I returned to playing magic about 4 months ago after a 5 year break (Although I still had all my cards).
I enjoyed playing Highlander back then, and when I returned was introduced to EDH so I started looking for a way to build a Monoblack Control and/or Suicide deck. Enter Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon.
After a lot of play testing I think the deck is in its final stage (until new sets are released) I love this deck, it is the closest I feel I can get to monoblack suicide/aggro/control in EDH. This deck is a 1v1 powerhouse in my local competitive meta.
My local playgroup has banned Crucible of Worlds, besides this we use the official ban list.
This deck may be for you if:
- You like to play control via discard and spot removal
- You like to draw cards
- You like to control tempo
- You don't care taking damage to draw/kill/etc ...
- you like Voltron-esque Commanders
- You don't mind if no one wants to be your friend at the local magic hangout
This deck is not for you if:
- You like counter magic
- You don't like discard
- You like to play a lot of creatures/win conditions
- You like combos
- You don't like taking damage
- You want people to like you
Here is the deck list, I will give an explanation of card choices and its goal after it.
As you can tell the deck has no combos, and no alternate win conditions, it deals infect damage with Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon and/or Inkmoth Nexus Utilizing a few either equipment or some other type of pump effect to do it in 1 or 2 turns, the only other creature in the deck is Graveborn Muse and she is not there to attack with.
Now although we want to kill in 1 to 2 turns this doesnt always mean the game is short. This deck can go 1 of 2 ways.
1. Heavy control, this game could go on for a while, making sure your opponent has no possible way to answer anything you do, and finally casting Skithiryx in the mid to late game when you know he is safe and can take your time swinging at your opponent 3 times or just delivering the death blow with Unspeakable Symbol or something.
2. Suicide/Aggro - Sometimes you just get that hand that comes out swinging where you can turn 1 and 2 cause some hand disruption and drop an early game Skithiryx/Hatred for the win.
Option 1, is usually how this deck plays out for me, my meta has a lot of counter magic so Option 2 usually just means I spend a bunch of life and lose card advantage to get countered.
Now for the card explanations.
Cards I am not running:
There are a lot of cards that people consider "good" or "auto includes" that I am not running, I am not going to make a giant list that no one is going to read. Here is that you need to keep in mind before asking why I am not running card X or chose X over Y.
This deck hurts you to gain advantage, it hurts you a lot, every way we have to draw cards cost life, as well as some of our lands pinging us to death also.
There are a few exceptions, but if a card costs more than 4 it better fill a whole in our control aspect like Karn Liberated helping us remove artifacts and enchantments. Otherwise we are wasting our time and resources to cast high mana spells that really do nothing for us, if we make it there before killing ourselves with our own draw spells and lands.
Lands:
Being a mono-colored deck we luck out in being able to run a less expensive mana base.
Inkmoth Nexus - This guy effectively helps us kill in 2 turns if we can't find something to make Skithiryx bigger, or he just straight wins games on his own by pumping him up.
Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Although I am not a fan when people say this about cards, but if your running a black deck these are "auto includes".
Lake of the Dead - turn 1 swamp, turn 2 swamp, turn 3 tap sac a swamp, play lake of the dead, tap sac the other and tap the Lake, enter Skithiryx turn 3 with haste. Yes this effectively leaves you with a nonbasic swamp in play, but your opponent now has 2 more turns to deal with a huge threat on the table.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Helps out our discard, and whatever else we need resolve ... its 50/50 there may be better utility land options.
Ancient Tomb - Just another colorless accelerator for us.
Ebon Stronghold/Crystal Vein - These lands I like to a drop a few turns into the game, I drop either of them at a time where I can check someones hand with discard and get rid of a removal or counter, and then use their sac effect to immediately cast Skithiryx with haste when I know he will resolve/be safe, Ebon Stronghold comes into play tapped, but has the benefit of giving us BB.
Some of these are chosen due to budget reasons, others are pretty self explanatory, I will explain the few that might throw people off.
The rocks that CITP and things like that are usually used to get ready to cast Death Cloud so that we recovery faster than our opponent.
Mana Vault - This card really needs no introduction, I have cast Skithryrix on turn 1 with this card and an amazing hand.
Chrome Mox - we do lose card advantage to play this card, but its 1 turn sooner we get to tear apart our opponents hand, remove a threat, or cast our threat.
Lotus Petal - You will see in the change log at the very bottom of this post that I bounce back and forth between this and Wayfarer's Bauble. In the end, this is free, its only 1 use, but again really so is the Bauble, and this is faster.
We run the best discard black has to offer, this is part 1 of how we keep control of the game, tearing apart your opponents hand and always knowing whats in it. I will explain the few odd ball choices (mostly meta reasons)
Stupor - This is just a really good card, 3 for 2, and 1 is random, which comes before they get to choose, if the random hits the card they were going to pick, even better.
Unmask - it lets us save our mana for other things for the low cost of 1 card - this is card disadvantage for us since its 2 for 1, but it makes sure we are not wasting our time casting Skithiryx to just make him cost 2 more without swinging.
Perish The Thought/Coercion - both of these are 3 mana for 1 card, but we get to look at their hand so we can prepare accordingly.
Removal:
Part 2 of keeping board control, get rid of creatures. This is another area that needs little explanation. Here are some of the oddball choices explained though.
Consuming Vapors - its expensive and Sorcery speed, but it goes off twice, so cut the cost in half, and it helps counteract a lot of the life loss we inflict upon ourselves over time especially if we can get a big creature with it.
Ashes to Ashes - This handles those pesky creatures we don't ever want to see again for the rest of the game, 5 life is small cost to remove Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or an Eldrazzi from the game.
Innocent Blood - 1 mana removal since we run almost no creature's excluding our Commander.
Snuff Out - no mana, instant speed removal, the best kind.
Dismember - I added this after NPH released and never looked back, its basically a turn 1 removal spell for pesky 1 or 2 drops, and late game is still a great removal spell.
Mass Removal:
If we have had to take the longer control approach to win for whatever reason, these are our early or late game board sweepers to clear the way. Again most are self explanatory. I have to deal with Eldrazzi and Blightsteel Colossus a lot, usually these are cast, followed by a "player sacrifices a creature" to get rid of them.
All Is Dust and Death Cloud - Both keep our mana rocks safe, and help reset the board in our favor.
Oblivion Stone - This is one of our only answer for problematic Enchantments and artifacts.
I don't really think any of the cards here need an explanation, they let us keep card advantage or grab that much needed X factor we are looking for.
Other:
These are the awesome cards that just didn't fit any other description.
Lightning Greaves - These may seem redundant since Skithiryx can give himself haste and regen, but they protect him a bit more, and if you dropped them before he is in play then he is basically 1 mana cheaper and still gets to attack right away.
Sadistic Sacrament - I never pay the kicker, but getting to pull cards from someones deck before they ever get to even touch them is amazing, it helps us get artifacts and enchantments we normally wouldn't be able to remove if they resolve.
Karn Liberated - After play testing this guy, he earned his spot. He is removal on a stick, I remove whatever was giving me a problem the turn he comes into play, and then he is an extra discard spell every turn.
Our lists are almost the same with the difference that our group plays with the official mtgcommander.net ban list, even in 1on1.
Maybe there are some cards you missed and please tell me what you think about the list. Keep in mind that this is NOT played with the mtgs/french ban list.
P.S. Please pardon my English skills as I am not a native speaker.
I play in a meta with a lot of eldrazzi and indestructible creatures, the cards that cause sacrificing allow me to get rid of them after they survive Damnation etc, even if most of them shuffle in to the library they are off the board.
Barter in blood I go back and forth about cutting, its kind of lack luster in 1v1, it has helped me, but there are probably better cards to replace it with, maybe Devour in Shadow or Ashes to ashes.
Innocent Blood is great though, its a 1 mana removal basically and a way for me to get rid of Dark Confidant if he is killing me.
as for the Esper panorama, I will probably replace it with a swamp, although research shows that its pretty much negligible, I use the fetch lands to shuffle if I don't like what I am drawing. My local group has banned Crucible of worlds so they are a 1 time use though.
whispersilk cloak, I am 50/50 on, sometimes I love that its in play, other times, like you said I wish I had well any other card in my deck, lightning greaves will probably replace it.
Do you ever have many issues for spells that cost BB? I run 39 land, with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (This card is also great for helping make Skittles bigger with Nightmare lash etc ... the other reason I run more land though is for lack of things like Sol Ring, Jet Medallion
Try Caress of Phyrexia. I've been loving it in my Skittles deck for 1v1. It gives you extra reach, in that it is essentially 1/3 of their "life total" getting nuked with one card. I'd also throw in Plague Myr as an accelerant and an extra infect dude, and I'd add Throne of Geth and Contagion Engine. They help give the deck more consistency, as you only need Skittles to hit once, and then you just proliferate them to death.
I'd get rid of Mind Rot, Nightmare Void, Inquisition of Kozilek, and a land or two. I'd also drop some of the one-shot draw effects (Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper) for either more potent ones (ambition's cost) or more "permanent" ones (Necropotence, Graveborn Muse).
1. Maybe Mind Rot for Necropotence but the other two are to good not to play. The Dredge ability of Nightmare Void is really great and I use it frequently when I am about to use my win condition.
2. Dropping 2-3 lands could be a good Idea. Caress of Phyrexia could be a good finisher, haven't tested it yet.
3. Never drop card draw
4. Plaque Myr is to slow and gets easily killed
5. Throne of Geth and Contagion Engine give you consistency in exchange for control or speed. But if you run those you could also run Sphere of the Sun and they are great in combination with Coalition Relic.
I've found Inquisition can flop pretty at times. I run mire's toll over it. I don't like Nightmare Void because of its cost. Yes, its recurring discard, but I'd rather blow away all their hand with Mind Sludge/Mind Shatter/Mind Twist or similar.
I love card drawing effects, but I tend to preffer more "permanent" ones, ala Necropotence and Graveborn Muse. SiB draws you two cards, whearas Muse is more easily recurred and consistently gives you more than just two cards. And hey, if they're using removal to kill Muse, they're not going to have it for Skittles.
I've found that Plague Myr serves the same purpose as a 2cc mana rock 70-80% of the time. You drop him ASAP, and accelerate with him next turn. He has the benefit of swinging at your opponent if need be. I never rely on him late-game as mana accel; late game he's just another potential pump target alongside Inkmoth Nexus and possibly Phyrexian Crusader (the protection is too good to pass up, IMO).
I've found that Contagion Engine can usually replace one of the weaker wrath effects. If indestructible is prevalent in the OP's meta, I would probably replace Damnation with it. An early Skittles followed by an Engine seals the game very quickly, lest they come up with an answer for both.
After reading some suggestions here are some of the changes I am going to make and see how they work out. I want to thank everyone again for interest, it seems like we all have the same idea in mind though, just different approaches.
I test regularly against an Azusa, lost but Seeking mono green ramp deck and Jhoira of the Ghitu that runs a crap ton of permission and suspends to blow the world up and put eldrazzi into play.
I should be able to get some testing in today
- Whispersilk Cloak
- Oblivion Stone
- Barter in Blood
- Helm of Awakening
- Esper Panorama
- Marsh Flat
- Lotus Petal
Added:
1x Lightning Greave
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Ashes to Ashes
1x Consuming Vapors
1x Sadistic Sacrament
1x Dismember (this will probably be replaced with Mutilate, But I dont have one right now)
1x Geth's Verdict
The Verdant Catacombs will come out later for a Lashwrite, I like cutting back a few lands, since the artifact acceleration + things like Cabal Coffers and Lake of the Dead or the Rituals keep me consistant with mana.
These are good changes. You definitely should run Hatred but I am not sure about Caged Sun because of its mana cost and you are running lots of mana artifacts so basically it is not necessary to include Caged Sun. Keeping Lotus Petal until you got a better mana artifact is a good idea.
Tell me how it went with the changes. I am excited to hear about it. I'll tell you how my 'new' list is performing as soon as I got the chance to test the hell out of it
I would really like to pick up a Hatred, Caged Sun I think your right about, definitely a mox diamond though
also side note I have an Ice Age Necropotence, I got tired of dying to Mindslaver so I took it out.
Just a heads up, I have not gotten to test too much, only a few games, but so far it looks good with the changes.
I picked up a Hatred and Lashwrithe that should be here eventually, and I am working on getting a Sol Ring as well.
I will update the originally deck list with my current setup
also the in my previous post I stated that I removed the Lotus Petal but I have not, if you look at the main deck and the second spoiler tag in my original post it will show deck changes.
No hurries. The good thing about Wayfarer's Bauble is, that it gets you a Swamp, which will be there for the rest of the game and pushes your Lashwrithe and Nightmare Lash. The bad thing is, it costs 3 mana to play and activate. Lotus Petal is faster but can be used only once. Furthermore, Wayfarer's Bauble is also good if played late But if these changes only remain for a couple of days till the next mana artifact arrives, it does not matter which card you switch out first ^^
Just got a Sol ring in a trade, its in the mail, so I will have to figure it out, like you said they both have their ups and downs so Idk.
Just do what feels right. I do so most of the time
For example I am still thinking about getting a Karn Liberated. It just feels right in this deck, MBC does not have many options to deal with enchantments and artifacts except for discard.
I happen to have Karn, I didn't really think about that.
My buddy with the Azusa deck used Lignify on Skithiryx today I had to kill my own general and recast him lol
I ordered a Karn Liberated today. Should arrive in a few days hopefully. I am still thinking about what to take out. Any suggestions ? I am thinking about taking out Deserted Temple and run 35 lands but I have to test the deck with only 35 lands. If it is not consistent I will have to think about another way
If you can cut to 35 lands and still be consistent then desert temple is the land I would cut, if not then maybe a one of the mana rocks thats a 2 for 1 thing like Fellwar Stone
Got to test out my rough copy of Skittles today against a Ghost Council and Karn deck today wow is infect vicious. Can't wait to finish off the deck and then test it against a permission deck to see how it fairs.
Got to test out my rough copy of Skittles today against a Ghost Council and Karn deck today wow is infect vicious. Can't wait to finish off the deck and then test it against a permission deck to see how it fairs.
Do you have a deck list you can post up so we can take a look at what you're working with?
I do but I'm lacking so many key cards I was thinking about waiting till I can remove the fillers before positing but if you want I can still throw it up here.
I do but I'm lacking so many key cards I was thinking about waiting till I can remove the fillers before positing but if you want I can still throw it up here.
It's up to you, doesn't hurt to look and edit it for changes as you go along.
What are your planned changes? since it was originally your Mirri deck like you said, it has the basics covered, but imho any mono-black deck is going run a high percentage of the same cards for a control aspect. Is there any different approach you plan to take than the rest of us? Like more infect creatures or combo as back up? Just curious.
also here is a crazy game I had today, anyone who doesn't have Lake of the Dead should.
I played against my friends Azusa, Lost but Seeking its what I would consider the usual Azusa playstyle, ramp into monster creatures. (it's techincally mine, he wanted to play again so I built it as a side project and he plays it)
Turn 2:
Me: Swamp, Pass
Him: Forest, Rofellos Llanowar Emissary
End of his turn: Tap 1 Swamp pay 4 life, Dismember on Rofellos. use the remaining Swamp to Top, which finds me Unspeakable Symbol and 2 Swamps. I move Unspeakable Symbol to the top.
Turn 4: Tap swamp to float 1, sac it to play Lake of the Dead, tap another swamp now floating 2, sac it and tap lake of the dead for 6. cast Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon with haste, attack, pay life to pump, game.
This is why I love this deck, I can stall and take my time destroying your hand, gaining card advantage and clearing the board to bring Skittles in. Or I can go straight aggro/suicide like that, being an old school suicide black player with Carnophages, Phyrexian Negator, Hatred etc ... this brings a smile to my face :).
In terms of combo the only 2 I think I have are Helm of Obedience + Leyline of the Void = Instant mill and Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage = 20/20 Indestructible Flying token. These are just back ups in case my general gets eliminated from the game although I'm not sure I'm going to keep the Depth/Hexmage combo in here.
I have a Lake of the Dead that I will probably add back in here. I've just never gotten it at a time which really put me ahead in any way so I ended up taking it out.
Cards like Temporal Extrortion, Blackmail, and Unhinge will be taken out as I get replacements for example taking out Unhinge for Thoughtseize. But they both did quite well for me yesterday surprisingly. I kept Sorin Markov in the deck also just as a back up. If I lose my general I lose my main win condition and I like to have him there so at the worst I can drop someone to ten and beat them with faries haha. Trident was in there mostly as a filler but its turned out to be useful because I can deal damage without actually having to attacking which is nice. Can't be hit with a Condem.
The other card I was considering is Whispersilk Cloak. Now I know I have Lightning Greaves so it may seem like a waste of a slot but the way I see it. Skittles already has haste, so I'm really only in it for the Shroud. Now the Cloak would provide me with Shroud still but also make my Skittles unblockable. I don't have to worry about losing Haste become it's built in to Skittles.
Seems like I have a lot more cards to add then I want to take out haha. The Helm + Leyline combo has bailed me out a few times but that might be cause people weren't expecting it. Now I have people going out of their way to counter one of the 2 cards as opposed to before where I could drop them and no one really had a clue what I was doing.
In terms of combo the only 2 I think I have are Helm of Obedience + Leyline of the Void = Instant mill and Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage = 20/20 Indestructible Flying token. These are just back ups in case my general gets eliminated from the game although I'm not sure I'm going to keep the Depth/Hexmage combo in here.
I have a Lake of the Dead that I will probably add back in here. I've just never gotten it at a time which really put me ahead in any way so I ended up taking it out.
Cards like Temporal Extrortion, Blackmail, and Unhinge will be taken out as I get replacements for example taking out Unhinge for Thoughtseize. But they both did quite well for me yesterday surprisingly. I kept Sorin Markov in the deck also just as a back up. If I lose my general I lose my main win condition and I like to have him there so at the worst I can drop someone to ten and beat them with faries haha. Trident was in there mostly as a filler but its turned out to be useful because I can deal damage without actually having to attacking which is nice. Can't be hit with a Condem.
The other card I was considering is Whispersilk Cloak. Now I know I have Lightning Greaves so it may seem like a waste of a slot but the way I see it. Skittles already has haste, so I'm really only in it for the Shroud. Now the Cloak would provide me with Shroud still but also make my Skittles unblockable. I don't have to worry about losing Haste become it's built in to Skittles.
Seems like I have a lot more cards to add then I want to take out haha. The Helm + Leyline combo has bailed me out a few times but that might be cause people weren't expecting it. Now I have people going out of their way to counter one of the 2 cards as opposed to before where I could drop them and no one really had a clue what I was doing.
I don't run any back ups, my win condition is to deal 10 infect, the same as it seems everyone else has. I, like you, was unsure of how this would work originally and wanted to run backup plans, but as time has gone on, I have realized I just dont need them. I can use the slots to run more removal/discard/anything that helps with control/protecting Skittles.
As far as whispersilk cloak goes thats a personal choice I guess. if you look at my deck changes I used to run it. But after getting some suggestions here I looked at it this way.
The unblockable effect to me isnt worth the 4 extra mana it is going to cost you over lightning greaves. To cast it all, equip it, and attack the first turn it comes into play.
If you want to attack the first time Skittles comes into play Whispersilk Cloak + Skittles with haste cost 11 mana. Damnation+Lightning Greaves + Skittles with haste cost the same, replace damnation with something like Ashes to Ashes and it still cost less.
And with the removal and discard our playstyle runs, I doubt there will be many creatures in play. But everyones style is different
I'm pretty sure the Dark Depths/Hexmage combo will come out eventually as it's hasn't proven to be to reliable but I think the Leyline/Helm will stay.
Yeah I'm still undecided on the Cloak/Trident I just liked the idea of being able to swing/deal damage regardless of what my opponent has on the board. But like I said still a long long way to go before this deck is even close to being finished.
I've also has suggestions of simple cards like Unholy Strength to pump Skittles but I don't believe cards like that deserve a spot in the deck
So far though its been a fun and fast deck. My Teferi deck tends to be extremely slow and I still don't have a strong win condition in it right now so its nice having something that is just straight forward and easy.
My local play group banned crucible, which makes me sad, I thought about running grim discovery to get coffers or lake of the dead back but I don't know what I would cut
-Off topic, I am super excited about the commander deck boxes so I can build a deck that pisses people off a little less, no one wants to play me anymore
OT:
I know the feeling but it never stopped me before, this deck is meant to be highly competitive. Its out for the kill ^^ I do have a second EDH with Lyzolda the Bloodwitch as its general which is a bit less competitive and a third Zombie tribal EDH which was build just for fun. Next stop will be one of the pre-constructed Commander decks.
Ok back to business
The first thing you are gonna tutor almost 99% of the time is the Unspeakable Symbol. It simply rocks for 3 mana
Really nice deck! =) i have a question: my playgroup says that in EDH you (I, in fact xD) need 20 poison counters to win, not only 10.. is it correct? or are they deceiving me?
If you local playgroup wants to make house rules 20 poison counters it kind of kills the decks playstyle, at that point I would just choose a general to Voltron and go for the 21 General damage. Skittles could still do this though.
That's up to your playgroup. We call that house rules ^^ The official rule is 10 poison counters to win. It depends what you decide with your playgroup. If you decide on 20 (which is way to much as it is equal to general dmg) than its 20 ^^
If they still insist on playing with 20, try reasoning with them and put the counters down to 12 or 14. That is definitely better ^^ Normally, as long as you are willing to increase the counters a bit, your playgroup will be happy
My Karn Liberated arrived today but I am not home and won't be for the next 6 days Now I only have to test all the changes I did in the last two weeks ^^
Thats no fun I am waiting on my Sol Ring, Nightmare Lash, and Hatred, Should be here tomorrow or monday.
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I returned to playing magic about 4 months ago after a 5 year break (Although I still had all my cards).
I enjoyed playing Highlander back then, and when I returned was introduced to EDH so I started looking for a way to build a Monoblack Control and/or Suicide deck. Enter Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon.
After a lot of play testing I think the deck is in its final stage (until new sets are released) I love this deck, it is the closest I feel I can get to monoblack suicide/aggro/control in EDH. This deck is a 1v1 powerhouse in my local competitive meta.
My local playgroup has banned Crucible of Worlds, besides this we use the official ban list.
This deck may be for you if:
- You like to draw cards
- You like to control tempo
- You don't care taking damage to draw/kill/etc ...
- you like Voltron-esque Commanders
- You don't mind if no one wants to be your friend at the local magic hangout
This deck is not for you if:
- You don't like discard
- You like to play a lot of creatures/win conditions
- You like combos
- You don't like taking damage
- You want people to like you
Here is the deck list, I will give an explanation of card choices and its goal after it.
Deck list:
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Lands: 36
25 Swamp
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Lake of the Dead
1 Ebon Stronghold
1 Crystal Vein
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
Acceleration/Mana Fixers: 12
1 Sol Ring
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
1 Expedition Map
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Mana Vault
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coalition Relic
1 Dark Ritual
1 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Distress
1 Addle
1 Coercion
1 Perish the Thought
1 Stupor
1 Unmask
1 Mind Shatter
1 Persecute
1 Mind Rot
1 Mind Twist
Removal: 11
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Pithing Needle
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Innocent Blood
1 Sudden Death
1 Snuff Out
1 Go for the Throat
1 Dismember
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Damnation
1 All Is Dust
1 Decree of Pain
1 Death Cloud
1 Oblivion Stone
Draw/Tutors: 11
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Ancient Craving
1 Necropotence
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Diabolic Tutor
Other: 9
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Sadistic Sacrament
1 Unspeakable Symbol
1 Nightmare Lash
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Hatred
1 Lashwrithe
1 Karn Liberated
1 Caress of Phyrexia
As you can tell the deck has no combos, and no alternate win conditions, it deals infect damage with Skithiryx, The Blight Dragon and/or Inkmoth Nexus Utilizing a few either equipment or some other type of pump effect to do it in 1 or 2 turns, the only other creature in the deck is Graveborn Muse and she is not there to attack with.
Now although we want to kill in 1 to 2 turns this doesnt always mean the game is short. This deck can go 1 of 2 ways.
1. Heavy control, this game could go on for a while, making sure your opponent has no possible way to answer anything you do, and finally casting Skithiryx in the mid to late game when you know he is safe and can take your time swinging at your opponent 3 times or just delivering the death blow with Unspeakable Symbol or something.
2. Suicide/Aggro - Sometimes you just get that hand that comes out swinging where you can turn 1 and 2 cause some hand disruption and drop an early game Skithiryx/Hatred for the win.
Option 1, is usually how this deck plays out for me, my meta has a lot of counter magic so Option 2 usually just means I spend a bunch of life and lose card advantage to get countered.
Now for the card explanations.
Cards I am not running:
This deck hurts you to gain advantage, it hurts you a lot, every way we have to draw cards cost life, as well as some of our lands pinging us to death also.
There are a few exceptions, but if a card costs more than 4 it better fill a whole in our control aspect like Karn Liberated helping us remove artifacts and enchantments. Otherwise we are wasting our time and resources to cast high mana spells that really do nothing for us, if we make it there before killing ourselves with our own draw spells and lands.
Lands:
Inkmoth Nexus - This guy effectively helps us kill in 2 turns if we can't find something to make Skithiryx bigger, or he just straight wins games on his own by pumping him up.
Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Although I am not a fan when people say this about cards, but if your running a black deck these are "auto includes".
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - a Swamp substitute with no draw back that for B gives fear? yes please.
Lake of the Dead - turn 1 swamp, turn 2 swamp, turn 3 tap sac a swamp, play lake of the dead, tap sac the other and tap the Lake, enter Skithiryx turn 3 with haste. Yes this effectively leaves you with a nonbasic swamp in play, but your opponent now has 2 more turns to deal with a huge threat on the table.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Helps out our discard, and whatever else we need resolve ... its 50/50 there may be better utility land options.
Ancient Tomb - Just another colorless accelerator for us.
Ebon Stronghold/Crystal Vein - These lands I like to a drop a few turns into the game, I drop either of them at a time where I can check someones hand with discard and get rid of a removal or counter, and then use their sac effect to immediately cast Skithiryx with haste when I know he will resolve/be safe, Ebon Stronghold comes into play tapped, but has the benefit of giving us BB.
Wasteland and Strip mine - these 2 need no introduction.
Mana Rocks/Accelerators/Fixers:
The rocks that CITP and things like that are usually used to get ready to cast Death Cloud so that we recovery faster than our opponent.
Mana Vault - This card really needs no introduction, I have cast Skithryrix on turn 1 with this card and an amazing hand.
Chrome Mox - we do lose card advantage to play this card, but its 1 turn sooner we get to tear apart our opponents hand, remove a threat, or cast our threat.
Lotus Petal - You will see in the change log at the very bottom of this post that I bounce back and forth between this and Wayfarer's Bauble. In the end, this is free, its only 1 use, but again really so is the Bauble, and this is faster.
Expedition Map fetches us whatever we are looking for, usually Cabal Coffers or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, whichever one isn't in play.
Fellwar Stone - It's 2 for 1, and usually ends up being colorless but its another way to generate mana after All is Dust or Death Cloud
Discard:
Stupor - This is just a really good card, 3 for 2, and 1 is random, which comes before they get to choose, if the random hits the card they were going to pick, even better.
Unmask - it lets us save our mana for other things for the low cost of 1 card - this is card disadvantage for us since its 2 for 1, but it makes sure we are not wasting our time casting Skithiryx to just make him cost 2 more without swinging.
Mind Shatter - A second Mind twist for 1 more mana.
Perish The Thought/Coercion - both of these are 3 mana for 1 card, but we get to look at their hand so we can prepare accordingly.
Removal:
Consuming Vapors - its expensive and Sorcery speed, but it goes off twice, so cut the cost in half, and it helps counteract a lot of the life loss we inflict upon ourselves over time especially if we can get a big creature with it.
Ashes to Ashes - This handles those pesky creatures we don't ever want to see again for the rest of the game, 5 life is small cost to remove Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary or an Eldrazzi from the game.
Innocent Blood - 1 mana removal since we run almost no creature's excluding our Commander.
Snuff Out - no mana, instant speed removal, the best kind.
Dismember - I added this after NPH released and never looked back, its basically a turn 1 removal spell for pesky 1 or 2 drops, and late game is still a great removal spell.
Mass Removal:
All Is Dust and Death Cloud - Both keep our mana rocks safe, and help reset the board in our favor.
Oblivion Stone - This is one of our only answer for problematic Enchantments and artifacts.
Black Sun's Zenith - handles indestructibles and it shuffles back in.
Draw/Tutors
Other:
Lightning Greaves - These may seem redundant since Skithiryx can give himself haste and regen, but they protect him a bit more, and if you dropped them before he is in play then he is basically 1 mana cheaper and still gets to attack right away.
Unspeakable Symbol, Nightmare Lash, Hatred, Lashwrithe - These all turn Skithiryx and Inkmoth Nexus into a 1 turn death swing.
Yawgmoth's Will - Lets cast everything again! yay!
Sadistic Sacrament - I never pay the kicker, but getting to pull cards from someones deck before they ever get to even touch them is amazing, it helps us get artifacts and enchantments we normally wouldn't be able to remove if they resolve.
Karn Liberated - After play testing this guy, he earned his spot. He is removal on a stick, I remove whatever was giving me a problem the turn he comes into play, and then he is an extra discard spell every turn.
Caress of Phyrexia - This is a newly added card, it lets us win after 2 swings with Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. Its a sorcery and high cost, so its slow, but with Boseiju, Who Shelters All it can't be countered and is an instant win.
Change log
05/30/11
- Whispersilk Cloak
- Oblivion Stone
- Barter in Blood
- Helm of Awakening
- Esper Panorama
- Marsh Flat
- Shred Memory
+ Lightning Greave
+ Nevinyrral's Disk
+ Ashes to Ashes
+ Consuming Vapors
+ Sadistic Sacrament
+ Dismember
+ Geth's Verdict
06/13/11
- Cabal Ritual
- Verdant Catacombs
+ Hatred
+Lashwrithe
06/17/11
- Lotus Petal
+ Sol Ring
07/06/11
- Wayfarer's Bauble
- Dark Tutelage
+ Lotus Petal
+ Karn Liberated
07/11/11
- Guardian Idol
- Skeletal Scrying
+ Mana Vault
+ Necropotence
07/25/11
- Nevinyrral's Disk
+ Oblivion Stone
08/30/11
- Everflowing Chalice
- Dark Confidant
+ Caress of Phyrexia
+ Graveborn Muse