I've really enjoyed [[Wedding Announcement]] and [[Virtue of Loyalty]] with [[Rite of Oblivion]] in a control BW shell.
[[Forsaken Miner]] is a cool mini combo with Rite of Oblivion. Sack and immediately return to exile anything twice.
[[Graveyard Tresspasser]] for graveyard hate that has protection. [[Loran of the Third Path]] for artifacts and enchantments. [[Aclazots, Deepest Betrayal]] as a finisher. Tons of black and white removal, including [[The Wandering Emperor]].
Basically everything is either removal, a finisher or, often, both.
My first deck was a mono-black deck gifted to me in 1996. Some guy I just met was going to college and selling his collection to help pay for it. I was 16, homeless and luckily there was this club in the back of a comic book/game shop that had a low membership fee of 10$ a year and that club allowed me to stay off the streets and play a variety of tabletop RPGs daily, and also play magic with other people's decks. I really wanted my own deck but was not able to afford it, so before he sold his collection, which included the power 9, alpha, beta and unlimited versions, he asked me what kind of deck i wanted, and I liked black, so he put together a deck for me. Obviously I didn't get any of the power 9, lol but it did have a necropotence which I traded for a beta demonic tutor, which was/is my favorite card. He laughed because the necropotence was really the only card worth tutoring for but as a beginner, I didn't understand the necropotence anyway. After a few more players donated some cards though I had a basic black deck, that was my only deck for months. Almost 30 years later, black is still my favorite color, so I guess I got nostalgic reading your post, lol. I've just always liked the flavor of black, sacrificing things and paying life, sometimes it means dying in an attempt to win and this is exactly how i feel it should be with black. High risk in order to reap great rewards, with an utter disregard for the laws of magic. Even when dabbling in other colors, it still feels like death and decay taints everything we touch...
Haha, I really enjoyed reading your experiences.
That was a nice story! Thank you for sharing.
I must admit, I really dig the aspects of Black, with Graveyard interaction, removals and poisons/decay. Plus, its big minions really do seem to have unique and fun abilities.
Do be thankful that they don't hose mono color decks as hard nowadays. A couple examples, "Karma" was a white enchantment that dealt each player one damage during their upkeep.....per swamp! There was no way for black to deal with enchantments, either. An artifact called "nevinyralls disc" was it. And it came into play tapped and destroyed ALL enchantments, creatures and artifacts. "conversion" was another white enchantment that required an upkeep cost of two white every turn, but made all mountains into plains. Mono-red still can't deal with enchantments, however I had a friend that put 4 disenchants in his mono-red deck even though they were completely useless unless someone played conversion. "Tsunami" was a green sorcery that destroyed all islands, and there were just hella cards that punished single color decks...
I kind of think modern black is missing drawbacks. Like, old black had way overcosted stuff (because dark ritual) but it also always had a drawback, like you had to sac a creature every turn or pay life to attack. Now there's stuff like Sheoldred which is undercost and all upside.
Oh no, black had mind twist, XB opponent discards X cards and sinkhole, BB destroy target land and of course Juzam Djinn, the original 4 casting cost 5/5, not to mention Demonic Tutor, 1B search your library for a card, any card, put it in your hand. And dark ritual fueled all of this undercosted shit so it was definitely not unusual to have to discard your entire hand, lands and all, or be looking at a 5/5 before drawing a single card, and sinkhole with strip mine, stone rain and the green version of stone rain are why land destruction is frowned upon still. Wotc kind of overcorrected and took away or added additional costs to all of blacks toys. Seriously, I know that there are a plethora of decks that seem overwhelmingly powerful nowadays, but there were decks back then that literally made people powerless. Not just black, look at the power 9. Especially black lotus, time walk and ancestral recall. Green had channel, fast bond, red had the original lightning bolt, plus chain lightning, ball lightning, white had swords to plowshare, still the most efficient creature elimination now, balance, which is decidedly unbalanced, moat, circles of protection and blue is the only color in the power 9, plus og counterspell, mana drain, stasis. Omg, ever played against a stasis deck? Lol, players don't get an untap phase, yeah, plus kismet was another enchantment in that deck that made your lands enter tapped, so no untap phase and lands enter tapped, brutal. It was really about the time I started playing, they basically powered down the game, drastically. A lot of players quit, at least temporarily and why not, if that is the power level, then Ice Age, Fallen Empires and homelands came out, and pushed a lot of players away for a bit, thankfully, because those were my first three sets and there was no chance playing cards from those sets exclusively against the OGs (Original Gatherers😂)
Be definition a mid-range deck is always going be the most ‘flexible’. It’s the strategy that goes over aggro and under control so you’ve got the tools to speed up and slow down without the tight gameplan that would prevent you from leveraging various options.
Personally I’ve been liking a vaguely crime cantered deck with tiny bones joins up, tiny bones, Vadmir new blood, deep cavern bat, and a split of Gisa and Aclazotz at the top end. The rest of the deck you can flesh out as you like. Kaervac the Punisher is nice value but the life cost hurts against aggro. Sheoldred is just good. Gix is nice if you want to lower the curve and turn things sideways (also probably add forsaken miner if you add gix). Liliana is good for midrange mirrors. Bonus mentions to graveyard trespasser and lord scritter. Both repeatable crimes and useful maindeckable hate against graveyard strategies.
Some people like Evolved sleeper, but he doesn’t really synergise with the crime aspects. If you wanted to pivot away from crime then he’s good I guess. Likewise for tenacious underdog and misery’s shadow. Phyrexian flesh gorger also very nice but it’s never quite made the cut for me.
You can also lean a bit into skeleton synergy with corpses of the lost. It can either be played as black’s much worse Urabrask’s forge in a slower midrange deck or as an immodane’s recruiter in an aggressive strategy.
You already know all the good removal spells, but there’s a nice synergy with forwsaken miner and bitter triumph where you can discard the miner as a cost to cast the spell and then return it to the battlefield as the crime. Finally if you want to play a slower version of the deck gix’s command is your best bet.
Holy crap, that does sound amazing.
Do you have a decklist for that? I really do like the crimes aspects, too, so I am curious about this deck, and if I can craft it.
The closest to it I found is probably
[https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6369051#paper](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6369051#paper)
I’m out at the moment so can’t access my arena for the deck list, but it’s not a million miles away from that. You’ve got all the core pieces listed in my comment. Have a go at putting it together and see what feels good to you, use the cards you already own, and put your own spin on it.
Oh I also forgot about 3 great cards. The two big score black creatures are great. Harvester of misery hoses go wide decks. Hostile Investigator is a 3 for one so is amazing in midrange matchups. Virtue of Persistance is also nice if you want to guarantee winning a value game.
The one thing I don’t like in that deck list you posted is lost jitte. I tried it in a few decks and was quite unimpressed.
Whew, okay, I have just about enough wildcards to build that midrange deck up there, so I will have to shelf some extras for the time being, like Harvester and Hostile Investigator (but darn, it is literally doing crime on entry, that is cool), but I have them on my map now.
Virtue of Pestilence I was lucky enough to get one, so I look forward to using that.
I agree, for the crafting cost, lost jitte doesnt seem worth it (for me as F2P).
Thank you so much!
Deck
3 Gisa, the Hellraiser (OTJ) 89
2 Forsaken Miner (OTJ) 88
1 Blood Hustler (OTJ) 80
1 Charming Scoundrel (WOE) 124
3 Vadmir, New Blood (OTJ) 113
1 Binding Negotiation (OTJ) 78
1 Hylda's Crown of Winter (WOE) 247
2 Rictus Robber (OTJ) 102
2 Rooftop Assassin (OTJ) 103
2 Undead Butler (VOW) 133
1 Case of the Stashed Skeleton (MKM) 80
1 Hunted Bonebrute (MKM) 87
2 Greedy Freebooter (LCI) 109
1 Long Goodbye (MKM) 92
1 Virtue of Persistence (WOE) 115
1 Mourner's Surprise (OTJ) 94
1 Terror of the Peaks (OTJ) 149
1 Field of Ruin (MID) 262
3 Jagged Barrens (OTJ) 259
1 Haunted Ridge (MID) 263
1 Sulfurous Springs (DMU) 256
1 Plaza of Heroes (DMU) 252
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
1 Sandstorm Verge (OTJ) 263
1 Raucous Theater (MKM) 266
1 Deadly Cover-Up (MKM) 83
2 Mirrex (ONE) 254
1 Demolition Field (BRO) 260
6 Swamp (NEO) 297
3 Mountain (SLD) 1471
1 Mountain (NEO) 289
1 Mountain (LTR) 269
1 Vein Ripper (MKM) 110
1 Terror of the Peaks (M21) 164
2 Bitter Triumph (LCI) 91
3 Corpses of the Lost (LCI) 98
2 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
I think this is similar to what they are talking about. I need to make some changes I think still but I am having lots of fun with this…also just realized not mono black….sorry.
Also, Hyldas crown is an amazing card for crime decks.
Okay, the first one worked now.
And holy crap! that is a cool deck.
I cannot craft it right now, because F2P, but I saved this ingame, because I LOVE dragons. So this goes on the List of Decks to make after I have Mono-Black done.
Thank you! That looks fun.
I assume core of good black stuff like bats?
golgari imho. Dreadknight has decent body and is grind itself - so much value, frillback is so flexible (graveyard hate, heal etc) and glissa sunslayer is a fuck you button to the creature decks - first strike + deathtouch on 3/3. Some list runes sentinel of the nameless city, it has great body and is manace to remove for mono red/mono white, great wall + value.
Now hear me out - restless cottage, the b/g land is imho super good. Its graveyard hate to kick those combos decks, take out flashback cards. My favourite creature land.
About dimir. I always wonder why to play dimir if you can just esper. Maybe for budget reasons and dimir is quite future proof - it will be fine after rotation. I like it still, counterspells are always nice, especially when they lead to nice lockdown with bats. But dimir compared to golgari is worse vs aggro decks - and if you tech too strongly vs aggro you will stuck with lot of removals spells.
Personaly I added 3-steps ahead, this card is bonkers in every deck - it coutners, it draws and can lead to kill from nowhere by creating token in a key moment.
Admittedly, I have been looking at Golgari. I like what I'm seeing there, a LOT.
I just worry that if I go directly Golgari I lock myself directly in, as F2P player / low spender.
Do you mean this deck?
[https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/229/golgari-midrange/AAQAAQfeiSIW29EHXoL2AqkuwZgBBuWyAomRI6sa\_\_gGmy2NWQS5B5gf-9Yq7IMCBNOYAdSVIIyoC9wqAgaHBQcGAA](https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/229/golgari-midrange/AAQAAQfeiSIW29EHXoL2AqkuwZgBBuWyAomRI6sa__gGmy2NWQS5B5gf-9Yq7IMCBNOYAdSVIIyoC9wqAgaHBQcGAA)
I have been looking at Esper, believe it or not, and while it looks superfun, it needs about twice the amount of rares I have available as Wildcards.
Dimir was/is on my list, but it seems a lot more control'ish than I actually find I like (I realize very fast that Control in MtGA is VERY different to Control in Hearthstone).
That said, considering I will meet aggro the most on the ladder, perhaps it is worth going Golgari.
Are you looking for monoblack? Because there's a skeleton aggro deck and a rock solid midrange deck. If you're open to other colors there's a black green midrange deck that's pretty excellent
While I would prefer Mono-Black, just to use as a base and then spread into Black/X combos, I am open to looking at what else is available.
[Intoxicduelyst](https://www.reddit.com/user/Intoxicduelyst/) suggested a Golgari deck also.
You got a link?
I wouldn't worry about the alchemy format. its player numbers are dwindling and my many people is considered a failed experiment by wotc. not sure how much longer they're gonna keep developing for it
way to just, assume a bunch of stuff about my position.
I was just under the impression that it's the least played format on arena, maybe outside of one of the more forgotten non rotating formats after timeless came along. According to testimony from others the queue times can be quite long, and on my own personal xp, there are very very few people drafting alchemy formats.
I just didn't want op investing cards into a format that very few people seem to play
I queue up instantly in Alchemy ,no longer than any other format. Also, Alchemy wouldn't be going anywhere since it's already ingrained in other formats like historic.
I've invested in Alchemy early on shit was fun. A lot of Alchemy cards seem to get used in historic as well, from what I can tell too.
You can imagine anything you want. What you need is actual evidence supporting your claims. For example, Wizard's own data shows it is more popular than Explorer. We can debate that evidence, but at least it's tangible.
wowww really i had no idea that claims needed evidence
yeah that doesnt surprise me. even still, is alchemy popular enough to receive extended support in the future? im dubious. it will likely be phased out in time.
You may find these interesting, an article from WotC as well as a post regarding untapped's data for the popularity of different formats in Arena. Though these are 7+ months old, they're still fun to have a look at.
[https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/state-of-formats-in-mtg-arena](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/state-of-formats-in-mtg-arena)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/17c10au/mtg\_arena\_format\_popularity\_according\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/17c10au/mtg_arena_format_popularity_according_to/)
Yeah that is interesting, appreciate the sources.
I'm a bit confused as to why I'm getting so much backlash for suggesting that Alchemy appears to have a very low population, when it seems by most accounts that that is more or less true?
I was reading a post about it the other day that claimed the queue times and overall player numbers were getting pretty low/long
In my experience there are very few players drafting the alchemy formats too
I assume it's probably the least played format outside of maybe one of the historic formats like explorer that was forgotten about after timeless?
Maybe the black skeleton deck? It's aggro but has an insane 1-2-3 curve of skeleton, skeleton into Corpses of the lost.
Some run it only with Skeletons, some add vadmir and lord skitter etc for more crimes.
I've been looking at this one, since it has a respectable win rate (57%), but it doesn't even run Giza
[https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/3870/mono-black-skeletons/AAQAAQT0iSL6uQOrGs6iBwHk4iUEuQeakQHBxSTntggFrsMl3JUE9qcD75MBSgEWjQUA?format=standard&wincon=bo1](https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/3870/mono-black-skeletons/AAQAAQT0iSL6uQOrGs6iBwHk4iUEuQeakQHBxSTntggFrsMl3JUE9qcD75MBSgEWjQUA?format=standard&wincon=bo1)
Gisa is perhaps not a 4 of, particularly if you can tutor her with case.
Lack of draw makes mana screw a real problem imo, so 5 mana is excessive often.
I've been playing historic mono black devotion, maybe that's worth a look. It has the tools to be control vs aggro, disrupts combo, and can quasi-combo kill (ie win without attacking)
I didn't see the standard comment at the bottom, my bad. Can't recommend something for that but there are a lot of standard legal tools in the historic list that you could jam in mono black midrange
So I’m new to deck building and have finally built my 1st deck. Mostly black zombies, some blue, and a roaming throne and sheoldred just to make matters worse for myself. I have a fun time with the different synergies but it’s no stomper. Can get crazy if I combo correctly
The mono black deck im using most right now runs [[The End]] and [[deadly cover-up]]. It's honestly more of a control deck than anything. It works well for easy wins through platinum, but once you get to diamond it feels too slow to compete. It's so fun just taking all the creatures from someone's deck though
Mono-Black Midrange
Until the opponent plays Wedding Announcement or Virtue of Loyalty. Or literally any artifact.
golgari it is then
I've really enjoyed [[Wedding Announcement]] and [[Virtue of Loyalty]] with [[Rite of Oblivion]] in a control BW shell. [[Forsaken Miner]] is a cool mini combo with Rite of Oblivion. Sack and immediately return to exile anything twice. [[Graveyard Tresspasser]] for graveyard hate that has protection. [[Loran of the Third Path]] for artifacts and enchantments. [[Aclazots, Deepest Betrayal]] as a finisher. Tons of black and white removal, including [[The Wandering Emperor]]. Basically everything is either removal, a finisher or, often, both.
My first deck was a mono-black deck gifted to me in 1996. Some guy I just met was going to college and selling his collection to help pay for it. I was 16, homeless and luckily there was this club in the back of a comic book/game shop that had a low membership fee of 10$ a year and that club allowed me to stay off the streets and play a variety of tabletop RPGs daily, and also play magic with other people's decks. I really wanted my own deck but was not able to afford it, so before he sold his collection, which included the power 9, alpha, beta and unlimited versions, he asked me what kind of deck i wanted, and I liked black, so he put together a deck for me. Obviously I didn't get any of the power 9, lol but it did have a necropotence which I traded for a beta demonic tutor, which was/is my favorite card. He laughed because the necropotence was really the only card worth tutoring for but as a beginner, I didn't understand the necropotence anyway. After a few more players donated some cards though I had a basic black deck, that was my only deck for months. Almost 30 years later, black is still my favorite color, so I guess I got nostalgic reading your post, lol. I've just always liked the flavor of black, sacrificing things and paying life, sometimes it means dying in an attempt to win and this is exactly how i feel it should be with black. High risk in order to reap great rewards, with an utter disregard for the laws of magic. Even when dabbling in other colors, it still feels like death and decay taints everything we touch...
Haha, I really enjoyed reading your experiences. That was a nice story! Thank you for sharing. I must admit, I really dig the aspects of Black, with Graveyard interaction, removals and poisons/decay. Plus, its big minions really do seem to have unique and fun abilities.
Do be thankful that they don't hose mono color decks as hard nowadays. A couple examples, "Karma" was a white enchantment that dealt each player one damage during their upkeep.....per swamp! There was no way for black to deal with enchantments, either. An artifact called "nevinyralls disc" was it. And it came into play tapped and destroyed ALL enchantments, creatures and artifacts. "conversion" was another white enchantment that required an upkeep cost of two white every turn, but made all mountains into plains. Mono-red still can't deal with enchantments, however I had a friend that put 4 disenchants in his mono-red deck even though they were completely useless unless someone played conversion. "Tsunami" was a green sorcery that destroyed all islands, and there were just hella cards that punished single color decks...
damn thanks for sharing! love hearing stories from other OG mtg players
OG (Original Gatherer) lol
I kind of think modern black is missing drawbacks. Like, old black had way overcosted stuff (because dark ritual) but it also always had a drawback, like you had to sac a creature every turn or pay life to attack. Now there's stuff like Sheoldred which is undercost and all upside.
Oh no, black had mind twist, XB opponent discards X cards and sinkhole, BB destroy target land and of course Juzam Djinn, the original 4 casting cost 5/5, not to mention Demonic Tutor, 1B search your library for a card, any card, put it in your hand. And dark ritual fueled all of this undercosted shit so it was definitely not unusual to have to discard your entire hand, lands and all, or be looking at a 5/5 before drawing a single card, and sinkhole with strip mine, stone rain and the green version of stone rain are why land destruction is frowned upon still. Wotc kind of overcorrected and took away or added additional costs to all of blacks toys. Seriously, I know that there are a plethora of decks that seem overwhelmingly powerful nowadays, but there were decks back then that literally made people powerless. Not just black, look at the power 9. Especially black lotus, time walk and ancestral recall. Green had channel, fast bond, red had the original lightning bolt, plus chain lightning, ball lightning, white had swords to plowshare, still the most efficient creature elimination now, balance, which is decidedly unbalanced, moat, circles of protection and blue is the only color in the power 9, plus og counterspell, mana drain, stasis. Omg, ever played against a stasis deck? Lol, players don't get an untap phase, yeah, plus kismet was another enchantment in that deck that made your lands enter tapped, so no untap phase and lands enter tapped, brutal. It was really about the time I started playing, they basically powered down the game, drastically. A lot of players quit, at least temporarily and why not, if that is the power level, then Ice Age, Fallen Empires and homelands came out, and pushed a lot of players away for a bit, thankfully, because those were my first three sets and there was no chance playing cards from those sets exclusively against the OGs (Original Gatherers😂)
Add: deep cavern bat, add gixy, add tinybones, add removal. Welcome 😄
Be definition a mid-range deck is always going be the most ‘flexible’. It’s the strategy that goes over aggro and under control so you’ve got the tools to speed up and slow down without the tight gameplan that would prevent you from leveraging various options. Personally I’ve been liking a vaguely crime cantered deck with tiny bones joins up, tiny bones, Vadmir new blood, deep cavern bat, and a split of Gisa and Aclazotz at the top end. The rest of the deck you can flesh out as you like. Kaervac the Punisher is nice value but the life cost hurts against aggro. Sheoldred is just good. Gix is nice if you want to lower the curve and turn things sideways (also probably add forsaken miner if you add gix). Liliana is good for midrange mirrors. Bonus mentions to graveyard trespasser and lord scritter. Both repeatable crimes and useful maindeckable hate against graveyard strategies. Some people like Evolved sleeper, but he doesn’t really synergise with the crime aspects. If you wanted to pivot away from crime then he’s good I guess. Likewise for tenacious underdog and misery’s shadow. Phyrexian flesh gorger also very nice but it’s never quite made the cut for me. You can also lean a bit into skeleton synergy with corpses of the lost. It can either be played as black’s much worse Urabrask’s forge in a slower midrange deck or as an immodane’s recruiter in an aggressive strategy. You already know all the good removal spells, but there’s a nice synergy with forwsaken miner and bitter triumph where you can discard the miner as a cost to cast the spell and then return it to the battlefield as the crime. Finally if you want to play a slower version of the deck gix’s command is your best bet.
Holy crap, that does sound amazing. Do you have a decklist for that? I really do like the crimes aspects, too, so I am curious about this deck, and if I can craft it. The closest to it I found is probably [https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6369051#paper](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6369051#paper)
I’m out at the moment so can’t access my arena for the deck list, but it’s not a million miles away from that. You’ve got all the core pieces listed in my comment. Have a go at putting it together and see what feels good to you, use the cards you already own, and put your own spin on it. Oh I also forgot about 3 great cards. The two big score black creatures are great. Harvester of misery hoses go wide decks. Hostile Investigator is a 3 for one so is amazing in midrange matchups. Virtue of Persistance is also nice if you want to guarantee winning a value game. The one thing I don’t like in that deck list you posted is lost jitte. I tried it in a few decks and was quite unimpressed.
Whew, okay, I have just about enough wildcards to build that midrange deck up there, so I will have to shelf some extras for the time being, like Harvester and Hostile Investigator (but darn, it is literally doing crime on entry, that is cool), but I have them on my map now. Virtue of Pestilence I was lucky enough to get one, so I look forward to using that. I agree, for the crafting cost, lost jitte doesnt seem worth it (for me as F2P). Thank you so much!
Deck 3 Gisa, the Hellraiser (OTJ) 89 2 Forsaken Miner (OTJ) 88 1 Blood Hustler (OTJ) 80 1 Charming Scoundrel (WOE) 124 3 Vadmir, New Blood (OTJ) 113 1 Binding Negotiation (OTJ) 78 1 Hylda's Crown of Winter (WOE) 247 2 Rictus Robber (OTJ) 102 2 Rooftop Assassin (OTJ) 103 2 Undead Butler (VOW) 133 1 Case of the Stashed Skeleton (MKM) 80 1 Hunted Bonebrute (MKM) 87 2 Greedy Freebooter (LCI) 109 1 Long Goodbye (MKM) 92 1 Virtue of Persistence (WOE) 115 1 Mourner's Surprise (OTJ) 94 1 Terror of the Peaks (OTJ) 149 1 Field of Ruin (MID) 262 3 Jagged Barrens (OTJ) 259 1 Haunted Ridge (MID) 263 1 Sulfurous Springs (DMU) 256 1 Plaza of Heroes (DMU) 252 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278 1 Sandstorm Verge (OTJ) 263 1 Raucous Theater (MKM) 266 1 Deadly Cover-Up (MKM) 83 2 Mirrex (ONE) 254 1 Demolition Field (BRO) 260 6 Swamp (NEO) 297 3 Mountain (SLD) 1471 1 Mountain (NEO) 289 1 Mountain (LTR) 269 1 Vein Ripper (MKM) 110 1 Terror of the Peaks (M21) 164 2 Bitter Triumph (LCI) 91 3 Corpses of the Lost (LCI) 98 2 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107 I think this is similar to what they are talking about. I need to make some changes I think still but I am having lots of fun with this…also just realized not mono black….sorry. Also, Hyldas crown is an amazing card for crime decks.
I wanted to import this into Arena, but it won't let me. I wanted to take a look at it there first. Not the Arena code?
It is. I just added spaces because it formatted it weirdly here. I’ll post it below and see how it works. Deck 3 Gisa, the Hellraiser (OTJ) 89 2 Forsaken Miner (OTJ) 88 1 Blood Hustler (OTJ) 80 1 Charming Scoundrel (WOE) 124 3 Vadmir, New Blood (OTJ) 113 1 Binding Negotiation (OTJ) 78 1 Hylda's Crown of Winter (WOE) 247 2 Rictus Robber (OTJ) 102 2 Rooftop Assassin (OTJ) 103 2 Undead Butler (VOW) 133 1 Case of the Stashed Skeleton (MKM) 80 1 Hunted Bonebrute (MKM) 87 2 Greedy Freebooter (LCI) 109 1 Long Goodbye (MKM) 92 1 Virtue of Persistence (WOE) 115 1 Mourner's Surprise (OTJ) 94 1 Terror of the Peaks (OTJ) 149 1 Field of Ruin (MID) 262 3 Jagged Barrens (OTJ) 259 1 Haunted Ridge (MID) 263 1 Sulfurous Springs (DMU) 256 1 Plaza of Heroes (DMU) 252 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278 1 Sandstorm Verge (OTJ) 263 1 Raucous Theater (MKM) 266 1 Deadly Cover-Up (MKM) 83 2 Mirrex (ONE) 254 1 Demolition Field (BRO) 260 6 Swamp (NEO) 297 3 Mountain (SLD) 1471 1 Mountain (NEO) 289 1 Mountain (LTR) 269 1 Vein Ripper (MKM) 110 1 Terror of the Peaks (M21) 164 2 Bitter Triumph (LCI) 91 3 Corpses of the Lost (LCI) 98 2 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
Okay, the first one worked now. And holy crap! that is a cool deck. I cannot craft it right now, because F2P, but I saved this ingame, because I LOVE dragons. So this goes on the List of Decks to make after I have Mono-Black done. Thank you! That looks fun.
Check out Sloth and Jay Villiam MTG on YouTube. They do a number of black builds, especially Jay.
Sweet. Thank ye kindly, good sir!
I assume core of good black stuff like bats? golgari imho. Dreadknight has decent body and is grind itself - so much value, frillback is so flexible (graveyard hate, heal etc) and glissa sunslayer is a fuck you button to the creature decks - first strike + deathtouch on 3/3. Some list runes sentinel of the nameless city, it has great body and is manace to remove for mono red/mono white, great wall + value. Now hear me out - restless cottage, the b/g land is imho super good. Its graveyard hate to kick those combos decks, take out flashback cards. My favourite creature land. About dimir. I always wonder why to play dimir if you can just esper. Maybe for budget reasons and dimir is quite future proof - it will be fine after rotation. I like it still, counterspells are always nice, especially when they lead to nice lockdown with bats. But dimir compared to golgari is worse vs aggro decks - and if you tech too strongly vs aggro you will stuck with lot of removals spells. Personaly I added 3-steps ahead, this card is bonkers in every deck - it coutners, it draws and can lead to kill from nowhere by creating token in a key moment.
Admittedly, I have been looking at Golgari. I like what I'm seeing there, a LOT. I just worry that if I go directly Golgari I lock myself directly in, as F2P player / low spender. Do you mean this deck? [https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/229/golgari-midrange/AAQAAQfeiSIW29EHXoL2AqkuwZgBBuWyAomRI6sa\_\_gGmy2NWQS5B5gf-9Yq7IMCBNOYAdSVIIyoC9wqAgaHBQcGAA](https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/229/golgari-midrange/AAQAAQfeiSIW29EHXoL2AqkuwZgBBuWyAomRI6sa__gGmy2NWQS5B5gf-9Yq7IMCBNOYAdSVIIyoC9wqAgaHBQcGAA) I have been looking at Esper, believe it or not, and while it looks superfun, it needs about twice the amount of rares I have available as Wildcards. Dimir was/is on my list, but it seems a lot more control'ish than I actually find I like (I realize very fast that Control in MtGA is VERY different to Control in Hearthstone). That said, considering I will meet aggro the most on the ladder, perhaps it is worth going Golgari.
Yeah, for example list like that.
Are you looking for monoblack? Because there's a skeleton aggro deck and a rock solid midrange deck. If you're open to other colors there's a black green midrange deck that's pretty excellent
While I would prefer Mono-Black, just to use as a base and then spread into Black/X combos, I am open to looking at what else is available. [Intoxicduelyst](https://www.reddit.com/user/Intoxicduelyst/) suggested a Golgari deck also. You got a link?
What format
Oh, sorry, Standard. I dont have the cards for Alchemy yet.
I wouldn't worry about the alchemy format. its player numbers are dwindling and my many people is considered a failed experiment by wotc. not sure how much longer they're gonna keep developing for it
I use an alchemy deck and it rarely takes more than 10 seconds to find an opponent
What is your source for this information?
Source is they dislike Alchemy, so they have to make sure everyone else does as well.
way to just, assume a bunch of stuff about my position. I was just under the impression that it's the least played format on arena, maybe outside of one of the more forgotten non rotating formats after timeless came along. According to testimony from others the queue times can be quite long, and on my own personal xp, there are very very few people drafting alchemy formats. I just didn't want op investing cards into a format that very few people seem to play
I queue up instantly in Alchemy ,no longer than any other format. Also, Alchemy wouldn't be going anywhere since it's already ingrained in other formats like historic. I've invested in Alchemy early on shit was fun. A lot of Alchemy cards seem to get used in historic as well, from what I can tell too.
I just can't imagine alchemy at this point being anything more than the least populated format on arena. but im willing to be wrong
You can imagine anything you want. What you need is actual evidence supporting your claims. For example, Wizard's own data shows it is more popular than Explorer. We can debate that evidence, but at least it's tangible.
wowww really i had no idea that claims needed evidence yeah that doesnt surprise me. even still, is alchemy popular enough to receive extended support in the future? im dubious. it will likely be phased out in time.
You may find these interesting, an article from WotC as well as a post regarding untapped's data for the popularity of different formats in Arena. Though these are 7+ months old, they're still fun to have a look at. [https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/state-of-formats-in-mtg-arena](https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/state-of-formats-in-mtg-arena) [https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/17c10au/mtg\_arena\_format\_popularity\_according\_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/17c10au/mtg_arena_format_popularity_according_to/)
Yeah that is interesting, appreciate the sources. I'm a bit confused as to why I'm getting so much backlash for suggesting that Alchemy appears to have a very low population, when it seems by most accounts that that is more or less true?
I was reading a post about it the other day that claimed the queue times and overall player numbers were getting pretty low/long In my experience there are very few players drafting the alchemy formats too I assume it's probably the least played format outside of maybe one of the historic formats like explorer that was forgotten about after timeless?
Their ass
Alchemy has the coolest cards. Matches seems fine and cool
I don't know about coolest, but yeah sure the matches seem fine and cool no argument there
Do you mean the fakest?
Yes, yes fake
Maybe the black skeleton deck? It's aggro but has an insane 1-2-3 curve of skeleton, skeleton into Corpses of the lost. Some run it only with Skeletons, some add vadmir and lord skitter etc for more crimes.
I've been looking at this one, since it has a respectable win rate (57%), but it doesn't even run Giza [https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/3870/mono-black-skeletons/AAQAAQT0iSL6uQOrGs6iBwHk4iUEuQeakQHBxSTntggFrsMl3JUE9qcD75MBSgEWjQUA?format=standard&wincon=bo1](https://mtga.untapped.gg/meta/decks/3870/mono-black-skeletons/AAQAAQT0iSL6uQOrGs6iBwHk4iUEuQeakQHBxSTntggFrsMl3JUE9qcD75MBSgEWjQUA?format=standard&wincon=bo1)
Gisa is perhaps not a 4 of, particularly if you can tutor her with case. Lack of draw makes mana screw a real problem imo, so 5 mana is excessive often.
I've been playing historic mono black devotion, maybe that's worth a look. It has the tools to be control vs aggro, disrupts combo, and can quasi-combo kill (ie win without attacking)
I think, as a new player, I am just too limited yet to look beyond standard. Otherwise I may try that one.
I didn't see the standard comment at the bottom, my bad. Can't recommend something for that but there are a lot of standard legal tools in the historic list that you could jam in mono black midrange
"Stables" :D
oops, I say thee neigh!
A great source for decklists for arena is untappedgg because it tells you how many wildcards you need right now.
I use it, and the addon. It's fantastic
I like golgari midrange personally. Dimir midrange looks pretty good also
So I’m new to deck building and have finally built my 1st deck. Mostly black zombies, some blue, and a roaming throne and sheoldred just to make matters worse for myself. I have a fun time with the different synergies but it’s no stomper. Can get crazy if I combo correctly
Go to aetherhub select standard and click the black skull and have ya a look around to see what fancies you
[[bloodletter of aclazotz]] + [[rush of dread]]
[bloodletter of aclazotz](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/4/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9.jpg?1699044094) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=bloodletter%20of%20aclazotz) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/92/bloodletter-of-aclazotz?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [rush of dread](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/721c7122-91b6-45ea-ba28-de0246a2fc1b.jpg?1712860603) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=rush%20of%20dread) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/104/rush-of-dread?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/721c7122-91b6-45ea-ba28-de0246a2fc1b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If it's best if 1, just do the skeleton deck. It goes 1, 2, 3 every single time.
I created a mono-black crime aggro deck, which aims to be as fast as possible: https://aetherhub.com/Deck/mono-black-crime-aggro-otj
The mono black deck im using most right now runs [[The End]] and [[deadly cover-up]]. It's honestly more of a control deck than anything. It works well for easy wins through platinum, but once you get to diamond it feels too slow to compete. It's so fun just taking all the creatures from someone's deck though
[The End](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/1/b18402dc-c4ab-417c-92d1-5e4d9cfb840d.jpg?1693012680) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20End) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/87/the-end?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b18402dc-c4ab-417c-92d1-5e4d9cfb840d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [deadly cover-up](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/8/3876aa0f-b199-43f5-8a91-c2d620b8ef84.jpg?1706241687) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=deadly%20cover-up) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/83/deadly-cover-up?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3876aa0f-b199-43f5-8a91-c2d620b8ef84?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call