Orzhova Church of Planeswalkers

[Galrael]

I've always loved creatureless decks; the idea of using planeswalkers for win conditions and BW just happens to be my favorite color combo. So I present to you an interesting idea:

2 Elspeth
2 Lilianna
2 Sorin
4 Dark ritual
4 Hymn to Tourach
3 duress
3 inquisition/thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Diabolic Edict
3 Innocent Blood
4 Nights Whisper
3 SDT
3 Smother

4 Scrubland
4 Marsh Flats
3 Blodstained Mire
4 Swamp
2 Plains
4 Wasteland

SB
3 Perish
3 Hide//Seek
4 E.tutor
1 Ethersworn
1 Tormods Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon

I realize that this deck needs something but I'm not sure what. Maybe it just needs to be scrapped but let me
lay out my reasoning.

Planeswalkers: Elspeth is an easy choice her only downside is WW in a black leaning deck. I like lilianna for the control aspect and with so many creatures in the yard if her super ability does go off then it's crazy. Sorin is a great card if he can hit play instantly putting your opponent at 10 is always nice.

Discard Suite: Without blue this deck needs a way to get rid of counters and this is it. Whether you pull
one or they counter one that you play that is still one less counter for you planeswalkers. It also gives me a decent matchup against Combo pre board and great post board. Discard is all around great. The only decision to make here is Inquisition vs Thoughtsieze.

Removal Suite: Putting together a list of the best targetted and non-targetted removal hopefully guarantees keeping creatures of the table from beating my face in or my planeswalkers.

SDT and Night's Whisper are interesting choices. In this slot I feel like Bob is just eating whatever removal they would have. And Nights whisper forces a counter or I draw situation. SDT is nice for digging for what I need.

Land base is pretty simple. Still playing with it though and debating a few Tombs or Traitors to play Walkers
early.

Sideboard still needs work but I'm open to ideas.

Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism.

[hungryLIKEALION]

Considering none of your win-cons recur, I think you need more than 4 (Because Liliana will rarely act as a win con.)

In addition, your combo matchup is HORRENDOUS because even if you rape their hand in the early turns, they will be able to draw into more action with ease by the turn 409839520 that you finally kill them due to the fact that your deck has no clock whatsoever. And they won't be the least bit scared of the 1 ethersworn canonist you tutor for.

[Greenpoe]

I'd say either replace Night's Whisper with Phyrexian Arena or drop it completely. +1 card for 2 mana and 2 life is not a good deal. I've seen so many decks try it, but as they evolve they always drop it, especially with cards like Street Wraith which really make it obvious that Night's Whisper is bad: 2 life and zero mana for "Draw a card" is bad, so why would 2 life and TWO mana be any better?

[Roman Candle]

I'd say either replace Night's Whisper with Phyrexian Arena or drop it completely. +1 card for 2 mana and 2 life is not a good deal. I've seen so many decks try it, but as they evolve they always drop it, especially with cards like Street Wraith which really make it obvious that Night's Whisper is bad: 2 life and zero mana for "Draw a card" is bad, so why would 2 life and TWO mana be any better?

Wait, what? Night's Whisper draws two cards, Street Wraith draws one. You're confusing a cantrip with a +1, there is a big difference.

Consider Skeletal Scrying in the CA slot. I also don't like discard in this type of deck. You can't generate the tempo needed to take advantage of it. You're better off playing more removal and making them waste a turn laying down their threat and then removing it than you are dealing with it before they commit to it. You don't need it to answer removal, since you play no creatures. The only thing it really helps with is counters, but even those are pretty easy to draw out and play around. In addition, you should really consider Mishra's Factory, your manabase can easily support it and it provides you with a legitimate wincon.

I'd really like to see a recurring wincon in here, but I can't for the life of me think of one. Dread and Purity die to StP, and you don't really have the critical mass of fetchlands to play Worm Harvest. There's Death of a Thousand Stings, but despite it being one of my favorite cards ever, its pretty bad. At least play Decree of Justice, since while its not recurring, its pretty inevitable considering nobody plays Wrath anymore.

Dark Ritual is also pretty bad in this kind of deck. You want to grind the opponent out, and giving them a free +1 is not the way to do it. Its especially bad when you drop the discard.

You definitely want Damnation in here too. Quite possibly some number of Wraths as well.

Just throw the combo matchup. You're never going to win it.

[from Cairo]

This seems worse than conventional control - Landstill, Ultimate Walker, etc. You gain literally nothing from going base Black over base Blue. Counters are generally better than discard, unless you're capitalizing on the disruption with some sort of clock. The above deck seems devoid of means of card advantage, which is really the only perk to playing a control deck (Dark Ritual is the opposite of what most control decks are looking for).

Replacing counters with discard, means investing mana preemptively (and not having a possible FOW to Turn 1 plays on the draw) and being susceptible to top decks. Not running Blue means your card parity/advantage engine is going to be inferior to a Blue control deck (ie no Brainstorm, Ponder, Jace, Ancestral Visions/Standstill) - Night's Whisper, Skeletal Scrying and Phyrexian Arena are all subpar. As a result of a subpar draw/manipulation suite your stuck running a bazillion 1 for 1 creature answers.

I would either look at something like Trainwreck if you're looking for Black based control (I don't think Black is the optimal color to run a control deck, but if it's what you want to play it's at least a tuned deck with some card advantage). Or look at some evolution of Pikula's Homebrew (or Eva Green which is better) if looking to stay Black disruption, as those decks actually have clocks to capitalize on the disruption. Or if you're looking to play a Planeswalker late game control deck, I'd look at some sort of Speedstill / Ultimate Walker hybrid and adjust the bombs according to your meta.