Magic 8 Ball Control - Standar..

by sAviOr_WeRRa on 22 July 2012

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (15 cards)

Creatures (4)


Sorceries (3)

Instants (4)


Planeswalkers (2)


Artifacts (2)

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Deck Description

This happens to be where it is at in 2.0 ,yo.

This is a Mono-Black Control deck that goes off on Turn 8 (hence the name--came up with it myself, gonna try to get it to stick with my friends ^^). This actually is not too confusing of a deck, but here's the quick run down on how it should work; there is a more in-depth description of the bottom regarding certain match-ups that are common and stuff you need to watch out for:

Turns 1-3: Play Swamps, kills threats/make your opponent discard cards [1].
Turn 4: Do not play Mutilate/Black Sun's unless there is a creature on the board who you NEED board sweepers to kill [2]. Also, while it depends what you are up against, do not play Liliana (either one) immediately [3].
Turn 5-7: Once again, just try to do your best to shut down everything your opponent does. Generally in here you will play one or two board sweepers to shut down your opponent's board and get ready for some sort of big play. Right here patience is the key [4].
Turn 8+: 8 is the magic number for this deck (and where that name comes from). It should be 7 because frankly Griselbrand would be the prettiest card (in terms of design) ever if it cost 7, but it costs 8. This is also generally the point where you ultimate with your Liliana of the Dark Realms. After you have LotDR ultimate down and Griselbrand out, here is how this deck goes: All 8+ of your Swamps tap for 4 mana. Draw 7 cards fo' free, then play Diabolic Revelation to get two Sorin's Vengeance [5]. You then proceed to drain your opponent 20 Life plus a nice wack over the head from Griselbrand. Oh, and you gain all that life back. Yeah.

Sideboard plan:
Against Delver: Add 2 Despise, 2 Surgical Extraction, and Army of the Damned. Take out 1 LotDR, 4 Gitaxian Probe [6].
Against Sorin Control/Mono-Black Control: Add in 4 Geralf's Messengers, 2 Despise, and 2 Surgical Extraction, 1 Army of the Damned, and 2 Liliana of the Veil. Take out 3 Black Sun's Zenith, 3 Mutilates, 2 Tragic Slip, 3 Dismember [7].
Against Pod based aggro decks: Add in 2 Tragic Slip, 2 Despise, 3 Geralf's Messenger, 2 Grafdigger's Cages if they are using their Graveyard a lot (generally Zombie based Pod decks). Take out 2 Duress, 1 Liliana of the Veil, 2 Dismember, and 1-3 Gitaxian Probe (depending on whether or not you are adding in Grafdigger's) [8].
These are the decks that I have been facing the most of, if you want to know about any other match-up in Standard, feel free to post and I'll try to add as much as I can to help you out.

[1] - Against Delver decks it is super important to try to play a Duress early on so you can see what you are up against and to try to take out some counter magic. A turn one Duress targeting Mana Leak into a Surgical Extraction actually makes the Delver match-up relatively easy assuming you get decent draws.
[2] - Right now (for the most part) that includes Geist of Saint Traft and Thrun the Last Troll. Generally speaking, with cards like Griselbrand coming down on Turn 8 and Liliana starting to build up, you have a better late game then any of your opponents; they HAVE to make the first move, not you.
[3] - Against other Control decks, it is okay and generally speaking a good play to put down Liliana on turn 3-4. This is only for decks with low creature counts, however, as you will not have much to block. Even just a Solemn Simulacrum or Llanowar Elves can quickly stop your Liliana from doing much of anything if you do not have any removal ready. I will generally wait until after I play a board sweeper to play Liliana.
[4] - If you do not have any board sweepers and your opponent is beating down on you, playing Liliana as a distraction can be a decent play. It's obviously not optimal, but she can essentially act as a one time effect+4 extra life.
[5] - Against certain decks, I feel more comfortable playing with Army of the Damned. I never take out the Sorin's Vengeance, but adding in another victory condition can be very helpful, particularly against decks with lots of counter magic. You can't counter that with Flashback, silly Blue mage (also 13 2/2s happens to be pretty damned good, especially when you can play that card and flash it back in the same turn with LotDR).
[6] - Gitaxian Probe is great, mana-less cycling makes this deck essentially a 56 card deck plus knowledge is always good. However, against Delver you need every point of life you can get or else a couple bad top decks/cycles can ruin your day. If the Delver deck is more control-ish, then keep these in, but if it is more Geist based then get rid of these ASAP. Always play thinking that they have a Mana Leak in their hand. You will also have more Despises to look at their hand and figure out what you have to play around.
[7] - I am pretty sure that the whole Sorin Control is just a Flavor of the Month that is going to fade away soon as other Mono-Black control decks become more popular, but this deck--and other Mono-Black control decks, for that matter--is pretty weird to play against. First off, generally the only creatures you will see in the first couple of turns are Solemn Simulacrum. He is not really worth Dismember and Tragic Slip does not kill him so don't bother with those cards. Geralf's Messenger is a great card to have to hurt their planeswalkers. You really do not need mass removal, and getting to your planeswalkers is super important. Playing Liliana before they can play a Liliana is important. Still be careful of early game creatures, but leave Geralf's Messenger to block/Mutilate if you have to. Against Sorin Control specifically, playing Duress and then Surgical Extraction-ing Sorin's Vengeance basically secures you the victory. Throw in Army of the Damned in case they do the same to you.
[8] - These decks are also really popular right now (and fairly scary). Against Zombie-Pod decks, I try to get the Gitaxian Probes out of the way because what is in their hand does not matter that much and having Grafdigger's Cage is much better (Geralf's Messengers and Gravecrawlers can cause quite a problem). Against other Pod decks, I have found that Surgical Extraction is generally enough to keep Strangleroot Geist at bay. Having Geralf's Messenger for blocks is hugely important, as he can help keep you and your planeswalkers alive. I ONLY block with him. Even against an open board, I never have to worry about him being tapped to block if he dies blocking (this is especially important against Strangleroot Geists and creatures with haste). That 2 life tick can also make the Pod player be more wary about how much life they have. Tragic Slip is super important as it kills Wolfir Silverheart as soon as it comes out of the Pod and it can also kill Aristocrat regardless of whether a creature died or not.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away. I love responding to feedback and would be delighted to hear whatever anybody has to say. The bottom line is that if you write something that helps me (or at the very least is an attempt to be helpful), I will be more than happy to look at your decks. If you have seen my posts on other decks, I try to be as thorough as possible and offer as much feedback as I can. Thanks everybody who took a look and good luck!

Deck Tags

  • Tournament

Deck at a Glance

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Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

046400

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Not Legal in Vintage
  • Not Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for Magic 8 Ball Control - Standard

I am playing a somewhat similar version of mono black control, and this past FNM I learned a few things that you may find helpful: 1. This deck, in its current form, has no answer to Nicol Bolas/Karn. Now I know you might be thinging "what deck in standard is playing Bolas"? Well, as I found out, Grixis control can basically have a turn 6 win condition by dropping down Bolas following a Gilded Lotus. Aside from if you have Duress/Despise, Bolas is game over 9/10 times against this deck, without sideboard Karn/Hex Parasite that is. 2. By some absurdly bad luck, I played against Super Friends the same night, and while it went to game 3, it was a very difficult matchup. While not as devestating as Bolas/Karn, it is tough to answer to turn 3 Liliana, turn 4 Sorin, turn 5 Tamiyo, especially when cards like Mutilate and BSZ are almost useless in your hand.

So in other words, I would highly recommend sideboarding at least 2 Karns/Hex Parasites, this deck simply is too weak to planeswalker-heavy decks in its current form. Oh, and given that you only have 2 real "win conditions" with Griselbrand/Sorin's Vengeance, watch out for Surgical, could really kill you early on. Good luck!

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Posted 24 July 2012 at 19:22

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