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Brewer's Torment (Dominaria Update!)

Standard Control Discard Mono-Black

awfulitis

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Land (24)

Creature (9)

Instant (10)

Enchantment (6)

Sorcery (11)

Sideboard

Sorcery (7)

Instant (4)

Enchantment (1)

Creature (3)

Maybeboard

Creature (3)

Land (1)

Instant (1)

Artifact (1)


A Brief Introduction


After a few months it quickly became clear that my LGS's meta was inundated with control players looking to make the lives of every other Magic player miserable. After finally giving up on midrange-style lists that were beholden to their permission and streams of card advantage, I resolved to make a deck that could go toe to toe with these lists and strip them of every valuable resource in their deck. The list below is the result of feverishly pouring through my collection for every bit of discard and additional control-fighting tool I could find, which brought me to the oft under-appreciated Torment of Scarabs as a build-around. The deck's goal is to put the opponent under a semi-lock by combining the enchantment with some cheap removal and discard, thus forcing them to continually chip away at their life total. While an arguable weakness to the faster aggro decks and grindy token strategies that are currently prevalent are both causes for concern, I believe that the deck has some serious potential overall.

To my surprise, the list has not only been functional but is an absolute blast to play. If you enjoy the idea of methodically scouting out and then tearing your opponent's hand to pieces then I highly recommend you at least take a quick perusal through some of the concepts present below:



Mainboard

  • Torment of Scarabs (): The cornerstone of the list, Torment of Scarabs is incredible at putting an opponent in some pretty uncomfortable positions. While paying three life can at first seem irrelevant, the damage from repeated triggers adds up faster than most decks can keep up with. The card does have its fair share of drawbacks, namely: it does not match the terrifyingly speedy Hazoret the Fervent clock (which few cards reliably can) AND can easily be manipulated by decks that do not lack in fodder for its sacrifice triggers. However, I believe that by making a conscious effort to build around the card these weaknesses can, at the least, be mitigated.

  • Raiders' Wake (): Our other punishing enchantment, it's tempting to look at Raiders' Wake as a series of annoying pokes when compared to the jabs of Torment of Scarabs. After all, dealing the same damage as a Shock is rarely what people want out of a four mana enchantment. Additionally, the card (and arguably this deck in general) is pretty weak against decks like Mono- that can easily play around it by emptying their hand. However, the card's ability to have an immediate effect on the battlefield (with or without attackers) makes it a pretty valuable inclusion in most games. It's also worth noting that the damage triggers whenever your opponent discards, and as a result is stackable. This means that in a Wonderland scenario an eternalized Dreamstealer can cause as much as 12 damage in a single swing!

  • Torment of Hailfire (): The good old haymaker, Daddy Bolas' Purple Rain is without a doubt the list's most powerful card in a vacuum. Though the list currently lacks any attempts to make skyrocket to absurd levels (looking at you Primal Amulet   / Azor's Gateway  ) topdecking this beauty in the late game is almost always going to lead to a win, either immediately or very soon after. The card does have a few similar problems to Torment of Scarabs (namely token or lifegain decks that shrug off the punishment) and one other glaring weakness. In order to fully maximize the card's potential you will likely be either tapping out or coming very close to it, leaving you extremely vulnerable to any counter magic. It's often best to sequence it behind a discard outlet in order to make sure the coast is clear, losing 3-6 damage is a much easier pill to swallow than it fizzling.

  • Divest (): One of the few additions from the upcoming Dominaria set, Divest is an extremely valuable addition. While losing the additional scry from Harsh Scrutiny hurts, the ability to hit a wider range of targets should not be overlooked. One of my least favorite matchups in testing has been the various Vehicle decks making the rounds around standard and this does a wonderful job of throwing a very large wrench in their plans from the outset of the game. However, due to the sharp drop in usefulness of discard targeting creatures in the late game I wouldn't advise for running more than two in the list. The treasure trove of removal that being in provides is more than enough to catch what creatures actually make it onto the battlefield. I will be testing this card extensively against Harsh Scrutiny in the upcoming format, and I have a feeling that playing this and being able to rob a turn two Heart of Kiran is going to feel oh so good.

  • Duress (): The other half of the deck's one mana discard pairing, Duress is an absolute all star. Just about every deck in the format has a viable target for this card, and for just a single mana can really make life miserable for the other end of the table. You could take your opponent's Glimmer of Genius and laugh as the control deck you're playing against suddenly has trouble generating card advantage, or maybe a counterspell (if this doesn't draw one [still a win]) / removal to pave the way for your threats to hit the board. I can't stress how important this card has been for me with regards to interacting with my opponents and as such, I run the full four in the maindeck. This can easily be boarded out in matchups where a playset of it or Kitesail Freebooter is enough, mainly against -based decks that generally run creature heavy.

  • Doomfall (): This is another card that thrives in the list because of its flexibility. Against control decks is can either act as an additional, overcosted version of Duress (with the additional upside of preventing Torrential Gearhulk flashbacks) or exiling the one big finisher that these style of decks tend to lean heavily on. In an matchup against creature based decks the removal mode is especially important as it gives the deck a way of interacting with some of the most important threats in the format (Hazoret the Fervent, The Scarab God, and Carnage Tyrant) in game one. It shines against Carnage Tyrant in particular, due to it targeting your opponent and not the Hexproof, Implacable Death Lizard.

  • Fatal Push (): No surprises here, as Fatal Push will likely continue to serve as Standard's premium removal spell for the foreseeable future. The card is especially important to this deck as it provides a way to interact with the creatures that hit the battlefield early. While this is not a deck stacked with Revolt triggers in order to truly abuse the card, there are a number of interactions (mainly through the Deserts included as part of the mana base) that will allow one to squeeze some additional value out of it.

  • Doomfall (): I've already touched on the value this card provides to the deck under the "Hand Disruption" tab, so I won't go to in depth on it here. However, a three mana way of permanently removing The Scarab God, Hazoret the Fervent, Rekindling Phoenix, and Carnage Tyrant is generally something that deserves a spot or two in similar lists.

  • Vraska's Contempt (): Currently considered one of the most important removal spells in Standard due to the various Gods and Phoenixes dominating the format, Vraska's Contempt's biggest advantage is how clean the removal is compared to the other answers in the format. It doesn't carry the inherent risk of 's enchantment based removal and doesn't hope that just shuffling a problem card away will remove it from the game (looking at you Struggle). The thing even nukes any problematic Planeswalkers that could otherwise give the deck fits. The incidental lifegain is just the cherry on top of what is already an auto-include for any -based deck. I'm currently only running two in the mainboard due to the additional exile effect already provided by Doomfall, though an argument could be made for a full playset of the card due to its importance.

  • Phyrexian Scriptures (): Currently testing in place of Bontu's Last Reckoning. I looooooove the possibilities this card provides. Not only does it provide a buff to the relatively underwhelming initial power levels of the creatures in the deck, it also uses that buff to provide the possibility of an asymmetrical wrath in this deck's favor. As if that wasn't enough, it also helps shore up the deck's weakness to graveyard strategies by exiling everything from the opponent's graveyard the turn after the wrath effect comes down. That final ability is huge because its asymmetrical nature hurts the opponent while saving any Dreamstealers waiting in the yard to be eternalized. The real downside with this card is its inability to hit Artifact creatures, something that is exacerbated by the prevalence of creatures like Scrapheap Scrounger and its inability to deal with token strategies. Ultimately this will be a meta call, if Kaladesh block artifacts continue to show up everywhere in Standard then Bontu's Last Reckoning could be the safer choice.

  • Cast Down (): I'm seriously intrigued by Dominaria's take on Doom Blade. Certain legendary creatures introduced in Dominaria (cough Lyra Dawnbringer cough) will test this card's playability, but it does represent a clean answer to several threats that would otherwise give the deck a hard time. Being able to hit just about any three drop powered out by Llanowar Elves without relying on a revolt trigger or being able to straight up kill a Glorybringer is definitely something I want to be doing.

  • Ifnir Deadlands (,, Sacrifice a Desert): While this is a land, it deserves an honorable mention as an additional four copies of removal and a valuable protection against mana flooding in the late game. It's worth noting that you could pad this number by sacrificing other deserts that may not provide as much value in certain matchups. The reduction effect is capable of killing smaller aggressive creatures (Adanto Vanguard in particular) while taking the edge off of an opponent's bigger bombs. In my testing so far, the utility this card provides has continued to surprise me and has saved my bacon in some pretty dire scenarios.

  • Kitesail Freebooter (): This is exactly the type of creature this deck is looking for, a cheap and evasive one that provides some immediate value by acting as Duress numbers five through eight. While one power is nothing to write home about, Kitesail's main value in the late game is providing an easy way to attack and trigger Raiders' Wake for even more discard and damage to the opponent. It does die to basically any removal spell, which can limit its upside (as it will promptly give back whatever was exiled under it) and is stonewalled by basically any flying creature costing three or more mana. As such it is often prudent to focus on stealing things like removal spells (which can be pretty useless against the deck's main win conditions, and avoid taking things like Glimmer of Genius which will go a long way towards building an advantage for your opponent once they get the card back.

  • Gifted Aetherborn (): Possibly one of the best creatures has to offer, this deck is well-positioned to consistently abuse Gifted Aetherborn due to its mono-colored status. This is one of those two drops that is unique for retaining significant value through all stages of the game. In the early stages it can serve as a difficult to block attacker while gaining a good chunk of life, while later on it can be thrown in front of a larger threat and not only ensure a healthy life total but also take that threat to the graveyard with it. When a two drop creature can singlehandedly prevent a Carnage Tyrant from attacking you know its a pretty decent inclusion. While the card does a significant amount of work in most matchups, don't be afraid to pull it out when playing against control decks (especially those of the variety) as neither the lifelink or deathtouch is very valuable when compared to some of the tech in the sideboard.

  • Dreamstealer (): The top end of the deck's creature curve, Dreamstealer is a card that I've found is often overlooked by my opponents, to the point where they often wind up reading it several times. While the card certainly looks underwhelming at first (one power for three mana does not normally equate to a super-competitive creature in this standard), It includes a form of evasion (menace), an ability that is synergistic with the deck's theme, and a form of recursion that boosts every aspect of the card. An eternalized Dreamstealer has the potential to end games on its own. Leading to an emptyhanded opponent more often than not. Even a non-zombie Dreamstealer can lead to as much as two cards lost AND five damage to your opponent if there's a Raiders' Wake on the battlefield. While I understand the hesitance to rely on this creature, I'd caution you against writing it off completely. Its been a major player in all of my games so far.

  • Dark Bargain (): Currently testing this in the spot previously held by Painful Lesson. The card does have some downsides to address: it costs an additional mana and doesn't have the upside of being a janky (but plausible) way to close out a game. In place of those abilities, howvever, you gain greater card selection AND the ability to play at instant speed. This opens up the ability to fight control players on the turf they hate the most, their own end step. The ability to force an opponent to choose how to spend their countermagic is definitely something that this deck will appreciate having. If this is countered it opens up the possibility for a much safer play of win conditions like Torment of Hailfire or Torment of Scarabs, and if not then it equates to a scry one and draw two. That said, something like Karn, Scion of Urza is possibly a wayyyyy better use of this spot and if you were either lucky enough to pull a few copies, or are looking for a way to spend some money and upgrade the deck, I'd look to start with this spot here.

    • As this is a mono-colored deck, there's pretty big restriction on the type of lands the list has access to. This is mitigated, however, by the ability to include a greater number of value lands. While most decks appreciate the additional value these lands provide, their primary focus is to include as much mana fixing as possible in order to have the decks function properly. By comparison, as a mono-colored deck, this list is well positioned to make the most out of these utility lands at little to no cost to its functionality. I started the mana base with 14 basic Swamps before turning my attention to several lands with additional value stapled on them, with the majority originating from the Amonkhet cycle's Deserts.

    • Ifnir Deadlands: I already touched on the additional value this card provides in the "Removal" section above. It is worth mentioning, however, that this land has the ability to naturally produce mana albeit at the cost of one life per activation. While shocking yourself mana is never ideal, Ifnir Deadlands is capable of some serious value while having little to no effect on the ability to cast any of the cards in this list. Those two factors have caused me to include all four copies allowed into the mainboard.

    • Desert of the Glorified: This desert is notable for having three potential uses as the game goes on. It can be played as an additional source of mana, albeit one that enters the battlefield tapped. While on the battlefield it can be used as Ammo for the valuable sacrifice triggers of the other deserts included in the list, giving the possibility of an additional activation down the line. Finally, like Amonkhet's dual lands, you can pay at any point in order to discard this card from your hand in order to draw a new one. This effectively gives the player a "do-over" in the late game when drawing a land is one of the last things they want to be doing. How to use the card is entirely up to the player, but the sheer flexibility Desert of the Glorified provides gives it a spot here.

    • Scavenger Grounds: With both The Scarab God and God-Pharaoh's Gift pretty heavily represented in the current format, Scavenger Grounds is likely the most valuable land present in the deck. With all the discard and removal present this deck has the dubious honor of being a graveyard enabler, and Scavenger Grounds acts as the best available safety valve that can be activated in response to a The Scarab God's or God Pharaoh's Gitf's trigger. This nuke can effectively disrupt the tempo of decks built around graveyard strategies for at least a few turns, which can often be the difference between winning and losing.

    • Field of Ruin: This acts primarily as a check to decks looking to abuse any of the flip lands that were introduced in the Ixalan block, primarily Legion's Landing   and Search for Azcanta  . Both of the latter cards are well represented due to their ability to easily take over a game, and it is pretty vital to have an answer to them available. Like all of the deserts with sacrifice abilities, this can also act as a Revolt enabler for Fatal Push. The Swamp tutored as a result of the land destruction is even available to be used for the spell as soon as it enters the battlefield.




    Sideboard

    • Arguel's Blood Fast   (): Blood Fast's weakness to Aggro relegates it to the sideboard, where it has the chance to come in for the control matchups where the life loss associated with the card draw is rarely backbreaking. Overall, the card advantage generated off the back of this enchantment is nothing to sneeze at, and it's been good to see it showing up in more decks as Standard continues to evolve.

    • Bontu's Last Reckoning (): Nothing to special to note here, with this being an additional copy of the Bontu's Last Reckoning currently in the main deck. Go wide strategies are a pretty big weakness of this deck, and it pays to have a little bit of extra insurance available for when it's needed.

    • Dispossess (): The ultimate artifact hate card, since lacks any sort of answer to artifacts once they hit the battlefield, this card becomes incredibly important in matchups against God-Pharaoh's Gift decks as a way of neutering the opposing deck's main method of attack. Also of note, it can be worth it to bring this in against control decks in order to remove Torrential Gearhulk before it can ever touch that Glimmer of Genius that was put into the graveyard earlier.

    • Knight of Malice (): With the prevalence of both Seal Away and Goblin Chainwhirler I feel like playing Glint-Sleeve Siphoner out of the sideboard has definitely lost a bit of its former luster. -based control players having an effective answer for Siphoner on turn two (especially in a non-Winding Constrictor shell) especially hurts since that was the match-up most conducive to it taking over a game. I'm currently testing Knight of Malice as a potent threat that creates an absolute headache for pesky control mages. This guy will demand either a Settle the Wreckage or Fumigate once he hits the battlefield, something no control player will be happy about cashing in to stop a two drop. The stats are absolute gravy as well, as the games where Knight of Malice will be coming in are guaranteed to equate to an extra point of power. Ultimately this slot comes down to a meta decision, in an LGS like mine that sees at minimum a 1/3 of the field playing / this guy is bananas, and you should feel free to explore some other options.

    • Lay Bare the Heart (): An additional source of discard for the early game to be brought in against control. I like that this is capable of hitting everything from Approach of the Second Sun to Torrential Gearhulk. This will generally come in as a replacement for Fatal Push or other cheap removal due to its ability to deal with most of their creatures proactively (since most are fairly high on the curve). There are times when this isn't great, especially if the only nonland card revealed is The Scarab God and this is likely the spot in the sideboard most vulnerable to change on a regular basis.

    • Lost Legacy (): The ultimate hate card for all things Magic or Organic, Lost Legacy has a number of potential targets including but not limited to: Approach of the Second Sun, The Scarab God, Rekindling Phoenix, etc. The card's text should basically just read: "Get rid of the one thing you hate most about your opponent's deck." This is obviously much better as a sideboard piece, to be brought in after the opponent has shown at least an idea of what they're playing. I CAN NOT stress enough how important knowing how and when to use this card can be, games are literally won and lost on the back of it. Making sure to take one's time when looking through a library as a result of this card can both demonstrate what changes might have been made after sideboarding and identify future targets for the second copy of Lost Legacy should it have been brought in.

    • Moment of Craving (): An important answer to aggressive decks, Moment of Craving provides both removal (which is also Adanto Vanguard-proof) and lifegain when it's needed. It has the potential to lose some of its luster against the "Go Big" sideboard strategies that are common in , but can still at least do a good enough job at keeping a steady life total so as to ensure the late game can be reached.

    • Vraska's Contempt (): Nothing special to explain here, these two additional copies of Contempt are available for matchups that really test how much quality removal a deck has, such as Monsters or Historic.



    Suggestions and Possible Additions

    • Dread Shade (): While this card is not at the Steel Leaf Champion level of awesome to me, I can appreciate a number of factors about it. A 3/3 for 3 mana with no downsides is something the has traditionally lacked for as long as I've been playing, so at the worst this card represents something that's strictly a little harder to remove than Dreamstealer. However, it also represents a massive, must deal with threat on its own due to the ability to pump itself by +1/+1 for . A three mana creature that can represent 7 damage on its own is definitely a house. While the lack of evasion and synergy with the plan of the rest of the deck does hurt a bit, Dread Shade could definitely merit some testing in the future.

    • Walking Ballista (): Ah yes, the ubiquitous Construct currently being run in what seems like 99.99% of 5-0 lists posted from MTGO. Walking Ballista is obviously a great card, it represents early game removal and a late win condition (both of which this deck would be interested in), and will probably continue to put up results all the way up to rotation. If you have a few copies it's definitely worth looking into putting it in the mainboard, probably in place of Kitesail Freebooter. I didn't include it due to both not having copies on hand, as well as the lack of viable early targets for it in my local meta.

    • Demonlord Belzenlok (): Dominaria's biggest bad dude is a very tempting possibility for the top of the deck's curve. A 6/6 with flying AND trample is good enough to give the current scourge of the meta, Lyra Dawnbringer, a severe beating. His ETB is nothing to sneeze at either, as it is guaranteed to draw at least one bit of action at a stage in the game where even the most incremental source of card advantage can be game winning. Nevermind that it has the possibility of drawing multiple cards should it hit something with CMC 4 or greater, of which there are a number of cards in the deck. For these reasons, Demonlord Belzenlok may very well show up as a one or two of at the top end of the deck's mainboard. It also helps that the card is incredibly budget friendly for a mythic demonlord, so props for that.

    • Tetzimoc, Primal Death (): Tetzimoc is another interesting possibility for a late game bomb. The card's ability can be absolutely insane, with the potential to straight up Plague Wind the opponent out of the game. Nevermind that the effect leaves a big, dumb 6/6 deathtouch beater behind for you to smash face with. While I like Demonlord Belzenlok a little bit better as a fit my meta, Tetzimoc, Primal Death should definitely not be overlooked by those being overrun by creature-based decks.

  • Karn, Scion of Urza (): Yes, Karn is a great Magic card. Yes, I'm aware that he is better than Dark Bargain in just about every scenario. Yes, I think that if you are lucky enough to have three copies of Karn lying around you should definitely include him in any builds of this list. Will I be shelling out over $180 for three pieces of cardboard any time soon? That would be a firm no.

  • Coming Soon!

  • Azor's Gateway   (): While I can see the merits of Gateway, as both a repeatable Loot Rock and potential game ender, I haven't included it for two main reasons. The first is that a looting effect does not equate to strict card advantage can often be harmful for the deck's game plan. Sure, it digs you deeper into your deck, but also represents some pretty painful choices as to what to keep as the game goes on and the number of cards in hand gets smaller. For straight up card advantage, which is what the list sorely needs, I feel like cards such as Dark Bargain will always be strictly better. The second is that even though flipping the card would equate to a massive amount of ramp, the deck in its current form will likely have trouble doing so. Currently the deck's CMC caps at four, which when including lands can get Azor's Gateway   to flip but will likely take a long time to do so. The deck also really lacks mana sinks that can take advantage of all that excess mana outside of Torment of Hailfire. In the end, I didn't think the slight increase to Hailfire's effectiveness was worth the cost.

  • Lich's Mastery (): I confess that I probably spent more time than I should have coming up with ways I could potentially jam a copy or two of this in the sideboard. While I love Lich's Mastery and have even built a deck around the card already, I can't justify it taking up any spots in the current build of this deck. With some pretty radical changes I'm sure you could make the card work in a mono- shell, but that would wind up detracting from the overall theme of the deck as it is right now. That being said, this is definitely a card I'll be keeping an eye on as the meta evolves.


    • Closing Thoughts

    Thank you for taking the time to review my deck list. As with any good deck this is always going to be a work in progress that evolves along with the format. If you see something I might have missed or have any helpful suggestions feel free to leave a comment with some suggestions! Im looking forward to continuing to play this list and hearing what the community has to say. Thanks again, and have a great rest of your day!


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    Dominaria Standard!! - First Sketch — May 8, 2018
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    Dominaria is here, and with it a whole host of new cards and ideas! After watching cards like Lyra Dawnbringerfoil and Steel Leaf Champion make their mark on the format as a whole, it's pretty clear that this deck may need to evolve a little bit as well. I feel like the presence of all the new threats in the format demands a closer look at, and some adjustments to, the removal package. Fatal Push seems to have lost a bit of value, as it is often unable to effectively answer the three drops that a -based mage can power out ahead of schedule. This naturally pushes a card like Cast Down into consideration, but with many decks looking to incorporate legends into their gameplans this can quite feasibly backfire. Thankfully the deck still has access to a bunch of exile removal to help deal with late game bombs, so a mix of Fatal Push and Cast Down should be enough to ensure a creature deck can just run me over. While I've been fairly busy (and, I admit, also pretty distracted by Lich's Mastery) I made sure to carve out some time to sketch out an early plan of attack for the new format.

    I have kept any other changes to the deck fairly minimal, just making some minor quality of life changes to the discard and utility spells for some potentially better options that deserve to be tested. I have already made these changes to the mainboard but have included the specifics below as a reference for myself and any curious readers:

    This is by no means a refined product, and will very likely look pretty different as I receive suggestions and as my own local meta develops. I'm very much looking forward to all the new and exciting stuff Dominaria Standard will bring!

    2nd Place - LGS RIX Store Championship — April 8, 2018
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    Date added 6 years
    Last updated 6 years
    Legality

    This deck is not Standard legal.
    Rarity (main - side)

    1 - 0 Mythic Rares

    8 - 8 Rares

    26 - 5 Uncommons

    11 - 2 Commons
    Cards 60
    Avg. CMC 2.50
    Tokens Dreamstealer 4/4 B
    Folders standard ideas dominaria, Modern & Standard Deck Ideas, Budget Cool Decks, Arena Stuff, Standard Budget
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