Topic: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

So in my effort to procrastinate writing my dissertation yet another hour, I've pieced together a ROUGH (and I stress rough) deck idea based around two cards in mono-black.

First, here's the deck:  http://deckbox.org/sets/194691

The two cards I'm trying to work around are:

1) Liliana of the Dark Realms (coming out in M13), you can see her abilities here:  http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_sin … k%20Realms

2) Demonic Rising

The basic premise I'm trying to work around is to have some demons and sacrificing galore going on.  I had thought Demonic Rising was a weak card until I looked closer and saw that it's effect is at the END of the turn, meaning that my goal would be to do what damage I can, and then drop EVERYTHING (preferably clearing opponent items too) to get bonus demons at the end of the turn.  After all, with 4x Demonic Rising you will be sitting on four 5/5 flying demons for no mana cost.  BUT, as I'm sure you will all see, there's a fair bit missing in terms of guaranteeing that I only have the one creature remaining.  I'm thinking I would do well to just take creatures out, but I'm definitely open to input here.

The second idea is to work with the new Liliana's ultimate ability, which would make casting some MASSIVE black spells quite easy.  Killing Wave, Drain Life, Forced March, Death Denied, Forced March, Death Wind, etc etc... the list goes on and on.  At current the majority of my efforts are directed toward board clearing or otherwise creature removal.  I've also put together a nice Exquisite Blood - Pestilence combo that could lead to an easy win (just think you set off pestilence for 4-5, clear the board, and don't lose any life).  Minion of Leshrac has protection from black, so Pestilence won't kill him and you can keep repeating every turn. 

The X also works for Diabolic Revelation (another M13 newbie you can see here: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_sin … Revelation) to ensure you get things how you want.

Anyway, as you can imagine my thoughts on it are quite scattered at the moment and I'm not sure the best way(s) to run with the deck.  So... thoughts?

Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

I think you're focusing a bit too much on direct destruction, which won't work well against Hexproof or Indestructible.  Adding something like Barter in Blood will allow you to hit two birds with one stone, killing off your creatures and killing some of theirs that you usually couldn't hit.

Then, since you have so many things dying off, left and right, a Blood Artist or two couldn't hurt. 

And Butcher of Malakir actually kind of hits on both of those points.

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Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

I'd thought about Barter in Blood and might include it in the end, but Hexproof and Shroud creatures will bite the farm from Pestilence, Killing Wave, or Forced March.

I'd definitely buy into the Blood Artist/Butcher of Malakir idea, but those would be killed too in the mess of things I'd imagine, right?

Am I going to have to worry about artifacts/enchantments or will I do alright just clearing the board repeatedly?

Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

If you want mana accel and sacrifices at the same time you want Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar or culling the weak, I don't like Barter in Blood since your mechanic requires exactly one creature so saccing 2 might not be a good option. This also seems like the exact wrong deck for treacherous pit-dweller since you're probably gonna have to sac it at some point, making your opponent a stronger creature than you had. Also I'd say you should have more tutoring in the deck, you're running mono-black, THE BEST color for tutoring and you really need Liliana for most of the biggest stuff to work, I personally hate Diabolic Tutor so on principal I would suggest Rune-Scarred Demon since I believe you're using your Demonic Tutor elsewhere, plus its a demon, which is fun also Mortician Beetle could be a good thing along with Grave Pact, maybe even Rakdos The defiler but only if you can put out a LOT of creatures so you don't have to sac lands

I'd sideboard something for anti artifact/enchantment, but nothing main-board as it isn't usually going to be an issue.

Last edited by imsully2 (2012-07-03 22:03:16)

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Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

Oooh... I like Grave Pact.  That would be nasty.  Phyrexian Altar is also a nice option since it will let me produce black mana when needed.  I also have one or two Ashnod's Altar, so again, a good idea.

I actually have four Demonic Tutors, but as I'm the primary provider of decks for my casual group, they're all tied up at the moment.  I'm sure I could work one out of another deck to piece in here if need be.  Diabolic Tutor isn't as cool, but hey, if you're only allowed one of each, at least it's a second tutor effect.  I'd considered Rune-Scarred Demon, but wasn't sure about it.  Diabolic Revelation will also let me essentially stack my library how I want if Liliana has unleashed her ultimate.

Do I need more creatures to be able to feed all these sacking effects?  I'm thinking Reassembling Skeleton or even something like Breeding Pit.  Thoughts?

Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

If you end up adding some artifacts, like the altars, then you could also throw in Phylactery Lich, which will also survive all of the Pestilence destruction.

And if you're looking for black token generation, then Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder would probably be a pretty good addition as well.  Play a creature, get a bunch of thrulls, sac them to get mana to play another creature to get more thrulls, rinse and repeat.

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Re: Demons, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and other Shenanigans

Some token generators: Archdemon of Unx Beckon Apparition Bitterblossom (probably too expensive but it's a beast) Carrion Cemetery Reaper Creakwood Liege(I love this card) Din of the Fireherd? Forbidden RitualLiability (works if you're using all tokens for saccing or just want the game to go faster) Maalfeld Twins Quest for the Gravelord (always classy) Sengir Autocrat? Skirk Ridge Exhumer Skirsdag High Priest a lot of these cards suck but I just thought I'd list a bunch for fun plus if you might have 1-2 of them and it's usually better to use cards you have

Also I think you need tutors to find Liliana of the realms not to use with her ability, also why is there no Exsanguinate??? You NEED this card

Last edited by imsully2 (2012-07-04 01:45:54)

http://deckbox.org/users/imsully2