Duskmourne Top 5 Retrospective

 What a great game.

Hello, swamp creatures! Welcome back to the world of black. Today, we're going to be doing a quick retrospective on my top 5 list for best black cards in Duskmourne. While the World Championship is only starting, we have the meta share for those decks, and I think I can safely take the time now to figure out where I was right, where I was wrong, and what I completely didn't even talk about. Without further ado, let's get right into it!

Honorable Mention: Valgavoth's Faithful

                                                        

   

I'm pretty comfortable saying that this one deserved the honorable mention slot, as this little guy has been the subject of TONS of brews. There are two very good 4 mana reanimation spells in the format right now--Rite of the Moth and Valgavoth's Faithful. While Rite may be the more powerful option, Faithful is incredibly splashable, so if you're trying to get something huge out of the graveyard, this guy is always at the forefront of the options. I expect to see this guy popping up in rogue and jank options until it rotates out. 

Verdict: Nailed it!

5. Nowhere to Run

                                                        

    

 

Nowhere to Run has certainly lived up to its expectations, especially with the rise of Gruul Prowess as a top tier deck. This card does double duty in the matchup, both by shrinking the Heartfire Heroes so that they don't burn you on death, but also invalidating Snakeskin Veil (and Innkeeper's Talent's second level) as defensive options. The fact that this doesn't need to do those AT THE SAME TIME is incredible--you can drop Nowhere to Run early and then feel confident knowing they won't get hexproof for the rest of the game. It's worth noting that this card is almost a victim of its own success--since it showed up so heavily in sideboards, Gruul decks are actually cutting Snakeskin Veil! This makes options like Anoint with Affliction the better option, as they don't get blown out by too-big creatures, but make no mistake, Nowhere to Run is making its presence known in the meta.

Verdict: Nailed it! (Maybe deserves even higher)

4. Leyline of the Void

 

                                                        

 

Leyline of the Void is an interesting one. It is, without a doubt, incredibly powerful, and it absolutely shuts down graveyard decks. However, it turns out that the most notable graveyard decks in the format right now are NOT traditional reanimator decks, but blue-based Oculus decks that function more like tempo decks. Most notably, they have Into the Flood Maw, which is a disturbingly good answer to Leyline of the Void, as one mana to answer your option before they even get started on the self mill is a huge issue.

But perhaps even more important to the muffled Leyline entrance into the format is another option we got in Duskmourne that's turning out to be much more effective: Ghost Vacuum!

                                                        

   

 

Ghost Vacuum has ended up being the better positioned in the format for a number of reasons. First, it's better positioned into the answers that the Oculus decks are running: Into the Floodmaw and Soul Partition. Leyline is HORRENDOUS against those, as replaying it is a huge cost in both tempo and mana for you, and it doesn't even exile anything that's already in the graveyard. So if the Oculus player answers your GY hate, it gets to run away with the game. Not so with Vacuum! Using Floodmaw on this is awful because it both gives you a fish AND you can just replay it, and Soul Partition isn't particularly good as this comes back down very soon and can continue to eat cards. 

Second, this can provide both answers AND threats with its sacrifice ability. Eating a bunch of Oculuses to then get them yourself and start generating an army is a huge amount of power wrapped up in a single card. I think in some situations Leyline will be strong, but with Ghost Vacuum around it'll probably be outclassed unless the right meta shapes up.

 

Verdict: Failed it! (Mostly) 

3. Withering Torment

This card is exactly what we were expecting and I'm so grateful we got it. As a creature removal spell, it's entirely underwhelming--but that's not the point. The ability to destroy key enchantments in black is incredibly important this format. I think there are a number of factors that go into the fall of Leyline Binding decks from the meta, but the fact that even the black decks can blow up Leyline Binding and Overlords (and even Beanstalk in a pinch) can't be ignored. This card keeps showing up in sideboards everywhere as a testament to how sorely black needed to be able to kill enchantments, and we're glad to have it with us!

Verdict: Nailed it!

2. Overlord of the Balemurk

This one is a tough one to call--not because of difficulty, but because of disappointment. There's a ton of potential wrapped up in Balemurk. Graveyard synergies, value, the cheapest Overlord of the bunch. On paper it seems like this card should be a slam dunk--and I still think it is! But we haven't yet been able to find a shell where this card really excels. The fact that it keeps showing up in brews on Arena ladder (and in my personal decklists!) shows just how engaging a card it is, but until it finds a home, we'll have to call this one a miss.

Verdict: Failed it! (for now)

1. Unstoppable Slasher

While Team Handshake at Worlds did away with Slasher in their version of the Demons decklist, this card is still the key threat in Mono-Black and Bx Demons lists all over the meta. You can't look at the results for any challenge or league without seeing this bad boy popping up all over the place. And why shouldn't you? Nothing instills fear in the opponent quite as much as dropping one of these on curve. Against Gruul or Mono-Red, it represents a blocker guaranteed to kill an attacker, while also threatening a quick clock when you stabilize in a few turns. Against slower decks like Mono White or Domain, it MUST be answered, and quickly, or else it will simply kill them. The Bloodletter combo doesn't happen that often, but in the important matchups it is a real gameplan that must be answered. I have only one failure in naming this my top card, and that's because there is one card I'm going to talk about in a minute that went completely unnoticed during spoiler season that has turned out to be even more impactful. Even still, Slasher is a house, and completely deserving of its high ranking.

Verdict: Nailed it! (Mostly)

A Complete Miss: Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

Well this one's embarassing. I know I'm not the only one that missed this, and in my defense it's hard to see what the power in this card at first glance. The draw is nice, but 2 damage looks like a lot (that's double than Phyrexian Arena!), and 5 mana for a vanilla 6/6 on its own is a little underwhelming.

The trick with this one is that the overall macro gameplan and synergies it allows is quite potent. Mono Black Demons immediately became a player in Pioneer, but it took a little longer for it to appear in Standard (and yours truly to build it!). But when it did, it shook black-based decks to their core. Team Handshake chose to pilot a Dimir version at Worlds 30 running this as an advantage engine alongside Archfiend of the Dross and Doomsday Excruciator as an alternate win-condition. Some others at Worlds chose to run the traditional Slasher/Bloodletter verisons, but even the non-Demons deck like Marcio Carvalho's Golgari Midrange included Archfiend of the Dross and four copies of this incredible room. There is so much power, clock, and value wrapped up in a single card that I cannot believe I didn't see it. But it's here now, and it is certainly here to stay!

Verdict: Missed it completely!

If I had to give an updated ranking, I'd probably do it like this:

5. Overlord of the Balemurk

4. Withering Torment

3. Nowhere to Run

2. Unstoppable Slasher

1. Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

And that's that! I'm in love with our current standard format--there's so many options and decks to play with and against, and nothing feels too strong. Look forward to seeing you out there!