Instant (6)
Sorcery (12)
Planeswalker (2)
Creature (9)
Land (26)
Sideboard
Instant (4)
Sorcery (4)
Creature (7)
The gates are open!
---Sanctioned Match Record---
Matches: 4-1-0 (0) (80.00% match win rate, excluding intentional draws. Intentional draws are in parentheses)
Games: 9-4-0 (69.23% game win rate)
The Holy Church of Vizkopa is under tremendous pressure from other factions and it has enlisted the underworld to help maintain loyalty and, more importantly, businesses.
This is a THS-BNG-JOU-block-standard reincarnation of my hugely successful deck, Aurelia's Black Berets.
A BWR midrange deck that packs a ton of removals to deal with aggro and creature-based strategies while running resilient threats to combat control strategies.
My local meta contains a good amount of good players who uses top-tier decks (or decks that can perform well against one), along with other janky brews, so this deck is designed to do well in a competitive environment while having diverse enough threats and answers to deal with any possible randomness that it will always run into.
Pro's:
This color combination offers a lot in terms of removal, virtually able to remove anything played in standard.
Access to well-protected, must-answer threats
Some hand disruption out of the main that transforms into devastating hand disruption post-board.
Provides tons of priceless information about your opponent's deck thanks to the many hand-revealing spells which allows better setups for the rest of the games and allows you to plan your threats and answers around theirs.
Tuned to have minimal game-one disadvantages against aggro and creature-based decks
Stabilizes well out of the brink thanks to large amounts of lifegain in the mid-late game.
Con's
Relatively color intensive. Many spells have double-colored mana in their costs and this can sometimes cause traffic jams when casting.
Opening hands can be awkward more often than not. Takes practice to know what hands to keep and what hands not to keep
This deck aggressively uses life total as additional resources to gain card advantage and thus can dip relatively low, which leaves it prone to multiple burn spells or surprise haste creatures (smart use of this life total is the key to eliminating this drawback)
Like other 3-color decks, this list runs 12 shock lands which can and usually does hurt against aggro but playing the lands in proper order can help alleviate this drawback
Brave the Elements is a very efficient answer against most of our removals.
A decent-sized Sphinx's Revelation still poops on this deck, as it does every other deck (especially when we have limited ways to gain card advantage). If you let one resolve while you have a few or no cards in hand and no board presence, you pretty much lose the game.
Creature Spells
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Still relatively well-protected beater that puts a clock on your opponent. Very hard to remove against Azorius control decks and is one of our primary win-cons in that matchup.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa - Very well-protected creature in my meta filled with decks that run black- or white- based removals and creatures. Lifelink either gets you further ahead or gets you back in the game. His answers are few and far between. Back-breaking against white weenies and monored aggro.
Stormbreath Dragon - Headache to deal with as a control deck (they hate haste, if you don't already know) that punishes Sphinx's Revelation in the late game with monstrous trigger. Also great against Wx aggro decks.
Underworld Cerberus - An experimental finisher currently under testing. Aggressively costed with a "drawback" that could actually help us. I have opted for this over Whip of Erebos for the moment to see how well it does. It's huge, and it's ability pretty much means unblockable against midrange decks while preventing users of Elspeth, Sun's Champion from simply chump-blocking with one token at a time. Also counters Scavenging Ooze and Whip of Erebos and reanimator strategies.
Noncreature Spells
Warleader's Helix - A great burn spell that will help us survive the aggro onslaught early game since it removes a threat AND gains you life in the process. It also acts as another pseudo-instant-speed planeswalker removal in many cases or the finisher you need.
Dreadbore - Still a great efficient removal as it was before. Two-mana unconditional removals are hard to come by.
Hero's Downfall - Instant-speed Dreadbore make this card a great kill spell in general with the upside of being able to stay in against control decks that rely on planeswalker. No restriction on what it can kill other than its double black cost.
Rakdos's Return - Very devastating card when cast right before they hit their finisher spot on the curve. Also acts as a finisher if needed. Suddenly putting your opponent into topdeck mode usually wins you the game, with the bonus ability to redirect to a planeswalker.
Thoughtseize - This eternal staple across formats makes a return as one of the best hand disruption spells ever printed. Casting this at the right time can seriously disrupt your opponent's curve and allow you to remove any possible answers to your already-hard-to-kill threats before you begin attempting to resolve them.
Banishing Light - An Oblivion Ring with a fixed text. Very efficient removal that can target almost everything, including Detention Sphere.
Anger of the Gods - The amount is just perfect to deal with aggro while also keeping them from coming back and keeping death-triggered abilities from happening.
Rakdos Keyrune - Occasionally accelerates our mana to let us hit our 5-drops on turn 4 and also acts as Supreme Verdict insurance against control decks since we can't afford to run Mutavault due to color restrictions. It having first strike also makes it an excellent blocker in a pinch.
Mizzium Mortars - The usual removal that has the perk of being able to deal with Blood Baron of Vizkopa that also improves itself in the lategame.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Probably the most-used planeswalker in the format right now. Protects herself with tokens while advancing board state. She can also act as an emergency sweeper against midrange decks.
Underworld Connections - Draw an extra card every turn at a small price. Lets us keep up with control decks while not having to worry about the life loss.
Sideboard
Lifebane Zombie - With the prevalence of Gxx and Wxx decks, this guy does hard work, acting as a removal against those creatures (with no possibility of reanimation or getting eaten by Scavenging Ooze ) and is one of our answers to Blood Baron of Vizkopa. Intimidate means he just walks right pass most blockers with no fear of retaliation. Not even Mutavault has a chance!
Sin Collector - Extremely potent against control, black devotion decks, and burn decks. Comes in to advance the board state while removing a possible answer or threats from your opponent's hand to set up for your win-cons.
Slaughter Games - Huge hit against control when you grab Sphinx's Revelation or any other threats. Playing Thoughtseize into this card is really devastating. Use it late game to eliminate any answers to your on-board threats and allow them to finish the game.
Deicide - Instant speed exile enchantment spells are hard to come by and this fits the role perfectly. Permanently deals with Gods while acting as a removal for opposing Underworld Connections, Banishing Light, Detention Sphere, etc. Also comes in against many aggro decks since they now run enchantment creatures.
Celestial Flare - Our answer to hexproof decks, since they will usually attack with the one tron'd up creature. Also great against midrange decks that have dorks to blank Devour Flesh strategies.
Duress - More hand disruption against control and Bx devotion decks.
Nyx-Fleece Ram - Ridiculously good against aggro decks. Blocks pretty much anything they throw at us while gaining us life in the process.
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 10 years |
| Last updated | 9 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 12 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 5 Rares 9 - 5 Uncommons 0 - 5 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.35 |
| Tokens | Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Soldier 1/1 W |
| Folders | New Decks, Dega Standard, Decks, Intriguing, Favorites, Theros decks, BWR Midrange, decks to try, Found, Other People's Decks |
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