Mono Black Kontrol

@expmky

Pretty good! Not sure what Dark Favor is doing there, or why you're running four mainboard Mutilate s, but other than those two nitpicks, it seems pretty solid.

Hmm, it's not quite there yet. I think Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis works better for you than the demon you have. A little slower, but it looks like your deck is in it for the long haul.

My Ex-Wife first started as mono-black control! So, lots of love, although you probably don't want any from her. It's just not worth it.Anyways, I would personally lower the creature count, and up the Mutilate count to 4. It is always your best turn 4 play. A Desecration Demon immediately after is very nice. Ultimate Price hits everything you are afraid of, big fattys that are larger than Mutilate and super fast G/W/x that will smack you with silverblade, a soulbonded silverheart, etc. Also, it nukes Angel of Serenity Restoration Angel Thundermaw Hellkite and so forth. Liliana of the Dark Realms is good here. Her +1 feeds Mutilate her -3 buffs your Vampire Nighthawk for some big life swings. Underworld Connections will win you the control match-up. +1'd -Cheers

Thanks a bunch for the advice! Unfortunately, I was unable to make this week's FNM, so I'll go to it this week, and update my deck then. I'll see how I do, see what I lose to, and edit my deck accordingly.

How do you deal with knight of glory? I've been in games where I was able to rancor one, and have it completely slice through mono-black defenses (while being protected from black removal) for 5 exalted damage a turn.

Nvm, you have mutilate and cards that make opponent sac.

@Brogan25

Thanks for the suggestions! I always appreciate advice, but I'm going to wait until the next FNM to see how things go. Maybe it was just awful luck, but I always found myself hanging on to more Mutilate s than I needed back when I ran just three mainboard.

As for Ultimate Price , I have to say, I just prefer Victim of Night . Not for any particular reason since, practically speaking, they'll both end up doing the same thing, but again, I'll see!

Liliana of the Dark Realms was something I ran in the first draft of this deck, but I was only able to get the two Liliana of the Veil s I have now by trading with my brother. As I've said before, my pockets are not bottomless. Underworld Connections just seems too clunky to me, although I could always be wrong!

I play tested it about 20 times to get a great feel of the deck. Loved the the card drawing function the most getting 3-4 cards per 5 and 6 turns. Tribute to Hunger plus Tragic Slip combo was a great turn 4 1-2 combo hook for life gain and another fatty on the field.

I loved the creature selection for discard, life-gain, card draw, sac creature. Just the right kind of mix of black tricks to keep the pace up.

You could close out games faster with Essence Harvest since it is a 3 mana second attack with lifelink.

Increasing Ambition or Sever the Bloodline would seem to help pick up against faster style of humans, and green/blue/white aggro with a great turn 4 besides the desecration demon. once you have all these cards you have 8-10 mana alot and i fill that something at 4 - 6 could help give this the ultimate killing blow that is seems to be missing.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed might be great as also Necropolis Regent . Regent plus Desecration Demon and Essence Harvest is almost game.

This could be an option for your big black bomb that it seems to be missing.

-3 sign in blood

+1 big black bomb creature

+1 Planeswalker or Socery damage spell.

+1 some kind of morbid trigger or undying trigger would be nice.

loved the deck :)

@raca137

Thanks a bunch for the praise and the advice! I'm currently working with some IRL cash restraints, which should be lifted by the time the holidays have rolled through, so a Planeswalker WILL come, eventually.

I can't get rid of Sign in Blood . It lets me keep hands that would otherwise be awful, and can draw into all sorts of threats. I've heard Essence Harvest recommended before, and I could see it working, but I've had precious little real playtesting to figure out how good it would or wouldn't be. I've run Essence Harvest before in Monoblack AGGRO decks, but for control, I'm still on the fence.

Sever the Bloodline would be great...if my local card shop had any. I'm going to have to order them online. Increasing Ambition is VERY tempting.

With your current update, wouldn't 1x Triumph of Cruelty be better in regards to control than Essence Harvest ? Especially with your new big hitters.

I'll be interested to see how your next FNM goes with the changes.

That's not a bad idea! Especially since almost all of my mainboard discard is gone...I'll think about it, certainly.

from my experience, tribute to hunger is better in the sideboard. against aggro and midrange, there are too many creatures and your opponent is going to pick the one you are most likely not even threatened by. at least that's what happened to me when i tried it in my maindeck

Somethin' about that single card:Curse of Death's Hold is giving me an itch; are the 4 Mutilate s in there due to the issue of aggro decks?

Oh, yes. Last week it was a great big Rakdos-Aggro-fest.

Good luck, Pan; There's always more deck ideas -- I'll keep up and throw my 2 cents here and there.

Sorry to hear it. Probably a good idea to hold off until Gatecrash. I had decent luck with my splash green, but admittedly never tried at FNM (only online). Seems like Vampire Nighthawk has to be in this deck though. He kills aggro decks and can get some good damage in there also. I'm really hoping that we get some Dimir loving. Black and Control just seems so right. At a minimum, Esper Control w/ Souls should be a thing.

I do wonder if Xathrid Gorgon has a place in Mono-Black Control themed decks.

Isn't Vampire Nighthawk restricted?

Nothing is restricted in Standard.

I run a similar mono-black deck like this one, but I ramp with heartless summoning and go aggro early on but with a control fallback, I did pretty well against aggro decks with a T3 Desecration Demon + Dead Weight but you deck looks more stable. I'll be trying a B/W version soon, Vizkopa Guildmage + Essence Harvest looks like a promising combo.

I tried this deck at FNM this week and it just isn't up to the challenge. I like it. But, agro is too fast right now and this just doesn't have the answers for it. Most games were close though. So, there is definitely room for improvement.

Have you considered using some Crypt Ghast ? This guy makes things much easier, plus being able to extort everything adds up over time.

Keep in mind that this deck was made pre-Gatecrash, and by the time GC did come out, I'd mostly abandoned it. If I were to re-construct it now, you'd bet I'd be running three or four of him.