Legacy: Super Shredder (almost) Monoblack Aggro - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Today, we'll make turtle soup! Super Shredder definitely stood out in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spoiler season because he grows a lot in decks that already do what he is all about.

Indeed, the winner of one of the first Challenge 32s on Magic Online after the new set came out was a Monoblack Aggro (with just a few blue cards) that played 3 copies of it. Let's explore this deck!

This list by sakuragi21722749 plays a Monoblack Aggro core that leans heavily into Moonshadow: 4 copies of Moonshadow, Nethergoyf, Dauthi Voidwalker, Thoughtseize, Urza's Bauble, and Mishra's Bauble. The first 2 are practically the best black 1-drops in the market. Voidwalker acts as graveyard hate in the main deck, and the Baubles are essential to grow your creatures.

This list also plays a few cards that are common in this archetype, less than 4 copies each: Fatal Push, Dark Ritual, Snuff Out, and Barrowgoyf. Push is considered the second-best removal in Legacy (the best is Swords to Plowshares), and Snuff Out hits the few things Push doesn't. Ritual enables a few very explosive plays and also fills your graveyard so your Goyfs work. Speaking of Goyfs, Barrow is still a real nightmare to other creature decks.

The main difference between this list and others is that it doesn't play Street Wraith so that it can play a tempo tool: Daze! This card can catch opponents off-guard, considering it wasn't common in this archetype (personally, I don't remember seeing it in lists until these tournaments). And it makes a lot of sense in a deck that wants to put pressure on the opponent fast and needs answers on curve. On top of it all, if you pay for its alternative cost, you'll trigger Super Shredder's ability!

Then we have Super Shredder. It is a legendary card, so this list doesn't play 4 copies of it. And, finally, this list plays 2 copies of Stalactite Stalker, which became the weaker version of Moonshadow because it doesn't grow as fast. Still, it interacts really well with Bauble and other lands.

This deck is between a Monoblack and a Dimir Tempo. It can get a lot from Moonshadow and Super Shredder much more efficiently than Dimir can, but it can still set up great tempo plays with Daze as backup, and these usually disrupt the opponent's game plan. So, if you like being aggressive and playing new cards, but you still want to interact with other spells in some way, this almost Monoblack list is a cool alternative.

This is an aggressive list that can't filter cards, so you need to keep hands with a clear game plan and strategies for turn 1. You can keep a hand without creatures on turn 1 if you open with Thoughtseize to keep putting pressure on turn 2.

Let's see a few hands:

This is a great hand. It puts Moonshadow in play on turn 1 with protection and grows it 3 times on turn 1 and at least one more time on turn 2. Verdict: keep it.

This hand can't put creatures in play on turn 1, but you can keep it because you can play Thoughtseize on turn 1, then Voidwalker on turn 2. Verdict: keep it.

This hand is risky because it is vulnerable to Wasteland, but it can still play Moonshadow on turn 1 and try to grow it with your own Wasteland. Depending on the opponent, you can also open with Thoughtseize. If you're drawing first, you can justify mulliganing it because it's also vulnerable to Orcish Bowmasters. Verdict: you can keep it overall, but I'd send it back if I were drawing first against Bowmaster lists.

This hand puts in play Barrowgoyf on turn 1 with Daze as protection and can grow it even more when you play Wasteland once it's your turn again. It can win games against aggro lists all by itself. Verdict: keep it.

This sideboard is quite diverse. It is supposed to have an answer to the huge number of decks seeing play in Legacy right now instead of just a few opponents. It's completely different from the Boros Energy list we reviewed last week.

Surgical Extraction and Faerie Macabre are graveyard answers. Faerie dodges counters, and Extraction is useful against a few combos as well.

Speaking of combos, our answers for them are Mai, Scornful Striker and Disruptor Flute. Mai is often lethal against Storm decks, and Flute has proved it is valuable as a generic answer. It both disables activated abilities, like Goblin Welder's or The One Ring's, and makes paying for cards like Show and Tell and Doomsday quite difficult.

Against other aggressive strategies, this deck will play more Fatal Push and Barrowgoyf, as well as the powerful and underestimated Toxic Deluge. Deluge is a brutal answer to decks like Boros Aggro or Eldrazi Stompy. There is no easy or cheap answer to it, and it's cheap enough you can play threats and use it in the same turn. You can use it to effectively clear the board or even leave a few of your creatures alive.

Finally, Sheoldred's Edict is a removal that hits what Snuff Out and Fatal Push don't. It's also an answer to Planeswalkers.

Other cards you can find in this sideboard are Damping Sphere, Duress, Dread of Night, Null Rod, Opposition Agent, and Tourach, Dread Cantor.

Dimir Tempo

In theory, Monoblack has an advantage in this matchup because both decks play similar threats, but Monoblack gets more out of its creatures. It also pays for Force of Will relatively easily.

Post-side, you'll add more removals and take out Daze and Snuff Out. Daze is not spectacular in this matchup, particularly against Wasteland, and Snuff Out doesn't hit as much as we'd want it to.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

Daze can make a huge difference in this list compared to the lists that only play one color, as it is an out to Show and Tell. Your removals don't affect their creatures, so you'll take them out and add answers. The fifth card you'll add can be Mai or Barrowgoyf. Neither of them hit something specific, but they're useful. Dauthi Voidwalker can steal games with Thoughtseize.

In:

Out:

Boros Aggro

They can explode much faster than Monoblack and have enough answers for Moonshadow and Super Shredder because of Swords to Plowshares. The problem is that Monoblack will have to be defensive, and it is an aggressive deck. You'll be able to do it a bit better post-side.

In:

Out:

Storm

You can put a good amount of pressure on them and disrupt them: Dauthi Voidwalker disables Echo of Eons and Gaea's Will, Thoughtseize can hit their key cards, particularly if they desperately need them, and even a Daze at the right time can break them.

Post-side, you'll remove your useless removals to add more disruption. Mai, Scornful Striker can end the game by itself.

In:

Out:

Eldrazi Stompy

Eldrazi, unlike Boros, is an aggro deck that can't put too much pressure on Monoblack, at least not more than Monoblack puts on them. The number of creatures with Menace that Monoblack plays makes it difficult for them to block, and Monoblack performs better with less mana once everyone starts throwing Wastelands around.

In:

Out:

Despite all the controversy surrounding it and the Spider-Man comparisons, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set ended up quite interesting and made Legacy quite interesting as well. Super Shredder is already getting results, Sewer-veillance Cam made Goblin Welder interesting again, and Skateboard has become one of the best targets for Urza's Saga.

Today's list might be too expensive for many tabletop players because of the 4 Underground Seas, but you can make it a bit more budget-friendly. You can go completely Monoblack or play Watery Grave with [Death's Shadow]]. The meta has space for innovation right now.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!