Predominately based on the build G/B Self Wither = Self Win (AMONKHET) by ccmaci, this is my first time building a deck in more than 10 years. I've been looking to build a cheap deck in modern, and had my eye on mono-black aggro with a splash of graveyard tech. However, when I saw this new tech in Amonkhet I decided to try to form a deck around Hapatra. I view it mainly as a sort of aggressive GB with a decent curve.
I finally got to do my first run of testing with the deck the other day, and it did better than I hoped. I will wait until I have done more testing, but I may go up to 24 lands. I went up against 2 aggro decks, green beats and red burn, and I feel like with the sideboard I can deal with it so long as I draw the right cards. After having him win me a game and realizing his versatility, I decided to swap Garruk Relentless
into my main deck. Based on the few games I've had so far, I removed Nest of Scarabs as often times it's just a 3 drop that does nothing, potentially leading to lost games. I feel like it's too slow for the deck, as I would rather force them to deal with an Ammit Eternal on turn 3 than have essentially a dead turn.
I also decided to try out
Chandra, Pyromaster
and along with her, move to having red as more than just a splash. I had problems against control decks with planeswalkers, so I decided to add in some spot removal with Lightning Bolt, replacing Rancor. Though I like the flavor of Rancor as it was a popular card when I used to play, I think Lightning Bolt fits this deck better as it doesn't flood the board with creatures quite as easily as something like Abzan, white weenies, or green beats.
The one idea I have at this point is swapping Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons with Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Obelisk Spider for Plague Belcher or another one of the value 3 drops from the set. If I go that, I am less worried about messing with the -1/-1 tokens and going a completely different route with value creatures ahead of the curve, much like a green beats deck.
Let me know what you think, and if you have any tips for me, please feel free to leave a comment.
