[Viable Budget Deck] Eva Black (Mono Black Aggro)

[Captain Hammer]

I'm playing decklist as below and know that it could be viable against a number of tier one and tier two archeatypes...

16 Swamp
4 Fetchlands
2 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Dark Ritual

4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Thoughtseize
2 Reanimate
2 Jitte

4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Arrogant Bloodlord
3 Tombstalker
2 Shriekmaw

Do you guys have any suggestions to make the deck better? I really love the 2 ofs and 1 of cards as they add a great deal of versatility and flexibility to the deck and are never actually dead.

For my removal, I've been rotating between Snuff Out, Shriekmaw and Smother and all three cards have performed well. I can't quite decide on which is best but have settled on Shriekmaw for now due to their utility with Volrath's Stronghold.

Inquisition vs. Duress vs. Thoughtseize. I've tried all three and this was a pretty easy decision for me. Thoughtseize can't be supported as more than a 2 of since it costs you life.

To quote Jon Stewart who helped with this deck...


Inquisition is the better option for Black based Aggro decks.

Black Aggro (Gate, Eva Green etc), don't like casting a Shock on themselves to Thoughtseize away a Goyf or some other potential blocker. For them, it's not a big deal if a threat gets Forced, since they play tons of redundant threats and the FoW player is going to suffer card disadvantage. What they care about is opposing blockers that will shut down their creatures from attacking.

Also, I insist on playing 2 Reanimates in every black based aggro deck. Reanimate goes great with all the discard and removal black plays. And Inquisition goes great with Reanimate. Inquistion, opponents Goyf, Reanimate it to your side, lose 2 life, gain a ton of tempo.

My only wish with the deck is to somehow make the deck less focused on 3cc cards and more focused on 2cc cards and 1cc cards. So far, the only turn one playable 1cc stuff is Dark Ritual and Inquisition and the only turn two playable 2cc stuff is Hymn, Jitte, and various removal, which seems like it's barely enough. This issue has recently been addressed by cutting a Bloodlord and adding 2 Thoughtseize to the decklist which gives the deck a more resiliency against tier one decks, combo decks, and even makes Reanimate better.

None of the available 2cc options seem worthwhile. Bitterblossom is slow and Confidant would make me unable to play game winning bombs like Tombstalker, Shriekmaw (which has indeed come in handy many times and has been hard cast to generate solid card advantage), and Reanimate to some degree (which I managed to steal both an Iona and an Inkwell with on various occasions). Nantuko Shade seems worth considering instead of 2 Bloodlord perhaps. I'm not sold on them though. This deck is very mana hungry and doesn't have a lot of free mana available to keep Shade pumped.

Is there any thing that I'm leaving out? Additional creature removal seems unneccesary between Smother, Shriekmaw, Gatekeeper, Nighthawk and Inquisition. Reanimate, Shriekmaw and Tombstalker go poorly with Confidant. My previous list played Dark Confidant without Tombstalker and played Smother and more Jitte in place of Snuff Out/Shriekmaw/Reanimate, and never performed as well as my current list. Whether you should play 3 Tombstalker or 4 is probably dependent on how many fetchlands you can play in the deck. The more fetchlands you can play, the more Tombstalkers the deck can support.

If the deck feels too creature heavy to you, Arrogant Bloodlord is the most cuttable creature in the deck. As for what to run in their place, Sinkhole is a fantastic addition to the deck if you can afford it.

Arrogant Bloodlord is actually very solid though. I realized recieved that I've been misplaying the card.

There are very few decks that play 1/1 or 0/1 creatures. In fact, the only ones I've run into are Noble Hierarch, Lackey and Grim Lavamancer. Previously, I hesistated to attacked when my opponent had those in play. That's usually not the correct call (unless it's a Lackey and you don't have anything else on the board the board that can block the Lackey). The few 1/1s play in the format are played there for a reason, because they are really very powerful. Hierarch generates mana and pumps up your opponent's goyf +1/+1, taking it out early is like Sinkholing your opponent plus getting rid of a creature pump, and Natural Order fodder.

All the deathtouch stuff and removal give you fantastic options against goyfs and other annoying creatures. Arrogant Bloodlord is fantastic at singlehandedly stopping each and every Zoo creature sans Goyf from being able to attack, while your flyers go the distance and pick off their life total. Nantuko is fine as a two of but never any more because it takes way too much mana being sunk into it every turn to keep the creature halfway decent compared to other threats in legacy like Tarmogoyf.

Reanimating your opponent's Tarmogoyfs after getting it into their yard using Inquisition, Hymn, Gatekeeper, Vampire Nighthawk or Smother, can be a techy and gamebreaking play. It can also revive your countered creatures, your dead creatures, and it can save your butt in the Reanimator matchup. Aether Vial is a card that seems like it has potential here, but I'm going to try sideboarding it against decks with lots of countermagic first.

The deck is flexible. If Wasteland or some other card is out of your budget, you could opt to play Aether Vial, Virulent Swipe, Mishra's Factory or something else in their place.

Are there any good black creatures that I'm leaving out?

Testing has been brief, but I can say the deck fares decently well against Zoo, and does great against both Countertop and Reanimator thanks to it's numerous deathtouch options, discard, removal, Reanimate and Gatekeeper and both Leylines and Fairie Macabre jumping in from the sideboard. The combo matchup is understandably difficult, but it can be shored up using the sideboard.

[makochman]

Has Virulent Swipe been that strong in playtesting? It strikes me as very conditional removal and not much else. I also disagree about Hypnotic Specter, while not so good in multiples, you almost always want to see one. Eva Green tends to have 4 for a very good reason. The same goes for Tombstalker, even without fetchlands you still fill up the graveyard pretty quickly with disruption. It has the added benefit of being able to shrink Goyf occasionally and ignoring Countertop. You could safely play 3 Specter and 2 Tombstalker IMHO

[Captain Hammer]

Yes Virulent Swipe has been solid in testing. In most metas, a Giant Growth would be comparable or better, but with all the Reanimator creatures floating around, Dreadnoughts and other big fat, giving instant speed Deathtouch is awesome.

Also, being able to trade Gatekeeper with a Goyf when they block it is awesome. And after it serves that function, it still serves ot make another creature of yours nigh unblockable, giving you a lot more extra damage.

You are right about Hyppe and Tombstalker. The deck can likely support at 3/2 split of those two cards.

[Skeggi]

Virulent Swipe looks like it wants to be abused with First Strike. Perhaps this could be the return of Black Knight, as he's also Swords to Plowshares-proof.

[overseer1234]

I used to have a mono black eva green-like deck, (actualy the old eva green shell sans green)

here's how it looked:

3x Umezawa’s Jitte (replaces maelstrom pulse/seal of primordium-
4x Hypnotic Specter
4x Nantuko Shade (sometime's kicked 1 for a 1-off reanimate that random won me games)
4x Tombstalker
4x Ashenmoor Gouger/Wasp Lancer
4x Dark Ritual
4x Snuff Out
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Polluted Delta
9x Swamp
4x Wasteland
4x Hymn to Tourach-
4x Sinkhole
4x Thoughtseize
Sideboard

4x Pithing Needle
4x Engineered Plague
4x Extirpate
3x Smother

It fun to play but I wouldn't call it budget with 8 fetch, 4 wasteland, sinkhole, jitte and thoughtseize. But than again you are also running sinkhole's so....

[Wakkarr]

Despite no fetches Tombstalker is probably worth it as a 2-of. It is obviously bad if you flip it to Bob, and not running fetchlands slightly weakens it, but the ability to nuke your graveyard to shrink Goyf's as well as have an undercosted fat beater is pretty valuable. Especially as it also improve the aggro matchups.Additionally, most people would have access to some number of black fetches due to standard. If the budget is a serious concern then why are Sinkholes in the deck? Its a strong card but it will set you back $150+ for a set of decent condition set and I doubt they add that much value to the deck.

Not having any removal apart from Gatekeeper seems a little suspect, Nighthawk can act as pseudo-removal by blocking, but I think Smothers replacing the Virulent Swipes, as well as the Reanimates, as I think Reanimate is a bit narrow. And the decks you want reanimate against you probably want smother anyway.

How have the Arrogant Bloodloord's been working out? I am currently playing Nyxathid and am considering testing the Bloodlord for comparison.

Personally I would change:

-4 Sinkhole
-2 Virulent Swipe
-2 Reanimate
+2 Tombstalker
+ 4 Smother
+2 Thoughtseize
-X Swamps
+X Black Fetches

But I have been playing a different more control oriented build which is probably why I prefer Tombstalkers and extra discard/removal over the tempo/mana-denial of Sinkhole.

[Puzzle]

Call it a budget deck if you wish. But I think a decklist as below could be very viable...

18 Swamp
4 Wasteland

4 Dark Ritual
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole

2 Reanimate
2 Virulent Swipe

4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Hypnotic Specter
2 Arrogant Bloodlord
2 Nantuko Shade

Are there any creatures that I'm leaving out? Additional creature removal seems unneccesary between Virulent Swipe, Gatekeeper, Nighthawk and Inquision. Both Snuff Out and Tombstalker go poorly with Confidant, and Tombstalker is suboptimal without adding 10 fetchlands and about $150 to the deck's cost anyways.

All the deathtouch stuff give you fantastic options against goyfs and other annoying creatures. Arrogant Bloodlord is fantastic at singlehandedly stopping each and every Zoo creature from being able to attack, while your flyers go the distance and pick off their life total. Hyppie is perfect as a two of since you never want multiple copies of it, esp in the midgame when your opponent is in top deck mode. Nantuko is perfect as a two of because it takes way too much mana being sunk into it every turn to keep the creature halfway decent compared to other threats in legacy like Tarmogoyf. Virulent Swipe I could absolutely see playing four copies of, that card is fantastic.

Reanimating your opponent's Tarmogoyfs after getting it into their yard using Inquistion, Hymn, Gatekeeper, Vampire Nighthawk or Virulent Swipe, can be a techy and gamebreaking play. It can revive your countered creatures, your dead creatures, and it can save your butt in the Reanimator matchup. Aether Vial is a card that seems like it has potential here, but I'm going to try sideboarding it against decks with lots of countermagic first.

The deck is flexible. If Sinkholes, Wasteland or some other card is out of your budget, you could opt to play Aether Vial, Arrogant Bloodlord, Virulent Swipe and Mishra's Factory in their place.

Are there any good black creatures that I'm leaving out?

Testing has been brief, but I can say the deck fares decently well against Zoo, and does great against both Countertop and Reanimator thanks to it's numerous deathtouch options, discard, Reanimate and Gatekeeper.A detail : as all your creatures cost three or less, you may want to replace Reanimate by Unearth.


I've got a black deck without ambitions that looks a bit similar to yours, except that I push the budget a bit for Jittes :
4 Dark Ritual
4 Inquisition of Kozilek (that card is better than Duress and possibly Thoughtseize in this deck)
4 Pulse Tracker
2 Cursed Scroll
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Withered Wretch
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Garza's Assassin
20 Swamp
I like the Assassin : it's card advantage and removal that doubles as a small beater.

There is room for improvement but I've made it from cards I don't need in other decks, which is the spirit you seem to be in, here.
A less budget approach would begin by :
-1 Assassin for +1 Jitte
-2 Cursed Scroll for +2 Thoughtseize
-1 Swamp for +1 Thoughtseize


From other comments in the thread, I'm intrigued by the Black Knight + Virulent Swipe interaction, I must say.

[Captain Hammer]

No, you absolutely do NOT want to replace Reanimate with Unearth.

You Reanimate your opponent's creatures more frequently than you Reanimate your own, which Unearth cannot do. Reanimate sometimes also singlehandedly wins the game for you against Reanimator.

Garza's Assassin seems cool. If the deck wasn't already loaded with 3cc drops, I would play him over Smother/Shreikmaw.

[Ciberon]

Have you ever tested Virulent Swipe? I've started doing so today and it is still to impress me.

[MMogg]

Have you ever tested Virulent Swipe? I've started doing so today and it is still to impress me.

From post #3:


Yes Virulent Swipe has been solid in testing. In most metas, a Giant Growth would be comparable or better, but with all the Reanimator creatures floating around, Dreadnoughts and other big fat, giving instant speed Deathtouch is awesome.

Also, being able to trade Gatekeeper with a Goyf when they block it is awesome. And after it serves that function, it still serves ot make another creature of yours nigh unblockable, giving you a lot more extra damage.

You are right about Hyppe and Tombstalker. The deck can likely support at 3/2 split of those two cards.

[Kangaxx]

The problem with Virulent Sweep is that it's a cute combat trick. Wasting slots for situational combat functions always < more threats. Think about it.

[Captain Hammer]

You were about 8 hours late. I cut Virulent Swipe from my list this morning, and updated my opening post with my new list 8 hours before your reply.

[Captain Hammer]

I feel that this deck is playing too many creatures. I want to cut some creatures for more disruption and/or removal, and would love to hear your suggestions on what to cut.

Based strictly on performance thus far, Nantuko Shade is near the top of my list as to cards to cut.

I am also very intrigued by the prospect of playing maindeck Fairie Macabre and replacing two lands with Bojuka Bog to deal with graveyard abuse decks in the manner that The Gate is dealing with them. But making room for Fairie Macabre neccesitates cutting even more creatures.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

I think you could pretty safely cut both Hypnotic Specter and Nantuko Shade. Faerie Macabre seems like a pretty solid idea, depending on your meta of course. I could also potentially see adding some equipment, such as Basilisk Collar or Umezawa's Jitte, but there might be a better way to use the extra slots. I don't think Bojuka Bog is a good idea though, because it just seems too slow for this deck.

^my $0.02

[Chubu!]

McFaerie >>> BudonkaBog, IMO. I'd argue that she and Leyline, together, are the two most potent pieces of yard hate available in the format, ATM. Then again, to dedicate 7-8 cards out of your 75 to hating on the yard, you gotta really, really hate the yard. I roll like that. :)

If Hippies become McFaes, Shades can become Jittes. Shriekmaws can become more Smothers, and Bob will become somewhat happier. How is Arrogant Bloodlord working out in testing?

So far, I like the list. Not dissimilar to the Gate, but a more tempo-ish, aggro-ish route. I think I'll play some games with it, and see how it feels.

[Captain Hammer]

McFaerie >>> BudonkaBog, IMO. I'd argue that she and Leyline, together, are the two most potent pieces of yard hate available in the format, ATM. Then again, to dedicate 7-8 cards out of your 75 to hating on the yard, you gotta really, really hate the yard. I roll like that. :)

If Hippies become McFaes, Shades can become Jittes. Shriekmaws can become more Smothers, and Bob will become somewhat happier. How is Arrogant Bloodlord working out in testing?

So far, I like the list. Not dissimilar to the Gate, but a more tempo-ish, aggro-ish route. I think I'll play some games with it, and see how it feels.

That's great advice DDK and Chubu,

I think I'll try out a list like this, and if it works well, I'll update my OP with the new list...

14 Swamp
4 Fetchlands
4 Wasteland

4 Dark Ritual
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Hymn to Tourach

2 Reanimate
3 Smother

4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Fairie Macabre
3 Tombstalker
3 Arrogant Bloodlord

Jitte seems a bit on a slow side to be honest, but maybe I'm wrong. I'll try it out at some point. Bloodlord is solid. Yeah, it sucks that it is the only creature in the whole deck that doesn't have additional bonus functionality. But on the other hand, he's such a solid beat stick that he makes up for it. He shines against other aggro matchups where you use your Smother or Inquisition to get rid of Goyf (the only creature that's bigger). There he is a five turn clock by himself, which is fairly strong for a card that can be ritualed out on turn one.

Yeah, the deck shares similarities to The Gate. The Gate is a slower deck though that is build to abuse Abyssal Persecutor. To make proper use of it, it plays a lot of what I feel are subpar cards such as Innocent Blood (poor when you play so many creatures of your own), Bitterblossom and Cabal Therapy (seems subpar compared to Inquisition since the latter can never whiff). I would rather just play a 3cc 4/4 that has no drawback and doesn't need to be built around, than a 4cc 6/6 flying trample that the deck needs to be built around to properly abuse.

I'm not sold on Macabre yet. I'll have to see how good he ends up being in my meta. But I'm tempted to cut it and a lone Reanimate to make room for 4 Sinkhole. Even if I do, I'll definately play four in the sideboard.

[Chubu!]

Jitte seems a bit on a slow side to be honest, but maybe I'm wrong.

Jitte is slow, but still extremely playable, due to the "that good"-ness of it. An active Jitte on the opponent's board means I cannot drop certain creatures (Bob) because they will get killed without costing my opponent a removal spell. It makes creatures unblockable, unless I'm willing to lose a creature on the chump block. It protects from red removal. It turns Bob and Gatekeeper into finishers. It keeps you alive to get another card from your Bob, when you're low on life. It legend-kills other Jittes. <----- (That one's huge, when you're only color is one that doesn't have too many answers to artifacts.) Jitte has even kept my opponent from reanimating Iona, in a few instances. Chuck Norris wields a Jitte. You get the idea.

If you don't see the need for McFae in your local meta, don't run it. I'd definitely test, though. I was not sold until I tested. Last week, there were three people playing U/B reanimator at the weekly Legacy event. McFae won me game one, Leyline and McFae won me game three, with my opponent having a basic land on the board and an Echoing Truth in the yard (and nothing else) at the end of the game. (I didn't play any of the other two reanimator decks present.)

Fetches seem unnecessary, IMO. I didn't have any trouble getting out Tombstalker when I tested. Also, the thinning power of 4 fetches is very slight, and less valuable than the life lost to fetching.

I played a few games with the deck last night, and didn't get too much use out of reanimate. I will continue testing, though, as it seems solid in my head. I definitely like the Ritual, Inquisition, Hymn package. The three play well together, cutting of your opponent's 1-drop (or removing Daze), and then facepalming them turn 2 with Hymn. Or just punching them in the sack turn 1 by playing Inquisition and Hymn off of a Ritual, Inquisition then Reanimate, etc...

Any thoughts on the board, as of yet? I've been running The Gate, lately, and my board is:

3 Bitterblossom (for m/u where I don't need McFae)
4 Hymn to Tourach (combo, on the play vs. aggro. I really wish I had space for this in the main)
4 Sadistic Sacrament (anything with limited wincons. Also great vs. random control builds.)
4 Leyline of the Void (duh... what's this for?)

[Captain Hammer]

I updated the list in my OP again. And I gave the deck a better name... Inquisitive Gatekeeper. It was between that, Arrogant Gatekeeper and Hypnotic Gatekeeper.

Ultimately, I liked the flavor of this name "Inquisitive Gatekeeper" the best by far. I would love it if the mods could maybe update it so that it shows up with that name in the Developmental Forum.

Your board looks solid. Sadistic Sacrament can be pretty brutal to Reanimator and a few other decks. Hymn is fantastic all around and acutally seems more like a maindeck card than a sideboard card. I could see playing it maindeck and Fairie Macabre sideboard for example but I can respect wanting to playing Macabre maindeck instead for meta reasons. Bitterblossom I'm not sold on.

Why not simply bring in Hymn for the matchups where you don't need Fairie Macabre.

Reanimate has almost always come in handy for me whenever I drew it. I'm only playing 2 copies so it's easy to forget about it except when you do draw it and then you're usually very pleased with it.

My only wish with the deck is to somehow make the deck less focused on 3cc cards and more focused on 2cc cards and 1cc cards. So far, the only turn one playable 1cc stuff is Dark Ritual and Inquisition and the only turn two playable 2cc stuff is Hymn, Jitte, and various removal, which seems like it's barely enough.

However, none of the available 2cc options seem worthwhile. Bitterblossom is slow and Confidant would make me unable to play game winning bombs like Tombstalker, Shriekmaw (which has indeed come in handy many times and has been hard cast to generate solid card advantage), and Reanimate to some degree (which I managed to steal both an Iona and an Inkwell with on various occasions).

[Chubu!]

Your board looks solid. Sadistic Sacrament can be pretty brutal to Reanimator and a few other decks. Hymn is fantastic all around and acutally seems more like a maindeck card than a sideboard card. I could see playing it maindeck and Fairie Macabre sideboard for example but I can respect wanting to playing Macabre maindeck instead for meta reasons. Bitterblossom I'm not sold on.

Why not simply bring in Hymn for the matchups where you don't need Fairie Macabre.

I would totally love to maindeck Hymn, but I want no less than 4 copies, if I do, and can't figure out what to cut to make room. Generally, McFaerie is one of my most commonly sided-out cards. In a different meta, I'd probably move her over to the side in favor of maindeck Bitterblossom.

I don't think this deck (i.e. Inquisitive Gatekeeper) is the place for Bitterblossom. There's plenty of life loss built in, as-is, and Bitterblossom just isn't fast enough for an aggro deck, IMO. That being said, it is a fantastic card, and I'd definitely say it's worth testing out (in decks for which it is appropriate) to get a feel for how good it is.

I'd love to fit some Engineered Plagues into my board, as goblins are around my local meta, but no room, as of yet. Might be something to consider for the board, as you've got room, and the Rituals to land one first turn.


Reanimate has almost always come in handy for me whenever I drew it. I'm only playing 2 copies so it's easy to forget about it except when you do draw it and then you're usually very pleased with it.

Ironically, the card I'm not sold on is Reanimate. I like having a 'goyf or a Rhox War Monk on my board, just as much as the next guy, but I can't help but wonder if the slots wouldn't be better allocated to more threats that can be played from your hand. Reanimate means that you must first get a critter into a yard, then you can use it. Not that that's too hard to do with this deck, but why make it a two-step process, when you could just do it in one? A savvy reanimate player may let you get away with the play once, but will make quite sure to pitch and reanimate on the same turn, from then on. Black has plenty of undercosted, viable threats, as-is. No need to rely upon the yard to provide one.

As for a draw engine, Black offers plenty of options. The sheer dominating potential of card draw makes it worth the deck space to run at least 4 cards which provide card advantage. Bob and Phyrexian Arena are the most common choices, you've also got Skeletal Scrying and Sign In Blood, as one-off sources of card draw. I understand your hesitance to run Bob, due to the average CC of your deck, but some source of draw seems like a very strong addition, IMO.

As for 1-drops, Innocent Blood is pretty good, despite its drawback. It quite often hits when you have nothing on the board to sac (i.e. Turn 1 on the draw vs. Zoo), and, ultimately, I don't mind sacking a creature to Innocent Blood, if it gets me out of a tight spot. (i.e. Progenitals) Also, Edict effects are a nice way to round out what Black does best - removing creatures. 3 copies would bring you up to 13 1-drops in the deck, not too bad a number. Just a thought.

Also, Gatekeeper and Shriekmaw both play well with Volrath's Stronghold. Not exactly true card advantage, but card-quality, when you need it. May not play well with Tombstalker. Just brainstorming, here.

[Captain Hammer]

Volrath's Stronghold is a fantastic suggestion. I'm going to play two of them instead of the 4 Wasteland for a couple of reasons...

1.) Wasteland isn't all that hot when you're not playing Sinkholes to supplement it, and esp, not in a slowish deck like this.

2.) Playing 4 colorless lands is too much for this deck. Gatekeeper needs triple black. Hymn needs double black to be a turn two play. And all your creaturess need double black plus a colorless, so games where you draw 2 colored sources become near unplayable.

I don't think I want to play Innocent Blood, it's great that it's 1cc, but not so great that it only works if I have absolutely no creatures on the board.

Also, I'm now trying a 2 Thoughtseize and 4 Inquisition split. 2 Thoughtseize makes sure you only shock yourself once with that card per game, if that. And I want to Thoughtseize/Inquisiton my opponent every single game if possible. What do you think?

[Chubu!]

Volrath's Stronghold is a fantastic suggestion. I'm going to play two of them instead of the 4 Wasteland for a couple of reasons...

1.) Wasteland isn't all that hot when you're not playing Sinkholes to supplement it, and esp, not in a slowish deck like this.

I've felt the same way at times, and still, after much testing, opted to cut 2 Strongholds from my build of The Gate, in favor of 4 Wasteland. Both Stronghold and Waste are good, I just found that I was getting more of a boost from Wastes, than from Stronghold. Shriekmaw could tip the scales in favor of Stronghold. I'll be interested to hear more, and test more. See if you find that Stronghold is not coming online until too late in the game. That's what happened to me. By "coming online," I'm referring specifically to having the mana on the board to both activate Stronghold and utilize the recurred creature in the same turn. I make this distinction because Stronghold generally draws a Wasteland faster than one can say "pass turn." In the case of this deck, that looks like at least five lands, one being Stronghold.


2.) Playing 4 colorless lands is too much for this deck. Gatekeeper needs triple black. Hymn needs double black to be a turn two play. And all your creaturess need double black plus a colorless, so games where you draw 2 colored sources become near unplayable.

It is definitely a concern of mine. Making the switch (in The Gate) from the two Strongholds/20 basics I was running, to the 4 Wastes/18 basics suggested by the OP (Hollywood) did result in a few more mulligans. However, I still feel it was the right choice, in that context. Again, Shriekmaw may be the deciding factor in the decision for this deck. You may also consider cutting a Gatekeeper for another Shriekmaw. Just a thought.


I'm now trying a 2 Thoughtseize and 4 Inquisition split. 2 Thoughtseize makes sure you only shock yourself once with that card per game, if that. And I want to Thoughtseize/Inquisiton my opponent every single game if possible. What do you think?

I think it makes sense to me. I've tried a 3/3 split between Duress and Inquisition with the Gate, and I liked it. Again, just couldn't decide what to cut, so I stick with the OP list, for the most part. Note that a list running six 1-drop discard spells, plus a full set each of Rituals and Hymns starts to look really Tempo-ish to me. Wasteland, and maybe even Sinkhole work well in Tempo packages, I've heard. :) Then again, maybe that would be overspecialization. An hour of testing is worth pages of speculation, in my experience.

Are you from the Cleveland area? I just noted your sig. and it sounds familiar.

[Mono_Thematic]

I've too have been building a deck like this, and I found Night's Whisper / Sign in Blood to be great. At least in my version I found that I often times had nothing to do T2 after dropping mad bombs on T1 (you can't always have a Hymn in hand) so NW/SiB ended up being perfect for breathing new life into a spent hand. Plus it really helps to build a GY for tombstalker to eat.
It's just something you might wanna look into if you find that you run out of gas too often or too fast

[Captain Hammer]

Sign in Blood is a great suggestion. I love that I can use it as a Shock to finish off an opponent as well. I'll try to find room for it to try out.

Chubu! Yes, I am from around that area actually. You might be right about Wasteland. I'll make a note of which ends up being better.

But my signature is actually a reference to the excellent show "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" and has nothing do with Ohio.

[Chubu!]

I'm moving back to the Cleveland area in a few weeks, and would like to think about putting a Legacy weekly together, if there isn't already one in the area. I saw your sig. and wondered if you used to run meathooks at Warzone Matrix a year or so ago. Any idea if the weekly Legacy listed on their website is going on? I haven't seen a post for it on the Source.

Of course, all this is assuming you live in the Cleveland area, at the moment. Sorry to stray so far off-topic. Just piqued my curiosity.

[Captain Hammer]

Actually I live in the Columbus area. I never played meathooks or been to warzone. I did see you at comictown 10 or so days ago playing The Gate. I know small world right. :eek:

[Captain Hammer]

Actually I live in the Columbus area. I never played meathooks or been to warzone. I did see you at comictown 10 or so days ago playing The Gate. Or atleast I think it was you because you made a reference to playing The Gate in a tourney with 3 Reanimator decks. I know small world right. :eek: