I think bestow is too slow a mechanic. AoF is fine, and Tormented Hero as well, but the targeting on them with bestow takes too long. By the time you do that, the creatures you were trying to bestow are dead. Too much creature control in all the top decks.

You have a point, but I see the bestow mechanic as something that provides versatility in the deck, for an opponent that runs removals (i.e. monoblack), the en-creatures are as good an enchantment as another creature while for something that doesn't (let's say R/G monsters) the bestow mechanic extends the range of the deck making the deck still a threat at a later turn. One thing I realized about this deck though is that it's not a really fast aggro deck, it's more of a tempo deck which has a threat to bring at every turn until turn 5 (where you cap it off with a bestowed whatever). The heroic triggers that go with it are just a bonus.

Yeah, I do see the resiliency of having something survive after a board wipe, but keep in mind there is more and more enchantment removal coming into standard as well.

If you run it in FNM, let me know how it does. I'm definitely interested.

Once it's out, I would definitely use the new temple of malady from Journey Into Nyx, for the scry and your still getting the green for Deathrite Shaman s ablility.

since when is the deathrite a human? It says elf

Gaffa I think it's a joke, like how some people are superhuman. In this case it's an elf though :)

ok. Still confused but wouldn't be the first time I missed a joke

I think bestow is fine. Sure, removal is a thing in the current meta, but bestow forces you to have two forms of removal. You can turn a 2/2 zombie into a 5/5 flying monster if you bestow the Herald of Torment . If they try and knock down the zombie, then you get the 3/3 Herald as a result. What I see happening, in a worst case scenario is someone pops a Hero's Downfall or Dark Betrayal or something on the Agent of the Fates in response to you bestowing the Herald of Torment . However, the cast still happens, your opponent still has to sac a creature, and the bestow mechanic dodges the whole loss of target weakness that other enchant creature cards have because the Herald will resolve itself if the Agent gets knocked out.

That was a bit longer than I'd planned, but yeah, bestow is strong. Particularly the Herald of Torment . I can see that easily becoming a game changing play (because it's been a game changing play against me a few times).

Thanks for the attention everyone, I honestly actually completely missed that out, I thought that Deathrite was Human up until I read the creature type last night. Guess I mis-triggered Xathrid during my playtest :P

Yeap, Temple of Malady is a definite addition come JOU, and also probably the Gnarled Scarhide but I'm still thinking about that.

Let's not forget about the new card, Silence the Believers . It will be a 2 for 1 against your deck.

I like Bestow its make a lot of fun to Play.+1 Vote from me...

Hero of Iroas + Herald of Torment = Turn 4 6/6 flying...

You don't mind me copying your deck, for own use? I really like it, and a lot of the cards will stay around after rotation.

What cards would you recommend taking out, when sideboarding?

Lindstad5 of course man :) tell me how it goes with you and also what you think can be done to better this deck, it's pretty rad but sometimes it's a little off I guess? Also, I'm working on that extensive sideboarding tactic. I'll be posting it soon when I have the time, since I've been busy with real work recently. :) thanks!

leatherface: Nice. I'm stll new to deckbuilding, so thanks for your help.

Solid list, i think your overall card choices are really good. Some of the numbers i suspect you will be changing for the meta, for instance what will be your ratio of Thoughtseize and Brain Maggot in your main versus your sideboard. i agree with your current numbers, but a card like Maggot, makes me think that perhaps you could actually get away with running fewer Thoughtseize? Like if Dredge becomes more of a thing, it might be correct to do that....

Anyways.

The only thing i would recommend is dumping the Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , i'm not sure you need it. Even if you are in a state of wanting to dump your whole hand off of good card draw thru the Pain Seer you probably don't need to dump your hand in one turn to win? As a curveball one-of land card, i would recommend Rogue's Passage . It has more synergy and it would probably win you more games than Nykthos will.

Thanks for the input, I'm actually thinking about the nykthos as well, but in my current playtests I've observed that the deck has high probabilities of reaching a high number of lands or very little lands than what I would want. I either keep on drawing lands or not having reached 4 lands limiting my bestow capabilities. It's just there to make sure I'll be able to land that Herald of Torment or Spiteful Returned as an aura. Thinking about cutting one more swamp in the list though. And yes, I agree with what you said about the ratio of disruption spells, but until then there's not much to do but foresee. Thanks!

Awesome deck +1

That's a big +1. Cool stuff. Shame it plays so many hideously expensive cards, but so it goes.

The Nykthos question is omnipresent for me. I pulled one in one of my first boosters and I've been running it in mono-black decks ever since (just the one). It's definitely been a disadvantage on a couple of occasions, but I don't think it's ever been solely responsible for handing me a loss; at most it's just an inconvenience, and at best it's flat-out amazing. I'm with you on its invaluable ability to pull you out of a mana-screw. Plus I have /literally/ always managed to draw it exactly when I needed it somehow, which at this point is beyond spooky and closer to the 'will-of-god' level of 'play-this-shit-or-else'. My two cents.

Though I suppose I can't speak to aggro; I was running whip/grey merchent like a poser so I wasn't tripping too hard if I had to slightly mis-play a turn. Probably much more relevant when that one less swamp could actually screw you over on the regular. Do you have any data on how frequently that happens in your deck? does it ever? (Re: Rogue's Passage : pay five for unblockable, or generate devotion to bestow a flier, netting you a bigger unblockable, with a heroic trigger and removal recovery? Is that really a question or am I misunderstanding something?)

As well: I agree with your assessment of Gnarled Scarhide based on his toughness (of course), but what about the option to bestow against blockers? Is it a mistake to think that that's a decent play outside of limited?

Thanks good sir, I'll playtest this deck again once I have the time (preferably this weekend) to see if the theros cards are pulling their weight, but somehow I'm thinking that Master of the Feast just isn't ready yet in this standard as the abundance of removals just give the opponent an additional card then destroy it even before being able to hit once. However, Brain Maggot IS doing its job, and pretty well at that.

Re; Gnarled Scarhide I never actually thought about bestowing it to an opponent's creature, but I think paying 5 mana for a creature to not be able to block is a huge price to pay, as it also has a negative effect immediately next turn.

Re: Rogue's Passage it's no question, I won't be putting this deck in, tapping 5 just for an unblockable swing for 5 at most just isn't worth it. sorry guys.

Ok while I know rotation is coming and you probably want to keep your deck whole post-rotation, but come on. No love Desecration Demon ? For this kind of deck he is just pure value and is a bomb pretty much all the time no matter what. The opponent either answers him, gets hit in the face for 6, or loses a creature and lets desecration demon get bigger.I don't know, it's your deck, but I would keep him in till rotation. You can always just keep the other cards replaced around to switch with him when he gets rotated out.

I've thought about Desecration Demon a lot, but given my control-heavy meta, I'd much rather play a bestowed Spiteful Returned come turn 4. It's a much safer play which doesn't make you over-commit to the board and still have a 3 damage coming in post-verdict. I know, desecration demon is arguably the best 4 drop in standard, but I'd much rather play a faster well-curved deck. Oh, and 4 damage hurts a lot for Pain Seer too, so I wanted to keep my curve low. :)

Yay mono black aggro, Mono Black Slaughter this is a deck i made awhile ago check it out. I love my build and yours is really nice +1 :)

If you add red, you can play cards like Spike Jester , Mogis, God of Slaughter , Chandra's Phoenix , Minotaur Skullcleaver and Rakdos, Lord of Riots . It could be awesome. And allot more aggro.