[Deck] Black Stax

[The Demon]

This is the deck that I took to the COD in Chicago.  While I did top eight with this list, I am looking forward to criticism and ideas from the members on this forum.  Without further ado......Black Stax.

Land/Mana sources.
1 Strip Mine
3 Mishra’s Factory  (alternative kill)
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Wasteland
4 MWS
3 Swamp
1 Academy
1 Sol Ring
5 Mox
1 Lotus

Lock Pieces.
3 Nether Void
4 Chalice
3 Tangle Wire
1 Trinisphere
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Smokestack
3 Crucible
4 Null Rod

Threats/Tutors.
4 Dark Confidant
1 Vamp
1 Demonic
2 Juggernaut
1 Karn

Sideboard
2 Tabernacle at Pendrell vale
2 Leyline of the Void
3 Extripate
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Plague Spitter
3 Razormane Masticore


The reason that I prefer a mono black list is actually very simple, I like the consistency of the deck.  Confidant gives me a very consistent draw, and while Uba Mask +Bazaar is downright silly, it seems to me if you have one without the other, or a bazaar without a welder that it is only marginal or even bad.  Nether Void is a monster, I win the vast majority of the games that it resolves, and the sideboard options are in my opinion phenomenal. Plague Spitter is great against decks that use ETW, (it often gets sided in against me g2 and g3) fish, and in the mirror.  We all know about how fun it is to wasteland an Underground Sea/Volcanic Island and then Extirpate it.  Leyline of the void is very castable if I draw it past turn one.  All in all I think that this deck is and can be a good choice to take to a balanced field.  The other cards are all self explanatory and simple; razormane masticore comes in against fish, aggro, the stax mirror, and bomberman. The Tabernacle at Pendrall Vale goes in against ETW decks and sometimes against Fish.  Leyline Extirpate and Crypt go in against Ichorid.  I could really use some advice as to what cards I could side in against Oath of Druids.

Good matchups for me are combo and combo control.  Against other decks for the most part my matchups are at least pretty decent, except for Ichorid.  Game one against Ichorid is almost always an auto loss. My SB helps me a lot against the other commonly played decks. 


 

[WhiteWolf]

When Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth came out I started a thread about Black Stax that became pretty long: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=31858.0

At the end it was pretty much agreed that Black Stax is cool (and in my and others testing pretty good) but stuff like MonoRed UbaStax just has more raw power.

I tried out a lot of different lists and cards but if I had to play the deck at the moment I would do something like this:

Black Stax

4 Dark Confidant

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Defense Grid
4 Null Rod
4 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
4 Nether Void

1 Demonic Tutor

4 Bazaar of Baghdad

4 Cabal Pit
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tomb of Urami
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Sideboard

4 Maze of Ith
3 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale / Dry Spell / some EtW hate
4 Gate to Phyrexia
4 Leyline of the Void

Some thoughts:

- Dark Confidant + Bazaar of Baghdad is a nice draw-engine. Confidant just belongs and Bazaar is even very good because it also produces B in this deck.
- Of course Nether Void is VERY powerfull but you have to get it down. Play 4, you want one asap and discard the rest to Bazaar.
- I included Defense Grid over Sphere of Resistance because Sphere made casting your own Voids harder and Counterspells seemed to be one of the main enemies (especially in casting Void). Defense Grid is also nice against that end-of-turn bounce/draw/Gifts crap
- I cutted Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal. They were dead 9/10 because I really wanted to lay a Chalice @ 1 asap.
- Cabal Pit are just better than basic Swamps in this deck. They're the black Barbarian Ring.
- Mishra's Factory are also great. Early game blockers and win-condition under Nether Void. Tomb of Urami is nice on-off.
- Sideboard: Maze of Ith is needed against Oath and Colossus (and even Grunt) and not-so-bad with Urborg, same goes for Tabernacle against EtW and Fish. You could go with Ensnaring Bridges but you need to attack yourself at the end. Leyline is very good against Ichorid and even castable in this deck. Gate to Phyrexia is a necessary evil and the best anti-artifact card I could find. Other Stax decks are a bad match-up. Gate/Factory/Crucible can solve some problems.

Concerning your deck: To begin, I would cut Tangle Wire (only really good with Welder or Winter Orb), Juggernaut (this isn't ShopAggro, especially because you're only playing two) and Karn (he's objectively very good but you play 4 Null Rod). On the other hand, you top8'ed with this deck so maybe you could elaborate on these cards and their performance in the tournament?

I'm happy that someone is still testing this deck and am curious what comes up. Maybe I should pick it up again. People like Yespuhyren found that Black Stax was very vulnerable to creatures but I think that could be solved (like maindeck Plague Spitters or something). My main problem was that Combo and Control just countered Void, bounced the artifact locks and went off. If we could find a GOOD black enchantment lock piece (besides and on top off Void) it could look a lot better. The same as that at the moment I'm having very, very good results with Pyrostatic Pillar. I went to a tournament yesterday and really sucked but at least I learned that everyone is scared to death by Pillar.

Maybe we could go Black/Red and combine Nether Void and Pyrostatic Pillar ...

Succes with the deck and I would appreciate it if you could keep me posted on your results (by thread or pm).

[Imsomniac101]

One side effect of Urborg is that it gives your opponent's lands the ability to produce black. I think this is a huge drawback of the card that has not been discussed

[The Demon]

When Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth came out I started a thread about Black Stax that became pretty long: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=31858.0

At the end it was pretty much agreed that Black Stax is cool (and in my and others testing pretty good) but stuff like MonoRed UbaStax just has more raw power.

I tried out a lot of different lists and cards but if I had to play the deck at the moment I would do something like this:

Black Stax

4 Dark Confidant

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Defense Grid
4 Null Rod
4 Crucible of Worlds
1 Trinisphere
4 Nether Void

1 Demonic Tutor

4 Bazaar of Baghdad

4 Cabal Pit
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Tomb of Urami
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Sideboard

4 Maze of Ith
3 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale / Dry Spell / some EtW hate
4 Gate to Phyrexia
4 Leyline of the Void

Some thoughts:

- Dark Confidant + Bazaar of Baghdad is a nice draw-engine. Confidant just belongs and Bazaar is even very good because it also produces B in this deck.
- Of course Nether Void is VERY powerfull but you have to get it down. Play 4, you want one asap and discard the rest to Bazaar.
- I included Defense Grid over Sphere of Resistance because Sphere made casting your own Voids harder and Counterspells seemed to be one of the main enemies (especially in casting Void). Defense Grid is also nice against that end-of-turn bounce/draw/Gifts crap
- I cutted Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal. They were dead 9/10 because I really wanted to lay a Chalice @ 1 asap.
- Cabal Pit are just better than basic Swamps in this deck. They're the black Barbarian Ring.
- Mishra's Factory are also great. Early game blockers and win-condition under Nether Void. Tomb of Urami is nice on-off.
- Sideboard: Maze of Ith is needed against Oath and Colossus (and even Grunt) and not-so-bad with Urborg, same goes for Tabernacle against EtW and Fish. You could go with Ensnaring Bridges but you need to attack yourself at the end. Leyline is very good against Ichorid and even castable in this deck. Gate to Phyrexia is a necessary evil and the best anti-artifact card I could find. Other Stax decks are a bad match-up. Gate/Factory/Crucible can solve some problems.

Concerning your deck: To begin, I would cut Tangle Wire (only really good with Welder or Winter Orb), Juggernaut (this isn't ShopAggro, especially because you're only playing two) and Karn (he's objectively very good but you play 4 Null Rod). On the other hand, you top8'ed with this deck so maybe you could elaborate on these cards and their performance in the tournament?

I'm happy that someone is still testing this deck and am curious what comes up. Maybe I should pick it up again. People like Yespuhyren found that Black Stax was very vulnerable to creatures but I think that could be solved (like maindeck Plague Spitters or something). My main problem was that Combo and Control just countered Void, bounced the artifact locks and went off. If we could find a GOOD black enchantment lock piece (besides and on top off Void) it could look a lot better. The same as that at the moment I'm having very, very good results with Pyrostatic Pillar. I went to a tournament yesterday and really sucked but at least I learned that everyone is scared to death by Pillar.

Maybe we could go Black/Red and combine Nether Void and Pyrostatic Pillar ...

Succes with the deck and I would appreciate it if you could keep me posted on your results (by thread or pm).

Actually it was your thread that made me decide to keep working on a black stax list.  Your original list gave me a lot of ideas that you see in the deck.

As far as Cabal Pit goes, that seems good but is that not overkill?  I end up tapping my swamps a fair amount of the time, the fact that I have a relatively rough time against aggro game one is what makes me want to stay away from it.  My list does not get to thresh hold as quick as other stax lists, and I think that by the time I kill a meddling mage or a kataki that it is to late. 

@ defense grid/tangle wire-I like the idea of making it hard for my opponent to counter my spells, but since I run so many lock pieces I can usually bait or bog them down with redundancy.  Tangle Wire flat out won me several games at the COD tournament.  And I think that you and I may be playing the deck slightly different, my end all play is not to play nether void; my end all play is.....turn one trinisphere?   What I am saying is that even if a game that I play ends with an unresolved Nether Void I could still very well win.  Between all those smaller lock pieces and Null Rod/Nether Void I like am ok with most of my match ups game one. 

@Juggernaut and Karn-I like Juggernaut as a two of because he gives me a fairly strong clock with one of them.  Granted he is not the hot fire against combo/combo control but he gives me a fighting chance against the stax mirror.  I am not opposed to cutting Juggernaut at all, I just want a two of big beater in that slot if that makes any sense.  Karn is another guy that played well for me in the tournament as well.  I rarely have it come up with him and null rod being in play at the same time.  I still like him very much in the deck, and if you have a good idea about another alternative kill I would be open to suggestions.

I think that it may be a good idea to cut vampiric tutor.  I usually ended up casting Demonic Tutor when I had it, but not a single time all day did I cast Vampiric tutor.

I have not tested Bazaar of Baghdad, I have no real way of abusing it without Mask or Welder.


@ Imsomniac101-You are correct, it kinda blows when your opponent is no longer activating their fetches and mooching off the awesomeness of Yawg Tomb   That has actually come up quite a few times, but it usually isn't that bad.

[WhiteWolf]

@ The Demon:

It’s nice to have “inspired” you. In turn your thread inspires me to revisit the deck. I put a lot of work in it last time but hit a wall on some problems. Maybe I’ll come up with some solutions with a clear head after shelving the deck for a time.

Isn’t the fact that you have a rough time against aggro a big reason to include Cabal Pit instead of dismissing it? I understand you’re a little afraid of the accumulating damage but it works nice with Tomb. Of course the Pits are better in a Bazaar build like mine that achieves threshold a lot quicker.

Defense Grid / Tangle Wire: These lock-pieces are both good against counterspells. Tangle Wire is also good against aggro decks while Defense Grid is slightly better against control (and combo). The reason I prefer Defense Grid over Tangle Wire – in this deck -  is the fact that I only really like Tangle Wire with something like Welder (to recur them) or Winter Orb (to seriously lengthen their effect). I only tested the Defense Grids for a little while because I stopped playing the deck but I can tell you that people were very scared of the thing and it was really a must counter. If it’s countered, it stole a counter, if its’ not, even better.

Juggernaut / Karn: Don’t get me wrong, I love Juggernaut as much as any other Workshop player but I consider them a 4-of creature and for more aggro Shop decks. If you want some betaters I would play your sideboard 3 Razormane Masticore maindeck in place of the 2 Juggernaut + 1 Karn. The Razors beat for the same as Juggernaut but also has some utility by shooting Fish, Welders, Confidants. All that for one extra mana. This doesn’t seem a problem in this deck were you first want to lay some locks anyway. I know the discard seems harsh to some people but you can always discard extra lands (and replay them with Crucible!) or extra lock-pieces. He can be a real threat, especially against aggro decks and other Stax decks (stax hates big creatures, especially ones that pick of their Welders). If you really, really hate the discard or something you could always play Clockwork Hydra but I encourage you to try the Razormanes first. In my latest version I only play Dark Confidants, Mishra’s Factory and one Tomb of Urami as kill-conditions. Razormanes discard doesn’t go well with Bazaar. Also, I like to keep the casting costs as low as possible, so winning with lands works nice with that. If I really wanted a creature I would try out Greater Harvester, a 5/6 for 5 mana and a super-Smokestack on legs.

Vampiric Tutor: Indeed, in testing I 9 out of 10 didn’t cast Vampiric Tutor because I put Chalice @ 1 every time (that’s one of the good things about playing 4 CotV and 4 Null Rod). I had the idea of testing Infernal Tutor as extra tutoring power. Especially with Bazaar Hellbent isn’t difficult to get. On the other hand I only want Tutors for Strip Mine and Trinisphere because the other cards are mostly redundant and I tend to draw into them with Confidant/Bazaar.

Bazaar of Baghdad: In the beginning the deck went in two directions: one played Chains as extra enchantment lock pieces (played by Yespuhyren) and one played Bazaars (my version). Maybe you can’t abuse Bazaars the same way decks with Welder and Uba Maks can but Bazaars are still the best unrestricted draw engine in MtG and together with Dark Confidant it can draw/filter through your deck very quickly to get the right cards. Crucible and playing a lot of lands also has synergy with them. Again I encourage you to try them out. In this deck they often aren’t equal to loosing a land drop because they could produce B. I have played a lot of Stax and all Stax decks want some draw (be it in real card-quantity or in card-quality by filtering) to follow up the initial locks.

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Opponents abusing the Tomb: Just like The Demon said it didn’t really come up as a problem.

Now about the problems I experienced with the deck:

- vulnerability to mass-bounce and counters: I believe Defense Grid could help solve this a great deal. I'm going to test that some more. Also, I’d really want another non-artifact lock on top of Nether Void. Prime candidates seem to be Chains of Mephistopheles (but not with Bazaar!), Braids, Cabal Minion (I liked this in testing because it was one turn quicker than Smokestack and it beats), Desolation (crappy casting cost without Tomb), maybe Curse of the Cabal (but that needs Smokestack or Braids to accompany it), Greater Harvester, …

- vulnerability to other Stax decks: In my testing Stax was a bad match-up. The best solution I could come up with (but didn’t test yet) was Gate to Phyrexia to kill their Crucibles (that also needs Factory or Confidant however) and Cabal Pit to pick off their Welders.

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Some random thoughts (a lot of crap but everything should be considered):

- Something like Mesmeric Fiend could be a semi-lock piece.

- Echoing Decay seems nice in the sideboard. It deals with EtW tokens, Welders, Fish, …

- Gibbering Descent could be tested. You can Madness it out with Bazaar. The problem is that it sucks with Confidant.

- Grave Peril is worthy of testing as a sideboard card against Colossus, Oath, … Diabolic Edict is probably better, although Peril can be played proactively.

- Street Wraith should probably be tested. A free draw that can double as a kill-condition or desperate blocker.

- Tombstalker could be a nice win-condition. A 5/5 flyer for BB.

- Korlash, Heir to Blackblade could also be tested as a win-condition. Playing basic swamps would make it better however.

[The Demon]

@ The Demon:

It’s nice to have “inspired” you. In turn your thread inspires me to revisit the deck. I put a lot of work in it last time but hit a wall on some problems. Maybe I’ll come up with some solutions with a clear head after shelving the deck for a time.

Isn’t the fact that you have a rough time against aggro a big reason to include Cabal Pit instead of dismissing it? I understand you’re a little afraid of the accumulating damage but it works nice with Tomb. Of course the Pits are better in a Bazaar build like mine that achieves threshold a lot quicker.

Defense Grid / Tangle Wire: These lock-pieces are both good against counterspells. Tangle Wire is also good against aggro decks while Defense Grid is slightly better against control (and combo). The reason I prefer Defense Grid over Tangle Wire – in this deck -  is the fact that I only really like Tangle Wire with something like Welder (to recur them) or Winter Orb (to seriously lengthen their effect). I only tested the Defense Grids for a little while because I stopped playing the deck but I can tell you that people were very scared of the thing and it was really a must counter. If it’s countered, it stole a counter, if its’ not, even better.

Juggernaut / Karn: Don’t get me wrong, I love Juggernaut as much as any other Workshop player but I consider them a 4-of creature and for more aggro Shop decks. If you want some betaters I would play your sideboard 3 Razormane Masticore maindeck in place of the 2 Juggernaut + 1 Karn. The Razors beat for the same as Juggernaut but also has some utility by shooting Fish, Welders, Confidants. All that for one extra mana. This doesn’t seem a problem in this deck were you first want to lay some locks anyway. I know the discard seems harsh to some people but you can always discard extra lands (and replay them with Crucible!) or extra lock-pieces. He can be a real threat, especially against aggro decks and other Stax decks (stax hates big creatures, especially ones that pick of their Welders). If you really, really hate the discard or something you could always play Clockwork Hydra but I encourage you to try the Razormanes first. In my latest version I only play Dark Confidants, Mishra’s Factory and one Tomb of Urami as kill-conditions. Razormanes discard doesn’t go well with Bazaar. Also, I like to keep the casting costs as low as possible, so winning with lands works nice with that. If I really wanted a creature I would try out Greater Harvester, a 5/6 for 5 mana and a super-Smokestack on legs.

Vampiric Tutor: Indeed, in testing I 9 out of 10 didn’t cast Vampiric Tutor because I put Chalice @ 1 every time (that’s one of the good things about playing 4 CotV and 4 Null Rod). I had the idea of testing Infernal Tutor as extra tutoring power. Especially with Bazaar Hellbent isn’t difficult to get. On the other hand I only want Tutors for Strip Mine and Trinisphere because the other cards are mostly redundant and I tend to draw into them with Confidant/Bazaar.

Bazaar of Baghdad: In the beginning the deck went in two directions: one played Chains as extra enchantment lock pieces (played by Yespuhyren) and one played Bazaars (my version). Maybe you can’t abuse Bazaars the same way decks with Welder and Uba Maks can but Bazaars are still the best unrestricted draw engine in MtG and together with Dark Confidant it can draw/filter through your deck very quickly to get the right cards. Crucible and playing a lot of lands also has synergy with them. Again I encourage you to try them out. In this deck they often aren’t equal to loosing a land drop because they could produce B. I have played a lot of Stax and all Stax decks want some draw (be it in real card-quantity or in card-quality by filtering) to follow up the initial locks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Opponents abusing the Tomb: Just like The Demon said it didn’t really come up as a problem.

Now about the problems I experienced with the deck:

- vulnerability to mass-bounce and counters: I believe Defense Grid could help solve this a great deal. I'm going to test that some more. Also, I’d really want another non-artifact lock on top of Nether Void. Prime candidates seem to be Chains of Mephistopheles (but not with Bazaar!), Braids, Cabal Minion (I liked this in testing because it was one turn quicker than Smokestack and it beats), Desolation (crappy casting cost without Tomb), maybe Curse of the Cabal (but that needs Smokestack or Braids to accompany it), Greater Harvester, …

- vulnerability to other Stax decks: In my testing Stax was a bad match-up. The best solution I could come up with (but didn’t test yet) was Gate to Phyrexia to kill their Crucibles (that also needs Factory or Confidant however) and Cabal Pit to pick off their Welders.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some random thoughts (a lot of crap but everything should be considered):

- Something like Mesmeric Fiend could be a semi-lock piece.

- Echoing Decay seems nice in the sideboard. It deals with EtW tokens, Welders, Fish, …

- Gibbering Descent could be tested. You can Madness it out with Bazaar. The problem is that it sucks with Confidant.

- Grave Peril is worthy of testing as a sideboard card against Colossus, Oath, … Diabolic Edict is probably better, although Peril can be played proactively.

- Street Wraith should probably be tested. A free draw that can double as a kill-condition or desperate blocker.

- Tombstalker could be a nice win-condition. A 5/5 flyer for BB.

- Korlash, Heir to Blackblade could also be tested as a win-condition. Playing basic swamps would make it better however.

I took out the two tutors and I replaced them with two chains of Meph.  At the moment I am in love with the swap.  I am also currently testing bitter ordeal with mixed results.  Sometimes it is just an amazing game changer that is far superior to jesters cap, other times I kind of wish it was another lock piece. I also took out the Karn and the two Juggernauts for the three Razormane Masticores.  I like that alot better as a kill condition I must admit.  Honestly at the moment the deck is looking for a way to have a decent game against ichorid game one.  The SB is always changing, so I have a hard time figuring out what maindeck hate to run.

[WhiteWolf]

I took out the two tutors and I replaced them with two chains of Meph.  At the moment I am in love with the swap. I am also currently testing bitter ordeal with mixed results.  Sometimes it is just an amazing game changer that is far superior to jesters cap, other times I kind of wish it was another lock piece.

Replacing Vampiric Tutor I fully endorse but I wouldn't cut Demonic Tutor. How have Chains of Meph and Bitter Ordeal exactly been for you? Could you elaborate a little?

I also took out the Karn and the two Juggernauts for the three Razormane Masticores.  I like that alot better as a kill condition I must admit.

I told you! 

Honestly at the moment the deck is looking for a way to have a decent game against ichorid game one.  The SB is always changing, so I have a hard time figuring out what maindeck hate to run.

Actually, in the new metagame (post FS) I would run 4 Leyline of the Void maindeck (in my list probably in place of the Defense Grids). It was something I wanted to do already a few months ago when I dropped the deck for a while but in this metagame they seem an automatic maindeck addition. When you need them you just mull for them and in matchups where they're dead they can be Bazaar fodder. The fact that this deck is one of the only ones that can cast it "the normal way" when needed is only a plus.

That way the Defense Grids go sideboard and come in against control and combo, replacing Crucibles.

Another extra countermeasure against Ichorid (and other graveyard based decks) could be Yixlid Jailer main or side. He's also a 2/1 beater.

I'm going to test this deck again. If anything maindeck Leylines could make this good.

[The Demon]

I took out the two tutors and I replaced them with two chains of Meph.  At the moment I am in love with the swap. I am also currently testing bitter ordeal with mixed results.  Sometimes it is just an amazing game changer that is far superior to jesters cap, other times I kind of wish it was another lock piece.

Replacing Vampiric Tutor I fully endorse but I wouldn't cut Demonic Tutor. How have Chains of Meph and Bitter Ordeal exactly been for you? Could you elaborate a little?

I also took out the Karn and the two Juggernauts for the three Razormane Masticores.  I like that alot better as a kill condition I must admit.

I told you! 

Honestly at the moment the deck is looking for a way to have a decent game against ichorid game one.  The SB is always changing, so I have a hard time figuring out what maindeck hate to run.

Actually, in the new metagame (post FS) I would run 4 Leyline of the Void maindeck (in my list probably in place of the Defense Grids). It was something I wanted to do already a few months ago when I dropped the deck for a while but in this metagame they seem an automatic maindeck addition. When you need them you just mull for them and in matchups where they're dead they can be Bazaar fodder. The fact that this deck is one of the only ones that can cast it "the normal way" when needed is only a plus.

That way the Defense Grids go sideboard and come in against control and combo, replacing Crucibles.

Another extra countermeasure against Ichorid (and other graveyard based decks) could be Yixlid Jailer main or side. He's also a 2/1 beater.

I'm going to test this deck again. If anything maindeck Leylines could make this good.

Chains of Meph have been actually a good compliment card for chalice of the void.  Alot of times with Chalice of the Void and Null rod you can just set your chalice at one since a chalice at zero and null rod effectively do the same thing to moxen.  Well when you set chalice at one you are almost always trying to stop Brainstorm, A Recall, Chain of Vapor and Vampiric Tutor.  Chains of Meph stops the first two (which are in my opinion the more important of the two).  As far as Bitter Ordeal goes, I am liking it so far.  For instance Wasting or stripping a land and then doing bitter ordeal is three cards out of the opponents deck.  That is basically a Jesters cap a turn earlier.  Sometimes with smokestack in play you can do even more then the standard three that I have been getting.

Yixlid Jailer seems to be an auto include in the Sb.  I actually am thinking about running four in the Board and using it as a SB package against ichorid and gifts (against both decks I really hate losing unnessacary life).