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Fizzeler
02-28-2013, 06:03 PM
No thread for this deck yet

Essentially the deck is Mono Black Control with Infect as a finisher, the most recent list that did well was:
3 Howltooth Hollow
4 Inkmoth Nexus
14 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
22 lands

4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Phyrexian Vatmother
8 creatures

4 Disfigure
2 Dismember
1 Doom Blade
4 Funeral Charm
1 Go for the Throat
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Night's Whisper
4 Raven's Crime
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Wrench Mind
30 other spells

Sideboard
4 Duress
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Infest
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb

My current list for the deck:
4 Inkmoth Nexus
18 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
22 lands

4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Phyrexian Vatmother
8 creatures

4 Disfigure
2 Sign In Blood
1 Doom Blade
4 Funeral Charm
1 Go for the Throat
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Night's Whisper
1 Underworld Connections
1 Raven's Crime
3 Devour Flesh
2 Lashwrithe
4 Wrench Mind
30 other spells

Sideboard
4 Duress
2 Relic Of Progenitus
2 Infest
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb

On Underworld Connections: I wanted a consistent CA spell that I had control over and didn't like running 6 draw 2 spells that could just sit there and get discarded, I didn't want phyrexian arena because being unable to control the draw and the continuous life loss can really matter in the control mirrors, after some mild testing I have Connections to be exactly the card I was looking for in the deck

Davran
03-01-2013, 08:23 AM
Why Phyrexian Vatmother over Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon? I realize Vatmother comes down a turn earlier, but your opponent can conceivably chump block it forever. Skittles has evasion and the potential to be both hasty and to regenerate.

Pltnmngl
03-01-2013, 02:06 PM
Why Phyrexian Vatmother over Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon? I realize Vatmother comes down a turn earlier, but your opponent can conceivably chump block it forever. Skittles has evasion and the potential to be both hasty and to regenerate.

Skittles is too much of a mana investment, especially when you look at the low land count. This coming down a potential turn earlier must be a bit more relevant. Plus, I think the evasion becomes irrelevant since black can kill creatures so well. You're also able to play multiples. And I'm sure a bigger booty makes a difference, too.

Fizzeler
03-01-2013, 02:13 PM
Skittles is too much of a mana investment, especially when you look at the low land count. This coming down a potential turn earlier must be a bit more relevant. Plus, I think the evasion becomes irrelevant since black can kill creatures so well. You're also able to play multiples. And I'm sure a bigger booty makes a difference, too.

Exactly, 4 mana is a huge difference and the "drawback" is largely irrelevant, if my opponent is chumping a Vatmother they are either losing or playing Tokens

Polish Tamales
03-02-2013, 03:43 PM
I run a pretty similar deck myself after seeing a few successful runs on the MTGO dailies in December.

I changed the basic removal package to deal with Auras and Geists. Slipped in Liliana of the Dark Realms to double as Removal and support for your little guys.

Let me know how you feel about the Verdicts.

Main Deck:
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms
4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Phyrexian Vatmother

1 Darkblast
3 Disfigure
3 Funeral Charm
4 Geth's Verdict
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Raven's Crime
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Sign in Blood
4 Wrench Mind

1 Bojuka Bog
3 Howltooth Hollow
4 Inkmoth Nexus
12 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sideboard:
4 Duress
2 Infest
2 Lashwrithe
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Surgical Extraction

Pltnmngl
03-05-2013, 06:36 AM
I run a pretty similar deck myself after seeing a few successful runs on the MTGO dailies in December.

I changed the basic removal package to deal with Auras and Geists. Slipped in Liliana of the Dark Realms to double as Removal and support for your little guys.

Let me know how you feel about the Verdicts.

Main Deck:
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms
4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Phyrexian Vatmother

1 Darkblast
3 Disfigure
3 Funeral Charm
4 Geth's Verdict
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Raven's Crime
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Sign in Blood
4 Wrench Mind

1 Bojuka Bog
3 Howltooth Hollow
4 Inkmoth Nexus
12 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sideboard:
4 Duress
2 Infest
2 Lashwrithe
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Surgical Extraction

I just accept that this deck just loses to Boggle.dec and Geist. I'm not sure if that specific Liliana would be that good for the curve, either. I think Cruel Edict works better with your Inkmoths instead of Geth's Verdict, also. You don't care about life totals.

By the way, are you THE Polish Tamales, the artist?

kwis
03-10-2013, 03:36 AM
I think Cruel Edict works better with your Inkmoths instead of Geth's Verdict, also. You don't care about life totals.

By the way, are you THE Polish Tamales, the artist?

He's probably better off with Devour Flesh for the instant speed Edict Effect and the option to gain life himself in awkward situations.

Why Sign in Blood over Night's Whisper, it seems better on the off chance that your two early lands are Inkmoth and Swamp.

Pltnmngl
03-10-2013, 10:49 AM
He's probably better off with Devour Flesh for the instant speed Edict Effect and the option to gain life himself in awkward situations.

Why Sign in Blood over Night's Whisper, it seems better on the off chance that your two early lands are Inkmoth and Swamp.

Good find. I totally forgot about Gatecrash.

Also, I'm noticing a lack of little Liliana. Isn't she better for the curve and and solve the hexproof problem a bit?

Polish Tamales
03-15-2013, 01:50 AM
By the way, are you THE Polish Tamales, the artist?

Yup! That would be me.

I think guys are right about using the new edict. I haven't been able to pick up a few copies, but they seem to be much better for the infect lists. Recent lists on MTGO are also using Liliana of the Veil as pairs in the MD.

Daniel_Garcia (3-1)
Modern Daily #5125565 on 03/13/2013

4 Howltooth Hollow
4 Inkmoth Nexus
13 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

4 Phyrexian Crusader
3 Phyrexian Vatmother

3 Devour Flesh
3 Disfigure
1 Doom Blade
4 Funeral Charm
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Raven's Crime
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Sign in Blood
4 Wrench Mind

Sideboard
4 Duress
4 Faerie Macabre
4 Ratchet Bomb
3 Vampire Nighthawk

cartoonist
03-18-2013, 07:31 PM
Cathedral of War seems like it might have potential here. The exalted boost pumps up Inkmoth to the point it can survive Funeral Charm, and the Urborgs already help mitigate the colorless mana problem. It also turns Vatmother into a 2 swing kill.

Fizzeler
03-18-2013, 08:13 PM
Cathedral of War seems like it might have potential here. The exalted boost pumps up Inkmoth to the point it can survive Funeral Charm, and the Urborgs already help mitigate the colorless mana problem. It also turns Vatmother into a 2 swing kill.

Tried Cathedral it is nuts, makes your Inkmoths 2/2s and Vatmothers kill extremely quickly

This deck made day 2 of the last GP, sad to see him lose to Scapeshift, getting stifled on lands game 1 and double Baloth game 2 :frown:

I also added in Black Sun, great sweeper effect against Aggro and kills Geist

Polish Tamales
03-24-2013, 01:43 PM
Hey folks! I was at GP San Diego a week ago and I noticed a few infect decks on the field. The most successful one was piloted by Phimus Pan. Here's the list I was able to dig up!

15 Swamp
4 Inkmoth Nexus
3 Howltooth Hollow
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

4 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Phyrexian Vatmother

4 Disfigure
4 Funeral Charm
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Wrench Mind
3 Raven's Crime
3 Go for the Throat
3 Night's Whisper

4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Runechanter's Pike

SIDEBOARD
1 Go for the Throat
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Pithing Needle
2 Spellskite
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Infest

The list seems to be solid, basically running most things you want out of the format. I would like to see at least 1 Ratchet Bomb in the SB and Surgical Extraction over some of the GY hate.

cartoonist
03-24-2013, 09:33 PM
I have fallen in love with this deck. I'm surprised that list only has six creature cards in it, though. It just doesn't feel like it has enough threats that can win the game.

I have been running Cathedrals in my build, and they are phenomenal. Boosting an Inkmoth and then hitting it with a charm can help rapidly bring the game to a close. I'd take those over Howltooth any day.

I've been running Victim of Night, too, which has been very strong and efficient for clearing a path, especially once your Disfigures can't get the job done anymore.

evanmartyr
04-11-2013, 02:13 AM
double post, sry

evanmartyr
04-11-2013, 02:14 AM
@Cartoonist: Have you had problems with affording the black-heavy cards while running Cathedrals? Granted, the majority of the mana base is still swamps, but once you're looking at 8x of your lands not being black mana sources (without relying on Urborgs, at least), I would imagine you'd start having issues.

I see Vatmother as an inferior option to Skittles. The haste may occasionally be relevant, and Vatmother's drawback is very rarely relevant, but having a creature that regenerates is pretty impressive, as is flying. The toughness difference I can't imagine being relevant (pretty much any two burn spells would kill both, the only exceptions being 2x Tarfires or 2x Electrolyzes, that I can think of). So you're looking at a 4 mana threat that dies to Path to Exile and can be chump blocked easily vs. a 5 mana threat that still dies to Path to Exile, can rarely be chump blocked easily, can "surprise win" (especially with Cathedrals in the deck) out of nowhere, and can survive even large blocks due to regeneration as well as most burn spells.

I really like Pimus Phan's list, with a few exceptions:

Only 1 Urborg is fine and dandy in his list, but Cathedral seems too good to ignore. I'd up the count.
Howltooth Hollow seems like great value, but right now Liliana just gets Bolted 90% of the time, so you can't *really* rely on it, and of those times how often is the card you're casting "on the cheap" really going to be relevant? It's a great inclusion for late-game value, but getting to the late-game seems more important in a format as fast as Modern.
Vatmother I'd rather see as Skithiryx, especially with Cathedrals.

Brain Pry seems like a solid alternative to Wrench Mind, in that you can hit what the rest of your hand can't deal with, or you can use it to cycle to try to get an answer to existing threats or just find a win condition. Especially with Liliana in play, ticking away, you're more interested in finding a threat than molesting their hand more. Wrench Mind's clearly not bad, just that Brain Pry may be worth looking into.

Victim of Night seems great, what doesn't it hit that's commonly played? Not many Vampires see play in Modern (Blood Artist, I guess?). Hardly any Werewolves, so that leaves the only problems with it being hexproof things (Geist, mainly) and any Zombies that show up frequently. Not being able to hit Geist is a pretty big strike against it, though, although I'm not sure how Phan answered Geist anyway...Liliana? Sideboarded Infests?

So maybe something like...

4x Phyrexian Crusader
2x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

2x Runechanter's Pike
4x Liliana of the Veil

4x Disfigure
3x Funeral Charm
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Wrench Mind
2x Raven's Crime
2x Victim of Night
3x Night's Whisper
2x Dismember

3x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Cathedral of War
4x Inkmoth Nexus
1x Howltooth Hollow
12x Swamp

Thoughts? I'd have to test it some to figure out if the Howltooth count should go up or down, and I feel like 4x Raven's Crimes in a deck with Liliana is a tad overkill, especially when the lands are usually relevant to play even after everyone's down to 0-2 cards in hand. Two should let you see it in a long game against control decks, and you can easily side in one or two anyway.

Polish Tamales
04-11-2013, 12:40 PM
I seriously have to disagree with Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. He's way too much mana and will end up being a dead card while you wait for your 5th~6th land (in a turn 3~4 format no less). Have you playtested against Robots/Gruul aggro? On the draw, you have a pretty good chance of just getting slaughtered. The deck really excels against certain control match ups, but not utilizing one of the more powerful cards (R.Crime), the deck becomes a below average tier 2 deck. Also, Cathedral of War's comes into play tapped will completely makes it miserable when you're waiting on Skitties mana. I'd play 2-3 max Cathedrals in place of Howltooths.

Victim of Night's issue is BB versus B1. Upping up Cathedral of War, you now have to consider the mulligan percentages. If you're still concerned, go with 1 VoN and 1 GftT. 3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth also works against your Skithiryx idea, or should I say adds more inconsistencies if you're trying to hit your 5th land. Now your deck's reliant on this land to run properly, which was never the case with the original list.

Brain Pry seems kinda weak compared to a Thoughtseize/Duress and is a turn slower. Night's Whispers/Sign in Blood are there for a reason, so there isn't really a need for an overcost alternative cantrip. IoK and Infest are your primary ways of dealing with Geist, with Liliana supporting.

evanmartyr
04-12-2013, 01:54 AM
You have a good point re: Skithiryx. I haven't played the deck at all, I was just spitballing. I was assuming that the disruption suite slowed the games down enough that most decks that are designed to be turn 3-4 decks were in actuality turn 5-6 decks against you, if that, since you're picking apart their hand and selectively killing their creatures. You have a good point though; more Urborgs would decrease your chances of casting him at a reasonable time. Cathedrals mostly just replace other CIPT lands anyway, so there's not much change on that point.

Brain Pry was just a random idea, it seemed like the kind of card that wouldn't be on anyone's radar and might work here. Wrench Mind seems like the solid bet.

Is there any significant reason Dismember isn't played in most people's list, other than it'll cost you two life if you want it to be comparable to Go for the Throat or Doom Blade?

I don't disagree that Raven's Crime is wonderful, but it seems mediocre in some matchups, and in a deck with no land recursion and only 23 lands it's not something you can rely on doing excessively, which is why I suggested cutting the numbers down a bit.

cartoonist
04-12-2013, 08:22 PM
With the sheer volume of low cost cards and tremendous amount of discard, you can afford to run the BB cost - not many at all, but a few. Victim can hit a lot of cards, and it's really only there to clear out blockers, not necessarily nix attackers. Vatmother gets chump blocked easily, and that can't be allowed. If the attacking Geist swings, kill the token and swing right back. Let the 2/2 get through, even if it's carrying some equipment. You can take an attack or two. A Pike Wielding Crusader answers back on an even quicker clock. The Cathedrals have a habit of speeding up that clock quite a bit. Keep in mind that with Exalted, Inkmoths can take a Funeral Charm boost.

I don't run Howltooth. I decided to focus on a bit more power and speed. I know it's a fantastic land, but it just wasn't working for me. Plus, I hate that it comes into play tapped. Those slots are just swamps. Helps with those BB costs early on.

Polish Tamales
04-13-2013, 03:24 AM
I don't run Howltooth. I decided to focus on a bit more power and speed. I know it's a fantastic land, but it just wasn't working for me. Plus, I hate that it comes into play tapped. Those slots are just swamps. Helps with those BB costs early on.

So you're running Cathedrals over Howltooths, not Swamps over Howltooths? Doesn't that mean you're still -3~4 Black sources if you aren't running Howltooths, but using Cathedrals instead?

Anyway, unrelated, seeing how Elves might be a thing this and next season, Darkblasts might be a thing to carry in the MB. Anyone disagrees or any tech in Modern against elves since there's no Engineered Plague.

cartoonist
04-13-2013, 04:47 PM
So you're running Cathedrals over Howltooths, not Swamps over Howltooths? Doesn't that mean you're still -3~4 Black sources if you aren't running Howltooths, but using Cathedrals instead?

Anyway, unrelated, seeing how Elves might be a thing this and next season, Darkblasts might be a thing to carry in the MB. Anyone disagrees or any tech in Modern against elves since there's no Engineered Plague.

I am still down a few black sources, but of those I do have, I chose lands that don't come into play tapped. Usually, with the colorless lands and Howltooths, you can get hard pressed to keep the early game up. This just helps a bit there.

I'd honestly go with Infest in the board against Elves. It's only a one-shot, but it can be a pseudo-Wrath against elves.

Polish Tamales
04-14-2013, 11:48 AM
I am still down a few black sources, but of those I do have, I chose lands that don't come into play tapped. Usually, with the colorless lands and Howltooths, you can get hard pressed to keep the early game up. This just helps a bit there.

I'd honestly go with Infest in the board against Elves. It's only a one-shot, but it can be a pseudo-Wrath against elves.

Yeah, this deck doesn't do so well against swarms, so Elves is something on my radar. Although a main deck Darkblast isn't too shabby.

Fizzeler
04-14-2013, 03:27 PM
I recommend using BSZ as the premier wrath with all the aggro decks in the meta and swarm strategies, being able to clear the board turns 3-5 is pretty good and sometimes just a -1/-1 sweep for 3 is enough to be under little to no pressure

ahg113
04-15-2013, 02:36 PM
I was using a mono Black discard deck, but not with the utilization of infect before. In my experience, BSZ doesn't have enough reach. A lot of the swarm type decks will have a lord, or another booster effect, so -1, -2, -3 may not be enough. Not even talking about holding out for value and letting the opponent board commit. I've found Damnation to be a much better card. Quick and dirty, also prevents regeneration. In those match-ups with Melira Pod, BSZ is totally blanked, Damnation gets it done.

Polish Tamales
04-21-2013, 10:34 PM
I don't think it's that necessary to ever go over 4 lands in most games. Unless Raven's Crime is sided out, you should rarely ever have more than 4~5 lands out.

I haven't been able to update til today, but I can mention through playtesting that the deck may need 2~3 Urborgs if you're still using the mono-black build w/Cathedrals. One of the reasons being that it interacts very well with Funeral Charm when you're looking to finish the game off via Swampwalk. I'm currently testing the Green splash version, but at this point, I'd rather spend the money for the shocks/fetchlands for a different higher tier deck to be honest.

As for mass removal, 4cc is actually slow for this deck to handle. Aggro decks you should worry about are Affinty/Robots and Gruul Zoo, which empty their hands pretty quickly on turns 2-3. By the time you stabilize, you're pretty much a bolt or two away from game. Infest & Ratchet Bomb are probably more preferred and if you find the room, Illness in the Ranks punishes WB Tokens.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a really fun deck, but once the price tag starts getting up there with tier 1 decks, you might as well spend the money for tier 1.

Sughayyer
06-22-2013, 11:45 AM
I decided to give a shot at this deck this week... played against melira pod (3 matches), deathcloud (1 match) and monoU Tron (1 match).

My only loss was against Tron due to a white leyline opener :( The deck seems consistent enough...

I'm usually a legacy player, and modern strategies seem a bit slow and easy enough to circumnvent due to the ammount of discard spells played, and the removals.
Also, Phyrexian crusader is a card so powerful (first strike, cripples the other creatures, and has relevant color-protections) I'm considering building a legacy deck to use him.
Urborg + funeral charm is the nuts... and lashwrithe is great. I don't mind spenging 4 life to equip it on an inkmoth and finish off the opponent.
The shell of the deck is obviously similar to the old-school monoblack control, but our array of creatures (though limited it may be) allows us to finish off the opponent very quicky.

I ran the following list (im not at home, so maybe there might be a few thing I don't accurately remember):

4 phyrexian crusader
4 phyrexian vatmother
2 lashwrithe

4 thoughtseize
3 inquisition of kozilek
4 wrench mind
1 raven's crime

3 funeral charm
3 disfigure
1 dismember
1 doom blade
2 go for the throat
2 sign in blood

2 underworld connections

2 liliana of the veil

lands:
4 inkmoth nexus
2 urborg
3 howltooth hollow
12 swamps

sideboard:

2 ratchet bomb
4 duress
2 veredict of geth
1 extirpate
1 surgical extraction
3 infest
1 consume the meek
1 darkblast

I thought melira would be a hard match, but in fact it was not.
It would be a good idea if we could splash some green for a post-board maelstrom pulse, I think... I'll test a bit more this week.

Anyway thanks for this great idea! I'm liking it :)