A deck that seems simple on the surface, but the implementation is where your true test of skill lies. All the one-mana cards in the world won't win you the game if you're not careful. So here's a rundown of the game plan.
Turns 1 - 3, get creatures on the board and start swinging. Remove any threats with your plethora of kill spells. Turn 4-6, if your opponent isn't at 10 or less life, swing at them and cast
Fruit of Tizerus
a bunch until they hit 10. Now comes the tricky part.
You'll want to start saving your toys rather than throwing them into your enemy's ranks.
Guul Draz Vampire
is turned on, and depending on the matchup can be a three-turn clock. If you don't have what you need yet, though, feel free to wait until you draw the payoffs, namely
Swarm Surge
and
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
. This is where the odd inclusion of
Whisper Squad
really makes sense, as it usually means 4 extra devotion to Gary or 12 total damage from
Swarm Surge
. If you're going on attacks, don't wait too long but do try to wait until you have the advantage of numbers. Keep killing their threats and chump when you have to but don't lose your momentum by staying at a "safe" life total. This is suicide black after all.
Crypt Rats
is another way to finish off an opponent who's low, or clear up any pesky tokens. Just keep in mind your stuff will likely die if you use it, so only pop it off in a pinch. Remember, you've got tons of removal and a veritable fruit basket of
Fruit of Tizerus
so winning without any creatures on board isn't impossible, it's just harder.
Hard matchups are Stompy and Tron, where your one-mana removal starts to fizzle out. If that's something strong in your meta, sub in
Cast Down
and sideboard more land destruction. Turbo Fog can go die in a hole, but Fruit and Gary are good enough to kill without any combat, again it's just harder. Burn also answers a lot of your threats easily, which is why there's
Unearth
in the sideboard. Make good use of your judgement when it comes to crafting your own sideboard and sub out anything in the mainboard that doesn't fit your meta. Run more lands if you can't consistently get to Gary when you need to. It's a strong but flexible shell.
Is there something I'm running that you wouldn't, or something you'd run that I'm not? Let me know what you think in the comments!
