-Why did I choose Ob Nixilis- Ob Nixilis, the Fallen has an ability that is begging to be played, built around, broke. Every time a land comes into play, Ob Nixilis channels his inner Major League Baseball player and juices to get big fast. Just like a majority of MLB players who say they only juiced to heal injuries, Ob Nixilis is looking to heal that injury, the hole left in his soul, from his spark falling out. And he is filling it with your life.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen works as a deck that can be extremely fast, Ob, himself, coming out turn's one, two, or three isn't far fetched.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen works as a deck that can also be a mono black control variant. Using mass removal, mass discard, to clear a path for either Ob Nixilis to swing in later in the game, as a big beat stick, or winning off of things like Death Cloud, Consume Spirit, etc.
-Deck History- For a long time, my favorite general to play in EDH was Korlash, Heir to Blackblade. He was simply a blast to play. The deck was basically mono black control/voltron, and could win in various amounts of ways. My meta became aware of how fragile Korlash can be. Destroy all my lands, and you'll never see Korlash again. So Korlash started to lose a lot.
I still wanted to play a mono black EDH deck, but was having trouble in deciding upon a new general. I needed a general who could hold it's own in a one on one match up, but could also do well in mutliplayer. I couldn't play Braids, Cabal Minion due to it getting banned. Also had seen other mono black EDH decks and wasn't to high on them. Maga, Traitor to Mortals seemed better suited to see play as general for one on one matches. Volrath the Fallen required more creatures than I wanted to play with this deck. I was about to give up and scrap the mono black idea.
So while taking the deck apart (unsleeving, storing the cards back in my collection), I looked at Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, and said to myself, “This could be good, and I believe I really could use most of my old Korlash deck to build this.” Never looked back since.
-You might be asking yourself, “Why should I play Ob Nixilis, the Fallen in EDH?” - You want a general and a deck that is solid and able to stand on its own, yet not a broken one that will get you hated off the table immediately. (Credit to Surging Chaos from his Captain Sisay EDH Primer. Couldn't of said/typed anything better.) - You enjoy the interactions of every aspect of the game. Player interaction included. - You love black and want to play with some of the most powerful black cards printed. - You like being able to answer almost anything. - You enjoy a deck that can come out screaming, but not gas out later in the game.
-You might be asking yourself, “Why shouldn't I play Ob Nixilis, the Fallen in EDH?” - You want a general that is a one hit wonder. (aka linear strategies) - You want to win the first time you sleeve this list up and play - You hate shuffling - You don't want to play mono color in EDH
-Card Choices Explanined- THIS NEEDS TO BE EDITED
Artifacts
Board Advantage Crucible of Worlds, Mimic Vat, Rings of Brighthearth
Both of these cards will work to keep annoying cards in check. Crucible of Worlds can obviously set up the nasty every turn Strip Mine play, as well as allow you to cast Pox or Death Cloud to control a wide amount of opponents, while being able to re-establish your board quickly. Mimic Vat is simply nuts. Take away your opponent's creatures or abuse one of your own. Too good. Rigns of Brighthearth is amazing. It can produce infinite mana with Cabal Coffers + Deserted Temple, it can have planeswalker abilities happen twice (ever put two players to ten life before?), it can allow double activations of Necropotence (pay 2 mana instead of 1 more life), Strip Mine/Wasteland, Maze of Ith, Fetchlands, Expedition Map, Fate counters for Oblivion Stone, Sensei's Divining Top, and so on. Way good.
Equipments Lightning Greaves, Umezawa's Jitte, Whispersilk Cloak
Despite running a deck with a very low amount of creatures, EDH is a format where you most of the time have one creature available, your general. Therefore this deck runs the (IMO) best three equipments in the format.
Lightning Greaves – The granting of haste Lightning Greaves brings is amazing. Imagine equipping this to the Dark Depth's token you happen to make on your first main phase? It's zero equip cost is what really puts it over the top. Whispersilk Cloak would be the equipment of choice if not for that zero equip cost. We already know the benefits of shroud this card brings.
Whispersilk Cloak - Amazing! Shroud and unblockable, deal with it before I equip Ob with it.
Manafacts Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Grim Monolith, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring
Extraplanar Lens and Gauntlet of Power both act as one sided Mana Flare's. Extraplanar Lens single handily gives you the reason to be playing those Snow-Covered Swamps. The loss of one land that Extraplanar Lens doesn't do you any harm. Gauntlet of Power is the Mirari's Wake for the mono-color EDH player. The others are obvious.
Removal Nevinyrral's Disk, Oblivion Stone
These cards simply are the only answers to those annoying Artifacts and Enchantments we might be seeing across the table
Tutorfacts Expedition Map, Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top
These cards allow us to manipulate our deck, and our game plan Expedition Map allows us to find lands to trigger landfall, but Expedition Map is the superior of the two, allowing us to grab any land the deck runs. Scroll Rack, and Sensei's Divining Top I am not going to explain.
Creatures
Bombs Grave Titan, It That Betrays
Grave Titan is amazing/ Allows sweet board advantage, and with Graveborn Muse, the card draw is absurd. It That Betrays can create absurd board advantage when played along with spells that make your opponent's sac things.
Card Draw Graveborn Muse
A Phyrexian Arena on a 3/3 stick
Disruption/Graveyard Hate Nezumi Graverobber, Withered Wretch
Allows you to stop your opponent's game plan. Nezumi Graverobber will let you beat in with all those critters you damned away. Withered Wretch, kill it and your graveyard is gone. Also generates card draw with Graveborn Muse
Manadorks Magus of the Coffers, Nirkana Revenant, Solemn Simulacrum
These two will allow you to gain control/advantage of the game. Magus of the Coffers is basically Cabal Coffers number two. Nirkana Revenant is a mana flare with built in "firebreathing", awesome. Solemn Simulacrum will trigger a landfall affect if Ob is in play. He is an amazing chump blocker, and will be a frequent target of Beacon of Unrest
Recursion Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Xiahou Dun is the black version of Eternal Witness. Any black card coming back to your hand is amazing card advantage.
Removal Bane of the Living, Drana Kalastra Bloodchief, Duplicant, Steel Hellkite, Sundering Titan
These cards will be answers to complicated things you might cross. Such as indestructible or creatures with shroud. Sundering Titan is one of the decks few ways to strip a player of the resource known as basic land. Drana can handle Gaddock Teeg. Steel Hellkite helps agaisnt those pesky artifacts and enchantments.
Utility Vampire Hexmage
Hexmage is super useful, not only is it part of the Dark Depths combo, but you can force players to use there jitte counters, or kill a planeswalker
Enchantments
Card Draw Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena
All of the above can draw you cards
Utility
Bloodchief Ascension
This is a huge win condition. Get it active, cast Death Cloud, Pox, and/or All is Dust, you will win the game.
Instants
Removal Diabolic Edict, Tendrils of Corruption
Diabolic Edict is simple enough, instant speed sacrifice. Tendrils adds to that life resource this deck loves to use.
Tutor Vampiric Tutor
I'm not explaining this one
Utility Imp's Mischief, Suffer the Past
Blue and Red are the color's that redirect spells, and I can't think of any other spell (non artifact) that can remove a graveyard at instant speed. Suffer the Past can win games, period. Instant speed GY hate w/ Drain Life.
Land
Big Black Mana Sources Cabal Coffers, Lake of the Dead, Urborg Tomb of Yagwmoth
Cabal Coffers fuels such spells as Consume Spirit and Drain Life. Urborg somewhat does the same thing, just fuels Mutilate and Tendrils of Corruption more than the other two. Urborg also allows Sundering Titan to destroy pesky lands your opponent's might control, because they are now swamps. Lake of the Dead works as a mana accelerate, as well as the most useful land after you Pox'd the board to hell, and control a Crucible of Worlds.
Card Advantage Reliquary Tower
Tower's built in Spellbook ability is great at maintaining card advantage, and allows you to be able to cast Death Cloud at an absurd cost, but still be the one with the card advantage.
Combo Dark Depths
Mentioned earlier in the explanation of Vampire Hexmage. Two card combo for a Twenty/Twenty flying indestructible creature.
Fetchs/Multiple Landfall Triggers in one turn Bloodstained Mire, Esper Panorama, Grixis Panorama, Jund Panorama, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Thawing Glaciers, Verdant Catacombs
The section name says it all for these cards. Fuels Ob Nixilis, and thins the deck.
Removal Ghost Quarter, Strip Mine, Wasteland
Not explaining these.
Utility Bojuka Bog, Deserted Temple, Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, Shizo Death's Storehouse
Deserted Temple is amazing with Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, and Cabal Coffers. Shizo, Death's Storehouse, I site what I stated earlier about this very format. EDH is a format where you most of the time have one creature available, your general. And your general is Legendary, so why not be able to give him another form of evasion. Also can give the Marit Lage token evasion as well.
Planeswalkers
Liliana Vess, Sorin Markov
Liliana is the perfect example of this deck. Make an opponent discard, tutor up an answer, recur all those creatures that stood in your way. Sorin on the other hand is a perfect example of a card that fits this deck. Removal that gains you life, big life swings at a fast pace, and controlling the tempo/evolution of the game.
Sorceries
Card Draw Ambition's Cost, Sign in Blood
All draw cards, at the cost of some of your life. Your life total changes drastically on a regular basis in this deck.
Removal All is Dust, Barter in Blood, Consume Spirit, Corrupt, Damnation, Death Cloud, Decree of Pain, Exsanguinate, Mutilate, Pox, Profane Command
As you can see, most of the removal is massive. Some make players (yourself included) discard cards, while others allow you to draw cards. When it comes to the spot removal for creatures, each of them can end the game by hitting a player, but the main point is they gain you life.
Recursion Beacon of Unrest, Yawgmoth's Will
Beacon of Unrest is very useful due to all the artifacts that the deck runs. Yawgmoth's Will is Yawg Win, so I'm not explaining that.
Tutor Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor
Just like Vampiric Tutor, I'm not explaining these.
-Cards you might want to play/Why aren't you playing _____?-
THIS NEEDS TO BE UPDATED WITH THE 50 BEST CARDS THREAD These are all cards from “The Top 35 Cards of Each Color” thread which can be found at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=161090. Obviously we are focusing on Black, but we will talk about artifacts and land as well.
Black
Avatar of Woe –Consider– Not really needed, but if you want more removal, and a nice beat stick, by all means.
Chainer, Dementia Master –Don't Play– The deck already plays Nezumi Graverobber and Beacon of Unrest, plus the deck already loses plenty of life as it is.
Contamination/Infernal Darkness –Don't Play– If you're worried about lands, tutor up some of the many ways to destroy land.
Dread –Consider– Sometimes those creature happen to make it through, make them pay for doing so.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni –Don't Play– It really make me sad to give this card the Don't Play tag, but seriously, eleven creatures in the deck. How often is the time gonna arise where you get to Ninjutsu Ink-Eyes in?
Insidious Dreams –Consider– Insanely powerful if you have Necropotence out.
Necrologia –Consider– More card draw can't hurt right?
Promise of Power –Consider– See Necrologia, also has the benefit of getting a huge creature.
Puppeteer Clique –Consider– The deck already plays Nezumi Graverobber and Beacon of Unrest, but unlike Chainer, Dementia Master, Puppeteer Clique's persist makes this card more attractive.
Reiver Demon –Don't Play– We want to kill Black creatures as well.
Rend Flesh –Don't Play– I don't understand the belief that this is a good card. I'd rather play Chill to the Bone (play this if you want a removal spell of this type) because the odds of seeing a spirit are greater than seeing a snow creature.
Coalition Relic –Consider– The manafacts in this deck should be cheaper and faster, but if you feel the deck need it.
Darksteel Colossus –Consider– An 11/11 beatstick is pretty good, but the creatures in the deck all serve a purpose in controlling the game, not just to beat in.
Mirari –Consider– This card can have some serious power in the deck. Copies of Mind Twist, Consume Spirit, etc, etc, etc, really really huge potential.
Relic of Progenitus –Don't Play– This deck uses it's graveyard in various different ways.
Sun Droplet –Don't Play– You lose a lot of life on your own. Sadly, that life loss doesn't trigger Sun Droplet.
Sword of Fire and Ice/Sword of Light and Shadow –Consider– Like I said earlier, despite only running eleven creatures, EDH is a format where you most of the time have one creature available. Fire and Ice/Light and Shadow allow your general to gain protection from up to eighty percent of the color pie.
Vedalken Orrery –Consider– Really helps your matchup against Mono Blue decks not named Arcum Daggson, or that run some nuts artifact engine.
Lands
Ancient Tomb –Consider– Can help you ramp out crazy spells early.
Gargoyle Castle –Don't Play– Gargoyle Castle, is a very good card, especially with Crucible, but Dark Depths already fills this spot and fills it well.
High Market –Don't Play– If you want to play something like this, look at the next card.
Miren, the Moaning Well –Consider– Someone is trying to Condemn/Spin into Myth your Ob Nixilis? Gain a ton of life off of him, and keep him as an option in the game.
Mishra's Factory –Don't Play– Only gonna be able to run one of these, won't really be able to put itself if active while attacking, but it could become a 3/3 blocker at best.
Mutavault –Consider– Man lands can be useful, especially ones that can draw you more cards with it's interactions with Graveborn Muse.
Temple of the False God –Don't Play– The deck won't see the benefit of this land fast enough. And the utility lands in this deck is a tight list.
Urza's Factory –Consider– 2/2's at the end out your opponent's turn isn't so bad.
Volrath's Stronghold –Consider– I know, I know, eleven creatures. I am preaching to the quire by now right? But, this doesn't need four creatures to be in the graveyard, just one.
Why are you giving a lot of card a consider rating, and not playing them?
Because if you plan on picking up the deck, you'll either net deck this list, or you'll customize it to your meta, play style, and/or needs. One of the best parts of Magic is deck building, and that is something I don't want to take away from you while your reading this primer.
-How to play this deck- I stated earlier that you can't just pick up this deck and expect to win. Do not, I repeat, do not, set yourself up to have a certain mindset at the game. React to the cards you draw, and what your opponent(s) do through out the game. Think your turn(s) out. Having a knowledge of what is in the deck will also help you think out what/when to react. Ob Nixilis, once again, as stated, can rush out the gates, or can be a mono black control variant. Card interaction knowledge will also get you further in the game, and grow your enjoyment in playing Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
-Strengths/Weaknesses- Strength: Resilience The best compliment this deck ever got was “For a mono colored deck, it really seems like it can handle anything. It literally seems to have aspects from other parts of the color pie, but stays true to its form”
Weaknesses: Artifact/Enchantment Combos Notice in the quote above it has the words “Seems like”, yeah this is where we get into trouble. Once these combos hit the field, this deck has a hard time dealing with them, as the only two options are Nevinyrral's Disk and Oblivion Stone. Disrupting hands and mana bases will also help. Keep cards like Academy Ruins and Hanna Ship's Navigator out of play as much as possible. Remove them quickly.
-Some Card Interactions- Crucible of Worlds + Ghost Quarter/Strip Mine/Wasteland In my opinion, the best, but most annoying lock, any deck can play.
Crucible of Worlds + Fetchlands Reusable deck thinning, and consistent landfall triggers for Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
Extraplanar Lens + Snow-Covered Swamp
As I stated earlier, more than likely a one sided Mana Flare.
(Active) Bloodchief Ascension + All is Dust/Damnation/Death Cloud/Decree of Pain/Mutilate/Pox (My personal favorite) Gain lots of life, while your opponent's lose a lot of life.
-Matchups against popular Generals- To Be Written The only popular general that is used in my area/meta is Zur the Enchanter, and I honestly haven't seen the Zur player in quite some time. So this is to be written about, once testing has occurred. Plus I'm trying to find players that run the “tier 1” generals in the Sacramento, CA area to test against. (I don't play online, and for some reason can't get MWS to update past Conflux)
-Wishlist For This Deck (An unbanning I'd like to see, plus cards I am hopeful to see printed)- The unbanning of Kokusho, the Evening Star This is a touchy subject for some, but let me explain my stance on this before you flame me as some sort of an idiot. Kokusho isn't that strong in this format. (Honestly, the number that matters most in this format is Twenty-One) There are plenty of ways to avoid his trigger, and as a general, I believe he is a general you really have to build around, meaning packing plenty of re-animation spells, or graveyard removal (should someone else try to re-animate him).
-Avoiding his trigger, or simply punishing a player for playing Kokusho, the Evening Star (Each of the cards listed are just my favorite card for the example given) Exile him (Duplicant), Steal Him and make the player running him regret he ever played this dragon (Slave of Bolas), Tuck Him (Bant Charm), Copy Him (Rites of Replication w/ Kicker), and so on. (I realize every example, save for Duplicant, I gave has Blue involved, but other colors have plenty of ways of dealing with him as well)
-What bothers me the most about most people's arguments regarding Kokusho, the Evening Star is that he become the focus of the game. Re-animation spells for every player begin to take place, people are hoping to gain their life back that they lost. Stuff along those lines. In my opinion, a bigger offender of this is a card currently not banned in this format, and that card is Magister Sphinx. Magister Sphinx's ability also triggers when he hits play, which makes it even better than Kokusho. Magister Sphinx also doesn't give life back to the players that might return him to play, just simply cripples someone's life total. Sure Kokusho wins games, but doesn't Magister Sphinx do the same.
A Black Creature that Damnation's (other than itself) when it enters the battlefield As I said earlier regarding Reiver Demon, we want to be able to kill opposing Black Creatures as well.
A Black Instant that gives target creature -1/-1 till end of turn for each swamp you control Have this card cost the same as Tendrils of Corruption. A nice little way to deal with some of those indestructible creatures
A better way to deal with artifacts and/or enchantments in mono black Never gonna happen, but hey this is a wish list here.
-In Closing- I hope you enjoyed reading this Primer as much as I enjoyed writing about my favorite deck in EDH. If you decide to play Mr. Nixilis as your general, I hope you enjoy playing the deck, as much as I do. Remember, have fun, but also keep other players fun level involved (I'm not saying roll over to them, I'm saying play nice, and you don't always have to win to be having fun while playing Magic The Gathering) Thanks for reading.
Have You considered Eternity Vessel for this? Your life is clearly one of Your best resources and that could be a way to capitalize on it. I've tried it in a deck before that can reliably tutor for it and Necropotence and it can get pretty busted when You can get multiple Landfall triggers a turn.
Also, Have You considered Amulet of Vigor? I know it'd have narrow uses in Your build but it with Thawing Glaciers could be another way to get Multiple Landfall triggers in a turn.
Have You considered Eternity Vessel for this? Your life is clearly one of Your best resources and that could be a way to capitalize on it. I've tried it in a deck before that can reliably tutor for it and Necropotence and it can get pretty busted when You can get multiple Landfall triggers a turn.
Also, Have You considered Amulet of Vigor? I know it'd have narrow uses in Your build but it with Thawing Glaciers could be another way to get Multiple Landfall triggers in a turn.
Regarding Eternity Vessel, never have thought of that, and with Necropotence, as you said, could get pretty busted, I will test this out.
When it comes to Amulet of Vigor, way to narrow. It's best card to allow coming on to the battlefield uptapped is Nevinyrral's Disk, and odds are the Amulet will be ending up in the graveyard that turn. Will keep in mind for the future, should the count of enter the battlefield tapped cards end up in the deck.
I run an Ob deck as well, and though i don't focus as much on the mana acceleration, it is a lot of fun to play. I don't know whether you mostly play 1v1 or multiplayer, I mostly play with 3-5 people so take that into consideration.
First, I heavily suggest running the panoramas jund panorama that allow you to search for a swamp. Activating Ob's ability at instant speed in response to no blocks can allow you to really do major damage. I've gone from a 9/9 Ob one turn to 21/21 due to fetch lands. Until people remember that your lands are dangerous it can be a real blowout. Also, you should run Ghost Quarter for the same reason. Its either land denial for your opponent, or you sac it on your own land as a fetch effect to get that last damage in there. Also, Rite of consumption has become my favorite sorcery in the deck. someone taps out because they're at 40 life, you activate 3 fetches and drop a land for 12, attack for 15, then cast rites of consumption to finish them off. Anything that helps this deck explode from a 'safe' state for you opponents to them dead is a good thing i believe.
I run an Ob deck as well, and though i don't focus as much on the mana acceleration, it is a lot of fun to play. I don't know whether you mostly play 1v1 or multiplayer, I mostly play with 3-5 people so take that into consideration.
I play a healty mix of 1v1 and Multiplayer. Most multiplayer games I play in are 3-6 people total. I'm keeping the deck balanced between the two, I really don't want to be changing cards out every time.
First, I heavily suggest running the panoramas jund panorama that allow you to search for a swamp. Activating Ob's ability at instant speed in response to no blocks can allow you to really do major damage. I've gone from a 9/9 Ob one turn to 21/21 due to fetch lands. Until people remember that your lands are dangerous it can be a real blowout. Also, you should run Ghost Quarter for the same reason. Its either land denial for your opponent, or you sac it on your own land as a fetch effect to get that last damage in there. Also, Rite of consumption has become my favorite sorcery in the deck. someone taps out because they're at 40 life, you activate 3 fetches and drop a land for 12, attack for 15, then cast rites of consumption to finish them off. Anything that helps this deck explode from a 'safe' state for you opponents to them dead is a good thing i believe
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The fetchlands work alot more than the panorama's because I don't have to pay a mana to activate. I also have gone from the 9/9 Ob to the 21/21. Love that trick. If I cut more swamps for more fetchlands, I'll be drastically thin on basic lands to search for.
Ghost Quarter is a card I haven't considered. And I do like your reasoning for it. More land removal, and also could trigger a landfall for myself. This is something I'll test.
Rite of Consumption is intresting. I don't run alot of creatures, but, as I stated above in the primer, your general is almost available to you most of the time. This is something I'll have to think about before commiting to testing it or not.
Cabal Conditioning is something that might work. Basically a several player Mind Twist, but requirement to have something in play with a decent mana cost makes the card have it's fallback. I'll think about this.
Trailblazer's Boots, is clever. It's evasion seems perfect for this format, as I can't think of any deck that plays strickly basic lands. I'm really not sure about adding another Equipment, and if I did, it would probably be SOFI or SOLS.
Altar of Shadows, if Iona ends up becoming popular in my meta, I'll put it in the sideboard. Until then, I'm not sure I need this.
I agree that the fetch lands are much better than panoramas, I suggest using both. You worry that you'll run out of basic lands to search for however that has not been my experience at all. The added consistency from using both is most important, and unlike the fetches they can tap for mana if for some reason you don't want to crack them. I also believe that with a deck which capitalizes on general damage having more ways to get through is better and creates consistency, which is why i like having the boots, cloak, and greaves. Drawing both opening hand can be tough, but every time i have played the cloak my opponents have HAD to answer it to keep from losing. Just my experience again, this is a great primer overall and very well done. Looking at your land count, i also run about 3 more lands than you do with slightly fewer utility non-basics.
I agree that the fetch lands are much better than panoramas, I suggest using both. You worry that you'll run out of basic lands to search for however that has not been my experience at all. The added consistency from using both is most important, and unlike the fetches they can tap for mana if for some reason you don't want to crack them. I also believe that with a deck which capitalizes on general damage having more ways to get through is better and creates consistency, which is why i like having the boots, cloak, and greaves. Drawing both opening hand can be tough, but every time i have played the cloak my opponents have HAD to answer it to keep from losing. Just my experience again, this is a great primer overall and very well done. Looking at your land count, i also run about 3 more lands than you do with slightly fewer utility non-basics.
I might have to test out the panoramas, I believe three of them search for swamps, I might be wrong. Nine fetch type lands (allied, enemy, panoramas, expanse, and glaciers) seems like a lot thought, especially while running Journeyer's Kite, but consistency is very key. Testing sounds in order.
The deck does/doesn't capitalize on general damage as much as it seems. Some times, Ob is out there lightning bolting players, and sitting back to defend some creature, or to put the player in range for Drain Life, Consume Spirit, or Death Cloud. Other times he is smashing face, forcing the player to deal with him asap.
I think it is currently fine (I know, it isn't as consistent as running both Greaves and Cloak), but if I find this becomes an issue, I have an answer waiting in the wings.
Thank you for the compliments on the primer. You mentioned your land count being higher than mine. Fourty-One lands seems like a lot. Would you mind posting your decklist?
If you're going to run the panoramas, take the Mirage fetchlands instead. They're basically the same as the Onslaught/Zendikar fetches but are cipt and don't cost life. Much better than the panoramas, in my opinion.
Actually, the Panoramas are probably the best fetchlands for this deck. Being able to tap them for mana without cracking them is huge--you can pay for Ob Nixilis with them, then crack them the next turn before you attack. No other fetchlands can do that.
Whispersilk Cloak seems like a must-have. It's almost strictly better than Trailblazer's Boots, and is arguably even better than Lightning Greaves in this deck. Nothing sucks more than a huge Ob Nixilis that just keeps getting chump blocked.
Since you have Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, have you considered using him as your general instead? I feel that he meets every reason you list for playing Ob Nixilis as a general as well or better than Ob: he's more interactive, is better at answering things, and is quick but never ever runs out of gas. I play him as the general in my MBC deck, and I just can't imagine a better general for this kind of deck...especially considering that landfall isn't particularly synergistic with mono-black, while graveyard recursion certainly is.
If you're going to run the panoramas, take the Mirage fetchlands instead. They're basically the same as the Onslaught/Zendikar fetches but are cipt and don't cost life. Much better than the panoramas, in my opinion.
I do believe the poster below made your point mute. No offense, but they did.
Actually, the Panoramas are probably the best fetchlands for this deck. Being able to tap them for mana without cracking them is huge--you can pay for Ob Nixilis with them, then crack them the next turn before you attack. No other fetchlands can do that.
This is what is making me test them out. Great idea here.
Whispersilk Cloak seems like a must-have. It's almost strictly better than Trailblazer's Boots, and is arguably even better than Lightning Greaves in this deck. Nothing sucks more than a huge Ob Nixilis that just keeps getting chump blocked.
I disagree about boots, due to the fact it doesn't give Ob shroud. Taking a look at Whispersilk Cloak. though
Since you have Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, have you considered using him as your general instead? I feel that he meets every reason you list for playing Ob Nixilis as a general as well or better than Ob: he's more interactive, is better at answering things, and is quick but never ever runs out of gas. I play him as the general in my MBC deck, and I just can't imagine a better general for this kind of deck...especially considering that landfall isn't particularly synergistic with mono-black, while graveyard recursion certainly is.
I heavily considered Xiahou Dun as my general, but he'll rarely be an offensive weapon. And eventually paying upwards of ten, twelve, fourteen. to E'Witness? I'm quite happy with Ob, and don't play on changing him out.
After Whispersilk Cloak, you don't need too much more evasion. Don't forget that Shizo will also give Ob Nixilis fear, and that's integrated directly in the manabase. You can also use something like a cycled Decree of Pain to clear out tokens and other potential chump blockers.
After Whispersilk Cloak, you don't need too much more evasion. Don't forget that Shizo will also give Ob Nixilis fear, and that's integrated directly in the manabase. You can also use something like a cycled Decree of Pain to clear out tokens and other potential chump blockers.
LOL! Counter arguments within my own deck that I didn't mention
But yeah Cloak's evasion is way too good. Will sit down with the deck, and see where I can put it.
This is true, but then it seemingly built into an archetype for Mono Black Control/Re-animator. I'm not saying it isn't good, because quite frankily it is. It is just somehting I don't want to play. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen's feel how it plays is just something I love. Just a preference
Xiahou Dun is certainly the most powerful mono-black general if you build the deck around him. I have a deck built around him that has been doing very well for me, and he suits well for multiplayer and 1v1.
But, building a deck around Ob allows for a very different type of deck to be built, especially since there is such a large landfall focus.
As far as the manabase goes, I highly recommend trying Ghost Quarter. It was used rather effectively at the GP last weekend in Brozek Deck Wins to rape with landfall. Seems very appropriate. Also, it taps for mana like the panoramas, and can get rid of problem lands (Maze of Ith!).
I recommend adding more Artifact answering effects. In my experience with Mono-B, the more Artifact hate you have, the better. Disk is great, but they have a turn to respond. O-Stone is great, but is expensive to wipe.
Powder Keg is kind of fun, but also slow. I am personally a fan of Pithing Needle and Null Rod to neuter Artifacts, but you run a lot of activated abilities on your artifacts, so Null Rod might hurt you more than you like.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Elder Dragon Highlander WUBRG
Enchant World
When EDH comes into play, the game is a draw. Each player reveals his or her library to all other players, discusses how cool their deck is, and has a good laugh. Isn’t this a better version of Magic than playing “net decks”?
Xiahou Dun is certainly the most powerful mono-black general if you build the deck around him. I have a deck built around him that has been doing very well for me, and he suits well for multiplayer and 1v1.
But, building a deck around Ob allows for a very different type of deck to be built, especially since there is such a large landfall focus.
As far as the manabase goes, I highly recommend trying Ghost Quarter. It was used rather effectively at the GP last weekend in Brozek Deck Wins to rape with landfall. Seems very appropriate. Also, it taps for mana like the panoramas, and can get rid of problem lands (Maze of Ith!).
I recommend adding more Artifact answering effects. In my experience with Mono-B, the more Artifact hate you have, the better. Disk is great, but they have a turn to respond. O-Stone is great, but is expensive to wipe.
Powder Keg is kind of fun, but also slow. I am personally a fan of Pithing Needle and Null Rod to neuter Artifacts, but you run a lot of activated abilities on your artifacts, so Null Rod might hurt you more than you like.
Needle is currently in the board, Null Rod would hurt me more than I would like. Ghost Quarter I am looking into
I've played a few games with the Panorama's, Whispersilk Cloak, and Eternity Vessel. Also included Corrupt, I had a full art promo one, and for some reason thought it only hit players, not creatures and players
Panorama's are freaking amazing. Thanks again to Spikes32 and Khymera
Whispersilk Cloak earned it's spot (I'll explain below), totally don't know why I was second guessing it.
Eternity Vessel, I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. Never saw it in the few games I played. Same goes for Corrupt.
A little game report, last night played against my friends Mono-White Jareth, Leonine Titan deck. (Note we only observe the regular banned list, even for 1v1)
My opening hand was, Terramorphic Expanse, Snow-Covered Swamp, Fetchland, Necropotence, and 3 cards I don't remember.
He is on the play
Jareth T1: Plains, Go
My T1: (Draw Mox Diamond), play fetchland, pop it, go to 39, get a Snow-Covered Swamp into play, pass turn
Jareth T2: Draw, Plains, Go
My T2: (Draw fetchland), Discard Terramorphic Expanse, Play Mox Diamond. Play Snow-Covered Swamp, play Necropotence. Pay 19 life, go to 20 and say go. (Draw a lot of cards, including Whispersilk Cloak, Mana Vault, and another Fetchland)
Jareth T3: Draw, Plains, Morph, Go.
My T3: (SKIP MY DRAW), tap Mox Diamond to play Mana Vault, tap Mana Vault and my two Snow-Covered Swamps, to play Ob Nixilis. Play a fetchland and pop it, go to 19, and get another Snow-Covered Swamp. (Jareth player goes to 34, Ob gets six +1/+1 counters), Go.
Jareth T4: Draw, Go (I felt bad)
My T4: (SKIP MY DRAW), play fetchland, pop it, go to 18, and grab another Snow-Covered Swamp (Jareth player goes to 28, Ob gets six +1/+1 counters making him a 15/15). Play Whispersilk Cloak, and equip. Attack for 15 (Jareth player goes to 13)
Jareth T5: Scoop
Oh, and the only time i've ever come close to running out of basics to search for was when i started the game with Journeyer's Kite out, terrain generator, and the blue player played Standstill turn 3. Haha, i think i had 7 lands in turn 5, and it just got more degenerate from there later in the game.
My T3: (Draw I don't remember)
My T4: (Draw, once again I don't remember, just was shocked about how nuts how this was going)
Necropotence makes you skip your draw step, which is probably why you don't remember
I've been fiddling with a version of the deck a bit over the last week, and Eternity Vessel just ain't doing it for me. It either hits the board too late to be really useful, or it gets bounced/destroyed after they've hit you for the turn.
The deck has better ways to use the mana and card slot.
Oh, and the only time i've ever come close to running out of basics to search for was when i started the game with Journeyer's Kite out, terrain generator, and the blue player played Standstill turn 3. Haha, i think i had 7 lands in turn 5, and it just got more degenerate from there later in the game.
I'll post feedback about your list on your thread. I've truly never really came close (like one or two left) to running out of basics to fetch, I just don't want to $$$ fetchlands to become dead cards. Meh, crap happens though right?
Necropotence makes you skip your draw step, which is probably why you don't remember
I've been fiddling with a version of the deck a bit over the last week, and Eternity Vessel just ain't doing it for me. It either hits the board too late to be really useful, or it gets bounced/destroyed after they've hit you for the turn.
The deck has better ways to use the mana and card slot.
FACT!!!!! Knew there was a reason other than my sheer excitement. I NEVER DREW!!!!
Yeah, I keep reading Eternity Vessel over and over and over, and am really unsure of it.
Gonna post an updated decklist this week (crap went down @ work). Add a "change-a-log" to the primer as well when I do so.
Nice list but some cards stand out at me as being sub-optimal.
Diabolic Tutor- Really need to upgrade to Grim Tutor, and include Imperial seal. A great investment thats worth it with the amount of time you've put into the deck. The same thing goes with Liliana. At this mana cost it is impossibly to either use the tutor as a reactive spell or to set up later turns. Lets look at Liliana. At 5cc you play her down using her tutor ability immediatly. She then is at 3 loyalty counters making it easy to kill since your not exactly running creatures to defend her. At this point all she did was soak up a hit for 5 mana. She really didnt provide any card advantage. Now Imperial Seal/Vampiric make up for it with the advantage of being one mana!
Corrupt/Consume Spirit-I play a EDH mono red list that discludes X burn Spells for this reason. Simply put gaining the large amount of life is hot, But for the mana your payin, isnt it better to invest it elsewhere. Also the damage conflicts with general damage, since I assume thats how you win most of your games.
Decree of pain- Simply put, I would run barter in blood or Mutalite over this anyday of the week. The CMC is way to high to effect the game when you truly need it in 1v1. Sure a great multiplayer card but by reading your post that like myself you want a great 1v1 deck that doesnt die over in multiplayer.
Reliquary Tower- In your explanation you state that this provides CA. I only see it giving you card advantage with Necropotence, allowing you to draw more then 7. But in that case it is simply win more. SImply better to have another basic land or include Ancient Tomb/Volrath
Darkness- Although this may buy you a turn to wrath against hasty creatures. You either are going to lose anyway or simple removal would have been better, Even Sudden SPoiling would be better
Imp's Mischief- Watch this card. Sure it change the target of a removal spell. If your opponents run enough creatures then fine. Just watch this card.
Planar Portal too can eat the axe.
Alot of these cards you have to look at and wonder if the mana cost is worth the effect, I mean really sundering titan makes up its cost, and so does mindslaver. But does Consume spirit make up for the amount of mana your pouring into him. I can further elaborate on a topic if you wish because I was writing this inbetween classes,
Some quick Suggestions:
Ancient Tomb, Accelerates Ob, and the pain is always worth it. Sure it hurts more in multiplayer, but it will be a godsend in 1v1.
Volrath, Even if your deck does not run a single creature, you still can recurr ob, which warrants its inclusion. Also being legendary it can sometimes become a wasteland.
More cheap removal such as Sudden Death and such. Definatly find sign in blood and Nights whisper though they really are worth it and they are not expensive.
More graveyard hate. Why not run relic, and the bunch. At worst they cantrip and eat up your opponents graveyard. Sure you run the black creatures that eat up the graveyard, but I've found that they out perform them all except Withered Wretch.
Needs more Mindslaver.
a Primer by Tom Servo
Credit to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the awesome Banner!
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen has an ability that is begging to be played, built around, broke. Every time a land comes into play, Ob Nixilis channels his inner Major League Baseball player and juices to get big fast. Just like a majority of MLB players who say they only juiced to heal injuries, Ob Nixilis is looking to heal that injury, the hole left in his soul, from his spark falling out. And he is filling it with your life.
For a long time, my favorite general to play in EDH was Korlash, Heir to Blackblade. He was simply a blast to play. The deck was basically mono black control/voltron, and could win in various amounts of ways. My meta became aware of how fragile Korlash can be. Destroy all my lands, and you'll never see Korlash again. So Korlash started to lose a lot.
- You want a general and a deck that is solid and able to stand on its own, yet not a broken one that will get you hated off the table immediately. (Credit to Surging Chaos from his Captain Sisay EDH Primer. Couldn't of said/typed anything better.)
- You enjoy the interactions of every aspect of the game. Player interaction included.
- You love black and want to play with some of the most powerful black cards printed.
- You like being able to answer almost anything.
- You enjoy a deck that can come out screaming, but not gas out later in the game.
- You want a general that is a one hit wonder. (aka linear strategies)
- You want to win the first time you sleeve this list up and play
- You hate shuffling
- You don't want to play mono color in EDH
1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Artifacts
1 Caged Sun
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Crystal Ball
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Expedition Map
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Forcefield
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Grim Monolith
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Vault
1 Mindslaver
1 Mimic Vat
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Voltaic Key
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Creatures
1 Bane of the Living
1 Duplicant
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Grave Titan
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Sundering Titan
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 The Abyss
Instant
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Suffer the Past
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Vampiric Tutor
Land
16 Snow-Covered Swamps
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Dark Depths
1 Deserted Temple
1 Esper Panorama
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Jund Panorama
1 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Vesuva
1 Wasteland
1 Karn, Liberated
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sorin Markov
Sorceries
1 All is Dust
1 Barter in Blood
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Corrupt
1 Damnation
1 Death Cloud
1 Decree of Pain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Exsanguinate
1 Grim Tutor
1 Mutilate
1 Pox
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Profane Command
1 Promise of Power
1 Yagwmoth's Will
Archenemy
2 Behold the Power of Destruction
2 I Delight in Your Convulsions
1 I know All, I See All
2 Introductions Are in Order
1 Mortal Flesh is Weak
1 My Genius Knows No Bounds
2 The Pieces Are Coming Together
2 Realms Befitting My Majesty
1 Tooth, Claw, and Tail
2 Your Fate Is Thrice Sealed
2 Your Puny Minds Cannot Fathom
1 Plots That Span Centuries
Planechase
1 Eloren Winds
1 Murasa
1 Naya
1 Otaria
1 Panopticon
1 Pools of Becoming
1 Sanctum of Serra
1 Horizon Boughs
1 Tazeem
Artifacts
Crucible of Worlds, Mimic Vat, Rings of Brighthearth
Both of these cards will work to keep annoying cards in check. Crucible of Worlds can obviously set up the nasty every turn Strip Mine play, as well as allow you to cast Pox or Death Cloud to control a wide amount of opponents, while being able to re-establish your board quickly. Mimic Vat is simply nuts. Take away your opponent's creatures or abuse one of your own. Too good. Rigns of Brighthearth is amazing. It can produce infinite mana with Cabal Coffers + Deserted Temple, it can have planeswalker abilities happen twice (ever put two players to ten life before?), it can allow double activations of Necropotence (pay 2 mana instead of 1 more life), Strip Mine/Wasteland, Maze of Ith, Fetchlands, Expedition Map, Fate counters for Oblivion Stone, Sensei's Divining Top, and so on. Way good.
Lightning Greaves, Umezawa's Jitte, Whispersilk Cloak
Despite running a deck with a very low amount of creatures, EDH is a format where you most of the time have one creature available, your general. Therefore this deck runs the (IMO) best three equipments in the format.
Whispersilk Cloak - Amazing! Shroud and unblockable, deal with it before I equip Ob with it.
Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Grim Monolith, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring
Nevinyrral's Disk, Oblivion Stone
These cards simply are the only answers to those annoying Artifacts and Enchantments we might be seeing across the table
Expedition Map, Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top
Grave Titan, It That Betrays
Grave Titan is amazing/ Allows sweet board advantage, and with Graveborn Muse, the card draw is absurd. It That Betrays can create absurd board advantage when played along with spells that make your opponent's sac things.
Graveborn Muse
A Phyrexian Arena on a 3/3 stick
Nezumi Graverobber, Withered Wretch
Allows you to stop your opponent's game plan. Nezumi Graverobber will let you beat in with all those critters you damned away. Withered Wretch, kill it and your graveyard is gone. Also generates card draw with Graveborn Muse
Magus of the Coffers, Nirkana Revenant, Solemn Simulacrum
These two will allow you to gain control/advantage of the game. Magus of the Coffers is basically Cabal Coffers number two. Nirkana Revenant is a mana flare with built in "firebreathing", awesome. Solemn Simulacrum will trigger a landfall affect if Ob is in play. He is an amazing chump blocker, and will be a frequent target of Beacon of Unrest
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Xiahou Dun is the black version of Eternal Witness. Any black card coming back to your hand is amazing card advantage.
Bane of the Living, Drana Kalastra Bloodchief, Duplicant, Steel Hellkite, Sundering Titan
These cards will be answers to complicated things you might cross. Such as indestructible or creatures with shroud. Sundering Titan is one of the decks few ways to strip a player of the resource known as basic land. Drana can handle Gaddock Teeg. Steel Hellkite helps agaisnt those pesky artifacts and enchantments.
Vampire Hexmage
Hexmage is super useful, not only is it part of the Dark Depths combo, but you can force players to use there jitte counters, or kill a planeswalker
Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena
All of the above can draw you cards
This is a huge win condition. Get it active, cast Death Cloud, Pox, and/or All is Dust, you will win the game.
Diabolic Edict, Tendrils of Corruption
Diabolic Edict is simple enough, instant speed sacrifice. Tendrils adds to that life resource this deck loves to use.
Vampiric Tutor
I'm not explaining this one
Imp's Mischief, Suffer the Past
Blue and Red are the color's that redirect spells, and I can't think of any other spell (non artifact) that can remove a graveyard at instant speed. Suffer the Past can win games, period. Instant speed GY hate w/ Drain Life.
Cabal Coffers, Lake of the Dead, Urborg Tomb of Yagwmoth
Cabal Coffers fuels such spells as Consume Spirit and Drain Life. Urborg somewhat does the same thing, just fuels Mutilate and Tendrils of Corruption more than the other two. Urborg also allows Sundering Titan to destroy pesky lands your opponent's might control, because they are now swamps. Lake of the Dead works as a mana accelerate, as well as the most useful land after you Pox'd the board to hell, and control a Crucible of Worlds.
Reliquary Tower
Tower's built in Spellbook ability is great at maintaining card advantage, and allows you to be able to cast Death Cloud at an absurd cost, but still be the one with the card advantage.
Dark Depths
Mentioned earlier in the explanation of Vampire Hexmage. Two card combo for a Twenty/Twenty flying indestructible creature.
Bloodstained Mire, Esper Panorama, Grixis Panorama, Jund Panorama, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Thawing Glaciers, Verdant Catacombs
The section name says it all for these cards. Fuels Ob Nixilis, and thins the deck.
Ghost Quarter, Strip Mine, Wasteland
Not explaining these.
Bojuka Bog, Deserted Temple, Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, Shizo Death's Storehouse
Deserted Temple is amazing with Maze of Ith, Mystifying Maze, and Cabal Coffers. Shizo, Death's Storehouse, I site what I stated earlier about this very format. EDH is a format where you most of the time have one creature available, your general. And your general is Legendary, so why not be able to give him another form of evasion. Also can give the Marit Lage token evasion as well.
Liliana is the perfect example of this deck. Make an opponent discard, tutor up an answer, recur all those creatures that stood in your way. Sorin on the other hand is a perfect example of a card that fits this deck. Removal that gains you life, big life swings at a fast pace, and controlling the tempo/evolution of the game.
Ambition's Cost, Sign in Blood
All draw cards, at the cost of some of your life. Your life total changes drastically on a regular basis in this deck.
All is Dust, Barter in Blood, Consume Spirit, Corrupt, Damnation, Death Cloud, Decree of Pain, Exsanguinate, Mutilate, Pox, Profane Command
As you can see, most of the removal is massive. Some make players (yourself included) discard cards, while others allow you to draw cards. When it comes to the spot removal for creatures, each of them can end the game by hitting a player, but the main point is they gain you life.
Beacon of Unrest, Yawgmoth's Will
Beacon of Unrest is very useful due to all the artifacts that the deck runs. Yawgmoth's Will is Yawg Win, so I'm not explaining that.
Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor
Just like Vampiric Tutor, I'm not explaining these.
These are all cards from “The Top 35 Cards of Each Color” thread which can be found at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=161090. Obviously we are focusing on Black, but we will talk about artifacts and land as well.
I stated earlier that you can't just pick up this deck and expect to win. Do not, I repeat, do not, set yourself up to have a certain mindset at the game. React to the cards you draw, and what your opponent(s) do through out the game. Think your turn(s) out. Having a knowledge of what is in the deck will also help you think out what/when to react. Ob Nixilis, once again, as stated, can rush out the gates, or can be a mono black control variant. Card interaction knowledge will also get you further in the game, and grow your enjoyment in playing Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
Strength: Resilience
The best compliment this deck ever got was “For a mono colored deck, it really seems like it can handle anything. It literally seems to have aspects from other parts of the color pie, but stays true to its form”
Notice in the quote above it has the words “Seems like”, yeah this is where we get into trouble. Once these combos hit the field, this deck has a hard time dealing with them, as the only two options are Nevinyrral's Disk and Oblivion Stone. Disrupting hands and mana bases will also help. Keep cards like Academy Ruins and Hanna Ship's Navigator out of play as much as possible. Remove them quickly.
Crucible of Worlds + Ghost Quarter/Strip Mine/Wasteland
In my opinion, the best, but most annoying lock, any deck can play.
Reusable deck thinning, and consistent landfall triggers for Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
Absurdly good card draw
You should know of this combo.
Infinite Mana
Gain lots of life, while your opponent's lose a lot of life.
To Be Written
The only popular general that is used in my area/meta is Zur the Enchanter, and I honestly haven't seen the Zur player in quite some time. So this is to be written about, once testing has occurred. Plus I'm trying to find players that run the “tier 1” generals in the Sacramento, CA area to test against. (I don't play online, and for some reason can't get MWS to update past Conflux)
The unbanning of Kokusho, the Evening Star
This is a touchy subject for some, but let me explain my stance on this before you flame me as some sort of an idiot. Kokusho isn't that strong in this format. (Honestly, the number that matters most in this format is Twenty-One) There are plenty of ways to avoid his trigger, and as a general, I believe he is a general you really have to build around, meaning packing plenty of re-animation spells, or graveyard removal (should someone else try to re-animate him).
Exile him (Duplicant), Steal Him and make the player running him regret he ever played this dragon (Slave of Bolas), Tuck Him (Bant Charm), Copy Him (Rites of Replication w/ Kicker), and so on. (I realize every example, save for Duplicant, I gave has Blue involved, but other colors have plenty of ways of dealing with him as well)
As I said earlier regarding Reiver Demon, we want to be able to kill opposing Black Creatures as well.
A Black Instant that gives target creature -1/-1 till end of turn for each swamp you control
Have this card cost the same as Tendrils of Corruption. A nice little way to deal with some of those indestructible creatures
Never gonna happen, but hey this is a wish list here.
I hope you enjoyed reading this Primer as much as I enjoyed writing about my favorite deck in EDH. If you decide to play Mr. Nixilis as your general, I hope you enjoy playing the deck, as much as I do. Remember, have fun, but also keep other players fun level involved (I'm not saying roll over to them, I'm saying play nice, and you don't always have to win to be having fun while playing Magic The Gathering)
Thanks for reading.
Also, Have You considered Amulet of Vigor? I know it'd have narrow uses in Your build but it with Thawing Glaciers could be another way to get Multiple Landfall triggers in a turn.
Regarding Eternity Vessel, never have thought of that, and with Necropotence, as you said, could get pretty busted, I will test this out.
When it comes to Amulet of Vigor, way to narrow. It's best card to allow coming on to the battlefield uptapped is Nevinyrral's Disk, and odds are the Amulet will be ending up in the graveyard that turn. Will keep in mind for the future, should the count of enter the battlefield tapped cards end up in the deck.
First, I heavily suggest running the panoramas jund panorama that allow you to search for a swamp. Activating Ob's ability at instant speed in response to no blocks can allow you to really do major damage. I've gone from a 9/9 Ob one turn to 21/21 due to fetch lands. Until people remember that your lands are dangerous it can be a real blowout. Also, you should run Ghost Quarter for the same reason. Its either land denial for your opponent, or you sac it on your own land as a fetch effect to get that last damage in there. Also, Rite of consumption has become my favorite sorcery in the deck. someone taps out because they're at 40 life, you activate 3 fetches and drop a land for 12, attack for 15, then cast rites of consumption to finish them off. Anything that helps this deck explode from a 'safe' state for you opponents to them dead is a good thing i believe.
A few other favorite cards i didn't see: Cabal conditioning Whispersilk Cloak trailblazer's boots and Altar of shadows (might be too high costed for your deck, but does get rid of those akromas and Iona's well.
I play a healty mix of 1v1 and Multiplayer. Most multiplayer games I play in are 3-6 people total. I'm keeping the deck balanced between the two, I really don't want to be changing cards out every time.
.
The fetchlands work alot more than the panorama's because I don't have to pay a mana to activate. I also have gone from the 9/9 Ob to the 21/21. Love that trick. If I cut more swamps for more fetchlands, I'll be drastically thin on basic lands to search for.
Ghost Quarter is a card I haven't considered. And I do like your reasoning for it. More land removal, and also could trigger a landfall for myself. This is something I'll test.
Rite of Consumption is intresting. I don't run alot of creatures, but, as I stated above in the primer, your general is almost available to you most of the time. This is something I'll have to think about before commiting to testing it or not.
Cabal Conditioning is something that might work. Basically a several player Mind Twist, but requirement to have something in play with a decent mana cost makes the card have it's fallback. I'll think about this.
Lightning Greaves > Whispersilk Cloak, mentioned in the primer.
Trailblazer's Boots, is clever. It's evasion seems perfect for this format, as I can't think of any deck that plays strickly basic lands. I'm really not sure about adding another Equipment, and if I did, it would probably be SOFI or SOLS.
Altar of Shadows, if Iona ends up becoming popular in my meta, I'll put it in the sideboard. Until then, I'm not sure I need this.
I might have to test out the panoramas, I believe three of them search for swamps, I might be wrong. Nine fetch type lands (allied, enemy, panoramas, expanse, and glaciers) seems like a lot thought, especially while running Journeyer's Kite, but consistency is very key. Testing sounds in order.
The deck does/doesn't capitalize on general damage as much as it seems. Some times, Ob is out there lightning bolting players, and sitting back to defend some creature, or to put the player in range for Drain Life, Consume Spirit, or Death Cloud. Other times he is smashing face, forcing the player to deal with him asap.
I think it is currently fine (I know, it isn't as consistent as running both Greaves and Cloak), but if I find this becomes an issue, I have an answer waiting in the wings.
Thank you for the compliments on the primer. You mentioned your land count being higher than mine. Fourty-One lands seems like a lot. Would you mind posting your decklist?
Whispersilk Cloak seems like a must-have. It's almost strictly better than Trailblazer's Boots, and is arguably even better than Lightning Greaves in this deck. Nothing sucks more than a huge Ob Nixilis that just keeps getting chump blocked.
Since you have Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, have you considered using him as your general instead? I feel that he meets every reason you list for playing Ob Nixilis as a general as well or better than Ob: he's more interactive, is better at answering things, and is quick but never ever runs out of gas. I play him as the general in my MBC deck, and I just can't imagine a better general for this kind of deck...especially considering that landfall isn't particularly synergistic with mono-black, while graveyard recursion certainly is.
I do believe the poster below made your point mute. No offense, but they did.
This is what is making me test them out. Great idea here.
I disagree about boots, due to the fact it doesn't give Ob shroud. Taking a look at Whispersilk Cloak. though
I heavily considered Xiahou Dun as my general, but he'll rarely be an offensive weapon. And eventually paying upwards of ten, twelve, fourteen. to E'Witness? I'm quite happy with Ob, and don't play on changing him out.
Regarding Xiahou Dun, who says you have to put Xiahou Dun back in your command zone when you sac him? You can always recur him manually with Volrath's Stronghold, Haunted Crossroads, flipped Nezumi Graverobber, Coffin Queen, Phyrexian Reclamation, and my favorite... Corpse Dance.
LOL! Counter arguments within my own deck that I didn't mention
But yeah Cloak's evasion is way too good. Will sit down with the deck, and see where I can put it.
This is true, but then it seemingly built into an archetype for Mono Black Control/Re-animator. I'm not saying it isn't good, because quite frankily it is. It is just somehting I don't want to play. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen's feel how it plays is just something I love. Just a preference
But, building a deck around Ob allows for a very different type of deck to be built, especially since there is such a large landfall focus.
As far as the manabase goes, I highly recommend trying Ghost Quarter. It was used rather effectively at the GP last weekend in Brozek Deck Wins to rape with landfall. Seems very appropriate. Also, it taps for mana like the panoramas, and can get rid of problem lands (Maze of Ith!).
I recommend adding more Artifact answering effects. In my experience with Mono-B, the more Artifact hate you have, the better. Disk is great, but they have a turn to respond. O-Stone is great, but is expensive to wipe.
Powder Keg is kind of fun, but also slow. I am personally a fan of Pithing Needle and Null Rod to neuter Artifacts, but you run a lot of activated abilities on your artifacts, so Null Rod might hurt you more than you like.
WUBRG
Enchant World
When EDH comes into play, the game is a draw. Each player reveals his or her library to all other players, discusses how cool their deck is, and has a good laugh.
Isn’t this a better version of Magic than playing “net decks”?
Needle is currently in the board, Null Rod would hurt me more than I would like. Ghost Quarter I am looking into
I've played a few games with the Panorama's, Whispersilk Cloak, and Eternity Vessel. Also included Corrupt, I had a full art promo one, and for some reason thought it only hit players, not creatures and players
Panorama's are freaking amazing. Thanks again to Spikes32 and Khymera
Whispersilk Cloak earned it's spot (I'll explain below), totally don't know why I was second guessing it.
Eternity Vessel, I haven't had a chance to play with it yet. Never saw it in the few games I played. Same goes for Corrupt.
A little game report, last night played against my friends Mono-White Jareth, Leonine Titan deck. (Note we only observe the regular banned list, even for 1v1)
My opening hand was, Terramorphic Expanse, Snow-Covered Swamp, Fetchland, Necropotence, and 3 cards I don't remember.
He is on the play
Jareth T1: Plains, Go
My T1: (Draw Mox Diamond), play fetchland, pop it, go to 39, get a Snow-Covered Swamp into play, pass turn
Jareth T2: Draw, Plains, Go
My T2: (Draw fetchland), Discard Terramorphic Expanse, Play Mox Diamond. Play Snow-Covered Swamp, play Necropotence. Pay 19 life, go to 20 and say go. (Draw a lot of cards, including Whispersilk Cloak, Mana Vault, and another Fetchland)
Jareth T3: Draw, Plains, Morph, Go.
My T3: (SKIP MY DRAW), tap Mox Diamond to play Mana Vault, tap Mana Vault and my two Snow-Covered Swamps, to play Ob Nixilis. Play a fetchland and pop it, go to 19, and get another Snow-Covered Swamp. (Jareth player goes to 34, Ob gets six +1/+1 counters), Go.
Jareth T4: Draw, Go (I felt bad)
My T4: (SKIP MY DRAW), play fetchland, pop it, go to 18, and grab another Snow-Covered Swamp (Jareth player goes to 28, Ob gets six +1/+1 counters making him a 15/15). Play Whispersilk Cloak, and equip. Attack for 15 (Jareth player goes to 13)
Jareth T5: Scoop
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=5016279#post5016279
Oh, and the only time i've ever come close to running out of basics to search for was when i started the game with Journeyer's Kite out, terrain generator, and the blue player played Standstill turn 3. Haha, i think i had 7 lands in turn 5, and it just got more degenerate from there later in the game.
Necropotence makes you skip your draw step, which is probably why you don't remember
I've been fiddling with a version of the deck a bit over the last week, and Eternity Vessel just ain't doing it for me. It either hits the board too late to be really useful, or it gets bounced/destroyed after they've hit you for the turn.
The deck has better ways to use the mana and card slot.
I'll post feedback about your list on your thread. I've truly never really came close (like one or two left) to running out of basics to fetch, I just don't want to $$$ fetchlands to become dead cards. Meh, crap happens though right?
FACT!!!!! Knew there was a reason other than my sheer excitement. I NEVER DREW!!!!
Yeah, I keep reading Eternity Vessel over and over and over, and am really unsure of it.
Gonna post an updated decklist this week (crap went down @ work). Add a "change-a-log" to the primer as well when I do so.
cutting Journeyer's Kite and Terrain Generator, but with adding the panorama's I feel it is necessary.
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Diabolic Tutor- Really need to upgrade to Grim Tutor, and include Imperial seal. A great investment thats worth it with the amount of time you've put into the deck. The same thing goes with Liliana. At this mana cost it is impossibly to either use the tutor as a reactive spell or to set up later turns. Lets look at Liliana. At 5cc you play her down using her tutor ability immediatly. She then is at 3 loyalty counters making it easy to kill since your not exactly running creatures to defend her. At this point all she did was soak up a hit for 5 mana. She really didnt provide any card advantage. Now Imperial Seal/Vampiric make up for it with the advantage of being one mana!
Corrupt/Consume Spirit-I play a EDH mono red list that discludes X burn Spells for this reason. Simply put gaining the large amount of life is hot, But for the mana your payin, isnt it better to invest it elsewhere. Also the damage conflicts with general damage, since I assume thats how you win most of your games.
Decree of pain- Simply put, I would run barter in blood or Mutalite over this anyday of the week. The CMC is way to high to effect the game when you truly need it in 1v1. Sure a great multiplayer card but by reading your post that like myself you want a great 1v1 deck that doesnt die over in multiplayer.
Reliquary Tower- In your explanation you state that this provides CA. I only see it giving you card advantage with Necropotence, allowing you to draw more then 7. But in that case it is simply win more. SImply better to have another basic land or include Ancient Tomb/Volrath
Darkness- Although this may buy you a turn to wrath against hasty creatures. You either are going to lose anyway or simple removal would have been better, Even Sudden SPoiling would be better
Imp's Mischief- Watch this card. Sure it change the target of a removal spell. If your opponents run enough creatures then fine. Just watch this card.
Planar Portal too can eat the axe.
Alot of these cards you have to look at and wonder if the mana cost is worth the effect, I mean really sundering titan makes up its cost, and so does mindslaver. But does Consume spirit make up for the amount of mana your pouring into him. I can further elaborate on a topic if you wish because I was writing this inbetween classes,
Some quick Suggestions:
Ancient Tomb, Accelerates Ob, and the pain is always worth it. Sure it hurts more in multiplayer, but it will be a godsend in 1v1.
Volrath, Even if your deck does not run a single creature, you still can recurr ob, which warrants its inclusion. Also being legendary it can sometimes become a wasteland.
More cheap removal such as Sudden Death and such. Definatly find sign in blood and Nights whisper though they really are worth it and they are not expensive.
More graveyard hate. Why not run relic, and the bunch. At worst they cantrip and eat up your opponents graveyard. Sure you run the black creatures that eat up the graveyard, but I've found that they out perform them all except Withered Wretch.
Needs more Mindslaver.