WORK IN PROGRESS!
The concept here is that fixing into two colors is pretty easy these days, and so I decided to see what adding a bit of white does for the standard mono-black. Starting with the key players from the Mono-Black shell (imho at least), and adding some white standouts and white removal along with Athreos, I think I've constructed something that works!
Oct. 29:Tightened things up a bit. It's testing pretty well on MTGO. Got rid of Tormented Hero because he was never getting triggered with the removal of Bestow creature Gnarled Scarhide. The removal feels about right and so does Ajani so he stays for now. The deck tends to play a bit slower than your average aggro deck but it's okay to get a bit grindier with Athreos on the field!
Oct. 21:I've slept on the comments (thanks again!) on the Spear and my own impressions from playtesting and I've decided that I'd rather have the
Pain Seer
in the deck for now to help with refilling the hand. Ajani can stick around as a one-of that will do something similar at the top of the curve for now. Spear heads to the maybeboard. Testing necessary of course.
MAINBOARD:
Creatures:
Athreos, God of Passage allows us to be extra-aggressive and makes our opponents hesitate to mass-remove and burn.
Bloodsoaked Champion is the king of the aggro decks, at least in black.
Herald of Torment
to push those last few points through.
Mogis's Marauder
for situations where his intimidate will make a difference. He gets sideboarded v. Azban and other black-based decks.
Tormented Hero
is a good body and a good target for heroic/bestow.
Gnarled Scarhide
doesn't care about blocking and can be bestowed for glory.
Spiteful Returned
with cheap bestow and damage on every swing is golden.
Pain Seer
because casting all those cheap spells will empty our hand quick.
Non-Creatures:
Bile Blight for the mobs of tokens, zombies, what have you.
Hero's Downfall for removal.
Thoughtseize for disruption and ensuring your guys don't get zapped.
Ajani Steadfast for the +1/+1 and whatnot.
SIDEBOARD:
The idea here is that against decks with lots of burn/removal (black-flavored control, RDW, etc) will need to be protected against, and white does a great job of that.
Ajani's Presence
- Gods Willing -
Boon of Erebos
Side these three in in place of the removal suite when your guys are getting zapped.
Aegis of the Gods
for Thoughtseize and Despise nonsense.
Dark Betrayal is your removal of choice against the mirror, the common Abzan deck, etc.
Glare of Heresy
goes in against white-based decks.
Drown in Sorrow is our friend vs. aggro of all flavors. Waiting until Athreos is out is of course the better usage for it.
2 Master of the Feast for 2 of the Heralds is currently being tested... Herald can bestow but Master is the better 3-drop and we're losing life in a lot of other places so saving it on the Herald isn't a bad plan.
