MTG Salvation

I support mono-black. It's aggro-based, with a bunch of phyrexian arena effects (arena, graveborn muse, bloodgift demon), 2-power 1 drops, and efficient spot removal and 2-for-1 removal.

The good BB cards are Hymn, Nantuko Shade, Bloodghast, Sinkhole, and Vampire Hexmage

Quote from meep98324

I support mono-black. It's aggro-based, with a bunch of phyrexian arena effects (arena, graveborn muse, bloodgift demon), 2-power 1 drops, and efficient spot removal and 2-for-1 removal.

The good BB cards are Hymn, Nantuko Shade, Bloodghast, Sinkhole, and Vampire Hexmage

Is there specific support, like cards that don't work outside monoblack, or does black happen to do enough on its own? I see Nantuko Shade, and all the other cards help too, but is there stuff like Necropotence or Phyrexian Obliterator?

Triple black cards other than Sorin Markhov are pretty bad, IMO.

Unless your playgroup often drafts the super-heavy black build. In which case they can be quite solid. We don't, so we don't use those cards, but if your playgroup drafts mono-colored decks they're pretty good.

You can make monoblack good, but you'll have to push it by putting in cards that might not otherwise make the cut. Like obliterator and the two enchantments that make all lands tap only for black.

I support mono black, ive drafted it before and its a solid archetype. Obliterator is great.

I actually think Phyrexian Obliterator is overrated. It's basically a 5/5 unblockable for BBBB, that's a really good wall for a turn (against creatures without evasion). I don't think it's good enough to justify one of the most absurd casting costs imaginable.

It's 5/5 unblockable, and has protection for a good chunk of removal spells. Red can't do anything about it, for instance, except for the very small number of destroy target creature spells it has.

I found that black has a bit of trouble, especially aggro builds, without nether void. More often than not, I see it used as a support color.

It's actually close to Jwar Jwar Sphinx: 5/5, hard to remove, hard to block. Even a little harder to block, a little easier to remove, and a lot better at blocking. But I agree that it's very awkward.

Quote from Volcanon

It's 5/5 unblockable, and has protection for a good chunk of removal spells. Red can't do anything about it, for instance, except for the very small number of destroy target creature spells it has.

Even if it were a 5/5 unblockable protection from red, I still wouldn't pay BBBB for it.

Quote from wtwlf123

Even if it were a 5/5 unblockable protection from red, I still wouldn't pay BBBB for it.

To be fair, it's actually kind of better than that because you can leave it on defense and it has more upside, but I don't like the card either.

I don't run Obliterator even though monoblack is common and I run Messenger and Necro, becase it ONLY goes in that single deck. I don't like running cards that narrow.

Quote from Blimpy

To be fair, it's actually kind of better than that because you can leave it on defense and it has more upside, but I don't like the card either.

Agreed. But I'm not paying 4-mana for a blocker. And especially not BBBB for a blocker. So it's basically a pro:red unblockable 5/5, and I don't want that anyways. Particularly not at that cost.

When I say "mono black" I don't necessarily mean a deck that runs only black or colorless cards. I am talking about a deck that runs enough black sources to have BBB on turn three in most games. This can be a strict mono black deck or a deck that runs at least 13 – 14 black sources. The latter leaves room for a secondary color, making such a deck "heavy black". “Mono black” just rolls better over the tongue though, so I am mainly using this term.

Now, which cards are powerful enough to make you want to draft such a deck? I have assembled a small list of cards that appear to be the main contenders here. Please tell me if I forgot some cards, then I can add them to that list later.




Necropotence
The best non-ante card draw spell in the whole game. If a repeatable, one-sided draw seven doesn't make you want to draft a specific archetype, then I don't know what will. An advantage of The Skull is that you don't need – and often don't want – to drop it on turn three. You have a few more turns to get your triple black mana together, because you have enough cards to play in the early turns, anyway. Once you start running out of cards you want to cast this card to refill.

Geralf's Messenger
Now, this card you want to cast on turn three. It is very, very powerful if cast on curve. That doesn't mean that it is useless later, only that it outshines most other 3-drops. It has a reasonable power and reduces your opponent's life total by 2 life directly and by another 2 life virtually. Undying gives it Wrath resistance as well as synergy with Stax effects.

Liliana of the Dark Realms
Card advantage and fixing (if you have drafted a Dual or a Shockland). The fixing helps to get mana for your secondary color or to get your third (or fourth) black mana. If you have three or four swamps, Liliana plays like an ok removal spell. However, it is the combination of her first two abilities that makes her good. What other removal also searches for lands? I wouldn't count on her “ultimate” though. There aren't that many situations in cube where her emblem would matter.

Nantuko Shade
Most cubes already run this guy without a mono black theme. Still, he gets undeniably better the more black mana you have. This is a card that rewards you for being heavy black.

Gatekeeper of Malakir
This isn't a card that pulls you into this archetype, but it rewards you once you are in it. A turn three or turn four Gatekeeper is good versus aggressive decks, where it trades with two beaters. Against slower decks, it is an Edict (always good against decks that often have only a single, but powerful creature out) that can apply pressure after doing its dirty work.

Lashwrithe
This isn't a dead card if you only have two black mana on turn four, but it shines once you hit three or four swamps. It can turn any small guy into a big threat for a small equip cost. And in case you don't have any creature out, it at least starts off as a Hill Giant or something.


The beauty of these six cards is that they can go into decks of any speed. No matter if you are aggro, midrange or control, as long as you are heavy black, you can run them for profit. This archetype flexibility makes up a bit for their inflexible mana costs. It is also the reason why I think they are the best cards to include in your cube if you want to support mono / heavy black. There are a few more cards that would work in those decks, but are either weaker overall or prefer to be in a deck of a certain speed (either aggro or control, but not both).


Mutilate
In a heavy black deck, Mutilate becomes nearly as good as Damnation. Against a deck with smaller creatures, it can even play like a one-sided Damnation. The main problem with this card is that you would only want it in more controlish decks.

Sorin Markov
His cmc of six means that he is purely for slower decks. However, it also means that he can go into normal two color decks, since getting triple black is far easier on turn six than it is on turn three. Larger cubes can easily run him without supporting mono black.


Edit: Slightly changed the thread title and the intro to make it clearer that I don't only mean 100% black decks.

Mono Black discussion threads merged.

Necropotence and Messenger are good enough to warrant moving in that direction if you open it early. Liliana and Shade are good even if you're playing a 2-color black deck; you don't need to be playing heavy/mono black for them to work. None of the other cards meet either of those two criteria, so I don't play them.

Quote from wtwlf123

None of the other cards meet either of those two criteria, so I don't play them.

While I agree that Gatekeeper of Malakir is just a bonus, Lashwrithe is really good if you get 3+ swamps early.

But Lashwrithe isn't good enough to put me into mono-black if I see it early. It's a fine card, but it doesn't do enough for me.

What about Phyrexian Obliterator? Is there just too much removal like StP and PtE to run this guy in most cubes? Is it's black commitment too high?

I don't think it's good enough. Is a 5/5 unblockable worth building your entire deck around?

Quote from Dolono

What about Phyrexian Obliterator? Is there just too much removal like StP and PtE to run this guy in most cubes? Is it's black commitment too high?

BBBB is much harder to get than BBB. If you want to cast it on curve, you have to truly be mono black (or at least very close to it). Once you jump through that hoop, there are so many good removal spells in cube (including mass removal) that just kill him. And even if the opponent doesn't has a fitting removal right away, he can ignore him for a turn or two and just take the damage.

Obliterator is not only unblockable, but also a Moat and is Indesteuctable.

Necro and Messenger are the ones worth running that pull me into monoblack. The other ones aren't good enough, other than the Nantuko Shade that you should run anyway regardless of mono support. The more players you have, the better this strategy can work out.

I also don't like Obliterator, and I have tested him. He's too restrictive and can ONLY see play in monoblack.

Quote from bondafong

Obliterator is not only unblockable, but also a Moat and is Indestructable has protection from damage spells.

That's more like it.

I mean, really, it "dies" to every white and blue removal spell, and even some black ones.