Deckbuilder's Diary: Black, Part 3

Almost there, almost complete.

I've long considered the true stress test of any deck of any color to be a mana-rich, well-designed, set-up blue counter-control deck. In three consecutive tests, the current, incomplete format of my black deck survived and thrived. Then again, the greatest weakness of any blue deck that relies heavily on set-up and counters (virtually all forms of blue decks, from what I've seen) is the existence of the weenie. The first game had my opponent taken out by two weenies. Granted, said weenies were the Prickly Boggart and the Wicked Akuba, but that's beside the point.

One thing I've always disliked about traditional weenie decks is the lack of ability or cards to really do damage once past the mid-game stage. In streamlining the deck, I decided to take out a couple of low-cost creatures and replace them with bigger ones, which are more suitable for dealing with problems in the mid-game, where size starts to come into play. Numbers is still an issue, but sheer size, combined with the right tactics, can make short of that advantage. It helps that said big beef came with built-in evasive abilities, but I still need a way to handle the late game.

Or rather, I did. Four copies of Corrupt and a Maga, Traitor to Mortals, along with a Choice of Damnations seal up the late game pretty well, I think. Choice is a tough one to use because it requires precise timing to maximize the damage it could do, but overall, it can really turn the tide of a game if the opponent makes the wrong call on the number. And in the mana-rich late game, Corrupt can really take a dent out of someone's life total, potentially but me back in the lead (or increase my lead), and still leave mana for me to be able to cast other spells.

However, as good as it may be now, I'm still missing a few cards. One-mana drops are low in number, but compensated by the high concentration of efficient two-mana drops. I think I need one more big creature to round things out, and I'm juggling between Dread (my favorite) or Oona, Queen of the Fae. I'm toying with the possibility of using a Toshiro Umezawa as well, increasing the number of cheap creatures and adding extra spell-casting ability from the grave.

And of course, Ashenmoor Gouger is still missing. Damn it, someone always beats me to buying those things.

Still, aside from these few cards, I don't have too many more gaps to fill. I have a decent sideboard prepared, but doesn't cover all the common tactics decks use. Still has problems dealing with a deck that relies heavily on blasters, but that's mainly because a good blaster is generally much faster than the average weenie deck. In any case, deck is almost complete. I just need to improve the rather sparse mid-game (which is what the Dread/Oona, Queen of the Fate and the Ashenmoor Gougers are for) to top it all off.

Might grab Toshiro Umezawa as a sideboard as a utility, but I doubt I can find room in the main deck for him. Same goes with Maralen of the Mornsong, because even if she's a "tutor" effect each turn, the cost is too high and she helps the opponent too.

With any luck, I'll get to work on my white/green elf-token deck sometime next month.