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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Onslaught B/W Clerics
July 9, 2007

Hi, BMoor.

These days, I've stopped buying new cards, but that doesn't stop me from
digging out my two mainstays and seeing how well they fare against the
newer decks. (The first, Invasion block Domain, passably so, the latter,
B/W Clerics, not so much.) Unfortunately, one of the decks (the latter)
never was finished, and instead was patched up with whatever other
filler cards I had.

I need help with my B/W clerics.

This deck was built back during the Onslaught block, so it largely revolves around, well, Onslaught block cards, with a sprinkling of 7th, Judgment, and Torment thrown in. At the late end, I threw in the Lightning Greaves from Mirrodin, to take advantage of the infinite life combo. (Lightning Greaves + Daru Spiritualist + Starlit Sanctum)

I feel as though I'm doing too much. Or rather, I feel as though I am pursuing two different game plans with this deck. It just doesn't flow properly. Some times, I'll get the Scion out on the third turn and run
them over with that, other times, I'll get the Oversold Cemetery, but no creatures to go with. I have tried fixing this deck by myself, but I am
way too out of tune with the state of the game, and well, you'll see how badly I botched things by trying to fix it the first time.

The typical game plan consists of starting by getting out three clerics,
get the Scion. Use Duress, Cabal Therapy, Smother and Chainer's to throw
off their tempo while keeping my weak lil' clerics alive. Vile Deacons
and Doubtless Ones go down around this time. Eventually, start throwing
expendable clerics at them (Cabal Archon) Unspeakable Symbol gets used
with lifegain to pump creatures. Withered Wretch was included in there,
because around that time, I had to deal with the massive number of B/G
Madness and Reanimator decks at the time. If/when it can be gotten out,
do infinite life combo.

This deck obviously has a very solid core to it, but it's too
straightforward and predictable, meaning that it fails against anyone
who knows what the cards do. (They're clerics, for crying out loud. If I
wanted ninjas, I'd be playing Kamigawa.)

I only have one restriction:
 The Scion stays in.

Help!

Lands:
9x Swamps
5x Plains
4x Tainted Field
2x Starlit Sanctum

Creatures:
3x Dark Supplicant
3x Benevolent Bodyguard
4x Daru Spiritualist
3x Withered Wretch
2x Cabal Archon
2x Rotlung Reanimator
2x Doubtless One
2x Vile Deacon
1x Scion of Darkness

Instants/Sorceries:
3x Duress
3x Cabal Therapy
3x Smother
2x Disenchant
2x Chainer's Edict

Enchantments/Artifacts:
2x Oversold Cemetary
2x Unspeakable Symbol
2x Lightning Greaves

Thanks a lot!

Why am I so glad that I'm free to recommend newer cards for this deck?  Because of the Orzhov, of course!  Magic's newest bad religion is full of powerful multicolor cards that this deck would love to use.  In fact, when I first learned what the Orzhov guild was about, I remember thinking to myself, "I really hope the Orzhov Guildmage is a Cleric, then it would work in so many decks."  Sadly, not that many creatures in the Orzhov turned out to be Clerics, but there's some powerful ones just the same.

Before we get into that though, let's look at what creatures you've already got.  Not counting the Scion (which we're not allowed to remove), it looks like you've given yourself a very good curve on creatures.  The mana costs seem distributed well, but are you using the right creatures at each cost?  For your one-drops, Dark Supplicant stays in (obviously) but Benevolent Bodyguard can be replaced with a newer Cleric, Order of the Stars.  They both use protection from the color of your choice, but while the Bodyguard grants it to others for a turn, the Order has it themselves every turn.  This is good since you'll likely want a creature that can block and block and never die.  Another creature you should definitely make room for somehow is Orzhov Pontiff.  Not only can it give a boost to your Cleric congregation, but it can also kill off your opponent's small creatures.  Especially with the Archon out: you can play the Pontiff, sacrifice it (Haunting a creature of yours), then sacrifice the Haunted creature to give your opponent's creatures -2/-2 (or your creatures +2/+2) as well as an eight-point life swing for you.  We'll find a noncreature spell for you to remove to make room for them, since a tribal deck like this depends on having a lot of creatures out.

Everything looks decent here, too.  Duress and Cabal Therapy have proven their worth over and over, but Smother and Disenchant?  Smother suffers from the problem that the creatures you most want to kill are the ones that are too big to Smother.  Disenchant is powerful, but quite frequently lacks a target.  What's the solution?  Say it with me: Mortify.  Yes, it's a little expensive, but the price will likely be dropping in September when it rotates out of Standard, and it's in high demand for a reason.  Unlike Smother, it can destroy any creature.  And unlike Disenchant, it will almost always have a target (many people play without artifacts or enchantments, but almost nobody plays without creatures).  And replacing two cards with one gives us room for the Pontiffs!  The only downside here is that this leaves you without artifact destruction.  How often are you defeated by noncreature artifacts (remember: Mortify works on artifact creatures)?  Most people usually aren't, but if there's a lot of them in your area, then maybe leave in a few Disenchant.

Next, let's look at your enchantments and artifacts.  You say your deck "lacks focus", and it's here that the strategies tend to break down.  Too often you draw the Cemetary and not enough creatures?  That sounds weird, since you've got plenty of creatures and only 2 Oversold Cemetery, but no matter.  You've also got Unspeakable Symbol, which goes well with lifegain but not so well with sacrificing your own creatures.  You have both.  I'd say the Symbol could go in or come out, whichever you need it to do.  I'm going to remove both the Symbol and the Cemetery for four copies of a more effective creature-reanimating card.  Which one?  Well, if you like enchantments that bring back creatures, you'll absolutely love Debtors' Knell.  It costs seven, meaning that by the time it hits play, you're bound to bring back something good with it.  It triggers every upkeep, regardless of how many creatures you have.  And it can bring your opponent's creatures back, on YOUR side of the table!  And it's even a hybrid card, meaning you can cast it with whte or black mana!  But, maybe seven mana is a bit much.  Maybe you'd prefer something cheaper.  If so, then may I suggest another card from Mirrodin block that's coming back in 10th?  Allow me to introduce you to Beacon of Unrest.  It's a sorcery, meaning it doesn't go off every turn.  But as part of its resolution, it shuffles itself back into your library, so it's sort of a recurring effect.  And, like Debtors' Knell, it can take a creature from any graveyard and give it to you.  It can also take artifacts, which is likely to be less useful but still handy to have.  I'd say replace the Sybol and Cemetery with either two of each of those, or four of the one you like best.

Hopefully that should help your deck hold together much better.  Having old favorite decks is great, but one shouldn't be too resistant to the idea of slipping in some new technology every now and again.  After all, if you let your decks stagnate, your friends will strart to memorize what cards are or aren't in them.  And you want to be able to surprise your friends, don't you?  Good luck!

~BMoor