R/B troubles against creature hate
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 26, 2014, 1:19 a.m. by NixTheThird
Here is a fun, aggressive deck I've been slowly tuning and changing in order to make it somewhat competative.
The Heroes of Mogis (found loose change!) Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 1 | 0 COMMENTS | 522 VIEWSThe tl:dr description is r/b aggro utilizing some heroic shenanigans, low cost bestows, (one Stormbreath Dragon ) and some removal. The problem I'm running into is early game creature hate. Mid/late game I have answers with bestow and sideboard Rakdos's Return and Slaughter Games , but I can still get pretty shut down if they keep drawing into kill spells, not to mention Boon of Erebos does nothing against blight, drown etc.
I have a new idea to deal with this and need some opinions: instead of preventing death I can work with it or make them think twice about where to strike. Xathrid Necromancer just loves some dead heroes and Pain Seer . I figure in a match up where I know I'm hitting against major creature hate I might swap out either Spiteful Returned or Gift of Orzhova and bring in Xathrid (along with whatever seems appropriate). Run out Xathrid along with whatever human I pull out first and force the opponent to kill Xathrid before hitting my more important dudes or they just trade away cards to switch my humans into zombies and I continue the beat down. This in turn allows me to play into a pumped Nighthowler onto a 2/2 and continue to play up the pressure.
Of course, with only 14 creatures which would activate the special ability, I'm not quite sure this is the right direction.
Any advice on how to keep this deck's flavor and deal with these issues would be greatly appreciated!
NixTheThird says... #4
Huh, I hadn't actually thought of going all in with speed in creature hate match ups. Makes sense and, with exception of Ash Zealot , I have speedy cards I can plug in. Will have to consider that.
Whip of Erebos is another good option I'll keep in mind. I only hesitate because basically every other black deck uses whip, and would like to branch out somewhat.
March 26, 2014 2:48 a.m.
notamardybum says... #5
more creatures. take out some of your creature buffs. the only one you really need is Madcap Skills put that on anything turn 2 and you're heading in the right direction
March 26, 2014 2:56 a.m.
Viral_Assassin says... #6
If you are willing to splash white you could use Silence . Best cast at your upkeep and theirs to seal it for the whole turn. It's perfect to make sure you stuff gets in Un countered, safe from removal and anything else in between until the next turn. Otherwise I do not have many other suggestions.
March 26, 2014 11:18 a.m.
My opinion would be to use Thoughtseize and/or Duress , to remove their best creature hate... after that, you will also know what else they have in hand, thus know if you should 'hold-back' some creatures (until after a board wipe for example).
Alternatively, if you are going to consider splashing, perhaps Golgari Charm for the "regenerate each creature you control"... great against board wipes... not so great against "exile" and "forced sac".
March 26, 2014 11:37 a.m.
NixTheThird says... #8
Love me some Golgari Charm , but not sure my mana base could really handle the splash. Think your right about Duress being the main method to proactively protect dudes at this point, but I wonder if it slows down the aggro too much? Needs more testing, because I do not know.
Sadly I do not have Thoughtseize money, otherwise it would be a slam into the deck.
So currently I feel that against things like b/w with Bile Blight , Hero's Downfall or other removal like Anger of the Gods and Lightning Strike etc. I would side out 3x Gift of Orzhova and 2x Fall of the Hammer and 1x Agent of the Fates for 3x Duress and 3x Spike Jester ; favoring speed and spell removal. I want to keep some Hammers and Agents because the combo still works well against the few creatures that such decks do run.
March 26, 2014 12:16 p.m.
Viral_Assassin says... #9
I agree about Thoughtseize and Duress . They to would help.
March 26, 2014 3:13 p.m.
NixTheThird says... #10
Wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone's suggestions and discussion! Always love hearing this kind of feedback.
MagnusMTG says... #2
The only answer I know against creature hate in Standard right now (besides Whip) is speed. More high-efficiency beaters: Rakdos Cackler , Spike Jester , etc.
March 26, 2014 1:35 a.m.