(HELP) monoblack removal casual need advice!
Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 10, 2022, 2:45 p.m. by RockIV
hi all, im RockIV and im new in the forum. i recently returned into magic again. Im in need of some advice with my control/removal deck
Rocks Monoblack creature removal
my review : in the past i use to play with more creatures like Vampire Nighthawk, Gatekeeper of Malakir and Geralf's Messenger. Recently i changed it to be more removal oriented, and i tried a lot of diferent combinations, for example with Drain Life. what i am looking is a more optimal build for the deck with both creatures an enought removal to combat any deck. The problem is that i feel that i cant have both, I will need to choose creatures or removal. in another note, There are some creatures that i didnt add to the deck and always felt that would be great like Bonehoard and Wight of Precinct Six. so what do you guys think ? any advice will be deeply apreciated , thx to everyone for reading :D
hello there, thx for answering. the goal of my deck is to be a control monoblack, strong in removal, with strong creatures to support it, thats why i got the Phyrexian Obliterator. I noramlly play with friends with aggresive decks, normally my goal is to kill everything they send and finish them with strong creatures. I also found the Skinrender very usefull normally is a removal and creature at the same time. the same with the Desecration Demon i feel that its very cheap for a 6/6 that fly. i recently got some Lashwrithe, they my be usefull. Do you think that i could optimise the deck with other creatures? about the lands, 20 is not enought you think? how many i shuould use? About budget, i have no problem in spending some money, but i dont think that i would buy more expensive cards like the Obliterator. I think that with all the creatures i have now i can create something strong. i dont know if this answered you, if there are still more questions tell me :D ty alot :D
September 10, 2022 5:13 p.m.
wallisface says... #4
My suggestion would be to play 23 lands, and only 4 cards costing 4 mana, with everything else below this cost.
As far as other solid removal/control cards, consider: Fatal Push, Smallpox, and maybe March of Wretched Sorrow. Black control generally excels at removing threats before they're on the battlefield, so stuff like Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize are also pretty great.
Good mono-black creatures to consider include: Dauthi Voidwalker, Tourach, Dread Cantor, Murderous Rider, and Gatekeeper of Malakir - i'd suggest just keeping your Phyrexian Obliterator and then removing your other creatures for a selection of these.
It sounds like you're trying to play your deck as an attrition/value-engine gameplan. A good approach for that would be to try and mirror card-counts of "The Rock" decks (which is a Green-Black attrition/value-engine deck). They run around 23 lands, 15-16 creatures, 5-7 hand-removal cards, and 14-17 killspells. In your case you probably want to lean-higher on the hand-removal cards (so, 7-8) because being monoblack means you don't have many good options for removing noncreature permanents once they're in play (so better to remove them before they get into play)
September 10, 2022 7:14 p.m.
hi wallisface and ty for the advice. SO 23 lands, 14-17 killspells, 15-16 creatures and 8 discards. I will try that , i was looking for balance maybe that is the balance that i need. what do you think about Dark Ritual and drawing cards spells like Skeletal Scrying or Sign in Blood, there i have like 7 cards more and i will have to take from the deck some cards. About the creatures, i already tried to get some of those, but i could not found them where i live, sadly :(, both Murderous Rider and Dauthi Voidwalker seems to be excelent. i will have to use some of the creatures that i have, like Gatekeeper of Malakir, Vampire Nighthawk, Dread Shade. Maybe Wight of Precinct Six would be usefull ina creature killer deck. so do you think that cheaper creatures for 2 or 3 B mana will help me more to optimise the deck than creatures for 4 mana? thx alot for the answers :D
September 10, 2022 7:32 p.m.
wallisface says... #6
I’m not too familiar with the play patterns Dark Ritual as I only play Modern (where it’s not a legal card) but it feels to me like something you’d be using to rush out a combo or drop a massive creature quickly. It’s a fine spell bit doesn’t seem to fit your gameplan of making the game go long.
I’m heavily against cards like Skeletal Scrying and Sign in Blood just cause they’re super clumsy and mess with your own tempo too much. Black generally doesn’t need much card draw as its stripping away soo many resources from the opponent instead. But if you do need a way to draw cards, both Castle Locthwain and Cling to Dust are great for this.
Yeah the reason i’m suggesting against running a lot of 4-mana creatures is that it just makes your deck really slow, and means you’re not putting any pressure on your opponent until very late into the game. You generally want 4-mana cards to be the last things you play to finish a game - not the first threats you play.
September 10, 2022 7:54 p.m.
You are siggesting a more aggresive aproach. I nomrally let people play and kill everything they send and discard their hands. With the dark ritual You can play 4 mana creatures un the second turn or make the cards with x more powerfull. They are usefull if You have Lot of things with X or expensive creatures. What do You think about My creatures options, if i can't get the oned You are siggesting? Thanks alot again :D
September 10, 2022 8:34 p.m.
wallisface says... #8
What i'm suggesting isn't an aggro strategy - it's a pretty stock-standard midrange approach (aggro would be to be playing cards prettymuch exclusively costing 1-2 mana).
Dark Ritual is a strong spell for sure, but it can also be a self-imposed trap. It has two major issues:
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You can't rely on drawing it to do the stuff you need to do, so while it can be really helpful in a pinch, it can't really justify playing higher-costing spells.
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Even if it helps you cast a spell, you're still effectively losing 2 cards to cast 1 card, so its a pretty big resource disadvantage. If the spell you've cast isn't hugely impactful, then you've probably put yourself behind in the game, long term.
^ Keep in mind with the above I'm not saying to not-run Dark Ritual. It's a fine card and probably worth including. I'm just suggesting that including it is not an excuse to have a slow/clumsy mana-curve.
Of your current creature option that you're running - Desecration Demon, Phyrexian Obliterator, and Skinrender. Firstly, i'll re-iterate that having all these 4-mana cards is a really bad idea, due to how clumsy it will make your plays... if an opponent is just playing burn spells you'll be dead before any of these can attack. Of those 3 creatures, Phyrexian Obliterator is by-far-and-away the strongest, and a pretty decent card overall. Skinrender feels ok, but not great for its mana investment. Desecration Demon I think is the worst of the bunch - giving your opponent a choice is normally a really bad idea, because they can always just choose the best option for them... and aside from that this downside it's just a vanilla creature with big stats.
September 11, 2022 1:32 a.m.
New Version of the Deck Rocks Monoblack creature removal
Changed the Deck. tried to get it cheaper and more optimal. Some cards end up in the sideboard/maybeboard: For example the Dark Ritual end didnt make the final version. I actually dont like the desicion but it might be the best. Their mission was to help me to cast the Black Sun's Zenith ( i only put two of them, maybe its just very little, maybe there have to be 4 o 3 at least) and the Phyrexian Obliterator.i knew that i was going to add more lands to the deck ( i have 22 now, maybe 1 more?), also i add the Phyrexian Arena, and in addition to the Skeletal Scrying there are 5 cards that help me to draw, so i thought that will make the Rituals not that usefull. i may be wrong. I also add some cheap creatues like the Nantuko Shade, i perefer them instead of the Vampire Nighthawk and the Geralf's Messenger. Maybe the nantuko arent the best option, but they are cheaper and they can pump up. I still need to think about that. i added the Avatar of Woe because i always like it. But i have only one, it may never appear. Maybe another land or another Nantuko Shade would be better. i added Lashwrithe because of the number of swamps i was going to have. I love Unmake but i didnt put it, because i wanted to leave the deck as cheap as possible. added Tendrils of Corruption. so i have : 22 Lands, 5 cards that help me to Draw, 4 Discard, 18 removal, 14 creatures ( 3 of them are equipments too).
So whats the opinion now about the deck? any improvement?
Thx to everyon that read this :D
wallisface says... #2
What's you budget? I see your deck has some very expensive cards like Phyrexian Obliterator, as well as some moderately priced cards ($5+) and then a lot of really cheap cards (<$1). Knowing what you're willing to spend will be pretty important for suggestions.
Also, what are you wanting the deck to do? Currently there doesn't appear to be any real objective or goal within the deck, so it's a bit hard to tell which direction you're wanting this to end up in. Is the intention that this deck is just mono-black goodstuff? Or is there some theme/design in mind?
At the moment, from just looking at what you have so far, the big thing that strikes me is the inefficient mana curve. You can't rely on drawing Dark Ritual, and all those games where you don't draw it, you're unlikely to be doing much at all. I'd suggest lowering the mana curve, specifically cutting the 4-drops to maybe just one playset of your favourite (based on quality i'd assume Phyrexian Obliterator), and ditching the rest in favor of less-mana-restrictive cards.
September 10, 2022 4:45 p.m.