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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Nick's Black Deck
November 8, 2006

O.k so i've been working on this deck for only a few weeks and in the long run, it does well. Heres what its got:

Land:
21 Swamps
4 Rakdos Carnariums

Creatures:
4 Gobhobbler Rats
4 Razortooth Rats
2 Dimir Guildmages (used for some cheap power and discard, but they can go)
2 Hellhole Rats
1 Ravenous Rats
1 Ratcatcher
2 Stinkweed Imp (Would like to keep)
2 Enemy of the Guildpact
1 Carrion Wall
1 Gravedigger
1 Slithering Shade
1 Looming Shade
1 Drekavac
2 Dimir House Guard
1 Jagged Poppet (He can go if needed)
1 Crypt Champion
1 Mausoleum Turnkey

Sorceries:
1 Vigor Mortis (definitely can go if needed)
1 Wits End
1 Hex
3 Macabre Waltz
2 Mind Rot
2 Delirium Skeins
1 Cry of Contrition
1 Bond of Agony

Enchantments:
3 Seal of Doom
1 Nettling Curse

Instants:
3 Disembowel
1 Hit/Run (Hit is used, but can go if needed)
1 Souless Revival (Has to come out to be legal right?)
1 Last Gasp

I recently aquired these cards in an excellent trade (For ME) but have not done anything with them yet
but i know they might help:
1 Skeletal Vampire
1 Living end
1 Mindstab
1 Urborg Syphon-Mage
1 Call to the Netherworld
1 Tendrils of Corruption

Thought about Vexing Arcanix for a little bit of extra fun and damage, but not sure about it.

So, as you can see i have rats, and i have ratcatcher, but don't want to have a Rakdos or completely Rat based type of Deck. All of the new cards i think will go really go well in my deck, but speed is becoming a problem as i know that black is not usualy fast, but Doesn't have to be molasses slow. I also think i need maybe some more enchantments and instants, but not sure of what to put in there. I like making my opponent discard so i want more Hellhole and Ravenous Rats. Crypt mage is weird though. I bring mine back, but they bring there's so i'm not sure if i want to keep him. I think i have enough creature control, but not sure there also.

So there it is, I hope you get the chance to let me know how to fix my deck, and i appreciate your taking to time to read my e-mail anyways

Nick (C.O.P Noob)
Thanks for the E-mail, Nick!  I'll be glad to help you organize this deck into a ruthless example of the power of black magic.  The first thing I want to do is take a long hard look at your Rakdos cards here.  You've got ten cards here that need red mana (eight if you don't count Nettling Curse or Crypt Champion) and only four ways to produce red mana.  Also, quite a few of the red cards here you yourself admitted that you don't need.  So, I think it's probably a good idea if you cut Red altogether and aim for a strict black deck.  Yes, Hellhole Rats is a lot of fun, but by including it you run a large risk of having it stuck in your hand and unable to be played.  Decks of only one color are so much easier to play, so let's just try for a pure Black deck.  This means we have to cut Hellhole Rats, Gobhobbler Rats, Jagged Poppet, Hit//Run, Nettling Curse, and Crypt Champion.  I know the Champion could stay, but if there's no chance of getting the 2/2 double striker, what good is paying 3B for a symmetrical Raise Dead effect?  And Nettling Curse with no red mana is sub-par, so let's drop that too.
Only trouble is, that leaves us with quite a few less Rats for your Ratcatcher.  No matter, we can get more.  A full set of Ravenous Rats is called for at the least.  Razortooth Rats makes a good choice too.  If you said you don't want a straight up Rat deck, you should probably not bother with Swarm of Rats though.  But that would make an interesting Rat deck, especially if you could obtain another ratcatcher or two and maybe a Swarmyard.
 
But we're not here to build a rat tribal deck.  We want to make this deck faster, and more powerful.  Well, I counted an initial decklist of 76 cards, so trimming a few couldn't hurt.  Neither could adding some card draw, one of black's favorite ways to gain speed in a game.  Let's start by pulling some cards.  As you yourself guessed, Soulless Revival is no longer Standard legal.  Vigor Mortis and Wit's End can go.  Enemy of the Guildpact isn't all that great, and neither is Carrion Wall.  Bond of Agony is useless unless you're using a lot of life gain or some weird combo.  Everything else is passable, I suppose.
 
So, now for the card draw.  There's quite a few black cards with a good amount of card draw, but my favorite is Phyrexian Arena.  Its cost is manageable, it repeats its effect every turn to get you plenty of cards, and most people don't play enchantment removal maindeck.
Now, for those cards you said you might add?  They all seem fine to me.  All except maybe Mindstab, but go ahead with the others.  Skeletal Vampire can be absolutely devastating.
Hopefully that will help you, Nick.  I know I didn't go over too much detail, but it's really best if you learn the nuances yourself from experience playing the deck.  I've given you all the advice I really can without seeing the deck play a game for myself.  Good luck to you, and enjoy your games!
 
~BMoor
 
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