Welcome Magic lovers!
As the strongest decks in Standard cement their places at the top of the various tournament leaderboards, it's hard to justify not playing one of the existing tier 1 archetypes. Dimir Midrange is the overall best deck, as its flexibility, backed by powerfully efficient spells, makes it very difficult to defeat, even when other pilots are gunning for it. Golgari Midrange, while not as adaptable as Dimir, also plays such individually powerful cards at every spot along the curve that it's very tough to go toe-to-toe with the deck in a fair game of Magic.
Meanwhile, Gruul aggro and Mono-red aggro are the litmus test decks of the format, forcing everyone to respect them by packing as much cheap, instant-speed removal and Authority of the Consuls (if one is playing white), into the sideboard as possible.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are the Domain Overlords decks rocking Zur the Enchanter, as well as Mono-white control. Both decks play plenty of interaction and sweepers to keep the board clear, while building an insurmountable lead with their respective card advantage engines, Up the Beanstalk and Caretaker's Talent.
While all of these archetypes have shown that they deserve to be in tier 1, racking up plenty of Magic Online Challenge top 8 finishes as well as excellent Regional Championship Qualifier records, there are still new things to try in Standard, and new archetypes are bubbling to the surface with each passing week.
Today, let's break down a new list that just placed in the top 8 of a recent Magic Online Challenge event, and try to determine if there's a solid enough core here to work off of going forward. Fan-favorite, Mono-black control is back, baby.
The Plan
The key card which the deck is built around is the Duskmourn powerhouse, Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber. This extremely potent card advantage engine needs no introduction, as it has seen play in both Golgari and Dimir, with Javier Dominguez taking down the World Championships last month with a playset in his Standard deck. Playing the full set of Unholy Annex means one is also signing up for more demons, in order to turn the tables on the opponent by draining them with the black enchantment, rather than continuing to take damage oneself. This makes Archfiend of the Dross an instant four-of in the deck. However, the Archfiends combined with the Ritual Chamber side of the powerful room-enchantment are all one needs, and no further demons are required here.
The best way to leverage an engine as powerful as Unholy Annex is to give oneself some breathing room to use all those freshly-drawn cards, and no color keeps the board clear better than black. Loaded with black removal spells such as Anoint with Affliction, Go for the Throat, Cut Down, and Sheoldred's Edict, it's a trivial matter to shoot down any creature that touches the opponent's side of the battlefield in the early game. Running a varied spread of different removal spells is key here, as playing only one color in the deck can limit one's options when dealing with problematic creatures such as Elenda, Saint of Dusk or a Leyline Binding which has been animated by Zur the Enchanter. This is where cards like Sheoldred's Edict really pull their weight.
However, the removal doesn't just stop at killing creatures on the board. With a full playset of Duress and Cruelclaw's Heist, the deck can easily pick apart the opponent's hand, which is crucial when playing a deck that has almost no way to get an enchantment or artifact off the battlefield once resolved. Prime targets include opposing Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber, Caretaker's Talent, Up the Beanstalk, or even various planeswalkers or sticky threats like Enduring Curiosity. Cruelclaw's Heist is particularly spicy here as it can also sometimes double as a way to steal a game-winning threat from the opponent and use it against them.
Liliana of the Veil has struggled to see play recently, as the Golgari Midrange decks have ditched the once-mighty three-mana planeswalker for the much more powerful Unholy Annex. However, in this deck, Liliana provides not only an additional way to keep the board clear, but also an easy-to-protect way to destroy the opponent's hand and pull ahead in the card advantage race, once one has an Unholy Annex going.
Mazemind Tome is a card that saw plenty of Standard play in years past, but has yet to make a big impact after being reprinted in Foundations. In this deck, it shines, not only coming down as early as turn two to start smoothing draws and finding whichever piece is missing from the pilot's hand, but also gaining a critical four life against the more aggressive decks in the format.
Speaking of gaining life, perennial all-star, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is perfect here as it pairs beautifully with Unholy Annex and Mazemind Tome to gain a ton of life, but also ends the game in short order once the tables have turned and it's time to slam the door shut on any chance the opponent may have of getting back into it.
The Mana
The manabase is what one would expect from a grindy control deck, with the full twenty-six lands, including three Fountainport and a couple of Sunken Citadel to help power them up.
The Citadel also helps turn on new addition, Soulstone Sanctuary, which is not only a great threat to swing with after an opponent resolves a sweeper like Sunfall or Split Up, but also counts as a demon creature type in order to drain them with Unholy Annex if one can't keep an Archfiend of the Dross on the battlefield. Don't leave this card out of your lists if you're playing the incredible three-mana enchantment.
The Sideboard
The sideboard is where things get tricky for the single-color decks, as the breadth of options is limited. Withering Torment is the black deck's only way to deal with pesky enchantments out of Domain Overlords or Mono-white control, and is a must here.
A trio of Malicious Eclipse is here to ensure the deck doesn't just fold to Jeskai Convoke, while also having some utility against the other red aggressive strategies.
Dreams of Steel and Oil is swapped in for Duress against decks like Domain Overlords, where nabbing one of the nasty enchantment creatures from hand is one of the best ways to slow them down. Blot Out also does great work here, as it's one of the only ways to interact with a hexproof Overlord or Leyline Binding which has been animated by Zur the Enchanter.
Caustic Bronco comes in as an early play to begin generating card advantage against decks like Mono-white control once they've sided out their Lay Down Arms post-sideboard after seeing only a couple of targets in game one.
Ghost Vacuum is pretty self-explanatory at this point, as it's the go-to graveyard hate card of choice in Standard at the moment. It's excellent against Azorius Oculus and Temur Otters decks that are running around.
The End is here to strip late-game decks of their primary win conditions, whether it's Zur the Enchanter, Enduring Vitality or Valley Floodcaller, while Outrageous Robbery comes in against any late-game decks in order to go over the top of them on turn fifteen by eating up the rest of their library.
Conclusion
A powerful, resilient strategy that’s tough to combat due to its plethora of hand disruption, the Mono-black Control deck is truly a fearsome archetype. Like any control deck, finding the right pieces at the right time is the key to success, and knowing when to dig for something for next turn rather than play a card to the board now is crucial. In addition, choosing the right cards in the opponent’s hand to take with all of the discard effects relies on intimate knowledge of the various archetypes and lists that one may run into, and how they intend to beat you. Get plenty of practice in with this deck and it will reward you handsomely!