Swings and Roundabouts

by Puschkin on 05 August 2014

Main Deck (61 cards)

Sideboard (2 cards)

Sorceries (1)

Instants (1)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

This is a simple one ...

It's a mono-black deck that runs Soot Imp and Urborg Stalkers (and originally Lim-Dul's Hex) to punish everybody that doesn't play black.

So, what if your opponent DO run black as well? Well, this deck also happens to have lots of Swampwalkers.

So, what if the opponents run black but have no (basic) swamps? That's where the Cyclopean Giants come in (I recently swapped one for Contaminated Ground just to try it out).

So, whatever colours the opponents play, they are doomed. Well, in theory, this deck isn't exactly strong and kind of cute but that's exactly why you are usually get not picked on early.

Subthemes:
a) There is a small Mercenary chain, basically because most of them also have Swampwalk or Fear. Note that the Cairn wanderer counts as a mercenary as well.

b) The Cabal Coffers, Crypt of Agadeem, Crypt Ghast and Witch Engine can generte huge amounts of black mana in a pinch to cast big Exsanguinates.

Oh and you budget fetishists: Take out the Coffers and this is definately BUDGET ;)

As always, cards in the sideboard are cards I consider adding and/or that I don't own yet.

Deck Tags

  • Casual
  • Multiplayer
  • Fun
  • Mono Black

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

3
Likes

This deck has been viewed 2,254 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

105400

Card Legality

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

Deck discussion for Swings and Roundabouts

nice deck Puschkin

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Posted 05 August 2014 at 13:12

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Thank you.
It also does surprisingly well. It's usually dubbed "that swampwalker deck" in my playgroup although it is originally based on those Stalkers and Imps. But the Swampwalkers actually outnumber them. The good thing for multiplayer is: Nothing in this deck is outragous. You lose a life here and 2 there, then someone sweeps the board and you have no offense anymore, so they don't focus you. But slowly, people get in range - either for Exsanguinates or an assassination attempt when you turn one of their lands into a Swamp and walk over them.

However, I wouldn't try this in 1-on-1, though.

If you like it, you might enjoy some of the other decks I made, especially Phantom Menace Can't touch this, I guess.

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Posted 05 August 2014 at 13:19

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Solid looking decks you have there. I am not much of a multiplayer so I'm kind of gathering inspiration...

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Posted 06 August 2014 at 06:34

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I could definitely see you adding in Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. That will make every one of their lands a swamp, plus help you out with your cabal coffers, since it will count as a swamp too. And with the reprint in M15, the price has come down significantly.

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 14:15

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Falling price or not, I still don't own one. Otherwise it would be in this.

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 14:53

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Out of being curious, how much has Urborg went down?

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 20:46

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M15 is like $4, Planar Chaos is like $10.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:09

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Ha, I opened an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth yesterday :)

1
Posted 22 August 2014 at 11:06

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Noice, I love that card

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Posted 22 August 2014 at 13:17

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It's down to 5€ meanwhile, though, so I am gonna keep and. Added to the deck :)

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Posted 22 August 2014 at 13:21

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Might also want to consider Gray Merchant of Asphodel. I drop that guy into every mono black deck I create. He is so good and can swing life totals around very quickly, especially since you will have lots of permanents out. Also, not sure I like the Murderous Spoils. It's very expensive cost wise for what it does. I would run Go for the Throat or one of the other 2-3 CMC instant kill cards instead.

Check out my mono-black devotion deck and see if you can find any gems you might have missed. :)
http://www.mtgvault.com/berndttoast/decks/im-gonna-syphon-your-life/

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 14:18

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Gray Merchant is brutal, indeed. But in my group, board swipes are common. Gray Merchant is better than Exsanguinate when I have lots of stuff - read, when it's already looking good. I prefer cards that are better when it's looking bad (or nobody has anything out) - because in multiplayer, that's the more likely siutation. It's a solid suggestion, though.

Murderous Spoils is an experiment. Initially I had 3 Eradicate and swapped one for Murderous Spoils when I got annoyed by too many equipments. I am not happy with the swap so far, then again I haven't played that many games since then. But I'd rather go back to more Eradicates than to any Terror-like spell - single removal spells that don't exile don't really cut the mustard in my environment.

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 15:04

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If exile is what you are looking for, then Unmake should fit the bill. Or if you want more versatility, you could run Mortify.

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 16:47

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Or Gild. I pulled a foiled one - that is probably an omen from the Magic gods that I should play with it :)

BTW, Mortify costs white mana, I don't run white. It also doesn't exile - in fact it doesn't even bury. I guess you meant something else ;)

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 16:58

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No that was the card I meant for versatility's sake, but forgot that you were mono-black. Woops. GIld works too, either way there are better options than Murderous Spoils. :)

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 17:01

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Added both Gild and Unmake to the sideboard (cards I consider adding).
Nasty equipments are still a concern in my playgroup, though.

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Posted 07 August 2014 at 17:03

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Case study on how winning Multiplayer:
1) Make yourself look like you are no threat.
2) Use cards that help everybody like Howling Mine and Mana Flare.

Puschkin: "Nothing in this deck is outrageous. You lose a life here and 2 there, then someone sweeps the board and you have no offense anymore, so they don't focus you."
Now go back up and see # 1, ladies and gentlemen, see what he did?
What he did was make it to where he goes unnoticed, let's other people destroy each other, then slides in for the win!

"Oh and you budget fetishists: Take out the Coffers and this is definately BUDGET ;)"
Budget Fetishists...that made me laugh out loud, lol.

Never seen Gild...looks like it turns into a Lotus Petal...neat.
And, not for this deck, but it can combo with stuff like Pull from Eternity, Riftsweeper, and I swear there is a creature (may be white) that can actually be played from Exile. Can't find it, though. Did I dream that up? There is a creature that can be played from Exile...pretty sure of that...I found it out when searching out Flicker/Blink cards.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:06

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Misthollow Griffin

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:12

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Yep, there it is!!!
Not that you would ever want to nuke your Griffin for one mana...but it is a combo.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:18

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It is a combo. I'm sure there is a way to break the Griffin. I would be interested to see what we could come up with.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:26

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Here we go:
Food Chain + Misthollow Griffin = Infinite mana (but only for creatures)
It does provide infinite storm triggers though.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:29

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DO NOT mention Infinite Storm or Infinite Mana around Puschkin!
Maybe he didn't hear you mention Storm Combos!!! :)

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:41

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But, what do you want to play with all that mana?
How about Maga, Traitor to Mortals, where target opponent loses X life.

Or if you really want to use the mana for other options, you could use Doubling Cube to double the mana in your pool, which removes the restriction.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:42

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Since I just made a Familiar deck, i know that Raven Familiar is also included in Food Chain decks :)

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:42

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Yep, good to filter through your deck and with food chain can get you 4 mana to play something better.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:47

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Erm ... you guys got carried away pretty fast, do you?^^
This is a mono-black deck that has to stay mono-black because it is basing on Soot Imps and Urborg Stalkers!
I just said I prefer my creature removal to exile its target because reanimation and recycling is VERY common (almost a necessity).

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Posted 15 August 2014 at 07:13

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Yeah, that tends to happen. We were not suggesting the Griffin for your deck, it came up from a a possible combo with Gild. Nothing to see here. :)

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Posted 15 August 2014 at 14:20

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Not white...but blue, it is called Misthollow Griffin.
Although Gild is used to hurt your opponent...technically (not that you would want to spend 3 mana to nuke one of your 4 mana creatures just so you can get 1 mana from it) it does combo.

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:11

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Yep, I was searching as you made your post. :)

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Posted 14 August 2014 at 21:14

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Misthollow Griffin - I would play him alongside Force of Wills and Misdirections.

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Posted 15 August 2014 at 07:14

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Indeed...very pricey, but nice catch!

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Posted 15 August 2014 at 08:11

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