Pimp-Nixilis of the Black Oath

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

Welcome to my Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath Deck Thread.

Introduction

I'm a Black Mage, through and through. You ask me to help build a deck, I'll tell you to add black. I've been playing some form of Mono-Black since pulling Necropotence from my first 5th Edition pack. Was that the reason I picked Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath? Well, not entirely. After years of playing strong, optimized decks I decided to try something different. What if I played a deck to have fun instead of trying to win?

Mid 2015, I dust off the precon and take it for a spin at my LGS. That first outing was what I was looking for in a game. I didn't win, but I had lots of fun. Most importantly, I didn't greif the table.

Build Restrictions

Starting with the C14 Precon gave me a nice pile of cards that had some synergies. While it wasn't horrible, it was a mess and I wanted to focus it a bit. To not fall in line with my Kaalia/Nekusar builds (streamlined and optimized), I set some ground rules for me to follow.
  • Let's use sub-par cards: Not all the card here have to be "good". During my testing I found that if I don't play "Kill me" cards (Sheoldred, Whispering One is an example), I tend to be left alone. If a card alone will make me a target, I'll find something else to play.
  • No infinite combos: This is a meta call (my LGS is not fond of these) but it also goes hand in hand with trying to stay away from oppressive cards/plays.
  • Nothing that can lead to oppressive plays: This one is harder to gauge as it is really a relative term. If a combo/card/play makes people groan, it has a high potential to be cut.
  • The most important thing is to have fun: I try to get the input of my opponent(s) after each game to get their thoughts. If nothing comes up as "the game was fine until you did [x]" then all is well.
This is the core of what I want ObNix to be. No deck is perfect, but ObNix is really close to keeping with what I want to play and to have fun with.

For all intents and purposes, I have no budget on what I could spend on a card. Though I would rather keep the cost of single cards low. I do have a lot of cards that are pricey, so if you have any kind of suggestion, I'm all ears. If something else comes up or I have further thoughts, I'll update this post. If you do have suggestions, try to elaborate on why a card is good/bad as I'd like to get a better understanding of things. Thanks again for reading/helping me make ObNix better. I'm not opposed to running combos in the deck. I'd rather stay away from those of the infinite type (though I don't mind suggestions either as it might trigger an idea) since my meta/LGS does not like those.

Deck List

Cards listed with * next to them are currently swapped with a card from within the "Currently Testing"
Breakdown By Type (CMC)
Approximate Total Cost:

Currently Testing

Testing

Benched
Approximate Total Cost:

Cards I'm Considering
Approximate Total Cost:

What does the deck do?

The object is to start one of a few combos to get the "engine" going either generating tokens, stealing life, blowing things up, tutoring for things, drawing cards or a combination of these.

Nim Deathmantle Combos: A sac outlet or casting of the cards will be where this starts. Once the creature dies, pay 4 to activate Deathmantle's ability to bring that creature back. This card makes all the following cards crazy when you can repeat so long as you have mana and sac outlets. It isn't necessary to keep Deathmantle in play if it gets destroyed. If you are able to get 1 use out of it, you are fine. The deck runs smoother with this, but its not necessary.

+ Sidisi, Undead Vizier: This one is the best as Sidisi is her own sac outlet. Exploit Sidisi to her own ability as she ETB. The last exploit after you run out of mana can target a token or junk creature. You will tutor all the things with this combo.
+ Rune-Scarred Demon: Tutor all the things. While not as good as Sidisi tutor, this one works fine as well. Either find Sidisi, or find something to bring Sidisi back.
+ Kokusho, the Evening Star: Multiple sac outlets are required to win with KokoPuffs. This is where incremental damage comes in handy (Obby's +2, turning dudes sideways, etc)
+ Grave Titan|Abhorrent Overlord|Callous Bloodmage: Make all the tokens. Overlord is the #1 Choice on token generating. Having multiple avenues for token making is a must. Bloodmage has the added draw ability. Multiple sac outlets will be needed to use these more than once.
+ Noxious Gearhulk |Overseer of the Damned: Blow up all the things. Well, creatures that is. Overseer makes zombies with each critter popped. Gearhulk gives life. Use whichever you need to not lose.
+ Junji, the Midnight Sky: Reanimate non-dragons from any grave for the small cost of 2 life? Yes please. Oh and you can also use it to empty all opponents hands filling thier graves with all the things you want to reanimate. Win-Win.
+ Disciple of Bolas|Fell Stinger: Draw all the cards. These can be mixed into the loops, or they can start them.
+ Solemn Simulacrum: Draw AND find a Swamp. This is really good when one or more mana "doubler" is in play as each ETB trigger gets you 2+ more mana. Still solid without those cards.

Sac Outlets
The Exploit creatures and Disciple are good ETB sac outlets
Ayara, First of Locthwain: Draw a card with her sac ability. Oh and she combo's nicely with the repeatable token generators, especially with Abhorrent Overlord.
Ghoulcaller Gisa: Make 2/2 zombies with her sac ability. The bigger the critter she offs, the more zombies you get.
God-Eternal Bontu: ETB sac stuff to draw cards. Can be used to fill up your mitt in response to a wipe (with Orrery in play) or to just dump a bunch of tokens to fill your mitt. Either way, a very strong draw tacked on.
Soldevi Adnate: Sac outlet to make B mana. I feel like this card is underrated as its mana generation can just be silly.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician: What DOESN'T Yawg do?! Free sac outlet that is repeatable? Sign me up.
Diabolic Intent: Sac outlet tacked onto a Demonic Tutor? I see no downside in a deck like this. It can eat a token or start a loop.
Dread Return: That flashback on this is a great way to start a loop as well. We do generate so many tokens that the loss of 3 creatures is negligable.
Victimize: Double reanimate for the small fee of offing one of your own. Start a loop, get some dead things back.
Thousand-Year Elixir: But how you say? By getting a second use out of Ayara, Gisa and Adnate. It's an honorary sac outlet.
Malevolent Awakening: Sac a creature get one back in your hand. It's not great, but additional sac outlets and grave pilfering are nice to have.
Phyrexian Tower: Get BB for the small price of offing a critter. Seems like a good deal.

Change Log


Nightmare Moon // Princess Luna

Ob-Nix is the Commander when I can't Rule0 Nightmare Moon // Princess Luna. The deck stays the same, but for Luna I made a 15 card wish board from which I randomly choose 6 cards when she flips.
Last edited by serrot_29 1 year ago, edited 4 times in total.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

Since I started pimping out the deck, I realized that I needed to double sleeve it. Because of this the deck is now a bit larger than a single sleeved deck. This posed a problem as I have sausages for fingers and hands that aren't very large, which makes shuffling a bit of a problem. Being in black means I have access to a lot of the best tutors. I decided to slowly start removing tutors, and move to more draw effects to ease the shuffling issue. I'm still running Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Rune-Scarred Demon, Demonic Tutor, and Diabolic Intent as my tutors. Additional shuffle effects are Myriad Landscape, Solemn Simulacrum, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and Beacon of Unrest. Needless to say, Demonic Tutor is the only tutor I'm ok with cutting now, so I will be testing draw cards in that slot.

Testing Changes

Torment of Hail Fire > Bolas's Citadel: Since this runs a "Big Mana" package, I initially ran Exsaguinate. I started not wanting to cast it because I just felt unfun. Replaced it with Torment as I figured it would be less jerkish due to the choice it gives. When it fell in line with how I felt about Exsanguinate, I decided to just outright cut it. Luckily, I've been wanting to test Citadel since it was spoiled. This is a fun card and I really hope it doesn't start moving into the realm of oppressive cards/plays as I would be sad to cut it. This is the only change tested in the games below.

Demonic Tutor > Ayara, First of Locthwain: As previously stated, I'm moving tutors out for card draw. The other 3 tutors are crucial to the deck as engine pieces. Demonic is the only "just a tutor". I'm not sure if this slot should be Yawgmoth, Thran Physician or Ayara. Both have card draw abilities that I feel fit in the deck. I think that eventually both will be in here, but for now I'm testing to see which I can utilize currently. I'm digging Ayara's first ability, as one of my favorite things to do is looping Abhorrent Overlord.

Toxic Deluge > Massacre Girl: I love Toxic Deluge. It's a great card. Hear me out though. Recently I was asked "do you run Massacre Girl in here?" While explaining why I don't, it hit me. She could potentially be a reusable Deluge due to some of the shenanigans that play out. It's possible I'll run the 2 together, but for now I'm testing Massacre Girl in this slot.

Testing: ObNix vs Riku of Two Reflections

I did some 1v1 testing here. The Win:Loss ratio here doesn't apply. I'm mainly looking at what works, what doesn't and how it plays. While I'm normally not a threat until I start going off, being put under pressure from another deck forces me to try not to lose.

Game 1
Riku got a lot of mana fixing/searching, made a fast Riku. Then cast/copied Green Sun's Zenith for 6, Progenitor Mimic and Biovisionary hit the table. Sealed it with Riku'd Spitting Image for 5 Biovisionary at eot. ObNix kept an iffy hand that had potential, but it fell flat and couldn't get Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief active in time
ObNix 0 : Riku 1

Game 2
Riku started with a turn 3 Blood Sun, which slowed down ObNix. Made a fast Riku and began making Biovisionary copies. ObNix flooded and couldn't keep up.
ObNix 0 : Riku 2

Game 3
RIku had a quick start. But ObNix just dropped a turn 2 Bitterblossom, turn 4 Nirkana Revenant, into a turn 5 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth equipped with Swiftfoot Boots. Annihilator 4 just ate all of Riku's good stuffs.
ObNix 1 : Riku 2

Game 4
Riku made a bunch of lands. but ObNix kept the board clear. Riku landed Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and equipped Helm of the Host. Then proceeded to make an arbitrarily large quantity of tapped Kiki. ObNix peeked 3 deep with Sensei's Divining Top and put Toxic Deluge on top, used Bolas's Citadel to cast it killing all the Kikis. ObNix then proceeded to make a lethal amount of 2/2 zombies and turned guys sideways for the win
ObNix 2 : Riku 2

Game 5
ObNix was in control early on. A turn 4 Twilight Prophet with Blessing equipped with Lightning Greaves almost sealed the deal. Sensei's Divining Top let ObNix get the most out of the draws... UNTIL Riku got Eternal Witness + Rite of Replication + Crystal Shard .... 5 Twilight Prophet a turn will overtake 1 Twilight Prophet. ObNix concedes.
ObNix 2 : Riku 3 ... or is it?

While going through my chat logs on the game, I noticed I failed to realize Greaves was on ObNix's Prophet. So what happened? I had already picked up Riku's side when I realized this, but ObNix was still spread out. Greaves were in the grave. It seems that Riku was playing a 102 card deck. Riffling through Riku I found the culprit, a rogue Manic Vandal and, I think, Mystic Snake. Two cards I wanted to test in Riku and forgot to pull cards out for.


What I learned

Bolas's Citadel is a really fun, and good, card. I did have it 2 games, but the first game it was out was the game ObNix flooded in. In the second game, I actually could have tapped Top to draw Deluge and cast it that way. I just wanted to use Citadel at least once. Using draw instead of tutors makes for more varied games, as I'm not just looking for combo pieces to play out the same way. I'm keeping an eye on my hand sizes, as I continue to add draw. If I start seeing more discards due to draw, I may add Reliquary Tower type cards to help curb that.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

The last time I looked at potential cards was when WAR released. I think it's time to do that again as MH1, M20, C19 and TOE have released since then. As well as look at what is currently on my "Cards I'm Considering" list. I'm also moving my previous assessments here as well, as I never fully updated my list. This'll be a long one so strap in and enjoy the ride.


Older Cards
Deserted Temple: Being able to untap a Big Mana land, or even a utility land seems good. I'm currently running 25 Swamps and 13 non-basics. If i can't swap this for a non-Basic, then I might be willing to drop to 24 swamps. I just don't want to go any lower than 24 Swamps.

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: Xiahou has been on the list for a while now. He's good, I'm just not sure if he is actually worth running due to the amount of recursion I have. I get that he's for getting back non-creatures, but I feel he might not be worth it.

RNA cards
Bankrupt in Blood, Blood Divination, Costly Plunder: I had been considering these types of draw cards as you tend to get a bit more bang for your mana, due to the sacrifice. Since I have been removing tutors for draw, these are becoming less and less appealing. Especially since I'm liking the fact that i'm trying to up my creature count, or at least not lower it.

Priest of Forgotten Gods: I can't tell if this is good or if just "does things". It's got quite the wall-o-text. Either way, for the low, low cost of tapping and saccing a pair of dopes, stuff happens. I like the mana and card draw. It's like a crappier Phyrexian Tower that does other things.


DOM cards
Whisper, Blood Liturgist: Instead of being a 1-for-2 trade like Victimize, Whisper requires 2 sacrifices. I'm not sure if that trade-off is worth it for a reusable recursion spell in a deck full of them.

Yawgmoth's Vile Offering: This seems like a REALLY good card here. Pull a PW or Critter from *ANY* grave. Then I can off another creature or PW! I tried testing with it, but never got a chance to play it. I don't want to judge it just yet as I really want to see how it plays. Though I may work on opening a spot for this card in the deck.

Cabal Stronghold: I've been back and forth on this one. I like that it's a pseudo Cabal Coffers, but it only looks at BASIC Swamps. I'm currently running 25, so 1 in 4 cards will be a swamp. I'll definitely test it to see if it is worth running as a mana maker.

Helm of the Host: This card is just gross. There are lots of things I'd love to dupe each turn. It also creates sac fodder for things, which is always a good thing. My only worry with this card is that it will make me a target. I like staying under the radar due to not running cards that scream "KILL ME!"


WAR cards
Bolas's Citadel: This is a great card. Currently testing. So far it hasn't been too crazy.

The Elderspell: This is going to be a meta call. It's been a while since I've physically played at my LGS, and it being a college town, I can only assume that the meta will shift. I may keep one on hand as being able to tick ObNix up would be nice. This will just destroy Super Friends strategies as well. So we'll see.

Dreadhorde Invasion: Bitterblossom is great. This is pretending to be Blossom-like. Blossom is great because it makes a token each of my upkeeps. If I'm not removing the Army Token before my next upkeep, then I'm just growing a single token. A side theme is token generation, so it fits there, but I'll need to test before I keep looking into it.

Massacre Girl: Currently testing.

Finale of Eternity: I can generate absurd amounts of mana here (non-infinite). Removal + Mass Rez seems like a good thing. 12 mana is a bit rough, but it wouldn't hurt to try.


MH1 Cards
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician: The Phyrexian fanboy in me wants to make him work sooo bad. Seems like an auto include in my book. Just need to find out what to take out. The proliferate with ObNix out could be fun as well. I'm testing Ayara in the Demonic Tutor slot first, but Yawg will get is turn. I can only assume it will be glorious.

Dead of Winter: Was looking at this as Toxic Deluge #2. Unfortunately it would require me to move to Snow-Swamps. Not something I want to do, as I've acquired some fun swamps that would be impossible to replace.


M20 Cards
Cavalier of Night: A sac outlet, creature removal and less than 3cmc creature recursion packed into a nice 5CMC card. I don't honestly know what to think about this card right now. It did pop out at me as I dug through the M20 cards, while not much of anything else did. Could be that I was just looking for something to like.

Dread Presence: Like Cavalier, I may have been looking for something to like. Though, every Swamp I play draws me a card or drains something. It's an interesting card, that's for sure.


C19 Cards
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth: This guy is bonkers. Mostly free spells are great. The life loss might not be. To run him, I may have to adjust my build significantly. I've put a bit of effort into the build as is, and i will not make such a drastic change for one card. Citadel is similar, but requires less life investment.

Thieving Amalgam: ApeSnek is hilarious. I just don't know if he's worth running. Even though I think this is the type of card I would run in here, it's also the type to get me targeted. People don't like it when you take their stuff. I'll probably still test it in the Overseer of the Damned slot to be sure.


ELD
Ayara, First of Locthwain: DEATH BY SNU SNU! Currently testing.

Castle Locthwain: Card draw. The life loss could be negligible, depending on how my hands start looking with my addition of more draw and less tutors.I'll wait to test this one until I'm a bit closer to a final build

Clackbridge Troll: Card draw attached to a fatty? Yeah sure. I like turning little guys sideways for the win, why not add a big guy into the mix? It's probably not the card for the deck, but I still want to try the options.

Witch's Cottage: 1 out of 4 cards is a basic swamp. Getting swamps into play is not all that difficult. I just don't know if the cottage is worth it. Depending on what lands I begin adding/removing, this may just be a card I just never get to.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

I got to play a game last night to see how the changes fared.

ObNix vs Selenia, Dark Angel (life shenanigans)

Both decks have terrible hands, so I mull (back to 7 though). Neither deck gets a stellar hand, but I keep anyway as I want to get to testing. I normally don't mull, as I really want to see how the deck plays as is.

Selenia: Keeps Swamp, 2x Plains, Children of Korlis, Drana's Emissary, Stunning Reversal, and Sanguine Bond. I've got a combo card (Bond), 2 "I'm gonna live" cards (Children and Reversal) and a fun drainer (Emissary). While not the best hand, it allows me to choose quite a few combo lines to win. I have to get a tutor or draw a combo piece or win-con... which is not really where I want to be.
ObNix: Keeps 2 Swamp, Volrath's Stronghold, Homeward Path, Unstable Obelisk, Rune-Scarred Demon, and Skirsdag High Priest. I've got lots of mana, Perm removal (Obelisk), a tutor (Demon) and a nasty token maker (High Priest). While not the best, it is workable as I have an early drop some mana and a way to bring back my critters as I need to (Stronghold). I have enough to cast my commander to get to churning out 5/5 demons.

Selenia goes first. Drops Plains, Casts Children, Pass. ObNix draws (Charcoal Diamond), drops Swamp, pass. Due to the nature of both decks, this can be a long, slow game until one wins. T3, Selenia makes an Emissary (still have not drawn more mana, lands or rocks) and begins the slow drain (and attacking) of ObNix. EVENTUALLY Selenia hits 5 mana (4lands and Orzhov Signet), makes a Sanguine Bond with Tree of Perdition and Wall of Blood in play. That there is a win buuuut....

ObNix had been actually working on doing things. ObNix just explodes with Lands and Rocks (Does not miss a land drop). Bitterblossom Sticks by T3 and is keeping Emissary at bay. ObNix gets a T5 Rune-Scarred Demon which I use to grab Ayara, First of Locthwain. This is where ObNix just starts doing its thing. Blossom makes a Fairie, which pings me for 1, Ayara sees the token, pings the opp for 1, then gets me a life. So with these 2 in play, I essentially get a 1/1 Flyer and ping the opp for 1. Sweet. I can then sac (SNU-SNU!) a token to Ayara to draw me a card and tap Skirsdag High Priest and 2 other dopes (due to Morbid) to make a 5/5 Flying Demon. This makes Ayara ping the opp for 1 and gains me 1. With So much mana in play, i can leave the 8 open (7 + Obelisk) to Unstable Obelisk the Bond if Selenia taps Tree or Sacs Children.

With ObNix churning out a 5/5 demon at opp's EOT, Selenia's life total is kept below ObNix's to keep them from comboing off around ObNix's removal. Selenia tries to stay alive with Stunning Reversal, but ObNix just uses Ayara to snu-snu a Faerie token to have Priest conjure up a Demon.

Selenia had 4 lands most of the game. The turn before loss, Selenia drew a Cabal Coffers, but with only 1 swamp in play... it was not the land that was needed. Reversal drew 5 lands in the 7, so it was a bit of a whiff.

What I learned

The primary observation here was not for ObNix, as I had intended. Instead it was for Selenia. I need to rework the mana base. Badly. Selenia drew 1 rock and 5 lands before casting the draw 7.

Ayara is really good with Bitterblossom. Add into the mix a Skirsdag High Priest and we have a nice token making machine that pings the opp. Ayara seems to be doing what I wanted to see. She's also not as over the top as I expected even though she played phenomenally.

I plan on running more tests with Ayara. I want to see how well she plays, so she may site in the command zone along side ObNix so that I can see what happens when I always have access to her. After a few more games like that, I'll switch over to Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

I've played a few more games of Ob-Nix vs Selenia, Dark Angel. Games are back and forth between the 2. The last 3 games I've not really kept a log of what the games where like but I know that Ob-Nix gets all the wins. 2 Wins are due to Selenia's mana issues. Game 3 they are less prevalent, but Ob-Nix just gets an absurd start and is able to keep Selenia at bay. This post isn't going to be for game reviews, its going to be some observations of cards I'm testing and the overall feel of the deck.

Overall, Ob-Nix can just fizzle out if I don't get a tutor or enough draw. I'm actually quite ok with this as this is not a common problem, just one that can show up. I'm really liking having more draw instead of tutors as the games are no longer quite as linear as they used to be. Win or lose the deck has been performing how I want it to by keeping the games interesting or fun. I can make quite a bit of mana from a few different directions (the last game I was generating 28+ mana on my turn). This makes casting anything in the deck not that much of a problem, it's just a matter of getting said things. I'm still very happy with the feel of the deck.

As for individual cards I'm testing here are my current observations.
Bolas's Citadel: It has been in play a few games and I get some use out of it, but its not as nutty as I feared it would be. "Free" spells are a slippery slope. I'll still keep on eye on it since I don't want it to get out of hand, but so far it has not led to any oppressive plays. This may be due to the fact that the build just runs on massive amounts of mana.

Ayara, First of Locthwain: This one is a bit scary right now. I have been testing her as second commander so she's been consistently in play. I could see her getting out of hand when I ALWAYS have access to her. She is a bit fragile, but by the time she leaves the board she's already put in a LOT of work. All of my token generators are just gross with her in play. Even a recurring Grave Titan gets out of hand pretty quickly. After a few more runs like this I'll be slotting in Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and see how he plays out. I still think the deck wants both, but I'm tight for space and can currently spare just the one slot.

Massacre Girl: I LOVE the alter that user Ulka got me for my bday so I must make use of her. Sadly, she's mostly a dead card against Selenia as that deck runs 12 creatures total. She might do better against Riku of Two Reflections so I may go that route and test Massacre Girl there from within the command zone.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 4 years ago

I played a couple of games against Riku of Two Reflections to see if anything happened with Massacre Girl (not in the command zone).

ObNix Vs Riku - Game 1
ObNix gets a slow start (typical). Riku starts dropping mana accel pretty early. Makes a turn 4 Helm of the Host, turn 5 Riku, and amasses 10 lands by then. Riku then fetches out Biovisionary, makes 2 tokens and passes the turn. ObNix has little in the way of mana and answers. Riku has a Birds of Paradise out that can hold off the Steel Hellkite for the 1 turn to make the 2 more Biovisionary tokens (Tempt with Reflections + Helm) and win. A top decked Tragic Slip essentially seals the game. Though the game goes on as Riku could pull out a surprise win. Though once ObNix gets an active Necropotence, the final nail is set as consistent Swamps for the 3 Cabal Coffers in play just makes the game quickly spiral out of control on ObNix's side.

Bolas's Citadel did play a role in this game. Even though I was dropping spells like mad, I'd get 1 or 2 in and hit a land. In my testing it seems the card is not as broken as I assumed it would be.

No Ayara, First of Locthwain or Massacre Girl this game. Though a late game Massacre Girl would have wiped the table of critters, I was in a perfect position to just recast my creatures due to Phyrexian Reclamation and no less than 25 mana available on my turn.

ObNix: 1 | Riku: 0

ObNix v Riku - Game 2
Both sides start slow. Draw play a land. Riku kicks it up reaching 10 lands in play by turn 5. The problem here is that Riku does nothing else. Not much in the way of any tutors or draw. Just a lot of mana. With a turn 4 Crypt Ghast, ObNix starts sticking threats. ObNix turns Myriad Landscape into 2 Swamps and gets a makes a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. With Ayara, Necropotence and Grave Titan in play as well as the Sidisi/Deathmantle combo, ObNix has plenty of mana to get there. A hasty KoziV1 seals the deal as Annihilator just eats all of Riku's nonland perms. Riku did get a Dack's Duplicant and a Flameshadow Conjuring copy of it into play. Though, that was too little too late as ObNix's reusable tutor, removal, larger creatures and eldrazi just make quick work of the other side of the board.

Ayara hit the table and she did what she does, eat some life and draw some cards. Grave Titan helped make quick work of Riku's life total. Ayara enabling the Sidisi/Deathmantle combo made for a fun reusable tutor. Kozi was the first thing I searched for as I *KNOW* a hasty eldrazi can just end Riku due to Annihilator. Knowing the weaknesses of my decks isn't always a good thing.

ObNix: 2 | Riku: 0

Bolas's Citadel seems fine. I've not done anything too degenerate with it. Massacre Girl has only been seen during my Selenia tests, where she's all but useless. Further testing is required. Ayara is pushing it a bit, but overall she seems like a fine inclusion. I think I've tested enough with Ayara and can see that under the right circumstances, she could push the line of oppressive card. She's not quite there as she requires a few cards to pull it off: lots of devotion to black, Deathmantle, and Abhorrent Overlord. Pinging for 20+ life a turn can be gross, though its no Gray Merchant of Asphodel level of gross. I'll be moving on to testing with my boy, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. I'm quite curious to see how he plays.

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Post by serrot_29 » 2 years ago

It's been a while since I've updated. Firstly, the deck is now primarily headed up by Nightmare Moon // Princess Luna. Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath is still there just in case someone doesn't like Fun. Anywho, I've made some minor changes and have a bunch of Ideas. But first, I've not looked at black cards since ELD. Figure its about time.

Theros Beyond Death
Nyx Lotus: I'm looking at removing certain power cards, because, well... I can. My deck :P Anywho, this will probably take the place of Mana Crypt. Late game, Black pips are in large quantities. At worst, by t4 i have 1 Pip in play, and it only just gets better from there.

Commander 2020
Deadly Rollick: Targeted removal again. But I like 0 mana ones. The issue with Rollick is that I like P/T altering removal as it gets around indestructible baddies.

Zendikar Rising
Feed the Swarm: I'm only running Unstable Obelisk to get rid of pesky Enchantments. This is a better option as it is a 2 mana spell. It's not ideal that it's sorcery speed, but not having to hold 8 mana (7+Obelisk) up makes up for it.

Kaldheim
Burning-Rune Demon: I want this to be better than Rune-Scarred Demon, I'm just not sure how I feel about it. Since I've purposely made the deck somewhat creature heavy, and I'm working on replacing some spells with creature equivalents, binning one is not a drawback.

Strixhaven: School of Mages
Wandering Archaic: This guy feels like all kinds of good times. The only issue that is keeping me from really going for it is the fact that it feels like a prison card. Makes others not want to play the game.
Callous Bloodmage: While I really enjoy Vindictive Lich, it can get a bit oppressive if I begin to loop it in and out of my grave. Normally I try not to, but sometimes it's the only play. Similar shenanigans can be had with the Bloodmage, but I really like the lower Mana Value as well as the card draw. I may test it in the Lich's spot after this current round of tests.
Plumb the Forbidden: This card can get out of hand if I go the "mass creature token" route. Being an instant means for 2 mana I can fill my mitt before my turn. Silly, I know.

Commander 2021
Fain, the Broker: A repeatable sac outlet for 4 mana. Seems like something I'd want in here. I'm not fond of what his sac ability does, but I'll probably try 'em out on the next round of tests. I'm not looking for strong abilities, just useful ones.

Modern Horizons 2
Underworld Hermit: While this is not as good as Abhorrent Overlord, it does cost lest to cast. I'm not 100% sure, but some kind of token generating redundancy would be welcomed.

Dungeons and Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Lolth, Spider Queen: Who doesn't like creepy spider ladies? Her 0 ability for card draw is fun. With my creature loops, I can get her loyalty up pretty fast. But is it worth it? Probably not. But Creepy spoder lady.

Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Gisa, Glorious Resurrector: It'd be fun to add another Gisa to the deck. Though I'm not really concentrating on creature removal, which is where I think GisaV2 would work best. On the other hand, adding a random creature that just happens to die to my side would be great. As with most of my choices, I try to keep anything that makes a game unfun out of this deck. Stealing opp's creatures is not a fun thing. I may try Gisa out and how I feel about her.

Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Bleed Dry: This is in line with Tragic Slip. While it costs 4 mana, always being -13 makes for a sweet removal spell. The exile clause makes sure Eldrazi or Colossi go and stay go.
Fell Stinger: Gods I love exploit. This is in the same boat as Sidisi, Undead Vizier when combined with Nim Deathmantle. I'm going to keep and eye on this and see where it could fit. Possibly in the Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, or Sign in Blood slots.
Voldaren Bloodcaster: Dat token generation. It's slow, but it makes 2/2 Flyers on the back side. I may test, as its low Mana Value is worth the look.

As I've previously stated, the deck is really right about where I want it to be. A mix of cards I like and a pile that is fun to play. I don't make changes lightly because of this and tend to test. Due to pandemic and just not having time, I've not really had a chance to fully test the last round of changes.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 2 years ago

As I've previously stated, I've not really had time to test anything. Over the holidays I acquired up a few pieces of Spiffy-ness that pushed my hand for me. So I've decided to make some changes here. Some were already being tested, others are just things I wanted to change. (I'll adjust the decklist+changes when I get more time).

Temple of the False God > Terramorphic Expanse: On paper Temple seems like a budget Ancient Tomb. However, in practice that was just not the case. I always want more swamps. Expanse lets me find a swamp, and drops it into play. I could run fetches here, but I don't have any and I like the less good card. Prismatic Vista might be a better card here, but I don't have one... yet.

Homeward Path > Fabled Passage: Again, any non-swamp land is just taking up space. The deck wants swamps in play. While not a swamp, a budget fetch to get a swamp is good enough. Getting a retro frame foil also helped persuade me. Path was in the deck since the beginning. It did some fun things in the first few games I played with it. Ever since, its just been... there. Mostly just a non-swamp doing a whole lot of nothing.

Mana Crypt > Nyx Lotus: Mana Crypt is a strong card. Its played well in the deck, even killing me a few times. The deck already has a devotion game plan due to Abhorrent Overlord, so running a mana rock that could feed off the same plan seems like a good idea. I'm a massive troll, so I really just wanted an excuse to run Crypt in my sleeveless Patron of the Moon deck.

Unstable Obelisk > Arcane Signet: Obelisk was in there to get rid of pesky Enchantments that might cause me some trouble. This is another Spiffy version add. This is also a change that I would only make with the next card...

Profane Command > Feed the Swarm: Feed is one of the cards I've been wanting to add in ever since it was previewed. Command just happened to be easiest card to cut to add Feed.

Read the Bones > Fell Stinger: Same mana value, similar ability, but on a body. I'm a big fan of exploit in this deck. I want to kill some of my things and can have lots of things to bin for a profit. I can also more easily repeat Stinger. I lose the ability to Scry first, but I gain a body. I'm ok with that swap.

Demonic Tutor > Ayara, First of Locthwain: This was a change I'd tested for a while. Ayara is strong, but I'm looking to remove the last "unconditional" tutor. Ayara (and Yawg) give the deck another angle of attack. She can get rather absurd if I pull a Token making combo, but at that point it's just a matter of time.

Erebos, God of the Dead > Yawgmoth, Thran Physician: Erebos has alway been a so-so card. Even when I can just dump mana into the card drawing. In comes big, bad Yawg to take that 4 mana spot. With my token generation I can utilize Yawg rather well. As with Ayara, Yawg gives the deck another angle of attack. Both really require the deck to do what the deck does to try and win, but give the deck a way to win.

It's been a while since I've actually made this many changes, usually its 1-3 cards at a time. These are things I've been wanting to do and could never justify NOT doing them. Ayara was the scarier card of the bunch, but overall she's powerful but not too broken in the deck. The most important thing is that its the deck remains fun to play and play against.

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serrot_29
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Post by serrot_29 » 2 years ago

I've done a week of goldfishing, couple of games a night to make sure my changes aren't bad.

Terramorphic Expanse and Fabled Passage have been nice additions. Mana doublers make these nice. I've not regretted these changes. It would be quite difficult to replace these. Only change I could see is Expanse for Prismatic Vista.

Profane Command & Unstable Obelisk for Arcane Signet & Feed the Swarm have been worth the swaps as well. As with the lands, these changes haven't altered how the deck plays. So i'm happy here as well.

Fell Stinger has also been a good add. Being able to use it multiple times has made it worth the change. The repeatable draw from Stinger definitely makes up for the scry that Read the Bones has. ETB/Dies triggers on creatures are better than spells due to the fact that I can make use of them multiple times a turn under the right conditions. Which is what the deck tries to do.

The addition of Nyx Lotus is a big one. While the deck isn't strictly set up as a Devotion deck, it can do it naturally. In a few of the games, I was able to generate 10+ mana off of it alone. This is huge in doing the silly things the deck wants to do. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx does similar things.

Ayara, First of Locthwain & Yawgmoth, Thran Physician are probably the strongest cards I've added recently. With some of the games where I let it go longer to see what shenanigans the deck could get to, both of these showed that they could get out of hand when left unchecked. One game I generated upwards of 200 harpy tokens (death via Ayara) across a couple of turns. Without either Ayara or Yawg, the win would still have come off of turning little dudes sideways. Ayara gets out of hand only when the deck is already doing its things it does to win. Being a sac outlet is the biggest reason she's in. Those same harpies helped -1/-1 + Draw off of Yawg as well. Of the two, Yawg might be bigger problem card.

The deck still plays the same game. Yawg really showed me some of the decks potential strengths of some of the cards. Vindictive Lich is one such card. With the updated build, this can be used to just wreck opponents' hands and creatures. Not in a wrath type of way, in a repeated annoying way. I've already been considering removing Lich for a while now, but after a few games where the only/best play was to loop Lich I think that choice is the right one. Lich will mostly likely be replaced by Callous Bloodmage. Kokusho, the Evening Star is another card that could be a problem. I removed Gray Merchant of Asphodel because it just ended games. Koku stayed because more effort was needed to make games just end. With the current changes, Koku can now more easily just end the game. While I purposely play a "weaker" deck, I still try to play optimally with my pile. I don't want the deck to just have instant wins. While the argument could be made that it's not really an instant win, the fact that the possibility is there makes me weary of the card.

I'm pretty sure there will be at least one replacement to happen from Kamigawa, so I won't make the next round of changes then as I have two slots that i could fill with other things. I will continue to test, but will move on to playing with other decks.

Overall, the deck feels stronger. It still remains a blast to play and doesn't feel like it take over a game easily. It has some plays that I feel could get oppressive, but future changes should relieve that issue. Yawg might be too strong of an addition, but I'm not sure the issue is with Yawg but with things I could combo with him.

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Post by nobody » 2 years ago

i think you need to add some more life gain payoffs like vito thorn of the dusk rose

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Post by serrot_29 » 2 years ago

nobody wrote:
2 years ago
i think you need to add some more life gain payoffs like vito thorn of the dusk rose
Why Vito? Or any other lifegain payoffs? Legit questions, not just being brash or off-putting. I like to get an understanding of other insights because I'm not good at this and could be missing something.

In any case, while watching Sunday HandEgg (Football), decided to test Ob-Nix against my Kaalia, Zenith Seeker cycling blink deck (Kv2). While ObNix went 1-2 against the deck, the games were fun which is what I want. Game 2 was the only game that either deck failed to do anything, which in this case Ob-Nix just never got past 2 lands. Anywho. Game reports.

Ob-Nix v Kv2, Game 1
ObNix gets T1 Sol Ring, into T2 Vindictive Lich into T3 Ghoulcaller Gisa.
T3 Kaalia, Zenith Seeker drops in on the other side
Ob attacks T4 with Lich. Kaalia's best option is to block. Ob tosses Lich at Gisa, makes four 2/2 zombies, and offs Kaalia with the Lich trigger. Kaalia saves taking 4 dmg.
Rapacious Dragon hits the table on Kaalia's side as does Sol Ring.
Kokusho, the Evening Star comes in on Ob's side.
Angel of Despair hits the table on Kaalia's side and offs Gisa. Astral Slide comes in as well. Ob stalls, attacks with three 2/2 zombies and Koku. Kaalia Ephemerates Angel to off Koku and blocks a 2/2, going down to 18. Ob goes up to 45.
Ephemerate blinks Angel during Kv2's upkeep, offing Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Then puts Kaalia into play again. Gets Angel of the Ruins and Bladewing the Risen off the dig 6. Ob nix concedes as Kv2 now has a mitt full of cyclers, slide, and Angel of Despair. This will tear apart his mana base while not really hindering Kaalia at all.

Ob-Nix v Kv2, Game 2
Lands come down on both sides for few turns. Ob gets a Thousand-Year Elixir. Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire hits Kv2's side. Ob gets stuck on 2 mana + Mind Stone. Ob concedes. Looks 8 cards down before the next land shows up. These games happen. I kept 2 lands and the stone with 4+ MV spells and Diabolic Intent.

Ob-Nix v Kv2, Game 3
Both sides drop lands for a few turns. Kaalia successfully Gambles for an Arcane Signet due to only having colourless mana, loses Garna, the Bloodflame.
Ob makes Phyrexian Arena. Kaalia makes Orcus, Prince of Undeath with x=0, to put pressure on Ob.
Ob responds with Overseer of the Damned offing Orcus, and making a 2/2 zombie. Kaalia cycles Angel of the Ruins for a plains. Kaalia comes into play, and whiffs on the peek 6.
Ob attacks with Overseer and a zombie. Kaalia eats 5 and offs the zombie. God-Eternal Bontu comes in, eats the Overseer. Animate Dead brings back Overseer, offing Kaalia. Kaalia draws and plays Kaalia of the Vast. Ob makes Noxious Gearhulk and Thousand-Year Elixir . Kaalia of the Vast eats it. Kaalia gets Rapacious Dragon into play, uses the 2 treasures to Despark Overseer. Ob casts Gisa. Gisa uses Fell Stinger to make three 2/2 Zombies. attack with 2 menace beatsticks (Bontu and Gearhulk) into a single creature. Kaalia takes 10. Cast Skirsdag High Priest, makes a 5/5 demon. Activates Elixir, untaps Priest, then makes another demon. Kaalia draws a land, concedes. Nothing in hand can stop Four 5/x and six 2/2 to keep from taking the last 20 damage.

Again, outside of Game 2, the games seemed back and forth until one of the decks was able to get ahead. Both decks rely on creatures to get things done so I'm not surprised that both decks played this well against each other. My next round of tests will be against my Nymris deck.

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Post by yeti1069 » 2 years ago

serrot_29 wrote:
2 years ago

Commander 2020
Deadly Rollick: Targeted removal again. But I like 0 mana ones. The issue with Rollick is that I like P/T altering removal as it gets around indestructible baddies.

Just pointing out that Deadly Rollick exiles, which also gets around indestructible.

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Post by serrot_29 » 2 years ago

yeti1069 wrote:
2 years ago
Just pointing out that Deadly Rollick exiles, which also gets around indestructible.
I think I knew this, so I'll just chock it up to being tired or being dumb. Either way. Its one of the few cards I don't have but should. I'll eventually correct that, but it still leaves me with where to put it. I don't want to remove creatures for spells, but yeah, its in the maybe list on my deck's build doc. Most of the documenting for this happens in the late evenings and/or across a few days.

Played 3 games against Nymris, Oona's Trickster (actually 4 but I goofed on taking notes).

ObNix v Nymris, Game 1
Early turns both decks are setting up mana.
Nymris gets a T2 Cunning Nightbonder and a T3 Wavebreak Hippocamp
ObNix responds with a T3 Twilight Prophet and T4 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. Drana will wreck shop against Nymris's horde of weenies.
T5, ObNix goes for the Nightbonder with Drana, but Nymris responds with a Voidmage Husher. End of Turn, Nymris Vampiric Tutors, putting Husher back in hand.
Nymris plays Mystic Sanctuary, getting back V.Tutor, then plays it safe casting nothing and leaves 6 mana open.
ObNix attacks in the sky for 6, then passes with 8 mana open.
I don't recall how ObNix did it, but he was able to get Nymris to strand Husher in play on Nymris's turn. then forced the bounce on ObNix's turn but offed it twice to make sure it died. Without Husher, Nymris concedes as Drana will be able to keep the weenies at bay and still be able to cast things.
This game was played across a couple of hours and I had to stop in the middle of the Husher kill that I forgot to write down what I did. I know it worked because I played it out, but forgot the details. It happens and mainly these are for me to remember things later.

ObNix v Nymris, Game 2
Nymris casts a T2 Thought Vessel
ObNix casts T1 Sensei's Divining Top, T2 Mind Stone then peeks at the top 3 cards, T3 draw/play land, use Top to draw Arcane Signet puts Top on top of the library, casts Signet then Phyrexian Arena.
Nymris casts Baleful Strix
T4 ObNix casts Top again, then Swiftfoot Boots and Night's Whisper, drawing 2.
Nymris is stuck on 3 lands and with nothing to cast
ObNix casts Bloodgift Demon. End of Turn. Nymris offs the Demon with Hero's Downfall
Nymris plays Mystic Sanctuary and puts Downfall back on top of his library. End of Turn, ObNix uses Top to peek at the top of his library.
ObNix attempts to cast Reanimate which Nymris counters with Drown in the Loch. ObNix successfully casts Animate Dead. Demon comes back into play and gets Boots equipped.
Nymris draws, misses a land and passes the turn. End of Turn, ObNix peeks at the top 3 with Top.
ObNix casts Phyrexian Reclamation to draw the counter out of Nymris, but it resolves. ObNix then casts Massacre Girl, killing Strix. Demon swings for 4.
Nymris draws the 5th land and plays it. Passes the turn. End of Turn, ObNix peeks at the top 3 with Top.
ObNix drops Fabled Passage, then attacks with the 5/5 Demon and Massacre Girl. Nymris targets Massacre Girl with Hero's Downfall and only takes 5. ObNix casts Fell Stinger which exploits itself and draws 2. Skullclamp is cast.
Nymris draws and passes turn. End of Turn, ObNix peeks at the top 3 with Top, uses Fabled Passage to shuffle away 3 Swamps while putting one into play. Then Tops again.
ObNix attempts to cast Nirkana Revenant, which is countered by Voracious Greatshark. Demon flys over for 5 damage.
Nymris draws and passes the turn. End of Turn, ObNix peeks at the top 3 with Top and returns Revenant to hand via Phyrexian Reclamation
ObNix Casts Revenant, again. Nymris casts Overcharged Amalgam exploiting itself to counter Revenant. ObNix casts Ayara, First of Locthwain and attaches Skullclamp to her. Nymris offs Ayara with Tragic Slip in response.
Nymris draws, no land drop. passes turn.
ObNix casts, Sol Ring, Commander's Sphere, and Overseer of the Damned. Nymris casts Torrential Gearhulk, targeting Drown and counters the Overseer.
Nymris draws and plays Secluded Glen. Attacks with Greatshark and Gearhulk. ObNix Tops, then blocks Greatshark and takes 5. ObNix then uses Reclamation to return Overseer to hand.
ObNix casts Overseer, Nymris casts Muck Drubb, keeping Gearhulk alive. ObNix casts Grave Titan, makes two 2/2 zombies and equips it with Boots. Attacks with Titan and makes 2 more zombies. Nymris takes 6 damage. Nymris casts Wretched Confluence, putting Greatshark, Amalgam and Drubb into hand.
Nymris draws a land and passes the turn with 8 mana open.
ObNix equips Skullclamp then Lightning Greaves to Overseer. Move to attack. Nymris casts Cyclonic Rift overloaded. ObNix then recasts Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mind Stone, Lightning Greaves and Overseer targeting Gearhulk. Overseer makes a 2/2 then is equiped with Greaves.
Nymris draws and concedes. with only 10 life 2 turns will not be enough to stabilize.

ObNix v Nymris, Game 3
Lands, lands, lands for turns.
T4 ObNix sticks a Crypt Ghast with four Swamp in play.
T5 ObNix casts Vedalken Orrery. Nymris responds with Succumb to Temptation and draws 2, Faerie Tauntings takes a life. ObNix then gets Malevolent Awakening and Clamps the Ghast.
Nymris casts Stinging Lionfish, leaving 2 mana open.
No land comes down for ObNix, and he passes the turn
Nymris plays a land and moves to the end step. ObNix successfully casts Thousand-Year Elixir. ObNix then attempts to cast the commander, but Nymris counters with Thassa's Intervention with x=1.
ObNix plays Bojuka Bog. Nymris's two card graveyard is exiled. Mind Stone is cast as well. ObNix tries for the commander again and succeeds with extort paid. -2 ObNix makes a 5/5 Flying Demon.
Nymris draws, plays a land and passes the turn.
Obnix moves to combat. Nymris casts his commander, triggering Stinging Lionfish and Faerie Tauntings, tapping the Demon and dealing 1 to ObNix, respectively. Obnix casts Noxious Gearhulk and offs Nymris and gains 6 life. ObNix then Ticks up 2 loyalty, Nymris loses a life and ObNix gains it.
Nymris draws, plays a land and passes the turn. End of Turn, ObNix sacrifices Mind Stone to draw a card
Obnix plays Fabled Passage and pops it for a Swamp. ObNix moves to attack phase, Nymris responds with Overloaded Cyclonic Rift. ObNix recasts Ghast, commander and Skullclamp. -2 commander to make a Demon.
Nymris draws, misses a land and passes the turn.
ObNix draws and moves to attack. Demons hits for 5. Second main gets Thespian's Stage. ObNix attempts to cast Orrery again, Nymris counters it with Draining Whelk. +2 loyalty on ObNix, Nymris loses a life and ObNix gains it. Casts Gearhulk which targets the Whelk, gains 5 life from it, then passes the turn.
Nymris draws and passes the turn.
ObNix plays Swamp, sticks Clamp on Demon and moves to attack. Nymris cycles Fetid Pools. Casts Petty Theft targeting the Demon, Lionfish taps down the Gearhulk and Tauntings takes a life from ObNix. Thousand-Year Elixir and Malevolent Awakening come into play. -2 commander to make a Demon, and Clamp it.
Nymris draws, misses a land and passes the turn.
ObNix Draws, casts Sign in Blood. Plays a land. Moves to attack. Nymris casts Portal Mage, pings ObNix for 1 from Tauntings. ObNix attempts to Tragic Slip the Lionfish in response, it gets countered with Counterspell. Demon is tapped down. Brazen Borrower pops in from its adventure. Gearhulk swings in, is blocked by Mage and Borrower. All 3 die. ObNix then uses +2 loyalty, Nymris loses a life and ObNix gains it. ObNix taps for 15 mana. Massacre Girl makes an appearance, -1/-1 takes the Lionfish, which then takes Crypt Ghast. Grave Titan comes into play with two 2/2 zombies. Victimize eats a zombie, Ghast and Gearhulk come back in. Gearhulk eats nothing to keep Massacre Girl from working her magic. Titan picks up the Clamp. End of Turn, Nymris Reclamations Borrower.
Nymris draws, misses a land and passes the turn.
ObNix draws and moves to combat. Nymris casts Swift End targeting Grave Titan and Petty Theft targeting the Demon. ObNix draws 2 off of the Clamped Titan. Brazen Borrower pops in from its adventure. Gearhulk, Massacre Girl and 2/2 zombie swing in. Massacre Girl gets blocked and Nymris takes 7. ObNix casts Swiftfoot Boots. A cast Animate Dead, gets back Titan. Massacre Girl picks up the Clamp, Boots go on the Ghast.
Nymris draws, gets nothing of use (land) and concedes. with 22 damage on the board and only 18 life left, this game is all but over.


It was interesting to play ObNix against a slightly controlling deck like Nymris. It forced me to alter my playstyle, which was refreshing. Having to play these games across hours and days made it slighty more difficult: forgetting plays, missing triggers/cards, etc. In the end ObNix was able to outplay Nymris. It's not about the win/loss here, its about seeing if the deck is doing what I want. As long as nothing overly oppressive happens, I'm happy. These games went long but I learned a LOT about the decks ability to adjust to the game that is being played against it.

My Anje deck plays similarly to Nymris, so I'm curious to see how this plays out.

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Post by serrot_29 » 1 year ago

Been a while since I've updated here. Since this deck (now primarily helmed by Nightmare Moon // Princess Luna with ObNix as the backup) is very much right about where I want it to be, my focus has moved to my other B/X decks. I still tinker with it and decided I needed to do a decent write up here on changes and possible additions (I'll update the decklist later).

Changes
Phyrexian Delver > Junji, the Midnight Sky: 5MV card swap. With how the deck plays, ETB and Die abilities are essentially the same. This came down to preserving my life total. I can't really utilize Delver as much as I could in a turn as I would lose loads of life when large targets are chosen. Junji essentially does the same thing as Delver, but with a static 2 life cost. Oh and I can nab a critter from an opponent's grave. With enough loops I can rip apart opp's hands to give Junji more targets in continued loops. This was probably the easiest swap I've made.

Vindictive Lich > Callous Bloodmage: This one took a bit of thought, and some time before I felt it was the correct move. Again, ETB and Die abilities play similarly here. Being able to save a mana on certain grave/battle field loops adds up over time, but its not a big deal when I begin an absurd mana loop. In then end it came down to preference. Lich can lead to oppressive plays, as it is all downside for opps. Not what I really want to do, and I find I play suboptimally (in an optimal, suboptimal deck) when I avoid utilizing a card to its potential. Bloodmage on the other hand is mostly upside for me. Exiling graves is a must, and this will mostly be used as a repeatable draw. The tokens are tricky. There is a subtheme of generating a mass of tokens, and this allows me to do that when my normal means are removed from me. While not top tier in the token making, having the ability to choose what to do makes it worth it. Letting my opps actualy play the game is worth the swap.

Princess Luna's "Wishboard"
Since I've finally moved on to having Nighmare Moon as the primary face, I needed to make the "Wishboard" that could be cast from. After some discussion with a couple of friends, we decided on a couple of rules for choosing cards. First, the cards need to be things in my Colour Identity. Second, to spice things up I'd make a 15 card sideboard of which I'd randomly choose 6 when Nightmare Moon transforms into Luna. Thirdly, add even more spice by putting in things the deck would like to do but is probably off theme. Finally, let's put things in that other's might want to cast from there (if they are a friends and I allow it). This is still a work in progress. I get that these can be used against me if I let someone use them. I'm looking at these as if I'm casting them.

Bad Moon|LEB: The OG black anthem. No matter who casts it, it buffs my stuff.
Unholy Citadel: Probably the silliest card on here. I run a handful of Legendary critters soooo... yeah. It's signed, of course I'm gonna run it. Fite me.
Temporal Extortion: This is a spicy one. It doesn't fit the theme of what I'm going for, but damn does it feel like a fun include at slot 101-107.
Arvinox, the Mind Flail: I mean.... This card is just dumb. Big mana black + this = gross. Like Extortion, it's a spicy card that isn't really on theme but is a fun include.
Midnight Banshee: Outside of my arty critters, this really doesn't affect me. Even then, I'm ok with someone else casting this.
Dread Charge: Being that I'm mono-Black... yeah a mostly unblockable horde of weenies... sure.
Harvester of Souls: This can get out of hand if I start a grave loop. That "may" in there is nice so I don't deck myself.
Dawn of the Dead: While the deck is pretty good at looping critters out of the grave, sometimes it just can't bring them all back. This card allows me to just pull something out and ditch it to a sac outlet before EOT.
Living Death: This card is just silly. Since I can empty my board to get everything back off of a resolved Living Death, I think it's a strong include.
Necromantic Selection: Pricy wrath and the best/biggest creature gets to play for my team? Sign me up.
Heirloom Blade|SLD: There are a few creatures that share types. Would be a shame if I were to find one with each sac loop I do.
Ghoul's Night Out: Such a great pun. I'm finding a theme going here. Steal opponents stuff.
Dirge Bat: Wishboard mutate removal? sure I'm game. I run 29 creatures (counting Bitterblossom here as well), of which only 7 are humans. So I have a good chance of mutating this.
Blood Tribute: Take half of a player's life? Since I run 4 Vampires, paying the Kicker isn't out of the question.
Dauthi Voidwalker: Let's mess around with using our opp's graves. I'm not sure about this one being in the 15. Seems like a fun card. I could be wrong.

I have a short list of cards that I would consider putting in this 15 if something isn't what I want.
Henrika Domnathi // Henrika, Infernal Seer: This one would be up in the 15 if there wasn't the one minor issue I have with it. The moon is not on the front face, but the rear face. It is that rear face that make this a great card for my game plan. Pumping my little dudes (1/1 flying Faeries). Don't want to bend any rules for my cards.
Wretched Confluence: I love modular cards. Card draw, removal and grave-to-hand reanimation all on one card. It pulls its weight in my other black decks that contain it.
Sengir, the Dark Baron: This guy will get large with all my grave loops.
Helvault: Hiding things away in the Helvault seems fun.
Doomed Necromancer|ONS: A single use reanimate on a creature. The type of thing this deck wants. Other things in the deck do it better, so he's sadly not an addition. He's also just outside of the Wishboard.


Potential Adds/Tests
Last I looked at more cards was 9-ish months ago with the last set being Crimson Vow. Let's dig into the next sets and see if anyting grabs my fancy.

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Dockside Chef: A repeatable card draw that uses creatures and per draw. Might be a bit pricy, but a thought.
Gravelighter: Removal OR Card draw. An interesting card with all the grave loops I pull.
Undercity Scrounger: Treasure tokens are pretty good. Usable mana for later. This card might not be good for a Big Mana Black deck. So maybe not here.

Streets of New Capenna
Nothing that really stood out for me. Not every set has a card I want to play. So that's fine.

Dominaria United
Braids, Arisen Nightmare: Not gonna lie, I had already planned on forcing Nu-Braids when I first saw the art. Luckily, she does something we want, off a critter at my EOT. I can either loop once more with her or just toss a token on the way out. I either draw and bleed opps for a bit of life OR they off something of their's that they choose.

Test Games
Firstly, this game was played before I made changes to the deck. Testing always occurs with Ob-Nix as I want to test the deck, not the silliness that is the Pony.

ObNix v Anje Falkenrath
ObNix gets a turn 1 Sensei's Divining Top. An all land hand means ObNix is using said Top to dig a little.
Turn 2, Anje casts a Talisman of Indulgence
Turn 3, Anje casts Arcane Signet and casts the Commander. ObNix activates Top on Anje's end of turn.
Turn 4, ObNix casts Solemn Simulacrum, fetches a Swamp.
Turn 4, Anje casts Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and leaves 2 mana open.
Turn 5, ObNix casts Nirkana Revenant. End of Turn, Anje discards Dark Withering to her ability, Madness it to off Sad Robot. ObNix and Anje both get draws.
Turn 5, Anje plays a land and passes the turn
Turn 6, Ob-Nix casts Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, draws 4, plays a land, and casts Ayara, First of Locthwain . End of turn Anje discards Necrogoyf to her ability, Madness it into play and Draws a card.
Turn 6, Anje casts Gamble, grabs Bedevil and lucks out on the pitch. Casts Bedevil to end Kozi and casts Feed the Swarm to end Revenant. 6 life loss there for that.
Turn 7, Obnix casts Mind Stone then Abhorrent Overlord, making five 1/1 Flying Harpy Tokens. Ayara drains Anje for 6.
Turn 7, Anje casts Ox of Agonas, discards Bloodmad Vampire, Madness it into play, draws 3. End of turn, ObNix Activates Ayara offing the Overlord to draw a card.
Turn 8, Obnix plays Victimize, sacrificing a Harpy to bring back Overlord and Revenant. 7 Harpies etb off of Overlord. Ayara drains for 9. Activate top, Draw a card from Ayara offing a new Harpy. Cast Twilight Prophet (get City's Blessing) and Ophiomancer. Ayara drains for another 2. Five 1/1 harpies attack in the air.
Turn 8, Anje casts Surly Badgersaur. Attacks with Ox and Bloodmad Vamp, ObNix takes the 8. Activate Anje, discarding Biting Rain, madness it.

Its at this point I realize something. I've missed a couple of Necrogoyf triggers for both decks. I blame being sick the week I played this game (as well as making big changes to Anje that week). ObNix has a mittfull of cards ('goyf is a non-issue there). Anje would still have been able to play around it EXCEPT that the Gamble turn may have played differently. In the end. Anje would not have been able to get around a looping Overlord with Ayara in play.

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