So I've been lurking and occasionally posting around these forums for a couple months now, and I figured I should post a decklist or two eventually. Figure I might as well go all out with a full primer on my first and favorite EDH general: Chainer, Dementia Master!
Mana cost-Not too high, not too low, Chainer sits at a solid midpoint as far as generals go. I usually don't cast him until I have enough mana to fire off at least one activation, so he becomes much more useful mid to late game. P/T-Pretty beefy for a human but he won't and shouldn't be going into combat anytime soon. 1st ability (static)-Kind of nice and synergizes with his next ability as you'll see, but generally just icing on the cake. 2nd ability (activates)-Here we go! This is the reason we're actually, y'know, playing Chainer. For the low, low cost of 3 black and 3 life, we can bring back ANY creature from ANY graveyard! At instant speed! And they even get pumped! Well worth building a deck around if you ask me. 3rd ability (triggered)-And here we have the reason his 2nd ability is allowed to be so good. If he dies, any guys he has brought back are exiled, never to be reanimated again. This is Chainer's main weakness as it is not uncommon to see your entire Nightmare army go poof when Chainer eats a removal spell. The solution? Run sac outlets. The better solution? Run creatures that have an immediate impact! You've got no time for your army to sit around waiting for their tether to the Earthly world to vanish, make sure they can have an impact from their very existence (or non-existence, in some cases).
Basically, play Chainer if you're looking for a Mono-Black list with some quirks compared to endless stream of Dranas, Geths and Magas. He's probably not quite as conventionally powerful, but the tricks he can pull more than make up for it.
Why Chainer?
Many of the mono-black lists I've seen around this forum and at my LGS are helmed by Geth, Lord of the Vault (who I will forever affectionately refer to as Robot Nixon). It's easy to see why. He's big, he's evasive and his ability can cherry-pick the best cards out of your opponent's graveyards while fueling further abuse of his own ability. A general with a powerful ability that syngergizes with itself is potent indeed, but Chainer brings something to the table that Robo-Nixon cannot offer: speed and flexibility. Although Chainer's ability cannot hit artifacts, requires a life payment and has the chance to exile your whole nightmare army if their new master falls, it requires only measly 3 mana. Wanna snag that Mythic Eldrazi before it shuffles in? Well, if you're playing Geth, better hope you have upwards of ten mana untapped, whereas Chainer can bring 'em back for a measly flat rate of three mana and three life. Perhaps more importantly, Chainer can hit YOUR GRAVEYARD, allowing you to ensure that you will have graveyard shenanigans at the ready without relying on your opponents to give you the goods. That plus a heavy nostalgic affection I have towards the Nightmare Lord led me to keep Chainer over Geth once Scars came out.
Deck History
This deck started out a little over two years ago when I first heard about EDH as literally a pile of my best black cards at the time. Chainer was one of the only legends I had sitting around, and I had always liked him, so I decided "meh, why not?" and threw together what could loosely be called a deck. It was an absolute pile at first (I'm pretty sure Gloomlance was in there at some point), but as I played, I discovered just how broken Chainer can be and I really started to optimize it. With my best Magic friend supplying me with a constant stream of cards through his constant trading, I was able to take it from a pile of random jank to a well-tuned but still quite casual mono-black control/reanimator deck.
Game-plan
Chainer himself gives you a fair bit of flexibility, but his occasionally high level of variance means that you should have some backup plans. A good Chainer deck should be built around the shell of Mono-Black control (tutors, big mana and creature killing technology of all kinds) supplemented with ETB cards that play well with Chainer and efficient sac outlets and life gain so you can re-use those abilities indefinitely. Win conditions include grinding them out with Chainer (see card discussion on Mindslicer for a particularly brutal example of this), a timely Living Death, big mana fueled Exsanguinate or a Pestilence creature equipped with a Darksteel Plate and/or Basilisk Collar. Having access to whatever random awesome utility guys you can pilfer from your opponents (Mystic Snake and Eternal Witness are some favorites) also gives this mono-black deck a surprising amount of reach in the meantime.
Karn, Silver Golem-A new piece of tech I've been trying out, Karn gives mono-black a way to kill troublesome artifacts and completely hoses equipment based decks to boot!
Nirkana Revenant-A creature that acts as my own personal Mana Flare is just insane, and my 33 Swamp lands base means she does more than enough work.
Mindslicer-Ah, Mindslicer. The great equalizer and the one card in this deck that gives me the ability to take down decks that by all accounts are much better. Combined with Chainer, a sac outlet and a decent amount of mana, the Slicer can prevent my opponents from ever playing non-instant or Flash spells ever again. Throw in a way to gain lots of life and it's close to a soft lock. Blue player with 3 dozen cards in his hand counters him? Well, if only we had a way of getting a creature back from the graveyard in this deck...
Sangromancer-The little 3/3 flyer that could. This deck needs to gain a lot of life, and this card gains me around 15 life on a bad day just by existing. I've had games where she's given me over 100 easily. Plus, it holds a Loxodon Warhammer with the best of them.
Pawn of Ulamog-Dudes die a lot in the deck, and getting me dorks that can ramp my mana, chump block or double up on Grave Pact effects whenever any of my stuff dies is a sweet deal.
Magus of the Mirror-A card that's probably way too tech-y for it's own good, Mirror has nonetheless won me several games. Chainering him back EOT circumvents the upkeep restriction and lets me hand my possibly meager, Chainer drained life total to the unfortunate opponent with the largest one.
Corpse Connoisseur-He's nothing flashy, but he allows me to put the best guy for the job in the yard, and then he does it again. And then again and again and again if Chainer has anything to say about it.
Shriekmaw-Kills a guy on the cheap early game, goes to the yard to kill more guys mid and late game.
Pestilence Demon-Pestilence effects may seem like a nonbo with my life-draining general, but I'm still never unhappy to see them. They're great board clearers and viable win conditions if you have enough mana. I've opted for only the best creature models in this deck, mostly because you just haven't lived until you've put a Loxodon Warhammer on a Pestilence Demon. Who's one-sided now?
Royal Assassin-Something of a pet card of mine, Royal Assassin sits at that sweet spot of being awesome but usually not big or threatening enough to waste removal on. In the meantime, he'll keep entire armies pointed elsewhere by his mere existence.
Avatar of Woe-Shouldn't really have to explain this. Don't think I've ever paid full price for her.
Fleshbag Marauder-Like Shriekmaw, he comes down early, kills a bunch of dudes and then usually dies to his own effect, only to come back as a Nightmare later for repeated abuse.
Big Game Hunter-Kills most of the creatures worth killing in EDH, chump blocks then comes back for more with Chainer. Noticing a pattern here?
Wurmcoil Engine- Gains life? Check. Beneficial effect upon going to the yard? Check.
Viscera Seer-This is a deck that desperately needs it's sac outlets, and one attached to a cheap creature that can be reanimated if need be is a perfect fit. The mild Scry is a side benefit, but it's nice at times.
Geth, Lord the Vault-Yes, Chainer's main rival is in the deck. He's just too good to ignore, and provides a backup plan if heaven forbid Chainer gets tucked and I find myself without a tutor.
Rune-Scarred Demon-Haven't actually cast this guy yet, but he seems just nuts even if I don't manage to reuse him.
Thrashing Wumpus-The Soldier to Crypt Rats' Scout and Pestilence Demon's Heavy.
Phyrexian Plaguelord-See Viscera Seer, this guy is more expensive but allows me to snipe utility dudes and bigger guys if the situation calls for it.
Massacre Wurm-Kills token decks dead and is a viable win condition with the rate that this deck kills creatures.
It That Betrays- I'll be honest, this guy has never really performed all that well, but the ability to make Grave Pact even more broken is a dream that's just too crazy to ignore. Might even snap up a few random fetch-lands or Sakura-Tribe Elders in the meantime.
Dimir House Guard-I really love Transmute cards, and one that can be cast as a sac outlet if I need one is gravy. Plus, it finds Mindslicer!
Darksteel Plate-Fantastic protection for a general that sometimes needs a lot of protection. Also happens to break Pestilence creatures in half. God help you if I manage to suit one of them up with this and Basilisk Collar.
Culling Dias-Not the most versatile sac outlet around (the tapping requirement kills it), the fact that it routinely refills my hand makes it worth a slot.
Crystal Ball-My pick for one of the most underrated EDH cards of all time, Crystal Ball gives a reliable source of card filtering to colors that don't normally have it. It's more expensive than Top and no real replacement for it, but the ability to shuffle away unneeded cards gives it a value all it's own imo.
Spawning Pit-My personal favorite sac outlet of all time. Sac dudes, make dudes, sac those dudes for more dudes. What's not to like?
Loxodon Warhammer-Turns any random dork into a beater or turns a Pestilence creature into an absolute life gaining machine. This is the kind of card that can generate the amount of life this deck needs to fuel itself.
Gorgon Flail-Turns any random dork into a rattlesnake or turns a Pestilence creature into an absolute creature killing machine.
Cauldron of Souls-A criminally underplayed gem, this one saves my field from Wraths of all shapes and sizes and triggers all their ETB abilities again to boot! Fantastic and flexible card.
Basilisk Collar-See Gorgon Flail, but this one also gains me life in the process.
Enchantments
Grave Pact-A card that needs no introduction, it's creature killing potential in the right deck is absolutely unparalleled.
Black Market-Sometimes, it gets a handful of counters and eases the heavy mana burdens of the deck, other times it gets a couple dozen and I have an Exsanguinate in hand.
Phyrexian Arena-The life loss is negligible, even in this deck.
Sorceries
Exsanguinate-A huge life swing for a modest of mana or a win with a ludicrous amount of it.
Preator's Grasp-No special synergy here, it's just too good not to run. My favorite use for it is stealing my opponent's Cabal Coffers
Profane Command-Just pure card advantage and another spell to filter my large amounts of mana into.
Brainspoil-This one is particularly important because it can find Chainer if he ever gets tucked.
Demonic Collusion-Pushes the limits of what can reasonably be paid for a tutor, but the ability to dump Chainer targets while coming back for another go keeps it in the deck.
Diabolic Tutor-The best tutor ever printed plus two mana is a still a damn good tutor.
Buried Alive-This should have obvious applications.
Plague Wind-Might actually be too expensive in a deck already filled to the brim with bombs, but it's just such a brutal effect. On the "to cut" watch list along with It That Betrays.
Living Death-Ah, Living Death. Black's "Oops, I win" to go with Green's Genesis Wave, Red's Insurrection, Blue's Time Stretch and White's um...White Sun's Zenith? Dumping a bunch of my best creatures in the yard (or just waiting until the course of the game has put them there) and then popping a LD is the secondary win condition of the deck if Chainer shenanigans don't pan out.
Life's Finale-Sometimes, you find cards that are just tailor made for your general. This is one of those cards.
Shred Memory-Transmutes and graveyard hates in an extreme pinch. I've Transmuted for Demonic Tutor with absolutely no regrets on more than one occasion.
Sudden Spoiling-An absolute gem of a gem. The amount of blowouts this card facilitates is mind boggling. Wipes a player's field after only two Pestilence activations, makes combat a no-win scenario or at the very least just serves as an uncounterable Fog effect.
Planeswalkers
Liliana Vess-I've only managed her ultimate once, but Lili is fine as just a re-usable Vampiric Tutor without the life loss. I'm excited to see what Innistrad has in store for here.
Lands
Bojuka Bog-Even in a deck like this, a little bit of GY hate is necessary, especially if I'm trying to set up a big Living Death.
Phyrexian Tower-Mediocre sac outlet, but mitigated by the fact that it's attached to a land.
Crypt of Agadeem-Usually doesn't build up to all that much with the rate at which I'm bringing back my dudes, but it at least just taps for black at worst.
Cabal Coffers-The single best land that produces black mana ever printed. The number of games I win with Coffers in play versus not is staggering. This one land allows black to compete with even the most degenerate green ramp and provides Chainer with more than enough mana to do his (un)holy work. Plus, I don't even have to run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth with my mostly basic land-base!
Phew. That was a mouthful. As you might have noticed, I absolutely love this deck to pieces. Seeing it's evolution from pile to power has been my favorite Magic experience to date, and I believe I've managed to keep it powerful yet fun to play through each iteration. It's not going tangle with Zur or Azusa anytime soon, but it'll compete at most casual-competitive tables well enough.
Comments and suggestions appreciated, but it's my baby, so do try and be gentle!
And being monoblack and losing so much life, are you not running No Mercy or Dread to protect yourself? May I also suggest you hunt down a Necropotence asap? It's quite cheap, and will work wonders for you :3
Hrm, looking at my post it seems I'm just throwing cardnames at you... Rest assured, I'm just brainstorming good black cards. You should definatly atleast try some of them out, I think, and let us know what your personal experience is ^^
I probably should have mentioned that this deck is missing a number of staples, mono-black and otherwise. As I was building it, I didn't have access to most of them and by the time I did, there was really no room in the deck. I just can't bring myself to cut a "cute" card like Gorgon Flail that's been in the deck forever for something more conventionally powerful like Sol Ring.
That being said, some comments: Damnation and Black Sun's Zenith-I've always been wholly unimpressed by BSZ due to the huge amounts of mana you need to put into it to do the same this as any other board wipe, but Damnation should probably be in here. It'll replace Plague Wind once I find one.
Necropotence-Obviously good, but it drains life like no other, and the probably too high mana curve means I can't immediately play many of the spells I draw early game. Just a bit too cheesy besides (Sorin Markov also falls under this category to me).
Vampiric Tutor-Need one (probably to replace It That Betrays). Tutors>card draw in this deck since I have a good number of cards that are awful at specific points in the game.
Insidious Dream-Interesting. Seems pretty insane, but I'm worried I don't have enough draw to really abuse it since the all go on top of my library. I might give it a shot.
Helldozer-This guy's been in previous versions of the deck, and with the arrival of Homeward Path, he might just have to make a return appearance.
To be honest, most of the rest of the cards you named have been in the deck at some point and were cut. They're all quite powerful and worth card slots on their own, but there is only so much room, and I really prefer to favor the synergies in this deck over the conventionally powerful cards.
If you really want to cut the It that Betrays, I'd say pop in Kalitas, bloodchief of Ghet. It gets you a nice token to do with what you please, but it gives more Chainer targets. Also, personally, I'd keep plague wind. It really changes some games. And just one more suggestion, maybe get a sheoldred, whispering one.
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My EDH Decks
:symr::symrw::symw: Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer :symw::symwr::symr:
:symb::symb::symb: Sheoldred, Whispering One :symb::symb::symb:
:symb::symr::symg: Kresh the Bloodbraided :symg::symr::symb:
I am currently running a Chainer list very similar to this one. I love him to pieces. He's amazing and having open access to my opponents' creatures as well as my own makes me giggle. As such I would personally recommend Disciple of Griselbrand as an additional sac outlet. He gives back life, which I have found to be HUGE in this deck considering how fast I generally kill myself.
I am currently running a Chainer list very similar to this one. I love him to pieces. He's amazing and having open access to my opponents' creatures as well as my own makes me giggle. As such I would personally recommend Disciple of Griselbrand as an additional sac outlet. He gives back life, which I have found to be HUGE in this deck considering how fast I generally kill myself.
Oooh, I like!
I haven't actually had time to really scour Innistrad for new gems for this deck, but he seems great. Paying for sacrifices generally sucks, but the life gain should make up for it.
I haven't actually had time to really scour Innistrad for new gems for this deck, but he seems great. Paying for sacrifices generally sucks, but the life gain should make up for it.
Thanks!
Agreed about the paying for sacs, that's why I run a couple of free sac outlets in addition when my life total isn't as important
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[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/2paFQ.jpg[IMG]
The General
P/T-Pretty beefy for a human but he won't and shouldn't be going into combat anytime soon.
1st ability (static)-Kind of nice and synergizes with his next ability as you'll see, but generally just icing on the cake.
2nd ability (activates)-Here we go! This is the reason we're actually, y'know, playing Chainer. For the low, low cost of 3 black and 3 life, we can bring back ANY creature from ANY graveyard! At instant speed! And they even get pumped! Well worth building a deck around if you ask me.
3rd ability (triggered)-And here we have the reason his 2nd ability is allowed to be so good. If he dies, any guys he has brought back are exiled, never to be reanimated again. This is Chainer's main weakness as it is not uncommon to see your entire Nightmare army go poof when Chainer eats a removal spell. The solution? Run sac outlets. The better solution? Run creatures that have an immediate impact! You've got no time for your army to sit around waiting for their tether to the Earthly world to vanish, make sure they can have an impact from their very existence (or non-existence, in some cases).
Basically, play Chainer if you're looking for a Mono-Black list with some quirks compared to endless stream of Dranas, Geths and Magas. He's probably not quite as conventionally powerful, but the tricks he can pull more than make up for it.
Why Chainer?
Deck History
Game-plan
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
Creatures
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Dimir House Guard
1 It That Betrays
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Thrashing Wumpus
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Viscera Seer
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Crypt Rats
1 Royal Assasin
1 Pestilence Demon
1 Shriekmaw
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Magus of the Mirror
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Sangromancer
1 Mindslicer
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Balthor the Defiled
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mimic Vat
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Cauldron of Souls
1 Caged Sun
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Spawning Pit
1 Crystal Ball
1 Culling Dias
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Expedition Map
1 Gorgon Flail
Enchantments
1 Grave Pact
1 Black Market
1 Phyrexian Arena
Sorceries
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Decree of Pain
1 Grim Discovery
1 Life's Finale
1 Living Death
1 Plague Wind
1 Buried Alive
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Demonic Collusion
1 Brainspoil
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dimir Machinations
1 Profane Command
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Exsanguinate
1 Shred Memory
1 Sudden Spoiling
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana Vess
Lands
33 Swamps
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Cabal Coffers
Creatures
Balthor the Defiled-Living Death #2. Although it can backfire in certain games, a possibly one sided Twilight's Call is too good to pass up.
Nirkana Revenant-A creature that acts as my own personal Mana Flare is just insane, and my 33 Swamp lands base means she does more than enough work.
Mindslicer-Ah, Mindslicer. The great equalizer and the one card in this deck that gives me the ability to take down decks that by all accounts are much better. Combined with Chainer, a sac outlet and a decent amount of mana, the Slicer can prevent my opponents from ever playing non-instant or Flash spells ever again. Throw in a way to gain lots of life and it's close to a soft lock. Blue player with 3 dozen cards in his hand counters him? Well, if only we had a way of getting a creature back from the graveyard in this deck...
Sangromancer-The little 3/3 flyer that could. This deck needs to gain a lot of life, and this card gains me around 15 life on a bad day just by existing. I've had games where she's given me over 100 easily. Plus, it holds a Loxodon Warhammer with the best of them.
Pawn of Ulamog-Dudes die a lot in the deck, and getting me dorks that can ramp my mana, chump block or double up on Grave Pact effects whenever any of my stuff dies is a sweet deal.
Magus of the Mirror-A card that's probably way too tech-y for it's own good, Mirror has nonetheless won me several games. Chainering him back EOT circumvents the upkeep restriction and lets me hand my possibly meager, Chainer drained life total to the unfortunate opponent with the largest one.
Corpse Connoisseur-He's nothing flashy, but he allows me to put the best guy for the job in the yard, and then he does it again. And then again and again and again if Chainer has anything to say about it.
Shriekmaw-Kills a guy on the cheap early game, goes to the yard to kill more guys mid and late game.
Pestilence Demon-Pestilence effects may seem like a nonbo with my life-draining general, but I'm still never unhappy to see them. They're great board clearers and viable win conditions if you have enough mana. I've opted for only the best creature models in this deck, mostly because you just haven't lived until you've put a Loxodon Warhammer on a Pestilence Demon. Who's one-sided now?
Royal Assassin-Something of a pet card of mine, Royal Assassin sits at that sweet spot of being awesome but usually not big or threatening enough to waste removal on. In the meantime, he'll keep entire armies pointed elsewhere by his mere existence.
Crypt Rats-More Pestilence-y goodness.
Avatar of Woe-Shouldn't really have to explain this. Don't think I've ever paid full price for her.
Fleshbag Marauder-Like Shriekmaw, he comes down early, kills a bunch of dudes and then usually dies to his own effect, only to come back as a Nightmare later for repeated abuse.
Big Game Hunter-Kills most of the creatures worth killing in EDH, chump blocks then comes back for more with Chainer. Noticing a pattern here?
Wurmcoil Engine- Gains life? Check. Beneficial effect upon going to the yard? Check.
Viscera Seer-This is a deck that desperately needs it's sac outlets, and one attached to a cheap creature that can be reanimated if need be is a perfect fit. The mild Scry is a side benefit, but it's nice at times.
Geth, Lord the Vault-Yes, Chainer's main rival is in the deck. He's just too good to ignore, and provides a backup plan if heaven forbid Chainer gets tucked and I find myself without a tutor.
Rune-Scarred Demon-Haven't actually cast this guy yet, but he seems just nuts even if I don't manage to reuse him.
Thrashing Wumpus-The Soldier to Crypt Rats' Scout and Pestilence Demon's Heavy.
Magus of the Coffers-Cabal Coffers is important enough to have a backup version of.
Phyrexian Plaguelord-See Viscera Seer, this guy is more expensive but allows me to snipe utility dudes and bigger guys if the situation calls for it.
Massacre Wurm-Kills token decks dead and is a viable win condition with the rate that this deck kills creatures.
It That Betrays- I'll be honest, this guy has never really performed all that well, but the ability to make Grave Pact even more broken is a dream that's just too crazy to ignore. Might even snap up a few random fetch-lands or Sakura-Tribe Elders in the meantime.
Dimir House Guard-I really love Transmute cards, and one that can be cast as a sac outlet if I need one is gravy. Plus, it finds Mindslicer!
Butcher of Malakir-Should need no explanation.
Netherborn Phalanx-Turns itself into bombs and can facilitate some pretty decent damage after a Living Death. Nothing fancy, but a solid role player.
Artifacts
Darksteel Plate-Fantastic protection for a general that sometimes needs a lot of protection. Also happens to break Pestilence creatures in half. God help you if I manage to suit one of them up with this and Basilisk Collar.
Rings of Brighthearth-What's that? My general uses an activated ability? Brilliant!
Culling Dias-Not the most versatile sac outlet around (the tapping requirement kills it), the fact that it routinely refills my hand makes it worth a slot.
Crystal Ball-My pick for one of the most underrated EDH cards of all time, Crystal Ball gives a reliable source of card filtering to colors that don't normally have it. It's more expensive than Top and no real replacement for it, but the ability to shuffle away unneeded cards gives it a value all it's own imo.
Spawning Pit-My personal favorite sac outlet of all time. Sac dudes, make dudes, sac those dudes for more dudes. What's not to like?
Loxodon Warhammer-Turns any random dork into a beater or turns a Pestilence creature into an absolute life gaining machine. This is the kind of card that can generate the amount of life this deck needs to fuel itself.
Gorgon Flail-Turns any random dork into a rattlesnake or turns a Pestilence creature into an absolute creature killing machine.
Caged Sun-Mana doublers are good.
Cauldron of Souls-A criminally underplayed gem, this one saves my field from Wraths of all shapes and sizes and triggers all their ETB abilities again to boot! Fantastic and flexible card.
Phyrexian Altar-Sac outlet. Mana. Does work.
Mimic Vat-It would just seems wrong not running this card in this sort of deck.
Lightning Greaves-Duh
Basilisk Collar-See Gorgon Flail, but this one also gains me life in the process.
Enchantments
Black Market-Sometimes, it gets a handful of counters and eases the heavy mana burdens of the deck, other times it gets a couple dozen and I have an Exsanguinate in hand.
Phyrexian Arena-The life loss is negligible, even in this deck.
Sorceries
Preator's Grasp-No special synergy here, it's just too good not to run. My favorite use for it is stealing my opponent's Cabal Coffers
Profane Command-Just pure card advantage and another spell to filter my large amounts of mana into.
Dimir Machinations-The love affair with Transmute continues!
Demonic Tutor-Speaking of tutors...
Brainspoil-This one is particularly important because it can find Chainer if he ever gets tucked.
Demonic Collusion-Pushes the limits of what can reasonably be paid for a tutor, but the ability to dump Chainer targets while coming back for another go keeps it in the deck.
Diabolic Tutor-The best tutor ever printed plus two mana is a still a damn good tutor.
Buried Alive-This should have obvious applications.
Plague Wind-Might actually be too expensive in a deck already filled to the brim with bombs, but it's just such a brutal effect. On the "to cut" watch list along with It That Betrays.
Living Death-Ah, Living Death. Black's "Oops, I win" to go with Green's Genesis Wave, Red's Insurrection, Blue's Time Stretch and White's um...White Sun's Zenith? Dumping a bunch of my best creatures in the yard (or just waiting until the course of the game has put them there) and then popping a LD is the secondary win condition of the deck if Chainer shenanigans don't pan out.
Life's Finale-Sometimes, you find cards that are just tailor made for your general. This is one of those cards.
Grim Discovery-Just as Expedition Map is worth an entire card slot just to find Cabal Coffers, Grim Discovery is worth one to recur it.
Decree of Pain-Massive card draw board wipe or instant speed cantrip token wiper? You decide.
Beseech the Queen-Oops, forgot a tutor.
Instants
Sudden Spoiling-An absolute gem of a gem. The amount of blowouts this card facilitates is mind boggling. Wipes a player's field after only two Pestilence activations, makes combat a no-win scenario or at the very least just serves as an uncounterable Fog effect.
Planeswalkers
Lands
Phyrexian Tower-Mediocre sac outlet, but mitigated by the fact that it's attached to a land.
Crypt of Agadeem-Usually doesn't build up to all that much with the rate at which I'm bringing back my dudes, but it at least just taps for black at worst.
Cabal Coffers-The single best land that produces black mana ever printed. The number of games I win with Coffers in play versus not is staggering. This one land allows black to compete with even the most degenerate green ramp and provides Chainer with more than enough mana to do his (un)holy work. Plus, I don't even have to run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth with my mostly basic land-base!
Phew. That was a mouthful. As you might have noticed, I absolutely love this deck to pieces. Seeing it's evolution from pile to power has been my favorite Magic experience to date, and I believe I've managed to keep it powerful yet fun to play through each iteration. It's not going tangle with Zur or Azusa anytime soon, but it'll compete at most casual-competitive tables well enough.
Comments and suggestions appreciated, but it's my baby, so do try and be gentle!
Chainer, Dementia Master:symb:-MBC/Graveyard shenanigans ------> Primer!
Rasputin Dreamweaver:symw:-Big mana/blink
Marton Stromgald:symr:-Token aggro
Animar, Soul of Elements:symug:-Combo/big dorks
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:symb:-Discard/Elves
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-Tribal zombies/Voltron
I probably should have mentioned that this deck is missing a number of staples, mono-black and otherwise. As I was building it, I didn't have access to most of them and by the time I did, there was really no room in the deck. I just can't bring myself to cut a "cute" card like Gorgon Flail that's been in the deck forever for something more conventionally powerful like Sol Ring.
That being said, some comments:
Damnation and Black Sun's Zenith-I've always been wholly unimpressed by BSZ due to the huge amounts of mana you need to put into it to do the same this as any other board wipe, but Damnation should probably be in here. It'll replace Plague Wind once I find one.
Necropotence-Obviously good, but it drains life like no other, and the probably too high mana curve means I can't immediately play many of the spells I draw early game. Just a bit too cheesy besides (Sorin Markov also falls under this category to me).
Vampiric Tutor-Need one (probably to replace It That Betrays). Tutors>card draw in this deck since I have a good number of cards that are awful at specific points in the game.
Gauntlet of Power/Extraplanar Lens-There's a decent amount of black in my playgroup and I don't like randomly doubling my opponent's mana (also why I don't run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth). Nirkana Revenant fills this slot just fine.
Insidious Dream-Interesting. Seems pretty insane, but I'm worried I don't have enough draw to really abuse it since the all go on top of my library. I might give it a shot.
Helldozer-This guy's been in previous versions of the deck, and with the arrival of Homeward Path, he might just have to make a return appearance.
To be honest, most of the rest of the cards you named have been in the deck at some point and were cut. They're all quite powerful and worth card slots on their own, but there is only so much room, and I really prefer to favor the synergies in this deck over the conventionally powerful cards.
Chainer, Dementia Master:symb:-MBC/Graveyard shenanigans ------> Primer!
Rasputin Dreamweaver:symw:-Big mana/blink
Marton Stromgald:symr:-Token aggro
Animar, Soul of Elements:symug:-Combo/big dorks
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:symb:-Discard/Elves
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-Tribal zombies/Voltron
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
Ah, so I am. Missing card was Gorgon Flail.
Chainer, Dementia Master:symb:-MBC/Graveyard shenanigans ------> Primer!
Rasputin Dreamweaver:symw:-Big mana/blink
Marton Stromgald:symr:-Token aggro
Animar, Soul of Elements:symug:-Combo/big dorks
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:symb:-Discard/Elves
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-Tribal zombies/Voltron
Thank You Rivenor/Miraculous Recovery Studios!
GGGSKamahl's Band of Monstosities SGGG
RRRSFreaki-Kiki, The Goblin DoucheSRRR
BBGGNath, Raper of Hands and Spewer of Tokens!GGBB
BUGDamia, Sage of AnswersBUG
WIPs
BBBXiahou Dun, the Bitter Stax Enabling BastardBBB
On Break
BBBSKagemaro, First to RetireSBBB
BBBThe Walking DeadBBB
UUUSTeferi Combo PrimerSUUU
Banner done by Hakai Studios' SushiOtter.
:symr::symrw::symw: Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer :symw::symwr::symr:
:symb::symb::symb: Sheoldred, Whispering One :symb::symb::symb:
:symb::symr::symg: Kresh the Bloodbraided :symg::symr::symb:
...that is a fantastic question.
*does so*
Chainer, Dementia Master:symb:-MBC/Graveyard shenanigans ------> Primer!
Rasputin Dreamweaver:symw:-Big mana/blink
Marton Stromgald:symr:-Token aggro
Animar, Soul of Elements:symug:-Combo/big dorks
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:symb:-Discard/Elves
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-Tribal zombies/Voltron
Oooh, I like!
I haven't actually had time to really scour Innistrad for new gems for this deck, but he seems great. Paying for sacrifices generally sucks, but the life gain should make up for it.
Thanks!
Chainer, Dementia Master:symb:-MBC/Graveyard shenanigans ------> Primer!
Rasputin Dreamweaver:symw:-Big mana/blink
Marton Stromgald:symr:-Token aggro
Animar, Soul of Elements:symug:-Combo/big dorks
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf:symb:-Discard/Elves
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born-Tribal zombies/Voltron
Agreed about the paying for sacs, that's why I run a couple of free sac outlets in addition when my life total isn't as important