Vara's Black Market

Greetings,

Here's a deck based on the new promo card Vara, Decisive Action and Vara, Death's Master. The goal is pretty straightforward. Stall with removal until you can overwhelm your opponent. Here are a few quick notes:

- The market is largely focused on helping you control the game. Squash Belief is almost always the first card I go for since it really puts a squeeze on your opponent's ability to keep up with a drawn out game. But, I only play this card if it looks like the opponent will have a large hand throughout the game. If they are playing aggro or playing cards pretty quickly, maybe Saloon Massacre will be what you want. I also often hold onto a Skullmarket Delivery in case I need to use Corrupt.

- There's a good case to be made to add 3 to 4 copies of corrupt to the main deck to complement the control nature of the deck. If you do that, you could probably switch it for one of the removal spells in the main deck.

- Acantha Ascending is only in this deck for 2 reasons. First, she can provide fodder for Vara, Decisive Action's ability. You can also sacrifice one of the entomb units, but I try to save those for Vara, Death's Master's ability. She also serves to bait your opponent into using removal. She will almost always be a quick target when played, and rightfully so given how annoying she can be.

- I wanted to add other Vara cards just to have a full on Vara theme. Vara, Vengeance-Seeker would fit well (at least as a market card if nothing else). However, I get tired of playing the same cards and decided to leave her out this time. Maybe next time. Her anti-aegis effect would probably be really good.

- Originally, I went for a Xenan deck to add ramp cards like Auralian Merchant and Tocas, Waystone Harvester. I opted against this idea because the control nature of the deck allows you time to take it easy and wait patiently until you have enough power to play the more expensive cards. It might be prudent to switch out some removal for some ramp if you go that route. For now, I like it how it is.

Anways, enjoy and have fun!