So following are five videos I did RE: the Mono-Black Control deck I posted last week.

For reference:

The Con-Fusion: Mono-Black Control

Mike Flores

0th Place at Test deck on 6/17/2012

Standard

 

Creatures (5)

• 4 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Grave Titan

Planeswalkers (6)

• 2 Karn Liberated
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov

Lands (22)

• 14 Swamp
• 2 Buried Ruin
• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Phyrexia's Core

Spells (27)

• 1 Batterskull
• 3 Druidic Satchel
• 3 Ichor Wellspring
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 3 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 2 Doom Blade
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 2 Victim of Night
• 1 Barter In Blood
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 2 Life's Finale

Sideboard

• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 4 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 1 Tragic Slip
• 1 Tribute to Hunger
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov
• 2 Barter In Blood
• 1 Life's Finale

 

I think the above deck is superb and I have heard from multiple fronts that people who tried it out at FNM and in PTQs had some success. Here are some excerpts from last week's column:

Robert contacted me separately. (His loose keep was two lands / one Swamp / Ichor Wellspring which I would have also kept... His third land was not the requisite Swamp)

I actually made a change to the version I have been playing since I posted the deck (which probably would have helped Robert make Top 8 if he had known) which is to move two Druidic Satchels from the main to the sideboard in favor of Wellsprings seven and eight. I also felt Barter in Blood tested better than Life's Finale (in particular against Moorland Haunt and Unburial Rites decks) so I made a two-and-one to one-and-two change.

So this is my current version (though not the one primarily played in the following videos):

Mono-Black Control

Mike Flores

0th Place at Test deck on 7/1/2012

Standard

 

Creatures (5)

• 4 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Grave Titan

Planeswalkers (6)

• 2 Karn Liberated
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov

Lands (22)

• 14 Swamp
• 2 Buried Ruin
• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Phyrexia's Core

Spells (27)

• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 4 Ichor Wellspring
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 4 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 2 Doom Blade
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 2 Victim of Night
• 2 Barter In Blood
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Life's Finale

Sideboard

• 2 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 4 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 1 Tragic Slip
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov
• 1 Barter In Blood
• 1 Life's Finale

 

Mono-Black Control vs. Mono-Blue Delver

Mono-Black Control vs. U/G Infect

Mono-Black Control vs. Esper Reanimator

Mono-Black Control vs. B/W Tokens

Mono-Black Control vs. Tempered Steel

On a last note again still being quite high on this list I am going to try something also suggested in last week's comments (inspired by Jason Popps) and switch my finishers up reconfiguring my mana base to accommodate four copies of Cavern of Souls. Basically the deck is already a challenge to beat for many blue decks—from Delver to Solar Flare / Esper Control if not Cuneo's sit-there U/W Control or Tezzeret—and going to a "my Grave Titans and Solemns always resolve" configuration seems super awesome. Like a lot of the time you are highly unlikely to lose if your Solemn resolves (blocks Geist of Saint Traft + gives you the mana so all your point removal will resolve) and an uncounterable Grave Titan should speak for itself.

Completely untested at this point again just the springboard:

Mono-Black Control

Mike Flores

0th Place at Test deck on 7/1/2012

Standard

 

Creatures (8)

• 4 Solemn Simulacrum
• 4 Grave Titan

Planeswalkers (5)

• 1 Karn Liberated
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov

Lands (22)

• 12 Swamp
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Phyrexia's Core

Spells (25)

• 1 Druidic Satchel
• 4 Ichor Wellspring
• 4 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 2 Doom Blade
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 2 Victim of Night
• 2 Barter In Blood
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Life's Finale

Sideboard

• 2 Druidic Satchel
• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Nihil Spellbomb
• 4 Ratchet Bomb
• 1 Curse of Death's Hold
• 1 Tragic Slip
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Sorin Markov
• 1 Barter In Blood
• 1 Life's Finale

 

You lose one-third of your Drownyard protection with the removal of one Buried Ruin and some of your "ooh rebuying that Mimic Vat sure was cool" capability (especially by cutting Mimic Vat as well). I am more fine with -1 Batterskull / +1 Grave Titan than I am with going down to one Karn but again this is just the test configuration. It is possible we will be able to live with eleven Swamps as Cavern of Souls kind of taps for black (to get back Ghost Quarter #2) and the fourth Mycosynth is also helpful there.

Of the three lists:

1. Tested
2. Tested recommended :)
3. Untested could be very interesting!

LOVE
MIKE