[Deck] Dark Stax

[Browncoat]

I wanted to try and make a mono-black stax here is what i have so far any opinions and/or suggestions would be much apprciated


// Lands
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [EX] City of Traitors
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
8 [LRW] Swamp (1)

// Creatures
4 [RAV] Dark Confidant
4 [TO] Nantuko Shade

// Spells
3 [US] Smokestack
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
4 [FE] Hymn to Tourach (3)
3 [10E] Crucible of Worlds
3 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
4 [DS] Trinisphere
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
4 [SH] Mox Diamond

[No_Life_No_Future]

how about:
Braids, Cabal Minion
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

[trollwarrior_666]

1) Ancient Tomb + Thoughtseize + Dark Confidant (with lots of high CC cards) = far too much lifeloss.
2) Chalice of the Void + 7 cards with CMC 1 and 15 cards with CMC 2 = lots of useless cards. Chalice is one of your most important lockpieces, and @1 and 2 it counters a lot of stuff, so you should avoid playing cards with those manacost.
3) Nantuko Shade, I doubt you have enough black mana sources to really abuse this guy.
4) 20 lands is not enough if you want to play Mox Diamond regularly. You want to play 24 at least.
5) Braids and Urborg are auto includes because they're great.
I played Black Stax a while ago, but I didn't find it powerfull enough.

[lolosoon]

Plenty of good criticism
I'll add :
Graveborn Muse > Phyrexian Arena > Dark Confidant
LockPieces > Discard package
Aggro > DarkStax (if you don't pack at least some Damnations)

And maybe that last one :
Tombstalker//Shriekmaw > Shade


Also :
WhiteStax > DarkStax


Still, I think black has little to offer to Stax beside Braid and at a lesser point GraveBorn Muse (WhiteStax's drawing engine are so bad ! see: Bottled Cloiser or Crucible + Horizon Canopy), but a W/b build (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2973) could be playable. Vindicate is such a house...

[thefreakaccident]

Vindicate is difficult to incorperate into a dedicated stax deck, as you tend to run plenty of colorless producent lands, and having double mana requirements (of two different colors mind you) can be straining on the manabase and the deck itself.

If you want something of this sort however (with braids I mean), try a GBW midrange w/ LD as a feature:

(Mind, this is just a pet idea, I don't think it could be very competative)

lands//23
3 wasteland
4 bayou
4 scrubland
1 volrath's stronghold
4 windswept heath
2 bloodstained mire
2 swamp
1 cabal pit
2 mishra's factory


creatures//11
4 braids, cabal minion
4 tarmogoyf
3 nantuku shade

spells//26
4 vindicate
4 sinkhole
4 thoughtseize
4 swords to plowshares
4 pernicious deed
2 crucible of worlds
4 hymm to tourach


sideboard//
4 extirpate
3 krosan grip
2 serenity
2 pithing needle
4 engineered plague


Again, the deck isn't very competative, but it does seem to fit what you are looking for.