Consult and Pact

[Zharradan]

I see a lot of people mention that they don't like Demonic Consultation, or that they do like it but don't want to run it due to the risks involved. We've all heard about the dreaded "bad consult" where you end up milling yourself to death.. either because of desperation/stupidity due to consulting for a one-of card in your deck, or due to bad luck by having the remaining two (or three! ) copies of the card you were consulting for get killed by the auto-mill for six.

So I ask - what about Tainted Pact? If there would be room for a Consultation in your deck but you don't like to take the risk, is this card worthy of that slot? Or perhaps even more than one slot? Obviously, Tainted Pact is not as powerful as the Consultation: you are not guranteed to get the card you are after. However, this lack of power also removes the risk involved that has turned people away from the Consultation.. Unless your deck is entirely one-of's and you haven't noticed that the card you are after has already left your library you will never mill yourself into oblivion.

Tainted Pact is considerably less powerful, though. Consultation lets you name a card, and you will either end up having that card in your hand or the game will be over. Consultation is easier to cast, costing just B instead of 1B.

One thing I like about Tainted Pact however is that it is a good digger. It is still relatively cheap, and even though you may not end up with the card you were after you can still usually use it to give you the best card out of the top six or seven cards in your library.. or you can use it to thin your deck while looking for the card you are after. I don't really see too much grounds for complaint if you don't take any of the revealed cards - either you want a card in your hand when you see it, or you don't. If you want it then you can grab it, since you aren't limited by having to name a card. If you don't want it, then it gets thinned out of your deck, improving further draws.

I've only seen Tainted Pact used in one serious deck - CF's Mask deck, which uses as much (reasonably costed) black tutoring as it can. I'd like to hear people's opinions on this card though, especially if you think it is worth considering in slots that could be Consultations but the player decided that the risk was not worth it.

Is Tainted Pact worthy? I think it might be, but I'm not totally convinced. There are many of you out there that understand the subtleties of this game much more than I though, so I thought I'd ask.

[TracerBullet]

It depends on the deck, but almost always I'd prefer to have a Consult.  The decks that are likely to not care about removing cards are also those that play a huge amount of redundancy, and that's where Consult shines.

[kl0wn]

I make it a priority to play 3-4 Tainted Pacts in every black deck that I build if it doesn't have blue. Pact gives you such a buttload more consistency, which is nothing but helpful. In a redundant deck, it is true that Pact isn't required, but it functions a lot like having 4 unrestricted instant-speed Demonic Tutors. I have had nothing but good experiences from playing with multiple Pacts, and I don't even own any Snow-Covered Swamps to replace half of my regular Swamps with.

Another thing to consider is casting multiple Pacts out of the graveyard with Yawgmoth's Will. In a Mono-Black aggro deck(Suicide for example), if Will resolves, it is likely that your opponent does not have a hand and you have Dark Rituals and tons of useless hand detsruction in your graveyard. If you cast 3 Pacts out of the graveyard, you not only get 3 more free cards, you also get 3 of the best cards from the top of your library instead of random ones. Granted, if Will resolves you've pretty much won the game anyway.

I think the most reasonable thing to compare Tainted Pact to is Impulse. Impulse is not played in Type 1 because there are so many better blue searchers/drawers that it's impossible to find room for them. Black does not have any searchers/drawers aside from Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor and Consult (which is a bit too risky for my tastes) for searchers and Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Bargain, Phyrexian Arena, Skeletal Scrying and Greed for drawers.
Along the same lines as Impulse, Pact gets you through mana pockets or fixes your mana base if you're playing with multiple colors.

Vampiric Tutor is card disadvantage. Arena and Scrying are both poor choices for aggro decks, although Scrying can be played in control and midrange, but Mono-Black control and midrange are generally bad and the life-loss is a bit risky in multiples. Bargain and Greed are just downright unplayable.

Consult and Pact each require you to build your deck differently since they reward opposite kinds of deckbuilding (in theory). With all things considered, running multiple Pacts has a much greater impact than running 1 Consult.

[MarkPharaoh]

I prefer Tainted Pacts in most cases but I could never find the room in Black decks for more then one of them.  if you only have room for one, it depends opn your style if you want Consult or Pact.  I don't like snow-covered swamps because they aren't foliy so I would go with Consult. .  I think overall, Consult is better but you have to use your head.  Rule of thumb that I use which is pretty obvious to most but some people do it anyway: NEVER Consult for something you only have 1 or 2 cards left in your library.  I laugh when I see people online Consult for Will or there last Sinkhole.

[gregggggggggg]

I've had mostly good experiences with the pact. The only thing that bugs me is when the top 2 cards of my deck are swamps, but at least the chances of me drawing a swamp the next turn are decreased.

At the same time, the consult works well for me too.
The tutor I use depends on the deck design.

One more thing, I recomend trying skeletal scrying.
The only real problem that I can see with it is the fact that it doesn't work well with Yawgmoth's Will.
However it's great card advantage, and I highly recomend It

[MarkPharaoh]

I think Scrying would be good in multi color decks but I don't like it in Sui Black.  Mainly because of Flesh Reavers and if your running a Necro.