Traditional Monoblack Control built

[DeMarki]

This is my all time favorite deck, even though I usually play casual with it, cause I don't think it can keep up with todays metagame. I've managed to keep it as original as I could, I didn't want to alter it's unique and traditionall Aggro-control built and it's the same deck I fell in love with almost 3 years ago(except for some minor but essential changes). Well it not very competative as it used to be, but it still kicks @$$ especially in casual play. Enjoy

Disruption
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole

Creatures
4 Phyrexian Negator
4 Nantuko Shade

Board Control
3 Nether Void
3 Powder Keg

Draw/Tutors
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Consultations

Mana Sources
4 Dark Ritual
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Polluted Delta
12 Swamp

Disruption:
I have always prefered Duress to Cabal Therapy, since most of the decks I play with are kinda random and I want to make sure it will take out a threat rather than hitting air. If you don't know what deck your opponent is playing, or what cards he uses how can you tell which card you'll Therapy?
Hymn to Tourach is devastating except for decks that make great use of their graveyard, if I run into one of these I'll just put them SB no big deal. But Trading a card for 2 is always a bargain, especially during the first turns, when early disruption combined with a Fat creature can end games. And it's artwork is awesome and creepy...!
Sinkholes are one the best and fastest disruption spells and combined with Wastelands/Strip Mines can give you the advantage you want.

Creatures:
Phyrexian Negator is the fastest and most efficient threat Black can offer. Putting early pressure on the table, combined with some disruption is a game winner, the Void just finishes off the game.
Nantuko Shade is the best creature under Void, and very efficient vs other weenies.

Board Control:
Nether Void is the heart of the deck, it usually finishes off the game or holds your opponent way back after some early disruption or pressure.
Powder Keg is amazing vs artifacts and small creatures and it's a mox killer.

Draw/Tutors:
Necropotence is the ultimate draw engine keeping your hand full at all times and making sure you have enough threats to finish off your opponent.
Will is very usefull especially with a couple of rituals in the graveyard, almost like taking some extra turns. It's good even if you just play again only 2 spells, since it would be plain card advantage. After Void hits table it becomes a bit pricy though.
Demonic Tutor is the best tutor the game can offer.
Demonic Consultations is very fast and aggresive as a tutor, but since this deck runs everything in 4 or 3 copies minimum, it's drawback isn't that big. And Demonic Consultations >> Vampiric Tutor in this deck because Vampiric is card disadvantage and causes you to lose life. This deck needs a something faster and more aggresive. Do you agree? 

Mana Sources:
5 Strip Effects are essential since pressure and disruption must be cheap and efficient like those cards.
4 Mishra's Factories work well together, under Void are very dangerous and aggresive and very good vs creature decks.
4 Polluted Delta are more than enough to thin this deck while establishing a very flexible mono coloured mana base.
12 Swamps should be enough, combined with the 4 Fetchlands.

I hope you will enjoy this classic deck as much as I always do! I'm very happy to play this deck in it's traditional style without giving much concearn in today's metagame, it ruins all the fun for me. Any suggestions would be nice

[the boogie man]

One thing that you are lacking is a draw engine (really) of any sort. you have some ways of getting card advantage, but not enough to call it an engine. in stead of the sinkholes, why not run around 3 chains of mephistopheles? those utterly negate draw and you lose nothing to run them. you can still run 1 sinkhole. but are they THAT important?

[ROLAND]

Speaking of MBC Draw engines here are a few:

1. Necropotence , Night's Whisper or Phyrexian arena + Jitte+ creature with flying, shadow, etc.
2. Gravestorm +  any of the following: withered wretch, nezumi Graverobber, tormad's crypt, skullsnatcher, carrion beetles, etc.
3. Skullclamp + myr servitor+ Night's whisper (It's not completely black, but it works pretty well).

These are some of the draw engines I've been toying around with for black.  As much as I like playing a version similiar to yours, these  non-traditional draw engines have worked well for me. They aren't bullet proof, but no deck really is. These are alot cheaper than adding chains to your deck (Not that chains is bad, if I had access to 4 I'd use them).

Just some thoughts,

Roland

[TJ-Whoopy]

toss in 3 skeletal scryings, you're putting plenty of cards in the GY and you aren't using them for anything but yawg will and the will isn't going to recur anything all that gamebreaking anyway. I'd say - 4x sinkhole, +4x skeletal scrying

[the boogie man]

In this particular deck, I doubt there will be many things in the yard to remove, especially early game. there are going to be tons of games where you play nights whispers with one or no cards in the yard, and if that was a scrying, not only might you not have been able to draw, it would have cost more if you were. i'd definately go for whispers in a general meta where the fundamental turn is turn 1.5.

[DeMarki]

One thing that you are lacking is a draw engine (really) of any sort. you have some ways of getting card advantage, but not enough to call it an engine. in stead of the sinkholes, why not run around 3 chains of mephistopheles? those utterly negate draw and you lose nothing to run them. you can still run 1 sinkhole. but are they THAT important?

I won't play Chains cause it's like a metagame card, very effective vs certain deck but crap vs others. I have mentioned before that I love this deck and it's unique traditional style and built and I play mostly casual so I'm not interested in Chains.

The Sinkholes are more than essential in this deck, it's one of the cards that has the best synergy with void and the whole deck's strategy.
Early disruption-mana denial and a fast fattie is the way to victory, the Void just ends the game.

About Skeletal Scyings or Nigh'ts Whispers, I think there is no room for these cards and they are not so powerfull and essential to this deck.
It's better to use 2 old school powerhouses(Necro, Will) because I'm sure they are very fast and effective, it's the power this deck needs, but I don't think anything more is needed. I don't have anything expendable to cut anyway for a couple of lame Whispers.

Which of the above mentioned tutors(Vampiric or Consultations) you think that is more suitable in this deck?

Vampiric Tutor pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You can use it to fetch any card without the risk of removing your whole deck, even a restricted card.

Vampiric Tutor cons:
You get the card in the next turn, since you put it on top of your library. If you need it desperately this turn...bad for you
You loose 2 life
It's card disadvantage, cause you don't replace it immediatelly with the card you wish (-1 card)

Demonic Consultations pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You get the card you need the moment you play it, without waiting for your next turn
You don't loose life or card disadvantage
If your deck runs most of the cards in many copies(3-4), the risk isn't too big

Demonic Consultations cons:
It's too risky to search for cards with few copies in deck, like resticted cards
If you run few win conditions you might get screwed
It's better used for cards with 3 or more copies in deck, so it could limit your search option, except for the case you're desperate so you don't mind taking the risk

Which of the two do you think is better? I chose the Consultations because it's faster and most of the cards I run are 3-4 copies, but in a combo deck or I think Vampiric would be better. Your advice would be nice

[ROLAND]

Which of the above mentioned tutors(Vampiric or Consultations) you think that is more suitable in this deck?

Vampiric Tutor pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You can use it to fetch any card without the risk of removing your whole deck, even a restricted card.

Vampiric Tutor cons:
You get the card in the next turn, since you put it on top of your library. If you need it desperately this turn...bad for you
You loose 2 life
It's card disadvantage, cause you don't replace it immediatelly with the card you wish (-1 card)

Demonic Consultations pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You get the card you need the moment you play it, without waiting for your next turn
You don't loose life or card disadvantage
If your deck runs most of the cards in many copies(3-4), the risk isn't too big

Demonic Consultations cons:
It's too risky to search for cards with few copies in deck, like resticted cards
If you run few win conditions you might get screwed
It's better used for cards with 3 or more copies in deck, so it could limit your search option, except for the case you're desperate so you don't mind taking the risk

Which of the two do you think is better? I chose the Consultations because it's faster and most of the cards I run are 3-4 copies, but in a combo deck or I think Vampiric would be better. Your advice would be nice 

It doesn't matter! Why? because as we tried to tell you before you have no real draw engine. 
1x Necropotence & 1x yag will doesn't equal a draw engine. Why? because you only have 1 of each card and you only run two tutor like cards. 

Note:
Necropotence X4 = powerhouse draw engine (not legal in type 1)
Necropotence X1 with few tutors = draw engine neutered by restriction!

What does your deck do if you don't get any tutors, or necropetence or will?  It top decks and loses to faster decks.

At least with night's whisper or scrying you can run more copies of each card.

 Hint:  More copies = more chances to get and draw cards.

To conclude you need to change the draw engine of the deck. If you choose not to, you need to incorporate both vampiric tutor and demonic consultation. 
Roland

[DeMarki]

To conclude you need to change the draw engine of the deck. If you choose not to, you need to incorporate both vampiric tutor and demonic consultation. 
Roland

I'll stick to the 1xNecro, 1xWill & Tutors and you're probably right, but which card should I cut in order to add the Vampiric to this deck?
The thing is that this deck is suicidal and fast and it's whole strategy depends on casting early hand/land disruption and finishing the opponent with a fattie before he can recover so that means that it MUST run 4 copies of those spells needed, like Sinkholes+Discard+Rituals.
Reducing one of those cards to 3 is a mistake, which will slow down your early threat assault.
What if a cut a Sinkhole or a Hymn for a Vamp and in my 2-3 turn I have one less threat to play. I cast the Vamp, I loose the card advantage and the mana and I wait for the next turn to play the card I need. Isn't that a bit like slowing down the deck?
At least consultations is fast and I get to play the card the moment I need it and not the next turn.

[ROLAND]

Don't cut any. Why?

If you mainly play casual the 61st card isn't going to slow you down enough to hurt you.

Yeah, I know this breaks the 60 card rule. However, using a deck similiar to you build I have beaten control slaver a few times at local tournaments. The deck I used had 61 cards.  (The players had proxied the power, but were not hard core T1 players. They also weren't very happy about losing to my sub-par deck).

I would run both. Just because I think you need all the search tech you can get. I can't tell you how many times I've needed the Necropotence and it wasn't there.   

If you have access to the cards for the other draw engines I posted earlier, give them a try. This morning,  I was playtesting against a variant of  "black fish " with my B/G Void Deck.  During once of the games I was drawing 3 cards a turn off Gravestorm + withered wretch combo.

Hope this helps,

Roland

[DeMarki]

I think that Vamp for Necro is a really bad move and pure card disadvantage if not played during the first turns cause:

1) You'll be already -1 card while playing Vamp
2) After waiting for the next turn to cast Necro the cards would have to wait for the next turn anyway that means waiting 2 turns to get the cards if you Vamp for Necro
3) You'll loose 2 life which means another -2 cards, since there is no life gain in this deck
4) Since I run 4 Fetchlands, that means that after the 5-6th turn my life total will be about 17-19 before Vamping for Necro, then another -2 from Vamp = 15-17 In the best scenario, meaning that my opponent will be sitting duck and I woulden't take any damage until that point. But under normal sircumstances in 99% of all games my life total would be at least 5-10 life less meaning that I will have less than 10 life after casting  Necro and -1 card advantage already
5) During the first 3-4 turns I don't really care about necro since my hand would be full most of the time, since I have to play all the threats first.

And adding 61 card is never good since your chances of drawing something you really need are a bit less, even if that means that the card you need you'll get it in the next turn, and not in this turn due to the 61st card, this I don't like.

I truly think that if you want to play a aggresive deck which has good potential of winning the game when putting early pressure on th e table, but far less chances if the first turns won't disrupt the opponent enough in order to give you the advantage you want, then you SHOULD build the deck in a way that is 100% aggresive and fast, so the chances that you'll do so much early hand-land disruption as required are as much as you can get. Adding lame cards like Whispers or Skeletal Scrying or even Vampiric Tutor is suicidal since these cards will be dead cards when drawn in the first hand, or 1-2 turn!!!

It is suicide to remove early threats and include cards like Scrying because they won't help you during the most important turns 1-3 and you'll be as good as a sitting duck, holding tutors and lame card drawers that don't do shit, than something that could slow yor opponent more and give you the advantage you want in order to cast your Void properly!!!


It's funny  but why I find my logic quite reasonable, am I exaggerating or something?

[dad]

Just my two cents, but if you insist on Sinkhole + Wastes then Nullrod seems like an autoinclude.  Also, whereas I disagree on your Chains argument, Nullrods inclusion is not situational.  It is a card that a very successful archetype (fish) has been built around for years.

On another note, while Yawg Will and Necro are among the most powerful cards ever built, how often do they see play here?  What broken Will things do you do? None if Nethervoid is out.  I think they are good cards, but I agree with Roland.  I would put Scrying or Whispers in their place and test them.  You lose nothing by trying them out in testing.

[Draven]

DeMarki

First of all, I love mono-black. It is probably my favorite deck. (I splash an Underground with the 4 fetches so I can run Recall and Walk [makes Will turns hotter too.]) The reason I am unable to competively play this deck is becasue, well in harcore Vintage, the deck sucks. But in casual, it rocks. So first of all, Kudos for bringing back a fun deck.

Secondly, your first post asked for advise and guidence, but you have been quite obstanant to all the suggestions people have offered. Take advantage of this message board. There is a sea of great knowedge you can gain by listening to the other peoples experiences. In essence, don't try and re-invent the wheel. I am not saying everyones wheel is better, but at least try it out before you discount it.

Finally, in my monoblack, I have always like Nights Whisper. Like you said, you spend the first 3 turns or so disrupting, but after you ritual, hymn, duresss, sinkhole etc your hand is pretty empty, so a turn 3-4 Nights Whisper is a good way to start filling your hand back up into more disruption/threats. I also do not think the Mishra's Factorys are good in mono black. Most of your spells are double black, and with 5 stripes, that is already alot of colorless mana. (Besides, 30 mana sources is INSANE in an aggro deck. I have never even seen a control deck run 30 mana sources. Even Keeper only ran 27.)

I would try this:
-4 Mishras Factory
-3 Nether Void
-1 Powder Keg
+ 4 Nights Whisper
+4 Hypnotic Spectre (almost better if not better than a first turn Negator off a ritual.)

Good luck MeMarki!

[DeMarki]

Just my two cents, but if you insist on Sinkhole + Wastes then Nullrod seems like an autoinclude.  Also, whereas I disagree on your Chains argument, Nullrods inclusion is not situational.  It is a card that a very successful archetype (fish) has been built around for years.

Null Rod is definitely good, but it's not enough for this deck. This deck needs something to deal with creatures also. This is the reason I chose to run 3 main Powder Kegs. It kills creatures as well as artifacts too and it has the same casting cost as Null Rod. I don't run any Moxes/Lotus, so an early Keg with no counters on it can destroy all Moxes and other cheap stuff in play in just one instant swing. It also very usefull against any kind of cheap creatures, like weenies and ability creatures(Welder, Birds etc), cause I definitely want to clear the board of that crap during the first turns, in order to maintain the early pressure of a Negator or a pumped Shade. It also happens that Keg removes multiple targets so at my oppinion Powder Keg > Null Rod. But that's just me.

On another note, while Yawg Will and Necro are among the most powerful cards ever built, how often do they see play here?  What broken Will things do you do? None if Nethervoid is out.  I think they are good cards, but I agree with Roland.

1) The sheer power of Necropotence is undeniable. Nothing reaches even half that power except for Ancestral Recall, but the best you can do there is draw 3 cards for one mana, not even close to the full 7 card refill Necropotence can offer you at no mana cost, and not just for one turn. I really can't think of anything more broken than refilling your hand with 7 new cards after you have severelly disrupted your opponent. This deck is all about putting early pressure on the table, combined with some early disruption, so that your opponent won't have the time, nor the chance to recover. This means that your hand will be empty early in the game and the only way to keep your hand full all the time is Necropotence. Of course you won't mind the life loss, this is an aggresive deck, but you'll mind if you won't have enough mana to cast your new spells or if you have an empty graveyard(Skeletal Scrying), or if you waste a card+mana+life for just 2 new cards(Night's Whispers) at sorcery speed. This is just to lame to be accepted and I don't think there could be a comparison among the above mentioned cards.

2) Yawgmoth's Will sucks after you cast Nether Void, but it's broken if you use it properly before you Void hits play. Running 4 Rituals, as well as Lotus(if I could just get one) means that you're gonna play some spells for free. And I don't think that anyone would mind just playing 3-4 already played spells. Replaying a Wasteland, a Sinkole and a couple of Duress/Hymns all during one turn feels like a nightmare to your opponent. Even replaying just 2 spells for free, could that ever be bad? That is the definition of broken.

I also do not think the Mishra's Factorys are good in mono black. Most of your spells are double black, and with 5 stripes, that is already alot of colorless mana. (Besides, 30 mana sources is INSANE in an aggro deck. I have never even seen a control deck run 30 mana sources. Even Keeper only ran 27.)

Mishra's Factories are AMAZING in this deck especially after Nether Void hits play. Everybody runs 4 Factories in a Monoblack Void Deck and that's a fact, since the mana base is very solid and stable. Consider Factories as creatures more that mana sources, and Wastelands as dirsruption/mana denial rather than lands for mana. 12 Swamps + 4 Fetchlands are more than enough to establish a decent color mana base, so I really don't mind running 25 lands. Don't forget that this deck is really mana hungry, cause after Void hits play, you wouldn't want to get mana screwed + any unspent mana feeds the Shades so I don't think you would mind swinging for 7 or 8 under a void, even if you didn't have anything to play.

[Xyre]

One thing that you are lacking is a draw engine (really) of any sort. you have some ways of getting card advantage, but not enough to call it an engine. in stead of the sinkholes, why not run around 3 chains of mephistopheles? those utterly negate draw and you lose nothing to run them. you can still run 1 sinkhole. but are they THAT important?

I won't play Chains cause it's like a metagame card, very effective vs certain deck but crap vs others. I have mentioned before that I love this deck and it's unique traditional style and built and I play mostly casual so I'm not interested in Chains.

The Sinkholes are more than essential in this deck, it's one of the cards that has the best synergy with void and the whole deck's strategy.
Early disruption-mana denial and a fast fattie is the way to victory, the Void just ends the game.

About Skeletal Scyings or Nigh'ts Whispers, I think there is no room for these cards and they are not so powerfull and essential to this deck.
It's better to use 2 old school powerhouses(Necro, Will) because I'm sure they are very fast and effective, it's the power this deck needs, but I don't think anything more is needed. I don't have anything expendable to cut anyway for a couple of lame Whispers.

Which of the above mentioned tutors(Vampiric or Consultations) you think that is more suitable in this deck?

Vampiric Tutor pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You can use it to fetch any card without the risk of removing your whole deck, even a restricted card.

Vampiric Tutor cons:
You get the card in the next turn, since you put it on top of your library. If you need it desperately this turn...bad for you
You loose 2 life
It's card disadvantage, cause you don't replace it immediatelly with the card you wish (-1 card)

Demonic Consultations pros:
It's cheap and it's an instant
You get the card you need the moment you play it, without waiting for your next turn
You don't loose life or card disadvantage
If your deck runs most of the cards in many copies(3-4), the risk isn't too big

Demonic Consultations cons:
It's too risky to search for cards with few copies in deck, like resticted cards
If you run few win conditions you might get screwed
It's better used for cards with 3 or more copies in deck, so it could limit your search option, except for the case you're desperate so you don't mind taking the risk

Which of the two do you think is better? I chose the Consultations because it's faster and most of the cards I run are 3-4 copies, but in a combo deck or I think Vampiric would be better. Your advice would be nice

Those aren't major negatives for Vampiric Tutor. You generally would play it during your opponent's end step, so you get the card back quickly. You could easily run a set of tutors; perhaps 1 Demonic Tutor, 1 Demonic Consultation, 1 Vampiric Tutor. I'd cut a land for the Tutor, seeing as you run 25 without counting the artifacts.
Also, what does your sideboard look like?

[DeMarki]

Those aren't major negatives for Vampiric Tutor. You generally would play it during your opponent's end step, so you get the card back quickly. You could easily run a set of tutors; perhaps 1 Demonic Tutor, 1 Demonic Consultation, 1 Vampiric Tutor. I'd cut a land for the Tutor, seeing as you run 25 without counting the artifacts.

Your wrong my friend, because you still have to draw the Vampiric Tutor in your turn and then wait for your opponent to play and end his turn and then you cast the Vampiric you still loose tha card advantage+life+you wait alomost two turn to get the card you need and hopefully pray that it will not be too late for you. I have thought over this and playtested so many times so I have concluded that Vamp isn't necessary in this deck, but rocks in many other decks.

Also, what does your sideboard look like?

The SB looks like this:

3 Dystopia
3 Cabal Therapy
1 Powder Keg
4 Phyrexian Furnace
2 Masticore
2 Skeletal Scrying

[Xyre]

Why do you need Dystopia? It just seems useless when you could play better sweep cards which don't shoot you in the foot.

[DeMarki]

Dystopia deals with both White and Green PERMANENTS, not only creatures, like Perish, Contagion or Edict.

[Xyre]

But who uses many of those? It makes no sense!

[DeMarki]

To tell you the truth I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty tempting, cause it helps you against two different colors and not only against craetures or artifacts.

[jackpot]

I think there should be more artifact mana fist of all. If you can proxy, Lotus, and Jet immediatly go in. More artifact mana! This could allow for an early Braids, cabal minion. I also suggest that Zombie goblin guy. You couls sac him to braids and kill their welder or other fun tricks. Braids is absolutly crazy. With the rituals and some artifact mana, you have no excuse not to. Plus you've got search. I'd also add mesmeric fiends and unmask. This can really screw with those combo boys. Unmask them and slap down a negator. Game. You could leave the sinkholes in if you go with Braids. This gives them less options to sac if you blow up their land! OK her's how I'd do it:

4 Braids, cabal minion
4 nantuko shade
4 Phyrexian negator
4 festering goblin-Trixie kills it, then you kill their welder. It's also a 1 drop
4 unmask-Better than duress and it's free
4 contagion
4 Hymn to T
4 Sinkhole
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus
1 Sol ring
1 mana vault
1 Mana crypt
1 Demonic tutor
1 Vamp tutor
1 necropotence-not needed, but helpful!
1 Demonic consultation
1 Stripmine
4 wasteland
14 swamp

I don't think cabal coffers is in here. Braids will be eating up your land very fast. I think there should be mesmeric fiends in here, but festering gobling would die somehow and you's have to kill off the fiend. That's not good at all. If I had to do it all again, Id probably be playing this deck. 8 discard, 4 sinkhoes should slow down decks and Braids should just win you the game. I've never seen a single card sieze control of the game like that one. Seriously. Yes, Smokestack is similar, but smokestack can't attack! Anyways I hope I've given you some inspiration. Enjoy!

[DeMarki]

4 Braids, cabal minion
4 nantuko shade
4 Phyrexian negator
4 festering goblin-Trixie kills it, then you kill their welder. It's also a 1 drop
4 unmask-Better than duress and it's free
4 contagion
4 Hymn to T
4 Sinkhole
1 Mox Jet
1 Lotus
1 Sol ring
1 mana vault
1 Mana crypt
1 Demonic tutor
1 Vamp tutor
1 necropotence-not needed, but helpful!
1 Demonic consultation
1 Stripmine
4 wasteland
14 swamp

Even though this is far from the Traditional Built that I really enjoy, I really appreciate new ideas.
But I don't quite understand the point of the deck you have built, because it's far from the whole spirit of this deck and it lacks it's whole heart: the Nether Void!
And some cards like Mana Crypt, Vampiric Tutor and Braids are not qualified to this particular deck.
You need to go fast and aggresive with Negators and early disruption, then seal your victory with a Void in play. That's the whole philosophy of the MBC. Braids is simply too slow for that...

 

[jackpot]

The idea behind the mana crypt is that is a cheap permanent that you could sac to Braids if need be. Braids costs BB2 also which is the same as the Void. Braids also attacks. Void doesn't. I can't emphasize enough how Braids quickly screws with your opponent. The T1 decks are SO fast that the creatures you play have to be absolutly crazy good like the negators or disruptive. The Nantuko shade is OK, but not outstanding in T1. It's not disruptive at all. Promise me this, if you go with Nether Void, at least also play Juzam Djinn!

[DeMarki]

The idea behind the mana crypt is that is a cheap permanent that you could sac to Braids if need be. Braids costs BB2 also which is the same as the Void. Braids also attacks. Void doesn't. I can't emphasize enough how Braids quickly screws with your opponent. The T1 decks are SO fast that the creatures you play have to be absolutly crazy good like the negators or disruptive.

You're right but you forget that if you succesfully cast Void it usually means GAME OVER since your opponent CANNOT play any more spells! He is a sitting duck while a Negator or a pumped Shade quickly finishes him off. This isn't happening with Braids since she doesn't lock your opponent that fast and he can cast whatever spell he wishes during the next turns. I really don't see how can you compare the two cards, since you say that the creatures you play have to be absolutely crazy or disruptive.

The Nantuko shade is OK, but not outstanding in T1. It's not disruptive at all. Promise me this, if you go with Nether Void, at least also play Juzam Djinn!

I really don't have 800$ to waste on 4 Djinns, but even if I had I'd still run 4 Nantuko Shades since they are currently the best Black Creature available in a monoblack enviroment and surely the best creature under Void. You would be surprised if you saw how insane this creature under a Void is, since your spells are very expensive and ALL your black mana is used to pump the hell out of the Shade.

[jackpot]

You should definately be playing Hypnotic Spectre. With Hyppie eating their hand and a Nether Void in play, they are in a really bad situation. You should have more threats and less cool stuff. I'd axe the necro. It goes directly againt the function of Nether Void. Necropotence allows you to play multiple spells a turn with all those cards in hand. Wth void in play, you'll be lucky to get to play one. Death wish comes to mind as a replacement. I'd leave the contagions in, however. You can play it for free or 3 generic at least and play your threats. The same goes for unmask. Festering goblin is probably a little too narrow in retrospect. It's also not a sure thing, unlike mogg fanatic. hmmm... Another old card that will drive the drain slaver/ keeper/oath players nuts is...drum roll please...Plague spitter. This will kill off welders, soldier tokens, and spirit tokens, and any weenies it chumps. It doesn't work well w/ the Shade unfortunatly and may be best served as a sideboard option. Think about it. It looks like Nantuko shade is the way to go. Don't get me wrong, I love the Shade. It was designed originally as a super-cheap super-threat against blue decks. Back when Fact or fiction was in every deck in T2. T1 is basically a bunch of blue decks with a few differences here and there, so the Shade seems to fit right in. OK so bearing in mind your points and mine:

3 Nether void
4 Nantuko shade
4 Phyrexian Negator
4 Hypnotic Spectre
1 Death wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic consultation
1 Vampiric tutor
3 Powder Keg
1 Lotus
1 Jet
4 sinkhole
4 Hymn to tourach
4 contagion
4 mishra's factory
1 Strip
4 wasteland
swamps

You could be a real jerk and play Null rod in the main and take out the powder kegs. I'm assuming they're there to blow up artifacts mainly. Nether void AND null rod? How do they deal? Maybe I'm wrong, but that sounds fabulous to me. Then again. blowing up thjeir moxes right then and there is cool too. Alright that's all for now.

[DeMarki]

You should definately be playing Hypnotic Spectre. With Hyppie eating their hand and a Nether Void in play, they are in a really bad situation. You should have more threats and less cool stuff. I'd axe the necro. It goes directly againt the function of Nether Void. Necropotence allows you to play multiple spells a turn with all those cards in hand.

I would rather run the Negator, since he has a 4 turn clock and can finish off the game without leaving the opponent the chance nor the time to recover. With the Specter in play he has a whole 10 turns to get rid of him, or to find a way out of his card disadvantage, with the Negator beating the crap out of him he doesn't have much time to think. I would rather turn this deck into 100% pure aggro, rather than giving it a more control identity. Remember, it's all about putting early pressure on the table.

The Necropotence issue has already been disscused to death. The Necro is 100% essential in any monoblack deck that respects itself. If it wasn't restricted I would definitely run 4, no doubts about it.

[ROLAND]

@Jackpot

Braids is a great card. But you are missing two key cards:  Crucible of Worlds and Myr servitor.

They have great synergy with Braids.

@ Demarki

Negator is a double edged sword! Anything that deals 3 damage will mean game for you. Especially if you dark ritual and first turn negator.
It won't take 4 turns for a burn deck to deal enough damage to the negator to clear your board.  This doesn't even take into account anydeck playing white knight.

Although Negator seems like a great deal, it won't take long for people to learn how to deal with it in your area. When they do, you'll have a tough time winning with it.

If you want this deck to be fast aggro, then you need to add the following:

4xDistress
4xUnmask
4xhatred
4x Dauthi slayer
4x Dauthi horror

Use the discard to eliminate any counterspells or creature removal, and then play hatred with the slayer. Nothing puts early pressure on the table like a second or third turn win!

Roland

[jackpot]

Didn't you read what I wrote about Necro and Nether void? The two counter-act each other. You necro for 7 and then only get to play 1 of them because  Nether void is in play? Does this sound like a good deal to you? If necro wasn't restricted that's what I'd be playing. Period. Sure, you'll play games where necro will win you the game in and of itself when you draw it and Nether void IS NOT in play. If you've got the void in play it's horrible. Use your head man! You're a good magic player dammit! Put the pride aside. I'm not flaming you here, just want you to think. Playing another threat in the deck instead is better than necro in this deck. I also agree that Negator is more aggressive than Hyppie. Why not play both? Negators, Shades, Mishra's and Hyppies. I think more cheap and fast creatures are needed. I've seem Skittering horror played as additional Negators. Lurking Evil is BBB a 4/4 and flies. An old favorite of mine. Skittering skirge?

[DeMarki]

Didn't you read what I wrote about Necro and Nether void? The two counter-act each other. You necro for 7 and then only get to play 1 of them because  Nether void is in play? Does this sound like a good deal to you? If necro wasn't restricted that's what I'd be playing. Period. Sure, you'll play games where necro will win you the game in and of itself when you draw it and Nether void IS NOT in play. If you've got the void in play it's horrible. Use your head man! You're a good magic player dammit! Put the pride aside. I'm not flaming you here, just want you to think. Playing another threat in the deck instead is better than necro in this deck. I also agree that Negator is more aggressive than Hyppie. Why not play both? Negators, Shades, Mishra's and Hyppies. I think more cheap and fast creatures are needed. I've seem Skittering horror played as additional Negators. Lurking Evil is BBB a 4/4 and flies. An old favorite of mine. Skittering skirge?

If Void hits play you don't care about the Necro anyway, since you must have a huge advantage and winning is just a few turns ahead of you. The thing is to abuse Necro to the maximum UNTIL void hits play. Skittering Skirge is ok but nowhere near as good as Negator/Hypnotic/Shade.
Lurking Evil sucks..it's just to damn risky and what's the big deal? 4/4 for BBB? Negator is 10 times better for the cost you pay. 

8 creatures + Factories are enough for me, I don't see cutting 4 cards for extra 4 creatures the right thing to do.

[jackpot]

Genju of the fens may be a candidate since you like Mishras factory so much. It also can come back if you have to sac the land to say, a Negator or stripmine. It's only 1 B to cast and then later on can get very scary. The 2 colorless activation isn't cool, but that was obviously necessary considering you can turn your swamps into fireballs in the lategame. T1 decks aren't playing enchantment removal, so even better. Thoughts?