowered decks he will be going in there just don't want to fork out for him atm.

I actually just got a Murder in a booster pack so have replaced a Go for the Throat with it and i'll see about rotation, never put much thought into it before.

And yea I used Sign in Blood for the last 4 damage of a recent game so it is a pretty versatile card. Mimic Vat is nice but I think i'll leave it at the moment as I usually always have something to spend my mana on.

I have purchased the deck as it stands at the moment as it has been doing exceedingly well in play testing. Obviously still loving suggestions and comments but I won't be changing it around to much more. Atleast not for now =)

August 22, 2012 12:52 p.m.

It's all good man. I'm just competitive so I like to be able to win the most games I can with a versatile deck that needs no sideboard to do so. Not that I don't enjoy casual play...just preparing a deck to take to Tuesday Night Magic and I'm using a lot of these cards. Definitely enjoy making the top 8 so I can play the most competitive decks. Idk that I ever didn't make top 8, but I'm about to start going to a more competitive shop and testing it out. I need to be humbled a little. I'm gonna put up my two deck options: One is Kessig Wolf Run Death and one is R/W Humans FTW. It'll be a minute, but I'd like your opinion on some other options from what I'm using to make it better

August 22, 2012 1:20 p.m.

Aye I might start going to a shop for Friday night magic, i was at one earlier today to pick up a few free booster packs for buying Duals of the Planeswalkers and it seemed like a good atmosphere. I think they mainly do drafting but they do have other events. When that starts becoming more regular for me I will be amping up the decks =)

And aye happy to try help out let me know what the decks are called once you have linked them =) Might be later today before I get a chance to look at them =)

August 22, 2012 1:40 p.m.

...and +1 from me for making a creative casual deck. Looks like some interesting interactions between your deck against the swarm of aggro decks out there right now.

August 23, 2012 7:14 p.m.

Thanks very much mate =) Looking forward to having it for my casual play on Sunday =)

August 23, 2012 7:54 p.m.

Just finished my Kessig Wolf Black Plague deck. Playtest it a little or whatever, and let me know what you think when you got the time. It's play-tested rather well thus far.

August 23, 2012 8:05 p.m.