So, I was watching the brainburst newsreel and found myself not getting picked for the team. All of the other Magic bloggers got their stuff on the front page. Bummer. It probably has to do with the fact that nobody read my blog, and that I only very loosely wrote about the game. I apologize for the lack of enthusiasm for writing the same exact article-blog that everyone else is writing about the new set and how it affects the same five standard decks.
Maybe it was on there and I just didn’t notice. However, I’m ready to disregard this possibility as it completely undermines the very core of my writing here.
So maybe it was because the name was a little inappropriate—I’ll go with that.
But going back to not getting picked for the team. I honestly haven’t been playing too much magic recently; I’m away at college and am a little bored with the format. BUT! I am here writing, so here are my thoughts. There are a lot of cards in standard right now that are good enough to play, but because of the big guns have not been picked for the team.
I’m talking about what I consider to be the sleeper deck of this season, Mono Black Control.
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
3 Bitterblossom
3 Dusk Urchins
3 Shriekmaw
(13)
4 Damnation
3 Thoughtseize
3 Scarscale Ritual
3 Sudden Death
3 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Liliana Vess
2 Profane Command
2 Coldsteel Heart
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Mind Shatter
(24)
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Scrying Sheets
2 Mouth of Ronom
17 Snow-Covered Swamp
(24)
The sideboard would contain the other bitterblossom, some more spot removal, and maybe even dragon claw (I expect RDW to be over represented at the next few tournaments).
So, back to the whole “not getting picked” theme of this paper, many of these cards aren’t seen in too many competitive lists nowadays,but probably should be.
Korlash: This guy was all around the mtg top tables for agood while and then he disappeared. There are many reasons for this, but I feel as though one of thestrongest was taking away the dual lands. However, putting him into a mono (or mostly mono) black control deck is a good way to give him that power back.
Dusk Urchins: Ok… so this guy isn’t so much underplayed (since he just came out), but I do kinda think he’s under-hyped. I don’t see him in too many “top 5” or “top 10” lists. This is primarily because as of yet there isn’t a deck to put him in, but I like him in here, so he goes up a few notches in the hypelists for me.
Thoughtseize: I’m not sure how this card isn’t into more decklists. This is like duress for our standard. It needs to be played more. It slows down all the combo people like to talk about right now, it’s obviously good for hurting control, and it can kill aggro’s tempo (I love hitting bitterblossom against Faeries).
Scarscale Ritual: Goes very well with Urchins and Bitterblossoms. Not originally my idea, but I like this better than relying only on snow and a few cantrips. Snow engine slows down as the game gets longer whereas this gets to be a better draw after you have some guys to give counters to. Solid card draw that doesn’t make me splash is a good thing with korlash.
Sudden Death/ Mouth of Ronom: Having 4 toughness is the cool new thing in standard. Because of this and the fact that decks like faeries like to counterspell, both of these cards are “good” again. Sure, I’m not hitting as many teferis, so it’s not nearly as devastating, but it’s still a solid play. It never gives me the aggro boost that nameless inversion can, but I still prefer these guys for that extra one toughness.
So there we have it; my opinions on a deck and cards that,like me, did not get picked for the team. If you picked them for your team, cool, this means that you proved mewrong twice since you had to have read my blog to know I said that. Only time will tell how wrong I am.
-Nicholas “the_deck_tech” Weiss
Tags: MBC Korlash Underplayed Mono Black Control
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Magic: the Gathering
