Value of Phyrexian Arena to monoblack
Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 12, 2012, 11:58 a.m. by Welington
Hey there,
I'm taking a decent look at running a casual monoblack and I've had a hard time looking at Phyrexian Arena, I know it's been a great card for such a long time, but, doing the math, it's basically a 3rd turn that actually just kicks in at 5th, when you actually take card advantage from it. I know that it becomes way too good after that, but it still doesn't look that attractive to me.
Which early game draw/accelerators would you run on a mono black?
I've tried Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper and even considered adding some blue splash for Ponder or Preordain.
Epochalyptik says... #3
It depends. In a long-range deck like mono-black control, Phyrexian Arena is invaluable. It provides the card advantage you need to stabilize and dominate a board for a relatively small investment.
Dark Ritual and Bubbling Muck offer some acceleration in terms of mana, and (as you mentioned) Sign in Blood and Night's Whisper provide some alternative forms of draw.
February 12, 2012 1:16 p.m.
KorApprentice, yeap, but Dark Rituals can make basically anything super effective, that isn't a fair comparison :) How about a 3rd turn Bloodgift Demon? To say the least, it looks just as good as the first turn Arena to me, even though I understand it's more vulnerable.
Epochalyptik, I'm running aggro here, but my mana curve basically stops on 5, so I have a feeling that an arena would take too long be worth it. I'm trying out Sign in Blood with Bloodgift Demons, how would you fill 8 slots for draws/accelerators?
February 12, 2012 3:27 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
4x Dark Ritual and 4x Sign in Blood.
When you say aggro, what is the curve like? Do you have a deck link?
February 12, 2012 3:43 p.m.
KorApprentice says... #6
Are you on a tight budget? You might consider some Dark Confidants, he is usually invaluable in Legacy.
February 12, 2012 3:45 p.m.
Epochalyptik, sure, Mono Black Aggro. I'm not very good at analyzing mana curves, but most of my game comes at turns 3 and 4.
KorApprentice, it's a casual deck, so I'm not really looking at anything above $10. Never been a fan of Dark Confidant though, its draw cost looks waaay too high to me.
KorApprentice says... #2
Ever Dark Ritual
into a Phyrexian Arena
on the first turn? Drawing two cards every turn of the game can be devastating to your opponents.
February 12, 2012 12:21 p.m.