My favourite card: Grand Abolisher
When I started first playing magic I was playing the WB M11 intro deck. I was having a blast with it, however I began to remove more and more of the black, until it became mono white. I had named it 'Control the Battlefield', and it was a blast. Though I remember the day that I cracked the Abolisher and was able to put it into my deck. It was glorious. I only had the one. However it would stymie my friends' plans and help me hold the fort down till I could start swinging in with my finishers.
The card really help drive my interest for magic. I will always have fond memories of playing it.
4 Dreg mangler
4 Predator ooze
4 arbor elf
3 ulvenwald tracker
4 lotletth troll
4 strangleroot geist
3 Wolfir avenger
2 Deadbridge Goliath
Spells (9)
1 tribute to hunger
1 murder
1 abrupt decay
1 Ultimate price
3 rancor
2 Tragic Slip
4 Golgari Guildgate
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
8 Forest
2 Ground Seal
1 Ultimate price
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Thragtusk
4 Duress
4 Golgari Charm
Changes worth considering...
-1 Ultimate Price
-1 Tragic Slip
-1 Murder
-1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
-2 Deadbridge Goliath
-1 Tribute to Hunger
+3 Putrefy
+2 Wolfir Silverheart
+1 Devour Flesh
I've been playing this for awhile, and Wolfir Silverheart makes a great impact on the board, also the guildgates will slow you down. Cut them. Replace with a few Swamps and a Forest.
Depending on your meta, if there are lots of hexproof dudes, or Bant/WUR-Enchantment decks, run Devour Flesh or Tribute to Hunger. Devour Flesh is a bit faster, but Tribute has all the upside, just a bit slower.
Tragic Slip always feels like SB material to me here. Definitely run it. Golgari Charm, cute but not really worth it. I'd cut it from the SB. How does Thragtusk work out for you? Where do you side it in?
As for Varloz, I think he won't make the deck. The three drop slot is full as it is, and I'd rather have creatures on board than in the yard. Though he is very synergistic with Lotleth and Corpsejack, I feel like that would be a different deck altogether. I'm not happy with the g/b fuse card as it really doesn't help us much. Though splashing white for ready and willing might be a thing.
4 Rootborn Defenses
4 Selesnya Charm
4 Midnight Haunting
Sorceries - 12
4 Call of the Conclave
4 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Entreat the Angels
3 Farseek
4 Master Biomancer
4 Arbor Elf
Enchantments
4 Intangible Virtue
Lands - 24
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple Garden
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Gavony Township
4 Breeding Pool
4 Plains
1 Forest
1 Island
The first 60 are up, I'm mulling over the sideboard currently. Initial thoughts?
4x Student of Warfare
4x Squadron Hawk
3x Knight of Meadowgrain
4x Knight Exemplar
3x Mirran Crusader
2x Hero of Bladehold
4x Lotus Bloom
SPELLS - 8
3x Brave the Elements
3x Path to Exile
2x Day of Judgment (or Wrath of God - whatever is available)
4x Honor of the Pure
LANDS - 20
18x Plains
2x Cavern of Souls
A choice some may question is Squadron Hawk. The reason why I'm including it is that it has evasion, fills your hand with creatures, and thins the deck down for better draws.
Lotus Bloom - This nets you an extra creature, or levels for the Student of Warfare, pretty much with 3x W you can do what you need to.
I'm not sure this is the most competitive list (I just finished brewing the main 60), though I like the feel of it. I'd like to keep it mono-white, so I can enjoy this guilty pleasure.
New Testing: I think I'm going to try a one piece Vraska this Tuesday with my playgroup to see how she works out. I'm more curious than anything. Also looking at adding in a one piece Tragic Slip for greater versatility. The ability to sneak in an extra point of trample damage, or even bring a blocker down to size for Predator Ooze to kill should prove to be very valuable.
Corpsejack Menance feels too combo-y. I've tried it, and he's fun when the combo goes off. But you need to build a deck more focused on +1/+1 counters for him. Also, Deadbridge Goliath has a more relevant body at that cost. Scavenge late game can help bring the win home.
Slater has (you have) nailed it with Gravecrawler, he's good. Just doesn't interact well enough. Sure you can pitch and recast from the graveyard, but he best feeds a sac engine.
@Texeven: I would skip on the Revenge and run another Ranger's Guile. Ranger's Guile will maintain your board presence, which is more important than a large one off attack. Also Mark of the Vampire can become other removal spells. Being able to recast Rancor makes it much more potent than any other enchant.
Anyone try Vraska yet? I have a one of in my trade binder... She happens to be in our colours, so it might be worth checking out.
No idea about Esper Control (or Jund), played a friend on cockatrice before GP QC, but I think he got more screwed over by the cockatrice shuffler. Hopefully this weekend I go up against a few at a friend's draft.
On removing Lotleth, amazing. The deck feels more flexible and responsive to opponents' threats. I think Lotleth has good syngery with Grave Purge and Garruk PH. But without card draw to refresh your hand, the tactic doesn't quite work. I feel that increasing the decks flexibility will win more games, than smashing with a large Troll.
Revenge of the Hunted: Play as a three of. I used this during Mono Green Fight Club playing it T2 onto an Arbor Elf, rancoring it... Drop down to 3 and you'll see it come up when you're more apt to use it. Also Revenge onto a P.Ooze is just insane! Top off with Ranger's Guile for the win!
I would like the biggest body available to hold back fliers for multiple turns. Though the lifelink on the Nighthawk is very relevant. I think I would prefer Bloodgift in my deck for the card draw and the larger body.
Bloodline Keeper: Good sideboard option against fliers. Needs testing.
Most enchantments (like Gift of Orzhov): 2 for 1 special. Rancor works well because if an enchanted creature, Rancor gets sent back to hand.
Garruk, Primal Hunter: I really like Relentless, he feels more versatile. I should give PH a spin.
Gravepurge: Interesting idea, worth trying in a sideboard slot.
First the decklist
4x Arbor Elf
3x Deathrite Shaman
4x Strangleroot Geist
4x Dreg Mangler
4x Predator Ooze
2x Wolfir Silverheart
2x Devour Flesh
3x Ultimate Price
3x Abrupt Decay
PLANESWALKERS
3x Garruk Relentless
ENCHANTMENTS
4x Rancor
1x Ghost Quater
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Golgari Guildgate
4x Woodland Cemetary
8x Forest
3x Swamp
4x Arbor Elf
3x Ulvenwald Tracker
4x Strangleroot Geist
4x Lotleth Troll
4x Predator Ooze
3x Dreg Mangler
2x Wolfir Silverheart
SPELLS - 5
3x Ultimate Price
2x Abrupt Decay
4x Rancor
PLANESWALKERS - 3
3x Garruk Relentless
LANDS - 24
4x Overgrown Tombs
4x Woodland Cemetery
4x Golgari Guildgate
9x Forest
3x Swamp
1x Duress
2x Appetite for Brains
2x Abrupt Decay
3x Sheltering Word
1x Ranger's Guile
3x Crushing Vines
3x Tribute to Hunger
Been rather happy with the removal Tracker and Troll from the 75 entirely. Increasing the number of Dreg Manglers to 4, and adding in Devour Flesh has been great going into unknown metas. Also increasing Abrupt Decay to three increases consistency and improves game 1 matches against Boros Reckoner.
UWR
So against UWR Flash/Homebrew. This is from the last round of Standard (pre-Gatecrash), my friend piloting and brewing this deck hasn't been into standard lately and moving into more Sealed/Limited. I took both matches played against his deck. This deck contains Hellkite, Good Guy Geist (GoST), Resto Angel, Charms, etc.
Game 1
I don't have notes for Game 1, though I won through direct damage.
SB: -1 Ultimate Price, -1 Devour Flesh; +2 Crushing Vines
Game 2
Again I lack notes here. However I was able to force him to concede the match. His deck was having a difficult time dealing with P. Ooze, hasty creatures and the removal suite. I did note I didn't draw any of my Crushing Vines.
Game 3
We kept the same sideboards as previously noted. I lost this game to not being aggressive enough. I played P. Ooze ahead of Dreg Mangler, the extra three damage a turn earlier would have won me the game.
Game 4
New pilot, more experienced player. We both undid any sideboarding. Deathrite Shaman + Rancor did lots of work, leading to another win.
Game 5
Same pilot from Game 4. We both sideboarded, I sideboarded +2 Crushing Vines in again. Even though I missed a T7 guildgate, I was able to win taking out his Restoration Angel with Ultimate Price and swing in for the win.
UWR feels like a very good match up for this style of deck. The next two reports are from last night. It was casual, and I lack notes.
The Aristrocrats
We played roughly five Game 1s, with the outcome being nearly 50/50, with one game ending in a draw (don't swing into Boros Reckoner without an Abrupt Decay handy!). The pilot didn't have his SB ready, and was fairly inexperience (had some difficulty with how The Stack worked). The games could become rather lengthy. Deathrite proved invaluable in these situations by gaining life and keeping me in the game. I feel as though siding in Bloodgift Demon (2 or even 3 of) would have done well against his fliers and given the extra card draw, put me back in the game sooner. This match up is 50/50 game 1, and given the correct sideboard easily winnable.
Mono Black Control (Splash Red)
This was piloted by an experienced builder and brewer, however after two games I had the match. (Unfortunately it was only one match.) This deck is much slower than most G/B lists, thus making match 1 winnable. Though like most control decks, it takes a few extra turns. Also the splash for Red seemed to be fore Slaughter Games. Didn't see anything else come up that needed Red mana.
Sideboading: -2 Ultimate Price, -2 Devour Flesh; +2 Appetite for Brains, +2 Duress. Taking out two UP was a big mistake. I lucked out and had one from the draw (the only one left in the deck), and was able to use it to nuke an early Nighthawk Vampire. AfB and Duress were all stars, letting me remove Griselbrand, Mutilate, Slaughter Games, etc. This really allowed me to get in for the kill. Abrupt Decay got some work in, removing early blockers.
I've been enjoying the deck and the new changes made to it. I haven't missed the loss of Tracker or Troll. And switching to using instant speed removal offers great flexibility and has been successful. I am looking at putting in Murder, or possibly Victim of the Night, though I'm hesitant to do so at the moment.
Sideboard
I feel that the sideboard is starting to build itself slowly. Though not set in concrete, I am currently looking at:
2x Duress
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Ultimate Price
3x Bloodgift Demon
4x Ranger's Guile
2x Crushing Vines
Most of the sideboard is self explanatory, and I'll keep tweaking it through play testing. I feel that overall it is positioned rather well. Perhaps one less each of Ranger's and Bloodgift to increase the numbers for Duress and Appetite.
I should have more play testing done on Saturday and be able to report back. Open to all critiques!
TL;DR: I talk about a few match ups I put my deck through.
Dreadbore should be tested as a 3 way split, as posted by slater. I think this gives the deck more versatility from the get go. Aristocrats do fit the subtheme of haste and indestructible creatures. Also I think the Aristocrats fill the curve nicely and solidify our position midgame. I don't think that going with a full on out midrange plan is entirely viable.
EDIT: Previously here was a stupid thing about one Demon that I mixed up with another.