I know green is the better big mana color, but green doesn't have exsanguinate or torment of hailfire. Black also has countless other options (just don't ask us to disenchant something or break a manarock) while green is like "GET BIG MANA PLAY CREATURES SWING"
I just feel like there is a sh*tload of depth to black, and that yeah green gets mana but black does it in its own way with its own (badass) flavor
Ad Nauseam basically reads "EOT draw 20+ cards". At which point you should probably be able to win when you untap. Its like Necropotence, except you get to do it at the end of the last opponents turn instead of having to survive a full round with very little life, for two extra mana. It does require some building around when you put your deck together, but if you do, it's disgustingly strong.
Arguably the premiere mono-black deck (I've seen some Razaketh lists recently that look pretty good, but they're not yet proven) involves running Sidisi, Undead Vizier as the commander. Probably 90% of the time, her job is to tutor for Ad Naus (occasionally, you need to use her to get an answer instead).
That's interesting, I would like to know more about the strategy behind ad naus. I'd like to add it to the guide once I understand it more, do you have a link to some sort of guide to it's use? I may proxy one and try it out. (I'm learning more from comments in this guide than people are learning from the guide itself lmao)
No mention of the single most powerful black card in the format, Ad Nauseam?
I feel that ad naus is better in modern. It certainly can be good in commander, but mainly for combo purposes. If you disagree, sell me on it, I love discussion
I know you're being facetious, but this reminds me of a guy who adamantly argued that Cabal Coffers isn't good in mono-black. Good times.
Sidisi, Undead Vizier is the most competitive commander, but Chainer, Dementia Master, Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed, and Erebos, God of the Dead are probably the best 'fair' generals. As for generals not being the most important thing, I disagree to an extent. Your commander choice should be reflected in your deck choices. For example, in my Erebos list I don't run a whole lot of draw effects behind black'scantrips and, of course, Necropotence. I simply don't need a bunch of draw effects because they're generally superfluous. Similarly, in Chainer, I didn't run any other reanimation effects because my general was just too efficient at doing it already.
I can see the reasoning behind your stance on commanders, but honestly I'm a bit of a timmy/vorthos and I just don't see it that way. I'm not saying you're wrong, because you are right (obviously building your deck around your commander is gud) I'm just saying that my commander is *usually* the back seat of my decks
Lets be real here. Necropotence isn't that good in mono black. You can't draw you entire deck with and black doesn't have any cheap you win the game combos. Mono black just doesn't have the consistency you need for it to be good.
I know you're kidding lmao (I hope) but those words are blasphemous
As a Chainer pilot, this is much appreciated and enjoyed.
Are you going to be expanding this and writing more?
I do plan on expanding this to have more extensive blurbs about ways to play and I would like to have more ways to play listed, if anyone has any ideas.
@underhill83 My personal opinion on lake of the dead is that its HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD and thats THE BEST TYPE OF THING
I'd like Braids more if she wasn't super banned, and Volrath's Stronghold is pretty good no matter which way you look at it. I may add those in a "BADASS MONO BLACK LANDS" list. Temporal Extortion I have actually never seen in use, but its interesting and I might just have to swag on someone with it
(This isn't a guide to any specific deck, more of just a how-to on mono black and a little persuasion as to why black is the best color. Also, don't take too much of this guide super seriously, a lot of it is for entertainment purposes)
Alright. So you play magic. If you're reading this, you probably play commander.
But.
Is thisB a familiar friend?
It should be. I've heard there were five colors of magic.
I think that's four too many.
That black mana up there?
That can win you the game.
You add another?
That can win you the game faster
BUT IF YOU ADD A THIRD
YOU CAN CAST NECROPOTENCE, THE ENCHANTMENT OF PURE CARD ADVANTAGE.
Now you may be saying, "Oh Aethenlor, please teach us your ways!"
I will, my children. For I have taken it upon myself to be your messiah.
Power has a price. In black, that price is often severing one or more of your own limbs or selling your sister for a step ahead. Pay that price WITH A DAMN SMILE
No matter what type of deck you like, black can do it. You like tokens? We got tokens. You like card advantage? We have card advantage. You like control? We can end the lives of the uncontrollable. You like lifegain? We have lifegain WITH A SIDE of killing your opponent right in his stupid life-having face. Anything WURG can do, B can do better.
There are a lot of ways to play mono black. I'll go over a decent chunk of them here, don't you worry your pretty little heads.
Lets talk Commanders. Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath? VIABLE. Sheoldred, Whispering One? VIABLE. Razaketh, the Foulblooded? SO DAMN VIABLE.
Looking at Chainer, Dementia Master he's also pretty damn cool.
It doesn't matter who your commander is unless they offer you something good. Razaketh tutors for sh*t. Ob Nixilis is a damn demon every other turn. Sheoldred is a little broken BUT WHO CARES CAST THAT *****
Your commander shouldn't really be the most important thing unless you're running a build-around commander such as Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker or Marrow-Gnawer.
DECK ARCHETYPES
NECROPOTENCE/MANA DOUBLERS
So, this is my personal favorite way to play. The idea is to get a mana doubler on the field somewhat early (Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Crypt Ghast) and start putting some pressure on the board. Get Necropotence out with a tutor or something, and pay LOTS of life. RISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT TRUST ME. Try to put Venser's Journal on the board if you can, it has great synergy with Necro. Afterwards, you cast big demons and sh*t with your massive pool of mana until you get Exsanguinate or Torment of Hailfire or something. Another wincon can be Promise of Power, getting the demon out after you've "drawn" half your deck with Necro. If things are looking grim, you can use Doomsday to stack any mana doublers you haven't drawn yet and x costing spells. Also, with your mana pool Plague Wind is easy to cast. You may say, "But Aethenlor! In Garruk's Wake is strictly better!", and you wouldn't be wrong. But you forgot to factor in HOW BADASS PLAGUE WIND IS. Garruk is a little ***** and if you leave it to him to kill all your opponents stuff then you are too. I fight my own battles, I don't need some "Nature Lover". HE'S LIKE PART GREEN WE DON'T NEED THAT KIND OF THING AROUND. You are paying a lot of life in this deck, it's very high risk/high reward. I personally use Razaketh as my commander, but he's more of a backup thing. I have experimented with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as commander (still just swamps, he doesn't need to be cast to be gud with Necropotence) but I just don't feel right knowing that he has other colors in his mana cost. He's corrupted.
NECROMANCY WOO
Step 1. Discard a fatty
Step 2. Cast Animate Dead or Exhume or Reanimate
Step 3. Smash face
If that doesn't work do it again
UNDEAD ORGY
Zombie tokens everywhere. You see that little patch of space on your playmat that doesn't have a zombie? Put a zombie there. Put zombies everywhere. Ghoulcaller Gisa, Mikaeus, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Lim-Dûl the Necromancer, WHO CARES JUST RAISE THE DEAD AND RAISE THE ROOF DIREGRAF COLOSSUS, GRAVECRAWLER, UNDEAD WARCHIEF! So many zombies, so much synergy its just a GOOD TRIBE
I don't need to tell you how to make a zombie deck, there's too much synergy for me to go over. Just GET ZAMBIES
DEATH TRIGGERS/IT'S ALL IN THE SAC
Something is released when something dies. It may be a soul, it may be some sort of death knell. BUT WITH GRIM HARUSPEX IT ALLOWS YOU TO DRAW CARDS SO DON'T QUESTION IT. This energy also enables Bontu, the Glorified to attack. Ghoulcaller Gisa can make a ton of zombies with a single dead thing, and Yahenni, Undying Partisan becomes rock hard as she hears the screams of her allies. Sac-decks are pretty great, as they utilize small creatures and death triggers to get the most value out of something biting the dust. Tragic Slip is more reliable, and suddenly Grave Pact won't let your opponents keep creatures on the board. There are tons of good sac outlets, such as: Viscera Seer Ashnod's Altar Sidisi, Undead Vizier Victimize Fleshbag Marauder and the like Phyrexian Altar Attrition
Great cards, and I'm honestly gonna say a card that said "0: Sacrifice a creature" would not be that terrible. Anyway, on to WHY we're killing our own army (aside from feeling like Darth Vader, which is always a plus). Death triggers. Let me show you: Grim Haruspex Harvester of Souls Pawn of Ulamog Sifter of Skulls Blood Artist Zulaport Cutthroat
And those are just some of the creatures.
These things defile the sh*t out of your dead things. After you sac something, these guys swarm the body and start taking little bits and pieces. Sifter of skulls legit takes the skull, Blood artist bleeds them and Zulaport cutthroat takes their purse. Harvester takes the soul, and you don't want to know what Grim Haru does. -shudders- Nasty.
It all comes together to form a morbid soup with eyeballs and fingers, and good stuff happens. To you.
BADASS LANDS YOU CAN TAP TO DO COOL STUFF (aside from Swamp, as we all know that its a little overpowered.)
You know how you win games? (besides playing mono black)? You cast spells. LANDS ARE THE THAT TURN LITTLE FUNNY WORDS INTO SATANIC RITUALS OF PURE GOODSTUFF
MONO BLACK HAS AMAZING LAND OPTIONS, WHETHER FOR MANA OR FOR RANDOM TOOLBOX USE
Such as: Cabal Coffers, the card I was so obviously going to talk about that I won't even mention it. Not once. -drools at the mmmmmanaaa Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. You may be thinking, "Oh but Aethenlor that card isn't black-" WELL THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG because NYKTHOS is a pure mana generating MACHINE when you do it right. Even when you do it WRONG Nykthos is good, and that's pretty okay. This card just... its just very beautiful. I'm giving it honorary swamp status. Crypt of Agadeem, its pretty okay. It definitely isn't bad, and in the right deck it can be pretty sexy. Lake of the Dead is pretty great, and I thank Underhill83 for even putting it on my radar. I HATE THAT I DIDN'T GIVE THIS CARD A SECOND LOOK BUT YOU SHOULD CUZ ITS GREAT
RUN IT Leechridden Swamp is super disappointing. I mean, I didn't really expect it to do much but I found myself groaning every time I drew it for not being a basic swamp. Phyrexian Tower-Boy did those Phyrexians know how to bleed their people. They were cruel and evil and it was awesome, and they just left this perfectly good tower here for us to use! USE IT PLEASE Volrath's Stronghold, another of the "We already know this is good you don't need to tell us. You think we're stupid? YOU AREN'T MY REAL DAD" cards. You know its good, I don't need to tell you. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a tough case. In mono black, the only reason you should run it is is you run like every land on this list and have "Swamp Matters" cards (i.e.Nightmare or Lashwrithe). Otherwise, you may be giving your opponent free color fixing.
Play mono black.
It's good.
It's viable.
It's fun (for you).
Gonti becoming a planeswalker is preposterous. His aether heart is only to keep him alive, and as you said, it is unlikely he will continue that trend. I'm sure you meant something along the lines of "Is it likely he will continue that trend? Yes."
Edit that please
But back to Gonti, if he weren't a minor character (perhaps we will see him again if we return to Kaladesh but for now he just does not have much screentime, so to speak) this would still be insane, the planar bridge was destroyed. Rashmi is definitely not going to make another one after what she has seen, and if she does I'm sure she will take measures to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. You like Gonti, I get it, but don't fanboy and believe it to be possible.
I know green is the better big mana color, but green doesn't have exsanguinate or torment of hailfire. Black also has countless other options (just don't ask us to disenchant something or break a manarock) while green is like "GET BIG MANA PLAY CREATURES SWING"
I just feel like there is a sh*tload of depth to black, and that yeah green gets mana but black does it in its own way with its own (badass) flavor
That's interesting, I would like to know more about the strategy behind ad naus. I'd like to add it to the guide once I understand it more, do you have a link to some sort of guide to it's use? I may proxy one and try it out. (I'm learning more from comments in this guide than people are learning from the guide itself lmao)
I feel that ad naus is better in modern. It certainly can be good in commander, but mainly for combo purposes. If you disagree, sell me on it, I love discussion
I can see the reasoning behind your stance on commanders, but honestly I'm a bit of a timmy/vorthos and I just don't see it that way. I'm not saying you're wrong, because you are right (obviously building your deck around your commander is gud) I'm just saying that my commander is *usually* the back seat of my decks
I know you're kidding lmao (I hope) but those words are blasphemous
I do plan on expanding this to have more extensive blurbs about ways to play and I would like to have more ways to play listed, if anyone has any ideas.
@underhill83 My personal opinion on lake of the dead is that its HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD and thats THE BEST TYPE OF THING
I'd like Braids more if she wasn't super banned, and Volrath's Stronghold is pretty good no matter which way you look at it. I may add those in a "BADASS MONO BLACK LANDS" list. Temporal Extortion I have actually never seen in use, but its interesting and I might just have to swag on someone with it
Alright. So you play magic. If you're reading this, you probably play commander.
But.
Is this B a familiar friend?
It should be. I've heard there were five colors of magic.
I think that's four too many.
That black mana up there?
That can win you the game.
You add another?
That can win you the game faster
BUT IF YOU ADD A THIRD
YOU CAN CAST NECROPOTENCE, THE ENCHANTMENT OF PURE CARD ADVANTAGE.
Now you may be saying, "Oh Aethenlor, please teach us your ways!"
I will, my children. For I have taken it upon myself to be your messiah.
Power has a price. In black, that price is often severing one or more of your own limbs or selling your sister for a step ahead. Pay that price WITH A DAMN SMILE
No matter what type of deck you like, black can do it. You like tokens? We got tokens. You like card advantage? We have card advantage. You like control? We can end the lives of the uncontrollable. You like lifegain? We have lifegain WITH A SIDE of killing your opponent right in his stupid life-having face. Anything WURG can do, B can do better.
There are a lot of ways to play mono black. I'll go over a decent chunk of them here, don't you worry your pretty little heads.
Lets talk Commanders.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath? VIABLE.
Sheoldred, Whispering One? VIABLE.
Razaketh, the Foulblooded? SO DAMN VIABLE.
Looking at Chainer, Dementia Master he's also pretty damn cool.
It doesn't matter who your commander is unless they offer you something good. Razaketh tutors for sh*t. Ob Nixilis is a damn demon every other turn. Sheoldred is a little broken BUT WHO CARES CAST THAT *****
Your commander shouldn't really be the most important thing unless you're running a build-around commander such as Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker or Marrow-Gnawer.
DECK ARCHETYPES
NECROPOTENCE/MANA DOUBLERS
So, this is my personal favorite way to play. The idea is to get a mana doubler on the field somewhat early (Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Crypt Ghast) and start putting some pressure on the board. Get Necropotence out with a tutor or something, and pay LOTS of life. RISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT TRUST ME. Try to put Venser's Journal on the board if you can, it has great synergy with Necro. Afterwards, you cast big demons and sh*t with your massive pool of mana until you get Exsanguinate or Torment of Hailfire or something. Another wincon can be Promise of Power, getting the demon out after you've "drawn" half your deck with Necro. If things are looking grim, you can use Doomsday to stack any mana doublers you haven't drawn yet and x costing spells. Also, with your mana pool Plague Wind is easy to cast. You may say, "But Aethenlor! In Garruk's Wake is strictly better!", and you wouldn't be wrong. But you forgot to factor in HOW BADASS PLAGUE WIND IS. Garruk is a little ***** and if you leave it to him to kill all your opponents stuff then you are too. I fight my own battles, I don't need some "Nature Lover". HE'S LIKE PART GREEN WE DON'T NEED THAT KIND OF THING AROUND. You are paying a lot of life in this deck, it's very high risk/high reward. I personally use Razaketh as my commander, but he's more of a backup thing. I have experimented with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic as commander (still just swamps, he doesn't need to be cast to be gud with Necropotence) but I just don't feel right knowing that he has other colors in his mana cost. He's corrupted.
THE MEAN, EFFICIENT DECK
Some people say you should build "75%" decks. To make things fair. WHO CARES ABOUT FAIR WHEN YOU SMASH FACE WITH PHYREXIAN OBLITERATOR!
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is a strong commander to use, or Sheoldred. Something that really impacts the game. You can run Geralf's Messenger, and like Grave Titan and stuff. Good sh*t. Vampire Nighthawk (and on that note, I personally like Gifted Aetherborn). Gray Merchant of Asphodel is good in this deck too. Magus of the Will. Massacre Wurm. Throw in some kill spells and tutors and you got yourself a salty playgroup after they lose to your all-consuming might. CAST YAWGMOTH'S WILL AND DO IT ALL AGAIN! Cabal Coffers, Phyrexian Tower, Shizo, Death's Storehouse.... EVEN YOUR LANDS ARE BADASS
GRAVEYARD STUFF
NECROMANCY WOO
Step 1. Discard a fatty
Step 2. Cast Animate Dead or Exhume or Reanimate
Step 3. Smash face
If that doesn't work do it again
UNDEAD ORGY
Zombie tokens everywhere. You see that little patch of space on your playmat that doesn't have a zombie? Put a zombie there. Put zombies everywhere.
Ghoulcaller Gisa, Mikaeus, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Lim-Dûl the Necromancer, WHO CARES JUST RAISE THE DEAD AND RAISE THE ROOF
DIREGRAF COLOSSUS, GRAVECRAWLER, UNDEAD WARCHIEF! So many zombies, so much synergy its just a GOOD TRIBE
I don't need to tell you how to make a zombie deck, there's too much synergy for me to go over. Just GET ZAMBIES
DEATH TRIGGERS/IT'S ALL IN THE SAC
Something is released when something dies. It may be a soul, it may be some sort of death knell. BUT WITH GRIM HARUSPEX IT ALLOWS YOU TO DRAW CARDS SO DON'T QUESTION IT. This energy also enables Bontu, the Glorified to attack. Ghoulcaller Gisa can make a ton of zombies with a single dead thing, and Yahenni, Undying Partisan becomes rock hard as she hears the screams of her allies. Sac-decks are pretty great, as they utilize small creatures and death triggers to get the most value out of something biting the dust. Tragic Slip is more reliable, and suddenly Grave Pact won't let your opponents keep creatures on the board. There are tons of good sac outlets, such as:
Viscera Seer
Ashnod's Altar
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Victimize
Fleshbag Marauder and the like
Phyrexian Altar
Attrition
Great cards, and I'm honestly gonna say a card that said "0: Sacrifice a creature" would not be that terrible. Anyway, on to WHY we're killing our own army (aside from feeling like Darth Vader, which is always a plus). Death triggers. Let me show you:
Grim Haruspex
Harvester of Souls
Pawn of Ulamog
Sifter of Skulls
Blood Artist
Zulaport Cutthroat
And those are just some of the creatures.
These things defile the sh*t out of your dead things. After you sac something, these guys swarm the body and start taking little bits and pieces. Sifter of skulls legit takes the skull, Blood artist bleeds them and Zulaport cutthroat takes their purse. Harvester takes the soul, and you don't want to know what Grim Haru does. -shudders- Nasty.
It all comes together to form a morbid soup with eyeballs and fingers, and good stuff happens. To you.
BADASS LANDS YOU CAN TAP TO DO COOL STUFF (aside from Swamp, as we all know that its a little overpowered.)
You know how you win games? (besides playing mono black)? You cast spells. LANDS ARE THE THAT TURN LITTLE FUNNY WORDS INTO SATANIC RITUALS OF PURE GOODSTUFF
MONO BLACK HAS AMAZING LAND OPTIONS, WHETHER FOR MANA OR FOR RANDOM TOOLBOX USE
Such as:
Cabal Coffers, the card I was so obviously going to talk about that I won't even mention it. Not once. -drools at the mmmmmanaaa
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. You may be thinking, "Oh but Aethenlor that card isn't black-" WELL THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG because NYKTHOS is a pure mana generating MACHINE when you do it right. Even when you do it WRONG Nykthos is good, and that's pretty okay. This card just... its just very beautiful. I'm giving it honorary swamp status.
Crypt of Agadeem, its pretty okay. It definitely isn't bad, and in the right deck it can be pretty sexy.
Lake of the Dead is pretty great, and I thank Underhill83 for even putting it on my radar. I HATE THAT I DIDN'T GIVE THIS CARD A SECOND LOOK BUT YOU SHOULD CUZ ITS GREAT
RUN IT
Leechridden Swamp is super disappointing. I mean, I didn't really expect it to do much but I found myself groaning every time I drew it for not being a basic swamp.
Phyrexian Tower-Boy did those Phyrexians know how to bleed their people. They were cruel and evil and it was awesome, and they just left this perfectly good tower here for us to use! USE IT PLEASE
Volrath's Stronghold, another of the "We already know this is good you don't need to tell us. You think we're stupid? YOU AREN'T MY REAL DAD" cards. You know its good, I don't need to tell you.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a tough case. In mono black, the only reason you should run it is is you run like every land on this list and have "Swamp Matters" cards (i.e.Nightmare or Lashwrithe). Otherwise, you may be giving your opponent free color fixing.
Play mono black.
It's good.
It's viable.
It's fun (for you).
(feedback is appreciated)
I'm thinking of building a deck with him but idk what his lore is and it bothers me
Edit that please
But back to Gonti, if he weren't a minor character (perhaps we will see him again if we return to Kaladesh but for now he just does not have much screentime, so to speak) this would still be insane, the planar bridge was destroyed. Rashmi is definitely not going to make another one after what she has seen, and if she does I'm sure she will take measures to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. You like Gonti, I get it, but don't fanboy and believe it to be possible.
My god...
I hope you're joking, or this is some lame attempt at a conspiracy theory or something...