I recently played with a friend's cube (Aiken013) who has a very cool archetype he's been pushing that sort of reshapes blacks identity a bit. It looks a bit like Pox at first, but it plays very differently (combo control) and uses some interesting card choices that look very weak at first but are much stronger when actually in play. I was quite skeptical of some of the choices at first, but after playing it I'm a believer and will changing my cube to accommodate the new identity.
As I said above, the deck sort of feels "Pox"ish, because it utilizes similar aspects of that strategy, but it utilizes it in a very different way. I found this deck to be much more flexible and able to operate without seeing your namesake cards too. You'll notice below that there are some creature theft effects, which work VERY well with the sacrifice theme, allowing remarkable options like surprise stealing their bomb, blocking their second best creature, using any cool tap effects, then sacrificing it to one of the plethora of effects in your deck. When you play against a well built version of this deck, it seems almost impossible to go over the top of them because they can be aggressive and defensive at the same time.
You need some key things: Sacrifice effects, Recurring/token threats, and a Supporting cast of cards that add extra value to what you want to do.
For those discussing the Red Tokens archetype, this may be a great companion archetype to introduce as well. I played this cube before Theros began being spoiled, so this is no doubt a bit dated. But the deck could only of gotten better since then with the great additions Theros has given us.
All tend to play very well with a black Pox/Stax strategy. Especially Imperial Recruiter that searches up multiple combo pieces for the deck. And Squee does a fantastic job mitigating a lot of the mutual discard and making the effects asymmetrical.
As I said above, the deck sort of feels "Pox"ish, because it utilizes similar aspects of that strategy, but it utilizes it in a very different way. I found this deck to be much more flexible and able to operate without seeing your namesake cards too. You'll notice below that there are some creature theft effects, which work VERY well with the sacrifice theme, allowing remarkable options like surprise stealing their bomb, blocking their second best creature, using any cool tap effects, then sacrificing it to one of the plethora of effects in your deck. When you play against a well built version of this deck, it seems almost impossible to go over the top of them because they can be aggressive and defensive at the same time.
You need some key things: Sacrifice effects, Recurring/token threats, and a Supporting cast of cards that add extra value to what you want to do.
Here's what he plays in his (cube):
1 Carrior Feeder
1 Viscera Seer
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Stronghold Assassin
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Shadowborn Demon
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Smallpox
1 Attrition
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Greater Gargadon
Multi
1 Falkenwrath Aristocrat
Colorless
1 Skullclamp
1 Mortarpod
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Smokestack
1 Gravecrawler
1 Bloodghast
1 Butcher Ghoul
1 Dregscape Zombie
1 Nether Traitor
1 Pack Rat
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Skirsdag High Priest
1 Geralf's Messenger
1 Nether Spirit
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Undying Evil
1 Bitterblossom
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Beetleback Chief
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Splinter Twin
Multi
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Mimic Vat
1 Precursor Golem
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Myr Battlesphere
1 Blade Splicer
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Reveillark
1 Sun Titan
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Spectral Procession
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Nest Invader
1 Master of the Wild Hunt
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Thragtusk
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Hornet Queen
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Growth Spasm
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Birthing Pod
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Trostani's Summoner
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Assemble the Legion
1 Lingering Souls
1 Blood Artist
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Falkenwrath Noble
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Tragic Slip
1 Unearth
1 Oversold Cemetery
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Act of Aggression
For those discussing the Red Tokens archetype, this may be a great companion archetype to introduce as well. I played this cube before Theros began being spoiled, so this is no doubt a bit dated. But the deck could only of gotten better since then with the great additions Theros has given us.
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
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RWU Miracles RWU
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Firestorm
1 Faithless Looting
1 Wheel of Fortune
All tend to play very well with a black Pox/Stax strategy. Especially Imperial Recruiter that searches up multiple combo pieces for the deck. And Squee does a fantastic job mitigating a lot of the mutual discard and making the effects asymmetrical.
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