Doomblade or Go for the Throat

[bracer028]

I'm already running 4x smothers in the deck. should i run doomblade or go for the throat.

it seems to me the only creature i cannot kill, if i choose to run doomblade, is abyssal.

but the trade off is the affinity decks, where most people are doing now.

Proper capitalization is required on these boards. Please use it in the future. Thanks. - zilla

[lorddotm]

I'm already running 4x smothers in the deck. should i run doomblade or go for the throat.

it seems to me the only creature i cannot kill, if i choose to run doomblade, is abyssal.

but the trade off is the affinity decks, where most people are doing now.

If you run Doomblade, prepare yourself to lose to Tombstalkers. I would personally do a 3 Smother 3 Go for the Throat 3 Doomblade split.

[bracer028]

i only have 6 slots.

i have my own tombstalkers

Proper capitalization and punctuation are required on these boards. Please use them in the future. Thanks. - zilla

[The Treefolk Master]

2 of each? It seems the most versatile choice.

It really depends on the expected metagame. A lot of affinity/artifact decks => doom blade. Not that => Go for the Throat.

For me, unless there are TONS of robots in you area, GftT > Doom Blade.

[lorddotm]

If you run Tombstalker, you probably are running TA or Eva Green, neither deck needs more than 4 removal spells, and those should be 2 Snuff Out 2 Go for the Throat.

[Koby]

I would go 2 Snuff Out (looks alot like Doom Blade to me), 1 G4tT, 1 Smother (kills Dark Confidant)

Being able to killa Dreadnought is still important in some metagames. Not all, just some.

[bracer028]

If you run Tombstalker, you probably are running TA or Eva Green, neither deck needs more than 4 removal spells, and those should be 2 Snuff Out 2 Go for the Throat.

[DECK]Creatures
2 Tombstalker
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Dark Confidant
3 gatekeeper
4 Tarmogoyf

Instants
4 Smother
4 Dark Ritual
2 go for the throat

Sorceries
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Thoughtseize
2 inquisition of kolizek

Enchantments
3 Pernicious Deed
2 engineered plague

Land
1 Forest
1 Marsh Flats
4 Bayou
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
6 Swamp

sideboard
3 Krosan Grip
4 Extirpate
4 Pithing Needle
2 Engineered Plague
2 umezawa's jitte [/DECK]

this is the current decklist. i find that sinkholes have no place in eva green with so many vials in the meta.

[Greenpoe]

I would run Slaughter Pact before Doomblade.

[Scordata]

What about Ghastly Demise?

[Malakai]

Ghastly Demise does not kill: [If your deck has 8 cantrips, this card is probably really good.]
Tombstalker
Dark Confidant
Disciple of the Vault
Phyrexian Dreadnaught

Doom Blade does not kill:
Tombstalker
Dark Confidant
Disciple of the Vault

Smother does not kill:
Tombstalker
Sower of Temptation
Goblin Ringleader
Siege-Gang Commander

Go for the Throat does not kill:
Phyrexian Dreadnaught
Any creature in affinity except for Disciple of the Vault

---------------------------

I'm going to ignore Ghastly Demise as it's too deck dependent, and just compare the cmc2 black removal. At first glance, it seems like Go for the Throat is your best bet. However, you shouldn't think about creatures in a vacuum, but rather in terms of what your plan is against the decks that play them.

Personally, I haven't played against a Tombstalker in a long, long time. Furthermore, the decks that run them tend to be extremely threat-light, so it's often possible to just kill their goyfs then counter their one Tombstalker, and kill them before they can leverage another.

Dark Confidant is a huge concern, as generally if you're not very aggressive you need to remove him as quickly as possible. Clearly, Doom Blade is the big loser here. If Bob is a problem in your meta, you obviously don't want Doom Blade. That said, there are mitigating factors. Are you aggro? Do you run several copies of Spell Snare?

As for the Goblins, generally your removal comes down on a Lackey, a Warchief/Chieftain, a Piledriver, or a Sharpshooter. Thus what kills what is largely a moot point.

I think Affinity is the big game-breaker here. I believe the figures put affinity at about 7% of the meta, which is rather large--likely more than the decks that play Bob, Tombstalker, and Sower combined. Doom Blade kills everything here, performing the essential function of stopping the Cranial Plating blowout as well as mitigating Disciple of the Vault. Smother does much of the above, but becomes less useful if drawn later as it's dead against Frogmites and Enforcers. Go for the Throat is obviously the big loser--it's almost a dead card. It's also dead against dreadstill.

This is the reason why I think Go for the Throat is just poorly suited right now--I'd rather have my removal be mediocre in matchups where I don't expect my removal to shine, than have it dead in matchups where I need it to do the most work. Personally, I recommend a 2/2 Smother/Doom Blade split, and to save a counter or two for the Tombstalker if they have it. It's not like it'll be a surprise.