Sorrow's Path (mono black bride of Frankenstein)

[Weapon X]

So we’ve been having our legacy league going on for some time now and I continue to try to play a different deck every event. Well I have been wanting to update my bride of young Frankenstein list from years ago to try to see if it could be improved. I managed to cut white but it just felt like reanimator in goldfishing. But then I stumbled across sedgemoor witch and I realized I could probably make an even better mono colour version now; enter sorrow’s path.

1 griselbrand
1 archon of cruelty
1 grave titan
1 Phyrexian obliterator
1 cabal therapist
4 grief
3 Sheoldred, the apocalypse
3 sedgemoor witch
4 orcish bowmasters
4 dauthi voidwalker
4 dark confidant
4 reanimate
4 entomb
4 dark ritual
4 lotus petal
2 lake of the dead
4 prismatic vista
12 swamp

Sideboard
3 rotting regisaur
1 unearth
1 opposition agent
4 bone shards
3 faerie macabre
3 feed the swarm



Turn 1 grave titan, scam into six power, etc have been some amazing plays so far. Dark confidant now finds a main deck slot over the old sideboard position it used to hold. Being able to get cards back is super important when you can use most of your hand on turn 1. This was even more compounded when I had unmask main as well. The aggro/reanimator sideboard plan helped me preserve life totals while pressuring even more damage. That all said the sideboard could still use some work. Not quite sure what it needs. I do think a null rod will be critical going forward though. Regardless of all that I have 1 tournament played with 1 first place with it. There’s something here. The idea is stronger now then it’s ever been.

[FTW]

Interesting deck.

Why is it called Sorrow's Path? I was hoping to see a brew with 4x Sorrow's Path and then got confused by mono black ReScaminator with Sedgemoor Witch.

Overall the deck looks strong. Reanimator is strong, and the scam plan is strong now.

Why the maindeck Dark Confidant? Bob is very risky in a deck that pays life to Reanimate and then can randomly reveal another 8 cmc. The usual way to refill hand is 7/7 Yawgmoth's Bargain. Why not do more of that maindeck, then leave Confidant as a SB option if you want to board out of graveyard dependence vs hate? Bob's card draw does avoid Bowmaster blowouts, but then Bob dies to Bowmasters anyway. If you're worried about walking into Bowmasters, you could play more Atraxa, Grand Unifier instead.

For example, you could go up to 4x Griselbrand and move the Regisaurs to maindeck (as an alternate way to put fatty in graveyard). Then postboard you can always sub out some of the reanimate plan for 4 Dark Confidant and interaction.

What does Sedgemoor Witch offer? You don't have the combo with Chain of Smog (although that might be good in a Reanimator shell as a discard outlet) or even Cabal Therapy (Cabal Therapist doesn't create 2 tokens). There aren't even that many spells. The deck is creature heavy compared to Monastery Mentor decks (Witch is kind of like black Mentor if you play it fairly without the infinite combo).

[Weapon X]

Sorrows path because when I was motivated to try to revive my bride of young Frankenstein list I had just played solidarity. So as a nod to my past, name the deck after a bad card.

Bobs main from goldfishing and how I had them board in the original. It’s risk/reward really. You can get 6+ power out turn 1, and a lot of the “safe” damage is unblockable. That said I found I would dump my hand really fast so I need a way to recover. Bowmasters exist and bob gets around that.

Not that I’m worried about bowmaster, but it can really hurt that draw plan by killing your. Reanimate draw seven puts you to five. A flashed bowmaster can kill you right there and you don’t really want to play the safe game if you’re into the fast reanimate. That said grave titan is easily the best target in most situations anyway. 2 turn clock, castable if bounced, and leaves bodies behind.

Sedgemoor started in as a replacement for young pyromancer. The original plan was therapy and yp. There was also bloodghast and dread return which I feel aren’t as valuable now. But that package was strong collectively, the scam package just negates most of that on its own. Sedgemoor creates an evasive body with some incremental life gain/bodies which I’d say is more relevant in sideboard. Therapist then gives me some extra discard which I found lost value fast from me depleting my hand. At worse I get one more evasive body out of him.

Feel like I’m starting to ramble. But gist is reanimator that can play castable threats very aggressively is strong, especially with the creatures black has been getting. I thing more games will help me sort out a sideboard plan which will in turn affect the main deck. As it stands now however the deck is fire.

[Captain Hammer]

Since you're playing Reanimate, why not play Troll of Khazad-dum? It's amazing in your list. It's basically Phyrexian Obliterator + Entomb + Ponder for Swamp all combined into one card.

Also Sedgmemoor Witch doesn't belong in a deck that only plays a total of 12 instants/sorceries.

Legacy combo decks are fast and resilient, it's better to play anticombo threats like Opposition Agent instead and some Thoughtseizes as well so that you actually have a chance of beating fast combo.

And I love Dark Confidant but it's a bad idea in a list with Reanimates and a bunch of 8cc spells, in a meta full of Bowmasters that ping x/1 creatures.

Here is a similar list I am playing that doesn't have the above three problems...

//Lands: 18
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Swamp
4 Agadeem's Awakening
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

//Acceleration: 7
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual

//Creatures: 25
4 Orcish Bowmasters
4 Opposition Agent
4 Grief
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
3 Troll of Khazad-dum
2 Dauthi Voidwalker
2 Rotting Regisaur
2 Shriekmaw
1 Plague Engineer

//Other: 10
4 Reanimate
3 Thoughtseize
2 The One Ring
1 Trinisphere

It's just a starting point, I'm sure you can improve on it and make it more Frankensteiny.

For example, I am considering going...
-2 The One Ring
-1 Urborg
+1 Troll
+1 Thoughtseize
+1 Animate Dead

[Weapon X]

Troll, opp agent, plague engineer… they were all main originally. They felt unnecessary in goldfishing since I was alblento do something more powerful.

Bob I’ve played in a lot of decks with higher curves. I’m not worried about 2 eight drops out of 60. I’d also argue that bowmaster killing bob says bob is more threatening then me taking 8 or any amount of life for a card from him.

And I feel like people don’t like me saying it, but the scam package has been more then enough discard. Like I’ve mentioned, I played unmask originally too because you want that crushing turn 1. The games show me that my hand disappears fast and that’s the actual problem. That’s where bob comes in. He keeps the fair side of the deck relevant. Being able to side into an unearth reanimator plan was actually great. Going that route I actually sided in more spells to. There’s a fine line there. I think that’s the trickiest part.

[FTW]

If the fear is Bowmasters (in response to big draw), Bowmasters also kills Bob. Drawing 2 cards a turn is also a slow way to refill the hand when you dump the hand so explosively. There are other solutions available in the Reanimator suite. Atraxa, Grand Unifier is an alternate 7/7 flying lifelinker that puts cards in your hand without "draw"ing them. It's a safer target to Reanimate and refill your hand if you're worried about Bowmasters. It also avoids paying more life after casting Reanimate. Reanimate decks are pivoting more towards that.

Monoblack Reanimator has also used Vilis, Broker of Blood as a way to draw without paying more life after casting a big Reanimate. Since you don't have Exhume or Animate Dead, you may prefer Vilis to Griselbrand. He will draw 8 with Reanimate, without paying another 7 life (the order of text on Reanimate means Vilis sees Reanimate's life loss). After that he continues to have "B: Draw 2". His ability also kills Bowmasters at instant speed.

Edit: Nevermind, his ability actually loses infinite life to Bowmasters at instant speed due to the order of the stack. As a rule of thumb, do not put infinite combos on opponent's stack.

[Captain Hammer]

Troll, opp agent, plague engineer… they were all main originally. They felt unnecessary in goldfishing since I was alblento do something more powerful.
...
And I feel like people don’t like me saying it, but the scam package has been more then enough discard.

How is making an occasional 1/1 more powerful than stopping all opposing tutors and fetchlands? Goldfishing isn't a reliable way to assess a cards importance. In this meta, actual opponents will very quickly show you how vitally important Oppo Agent and Thoughtseize are. I do agree with you that Unmask is garbage. But TS is no Unmask. Lotus Petal is also garbage in Bowmasters lists like this one that need to grind out some of their wins.

If you wish on play Witch, you need atleast 18 instants/sorceries minimum to make it worth including. Both our lists should be playing Cling to Dust as a 1 of. Any monoblack list not playing Chalice should. Its a black 1 mana cantrip that doubles as disruption or life gain in a pinch. And Regisaur isn't matchup dependent enough to be a side board card. If you like it, I would maindeck it and replace it's slots in the board with something like Plague Engineer or Leyline of the Void.

[FTW]

Troll, opp agent, plague engineer… they were all main originally. They felt unnecessary in goldfishing since I was alblento do something more powerful.

FoW and StP often feel unnecessary in goldfishing. They're some of the best interaction in the game.

Imho goldfishing is not useful for assessing interactive cards and strategies. I goldfish a lot when developing combo decks (which are less interactive and more about if the deck construction is right to go off consistently), but goldfishing won't show the true value of cards like Plague Engineer, Opposition Agent, etc. You need interactive games to find out.

Cabal Therapist is a card that looks a lot better goldfishing than in practice. Being 1-2 turns slower and more disruptable than Cabal Therapy ends up mattering a lot in real games. Also, Cabal Therapist doesn't have the same combo with Sedgemoor Witch/YP that real Cabal Therapy does.

[Weapon X]

A main goal of the design is that everything is castable. Atraxa is not mono black so that will make it difficult. But again a turn one grave titan is a 2 turn clock on its own. I need the cards after the explosive turn should something happen.

Stopping tutors is good, but if you’ve already won did it matter? That’s also where I’ve moved into. Some of those cards are beyond strong, but I need to cast them. If I’ve already done something game winning that point is moot. At worst something like sedgemoor gives an unblockable body that can die if needed. Opposition agent isn’t the same in that respect.

Cling to dust isn’t necessary to me. I already have 4 voidwalkers main which has actually made me consider helm/leyline as a sideboard plan. Aggro decks that can threaten a combo are strong.

You’re not wrong about FoW and plow in goldfishing. How can you judge interaction when there is none? That said my goldfishing of the deck was to see how hands play out, which is combo in some shape. Scam has proven to be enough disruption in the tournament I just won. The hiccups only happened if my opponents could find interaction and as I continue to mention that because I can blow my load so fast, that’s where I can falter. And through actual gameplay I’ve seen then I can recover with what I have already.

Just consider therapist a fun of. It’s additional disruption that I don’t feel is needed, but it’s available if you do.

[FTW]

Opposition Agent doesn't just stop tutors. In a dark ritual deck, it's a turn 1 flash Confiscate on their fetchland, then Suppression Field on their next lands. You can manascrew them out of the game or at least steal a land and slow down their ability to interact/disrupt you. They may even be afraid to crack fetches if you hold up even 1 black land, buying you tempo. Combined with the existence of Bowmaster (afraid to cantrip into open black mana), you can really slow down fair blue decks' development & interaction just by leaving Swamps untapped. You won't have turn 1 Entomb+Reanimate every game, and these lines help in those other games. These are modes you may miss goldfishing but that arise in real games.

Ok, if you want only monoblack threats what about Vilis, Broker of Blood over Griselbrand? Both get blown out by Bowmaster, but the rest of the time Vilis loses you less life and still draws a lot of cards. Vilis was often preferred for Reanimate lines (Griselbrand is better with Exhume/Animate Dead).

The point of getting Griselbrand/Vilis/Atraxa on turn 1 is that if your threat gets disrupted, your hand got refilled. Grave Titan doesn't do that. If it gets Plowed, It leaves behind 2 2/2s instead of 5-8 cards. The bodies are good, but a fresh hand is better. Grave Titan is usually monoB Reanimator's plan B not plan A. If you went for a draw creature on turn 1, then you don't have to solve the empty hand issue on turn 2. Grave Titan is better sometimes though (hardcast, Karakas, Edicts).

Otherwise, for turn 2 hand refilling, what about some of the Bob knock-offs that only cost 1 life to draw? Or any other draw engine? You're unlikely to reveal 8cmc with Bob, but you also have 8 4s and a couple 3s. It's not a low curve. Even when Bob decks did risk a couple expensive slots (Tombstalker), they usually weren't -10ing themselves too (fetches & Reanimate). Combining Bob with the Reanimate plan is what seems risky. There must be some other way to recover cards.

[Zoid]

Opposition Agent doesn't just stop tutors. In a dark ritual deck, it's a turn 1 flash Confiscate on their fetchland, then Suppression Field on their next lands. You can manascrew them out of the game or at least steal a land and slow down their ability to interact/disrupt you. They may even be afraid to crack fetches if you hold up even 1 black land, buying you tempo. Combined with the existence of Bowmaster (afraid to cantrip into open black mana), you can really slow down fair blue decks' development & interaction just by leaving Swamps untapped. You won't have turn 1 Entomb+Reanimate every game, and these lines help in those other games. These are modes you may miss goldfishing but that arise in real games.

Ok, if you want only monoblack threats what about Vilis, Broker of Blood over Griselbrand? Both get blown out by Bowmaster, but the rest of the time Vilis loses you less life and still draws a lot of cards. Vilis was often preferred for Reanimate lines (Griselbrand is better with Exhume/Animate Dead).

The point of getting Griselbrand/Vilis/Atraxa on turn 1 is that if your threat gets disrupted, your hand got refilled. Grave Titan doesn't do that. If it gets Plowed, It leaves behind 2 2/2s instead of 5-8 cards. The bodies are good, but a fresh hand is better. Grave Titan is usually monoB Reanimator's plan B not plan A. If you went for a draw creature on turn 1, then you don't have to solve the empty hand issue on turn 2. Grave Titan is better sometimes though (hardcast, Karakas, Edicts).

Otherwise, for turn 2 hand refilling, what about some of the Bob knock-offs that only cost 1 life to draw? Or any other draw engine? You're unlikely to reveal 8cmc with Bob, but you also have 8 4s and a couple 3s. It's not a low curve. Even when Bob decks did risk a couple expensive slots (Tombstalker), they usually weren't -10ing themselves too (fetches & Reanimate). Combining Bob with the Reanimate plan is what seems risky. There must be some other way to recover cards.

Vilis seems really bad because it's an auto loss to Bowmasters unless you have B open or another way of removing them instantly.

Castle Locthwain might be an option if you can find swamps reliably enough to not to not have it come in tapped.
Othewise Volrath's Stronghold to win by quality/infinite Bowmasters.
Or just more rings as everyone else seems to be doing.

[Weapon X]

I’ll put opposition agent into this category: I haven’t played a deck yet where I feel it’s needed. Not arguing over what it does, I just don’t think this is a deck for it. I think it really shines in tempo where it can fulfil multiple roles, but that’s not quite the goal here.


I had considered vilis, but actually couldn’t find mine before then tournament. That said I feel like just having lifelink is a boon. I did want to jam nighthawks in the deck on that note.

I was looking at Call of the ring. I don’t know how good in practice it would be. And on that note I could also go the black helm route to change things further. That may be where I want to be but at the same time that makes the deck more midrange and I don’t want to be there on purpose.

[FTW]

Hmm if you want lifelink and evasive beats more than Oppo Agent's disruption, then what about Nighthawk Scavenger?

I think Zoid meant The One Ring. It's the default card engine right now, although 4 cmc is slow for you.

There's also Phyrexian Arena, losing only 1 life per card and being harder to remove than Bob. 3cmc may be a turn slower than you want though.

Or you can splash blue for Day's Undoing-type effects to refill your hand in 1 shot. It makes up the card disadvantage from dumping your hand turn 1 (much faster than Bob), and its hilarious with 4 Bowmasters 3 Sheoldred.

[Weapon X]

I may have to go back into the tank with it. Regardless I already feel like I’m on the right track.

Scavenger is a card I keep forgetting about and always want to use.

[Captain Hammer]

I may have to go back into the tank with it. Regardless I already feel like I’m on the right track.

Scavenger is a card I keep forgetting about and always want to use.

I am opting for Regisaur over Scavenger because it doesnt die to bolt, it clocks faster, it doesnt get hurt by leylines/graveyard hate and its easier on the manabase. The discard clause isnt a negative as long as its among the last cards you cast (very doable as a 2 of at near the top of our curve) and it sometimes has positive synergy with Reanimate/Animate Dead, but the fact that it can be chump blocked is a definite disadvantage so I could see how Scavenger makes sense.

As long as youre going back into the tank with the deck anyway. Take a copy of the below list with you to try out. You can then decide for yourself as to whether the people here recommending this route and cards like Oppo Agent have a point. Lots of things you can tweak in regards to the manabase and metaslots like Shriekmaw, Plague Engineer, Regisaur and Voidwalker. The One Ring was just a hair too slow and I ended up cutting it but its a solid card overall.

Scaminator
//Lands: 17
2-3 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4-5 Swamp
4 Agadeem's Awakening
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

//Acceleration: 7
3 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual

//Creatures: 26
4 Orcish Bowmasters
4 Opposition Agent
4 Grief
4 Troll of Khazad-dum

3 Dauthi Voidwalker
3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
2 Rotting Regisaur
1 Shriekmaw
1 Plague Engineer

//Other: 10
4 Reanimate
4 Thoughtseize
1 Animate Dead
1 Trinisphere

With a slightly different manabase, the deck could support 4 Voidwalker and Hymn to Tourachs since discard effects synergize so well with Voidwalkers and the Animate effects.