Locations
Hello everyone. As we begin to gear up for the summer, I'm reminded that the next couple of releases for Magic aren't related to Standard products. With just over two months until the release of Bloomburrow, we're entering a lull period for Standard. But, never fear, I have no concerns that I'll be unable to find you new and exciting decks to play during this time. Starting this week and continuing for the following four weeks, I plan to bring you 5 decks each week that are centered around a particular color of mana. I'll be starting with Black, so let's get started.
Mono-Black Crimes
We'll start off this week with a Mono-Black deck that likes to target its opponent and their permanents. Let's take a look at the deck.
Mono-Black Crimes | OTJ Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (21)
- 2 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead
- 2 Gisa, the Hellraiser
- 2 Kaervek, the Punisher
- 2 Tinybones, the Pickpocket
- 3 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
- 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- 3 Vadmir, New Blood
- 4 Deep-Cavern Bat
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Liliana of the Veil
- Instants (9)
- 2 Cut Down
- 2 Infernal Grasp
- 2 March of Wretched Sorrow
- 3 Bitter Triumph
- Sorceries (2)
- 2 Gix's Command
- Enchantments (2)
- 2 Tinybones Joins Up
- Lands (24)
- 18 Swamp
- 2 Demolition Field
- 2 Mirrex
- 2 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Export Arena
Another great creature in this deck is Kaervek, the Punisher. Since the plan for this deck is to commit crimes as often as possible, you'll be able to get a crazy amount of value when you have Kaervek on the battlefield. For example, if Kaervek is in play and you cast Deep-Cavern Bat, you'll be able to create a copy of Cut Down from your graveyard that you can cast. That's another crime, which allows Kaervek to copy another Black spell from your graveyard, creating a chain of spells that can help you win the game.
Orzhov Control
Next, we'll add some White mana to the mix and look at an Orzhov deck that uses enchantments to control the game. Let's take a look at the deck.
Orzhov Control | OTJ Standard | SlothMtg, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (3)
- 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Planeswalkers (7)
- 1 Archangel Elspeth
- 1 Elspeth Resplendent
- 2 Liliana of the Veil
- 3 The Wandering Emperor
- Instants (7)
- 1 Bitter Triumph
- 1 Long Goodbye
- 2 March of Wretched Sorrow
- 3 Go for the Throat
- Sorceries (6)
- 1 Insatiable Avarice
- 1 Vanquish the Horde
- 2 Deadly Cover-Up
- 2 Depopulate
- Enchantments (11)
- 3 Feast of the Victorious Dead
- 4 Phyrexian Arena
- 4 Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity
The way you'll do this is with the help of Feast of the Victorious Dead. This enchantment lets you gain an amount of life and +1/+1 counters to distribute to your creatures equal to the number of creatures that died this turn. This benefits you in multiple ways. By chump blocking, you get a benefit. By casting a removal spell, you get a benefit. If your opponent casts a removal spell on your creature during your turn, you get a benefit. Feast of the Victorious Dead provides you with a lot of value throughout the game.
Dimir Zombies
The next deck I have for you combines Blue and Black mana with a heaping dose of Zombies. Let's take a look at the deck.
Dimir Zombies | OTJ Standard | BarGamer, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (26)
- 1 Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
- 2 Festerleech
- 2 Gisa, the Hellraiser
- 3 Geralf, the Fleshwright
- 3 Razorlash Transmogrant
- 3 Tainted Adversary
- 4 Archghoul of Thraben
- 4 Bladestitched Skaab
- 4 Champion of the Perished
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Jace Reawakened
- Instants (8)
- 1 Rotten Reunion
- 2 Cut Down
- 2 Spell Pierce
- 3 Go for the Throat
- Battles (1)
- 1 Invasion of Innistrad // Deluge of the Dead
- Lands (23)
- 7 Swamp
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 2 Restless Reef
- 4 Cavern of Souls
- 4 Shipwreck Marsh
- 4 Soured Springs
- Sideboard (14)
- 2 Liliana of the Veil
- 1 Disdainful Stroke
- 1 Rotten Reunion
- 1 Spell Pierce
- 2 Negate
- 2 Glistening Deluge
- 4 Duress
- 1 Unlicensed Hearse
 |  |  |
Whether you're casting Zombie creature spells, or whether you're creating Zombie creature tokens with the help of Rotten Reunion, Gisa, the Hellraiser, or Geralf, the Fleshwright, you're sure to have a battlefield full of rotting corpses that you can use against your opponent. To make your Zombies a little more durable, if you have Gisa, the Hellraiser on the battlefield, your Zombies will get a +1/+1 bonus and will have menace. There's also Bladestitched Skaab, which provides a +1/+0 bonus to each other Zombie you control.
One card that fits in very nicely in a Zombie typal deck, such as this, is Invasion of Innistrad // Deluge of the Dead. When this Siege enters the battlefield, you can give a creature your opponent controls -13/-13 until the end of the turn. This should generally be enough to destroy that creature. Then, if you manage to defeat this Siege, you'll have a repeatable way of creating additional Zombie creature tokens. Doing this is a great way of removing creatures from your opponent's graveyard, in case they have a way of reanimating those creatures.
Rakdos Rogues
Up next, I have a deck that gains immense value from the various Rogues in it. Let's check it out.
Rakdos Rogues | OTJ Standard | Hex_MTG, aetherhub.com user
This deck also includes Roaming Throne, an honorary Rogue. While this Golem is on the battlefield, triggered abilities of other creatures you control trigger a second time. That allows Generous Plunderer to give your opponent two Treasure tokens each turn, which, in turn, amounts to additional damage being dealt to your opponent when Generous Plunderer attacks.
Golgari Roots
The final deck I have for you this week pairs Black and Green mana with a Plant-creating enchantment that you can use to wreak havoc on your opponent. Let's take a look at the deck.
Golgari Roots | OTJ Standard | Mythras, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (28)
- 2 Ashnod's Harvester
- 2 Faerie Dreamthief
- 3 Blanchwood Prowler
- 3 Ichor Drinker
- 3 Skyfisher Spider
- 3 Snarling Gorehound
- 4 Aftermath Analyst
- 4 Honest Rutstein
- 4 Rubblebelt Maverick
- Planeswalkers (1)
- 1 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler
- Sorceries (4)
- 2 Squirming Emergence
- 2 Urborg Repossession
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Insidious Roots
- Artifacts (1)
- 1 Agatha's Soul Cauldron
- Lands (22)
- 5 Forest
- 9 Swamp
- 2 Blooming Marsh
- 2 Festering Gulch
- 4 Underground Mortuary
To help this plan come to fruition, this deck includes a ton of ways to remove creatures from your graveyard. Ashnod's Harvester exiles a card from any graveyard when it attacks. Skyfisher Spider can gain you life when it dies, exiling itself from your graveyard in the process. Multiple creatures in this deck have the means to exile themselves from your graveyard by paying mana. There's also Honest Rutstein, who returns a creature from your graveyard to your hand when he enters play. These all allow you to create a ton of Plant creature tokens that will successfully get bigger as more and more creatures leave your graveyard.
Wrapping Up
Even though we have a couple of months until our next Standard release, there's no shortage of fun and exciting decks to try out. Be sure to come back next week to see what color of mana I'll be focusing on then.
What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
