[Standard, Casual] Ill Counsel

[Ephraim]

This deck does not strictly qualify as a casual deck since I'm building it Type 2 legal to partake in Friday Night magic events.  I've already gotten hints, however, that it isn't going to be stunningly good, so I'd like to see what can be done with it.

Creatures (24)
1 Angel of Despair
2 Ghost Council of Orzhova
1 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
4 Blind Hunter
3 Necrotic Sliver
3 Icatian Crier
3 Dimir House Guard
3 Blightspeaker
4 Rathi Trapper

Spells (13)
1 Wrath of God
1 Damnation
2 Mortify
3 Dash Hopes
4 Mana Tithe
2 Orzhov Signet

Land (24)
8 Plains
12 Swamp
4 Orzhov Basilica

The big concern I have at the moment is how helpless I am against a deck optimized to use Empty the Warrens.  I have Wrath and Damnation, but I'm operating with my real-life collection, so I for the moment, I have only one copy of each.  I am also concerned that the mana base is weak.  I have a lot of cards that demand WB or WWBB and it's pretty easy for me to get screwed out of one colour or the other.  I think that I would like to shift the deck in the direction of black but I am not certain what options would be best (aside from getting two more copies of Damnation.)  In theory, Ghost Council of Orzhova is my win condition but I'm not surviving long enough to do anything useful with it.  Since the last time I tested, I have added Dimir House Guard to the deck.  It is my hope that it will give me access to Ghost Council and my Wrath effects in a more timely fashion.

[Illissius]

You could do something with Dimir House Guards, Damnations, Persecute, Dread Returns, and Skeletal Vampires. I like the synergy between the latter two, and it also goes very well with Gauntlet of Power. That's a lot of rares, though.

[Ephraim]

You could do something with Dimir House Guards, Damnations, Persecute, Dread Returns, and Skeletal Vampires. I like the synergy between the latter two, and it also goes very well with Gauntlet of Power. That's a lot of rares, though.

If this is the way to go, I already own three Skeletal Vampires, one Gauntlet of Power, and, for what it's worth, two Sengir Nosferatu.  I am concerned, though, that this solution does not adequately address my mid-game, which is where I think this deck requires the most help.  Ideally, I have the tools available to me such that I am able to do a few things early in the game but also to have Damnation or Wrath of God in hand and be able to cast it on turn four or five when I can reasonably expect an Empty-the-Warrens deck to be doing its thing.

[TopSecret]

     Orzhov Pontiff can kill Warren tokens, possibly more than once if need be.
     He's also a midgame pump spell on legs.
     There's always Rain of Blades, too?

Dark Confidant might be good in here, too.
Although, it sounds like you might not own any.
They're getting kind of expensive.

[Ephraim]

TopSecret, I have too many high casting cost cards to make Dark Confidant worthwhile in my opinion, but I think that there is a lot that I could do with Orzhov Pontiff.  I have also done a little bit of testing in the past couple of days and I think that these are the changes that I am going to make from the list I posted previously:

-1 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
-3 Icatian Crier
-2 Mortify
-3 Dimir House Guard
-2 Blind Hunter
-1 Swamp


+3 Kor Dirge
+3 Diabolic Tutor
+3 Orzhov Pontiff
+3 Mourning Thrull

I've been testing with testing with Mourning Thrull and Kor Dirge.  They both play very well in this deck.  Mourning Thrull, laid down early, is very effective at keeping me out of the red zone.  Kor Dirge may not be the best creature-kill but it's been working for me so far.  In situations where my opponent is expecting a one-for-one trade of creatures on the table, I end up achieving a two-for-one trade without sacrificing my board position.  I am going to try Diabolic Tutor in place of Dimir House Guard because I wish to see whether the additional cost of Diabolic Tutor is worth being able to fetch more cards and not having to show what I am fetching.  I'm dropping a swamp because I've gotten too many lands most times that I have played.  That's been a modest penalty because I have been running Icatian Crier, but that will no longer be so.  Unfortunately, this still leaves me with 61 cards in the deck and this is probably a good opportunity to cut one more card and make it a straight 60.  Blightspeaker is probably the most expendable card in the deck, so I will probably go down to two copies of that.

[Ephraim]

This deck has changed considerably since the initial post, so I am going to begin by posting a revised deck list.

Ill Counsel (60 cards)

Creature Spells (19)
4 Rathi Trapper
3 Whitemane Lion
2 Necrotic Sliver
3 Orzhov Pontiff
3 Blind Hunter
2 Ghost Council of Orzhova
1 Plague Sliver
1 Angel of Despair

Non-Creature Spells (18)
2 Orzhov Signet
3 Castigate
3 Kor Dirge
3 Mortify
3 Faith's Fetters
2 Diabolic Tutor
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God

Land (23)
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Orzhov Basilica
9 Swamp
7 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
3 UNDECIDED
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Necrotic Sliver
1 Castigate
3 Dunerider Outlaw
2 Last Gasp
2 Disenchant
2 Circle of Protection: Red

***

I have a couple of concerns at present.  I am definitely hitting a wall because of my budget.  The mana base isn't bad, but lacking Godless Shrines prevents the deck from playing more tightly.  I have also noticed that Dark Confidant appears to be a staple card in black decks in the format, which puts me at a disadvantage.  Therefore, it is important that the rest of the deck be as tight as possible.

The sideboard, at the moment, is a mess.  I am really terrible when it comes to sideboards so this is no surprise.  I am fairly well settled on Disenchant, Dunerider Outlaw, and my 4th copy of Castigate.  CoP: Red seems to be a good idea at least in theory.  Necrotic Sliver and Whitemane Lion are present just because I have room to spare at the moment and I can imagine wanting an extra copy of either from time to time.  This leaves me with 3-5 undecided slots with which I have no idea what to do.

In the main deck, Whitemane Lion is a new addition that has replaced Mourning Thrull.  I liked the Thrull's performance but I think that I can do better.  To compensate fractionally for the loss of three cheap, flying creatures, I've added a third Blind Hunter.  From my experience last week, there is lots of removal in this environment.  Being able to do something about Faith's Fetters in particular seems like a good idea.  In theory, Whitemane Lion also goes well with Blind Hunter, Orzhov Pontiff, and Angel of Despair, so I expect it to play well in this deck.

The last thing I'm looking for is one more win condition card.  I think I will probably go with a second copy of Plague Sliver, but I'm very uncertain regarding what I should take out to make room for it.  A copy of Kor Dirge, perhaps?

[TopSecret]

     I'm not sure which problems you want to address with the deck,
partly because I haven't played Standard in so long.

      You're already playing four Rathi Trappers,
so perhaps you could add a small Rebel chain.
  You could add some Amrou Scouts,
 and perhaps a Knight of the Holy Nimbus or two,
   just as an alternate plan.

     Another idea is to add some Joten Owl Keepers.
You mentioned that the format sported a lot of removal,
so they may be a good addition if you can consistently pay the upkeep.
   I was playing with some of them in my Kitchentable.dec, and if they go unanswered,
they're pretty sweet. Of course, they die to a lot of cards before the upkeep is
 huge, but they'd die anyway if they were any other three drop.
     Additionally, if you get birds, those'll work well with the Pontiffs.

    Another card you could consider is Temporal Isolation,
  as cheaper additional removal, if you need any.

     I don't know what's good in sideboards nowadays,
    but Souls of the Faultless seems like it could be good against aggro.
     Also, would Mindstab be a good sideboard card against Control?

      Good luck with the deck!

[Ephraim]

Whether I like it or not, for the time being, this is my "good" deck.  It really isn't good enough, but until I find the time to research something better and the money to invest in stronger cards, this will be the deck I'll be playing at FNM on evenings when I actually care about winning a match.  (For the record, my target is to play a good deck every other week and something goofy on off weeks.)  In any case, this deck has undergone revisions since I last posted.  Some cards just weren't pulling their weight and I finally noticed that Hypnotic Specter is legal in Standard.

Spells (15)
3 Kor Dirge
3 Faith's Fetters
1 Hide & Seek
3 Castigate
3 Mortify
1 Wrath of God
1 Damnation

Creatures (20)
3 Whitemane Lion
3 Necrotic Sliver
2 Blind Hunter
4 Hypnotic Specter
3 Orzhov Pontif
2 Ghost Council of Orzhova
2 Plague Sliver
1 Angel of Despair

Mana Sources (25)
3 Orzhov Signet
2 Orzhov Basilica
2 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Flagstones of Trokair
9 Swamp
7 Plains

Sideboard
3 Prismatic Lens
4 Martyr of Bones
1 Castigate
2 Circle of Protection Red
2 Disenchant
3 Dunerider Outlaw

***

Regarding the mana base, Matt has suggested that I get two copies of Gemstone Caverns to facilitate a second-turn Hypnotic Specter.  I am certainly going to look into that plan.  There are a lot of cards in this deck that would much more effective if I could play them a turn earlier, so I think it's a sound idea.

Next week before FNM begins, I may have to see about purchasing another copy or two of Hide & Seek.  I would gladly cut an Orzhov Pontiff and a copy of Kor Dirge for more preemptive disruption.  I may also considering getting a second copy of either Wrath of God or Damnation.  Damnation would suit the mana base better, but Wrath of God's price tag is half that of Damnation.  This Friday is payday, though, so I might splurge.  If I pick up a copy of either, it'll definitely replace an Orzhov Pontiff, in which case, I may cut two copies of Kor Dirge for Hide & Seek.  That's a painful decision for me to make.  Kor Dirge has been hit or miss, but the swings that it generates are incredible, when it actually works.  Nonetheless, Kor Dirge doesn't do anything about Akroma, Angel of Wrath.  Gaining 8 life, on the other hand, and removing her from the deck before she becomes a problem, seems like a great idea!

I am expecting to see more of the Bridge from Below deck, so I am packing solutions both in the maindeck and in the sideboard. Importantly, I moved my third copy of Necrotic Sliver from side to main.  In response to my opponent casting Dread Return, I can sacrifice Necrotic Sliver to destroy something and also get Bridge from Below out of my opponent's graveyard.  Siding in Martyr of Bones gives me far greater play against that dreadful deck.