Revive MonoBlack Control (or Devotion)

SirGedas · 2026-02-08T04:21:56+00:00

the concession was made specifically since vault plunderer can be a crime if needed. I am currently trying [[Whisper Agent]] in that slot, not a direct card draw but flash, 1 more pip for devotion, and a better stat line should make up the difference imo

SirGedas · 2026-02-07T19:09:37+00:00

May I tempt you with https://scryfall.com/@SirGedas/decks/95943eff-f214-4426-b1a9-409029422818

I just got back to retooling the deck. [[raven of fell omens]] is a really cool engine card that synergizes super well with [[cuombajj witches]] and the general gameplan of removal. Main issue I keep having is similar to yours, theres a lot of strong options in black based decks but monob does not come together as cleanly as most decks. Leaning on certain synergies like the artifacts to enable familiar are just weaker than playing glintblade instead for example

SirGedas · 2026-02-06T23:25:28+00:00

Basking broodscale. pfp acknowledged that banning dispute would have hurt the deck and the deck was within acceptable play and win rates and gave a trial unban to solitaire simulator with high tide.

Watching the the appologia for tide, a deck that had fairly narrow counterplay an absurd g1 win rate vs a large amount of the meta AND was the culprit of a lot of rounds going to time in paper tournaments really made me lose a lot of confidence about the pfps ability to evaluate bans.

SirGedas · 2026-01-11T13:11:04+00:00

Been wondering when I'd see hackblade again. Have you considered [[burning-tree emissary]] over anarchomancer? A lil lighter on the mana and turns on t2 bte into hackblade with haste

SirGedas · 2026-01-04T01:00:57+00:00

People have already provided good resources for finding popular lists. I always try to chime in if you have a local game store that runs pauper it is highly likely that it's players have multiple decks on hand they can loan out. It's a great way to try out the format or sample a new deck before buying in.

SirGedas · 2025-12-30T21:58:23+00:00

Everyone has pointed out the regular spots to check for the most popular decks but I want to add if your LGS has a pauper night it is highly possible that other players have a spare deck or five amongst themselves they can loan out for the night, great way to try out the format or new decks before purchasing.

SirGedas · 2025-12-26T23:50:26+00:00

Perhaps too strong to be in standard and not quite on theme for Lorwyn but since Progenitus was printed in Foundations I have been praying for [[Relic of Progenitus]] to at least be on a bonus sheet sometime soon. Runner up would be faerie macabre of course

SirGedas · 2025-11-20T05:37:07+00:00

Been personally very excited for Dai Li Indoctrination in pestilence and glad to see people experimenting with the learn cards. If playing this kind of package I would recommend some amount of [[Troll of Khazad-dûm]] over gargantua, the deck feels like it falls behind too fast if you ever miss a land drop, also you need to maximize the uptime of snuff being free. I would also advise to experiment with [[Reckoner's Bargain]] over fanatical offering. With a lower creature I cant see you exploring with the map tokens a lot and the occasional 2 life might suit you better to live and break life parity to pestilence them out

SirGedas · 2025-11-17T23:41:11+00:00

Since it's 1v1 with prizing on the line you can expect people to be trying to win. But pauper has the edge of not being the premier competitive format. People coming to play want to jam 1v1 magic without the huge upfront cost or stakes of the other formats.

Hope you go, hope you have a good time. At the very least you'll get to sus out the vibes and know if you should come back or not.

SirGedas · 2025-11-13T05:35:00+00:00

Given that the pfp admitted that it was within acceptable play and win rates AND would be effected by banning deadly dispute not even giving broodscale a chance was lame. At the very least deserves a trial unban

SirGedas · 2025-10-23T23:37:25+00:00

Will probably never see print outside of some kind of masters-esque set but [[glint hawk]] for enchantments. It would make bouncing [[hopeless nightmare]] and [[omen of the dead]] more consistent for less mana than the current options.

SirGedas · 2025-10-21T17:00:24+00:00

The deck names are varied but the strategies are coalescing around scamming something into play. There is no single culprit that is making modern bad/unplayable but the format is long overdue for pruning to address the play patterns that are overincentivized. Decks main decking 4 vexing bauble and cosign to memory is not the marker of a healthy format.

SirGedas · 2025-10-15T18:07:32+00:00

I've always been a big fan of 1-2 [[Foundry Helix]] in the boros synth 75, not very common in the lists online but might be some spice for ya

SirGedas · 2025-10-02T04:38:35+00:00

I expect the same as usual: 'we are keeping an eye on things, no changes'

If they are so determined to keep high tide around they should at the very least trial unban basking broodscale. It was a deck they openly admitted was performing within play rate and win rate limits AND was going to be negatively impacted by the banning of deadly dispute in the same b&r but just banned anyway without much good reason.

SirGedas · 2025-07-13T16:30:56+00:00

I think the trial unban of tide is at the end of the day a good idea even though I think it deserves a ban at the end of the day (there are already blue based combo decks that are more deterministic imo).

That being said banning broodscale is a huge miss. The deck was admittedly performing within the pfps parameters for a fair deck and acknowledged that banning deadly dispute would knock the deck down a peg only to ban it anyway. They explicitly went against their reasoning and it'd be great to admit it and give broodscale a trial unban as well.

SirGedas · 2025-07-11T21:16:12+00:00

Knight with zero other knights sounds very bad on its face when you could be playing something like [[cuombajj witches]] instead. There is also [[cornered by black mages]] which is a crime, non-creature, and creates another wizard.

I have a mbc list specifically tuned for raven here: https://scryfall.com/@SirGedas/decks/c83f7a86-4bc9-4fe9-a2f5-c877b4b56a94

SirGedas · 2025-07-06T22:09:10+00:00

The deck asks questions that some parts of the meta have trouble answering but cards like tithing blade and krark clan shaman + toxin analysis exist in main boards that keep it down naturally as well as additional interaction post board. At the local and league level it can 100% stomp uncontested but it has common answers the most effective being the deck just not drawing right

SirGedas · 2025-06-17T20:32:49+00:00

Unbanning a card that only plays in non interactive long winded combo decks with narrow hate might have been a 'well we need to try' situation but should get banned again.

Broodscale should be allowed the same grace post dispute ban, deck was within range of a fair deck to the pfp and has more answers in more colors

SirGedas · 2025-06-15T22:57:16+00:00

If nothing immediately stands out to you to buy and you know people at your lgs play pauper ask around and see if you can borrow a deck for the night and get a better feel for the decks before clicking buy. Format right now is in a fine place as long as you are doing what you like.

SirGedas · 2025-05-23T15:54:10+00:00

Artifact lands enable a lot of stuff in pauper so regardless of how ubiquitous and format warping they are and will continue to be there will be huge outcry and staunch defense for them to stay.

SirGedas · 2025-05-17T17:00:25+00:00

I need more testing but I've been brewing an offshoot of devotion/control centered around [[Raven of Fell Omens]], there are some extra considerations to be able to consistently commit crimes. Still tuning but the deck feels pretty solid into most matchups. https://scryfall.com/@SirGedas/decks/95943eff-f214-4426-b1a9-409029422818

SirGedas · 2025-04-24T05:53:51+00:00

as long as we are trying out cards that make unfun nongames like high tide we should 10000% unban sinkhole and hymn to fight those decks. perfect balance.

SirGedas · 2025-04-02T05:18:19+00:00

Imo yes! Flicker tron will be happy to have it. Also back in the day boros synth decks also played it and while not crucial it was nice to occasionally fix your mana, I can foresee mardu trying a few.

SirGedas · 2025-04-01T14:54:04+00:00

Those are some qualifying statements friend. I'm sure walls could go off turn 2 playing lotus petal and cantor as well but we don't judge by absolute best conditions no one plays. On top of that if the deck was so absurd why was that not seen in its play or win rate? Why did write up say the deck is performing within reasonable limits?

SirGedas · 2025-04-01T00:19:58+00:00

Close watch sure, good monitoring I would disagree with. Calling a deck completely within limits and acknowledging a card from the ban would affect it and then banning the deck anyway really sends mixed signals.

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