Mono-Black

 

Today's deck archetype: mono-black . . .whatever. I'll cover a few.

We'll start with my friend, Tony. Tony does not like Magic, but has begrudgingly played a few times with our group. He once remarked that his ideal deck would be only swamps. I then gifted him one- a 60-card deck consisting of nothing but swamps (no word on if he's used it or, if so, how it fared). Anyway, in honor of Tony, I've crafted a few "swamps matter" decks. I'll call them Tony1, 2, and 3.

1) Tony1

When Core Set 2020 came out, I immediately thought of Tony when I saw Dread Presence:

This is a perfect "swamp deck" card. Anytime you play a swamp, you get two nice options, handy in many circumstances. I rounded this out with some removal cards of various kinds- discard (Yarok's Fenlurker, Rankle, Burglar Rat, Duress), destroy creatures (Murderous Rider, Murder, Rankle), Board Wipes (Massacre Girl), and some card draw (Foulmire Knight, Midnight Reaper, Clackbridge Troll, Rankle). The deck worked surprisingly well on Arena- not tournament-worthy, but better than most of my 'home brews.' I think it was just odd enough to throw people.

4 Dread Presence (M20) 96

25 Swamp (ANA) 6

3 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 77

4 Foulmire Knight (ELD) 90

2 Vampire of the Dire Moon (M20) 120

4 Yarok's Fenlurker (M20) 123

2 Massacre Girl (WAR) 99

4 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97

3 Rankle, Master of Pranks (ELD) 101

2 Burglar Rat (GRN) 64

2 Clackbridge Troll (ELD) 84

4 Duress (M20) 97

1 Murder (M20) 109

2) Tony2

The second version differed only mildly from the first: I added Underworld Dreams (to punish 'card draw' decks) and Agonizing Remorse (for more targeted discard):

4 Dread Presence (M20) 96

25 Swamp (ANA) 6

3 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 77

4 Foulmire Knight (ELD) 90

2 Vampire of the Dire Moon (M20) 120

4 Yarok's Fenlurker (M20) 123

2 Massacre Girl (WAR) 99

4 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97

3 Rankle, Master of Pranks (ELD) 101

2 Underworld Dreams (THB) 121

2 Clackbridge Troll (ELD) 84

1 Murder (M20) 109

4 Agonizing Remorse (THB) 83

3) Tony3

The third iteration featured more significant changes. The Theros Beyond Death set had this idea of 'devotion', which was how many of a given color's mana symbol you had in the casting cost of your cards on the battlefield- another theme that worked well for 'swamps matter.'  The idea was to get as many black mana symbols out (Tymaret and Ayara among others), then finish off with Gray Merchant of Asphodel, whose ability often won the game. I supplemented with cards like Drag to the Underworld, which was removal that capitalized on the same concept.

2 Tymaret, Chosen from Death (THB) 119

23 Swamp (IKO) 268

4 Yarok's Fenlurker (M20) 123

4 Ayara, First of Locthwain (ELD) 75

4 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97

2 Underworld Dreams (THB) 121

4 Dread Presence (M20) 96

2 Rankle, Master of Pranks (ELD) 101

1 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA) 85

1 Cavalier of Night (M20) 94

4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel (THB) 99

2 Nightmare Shepherd (THB) 108

2 Drag to the Underworld (THB) 89

2 Erebos, Bleak-Hearted (THB) 93

3 Knight of the Ebon Legion (M20) 105

4) Vampire

Starting in Magic 2010, vampires became a viable tribe, naturally focused on this color. More recent sets (the Ixalan block and Core 2020) have featured them, too. Here's one such deck I enjoyed playing; the idea was to ping away at opponents by draining their life (and gaining it yourself).

3 Knight of the Ebon Legion (M20) 105

23 Swamp (RIX) 194

4 Vampire of the Dire Moon (M20) 120

2 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord (M20) 115

4 Bloodthirsty Aerialist (M20) 91

2 Dread Presence (M20) 96

2 Murder (M20) 109

2 Skymarch Bloodletter (XLN) 124

1 Sanctum Seeker (XLN) 120

2 Vraska's Contempt (XLN) 129

4 Blood Burglar (M20) 88

2 Dusk Legion Zealot (RIX) 70

2 Child of Night (M19) 89

2 Icon of Ancestry (M20) 229

1 Cry of the Carnarium (RNA) 70

2 Disfigure (M20) 95

1 Champion of Dusk (RIX) 64

1 Twilight Prophet (RIX) 88

5) Discard

A final theme today is discarding. Cards like Duress, Burglar Rat, and Mind Rot can put your opponents at a disadvantage early by forcing them to discard- and Waste Not lets you profit. The big problem with a discard deck: once your opponent has no cards left, further discard spells are pointless.  That's where Tinybones is critical. 

4 Duress (M20) 97

22 Swamp (ANB) 116

4 Burglar Rat (GRN) 64

4 Liliana's Steward (M21) 111

2 Tinybones, Trinket Thief (JMP) 17

3 Waste Not (M15) 122

3 Mind Rot (M21) 115

4 Plaguecrafter (GRN) 82

2 Rotting Regisaur (M20) 111

2 Liliana, Waker of the Dead (M21) 108

3 Rankle, Master of Pranks (ELD) 101

2 Sangromancer (JMP) 272

1 The Eldest Reborn (DAR) 90

4 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose (M21) 127

Conclusion

Mono-black decks can attack opponents in multiple ways- discard, tribes like vampires (or zombies- more on them another time), and through good old fashioned "Tony" decks: swamps matter.