Suicide Without Hexmage/Dark Depths

[Onslaught]

I've noticed that all of the new suicide decks since Zendikar have included some form of the Hexmage/Dark Depths combo, which I'm not entirely sold on. For the same amount of slots you can incorporate an equally game winning combo (Tendrils) that is less disruptable (kinda) and doesn't require running a suboptimal card like Hexmage. When Zendikar came out I tried maindeck Sadistic Sacrament in a suicide shell, but it's just not worth it. Gatekeeper of Malakir is exactly what Suicide needed though, he's been super nice in testing.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Bitterblossom
3 Phyrexian Negator
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir

4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Necropotence

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
3 Null Rod
4 Chalice of the Void

4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Underground Sea
6 Swamp
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

SB:
4 Gate to Phyrexia
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Sadistic Sacrament
3 Spinning Darkness
1 Hurkyl's Recall

The Time Walk used to be a maindeck Rebuild, and then an Echoing Truth. There also used to be an Urborg instead of a Swamp to help with Gatekeeper, but you're better off not giving them access to black when you run 4 Waste/Strip Mine. The rest of the deck is pretty self explanatory I guess, so far in testing it has had mad game against everything except "random creature" aggro. Bitterblossom helps a lot in those matchups, but it can only do so much. Also, post board against those kind of decks gets pretty ugly with only Spinning Darkness able to come in for your handful of dead Chalice/Null Rods.

[Shean]

Have you considered Massacre in the SB?  I know it wipes your board as well, but you should already have more dudes in hand to drop after clearing the board, due to the card advantage of Dark Confidant.  It also has good synergy with Bitterblossom and doesn't kill your Negators.

A Darkblast or two in the SB might also be worth considering.

[shroomy2dope]

this may sound crazy but i'm rockin' dome with diabolic intent on oath tokens. maybe blossom could support some number too.

[Onslaught]

Have you considered Massacre in the SB?  I know it wipes your board as well, but you should already have more dudes in hand to drop after clearing the board, due to the card advantage of Dark Confidant.  It also has good synergy with Bitterblossom and doesn't kill your Negators.

A Darkblast or two in the SB might also be worth considering.

Darkblast has been so clutch for me in Confidant Control, that's a really good point you bring up. I need to find room for it in the board now...

Massacre is something to think about too, considering how bad the "random creatures" matchup is.

this may sound crazy but i'm rockin' dome with diabolic intent on oath tokens. maybe blossom could support some number too.

Not crazy at all, I thought about Diabolic Intent (x2!) for a long, hard time...but then decided I was getting a little too combo heavy and might as well cut the Negators and add Cabal Ritual at that point.

[shroomy2dope]

yeh diabolic intenet is pretty combo-ish for your build but it is good for game clenching one of's
anyways, spinning darkness is an awsome card but doesn't it deplete your ability to cast a relevant yawgmoth's will?
wouldn't you be better served by playing snuffout?

[Onslaught]

I've been doing, on average, more than 7 points of damage to myself by turn 4 every game. The only time I'd want Snuff Out is vs. a deck with a bunch of small creatures, and the life loss would just be unbearable. Spinning Darkness does hurt Yawgmoth's Will, but  having a juicy discard pile isn't so important if you are dead before you have enough mana to do anything with Will in the first place.

I played another 50 games with this deck last night and it really can compete against a lot of the major archetypes. It just feels weird to beat a finely tuned Tez or Noble Fish deck and then turn around and lose to decks that feel like they are from Type 2 with some Rituals and Jittes thrown in. I lost to Rogues playing Earwig Squad for example...

[Onslaught]

I'm really bad at sideboarding. Really, really, really bad. Even taking that into consideration, the deck is still humming along quite nicely in testing. It feels like the majority of the time I bring Leyline in, and often times game two I feel like a really bad TPS deck with an element of mono black control/"hate." Against most non-Stax and non-beatdown decks, I usually just win by playing Duress/Thoughtseize until resolving Sacrament. I don't really know what this says about the deck...for example if I were to go -4 Bitterblossom -3 Negator and add 4 Leyline/3 Sacrament maindeck, it would look like the worst deck of all time - yet this is a pretty common configuration against Tez or Oath.

Here's how I board in the most common matchups:

Tez:
-4 Bitterblossom
+3 Sadistic Sacrament
+1 Hurkyl's Recall
Sometimes I bring in Leyline too, usually taking out Time Walk, a Negator, a Gatekeeper, a Chalice if I'm on the draw, or a Null Rod if I'm on the play

Oath:
-4 Bitterblossom
-3 Negator
+4 Leyline
+3 Sacrament
-1 Confidant
+1 Hurkyl's Recall

Stax:
-1 Necropotence
-1 Time Walk
-1 Duress
-2 Gatekeeper
+4 Gate to Phyrexia
+1 Hurkyl's Recall

Then depending on the build I will bring in Leyline for Negators.

Noble Fish/GWB Aggro/etc:
-3 Null Rod
+3 Spinning Darkness

Combo:
-4 Bitterblossom
-1 Necropotence
-1 Time Walk
-1 Gatekeeper
+3 Sadistic Sacrament
+1 Hurkyl's Recall
+4 Leyline

Any suggestions on modifying my sideboarding strategy or the sideboard itself would be appreciated.

[shroomy2dope]

if you only bring in spinning darkness agains GW match than massacre is the much better choice (as fizix already suggested)

also why would you board out a duress against stax? lose the tendrils that you'll never cast and win through negator there.

gatekeepers could remove welder from the board too. you are probably better to board out ritual instead.

[BruiZar]

Gaddock Teeg hoses massacre though

[Onslaught]

also why would you board out a duress against stax? lose the tendrils that you'll never cast and win through negator there.

Good point, I never even come close to a sizable Tendrils against Stax unless I'm already dominating with early Duress effects backed up by Chalice/Null rod, in which case I was gonna win anyway. Thanks.

Gaddock Teeg hoses massacre though

If this is the only downside then I'll swap Spinning Darkness for Massacre for sure, since Gaddock cuts off Spinning Darkness too. Plus, I really feel like an idiot when Confidant reveals it and I lose 6...

[BruiZar]

play infest or deathmark instead.

[shroomy2dope]

i would assume something like innocent blood would be good with bitterblossom. also with ritual and so many cheap cards, how long does it take you to topdeck? you don't run much draw. shouldn't  you should consider 4night whisper over consultation, 1 land, 1thoughtsieze, and 1 card. probably a blossom unless you decide to include more cards to abuse blossom.
right now i don't see how you use tendrills unless you hit will or necro. i wouldn't think you would normally hold that many cards, and you only run 3 cards that provide card advantage at a pace faster than confidant, which i'm sure usually gets knocked off the board before anything else you play. eitherway he must take several turns before he can impact the storm count.
maybe you should play around with clamp and see if it shows results with your blossoms.

[Onslaught]

Clamp has really bad synergy with Null Rod, which is kinda one of the "pillars" of the deck right now. I couldn't imagine losing a land or Thoughtseize to fit Night's Whisper, but I have to admit Consultation hasn't really been that amazing for me outside of grabbing a "gotta have it right now" Null Rod. As far as the Tendrils, all of the other cards that interact with it would be in the deck anyway even if Tendrils wasn't there. The ability to Demonic or Vampiric for Will, Will back some Rituals, and tutor and/or play a sizable Tendrils makes it well worth the one slot without any setup.

[shroomy2dope]

them i would at least switch the consultation for an imperial seal.

[Bone]

With Clamp in the board you could go -3 Null Rod, +3 Skullclamp, -3 Xx, +3 Massacre (Spinning Darkness,  Deathmark or something) against Fish and Beats