Mono-Black Sideboard..
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 4, 2014, 3:42 p.m. by Metroid_Hybrid
I could use some help making the final(?) tweaks to my Mono-Black Devotion deck for Modern.. (Devoted to Obliteration..)
Primarily I need help making sure the sideboard is well equipped to effectively deal with a variety of threats, particularly cruel control and hyper-fast aggro.. I currently don't have a lock on the local meta, but I do know that a guy with a particularly nasty Grixis cruel control deck tends to frequent this event, so I do consider him a major threat..
Other notes; I figure 1-2x Ratchet Bomb deserves a place and also plan on acquiring 1-2x Torpor Orb s for said sideboard, and please read at least the top of the description before suggesting Liliana of the Veil or Fetch-lands......
I'm assuming you're not willing to add a color or two, yes?
I would ditch Dash Hopes . Your opponent will always choose whichever one they care about less, so it will never do what you want it to do.
January 4, 2014 5:20 p.m.
MetaphysicalxProdigy says... #4
I think that your initial suggestions of Ratchet Bomb and Torpor Orb are spot on. After a bit of playtesting I noticed that your deck curve lacks a significant number of 2 drops, so these could work well in filling that gap rounds 2 and 3. Hyper aggro like affinity, infect, bogle, ~RDW and even hatebears rely on a lot of 1-2, sometimes 3cmc drops to get the job done, and Ratchet Bomb stops them in their tracks. With your running hardly any 2cmc spells this is great for you... I would strongly recommend running at LEAST 2, maybe 3. The focus of your deck is to suicide your opponent to 0 life, and ratchet bomb helps clean up the lower-cost spells on the board so that your higher-cost ones can move in and clean up.
If planeswalkers or control cards are an issue, Pithing Needle is a fantastic response. Some Duress in the sideboard are also good. One SB suite you could run is an extra batch of discard (duress) and exile cards (Extirpate and/or Surgical Extraction ) to neuter specific combo and control options. If you don't want to have to wait for that one-two punch combo, you can always just run Memoricide or Cranial Extraction and skip having to discard the card first. These two don't allow you to exile nonbasic lands, but that was never an option since discard names nonland anyways.
With gatekeeper, assassin, and 5 killspells I wouldn't worry about having additional killspells like Hero's Downfall in the SB - you will be doing just fine for isolating and removing troublesome creatures.
If you like the functionality of Whip of Erebos , then Mimic Vat may serve your purpose better. Putting an obliterator in the vat is just unfair, and gatekeeper of malakir can net you repeat sacrifice with his kicker. Same goes for the assassin. The vat can also target your opponent's dead creatures, unlike the whip. And while on the topic of graveyards, you do have access to Leyline of the Void to stop snapcaster and most graveyard-based effects. It makes your discard spells that much more lethal and is an easy sub for Geralf's Messenger (you would probably want to run 4 in your sideboard if you choose to use it, because you want to maximize the odds of having one in your opening hand. I do the same for Leyline of Sanctity ).
Phyrexian Crusader seems a bit out of place in your sideboard - his stats are fantastic and a chance equip with lashwrithe could be devastating but he otherwise doesn't belong here. Erebos seems like a card that should be in the mainboard, albeit i'm sure you have your reasons for not running him.
Shadow of Doubt is a good side card; however, with your focus on playing so many sorcery-speed spells you may have a tough time using it when the time comes. Many control decks that run instant-speed spells can make good use of it, as they just cast end of your turn whatever they need, but with your strategy it seems that you likely won't have that mana available.
January 8, 2014 6:49 p.m.
Extra Duress is always a good idea.
Some cheap utility creatures to swap in place your your kill spells are good to have against control decks, since they rarely have any targets for them, and if you can get a few creatures on the board quickly before they can get their manabase set, you can start with some good momentum as far as damage goes.
January 9, 2014 3:54 p.m.
Metroid_Hybrid says... #6
Okay, based on some advice from here and comments on my page, I've made a major overhaul to my sideboard.. I even took the deck out for a spin this past weekend and it did rather well; I came in 2nd! :) The only loss I had was to Mono-Green Infect in the final round..(I made a update on my page if you want to see..) I have a feeling that it comes down to having an awesome opening hand, but I may also have to rework my pair of Royal Assassin (s) back into the mix to really be able to stand a chance against Infect.. What do you guys think? I want to have this up to professional grade snuff in time for a possible PTQ in march..
Metroid_Hybrid says... #2
I could use the knowledge of some bigger fish as well..
I summon the 'Deckspert' MetaphysicalxProdigy
And the 'Oracle/Highlander' himself! Epochalyptik
Though it may not be your color(s); please, share your knowledge with thee and help make this deck awesome!!!
January 4, 2014 3:53 p.m.