Normally I like to consider myself to be a fairly calm person.  Not the type to go flying off the handle and rampaging around the house hurling crockery around simply because I missed my favourite programme on the telly.  For the most part that's true, but recently my dormant nerd rage has been awoken by the occasional horror that is the MTGO client. Both my laptop and desktop have recently taken to regularly disconnecting from the game servers.  It's probably a local issue, but both PCs suddenly developing the problem at the same time?  Seems fishy.  Brilliantly, they only disconnect during games, and from my perspective there's no difference between a disconnection from my side, or an opponent taking a long time to consider a move.  I have to type 'test' roughly every four seconds into the chat window to see what's going on.  More often than not, it means I've disconnected. Usually I just log off and log back on and rejoin the game.  Not ideal, but just about manageable.  This week though, I've often been hanging at the log in screen, unable to do anything.  Then I shut the client down completely, attempt to restart, and nothing happens for ages, then it tells me it's checking for updates.

About twenty minutes later I get a message telling me something's gone wrong with the client, my PC and probably my life as a whole.  Oh, and the sky is falling.

As if those frustrations were not enough, my plan for this week was to write up an M11 draft I managed to find time for a couple of days ago.  Despite the fact that I clearly remember checking the 'Enable draft recorder' function in the settings tab, when I couldn't find the output file and re-checked my settings, sure enough the draft recorder box was unchecked.  Wonderful.  So no M11 write-up for you.

The BBC is currently repeating my radio sitcom (shameless self promotion), the first episode of which featured the main character getting so enraged he smashed the windscreen of his space-ship with his forehead.  At the time I considered this to be exaggeration for comedic effect, but now I think I see where he's coming from.

Anyway, so far so moany.  The good news is I get to write about a nice deck I've been tinkering with of late.  Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of mono black, so the colour will be no surprise.  It's a fastish deck with a very low curve, lots of card advantage and a lovely 3cc finisher.  Here are my two key cards.

Yum, I'm sure you'll agree.  Principally I wanted to build a deck around the lich, but then thought if my finisher was only going to require three mana, why not keep the whole deck on a low curve and use Dark Tutelage for some inevitability?  After all, mono black has plenty of powerful cards at low costs.  And as for the life loss, well I hear we might have some lifegain available in this colour, so we might just look at that too.

So to summarize, building the deck around these two gives us the following requirements:

• Lots of lifegain
• A low curve, topping out at 3 or 4cc
• Lots of artifacts

Lifegain

		Bloodchief Ascension is a debatable inclusion.  It might be slightly too slow for the deck.
		Basilisk Collar is a must, since it performs double duty and helps our Lich to stick around.
		Child of Night is possible.  Not a great creature, but it's cheap and has lifegain.
		Consume Spirit is another must.  Usually I prefer Tendrils of Corruption, or Corrupt, but neither are right for this deck.  I'll talk about Tendrils later, but Corrupt is too expensive for this deck, and with Dark Tutelage on the table, it's just potentially too dangerous.
		Consuming Vapors is great, and should go in.
		Kalastria Highborn would be better in a more creature heavy deck.  Close, but no cigar.
		Last Kiss is too underpowered.

Artifacts

		Basilisk Collar performs double duty, as discussed above.
		Brittle Effigy is a card I haven't had much experience of, but it seems a good fit, especially with the low casting cost.  Okay so it's designed to leave play, which isn't great for our Lich, but we simply choose not to activate it until we have other artifacts in play.
		Whilst Bone Saw's 0 cc looks attractive, it doesn't do enough to warrant inclusion in my opinion.
		Crystal Ball is perfect for the deck.  It's the modern (and slightly less potent) equivalent of Sensei's Divining Top and Dark Confidant.  In short, stick a land on top of the deck, remove Dark Tutelage's drawback.
		Demon's Horn would gain some life, but that in itself isn't enough.
		If I really needed the mana, I'd definitely consider Everflowing Chalice.  As it is, I'm already likely to have more mana than I need.
		Executioner's Capsule is cheap, and great against non black creatures.  Against black decks it's still useful for our Lich, but I'm sticking this on the debatable pile for now.
		Glaze Fiend is interesting, and makes me consider a heavier artifact theme.  But only briefly.  Close, but no thank you.
		Gorgon Flail is basically a budget Basilisk Collar.  So that's a no.
		For some reason I'm always tempted to build a deck with 56 controlling cards (and lands), and a playset of Onyx Goblet as the sole win condition.  But this is not that deck, you'llbe delighted to hear.
		Scepter of Fugue is definitely possible.  It provides card advantage after two turns, and against control decks can prove very helpful.  Still, it's a maybe overall.
		Sword of Vengeance is nice, but I want Basilisk Collar in our equipment slot for the lifegain.  We won't have enough creatures to justify going nuts on equipment.
		Veinfire Borderpost is purely needed for it's black mana, and the fact it enabled the Lich.  This is the reason Tendrils is slightly suboptimal.

The Deck

Dark Phylactery

A Standard mono black deck by Splendid Belt

Creatures 2 Bloodghast 4 Child of Night 4 Gatekeeper of Malakir 3 Guul Draz Assassin 2 Hypnotic Specter 4 Phylactery Lich 3 Vampire Nighthawk 22 cards Other Spells 2 Basilisk Collar 1 Brittle Effigy 2 Consume Spirit 2 Consuming Vapors 2 Crystal Ball 3 Dark Tutelage 2 Executioner's Capsule 1 Scepter of Fugue 4 Veinfire Borderpost 19 cards

Lands 19 Swamp 19 cards Sideboard 4 Black Knight 2 Consuming Vapors 2 Hypnotic Specter 2 Executioner's Capsule 4 Deathmark 1 Brittle Effigy 15 cards

For those who are interested, a Phylactery is (amongst other definitions) an amulet or charm warding off danger.

I think most of the rest of my card choices are fairly self-explanatory, although I'm in no way certain I've selected the optimal blend from the available cardpool, nor that I've chosen the right numbers of each.  Bloodghast would probably have been a playset, as it is I've only managed to get hold of two copies so far.  I feel like I've got the right number of artifacts in total though.  Any fewer and I'd risk holding unplayable Liches, and since he's my finisher, that would be unfortunate.

As ever, the proof is in the pudding, so let's take this baby for a spin.

Games

Match 1 vs. 23sj12 (Mono black control)

I'm on the play with a decent opener of Basilisk Collar, Bloodghast, Vampire Nighthawk, Veinfire Borderpost and 3 Swamps.  Slightly mana heavy, but I've got a decent play for each of my first three turns whatever my opponent does.  For his part he seems to have a fairly removal heavy deck, as in the first few turns he plays Smother and Assassinate.  Bloodghast won't be dealt with so easily however, and continues the beats regardless.  The fact that I've equipped it with the Basilisk Collar is the icing.  Dread Warlock provides his early beats, until Gatekeeper of Malakir sends it to the bin on turn five.

On turn six he tries a Weakness on one of the two Bloodghasts I have out by now, but my slightly unfortunate steady stream of swamps is at least giving me some free recursion.  My Gatekeeper dies to a Consume Spirit on the same turn.  Next turn he tries a Crypt Ripper, but I've ripped another Gatekeeper so it doesn't last long.  I win on turn nine thanks to my weenie beats.

So neither of my most important cards showed up, but a mixture of early beats and plenty of removal paved the way to victory.

Match 2 vs. MYR81 (Mono green Omnath)

Once again I'm on the play, I've drawn the following seven: Child of Night, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Guul Draz Vampire, two Consume Spirits and two Swamps.  I start with Guul Draz Vampire and level him up so that when my opponent plays the dangerous Omnath, Locus of Mana on his second turn (thanks to Birds of Paradise), I'm able to remove it on my third turn.  Guess he wasn't familiar with Mr Draz then.

On his third turn he plays Garruk Wildspeaker, pumping out a 3/3 token.  I use Draz to kill his Birds, and play a Gatekeeper to clear his board.  Next turn he taps all his lands, uses Garruk to untap two, and taps again to power out another Omnath but with three mana floating to make it a 4/4, and hence out of Draz's current range.  I'm holding another Gatekeeper though, which does the job admirably.  My team takes care of the planeswalker, and I play a Brittle Effigy, hoping to draw the Lich at some point.

On turn six I finally draw one of my main cards in Dark Tutelage.  Let's see how it works out.  On my next turn it luckily shows me a swamp, and I draw a Consume Spirit in my usual draw step.  So far so nice!  Next turn it draws another swamp, and I swing through his Tajuru Preserver, and finish him with a Consume Spirit.

I was glad of my emphasis on removal in this game, and always felt in control.  Tutelage wasn't needed in all honesty, but in a tight game it could have made all the difference.

Match 3 vs. Tyrus11 (U/W Allies)

I'm on the draw with an exciting hand of Child of Night, Crystal Ball, Dark Tutelage, Executioner's Capsule, Phylactery Lich, and two Swamps.  Couldn't ask for much better than that!  I don't draw any more land though, and on turn three tap out to pop my Executioner's Capsule to kill his Halimar Excavator.  Child of Night then gets in for two, but a four point swing.  I finally draw a land next turn, and experience deja vu as I play another Executioner's Capsule, the pop it to kill a second Halimar Excavator, and get in with the Child again.  Perhaps I should have played the Tutelage, or possibly a Crystal Ball in order to get the Lich out.  In my experience though, allies need to die fast.

On turn five, Tyrus11 plays Kabira Evangel.  Wanting to get my Lich out, I play Crystal Ball on my turn.  In retrospect, getting the Tutelage out was probably the better play.  The earlier you can get your card advantage engine rolling, the better your rewards.  Next turn my opponent plays Jwari Shapeshifter, effectively gaining another Kabira Evangel.  The upshot is his creatures gain protection from black, and I couldn't block if I wanted to.  I get my Lich out, hoping to slow him down.  I try to attack with it next turn, but it's Unsummoned, forcing me to use three quarters of my available mana to recast it.  Will I never get this Tutelage out?

On turn eight my opponent plays Talus Paladin, which of course gives his team lifelink and protection from everything in my arsenal for the turn.  After the beats, life totals are 24 to 18 in his favour.  I beat him down to 18 with the Lich next turn, and finally cast the Tutelage I've been holding all game.  Which immediately falls foul of Demystify.  Who plays that main deck?  Still, at least he didn't target Crystal Ball, as that would have two for oned me.  He follows that up with yet another Kabira Evangel, and I'm in trouble.  Life totals are now 27 to 10 in his favour.  In desperation next turn I cast another Gatekeeper, taking one of the Evangels out of the equation, but if he keeps getting pro black on his team, there's not going to be much I can do.

On turn ten he casts another Jwari Shapeshifter, creating another Talus Paladin.  I go down to one life.  I've been scrying like mad at the end of his turns, and this time I've managed to gaze into my Crystal Ball and pull out a Consuming Vapors.  Maybe I can just about keep my head above water with lifegain, until I stabilise?  I send Child of Night into the red zone, which he chooses not to block, presumably because at 36 life it's not worth the risk.  I follow this up with Vapors, going up to six life.  Now it's down to his hand.  If he has an ally, I'm dead.  He has Sea Gate Loremaster.  I die.

I was always on the back foot in that game.  Perhaps I should have played Dark Tutelage on turn three, and left the relatively unthreatening Excavators for later.

On an unrelated note, check out the artwork for Sea Gate Loremaster (above).  Beautiful.

Match 4 vs. Templ3guard (G/W Weenies)

I'm on the draw with Basilisk Collar, Crystal Ball, Executioner's Capsule, Hypnotic Specter, Phylactery Lich and two Swamps.  I lay artifacts for my first two turns, playing the Lich on turn three.  By this time my opponent's board comprises Wall of Omens and Elvish Visionary.  Next turn, Templ3guard plays Joraga Treespeaker and Llanowar Elves.  Whilst his creatures are unthreatening, I'm aware of Beastmaster Ascension or Overrun potential, so don't feel entirely comfortable.  He chumps my Lich with the Wall, and I cast Hyppie in the second main phase.  On turn five he plays another Treespeaker and Deadly Recluse, which could stop Hyppie, so I dispose of it with my Capsule on my turn.

Once again my team's allowed through, and I finish my turn with Crystal Ball, which I've never been unhappy to draw.  At this point, my opponent concedes, so I'll never know if I was right to fear mass pump.  I felt in control of the game though, and feel that I could have dealt with it had it arisen.

Match 5 vs. Jerazul (R/B Caress + Megrim Discard)

Fear not, this was a better game.  I'm on the play with Basilisk Collar, Consume Spirit, Guul Draz Assassin, Hypnotic Specter, Veinfire Borderpost and two Swamps.  My opponent opens with Liliana's Caress, and I focus on dumping my hand as quickly as possible.  He plays another Caress on turn three, and follows it up with Duress, bringing me down to 16.  In the absence of creatures on his side of the table, my Assassin looks a little puny, but I need to get my hand onto the table fast, so can't afford to pump it.  With the current state of affairs, Blightning would hit me for eleven alone, which doesn't sound appetizing.  I play a second Hyppie, leaving a solitary Child of Night in hand.

Sure enough I get Blightninged next turn, which thanks to my fast hand only does seven damage.  I pop the Collar on a Hyppie, and the two Specters empty his hand, so we're both topdecking.  Life totals are 11 to 10 in my slight favour.  Next turn he plays a Megrim, but it's obvious that his strategy isn't so effective against a low cc deck like mine.  I take him down to four next turn, but elect to leave the Child of Night I've drawn in my hand, reasoning that whilst he could potentially rip a second Blightning, it still wouldn't kill me, whereas something like a Pyroclasm could set me right back.  Additionally, I don't need the Child to win next turn, presuming he can't deal with my creatures with his next topdeck.

He draws Black Knight, and I win on my turn.

Conclusions

Well that was fun.  There's definitely a lot of power in Dark Tutelage, and mana efficient cards like Phylactery Lich are a great way to take advantage of it.  I'm not convinced I've found quite the best decklist, although I was usually pretty happy with my opening seven, and draws during most games, which is at least some sign of a properly built deck.  I was predictably underwhelmed by Child of Night, and would be tempted to remove it for another couple of Consuming Vapors, and perhaps another Dark Tutelage and another Vampire Nighthawk.  Originally I was concerned about drawing multiple Tutelages and not being able to keep up with the life loss, but in reality I mostly struggled to draw any Tutelages, let alone multiples.

The other factor to bear in mind is that Basilisk Collar decreases in value once you start removing creatures, which was the main reason the Child made it in in the first place.  Although in any case, it's not the best use of the Collar, since it only benefits from the addition of Deathtouch.  Perhaps a full playset of Hyppies would be the way to go, since it's very rarely a bad card to have.

So I was very impressed with both the Lich and Tutelage when I drew them (including in the many other games I played which I haven't written about here), but I also felt Crystal Ball was better than I expected.  One problem with the Lich is that it potentially encourages you to include suboptimal cards in your decklist to make it work, and I had mentally put the Ball in that category.  However I was happy to play it whenever I could, and felt it was good value for its cost.  Sensei's Divining Top was popular in its day, and the Ball feels like only a mildly watered down version.  Perhaps it too should be a full playset instead of Scepter of Fugue and Brittle Effigy, although again, both proved useful in other games (one time a-piece).

And that brings me to the end of another edition of Out of the Blue, thanks for reading.  I'd love to hear other opinions of how to build around the Lich and Tutelage if you have any.

The deck was fun to play, and certainly dissipated some of my pent up rage.  Thank God I didn't lose this article in the somewhat notorious PureMTGO creation tool, or there's no telling what would have happened.  I'd definitely have had to buy a new set of crockery for a start.

Splendid Belt

www.splendidbelt.com

PS - A short word on my website, it hosts my podcast which, whilst not Magic related, is comedy (we hope).  If you like these articles, you might like the humour there, check it out if you have time.