MTG-Standard B/W What Creeps in the Night

[the3rdH0kage]

Okay so this is a deck I've been running for a while. The main strategy is to generate some tokens and get my Blood Artists out and Sacrifice them with Bloodflow Connoisseur to deal damage and get them low. them put stress on them with the powerful creatures and the control from the O-Rings and Pacifism crippling their cards then go in for the kill. It wins most of it's matches. So I decided to take it to an FNM and it only was able to compete in 2 of the 4 rounds because I had to leave early. But anyway it lost both matches to very similar decks. (The only differnces I noticed were the case colors). But anyway I decided to post it up here to see if you guys can give any suggestions. So here we go.

White Cards:

Creatures-
2x-Captain of the Watch
1x-Herald of War
1x-Warclamp Mastiff
1x-Angelic Wall
1x-Aven Squire

Sorcery:

2x Captain's Call


Instants:
3x-Safe Passage
1x-Banishing Stroke

Enchantments:
2x-Oblivion Ring
2x-Angelic Benediction
2x-Pacifism

Lands
11x-Plains

Black Cards:

Creatures:
3x-Blood Artists
2x-Bloodflow Connoisseurs
1x-Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis
1x-Xathrid Gorgon
2x-Harverster of Souls
1x-Duskmantle Prowler
1x-Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Linage
1x-Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Sorcery:
1x-Mind Rot

Instant:
2x-Murder

Enchantment:
1x-Exquisite Blood

Planeswalker:
1x-Liliana of the Dark Realms

Lands:
12x-Swamps

Multi-Coloered and Artifacts:
1x-Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1x-Moonsilver Spear

Sideboard:

1x-Barter in Blood
1x-Blood Reckoning
1x-Deathrite Shaman
1x-Mark of the Vampire
1x-Unhallowed Pact
1x-Vampire Nighthawk
1x-Ajani's Sunstriker
2x-Angel's Mercy
1x-Attended Knight
1x-Captain's Call
1x-Crusader of Odric
1x-Defang
1x-Serra Avatar
1x-Urgent Exorcism

Notes:
I plan on taking Liliana out when I get a Sublime Archangel.
Deathrite Shaman will probably be taken out and I'll put a Diregraf Ghoul in it's place.
I'll probably throw in another Herald of War and Captain of the Watch when get them.

Have fun and yes Kamotz I know I run quite a few Singles.

 

[Kamotz]

I feel that this color combination hit its peak during Dark Ascension and then tanked once Avacyn Restored and M13 came out. I used to play Wb Tokens and loved it, but it just doesn't have the support of a lot of other combinations now. It lacks a lot of the stopping power of other decks, especially with everyone and their uncle playing some combination of Jace, Thragtusk, Sphinx's Revelation, and/or Detention Sphere.

As far as card choices. I'm much less picky about some of your one-of's. Stuff like Nefarox, Mikaeus, Herald of War, and Xathrid Gorgon are fine as one-ofs, because any more and they suck. I'll just go through the different cards and say why I am or am not a fan.

Creatures-
2x-Captain of the Watch - Better as Odric, Master Tactician. You don't run NEARLY enough Soldiers to make her effective, even with Captain's call.
1x-Herald of War - Looking at it, you don't run NEARLY enough Angels or Humans to make this work.
1x-Warclamp Mastiff - Terrible card. Don't run it. Play a real card.
1x-Angelic Wall - Stop it.
1x-Aven Squire - Play more of these if you want the Exalted trigger.
3x-Blood Artists
2x-Bloodflow Connoisseurs - Fine as a sacrifice-outlet, but cards that do things would work better. Look into Bone Splinters, Launch Party, and/or Altar's Reap
1x-Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis -Good as a one-of, but don't rely on it too much.
1x-Xathrid Gorgon - this is fine secret tech as a 1-of.
2x-Harverster of Souls - relying on non-token creatures to die seems less good when you only have 18 real creatures in your deck. You should play Desecration Demon instead
1x-Duskmantle Prowler - as one? Why? Play better Exalted cards instead.
1x-Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Linage - You don't run enough Vampires. He'll just durdle and get killed.
1x-Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - This is fine. But the triple Black casting cost will be tough to handle.

Sorcery:
1x-Mind Rot - Fine, I guess. But with Loxodon Smiter in the format this is a risky card.
2x Captain's Call - Why? A couple of 1/1s doesn't make the same impact.

Instants:
3x-Safe Passage - Play Faith's Shield instead. You don't want to be on the defensive, and this card is terrible.
1x-Banishing Stroke - Fine as a 1-of
2x-Murder - Fine, but the 1BB cost is difficult to cast. Try Utimate Price instead. It hits all monocolored creatures, which are still some of the biggest threats in the format.

Enchantments:
2x-Oblivion Ring - Good
2x-Angelic Benediction - meh. You'd rather be playing Sublime Archangel instead.
2x-Pacifism - Good. Arrest is also an option if the creature has activated abilities.
1x-Exquisite Blood - Really? I think you'd rather play a better card at 5 cmc.

Planeswalker:
1x-Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - More of him will help. His Emblem ability (-2) is amazing and really helps with your exalted theme.
1x-Liliana of the Dark Realms - Works well to keep the Black Mana up.

Artifacts:
1x-Moonsilver Spear - Terrible. WAY too slow.

Lands
11x-Plains
12x-Swamps


Sideboard:
1x-Barter in Blood
1x-Blood Reckoning
1x-Deathrite Shaman - DON'T PLAY HIM WITHOUT GREEN! Or you're severely limiting what you can do.
1x-Mark of the Vampire -
1x-Unhallowed Pact
1x-Vampire Nighthawk - Play at least 3 of these mainboard.
1x-Ajani's Sunstriker
2x-Angel's Mercy
1x-Attended Knight
1x-Captain's Call
1x-Crusader of Odric
1x-Defang
1x-Serra Avatar
1x-Urgent Exorcism

I didn't bother with some of the sideboard stuff. Basically those just...aren't that good. Now, some suggestions as to better card choices:

Knight of Glory & Knight of Infamy. These are WAY better than many of your other cards. 3-4 of each, depending on the metagame by you (what decks other people are playing). Especially at on 2 mana. You can just about always reliably cast one of these guys on Turn 2. And their Exalted trigger means that you can attack on Turn 2 for at least 2 damage.
Vampire Nighthawk. One of the best creatures to have. Lifelink and Deathtouch on a 2/3 body with Flying for just 3 mana? It's great. And exalted triggers just STACK on him.
Vault of the Archangel. The BEST (and only) utility land in your colors. Lifelink and Deathtouch. It turns EVERYTHING into a Vampire Nighthawk.
Isolated Chapel. Having dual-lands is a MUST.
Dryad Militant/Rest in Peace. These will help against decks that abuse cards in their graveyards. Both are usually are sideboard cards, except Dryad Militant, which could be a very good one-drop.
War Falcon. If you have the Knights and Soldiers (like Knight of Glory/Infamy), this can attack on Turn 2 for 3 damage. It's very aggressively positioned.
Killing Wave. The BEST partner for your Blood artist. Tap out for the Wave, and just sacrifice all your creatures for MASSIVE damage.
Increasing Devotion. Much better than Captain's Call. 5 creatures (and flashback gives you 10) for just one more mana.
Bloodgift Demon/Underworld Connections. Great for drawing cards. The demon is more easily removed (via kill spell), but also has the benefit of being a 5/4 flyer. Both give you insane card advantage.
Desecration Demon. Half-decent with Blood Artist triggers. But insanely good with the next card...
Disciple of Bolas. With the Demon or any of your big creatures you end up drawing a massive amount of cards and gaining a massive amount of life.
Cryptborn Horror. More secret tech that your opponent won't expect. After a huge swing, play this card and it ends up huge.

Also. MORE Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and MORE Sublime Archangels.

 

[the3rdH0kage]

I agree with some of the comments. I plan on adding at least 1 Sublime Archangel when I can get it. The Angelic Benedictions are in there to Tap creatures and the +2/+2 is a nice bonus. I'll take out the Warclamp Mastiff, Angelic Wall and probably the Haresters of Souls, and throw in 2 of the Knights of Infamy/Glory. Also I think that B/W will become pretty strong after Gatecrash with Orzhov coming out.

 

[Kamotz]

Sure, it'll be better because of the support cards and just cards that define the color combination. But the deck itself will change RADICALLY.

Exalted isn't usually a Standard-viable mechanic outside of a few situations, and certainly not something you want to be depending on. Past a certain point, you'll be dealing more damage when you swing with ALL (or more than 1) of your creatures. And then Angelic Benediction is a dead card. It's turn 4 at the earliest, during which you could already have a War Falcon/Dryad Militant, Knight of Glory/Infamy, and a Vampire Nighthawk swinging for a total of 6 instead of 4 with just the Exalted triggers (from 1 knight and the Benediction).