Why is making your opponent discard so fun?
Since the general public was reminded of how awesome unrestricted discard is, people have been casting this spell to start controlling things. One’s
opinion of Thoughtseize depends heavily on whether or not you were on the business end. If you saw a Swamp tap on turn 1, you’d hate the power level of
such a strong discard. If you did the tapping, you’d love the security of forcing your opponent to mulligan to six. It’s like the Wasteland of discard
spells. While not nearly as oppressive as it once was during the reign of Mono-Black Devotion, Thoughtseize is still a primary reason to go heavy on black
to get an early drop to start the disruption early. In Mono-Black Devotion, it could shut down whatever foil your opponent had for this consistent
archetype.
Now, Thoughtseize is an accessory for control and midrange decks that splash multiple colors to make a wide variety of plays throughout the game. However,
I miss the days when discarding was proactive as much as it was reactive.
For a while, people pushed Mono-Black Aggro as the thing to do when Khans of Tarkir was first spoiled. Twelve one-drops with two power combined with
potentially cheap answers in the form of Murderous Cut and Thoughtseize and a consistent, mono-colored manabase all made for a winning combination.
However, it quickly became clear that being on this plan was a recipe for disaster; Courser of Kruphix blocked most mono-black threats, Goblin Rabblemaster
was far more efficient and deadly, and a well placed removal spell would put you way behind. In short, thanks to the push to midrange based on
planeswalkers and powerful, three-color cards, only a handful of aggro archetypes are viable, namely Tom Ross’s U/W Heroic and the everpresent Mono-Red
Aggro. The combination of better aggro decks, high-powered midrange decks, or sweeper-oriented control decks have shoved mono-black out of contention with
their denser threats and answers.
Thankfully for us, all of these threats and answers originate in a player’s hand.
I always love mono-black in every form; control, aggro, and even mainstream devotion strategies pique my interest. The strong manabase, even with the
presence of “Swamp matter” cards, makes black an enticing option for game day. Black’s a pro at getting rid of threats, so if we leveraged as much removal
as possible to force through a little damage, maybe there’d be a chance this deck could function at an FNM level? Quickly, I fluttered through my binder,
drawing out my sets of Thoughtseize and Despise. My hand stopped on one page.
My Waste Not copies stared back at me. Maybe, with a discard-centric answer deck, there’d be lots of room for cards like this where you can out tempo your
opponents by removing their answers and threats and adding some of your own to the board at the same time?
Grabbing every reasonable discard spell I could muster, I found myself brimming with excitement at a cheap, fun list for a local event.
Creatures (16)
Lands (22)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
Waste Not grabbed people’s attention before any other card in M15, and although it’s been relegated to near-bulk rare status these days, I think there
might be some mileage in this card, as well as the discard spells to support it.
Creatures
Four Bloodsoaked Champions kick us off; these persistent raiders have dropped radically in price as midrange strategies dominate the landscape, but at just
$1.99 a pop, this is a perfect time to grab them. From a gameplay standpoint, these are right where you want to be on turn 1. Some players tend to
sacrifice potential to fight an early game for midgame pressure, and cards like Bloodsoaked Champion punish them for not having a play before turn 3 or 4.
Even if they can get on the other side of it, it can come back at a moment’s notice. Mardu Skullhunter is a great follow-up to a turn 1 Champion, who
likely got aggressive without a problem. Coming into play tapped could be an issue, but if you’re getting aggressive, it likely won’t be. I’ve always been
fond of Spiteful Returned and its unblockable two damage for two. As a midgame play, it can help one of your tiny beaters get through a defender, or it can
provide an unpreventable two points of damage in the closing turns of a game. Finally, Herald of Torment acts as the finisher. It’s a great thing to do
after Waste Not provides you mana from a discard too, and late in the game, it can get slapped on even a lowly Warrior and swing for game.
Spells
Thoughtseize and Despise both provide the core of the discard suite. While often redundant (you’d often target a planeswalker or creature with
Thoughtseize), having access to both means your opponent is constantly out of cards to plan their attack. Representing a single black mana after casting
another spell always makes them wonder if, post-combat, you’ve got a sneaky number up your sleeve. There are situations where one is much better than the
other. Thoughtseize is great in all situations but is helpful in picking out threats against control and midrange. Despise is very handy at snagging
creatures like Goblin Rabblemaster without the nasty Shock. Running these out ASAP isn’t necessarily the plan of this deck, and often costing one mana will
let you cast something else instead of casting it first. Maybe they’ll slow roll their Anger of the Gods; you can snag it to keep your bruisers in the
clear!
Rakshasa’s Secret is just a glorified Mind Rot, but when it can turn to a three- or four-for-one with Waste Not, the exchange is looking pretty strong.
It’s obviously great to get it out on curve after Waste Not, but it’s handy by itself. The self-mill is particularly helpful for building delve and to see
if you can find any Bloodsoaked Champions who want to fight. Waste Not, as stated, is a fun addition to the deck as opposed to its undeniable essence.
Waste Not helps make every discard trigger count. The land might be the worst one, but every spell they discard offers juicy results. Finally, in the more
utilitarian department, a full set of Murderous Cut and two Hero’s Downfall provide the necessary answers to something that escapes out of your discard
lock.
The deck’s lands do not support Temples and, to keep costs down, we’re skimping on fetchlands. Naturally though, feel free to add four of each if you’ve
got them, making delve all the more likely. Radiant Fountain seemed like a nice addition with the life loss presented by Thoughtseize and Herald of
Torment. I’ve lost more than a few games to my own Herald.
In the sideboard, we’ve got a wide selection of familiar answers and a couple newbies to Standard. Bile Blight, in the presence of so many untapped Swamps,
is the venerated removal spell or combat trick of choice against aggressive and 3/3-laden decks. Ruthless Ripper, however, is a bit of an odd one.
Primarily geared against green decks that stop hard-to-kill threats like Courser of Kruphix, Butcher of the Horde, and Savage Knuckleblade. It can even
hold off a Pearl Lake Ancient, assuming your control opponent doesn’t have an answer! Spolier alert, they probably do, but it’s the thought that counts.
The surprise factor of Ruthless Ripper is nice, but expect to only set that trap once. The flip is free and is another way to apply pressure to a wounded
opponent. In games where a 2/1 that can’t block won’t do the trick, the Ripper can pinch hit in a jiffy. Doomwake Giant seemed like a great answer to both
a fast and slow deck, but it was generally too expensive to include unless I knew it was going to do the job. There are plenty of enchantment
creatures too, so triggering constellation is painless, and our key card Waste Not triggers it too. Liliana Vess was another midrange, slow-jam kind of
card, with the ability to find a singleton answer and/or keep your opponent of cards long enough to deal the killing blow. One Stain the Mind and one Empty
the Pits side in alongside Liliana to deal with control-oriented threats. Against decks where Murderous Cut has no targets, you might find yourself with a
graveyard full of discard spells and smashed critters that won’t mind becoming a dozen brain-feeders at a moment’s notice.
In a strange twist of fate, I was able to get this entire list in hand and have sufficient time and faculty to test it in a real event. From
theory to practice!
Round 1 – Taylor (Jeskai Ascendancy Combo)
On a cold Tuesday night, about twenty players gathered inside the warmth of our local shop to do battle. Taylor, who I’d literally been playtesting against
moments before pairings were posted, was my first adversary.
Taylor, bless him, is always complimentary on the brews as well as helpful in giving advice and questioning card choices.
Against him, Waste Not was an all-star; not only was I able to get on-time discard spells to disrupt his heroic shenanigans and make an army of Zombies,
Waste Not also prevented him from looting with his Jeskai Ascendancy trigger, making it little more than a temporary anthem. After two fairly strong
showings, I locked it up on the back of Spiteful Returned triggers and Zombie tokens.
1-0
Round 2 – Rob (Mardu Midrange)
Rob, a recent import to Louisville, was on a familiar Mardu plan. In game 1, he drew poorly and I was able to overwhelm him with 2/1s and discard spells,
keeping him off meaningful spells for the duration of the game. In game 2, however, he rallied behind the timely, powerful Seeker of the Way, finishing me
off pretty strongly with a Magma Jet prowess trigger. In the final game, I was on the ropes, but managed to scramble back thanks to a pair of Doomwake
Giants finishing off the game.
2-0
Round 3 – Alex (Temur Monsters)
Alex was a fellow that I’d seen around plenty of times at events but had not had the chance to play (at least not recently enough for me to recall.) It was
clear early on that he was on the “kill me ASAP” plan with a pair of Savage Knuckleblades. With a quick concession, we moved on to game 2, where I sided
out all my Waste Nots and Mardu Skullhunters for Rippers and Doomwake Giants. He flooded out heavily, and I closed the game 2 out rather quickly. Game 3
was a nail biter, with him hitting the troublesome Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker. Soon, with two Doomwake Giants online, it became difficult for him to
effectively attack with me sitting at a Radiant-Fountain-fueled 24 life and him at a shrimpy seven. Eventually, I forced him into chump block mode until
his final Stormbreath Dragon got “woke” by the Giant. After a brief review of his hand, he extended the hand.
3-0
3-0? No kidding! What a pleasant surprise!
Round 4 – Josh (Naya Planeswalkers)
In the back of my mind, as I sat down across from Josh, I was spinning my memory wheels, trying to recall from where I’d known Josh. I made a comment to
him that I knew another Josh with the same last name, but the one I knew was a short white redhead, quite the opposite of the gentleman sitting across from
me. After a bit of hinting and a grin on his face, I remembered where I’d seen Josh before: he works right up the street from me and is familiar with
several people I know. Small world!
As our paths had crossed in the real world, however, I was much more confused about how they were meeting in the Magic world. With back-to-back Banishing
Lights pinning my Waste Nots down, I finally landed a Herald of Torment. He got a Xenagos, the Reveler online and we began to trade blows, him hitting me
with a 2/2 Satyr (and an upkeep trigger for me) and me swinging back for three. Eventually, he eliminated my only threat and crushed me.
Game 2 was even more lopsided. After sticking a flurry of planeswalkers and without me resolving any relevant spell, I folded like a table against his
well-groomed list of beaters.
3-1
Even after a couple post-match games, I could never get on the other side of him. I tried a backup deck, and it didn’t have a chance either. Josh had built
a strong, unique Naya Walkers deck that, thanks to the Caryatid + Courser package, had no problems despite lacking a tri-land and a Charm.
Round 5 – Sean (Four-Color Planeswalkers)
Sean, who was on the same list with one other semi-pro in the shop, moved in on the haymakers quickly. After a sour mulligan in both games, I was unable to
stick anything relevant, and my black flame was snuffed out.
3-2
Not bad for a weird brew. I managed to aggravate one guy and impress a couple others, so I felt like my work was done.
The parts of the deck that performed well did a great job, but there were several cards that did not pull their weight. In the creature department, Mardu
Skullhunter was a massive disappointment. This was literally the worst card to topdeck ever because you rarely had raid online and it couldn’t even block.
Axing those is the first step to reshaping the deck. Waste Not and Rakshasa’s Secret did pretty well, but there were far too many of them. As I cut one,
the other seemed less good, so both of them were slimmed significantly.
From the sideboard though, Doomwake Giant was an absolute beast. How do people not play this card? There’s literally no
matchup where it’s bad. It’s pretty much immune to toughness-based removal, it’s got a great ETB effect, it stacks well, and it has enough power to present
a real on-board threat. Play these cards! Bile Blight was perfect, and against the decks where I needed it, I could never draw enough of them. Ruthless
Ripper had lots of potential, but I didn’t draw it consistently enough to see if it would be able to really help. It helped in one match, but I brought it
in for four of them. Liliana Vess was okay, but she was ultimately not as impressive as I thought she’d be. Admittedly, I tend to use Liliana Vess
incorrectly, using her to tutor much less frequently than ticking her up. I never drew Stain the Mind, and the one time I cast Empty the Pits (against
Temur), it was countered, so I’m not sure how either one is, but I felt like Empty the Pits was a good place to be.
I overhauled the list and have been testing the updated version online with moderately greater success.
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (24)
Spells (19)
Evan, another shop local, saw the deck’s plan in action the other day and hoped I would win with it to prove it was a legitimate strategy. He shared that
he’d been trying to make Waste Not work too and was anxious to find a winning list. Where have you all taken Waste Not in this Standard? Was the loss of
Mono-Black Devotion and Rakdos’s Return too much for the discard plan to withstand?