Sleeving Standard: Mono Black Control

The current standard format is one of the most vibrant and exciting I've seen in my short time playing. I truly believe that if you playtest your match ups enough that any deck is viable. While the list of Tier 1 decks is small (I believe to be UW Delver, Naya Pod, G/R Aggro, Esper Control), the amount of decks that bounce between Tier 1.5 and 2 is astounding. Take the last SCG top 16 for instance:

 5 UW Delver (the Winner)

2 Bant Pod

1 Elf Wave

1 Esper Midrange

1 Naya Pod

1 GW Aggro

1 UW Control

1 Junk Pod

1 Wolf Run Ramp

1 Wolf Run Blue

For those unable to count that high, or too lazy, that's ten DIFFERENT archtypes. The format is about as wide open as possible. So why do I want to play Mono Black? Check out the list and rationale after the break!

First, let's look at sample list that was recently streamed by Brian Kibler.

Mono Black Control
Main Deck:
1 Griselbrand
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Sorin Markov
3 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Diabolic Revelation
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Go for the Throat
4 Mutilate
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Pristine Talisman
4 Sign in Blood
3 Sorin's Vengeance
1 Tragic Slip
24 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Distress
2 Duress
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Karn Liberated
2 Massacre Wurm
1 Torpor Orb
4 Vampire Nighthawk

There are quite a few things I like about this deck. The most obvious thing is 24 Basic Swamps. No dual lands, utility lands, or anything of the sort to gunk up the mana base. We can play this deck with confidence that, if we have drawn the appropriate number of lands, we can cast spells in a timely fashion.

The inclusion of 4 Mutilate AND 3 Black Sun's Zenith allows us to have action against the multitude creature decks running around the format. Along with a smattering of spot removal, in theory, our creature match-up is sound.

The Sorin-Sorin combo is one of the most powerful things, in my opinion, that can be done in the format. The combination of the two ignores the troublesome life gain Huntmaster of the Fells and Thragstuck give to opposing creature deck. We simply go over the top of that by killing them in one turn.

I can't point out all the positives of the deck without going through the obvious flaws. For one, being Mono Black we have little interaction with artifacts and planewalkers, both of which are VERY good against the deck. While Sword of Feast and Famine/War and Peace can be dealt with by killing all the threats repeatably, planeswalkers present a completely different problem. Outside of attacking , the only way to interact is through a Sorin's Vengeance to redirect at them.

On top of that, sometimes the deck just does nothing. Out of all the decks in the format, I believe this one is the most hurt by mana flood and screw. We have no real way to take advantage of huge amounts of lands (outside of Diabolic Revelation) and being short on lands doesn't let us cast our sweepers to stabilize. The deck relies on hitting a curve that gains incremental advantage. We are also weak to Delver as countermagic is very one of the worst things for us as we are trying to hit 6 mana 'walkers and 7 mana soceries. Ramming that through Mana Leak and Negate usually ends in their favor, as with Delver, they always have the answer.

So how do we address these problems? Looking at Kibler's rough list, I immediately would cut 1 Griselbrand. Although he is one of the most powerful creatures in the format (well, all formats outside of vintage) drawing cards is not what the deck needs as we gain enough card advantage through grinding sweepers. I also don't think the Diabolic Revelation is needed, but can be moved to board to act as a Blue Sun Zenith in control match-ups. To replace these, I would like either 2 Bloodgift Demons or 2 Wurmcoil Engines, depending on the meta the call is yours. I prefer Wurmcoil Engine at the moment as the format is heavily leaning toward creature decks and Wurmcoil is the best at stopping them. I do have a soft spot and will be trying him out at some point. Phyrexian Arena attached to a 5 power flier could be very strong in the format.

For the sideboard, I cut a torpor orb and a distress for two more Duress. I think Duress is the correct call in the current meta as stripping swords, counterspells, and planeswalkers is more important than having Despise for creatures that out sweepers are so good already. Massacre is a house against aggressive strategies and occasionally can deal all 20 points on damage by itself. Vampire Nighthawk is a nod to the Delver match-up and has good synergy with Liliana. Giving a Nighthawk +X/+X instantly stabilizes a board state barring a Vapor Snag. The 2nd Curse is for Wolf Run as Inkmoth is trouble for the deck (see the Go for the Throats) and also is good against Elves. Karn helps with both Wolf Run and control match-ups. Cage slows down Elves and Pod as it shuts off Strangleroot Geist, Birthing Pod, Green Sun's Zenith, and so on.

Those are my thoughts on the deck thus far. As of now, the list is still very rough and the numbers can be tweaked as needed. I plan on playtesting on Friday by playing match-ups and participating in Friday Night Magic. Saturday I will have my thoughts up after having gone through several rounds and how I like to sideboard for certain match-ups. Til then, take a crack at MBC and let me know what you think!