Black Fish

[Dralock]

Plague spitter honestly seems like just a narrow Sideboard card in this deck. It would kill welders sure, but all the creatures that are in this deck can do that just in plain combat with Jitte equipped.

It's a shame this thread has gotten so many responses and still no one has heard from o. I'd love to hear some testing reports and match up analysis.

I've won games with it, but then again, I am still adapting to jitte play. I like the extra clock it gives the game to be honest. The only thing an aggro deck such as this one really has to worry about is combo and other aggro. Yes, the jitte is good for that, but getting it equipped will be hard being that you can only have one in play at a time.

You need to be doing other things while this is going on. You will be able to get in a beat or two with the wretch, but unless you are playing CS or some other ungodly-slow-yet-terribly-strong deck, alternate damage sources will probably be a plus.

[49 Cents]

Plague spitter honestly seems like just a narrow Sideboard card in this deck. It would kill welders sure, but all the creatures that are in this deck can do that just in plain combat with Jitte equipped.

It's a shame this thread has gotten so many responses and still no one has heard from o. I'd love to hear some testing reports and match up analysis.

I've won games with it, but then again, I am still adapting to jitte play. I like the extra clock it gives the game to be honest. The only thing an aggro deck such as this one really has to worry about is combo and other aggro. Yes, the jitte is good for that, but getting it equipped will be hard being that you can only have one in play at a time.

You need to be doing other things while this is going on. You will be able to get in a beat or two with the wretch, but unless you are playing CS or some other ungodly-slow-yet-terribly-strong deck, alternate damage sources will probably be a plus.

But Spitter + Negator = 

[onelovemachine]

Negators are the biggest and best fat that you have available in black.  A first turn Negator can put a lot of pressure against almost any control deck in the field, and when you put a Jitte on him, he's nigh unstoppable.  

It seems that negator is the best beater in the deck; why only 3?

[Disburden]

Negators are the biggest and best fat that you have available in black.  A first turn Negator can put a lot of pressure against almost any control deck in the field, and when you put a Jitte on him, he's nigh unstoppable.  

It seems that negator is the best beater in the deck; why only 3?

I'm guessing there was only three in the initial list due to mana cost and not wanting two in your opening hand, with ritual though, this isn't much of a problem so I'm rather unsure why there was three. I use four and it works fine so far, but I've only tested about 10 games with four of the Negators.

EDIT: and Yeah if you feel like having to sac a permanent each upkeep, then go ahead, use the spiitter 

[Astro]

I'm really liking the Chains of Mephistophles over Nights Whisper idea.  Its all theory hoever there is no way in hell this deck will ever out draw Fish, so why not stop every other deck out there from drawing?  Also, Chains is powerful as a 1 - 3 of in the deck.  By cutting Nights Whisper you can run 2 or so Chains and then run Vampiric Tutor in place of another to search them out or to grab other bombs such as possibly Crucible or a lone Diabolic Edict.

Also I like what Shade88 mentioned that Nantuko Shade should be better than Graverobber.  I feel Nantuko Shade is best at a 3 of as drawing more than one can sometimes be dead.  Bumping Negator up to 4 seems like a better idea.  This would leave a creature set looking like.

4x Mesmeric Fiend
4x Negator
4x Wretch
3x Nantuko Shade

[TimeWizzle]

I feel that with 5 strip effects, Crucible would be mandatory.  I am thinking two would be optimal.  Better yet, the addition of two Crucibles would make the Sinkholes somewhat redundant and free up about 2 slots for metagame choice cards, or maybe mind twist/vampiric tutor/powder keg etc.  Yawg will maybe?
Seems pretty good, but i am always a little leery of relying on negators (Triskelion or belcher-> board clearing).  When i played sui black, I found Reanimate/animate dead to be fantastic utility cards.

[alban]

two things:
-should this deck run a Yawgmoth's will?
- the oath matchup can be improved by a decent sideboard, let's say some edicts.
what should the exact build of the sb?
maybe Sui isn't dead after all 

[o]

I'm really liking the Chains of Mephistophles over Nights Whisper idea.  Its all theory hoever there is no way in hell this deck will ever out draw Fish, so why not stop every other deck out there from drawing?  Also, Chains is powerful as a 1 - 3 of in the deck.  By cutting Nights Whisper you can run 2 or so Chains and then run Vampiric Tutor in place of another to search them out or to grab other bombs such as possibly Crucible or a lone Diabolic Edict.

Also I like what Shade88 mentioned that Nantuko Shade should be better than Graverobber.  I feel Nantuko Shade is best at a 3 of as drawing more than one can sometimes be dead.  Bumping Negator up to 4 seems like a better idea.  This would leave a creature set looking like.

4x Mesmeric Fiend
4x Negator
4x Wretch
3x Nantuko Shade

Chains of Meph is certainly a possibility; but there is no way that they can replace Night's Whisper.  Yes, Chains does shut down a lot of your opponent's cards, but it doesn't help you at all, so it's only a temporary solution really.  You burn through your hand quite quickly, so Night's Whisper are absolutely necessary to replace missing cards.

I'd have to test it, but my gut instinct is that Shade isn't the creature that this deck is looking for.  Negator is about the only pure beatdown creature this deck can afford, and only because it is just soooo cheap.  Shade is really mana-intensive to have any functionality, and the truth is that most of the time you'd want to be doing other things.  I don't see what all the hate for N.Graverobber is for, he's esentially Wretch 5-7.  Also he can get as big as a shade most of the time, considering as how this deck usually has little mana to spare.  Upping the Negator count to four is fine and probably "right."

I feel that with 5 strip effects, Crucible would be mandatory.  I am thinking two would be optimal.  Better yet, the addition of two Crucibles would make the Sinkholes somewhat redundant and free up about 2 slots for metagame choice cards, or maybe mind twist/vampiric tutor/powder keg etc.  Yawg will maybe?
Seems pretty good, but i am always a little leery of relying on negators (Triskelion or belcher-> board clearing).  When i played sui black, I found Reanimate/animate dead to be fantastic utility cards.

COW doesn't belong in this deck.  3 mana is a LOT for it, and you absolutely cannot waste it on a card that doesn't put immediate and unconditional pressure on your opponent.  Also, mana denial in the form of strips is mainly a supplement to the deck's overall agenda, and therefore cards like Sinkhole, etc. aren't in the deck.

two things:
-should this deck run a Yawgmoth's will?
- the oath matchup can be improved by a decent sideboard, let's say some edicts.
what should the exact build of the sb?
maybe Sui isn't dead after all 

Yawg Will is just not gonna cut it for this deck.  For one, there is often little to recurr besides discard because the objective of the deck is to put board-pressure down, and two, you will almost never have enough mana to do anything broken with will, save the rare instances where you would draw it AND a lotus.

The number one singleton that I would like to add to this deck is Vamp Tutor, and I think it would really be nice to have two tutors because there are a lot of silver-bullets in the deck; but the problem is that the list is quite tight.  I'll have to think about it.

And really I don't have an exact SB yet.  It would certainly have some Edicts and the last Jitte, but I'm not sure beyond that.  I'd like to hear some thoughts about it.

[Astro]

Chains of Meph is certainly a possibility; but there is no way that they can replace Night's Whisper.  Yes, Chains does shut down a lot of your opponent's cards, but it doesn't help you at all, so it's only a temporary solution really.  You burn through your hand quite quickly, so Night's Whisper are absolutely necessary to replace missing cards.

The way I see it there is no way this deck will ever out draw Fish, Combo, or most control, so why not stop everyone else from drawing?  This shuts down everyting: Curiousity, Thirst for Knowledge, Brainstorm, Ancestral Recall, Ninjas, and every other top deck out there.  I do really like Nights Whisper however as you said the deck is really mana hungry and Whisper costs B1.  Essentially it draws 2 cards the first card just replaces the Whisper and you really only get the bonus of the additional card it lets you draw.  One last thing, with all the discard in this deck it really seals the deal keeping your opponent from drawing into anything useful.

[EDIT] This is however all theory.  I don't want to bash Nights Whisper to hard as everytime I've drawn it I've been very pleased.

I'd have to test it, but my gut instinct is that Shade isn't the creature that this deck is looking for.  Negator is about the only pure beatdown creature this deck can afford, and only because it is just soooo cheap.  Shade is really mana-intensive to have any functionality, and the truth is that most of the time you'd want to be doing other things.  I don't see what all the hate for N.Graverobber is for, he's esentially Wretch 5-7.  Also he can get as big as a shade most of the time, considering as how this deck usually has little mana to spare.  Upping the Negator count to four is fine and probably "right."

You might have a point.  I'm not totally sure if Graverobber is the correct creature, however it is a good cheap beatstick with a great ability.  Shade is good too however it is a bit mana hungry.  I'm still up in the air on this one.

COW doesn't belong in this deck.  3 mana is a LOT for it, and you absolutely cannot waste it on a card that doesn't put immediate and unconditional pressure on your opponent.  Also, mana denial in the form of strips is mainly a supplement to the deck's overall agenda, and therefore cards like Sinkhole, etc. aren't in the deck.

I actually really do like Sinkholes in the Cabal Therapy slot.  You can only Duress your opponent so many times before they have nothing worth Duressing.  Sinkhole mixes it up a bit and has tight synergy when in conjunction with Strips and Chalice. 

On CoW, its nice but expesive as hell, this deck has a pretty tight mana base already.

The deck just really needs cheap fast spells to compete.

[Disburden]

First off I would like to address the issue of drawing cards with night's whisper compared to Chains maindecked.

-When using 4 Nights Whisper main, I felt I needed less of that card and more cards to just win the game. I've cut one of the whispers for Vampiric Tutor. I myself like Chains but this deck wants you to draw cards and I don't know of any draw spells in black that work as well as the nights whisper. Sometimes within the first 3 turns with this deck you need to just draw "anything good" and if you have a whisper or tutor in hand it really comes in handy. I don't think the mission of adding Night's Whisper was to outdraw fish decks that run blue. There's no way it can out race Standstill, it is a powerhouse. I've been using Chains, but not in the maindeck, only as a two of in the sideboard. I think more than two Chains is bad for any deck (This is for the comment that said 1-3 chains is good, I disagree). Chains is an enchantment and if you have more than two in a deck it can just be dead most of the time, drawing too many is rough times. I personally really like Night's Whisper, it has helped me more than hurt me so far.

-Creature base:
      I was using Nantuko for awhile and a part of me doesn't want to cut it. I did use Graverobber at first, but I felt it wasn't as good as Wretch most of the time and I had trouble flipping it over. Nantuko is good because you can pump it, but this deck doesn't really have a ton of mana to spare and pumping it more than +2+2 (or even +1+1) sometimes was tough on me, unless I had or drew into a Ritual. It was either cast a spell or pump the Shade and hope no one blocks it, since it doesn't trample.
I feel four Negators is right. I liked the suggestion earlier than Skullsnatcher could be added, I've really missed a ninja in this deck, I love Ninja of the Deep Hours. Anyone else try the Skullsnatcher out? Attacking twice with Negator is brutal!

Crucible debate:
          I think making this deck to be like Sui is the wrong path. It works well with the strip effects but this deck is tight and to just add fancy tricks over the main goal of the deck really isn't needed. I feel having more than one would clog things up, and one would just be pointless.

Will:
         There really isn't much to cast from the graveyard with this spell. Once again this deck doesn't have much land and to hope for a ritual to cast will- replay duress, or something even more mana intensive just draws attention from casting critters and beating ass. Yawgmoth's Will is my favorite card of all time, but I just don't see the point. I haven't tested much yet on this though; has anyone else?

So far I've gathered these conclusions (not really "conclusions"):

4 Negator is best
3 Whisper is fine, too many if you run more.
We need Vampiric tutor, because it's just so good.
Crucible isn't that important to take up slots.
I like Chains as a two-of in the SB.

[shade88]

          I think making this deck to be like Sui is the wrong path.

Exactly. This deck is meant to be played like fish, not sui. The flatout more powerful cards suicide used to play don't belong in the deck. Fish is about cards working together, and every step towards individual strengths of cards weakens the deck, with the exception of 2x tutors, and 1x necro, which, like recall and time walk, are simply toooo good to pass up.

 If you haven't already, compare this deck to u/g vial fish. Side by side, the cards are practically identical, just with abilities of their color. I really like the combination of 3 night's whisper, 1 vamp tutor. That leaves the deck with 4 silver bullet slots, 1 necro obviously, or 3 metagame choices. Chains has been suggested, but is it really worth it, or can 3x more spells make the deck more powerful?

Updated version 57 cards:

3x nantuko shade
4x mesmeric fiend
4x negator
4x withered wretch

4x aether vial
4x chalice of the void
4x duress
3x night's whisper
3x umezawa's jitte
1 x vampiric tutor
1x demonic tutor
1x necropotence

1x mox jet
1x black lotus
4x dark ritual
10x swamp
4x wasteland
1x strip mine

At this point , the deck has 3 card slots which could be devoted to:
a) 2x more swamp for a more stable mana base, or 1x Library of Alexandria and 1x swamp, with a metagame tutor slot open
b 3x something else??? Suggestions???unmask?cabal therapy?perhaps even chains of mephistopheles if nothing else can be found?

[Disburden]

          I think making this deck to be like Sui is the wrong path.

At this point , the deck has 3 card slots which could be devoted to:
a) 2x more swamp for a more stable mana base, or 1x Library of Alexandria and 1x swamp, with a metagame tutor slot open
b 3x something else??? Suggestions???unmask?cabal therapy?perhaps even chains of mephistopheles if nothing else can be found?

I dont think Library fits at all, this deck wants you to dump your hand asap. Holding it for Library would be suicide (heheh).

Anyway, I have been using Cabal Therapy since the first list was posted; why is everyone assuming its removed from the deck? It works awesome!

[o]

          I think making this deck to be like Sui is the wrong path.

Exactly. This deck is meant to be played like fish, not sui. The flatout more powerful cards suicide used to play don't belong in the deck. Fish is about cards working together, and every step towards individual strengths of cards weakens the deck, with the exception of 2x tutors, and 1x necro, which, like recall and time walk, are simply toooo good to pass up.

 If you haven't already, compare this deck to u/g vial fish. Side by side, the cards are practically identical, just with abilities of their color. I really like the combination of 3 night's whisper, 1 vamp tutor. That leaves the deck with 4 silver bullet slots, 1 necro obviously, or 3 metagame choices. Chains has been suggested, but is it really worth it, or can 3x more spells make the deck more powerful?

Updated version 57 cards:

3x nantuko shade
4x mesmeric fiend
4x negator
4x withered wretch

4x aether vial
4x chalice of the void
4x duress
3x night's whisper
3x umezawa's jitte
1 x vampiric tutor
1x demonic tutor
1x necropotence

1x mox jet
1x black lotus
4x dark ritual
10x swamp
4x wasteland
1x strip mine

At this point , the deck has 3 card slots which could be devoted to:
a) 2x more swamp for a more stable mana base, or 1x Library of Alexandria and 1x swamp, with a metagame tutor slot open
b 3x something else??? Suggestions???unmask?cabal therapy?perhaps even chains of mephistopheles if nothing else can be found?

I'm not gonna argue with you about the shades, but my current list looks just like this except with graverobbers.  It's also possible that Skullsnatchers could be used in that slot.

The three "extra" cards that I'm running right now are: 2x Cabal Therapy and 1x Mana Source.  The mana sources I have tested were Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox, and just another swamp.  Lotus Petal was just a bad ritual, and Chrome Mox was waaaaaaaaay too much CD, so I'm sticking with Swamp for now.  Maybe Sol Ring?  I'm really not sure.

Also, can we begin to agree on some SB cards?  The only things I'm certain on are: 3-4X Edict, 1X Jitte, and 1-2X Chains.  I would still want something against Welder (possibly Plague Spitter; I actually like that idea), and something against combo (No Idea on this), and perhaps something more against artifact decks.

I haven't quite decided what that mana source should be

[shade88]

Sol Ring works perfectly. Jitte, negator, withered wretch, and even chalice of the void all become stronger from it.

In 5 minutes I'm leaving home for a week, but I should be able to come up wtih some cards on the sideboard and post later on today.

[Slay]

Have you considered Vendetta as a 2x slot? It seems perfect to cut off whatever creature they have, and you won't lose any decent sized amount of life. Seems solid enough to kill off any pesky critters that might come along, especially with a Negator out, you can really screw up their combat math.
-Slay

[zergwrong]

Here are some small thoughts of mine on the deck.

About the Whisper vs Chains

Maybe we can run this:

4 Dark Confidant (instead of Whispers) (Yes, I know it's not even close to legal yet, but it's an idea, right? http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/images/mi05/dark_con.jpg)


3 Chains (or 4, whichever works)


And maybe the 4th Jitte for the life-gain to support the confidant.

And the deck will be able to draw under chains with confidant rather well, and we can even have multipuls confidants on board if needed since he's not a legend. On the plus side, the low mana curve of the deck should cause you to lose too much life from confidant anyways.

Just a thought.

No flaming please.

[Nantuko Rice]

Dark Confidant would work nicely with chains...

Just out of curisoty, when this deck was built with blue, what was it like? I'm assuming the blue cards were: standstill, daze, ancestral, walk (not enuff blue to support force)

I would really like to see a deck play with my favorite two proactive and reactive cards: Duress & Daze

[o]

Here are some small thoughts of mine on the deck.

About the Whisper vs Chains

Maybe we can run this:

4 Dark Confidant (instead of Whispers) (Yes, I know it's not even close to legal yet, but it's an idea, right? http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/images/mi05/dark_con.jpg)


3 Chains (or 4, whichever works)


And maybe the 4th Jitte for the life-gain to support the confidant.

And the deck will be able to draw under chains with confidant rather well, and we can even have multipuls confidants on board if needed since he's not a legend. On the plus side, the low mana curve of the deck should cause you to lose too much life from confidant anyways.

Just a thought.

No flaming please.

Dark Confidant + Chains IS a good idea; unfortunately it'll be a while before he's legal.  Until then, I'll stick with my Night's Whispers and be content.  Also note that Necropotence works under chains. Also I think 3 Chains is too much for MD.

[Disburden]

Read my previous post about Chains in decks and how many is right. More than two is HORRIBLE.
Also look at the tons of post from the past few days and see the progress that we've made. Let's not make a step backwards , we're two pages in and to have a close thread would really suck (So would a switch to Newbie Forum)

I will soon be playing the following decks for playtesting since o has yet to post match up analysis:

Stax
Oath
Gifts
Fish U.W and WTF
Workshop Aggro
R/G beatz
Control Slaver
Mono Blue
TPS
Deathlong
Tog

Once these testing results are done I will post results from ALL decks.

Anyone even try Fetchlands? Instead of assume it would hurt your more than help you? I use them and haven't lost too much life from them yet.

[shade88]

dark confidant is definitely going to be played, as for what creature and how many copies (3 or 4), time will tell. Furthermore, chains of mephistopheles will probably go into the deck as a two of and round out the deck, instead of having 3x open slots or silver bullets, it will simply be 2 tutors, necropotence, and two chains, but until ravinca comes out, the maindeck looks pretty solid. Just the sideboard needs to be worked on. Suggestions??

[waSP]

On what turn does Necropotence start to look less appealing?  My guess in most of your matchups would be turn 3 or later.  I'm not really a fan of Necropotence.  Sure it's powerful, but I haven't seen too many situations where it would win you the game where other less powerful cards couldn't have as well.  I think there should be more disruption in this deck: either Cabal Therapy or Unmask.  If you run a bunch of silver bullets, then Unmask might be wise.  In a lot of your matchups, your opponents want to have as little interaction as possible.  You want to force their hand.  If you're a good player, the level of interaction counts for a great deal in a match.  Maximizing it can turn a match in your favor.

If Therapy gets added to the deck, you might want to consider Undead Gladiator.  With your Vial set at 3, he gets back in and starts swinging again with almost no tempo loss.  I used him when I tried out a monoblack control deck; he was my MVP.

Sol Ring is the right call.  Nantuko Shade and Library of Alexandria are not. (if you need reasoning on Nantuko, I can give it, but I don't think you should)

Don't forget about Engineered Plague if you are running silver bullets which you shouldn't be (it will do half the things you wanted Plaguespitter to do twice as well).  Silver bullets are an excuse to decrease your consistency at expense of a few stolen matches.  I will say that it does work in a very compartmentalized metagame.

If you want to play draw: don't play bad cards, splash in blue.  Having an opponent attack your mana base isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It matters less with Vial in the deck.  Ninja of the Deep Hours is a viable replacement for Night's Whisper, but it precludes the inclusions of Chains.

What sorts of sideboard cards are we looking at (I guess you should know your bad matchups first)?

I like that this deck exists.  I like that you all care.

[Astro]

4 Dark Confidant (instead of Whispers) (Yes, I know it's not even close to legal yet, but it's an idea, right?

Dark Confidant is really good.  I've been testing him a bit and he not only fits the mana curve, but he puts cards in your hand, and has a hot body.  Plus the damage I've taken from him has been minimal.  So far in testing many of my turns I only draw a land so there is no damage, and Chalice doesn't deal damage either.  He also works nice with Jitte's live gaining ability.  Plus he's not bad at all with Negator and Necro being the only spells over 2 and the rest of your mana curve looking like this:

5x - 3cc
18x - 2 cc
13x - 1 cc
23x - 0 cc

Read my previous post about Chains in decks and how many is right. More than two is HORRIBLE.

Chains is really freaking awesome.  Even if Dark Confidant is never released I think 3 Chains is mandatory.  Its one of the main reasons this deck even has a chance.  I can barely think of maybe 2 or 3 competetive decks right now that I would want to side them out against.  Fish packs Curiosity - Ninjas - Standstill, Workshop decks pack TFK- Ancestral, Dragon and Cerebral Assassin pack Bazaar, Oath packs Brainstorm - Ancestral - Accumulated Knowledge, TPS packs Brainstorm - Fact or Fiction - Skeletal Skrying, Tog, EBA, and a ton of other decks all pack a bunch of the previously mentioned draw spells.  Its the "Null Rod" of drawing cards, theres no excuse for it not to be in the deck, especially with all the discard going on.

[Disburden]

I don't think posting lists with dark Confidant even matters at this point, he won't even be legal for months now. This deck needs to be made and tested for the Vintage game that exists right now, not later. Who knows what is going to happen when the confidant comes out. This deck might even be dead by then.


Anyone splashing colors for the Sb? I was splashing green for oxidize/naturalize and Choke and it was quite useful.

EDIT: I should also mention this requires you to have Bayou in your sideboard, which would take up alot of slots. Also the deck would need to run fetchlands.

[o]

Some preliminary test notes:

Stax - Not a bad match at all.  Actually quite good.  Your negators put them on a short clock, and it's tough for them to combat you.  The strongest card they have against you is smokestack itself.  Watch out for Trike though if you have a negator out.  Jitte keeps down any Welders you may see.

Oath - Again, a pretty good match.  You have a pretty fast clock, and can disrupt them for long enough to swing for the win.  Jitte's are VERY VERY good here, you can even sometimes remove their wincondition with Jitte + Wretch.  Bring in Edicts and things get even easier.

Fooc Chain Goblins - HORRIBLE match.  You have little chance to win unless you can manascrew them.  Their creatures are so much better than yours, and they have infinity times as many.  You need 4 Plague Spitters to even have a chance in this matchup.

Fish - Bad, but not as bad as FCG.  Their manlands hurt you, but you can often race them.  Again, Plague Spitters are nice, especially with therapies. Jittes can also destroy them.

So the SB is shaping out to be:

4x Diabolic Edict
4x Plague Spitter
2x Chains of Meph
2x Cabal Therapy
1x Umezawa's Jitte
2x Something

[absolute]

BBS-

2-0 in testing so far... I only logged one game. I started with a good grip from the beginning, with an opening jet and fiend that drew out an impulse. This game seems to have fiend and duress doing all the grunt work, while I got jitte out both games and just smashed face and dimminished their hands. Never sided anything in, but chains would be golden here....

FCG-

...0-2, as tested this is a horrible matchup, I don't really even think the Plague Spitter would be good here, as I need the fiend to draw a food chain most of the time. This is by far the worst game I've played with the deck.

I played fish(UW) as well, but he conceded before it ended. The matchup seemed close for me, although I didn't drop fiend as much as I did Wretched Anurid, which I am using in the Nantuko shade's spot for the deck (Less resource dependant and the jitte seems to keep the life gain up as I use this as a cheap Phyrexian Negator).

Overall, testing so far has been pretty good, I'll have to see if I can get in some matches verse control slaver, as it should be a pretty favorable theoretically.

[o]

FCG-

...0-2, as tested this is a horrible matchup, I don't really even think the Plague Spitter would be good here, as I need the fiend to draw a food chain most of the time. This is by far the worst game I've played with the deck.

yeah, FCG is very very hard.  I think a combination of Plague Spittter and Engineered Plague is our best bet.

[Disburden]

FCG-

...0-2, as tested this is a horrible matchup, I don't really even think the Plague Spitter would be good here, as I need the fiend to draw a food chain most of the time. This is by far the worst game I've played with the deck.

yeah, FCG is very very hard.  I think a combination of Plague Spittter and Engineered Plague is our best bet.

I've had engineered plague in the sideboard lately and it makes the FCG matchup alot easier than you would think. Naming Goblins at the right moment knocks them out for a short period of time giving you a chance to move in with a jitte and beat quickly. It takes good timing, but it does make the matchup better. I think plague should be in the SB definitely. How has the Spitter been with Negators out? Seems rather painful..

[Ender]

FCG: 0-4 - Omg this matchup was hard. Gempalms for your negators, their creatures are just better than yours and they can combo off. Jeez.

cerebal assassin: 2-0 - With the wretches and graverobbers, it is very hard for them to reanimate anything. The duresses, fiends and CotV are just icing.

Jacob Orlove's WTF: 1-4 - In theory, the matchup should be even but in reality it doesn't seem so. They have more draw than you and with vial set at 2, it makes it hard to swing with a negator having them vial out a mongrel and/or rootwaller gang (its happened more than once). Also, whispers are suboptimal in this matchup as well because it just makes the mongrel lethal that much more faster.

oath: 1-2 - As soon as oath hits the tables, its gg. You definitely create a fast clock but if they oath up akroma, you might as well start scooping up the cards.

Sligh: 0-2 - Yea. This was bad. But I assume every deck packing burn sucks vs this deck like burning dryad and r/g beats.

Stax: 4-2 - This is definitely one of the better matchups. The only thing that sucks is big ole plats and sundering titan


Some opinions:
I tried splashing green for the sideboard but with only 10 swamps, making 2 of them wasteable, really sucks and can sometimes lose you a game or two. The graverobbers definitely need to leave. They are 2 mana for a 2/1 and if you flip it, it just became a 4/2 for 4 mana. Wretched Anurid seems like an interesting idea but I've been using skittering horror in the shade slot, as it has obvious synergy with vials.

3x skittering horror
4x mesmeric fiend
4x negator
4x withered wretch

4x aether vial
4x chalice of the void
4x duress
4x night's whisper
3x umezawa's jitte
1 x vampiric tutor
1x demonic tutor
1x necropotence

1x sol ring
1x mox jet
1x black lotus
4x dark ritual
11x swamp
4x wasteland
1x strip mine

sideboard:
4x diabolic edict
3x chains
3x nether void (*shrugs* thought it might help vs the fcg matchup)
5 random slots.

More testing as I type this out ^^

[Disburden]

Skittering Horror has some good beef. How did he work out when testing most of the time? We already have a 3 mana creature in negator and this one may not always be out when your vialing out creatures. Has it hurt your more than helped you? It seems it may slow the deck down some since it's CC is 3. I think we need a 2cc creature that's useful in this slot to not ruin the manacurve anybit.

It would be cool to win games with a skittering horror  :lol:

Skittering Skirge does the same thing, btw for a 3/2 body and flying. It seems alot better imho. The picture isn't as good though 

[o]

Skittering Horror has some good beef. How did he work out when testing most of the time? We already have a 3 mana creature in negator and this one may not always be out when your vialing out creatures. Has it hurt your more than helped you? It seems it may slow the deck down some since it's CC is 3. I think we need a 2cc creature that's useful in this slot to not ruin the manacurve anybit.

It would be cool to win games with a skittering horror  :lol:

Well if you think that we need a 2 cc creature in that slot (which I agree with), then howabout Skittering Horror's friend Skittering Skirge?  It's certainly a possiblity.