Re: Black cards and artifact/enchantment removal
David DeLaney
>What options do mono-black decks have for artifact or enchantment
>removal?
Enchantment removal: Very very very little. Even less than red does. It's
a designed-in weakness of the color (along with red).
Artifact removal: not much at all, but still a little more than it can
do about enchantments. Here red far outdoes it.
>I know Icy Manipulator taps 1 tap-able permanent. But, that doesn't
>deal with enchantments.
Enchantments are perfectly tappable, though admittedly not with the Icy. It
just doesn't generally stop them from working or being usable in any way.
If you're playing black and want to deal with enchantments and artifacts,
your _best_ bet is to splash at least one other color. Red and green can
handle artifacts in many easy ways; green and white can handle enchantments
pretty well. Blue can counter enchantment or artifact spells (but sucks at
actually trying to destroy ones that have gotten into play).
If you want to play monoblack, one of the things you're gonna have to accept
is being weak against enchantments and artifacts.
Stuff black has that can handle or otherwise annoy artifacts: Artifact
Possession, Braids,_Cabal Minion, Burden of Greed, Curse Artifact, Disciple
of the Vault, Emissary of Despair, Gate to Phyrexia, Haunting Wind, Phyrexian
Gremlins, Phyrexian Tribute, Relic Bane, Timmerian Fiends, Warp Artifact,
Xenic Poltergeist. Note that this is out of ALL Magic cards ever printed,
and that of these fourteen, five of them are from Antiquities. Gate to Phyrexia
is as good a card as Black has EVER gotten against artifacts...
Stuff black has that can handle or otherwise annoy enchantments: Gloom, Irini
Sengir, Quagmire Druid. That's _it_. Which is why I'm saying 'splash another
color'...
Dave
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Zoe Stephenson
> What options do mono-black decks have for artifact or enchantment
> removal?
Very few, none recently. It's not something that black does.
> This includes artifacts, lands that produce black and do something
> else, etc.
> I know Icy Manipulator taps 1 tap-able permanent. But, that doesn't
> deal with enchantments.
Tapping enchantments doesn't generally deal with them. They'll still
have their static and triggered abilities and very few have activated
abilities that require them to tap.
Other options that you have for dealing with artifacts and enchantments:
- make them discard the card before they get to play it. Black is
very efficient at making players discard cards.
- kill them before they get to play these artifacts and enchantments,
or at least before they have a lasting effect on the game. Black is
very, very good at making players lose life, and there's no amount
of damage prevention that can stop that.
- add green to your deck. This is the best color at getting rid of
both enchantments and artifacts. It's pretty easy to add a few
forests and some Diabolic Tutors to make sure that you get the right
cards.
- use artifacts such as Nevinyrral's Disk or Oblivion Stone to get
rid of all of the artifacts and enchantments. And creatures. And
generally mess things up. Then use Beacon of Unrest to get them
back into play again.
We might be able to give better advice if you mention what particular
artifacts and enchantments you're having trouble with.
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-- Zoe Stephenson, NetRep rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules
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