Deck Discussion - Mono-Black Aggro

[Larraque]

I don't have Jittes

This may be a slight advantage for you. In matchups where Cranial Extractions would appear, the first cranial extraction against an aggro deck like this will likely name Jitte. Congratulations aggro deck on wasting your turn casting a spell that did nothing. Course... against this deck, playing an early cranial extraction is p0robably a bad card to begin with.

im not a huge fan of eradicate. why does he need this?

I'm not either - it's too slow. I'd much rather play Hero's Demise or Sickening Shoal.

[Larraque]

Brett's deck is okay, but it lacks consistency, IMO.

Obviously it is consistent enough to win a PTQ. Even if it was only 5 rounds top 8, it must be somewhat consistant. But anyways, what would you change to fix this?

In goldfishing, it seems fairly consistant.

The only change I would make is -1 Cranial, +1 Distress main. Ink eyes and Death Denied as one ofs seem like personal choices for him. I believe that Ink Eyes is a one of due to cranial extraction. The Death Denied solo seems random, but it can really swing the balance in a long game, and you wouldn't want to see a second one... would you?

The sideboard isn't as all over the place as it seems, aside from the 1 hero's demise and 2 eradicates, which I would make 3 hero's demise.

Also, is it just me, or if an opposing Jitte gets counters, we always, or almost always, lose the game?

That's what Jitte is. Aggro deck w\ Jitte > Aggro deck without Jitte.

[Tassador]

eradicate is quite useful- it can take out a set of problem creatures lowering your opponets threat density. With a lower threat density, there is a higher probabilty that he will draw a non threat and leaving a doorway open for you and your threats. Let's say they power out a turn 4 godo, and then you eradicate it. You've just taken out 4 power creatures and preventing them from getting two attack steps. Also, let's say they had 50 cards left in deck. They now have 47, with the same amount of lands. The probabilty chance might just be a few percent, but it's those few percent that let some people draw 3 lands in a row over 1-2. Eradicate is awesome.

@Risky
i heart stickies

@all
i don't feel that orges are the way to go, they cost way too much for what they do. I went to a tourny tonight and played my rats deck. I went 4-0. A friend, playing an orge deck simular to all of yours went 2-2. We played game one and i stomped him. We traded jittes but i had a manriki so i could destroy all his equipment and keep my jitte for a couple of rounds. Also, sickening shoal is a house. Graverobber was quite good as well- playing it turn two and flipping it turn 3 made it a lot easier to win. Then, whenever we traded creatures, i would just reanimate it and then i would have creature advantage. after me, he beat gifts and sway and then lost to WW. I preceded to beat WW, G/R/u paddle and heartbeat. in top 4, i beat B/G spirit and TBS control. As i said before, marrow-gnawer wins games. With just 3 other rats in play, i can make 3 rats bringing my count up to 6, then 10, then 18, then 34. In just 4 turns my rats go from 4 to 34. Plus, they all have fear, meaning it's MUCH harder for WW to win, if even possible. My favorite thing to do was block the creature with jitte with a rat and then sac it before dam was on the stack, preventing jitte counters and getting my rats. To all ye non-believers, try it out. Just make it and test it 3 games and you will fall in love. The main problem i see with orge decks is that they trade trix for power. Power is useful, but not with 8.5 tails and blessed breath and shoal. Tricks are what win games.

[dragon_flip24]

Hmm, how come no one's playing Skull Collector? It's better than Marauder, for me.

[calabus]

They cost way too much.....A 3/3 for 2, a 4/4 for 4, a 3/1 for 3 that you have to sac a creature just to block. A 5/5 for 4. Oh yah, that is way too much. Wait, not it isn't. I'll take that any day The point being, the only creature you can't immediately stick O-Naginata on is the Hand of Cruelty and you can even stick it on him once someone blocks him. This means all the creatures will generally become at least 5 power behemoths, sometimes 6-8 power, which is hard to deal with.

[Fiskinator]

Hmm, how come no one's playing Skull Collector? It's better than Marauder, for me.

Because there are no neat leaves play/come into play abilities to abuse.

Except Raving Oni-Slaves perhaps, and the only one who wants you to abuse those is your opponent

[Tassador]

They cost way too much.....A 3/3 for 2, a 4/4 for 4, a 3/1 for 3 that you have to sac a creature just to block. A 5/5 for 4. Oh yah, that is way too much. Wait, not it isn't. I'll take that any day The point being, the only creature you can't immediately stick O-Naginata on is the Hand of Cruelty and you can even stick it on him once someone blocks him. This means all the creatures will generally become at least 5 power behemoths, sometimes 6-8 power, which is hard to deal with.

I believe you misread my post, i said they cost too much for what they do. That clause makes a big difference, if you bother to read it. It's 2 mana for a 3/3 that can make you lost a net of 6 life. and 3 for a 3/1 isn't that good for what it does. 4 for a 4/4 is standard and yukora's drawback is pretty beastly. They are cheap beaters but they have drawbacks. The point of the second part of my post was: trix> power. being able to stop the haze lock is better then a 5/5. being able to recur creatures a ton of times > power. being able to give all of our creatures fear IS power. Throatslitters wins games against WW. It's a trick. That was the point.....

[busrider]

well, i think the best we've seen is krogen's decklist. the consistency is quite good, but i am perplexed by the prescence of nezumi cutthroat. it cannot pick up an on naginata and it's only concievable use is the white weenie matchup, in which case i think you would do better with some removal, maybe sickening shoal? also, why 2 maindeck extraction? these are not good against every deck, and with a prevalence of aggro, you could always run an aggressive or a card that deals with threats when they are ON THE TABLE, and actually become threats. my deck is much like yours apart from those two differences.
on another note: how many manriki gusari? i've seen four boarded, four main, three boarded, two main, just about any combination of board and main you can think of, what is the best, considering a second gusari is semi-dead as a holy strength ?

[Silver_Banana]

So explain to me, is this deck really playable at a PTQ? I don't know whether its good or not, and because im cheap I cannot build it. Please elaborate on why it can beat what decks of the format.

[Fire of Filth]

I play Black, it's without a doubt my favourite colour in Magic. However in spite of this, can someone please explain what exactly the purpose of aggro is? I know I 'm embarassed don't worry but I just don't know. Thanks.

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