Fixing up the good old Void Deck

[MethodXL]

Hi everyone, it has come to my attention that my Nether Void deck that I currently play with has lost its ferocity in the last couple of months.  The disruption and fast powerful creatures from my deck used to rip up other decks and the void sealed my victory.... but in the last couple of months TnT, GroAtog, Stax, Keeper decks have been destroying me... since being still a new magic player compared to others who post on this site.. I desperatly need help fixing up my old deck.  My creatures do nothing to decks that weld in juggernauts or decks that freeze me so badly i can't do anything.  
     Im also having trouble fixing up my sideboard so I can help my deck out when facing these problematic decks...
Here is my current build.. its Zherbus' Devils Bile with a couple of changes....

Creatures (12)
4 Nantuko Shades
4 Hypnotic Specters
4 Mishra's Factory

Disruption (15)
4 Sinkhole
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Duress
3 Nether Void

Removal (3)
3 Powder Kegs

Broken (4)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoths Will
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Necropotence
1 Zuran Orb

Mana (26) (30 w/Mishra's)
4 Dark Rituals
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
13 Swamps

Sideboard:
3 Contagion / planar void (I change depending on tourney)
3 Phyrexian Negator
3 Masticore
3 Dystopia
3 Diabolic Edicts

Please fellow MTG players and help me fix up my deck...

[Matt The Great]

Is the Zuran Orb actually good for anything?

[TracerBullet]

I'll say it once cause I know Steve hates hearing it over and over.



Green is an absolute must, ESPECIALLY with TnT and MUD being the current decks to beat.  Pernicious Deed is your only real hope of victory in these matchups, barring a first turn land-lotus-ritual-shade-void start.  In addition, Green helps your SB by allowing for both Naturalize and the oft-maligned Choke (it didn't hurt GroTog, but now that URPhid, Hulk, and No-CoB Keeper are common, it's stock value has skyrocketed).

I really don't see an honest way Mono-B Void can still be competitive.  As I've said before, Deed>>>>>>>>>>Keg.

[Jebus]

Meh, I'll stay on the mono-black side for now.  I've had success with Void, especially with all those 'Tog decks running around.  It was almost an auto-win for me.

However, I'm not sure what Void will do in the post GAT environment.

I'm still searching for the final solution for all these Workshop decks, but I'm convinced Green is not absolute answer.  It is an option if one choses to go that route and can be quite viable.  However, it isn't for everybody.  Especially not for me.

On to the deck at hand.

13 Swamps?  How has that worked out for you?  I would find that anything less than 14 might cause a problem with my mana base.

My plan vs. all these aggro decks out there is to run more main deck removal than normal.  I run 3 Edicts Main and 3 Kegs.  The Edict you choose is a matter of choice (I go with Diabolic, but Jesse Driggers who turned me on to the idea goes with Chainer's).  Finding the cards to remove for the Edicts can be tricky and requires experimentation to find what you are truly comfortable with.

I've never tried Zuran Orb, but I'd be afraid of losing my lands under a Void.  Pre-void when backed into a corner, I can see them maybe helping to stabilize; but it seems like a fragile strategy to me.  Perhaps I'm missing something.

[Methuselahn]

With Workshop unrestricted, Mono black just has a tough time being the #1 big aggro deck.  The problem in the workshop matchup is that it has to be able to deal with a first turn Jugg AND survival of the fittest.  It *can* deal with a Juggy, but that enchantment is what will hose you every time.  Pernicious Deed takes it and half of their power away.  A splashed color is really the way to go in todays general meta.

[Lord of the Goats]

there's no way void can beat tnt consistantly without deeds. there's just no way. mono b simple doesn't have the tools. dystopia is ass vs tnt and it's the only way of removing survival... however it doesn't work until the next turn which at least lets the survival during their upkeep. not to mention a dystopia doesn't do shit about a jug. the closest thing to a decent mono black plan against tnt that i've seen is sbing engineered plague to handle welders and then as many edits as possible.

[Zharradan]

How about Planar Void? It doesn't remove the survival, but it makes it extremely less useful (can't squee), makes Anger and Wonder useless, makes the welder useless, etc etc.

... not that Planar Void wouldn't be useful in a B/g build either.

[Jebus]

You can bet that I run 4 Planar Voids in my sideboard.

It is important to get it into play as soon as possible.  It does not destroy them, but it does impede them enough that you may be able to get the upper hand.  Don't treat it like a win condition, you still need to stay on your toes.

[Lord of the Goats]

Quote (Zharradan @ June 03 2003,07:32)How about Planar Void? It doesn't remove the survival, but it makes it extremely less useful (can't squee), makes Anger and Wonder useless, makes the welder useless, etc etc.

... not that Planar Void wouldn't be useful in a B/g build either.

planar void can be annoying, but it doesn't deal with fat at all, and it does a worse job of dealing with welder than plague does since i can weld what's already in my grave. so it doesn't always stop anger, and it will still let me cycle creatures with survival (lyrist anyone?).

[Os-Vegeta]

Quote Broken (4)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoths Will
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Necropotence
1 Zuran Orb

Skeletal Scrying - I too have been trying this card in my Void build, and I really like it.  For the time being, I've moved them to the sideboard since Scrying may not be a card I want to be drawing often when staring down TnT.  I know you only run one copy, but I've been running two.  In any case, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's been trying out this mini-Necro.  My only suggestion would be to think about Demonic Consultation, as that card is still very useful, especially in Devi's Bile Void.

Zuran Orb - I'm echoing Matt TG here.  How exactly is Zuran Orb going to be useful to you, and against what?  Void may be one of the most mana-heavy decks out there, but I would much rather keep my mana on the board to pump Shade or to give opposing aggro decks a hard time with Masticore.  Also, if TnT is the reason you're playing this, I wouldn't even bother with this card then.  Some lifegain could be helpful, but I see TnT hitting just a bit too hard for the ZOrb to make up for the difference.  

Quote Mana (26) (30 w/Mishra's)
4 Dark Rituals
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
13 Swamps

Not to be nitpicking, but I only see 25 manasources here.  Where ZOrb was, I believe another Swamp should be.  That would bring you up to your 26/30 manasources.

[jpmeyer]

Even with Planar Void in play TnT can always just respond to the Void's activation when the creature dies with Welder and return it to play.  You can't do it forever like if Void weren't in play but it still creates an almost insurmountable position.  You really just can't beat TnT without a combination of Deed and a graveyard remover.

[MethodXL]

Hey everyone, whats up?
        Well i was thinking about what everyone said about the zuran orb... I used to think it was good because if i got it i could use necropotence and skeletal scrying more.. and if i have no targets for wastelands, and my mana was high enough, i could sack them to the orb and use it to scry or necro for the +2 cards per land, it helps make sure you get a void quicker...
        But i do realize your point witht he Zorb... though it does have its advantages it has more drawbacks compared to playing the extra land.  So for now im going to play around somemore testing both with and without the zorb
        As for pernicious deed.. i would like to run them in my deck.. but the problem would be how will i get the green mana? bayous + fetchlands? a couple of forests? city of brass? mox emerald? and if im splashing green into my black deck... what other good green cards could make my deck better.  So can someone help me figure out what the best combination of land would be to make sure i don't get screwed with the only green land or with a deed and no green mana sources? that would probably be my greatest fear about splashing green.




Im not serious when I ask this question but how about phantom centaurs? It would be funny

[Jebus]

I'm not sure Sac lands would be choice in this, as you probably want as many lands you can get.

I've haven't run it with Green yet, as I'm still not entirely sold on the idea.  I'm probably putting Void away for the moment as it is.

I would think you could get away with four Bayous and four Llanowar Wastes, removing 8 Swamps.  There is also the Emerald if you have it.

[Os-Vegeta]

Quote As for pernicious deed.. i would like to run them in my deck.. but the problem would be how will i get the green mana? bayous + fetchlands? a couple of forests? city of brass? mox emerald?

...

So can someone help me figure out what the best combination of land would be to make sure i don't get screwed with the only green land or with a deed and no green mana sources? that would probably be my greatest fear about splashing green.

I've been working a lot with the green splash.  This is a very delicate matter as far as I'm concerned, as how it affects your manabase is critical.  There are many sides of the debate in this area, like Tindeman's manabase of 4 Bayou 4 Llanowar Wastes, then I believe there have been a couple different Fetchland configurations.  I'm going with the fetchlands for a couple reasons:  
1) 4 Bayou, 4 Llanowar Wastes really makes you vulnerable to Wasteland, and I don't want that, especially since Wastelands just got better since Gush has been restricted, meaning you'll see more decks running Wasteland.  
2) If the manabase can be configured right, it can almost be like you're playing the mono-black build still, but now you have an extra toy to play around with - Pernicious Deed.  Let me show you what I mean - This is the manabase I'm currently testing, and I'm happy with it so far (I'd like to mention that I discussed this with and received help & input from Legend, ShadowLotus, and Rozetta.  Major props and a big thanks to them.):

1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
7 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bayou
4 Dark Ritual
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
4 Mishra's Factory

As you can see, I cut the Sol Ring for an extra Swamp.  Sol Ring is now in my sideboard to come in with Masticore.  I feel very comfortable with this manabase, as, not counting Black Lotus, I have 8 chances to get a green manasource, and I have 16 chances to get a black manasource, not counting the Lotus or Rituals.  I doubt I'll be changing this manabase anytime soon, but my testing hasn't finished yet either.  (I was planning on writing either an article or starting my own discussion on splashing green for Deed after my testing was finished.  I'll see what happens as this thread develops, though.)  

Mox Emerald isn't worth playing, as this manabase has enough access to green mana, and I'm not about to waste a D. Tutor to fetch an Emerald when I have 4 lands that cost me only a life to fetch me the green mana I need.

Quote and if im splashing green into my black deck... what other good green cards could make my deck better.

For the maindeck, Pernicous Deed is all you need as far as green cards go. (So, it's -3 Keg, +3 Deed.  The rest of the maindeck should stay the same as that in Devil's Bile.)  I don't see the point in ruining the rest of the deck by trying to fit more green creatures in.  For the sideboard, I'm only running 4 Naturalize.  I'm happy with only 3 Deed MD, as it is different than Keg.  I see it as more like a reset button than anything else.  Keg just removes a few cards and that's it - nothing really devastating against TnT.  

JP is dead on with splashing green for Void - you need Deed and a graveyard remover.  My choice is Withered Wretch, which was, if I remember right, Bebe's idea a while back on the ISP forums (the forums of the team that Morefling belongs to - Insane Scrub Posse).  I'm not completely sure if I want to keep it, but it looks alright - more testing will show how that comes out.

[beastmouth]

@Os-Vegeta:  How are 4 fetches + 4 Bayous less vulnerable to Wastelands than 4 Bayous + 4 Llanowar Wastes?  With the painlands, you have 8 permanent green sources v. your opponents 5 strips max, with fetches only 4 permanent sources of green.  This makes you more vulnerable, plus it lowers the number of real lands you run in Void, which is just bad tech.

[Matt The Great]

It makes you less vulnerable because you can hold out on fetching a Bayou until you need it. Also, they can go fetch Swamps if you don't need the green, thus making your on-board manabase impervious to Wastelands.

With so many swamps, I might consider 1-2 Tainted Wood over whatever else you're using for pseudo-Bayous.

[MethodXL]

I like the mana base idea you presented me with the fetchlands.. but the problem is will there be enough land to play with after void hits  play.. normall im still casting shades and hymns and stuff i draw normally after void.. with the swamp count being even lower.. how does that work out?

[Os-Vegeta]

Quote @Os-Vegeta:  How are 4 fetches + 4 Bayous less vulnerable to Wastelands than 4 Bayous + 4 Llanowar Wastes?  With the painlands, you have 8 permanent green sources v. your opponents 5 strips max, with fetches only 4 permanent sources of green.  This makes you more vulnerable

Matt pretty much answered this one for me.  Think about it like this - With the fetchlands, you don't have to get the green manasource until you need it, meaning you can either fetch a swamp if you're feeling comfortable not dropping a Deed (or if you just don't have Deed in hand but need a black manasource), or if you have enough black manasources in play you can just let it sit there until you want a Bayou.  You only need the green mana for Deed game one, and maybe for  Deed and Naturalize games 2 and 3, so the fetchlands almost guarantee you getting that green mana when you need it.  

Quote plus it lowers the number of real lands you run in Void, which is just bad tech.

Quote I like the mana base idea you presented me with the fetchlands.. but the problem is will there be enough land to play with after void hits  play.. normall im still casting shades and hymns and stuff i draw normally after void.. with the swamp count being even lower.. how does that work out?

I can understand your concern about having less lands in play.  So far in my testing I haven't run into problems, as I have been able to have the amount of lands in play that I usually have.  If I do run into any problems, I'll be sure to report them and hopefully try to fix them.  

About running under Void:  I see Nether Void as the card that seals the game for you, not as a card that you have to play under.  I believe that there are very few times that one should have to work under a Nether Void.  Against some forms of Sligh, I could see this.  In a case like that, however, the Nether Void should have temporarily crippled the Sligh player, giving you an advantage.  Other than that, I just use Nether Void as my game sealer, and sometimes I don't use it at all.  

Quote With so many swamps, I might consider 1-2 Tainted Wood over whatever else you're using for pseudo-Bayous.

I remember other Void players experimenting with Tainted Wood in the past.  If I remember right, between 2 and 4  copies were tested.  The only problem I have with running Tainted Wood is that you need a Swamp in play before you can play it.  Running only 2 seems like too little, unless you're running other Bayous or maybe even Llanowar Wastes with it.  Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean?

[MarkPharaoh]

This is what I think of Deed in Void:  If you want to play BG play PT Funk.  Void's only card drawer is Necro and you only have 12 creatures and 4 of them die to strip effects, so what would you rather do, Deed for 4 with a Shade and Hyppie on the board or Deed for 4 with River Boa and Spiritmonger on the board?  When playing with Void and you Deed away, lets say 2 creatures, you only got 6 left +Mishra's left and I sometimes have had problems drawing them in time to stop TnT from running me over.

Void itself is useless in the TnT matchup majority of the time and it helps TnT more then you.  I also find that a lot of times if you don't get Sinkhole early it doesn't hurt TnT the way you want it too which both cards are excluded from PT Funk.  For BG Void to stand a good chance against TnT in my opinion is that you will have to devote to BG and not just splash the Green for Void, but with PT Funk they have Deed, Regenerators, Naturalize, Smother and Tormod's Crypt in their arsenal.

[Os-Vegeta]

Mark, I'm glad you responded.  You brought up a couple good points.

Quote Void's only card drawer is Necro and you only have 12 creatures and 4 of them die to strip effects, so what would you rather do, Deed for 4 with a Shade and Hyppie on the board or Deed for 4 with River Boa and Spiritmonger on the board?  When playing with Void and you Deed away, lets say 2 creatures, you only got 6 left +Mishra's left and I sometimes have had problems drawing them in time to stop TnT from running me over.

The drawback in running Factories is the strip effects, but they do survive Deed.  I'm seeing where you're coming from with Deeding with a couple creatures on the board.  However, which would you rather - TnT just run you over and you lose your creatures anyway, or would you want to sweep TnT's fatties and Welders, hitting a reset button in a way, then dropping another creature, a graveyard remover, or some disruption, or a combination of these?

Quote Void itself is useless in the TnT matchup majority of the time and it helps TnT more then you.  I also find that a lot of times if you don't get Sinkhole early it doesn't hurt TnT the way you want it too which both cards are excluded from PT Funk.

In game 1 against TnT, Void won't be all that great, you're right.  An early Sinkhole will help, and Deed can really help you out a lot here, making game 1 a lot more winnable than what it would have been with Keg.  Games 2 and 3, you have a few options open for you, depending on what your sideboard looks like.  Void has open to it Withered Wretch (or Tormod's Crypt or Planar Void if you like), Naturalize, and Masticore (I'm still testing Masticore as a SB option against TnT, but it really looks as if it could be a big help).  Those, with Deed, should be able to make games 2 and 3 better against TnT.  

Quote For BG Void to stand a good chance against TnT in my opinion is that you will have to devote to BG and not just splash the Green for Void, but with PT Funk they have Deed, Regenerators, Naturalize, Smother and Tormod's Crypt in their arsenal.

Ok, so the only difference as far as weapons go is River Boa and Spiritmonger. (Though I don't believe it's the best thing to go with right now, you could run Smother in Void's SB.)  Spiritmonger isn't one of my favorite creatures to begin with, and I remember a while back Spiritmonger was being cut from the maindeck.  Whether or not that holds true for this metagame is something I don't know right now.  Maybe Matt TG could answer that.  River Boa is a great blocker against aggro, particularly weenie aggro, and  I see where you're coming from with Boa being able to survive Deed.  Whether or not it's worth it in Void is another story.  With Masticore in the side, (actually, when GAT was still king I tried 2 MD) I'm seeing a card that is not only very good against weenie decks, but also a card that could definitely help out in the TnT matchup and also survive a Deed.

Devoting the deck to being BG is exactly what I don't want to do.  When considering this build, I wanted to add as little green as possible to the deck, making it just enough so it could still play like it's a mono-black deck, but having a manabase strong enough that it can effectively utilize the green cards it is running while being able to not give a damn about Wasteland most of the time.

[Matt The Great]

Re: Tainted Woods

This manabase has worked just fine in another deck:

        4 Dark Ritual
        2 Tainted Wood
        4 Polluted Delta
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Jet
        3 Wasteland
        1 Strip Mine
        7 Swamp
        4 Bayou

But in Void, the Factories means that you probably have too many colorless lands. Two Woods for fifteen 'swamps' has never given me problems, and so Woods could be used in green-Void, but upon close inspection I see that there isn't really any room for them. So nevermind.

[MarkPharaoh]

@Vegeta- the point I am trying to make is that in an TnT enviroment I think PT Funk is better then Void.

Quote The drawback in running Factories is the strip effects, but they do survive Deed.  I'm seeing where you're coming from with Deeding with a couple creatures on the board.  However, which would you rather - TnT just run you over and you lose your creatures anyway, or would you want to sweep TnT's fatties and Welders, hitting a reset button in a way, then dropping another creature, a graveyard remover, or some disruption, or a combination of these?

Void can do that, but so can PT Funk but there creatures survives and Voids will not.  For Void to win you need to stall untill you get a Shade or two out with enough mana to pump them bigger then TnT's fat, this is how I won practically every game against TnT with MonoB Void.  With PT Funk, You have more regenerators then Void does Shades so Funk will have more of a chance in holding TnT off then Void.  

Quote Devoting the deck to being BG is exactly what I don't want to do.  When considering this build, I wanted to add as little green as possible to the deck, making it just enough so it could still play like it's a mono-black deck, but having a manabase strong enough that it can effectively utilize the green cards it is running while being able to not give a damn about Wasteland most of the time.

I can see where you are coming from, you want to make your deck as good as possible against opposing strip effects but you can only make your matchup against TnT that good just splashing green.  With Funk, you get a lot more SB hate against TnT, making the matchup much more in your favor.

[Os-Vegeta]

Quote @Vegeta- the point I am trying to make is that in an TnT enviroment I think PT Funk is better then Void.

Quote Void can do that, but so can PT Funk but there creatures survives and Voids will not.

I see your point, but I disagree with it.  The reason I'm not liking PT Funk right now is because of its manabase.  Its manabase, to me, seems more vulnerable to Wasteland.  Also, PT Funk does not pack Sinkhole, and in matches other than TnT, Sinkhole can just snag the game for you at times.  Nether Void proves itself as the game sealer in matchups other than TnT in this metagame, and the deck overall performs well against the control matchup and, especially after sideboarding, against the other aggro decks.  TnT is the problem matchup for Void, and the simple solution is to splash the green for Deed and Naturalize.  Void has creatures in both the maindeck and the sideboard that can survive Deed, and with the other creatures, I can always hold one in my hand, drop the Deed, and then play that creature after Deed blows up.  I really am not so concerned with having creatures to survive Deed, though they are a nice addition.  

Quote  For Void to win you need to stall untill you get a Shade or two out with enough mana to pump them bigger then TnT's fat, this is how I won practically every game against TnT with MonoB Void.  With PT Funk, You have more regenerators then Void does Shades so Funk will have more of a chance in holding TnT off then Void.  

You're comparing mono-black Void to PT Funk, so I really can't answer your comparison between the two decks.  As for the regenerators, PT Funk has 4 Boas and 2 Spiritmongers.  I imagine you'll be drawing into Boas often with a deck like that, but I'm really not sure as to how often you'll be resolving Spiritmonger before you want to Deed against TnT.  Also, you're forgetting that TnT has the tools it needs to take out your Boas even after they've regenerated - Masticore and Triskellion.  My question to you then would be if you'll be able to have enough green mana on the board, should a Blood Moon or Wasteland hit, depending on which TnT build you're facing.

Quote I can see where you are coming from, you want to make your deck as good as possible against opposing strip effects but you can only make your matchup against TnT that good just splashing green.  With Funk, you get a lot more SB hate against TnT, making the matchup much more in your favor.

Again, it's looking like you're comparing the mono-black Void to PT Funk.  The tools you get in Void from that small green splash make all the difference between the mono-black and the green splash.  With the green splash, Void gains everything it needs to hold its own against TnT, and it also gains some versatility in removal with Deed and Naturalize.  Other than that, I'm not seeing what sideboard cards PT Funk has that Void with the green splash doesn't have to utilize against TnT.

The way it seems is that this time we may end up having to agree to disagree on this issue.  I would much rather play a strictly mono-black version of Void, but this splash for Deed is a necessary evil for Void.

[MarkPharaoh]

Quote I imagine you'll be drawing into Boas often with a deck like that, but I'm really not sure as to how often you'll be resolving Spiritmonger before you want to Deed against TnT.

You can simply Deed and next turn play the Monger.

Quote Also, you're forgetting that TnT has the tools it needs to take out your Boas even after they've regenerated - Masticore and Triskellion.  My question to you then would be if you'll be able to have enough green mana on the board, should a Blood Moon or Wasteland hit, depending on which TnT build you're facing.

I always keep a green mana open for that Blood Moon to hit so I can Naturalize, in some scenarios i''d rather let my Boa die then taking a chance of my deck turning into a sub-optimal black deck.

Quote I see your point, but I disagree with it.  The reason I'm not liking PT Funk right now is because of its manabase.

That is it's weak point.  I do concur that the manabase is...fragile.

Quote Also, PT Funk does not pack Sinkhole, and in matches other than TnT, Sinkhole can just snag the game for you at times.  Nether Void proves itself as the game sealer in matchups other than TnT in this metagame, and the deck overall performs well against the control matchup and, especially after sideboarding, against the other aggro decks.

In the current metagame, and with a manabase like PT Funk, Sinkhole is too much of a gamble to play with all the Misdirections floating around, the card can hurt you just as much as it can hurt your opponent.  

In my experience, Void and Funk plays two different styles against control.  Void tries to lock them down with an array of land and hand Destruction spells and tries to get a soft lock with Void, on the other hand Funk uses hand destruction to force through cheap effecient creatures like Boa and Negator that if not if dealt with soon, they will prove deadly.  

Quote Quote
For Void to win you need to stall untill you get a Shade or two out with enough mana to pump them bigger then TnT's fat, this is how I won practically every game against TnT with MonoB Void.  With PT Funk, You have more regenerators then Void does Shades so Funk will have more of a chance in holding TnT off then Void.  

You're comparing mono-black Void to PT Funk, so I really can't answer your comparison between the two decks.

But wouldn't the kill be the same majority of the time?  I could see a little change in the kill card between used in the two decks as Factory being more important in the BG build but for the short time I used BG, Shade was still how I won most of my games.

[Os-Vegeta]

I think we're reaching some common ground on this subject, as your comment on how you can play Spiritmonger after Deeding really is very similar to mine about playing a creature, disruption, a graveyard remover, or a combination of these after Deeding.  

Quote In the current metagame, and with a manabase like PT Funk, Sinkhole is too much of a gamble to play with all the Misdirections floating around, the card can hurt you just as much as it can hurt your opponent.

Ever since GAT has lost its place as the top deck in the metagame, there are really less Misdirections floating around, making Sinkhole that much better in Void and Sui.  Granted, in a deck like PT Funk Sinkhole can still be a gamble.  That right there is one of my big reasons for wanting Void over PT Funk.  

Quote In my experience, Void and Funk plays two different styles against control.  Void tries to lock them down with an array of land and hand Destruction spells and tries to get a soft lock with Void, on the other hand Funk uses hand destruction to force through cheap effecient creatures like Boa and Negator that if not if dealt with soon, they will prove deadly.

While Void does try to get the soft lock, it plays or can play very similar to Sui, as it uses the hand and land disruption to also force through a Shade or a Hyppie and then Nether Void to try to seal the game.  You are correct, though, that Void and Funk do have different playstyles, as Void's likes to press with the disruption more.  In this new metagame, however, Psychatog is the weapon of what I expect to be one of the most popular control decks - Hulk Smash.  Though it can't do a whole lot about River Boa other than use Smother, it can easily handle a Negator, should  Psychatog resolve.  That is yet another reason why I wish to take a more disruptive approach.      

Quote But wouldn't the kill be the same majority of the time?  I could see a little change in the kill card between used in the two decks as Factory being more important in the BG build but for the short time I used BG, Shade was still how I won most of my games.

It's not the kill that's different - it's how the deck handles TnT that is different.  That little difference is just that important.

[jpmeyer]

The constant presence of fetchlands makes Sinkhole a lot worse though.  If they can play a fetchland first, they'll be able to get to the necessary UU threshold to be able to cast counters.  I think this is actually the biggest problem for Nether Void decks because once a deck reaches the mana threshold it likes, any LD you've cast and have left in your deck is functionally dead.

[Os-Vegeta]

Though I do agree that the presence of fetchlands has weakened Sinkhole, I don't believe that they have weakened it to the point where it has lost all its power, like the combination of 4 Gush and 4 Misdirection did in GAT.  When GAT was still dominant, I tried Masticore and Skeletal Scrying  in the Sinkhole slot with Sinkhole in the sideboard, and I was somewhat happy with it.  When the restrictions were announced, however, the decline in the number of decks packing four Misdirections MD gave enough power back to Sinkhole to return to the MD.

Actually, it was Legend who convinced me to put the Sinkholes back in, as he said and as I mentioned in an earlier post that a well-timed Sinkhole can just snag games for you.  He added that without Sinkhole, Void ends up losing its ability to jump on people.  I'm in agreement with him.

[Os-Vegeta]

Well, here's the finished decklist.  Again, I'd like to acknowledge all those who gave me their input when putting this build together:  ShadowLotus, Rozetta, Legend, Fever, and Zherbus.  I would also like to thank MarkPharaoh for debating the PT Funk vs. Void issue with me, as he really did present his side well.  

Hell's Bells Void, by Os-Vegeta
        1 Strip Mine
        4 Wasteland
        7 Swamp
        4 Polluted Delta
        4 Bayou
        4 Dark Ritual
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Jet
        4 Mishra's Factory
        4 Hypnotic Specter
        4 Nantuko Shade
        4 Duress
        4 Hymn to Tourach
        4 Sinkhole
        3 Nether Void
        1 Necropotence
        1 Demonic Consultation
        1 Demonic Tutor
        1 Yawgmoth's Will
        3 Pernicious Deed
SB:  4 Masticore
SB:  4 Naturalize
SB:  3 Cabal Therapy
SB:  2 Skeletal Scrying
SB:  2 Withered Wretch

I addressed the sideboard a bit throughout my posts, but here's the basic rundown:  Masticores come in against weenie aggro and TnT.

Naturalize is there primarily for TnT, Mask, and Stax, but it's also very useful against Parfait.

Cabal Therapy was a card I originally ran against GAT, and I'm keeping it to side in against Hulk, Stax, and Rector Trix.  

The two Skeletal Scrying, as I addressed before, have a lot of potential.  They can be quite good in the control matchups, and Rozetta even speculated that it has power comparable to Yawgmoth's Will vs. control.  When I discussed this with Fever, he too agreed.  So, these should come in against decks like Keeper and Hulk.  

Withered Wretch is re-usable graveyard removal against TnT.

What I would love to see is for someone to put this deck in action and take it to a T4 finish in a reputable metagame!

(EDIT: Updated the sideboard and generally what comes in against what.  Added Zherbus to "props to" list.)

[Arthur King]

Quote I think this is actually the biggest problem for Nether Void decks because once a deck reaches the mana threshold it likes, any LD you've cast and have left in your deck is functionally dead.

But void raises that threshhold do that your sinks and strips are useful again

[jpmeyer]

Quote (Arthur King @ June 08 2003,00:52)

Quote I think this is actually the biggest problem for Nether Void decks because once a deck reaches the mana threshold it likes, any LD you've cast and have left in your deck is functionally dead.

But void raises that threshhold do that your sinks and strips are useful again

The problem is that Nether Void costs four mana which is above the threshold that most decks need to operate at.  If they cross the threshold in the first place it often becomes impossible to get them back to it because they've still had at least a turn or two of playing their game.