Not too bad, but which determines your strategy: the cards you happen to get or the cards your opponent plays? I think that to be consistently successful, you have to have a deck that lets YOU make the decision about which cards to use, and how to respond to an opponent's tactics. I see lots of different creature removal spells, which is to be expected in mono black, but then you have one Megrim (Liliana's Caress is better, BTW, if you can get one) and one Mind Rot, meaning on the .01% chance you can get them out in that order, you'll do all of four damage. Those are pretty bad odds! You don't have to change anything, of course, and if the deck wins for you, that's awesome, but if you wanted some advice on how to tighten it up a bit, I'd do a couple things in general: 1) Try to get your deck closer to 75 cards. I think 60 is best, but that's a LONG way from 96 cards. Look at things like what I mentioned with the Megrim/Mind Rot combo, and decide if those cards are worth keeping in the main deck. Don't bother keeping cards in the main deck "just in case;" that's what sideboarding is for. 2) Capitalize on cards and strategies that are universally successful. I think that Suture Priest, Bloodchief Ascension, Hissing Miasma, Royal Assassin, etc, are definitely four-ofs, since they burn your opponent while the creature comes in, attacks, and dies, all on YOUR volition. I'm putting together a BW deck around that very idea now. I'll post it when it's done, not perfect, but playable. In the meantime, I'd appreciate your feedback on my decks, which you can check out just by clicking on my name. Good luck and welcome!
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Not too bad, especially since it's Standard. The only weakness in land burn decks is that you have to stay ahead of your opponent for the entire early game or your main tactic, namely choking off their mana long enough for you to kill them. So I think that the deck is too slow. Your LD sorceries, which are the backbone of this deck, are 4CC, meaning that, even with accelerated drops, you're not killing land on every turn until turn three. Without Cultivate or Explore in your opening hand, it's likely that you're waiting until turn four. How to fix it? Stepping outside of Standard (a format in which I'm not sure LD-only decks are all that competitive anyway...) into Legacy or Vintage opens up 3CC LD spells in red and black, plus acceleration spells like Dark Ritual. If you like, check out my land burn deck here: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=176689 I'd appreciate your feedback. Another idea would be to work in another strategy. I like your splash of red burn spells like Lightning - why not go for more? Or take advantage of the green and drop some creature pump in there!
Nice deck, but a couple questions... first, why Marsh Flats in a mono white deck? Also, no Ajani's Mantras? What about Soul Attendants? Soul Wardens? If you're going to make life gain a win condition with the Sovereign, why not go for the throat?
Looks like fun. It looks like a combination of a couple mono-white decks I've built myself! Like solarisdevorak mentioned, you might need to bring in more lands. Doing so without scrapping some of your creatures will just dilute your deck more, which is no good, SO, I'd consider dropping the Ikiral Outriders or some of the defenders and bringing in more lands. It'll keep your card count where you want it and also drop the mana curve. It'll be faster and arguably more fun! Hope this helps. Feel free to comment on any of my decks! Thanks!
Perfect! I love the idea of adding more equipment in lieu of instants and sorceries, but I'm just nervous about the time it takes to get them out and equipped. Of course, Everflowing Chalices would work, so there's that. I'm also thinking about Kor Outfitters to speed that up. Thanks for the input!
I like Misguided Rage. I have toyed with the idea of replacing the Lightning Bolts with something more worthwhile, and that might be it. Thanks for the thought! Also, I'm always hesitant to go full-bore LD only because if an opponent gets away from me on creatures, I need to have a way to respond. Having discard- and sacrifice-worthy 2/2 creatures (with graveyard play, especially with Gravedigger and Haunting Misery) isn't a terrible thing. Moving further into LD seems to displace the ability to change tactics, something I find useful in casual play. For instance, I have been in spots where my opponent is getting away from me in the early game, and I pull up a Mind Maggots. With the distribution of other creatures, I've usually got a couple others in my hand. So, I'll discard an Anarchist to beef the Maggots to 4/4, then drop a Gravedigger to bring the Anarchist back. With the exception of flying decks, that's usually enough to stall them while I pick at the lands using Stone Rain or Rain of Tears, whichever I come up with. Then, when I start running low on sorceries, I bring one back with an Anarchist. In keeping to 60 cards, I suppose the only other balanced change IS Sinkholes, which make their own case. Thanks for the feedback!