Sideboard

Instant (4)


Maybeboard

Sorcery (4)


This is a mono-blackened version of my B/U discard deck Storm Drain V2, but the strategy is much more emphasized on noncreature cards and straightforward discard effects.

Major revisions:

1) No more Liliana's Caress. It encourages the opponent to play as many cards as possible out of his hand. In a prolonged game the opponent will inevitably move to play from the top deck and after that, Liliana's Caress does nothing. It will be replaced with 4x Quest for the Nihil Stone and three additional Nezumi Shortfangs that act as The Rack number 5, 6, 7 and 8. These babies can dish out a lot of damage in the early game when coupled with straight-on discard cards such as Augur of Skulls and Mind Rot, but they are effective in the late game as well. They place the opponent in a pretty awkward position.

2) No more relying on creatures. Creatures that cause the opponent to discard when they deal damage to him are finicky at best. Among these cards, Hypnotic Specter is actually pretty decent, so I've decided to have two of those in the deck and put another two in the sideboard if the opponent hasn't got a reliable strategy to get rid of creatures. Black Cats are there to deter the opponent from attacking aggressively in the early game and they interact nicely with Smallpox. I consider Augur of Skulls as a 2-cmc Mind Rot and it's a great card to drop on turn 2, since on turn 1, you've cast The Rack or Quest for the Nihil Stone and on turn 3, you could use Dream Salvage.

3) Specific disruption and control. Having no more access to blue counterspells, this deck needs some way to disable the most crucial cards the opponent is using. I've decided to use three Surgical Extractions and one Extirpate. The sideboard will need something that will complement Inquisition Kozilek, probably Despise so that spells that exile cards from the opponent's hand, library and graveyard can be reliably applied against any strategy.

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Couple of changes:

Stupor is a better version of Mind Rot since it involves discarding two cards, but one of those being randomly chosen. It has the same mana cost, so it'd be a no-brainer to use Mind Rot when I have a couple of these babies.

Smallpox doesn't always play well. It's a great card, but since this deck runs a somewhat limited collection of lands, it usually ends up crippling my game. I've moved two out of three Smallpoxes to the sideboard and replaced them with 2x Geth's Verdict, since some creatures can prove to be troublesome SOBs when playing with this deck.

Black Cat isn't that good of a 2-drop. It can be a nasty little deterrent against attacking, but it just doesn't seem to perform well. I've removed three of those and, replaced them with the third Stupor and 2x Oona's Prowler which can put my opponent in a rather uncomfortable situation where he/she would have to choose to take 3 damage or discard 1 to 2 cards. Either way's fine by me.

With future in mind, I've been thinking of using Raven's Crime. This would give the deck a bit more longevity in sustained play, not to mention it'd make mana flood a lot less irritating. Additionally, Distress could be a viable sideboard card, considering that it could get rid of any threat opponent poses.

Comments

Date added 12 years
Last updated 11 years
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.

Rarity (main - side)

20 - 0 Rares

12 - 0 Uncommons

10 - 4 Commons

Cards 64
Avg. CMC 1.67
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