Solid B/W destruction and control

[theidol]

Built this out of some free time. Did quite well in 2HG tourney. Tell me what you think and if any improvements could be made on it. BTW its a T2 deck

Creatures
3x [card:0840dadd25]Plagued Rusalka[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Order of the Stars[/card:0840dadd25]
2x [card:0840dadd25]Mourning Thrull[/card:0840dadd25]
2x [card:0840dadd25]Teysa, Orzhov Scion[/card:0840dadd25]
1x [card:0840dadd25]Skeletal Vampire[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Angel of Despair[/card:0840dadd25]

Non-Creature
1x [card:0840dadd25]Ghostway[/card:0840dadd25]
2x [card:0840dadd25]Rend Flesh[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Mortify[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Zombify[/card:0840dadd25]
2x [card:0840dadd25]Cranial Extraction[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Moonlight Bargain[/card:0840dadd25]
3x [card:0840dadd25]Debtors' Knell[/card:0840dadd25]

Land
10x [card:0840dadd25]Swamp[/card:0840dadd25]
10x [card:0840dadd25]Plains[/card:0840dadd25]
4x [card:0840dadd25]Orzhov Basilica[/card:0840dadd25]

[snakecharmer]

doesn't the 4 angels of despair, shove ur mana cost up a lot- it may not but- i tend to like to keep only a few creatures that cost that much in my decks

[lionden_56]

4 Angel of Despair is fine. You'll want to draw her as much as possible. The curve is fairly high already anyway. I'd go 4 Mourning Thrull, drop the Moonlight Bargains (I just personally don't like that card), and maybe add a few [card:f121e505cf]Ghost Council of Orzhova[/card:f121e505cf].

[Einsteinmonkey]

(If you want this to be in the Tourney section for tournament criticisms, you could ask and I'd move it.)

[JSweeney]

Built this out of some free time. Did quite well in 2HG tourney. Tell me what you think and if any improvements could be made on it. BTW its a T2 deck

Creatures
3x [card:a336013e56]Plagued Rusalka[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Order of the Stars[/card:a336013e56]
2x [card:a336013e56]Mourning Thrull[/card:a336013e56]
2x [card:a336013e56]Teysa, Orzhov Scion[/card:a336013e56]
1x [card:a336013e56]Skeletal Vampire[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Angel of Despair[/card:a336013e56]

Non-Creature
1x [card:a336013e56]Ghostway[/card:a336013e56]
2x [card:a336013e56]Rend Flesh[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Mortify[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Zombify[/card:a336013e56]
2x [card:a336013e56]Cranial Extraction[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Moonlight Bargain[/card:a336013e56]
3x [card:a336013e56]Debtors' Knell[/card:a336013e56]

Land
10x [card:a336013e56]Swamp[/card:a336013e56]
10x [card:a336013e56]Plains[/card:a336013e56]
4x [card:a336013e56]Orzhov Basilica[/card:a336013e56]

I like it, and there is a great deal of inherent synergy, which is good.

A couple of questions:

1. Have you tested with [card:a336013e56]Yosei, the Morning Star[/card:a336013e56] or [card:a336013e56]Kokusho, the Evening Star[/card:a336013e56]? It seems that you might get a little more bang for your buck, and an easier mana cost, using one these two instead of the [card:a336013e56]Angel of Despair[/card:a336013e56].
With any of your sac outlets and [card:a336013e56]Debtors' Knell[/card:a336013e56], Yosei could form a pretty hard lock or Koko-puffs can pull off some fairly substantial life swings.
Of course, taking out all of thier lands with recurring Angels is some good too.
I've not done any testing, so I'd have to go with whatever your findings are.

2. How crucial are Teysa and Plagued Ruslka to your deck's success? It seems like they could lock down the board pretty tight, granting all sorts of removal, if only they had some sacraficial lambs to "take one for the cause".
Unless I'm misunderstanding their role, which I very easily could be, it seems like [card:a336013e56]Twilight Drover[/card:a336013e56] may be worth a couple of test runs, as he can provide some tokens for Teysa and the Rusalka to work thier magic with... and when any of them dies, he gets a +1/+1.

[theidol]

I really just built this out of spare stuff I had and was surprised it did so well. The tips im getting are very helpful especially the [card:e1e68fb3f2]Twilight Drover[/card:e1e68fb3f2]. I think he would be great in here.

[Einsteinmonkey]

I would base any current B/W control deck off of Olivier Ruel's PT deck.

4 Caves of Koilos
4 Godless Shrine
4 Orzhov Basilica
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Eiganjo Castle
6 Swamp
2 Plains
22 land

4 Plagued Rusalka
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Dark Confidant
3 Hand of Cruelty
2 Shrieking Grotesque
2 Paladin en-Vec
3 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
4 Ghost Council of Orzhova
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
28 creatures

3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Castigate
3 Mortify
10 other spells


2 Terashi's Grasp
1 Descendant of Kiyomaro
2 Distress
2 Cranial Extraction
2 Phyrexian Arena
2 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Seize the Soul
2 Slay
15 sideboard cards

[Hiakashi]

Originally posted by Einsteinmonkey
I would base any current B/W control deck off of Olivier Ruel's PT deck.

4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Caves of Koilos[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Godless Shrine[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Orzhov Basilica[/card:7d5c3903b9]
1 [card:7d5c3903b9]Shizo, Death's Storehouse[/card:7d5c3903b9]
1 [card:7d5c3903b9]Eiganjo Castle[/card:7d5c3903b9]
6 Swamp
2 Plains
22 land

4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Plagued Rusalka[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Ravenous Rats[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Dark Confidant[/card:7d5c3903b9]
3 [card:7d5c3903b9]Hand of Cruelty[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Shrieking Grotesque[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Paladin en-Vec[/card:7d5c3903b9]
3 [card:7d5c3903b9]Teysa, Orzhov Scion[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Ghost Council of Orzhova[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Okiba-Gang Shinobi[/card:7d5c3903b9]
28 creatures

3 [card:7d5c3903b9]Umezawa's Jitte[/card:7d5c3903b9]
4 [card:7d5c3903b9]Castigate[/card:7d5c3903b9]
3 [card:7d5c3903b9]Mortify[/card:7d5c3903b9]
10 other spells


2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Terashi's Grasp[/card:7d5c3903b9]
1 [card:7d5c3903b9]Descendant of Kiyomaro[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Distress[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Cranial Extraction[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Phyrexian Arena[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Orzhov Pontiff[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Seize the Soul[/card:7d5c3903b9]
2 [card:7d5c3903b9]Slay[/card:7d5c3903b9]
15 sideboard cards

I'm so glad you used Card Tags, or else I wouldn't have had any idea what those cards were..... :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

So no [card:7d5c3903b9]Thoughtpicker Witch[/card:7d5c3903b9] eh? Maybe you want [card:7d5c3903b9]Dross Harvester[/card:7d5c3903b9] if you're gonna lose a lot of creatures, preferablly at least two a turn...since you'll be losing 4 a turn. I wouldn't go with the Dross, because you lose too much life. [card:7d5c3903b9]Claws of Gix[/card:7d5c3903b9] perhaps? Or [card:7d5c3903b9]Mind Slash[/card:7d5c3903b9] would seem good for Control.

[Emperor Crusty]

i'm concerned that since you have 4 [card:892bbf5aff]Angel of Despair[/card:892bbf5aff] and 1(not 2) [card:892bbf5aff]Ghostway[/card:892bbf5aff] that you would not run 2 to 4 [card:892bbf5aff]Otherworldly Journey[/card:892bbf5aff] cause if you can't stop a creature from comming at you then at least stall the creature for a turn.