Black Sacrifice


We are the beatdown here and they are the control deck, even though both lists are piles of cheap creatures. Our 60 has no removal, so a Carrion Feeder can only be blocked or outrun, while they hold instant-speed kills for our lords and blockers that leave tokens behind and grow Feeder when sacrificed. They are happy to absorb our attacks with fodder, kill a lord, and then turn the corner with a grown Feeder and Rite of Consumption. The matchup turns on whether we land two lords and attack before their sacrifices make Feeder big enough that a post-combat Rite turns its attack into a lethal swing. We are the faster deck when left alone, and Feeder cannot block, so their main attacker never slows our attack; what they have over us is resilience, since a single Snuff Out or Tragic Slip on a lord shrinks every Sliver at once. The play matters more to us than to them: on the play our lord or Plated Sliver is down before they can have both Feeder and Shambling Ghast in play, while on the draw that pair can kill a one-drop before our lord arrives.
Getting our Slivers off 1 toughness is the first job. Lead with Plated Sliver or a lord such as Muscle Sliver so a Shambling Ghast sacrificed to Carrion Feeder or Bloodthrone Vampire has nothing to kill, and cast Gemhide Sliver behind one of them rather than as a lone 1/1. Take red and blue from Abundant Growth whenever you can, since nothing in their deck removes an enchanted land. Then attack every turn, but expect blocks to turn into sacrifices: they block with Nested Shambler, Infestation Sage or Nezumi Linkbreaker and often feed the blocker to Feeder before flanking or combat damage kills it, so the blocked Sliver deals nothing and Feeder grows. Horned Sliver's trample and Winged Sliver's flying turn those blocks back into damage, and Lead the Stampede, cast once the hand is spent, can find them.
Do not attack with the whole team behind a single lord. Snuff Out costs them only 4 life, and any free sacrifice switches on Tragic Slip's morbid, so a lord killed after blockers shrinks every Sliver mid-combat; get a second lord or Plated Sliver down before the big attack. When Accursed Marauder makes us sacrifice, give up a spare one-drop rather than a lord or the Gemhide Sliver that pays for our red and blue. Count a grown Carrion Feeder's power twice, once for its attack and once for the post-combat Rite of Consumption that drains us for the same amount and gains them that much, and when the life race is close, block it even with a Sliver it will kill. Lean on Virulent Sliver's poison instead of racing their life total, since their lifegain never touches it. The one creature worth aiming Hunter Sliver's provoke at is Mortician Beetle, the growth payoff that can block: force it into a pumped Sliver while Sidewinder Sliver's flanking shrinks it first. Provoking their death-trigger creatures hands them the block they wanted, and Feeder cannot be made to block at all.
Shambling Ghast is their main answer to our curve in game one. With Carrion Feeder or Bloodthrone Vampire out they sacrifice it at instant speed, and the -1/-1 kills any Sliver still at 1 toughness while the sacrifice itself grows Feeder or Mortician Beetle. Never play Gemhide Sliver as a lone 1/1 while the hand's red and blue cards wait on its mana: one Ghast sacrifice kills it, strands those cards and feeds their attacker.
Carrion Feeder is their clock. It cannot block, so it never slows our attack, but it gets a counter from every blocker they sacrifice after blocks and every Shambling Ghast they feed it, so our attacks into their fodder grow the creature racing us. Do not block it with one pumped Sliver expecting a trade: they sacrifice fodder after blocks until it wins, we lose the Sliver, and the fodder's death triggers still leave them tokens.
Instant-speed lord removal, Tragic Slip in particular, is why we never attack with the whole team behind a single lord. Any free sacrifice switches on morbid, so for one mana after blockers are declared it kills our biggest lord and shrinks every Sliver at once; damage already marked can become lethal, and any Sliver dropped back to 1 toughness is open to a Ghast trigger. Slip sits in fewer than a third of mainboards but nearly every sideboard, and Snuff Out fills the same role in about a third of mainboards.
Mortician Beetle grows from every sacrifice either player makes, including the creature we give up to Accursed Marauder. Unlike Carrion Feeder it can block, so left alone it becomes a ground blocker our pumped team cannot attack through and eventually kills our best Sliver. It is the one target where Hunter Sliver's provoke earns its slot.
Rite of Consumption is their finisher against our race. After combat they sacrifice the creature that just attacked and drain us for its power, so a grown Carrion Feeder deals its damage twice in one turn and raises their life by the same amount. Taking a hit from a grown attacker because the life math looks safe is how we die from a total that looked out of reach; the swing matters against our damage plan but not against our poison.
In:
Out:
Obsidian Acolyte comes in because every targeted kill they have for our lords is black: Snuff Out, Shambling Ghast's trigger, Tragic Slip and Spinning Darkness. With open we give the targeted lord protection from black in response and the spell or trigger loses its only target. Plains and Blossoming Sands supply that
, so it does not depend on Gemhide Sliver surviving. None of those cards can target the Acolyte itself, their black creatures cannot block it, and it is the first creature to tap for Prismatic Strands' flashback. It does nothing against Accursed Marauder or Drown in Sorrow.
Winged Sliver comes in because their defense is to block with Nested Shambler, Infestation Sage, Nezumi Linkbreaker and Shambling Ghast, then sacrifice the blocker to Carrion Feeder so our Sliver stays blocked. Once the team flies, only Infestation Sage's Insect tokens can block at all, so our damage and Virulent Sliver's poison connect. Its blue comes from Abundant Growth, Gemhide Sliver or Holdout Settlement, enough for one more two-drop; Abundant Growth is the most reliable, since nothing in their deck or sideboard removes an enchanted land.
Prismatic Strands comes in because naming black prevents the damage from every creature card they play and from Rite of Consumption for the turn; only Squirrel and Mercenary tokens get through. Cast after they attack and we block, it lets our blockers take no damage from their black attackers and makes that turn's post-combat Rite deal nothing and gain them nothing. With Crypt Sliver cut, nothing in our 60 is black, so naming black costs us no damage. Pay the flashback by tapping Obsidian Acolyte first, or any white Sliver; a creature tapped after blockers are declared still deals its damage, so the second fog can cost nothing.
The third Lead the Stampede comes in because after sideboarding they add Drown in Sorrow and more Tragic Slip, Accursed Marauder and Snuff Out, while their own board refills from death-trigger tokens and Village Rites. It digs five cards for the creatures we need to rebuild a pumped team after a sweep or a run of removal, and it can find Winged Sliver or Horned Sliver to get past their blockers.
Crypt Sliver goes out because regeneration answers none of their removal. Snuff Out stops regeneration, Tragic Slip, Shambling Ghast's trigger and Drown in Sorrow shrink creatures rather than destroy them, and Accursed Marauder makes us sacrifice. As our only black creature it would also lose its damage on any turn Prismatic Strands names black.
Striking Sliver goes out because first strike is mostly redundant here. Sidewinder Sliver's flanking already kills their 1-toughness blockers before damage, and when we block, Carrion Feeder and Bloodthrone Vampire can grow after blockers are declared, so a first-striking blocker rarely wins the fight. Heart Sliver stays because its haste lets Slivers rebuilt after a sweep attack the turn they land.
Both Hunter Sliver go out because provoke mostly forces blocks they want. Nested Shambler, Infestation Sage, Nezumi Linkbreaker and Shambling Ghast all pay off when they die, and provoke cannot make Carrion Feeder block. It also clashes with the Winged Sliver we bring in, since a ground creature cannot be made to block a flier. Mortician Beetle is its only worthwhile target.
Sideboarding moves this matchup moderately in their favor: we gain protection for our lords, a fog for their big turn and a way to fly over their blocks, but Drown in Sorrow and the extra copies of Tragic Slip and Snuff Out hit a board of small creatures harder than our additions hit them, and neither Obsidian Acolyte nor Prismatic Strands touches the sweeper or Accursed Marauder.
After sideboarding the main danger is no longer Shambling Ghast picking off one-drops but Drown in Sorrow, which many builds bring in, plus the extra Tragic Slip and Snuff Out aimed at our lords, so we hold extra Slivers until Plated Sliver and a lord have the team at 3 toughness. Drown in Sorrow's -2/-2 kills every Sliver below that line along with Obsidian Acolyte, so get Plated Sliver and a lord, or two lords, onto the table before emptying your hand, and expect a Ghast that dies to the sweep to finish off one survivor left at 1 toughness. When a sweep or a run of removal does land, the third Lead the Stampede is how we rebuild: cast it once the hand is spent and redeploy what it finds behind a lord, and with Heart Sliver out the rebuilt team attacks the turn it lands.
Obsidian Acolyte changes how we attack. Keep open when the team attacks, so if they aim Snuff Out, a Shambling Ghast trigger, Tragic Slip or Spinning Darkness at a lord, we give that lord protection from black and the spell or trigger has no legal target. It does nothing against Accursed Marauder or Drown in Sorrow, so when Marauder's trigger resolves, sacrifice a spare one-drop rather than a lord or the Acolyte. Save Prismatic Strands for their big turn: once they attack with a grown Carrion Feeder or Bloodthrone Vampire and we have declared blockers, name black, so our blockers take no damage from their creatures and the post-combat Rite of Consumption deals no damage and gains them no life. Flash it back on a later turn by tapping Obsidian Acolyte or a white Sliver that is already blocking, since a tapped blocker still deals its damage. Sylvok Lifestaff and Vampiric Link, which some lists bring in, pad their life against our damage but do nothing against Virulent Sliver's poison, so poison stays the kill to aim for.
With two Winged Sliver now in the deck, flying is our cleanest way past their blocks. Once the team flies, only Infestation Sage's Insect tokens can block, so they can no longer soak up our attacks by blocking and sacrificing the blocker, and with Virulent Sliver out every Sliver that connects gives poison. Cast it off Abundant Growth when you can, since Gemhide Sliver is a creature their removal can hit and nothing in their deck removes an enchanted land. Watch for Mutagenic Growth in some lists: a free +2/+2 lets a blocker survive flanking or win a fight against a pumped Sliver, and turns a dying Nested Shambler into three Squirrels.