Modern: Mono Black Evoke - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

While we wait for the Outlaws of Thunder Junction previews to end, the Modern Metagame continues to adapt and evolve around the recent ban of Violent Outburst and the decline of Crashing Footfalls decks, in addition to the rise of archetypes like Domain Zoo, Yawgmoth and Tron to the top of the Metagame.

These approaches include the recent rise of the Esper Reanimator, and also the most recent results of a new archetype: Mono Black Evoke.

In this article, we break down this new deck and how to use its Sideboard against the current Metagame!

Mono Black Evoke, or Mono Black Scam, is the natural evolution of another old Modern archetype, which was never very successful, apart from some occasional results in the format, The Rack.

Its strategy runs cheap discard spells to exhaust the opponent's resources while manipulating their means of obtaining it: Dauthi Voidwalker invalidates their graveyard, Orcish Bowmasters punishes cantrips, and cheap removals help keep the battlefield clean.

To complement this plan, the deck relies on the classic combination of Grief with cheap reanimation effects, removing up to two resources as early as the first turn while keeping a 4/3 body on the board, in addition to Urza's Saga as another win condition and means of finding The Rack copies and putting them straight into play.

This is the list used by the player nahuel10 to reach the Top 8 of the Modern Challenge on March 23rd. It concentrates many of the most played cards in the archetype while it also seems more adapted to deal with the current Metagame, with specific changes that may occur as the format evolves and/or each player's needs.

Maindeck

Dauthi Voidwalker offers a decent, hard-to-block clock while extracting value from our discards. Its ability to allow us to play exiled cards with it creates a level of unpredictability to the deck, where we can cast an opponent's bomb and use it to our advantage.

Orcish Bowmasters is essential for punishing cantrips and other draw effects on an archetype aimed at depleting the opponent's resources, as well as dealing with small creatures.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse complements Orcish Bowmasters in punishing draw effects while becoming a threat on its own the moment it enters play. It's one of the cards I would consider adding another copy.

Our “scam” package.

Grief can remove two key cards from the opponent while remaining in play as a 4/3 with Menace if we combine it with Not Dead After All or Undying Evil.

Malakir Rebirth complements this strategy while helping us not lose our land drops.

Our discard package.

There are times when six discard spells and Grief seems a bit “overkill” and reduces the number of good topdecks we can have, but early game disruption is essential to our strategy and starting the game with one of them is almost mandatory.

Liliana of the Veil helps keep the opponent's hand empty, deals with Scion of Draco and other specific threats if we can use the other removals to keep the battlefield clean.

Wrench Mind is the closest to Hymn to Tourach we have in Modern, and the only two-for-one discard effect available in the format. We can consider it as a flex slot.

Fatal Push is our standard removal and deals with several cards from the current Metagame alongside Fetch Lands and Urza’s Saga, in addition to holding back Aggro decks.

Sheoldred’s Edict should be prepared to deal with Planeswalkers or larger creatures in games where our opponents don't cast many threats, being another flexible slot on the list.

Our Urza’s Saga package, which in addition to increasing the deck's consistency, also turns into an alternative win condition with its tokens.

Pithing Needle deals with several cards from the current Metagame, mainly against Golgari Yawgmoth or Amulet Titan, in addition to delaying the plans of some other archetypes.

Shadowspear guarantees evasion for our creatures and Lifelink, necessary to hold games against Domain Zoo and other aggressive archetypes.

The Rack is our main win condition. Once in play, we just need to keep the opponent's board empty to win in a few turns. Not ideal against combo decks, but very effective in fair games.

A Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth set seems pretty overkill, but our list relies heavily on black mana while using colorless utility lands like Urza's Saga and Mishra's Foundry to complement our game plan. It is almost mandatory to use it to guarantee access to black mana consistently - in addition to being able to sacrifice one when playing another to trigger Fatal Push.

Marsh Flats also works to trigger revolt while offering a virtual advantage by removing a land from our deck.

Castle Locthwain is a source of card advantage that interacts with our game plan, but four mana is a steep price to pay in a list with few lands and four copies of Urza’s Saga.

Sideboard

With the return of Big Mana to the top of the Metagame, we need more cards to support these archetypes, especially when playing a Midrange deck.

Damping Sphere “locks” Tron’s lands while also delaying Amulet Titan’s plays with Bounce Lands. We can use it to punish archetypes that cast too many spells in a single turn as well.

Break the Ice is a more targeted hate towards Urza's lands, necessary to prevent Tron from taking over the game too early.

With the rise of Esper Reanimator, Golgari Yawgmoth being one of the best decks in the format and Izzet Murktide still present as one of the main contenders, more graveyard interactions are needed.

Nihil Spellbomb and Soul-Guide Lantern can be fetched by Urza’s Saga and the choice between them depends on how much we need to deal with a specific card or the entire graveyard.

Ashiok, Dream Render is a recurring hate that also blocks effects that search for cards in libraries, such as Summoner’s Pact, Eldritch Evolution or Chord of Calling.

Fatal Push and Damnation complement our removal package, given we have a more Control-oriented stance when facing Aggro.

Tourach, Dread Cantor enters in attrition games and/or matchups where its protection is relevant, such as against Solitude.

Chalice of the Void has lost space on sideboards, but remains useful for playing against Cascade decks or archetypes too focused on a specific, low mana value.

Necromentia deals with important pieces of the format's combos, such as Primeval Titan, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Atraxa, Grand Unifier and other troublesome cards.

Cursed Totem is a targeted hate against Golgari Yawgmoth and helps us gain some turns in this matchup alongside the extra copy of Pithing Needle, whose function is more comprehensive in the format today.

Domain Zoo

IN

OUT

Tron

IN

OUT

Golgari Yawgmoth

IN

OUT

Amulet Titan

IN

OUT

Izzet Murktide

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!