Hey everyone, relatively new to MTG, been looking for a fun deck for casual play against some other friends (3-people) and really like the idea of a mono-color tribal theme deck. Recently, I have gravitated towards vampires - I think the cards look really cool and they seem to have fun abilities. I created a rough outline for a multiplayer deck and wanted to get some feedback before purchasing any of the cards. Currently, the deck has ~70 cards, any suggestions on what to cut down would be appreciated!
The general idea behind this deck was to use bloodline keeper to produce vampire tokens, then sacrifice those tokens using Contamination. Sacrificing creatures would work well with several other cards including Grave Pact, Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, and Blade of the Bloodchief. Hoping to avoid removal of Bloodline Keeper by using Swiftfoot Boots. The general idea was that by slowing down the game using contamination and by sacrificing creatures every turn I could generate enough mana using Crypt of Agadeem to end the game using either Exsanguinate and/or by ramping Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. I know bloodghast would probably work well with this deck... but its priced around $12/card a little too high for my budget. The idea behind our group is just to have fun, wanted to make sure these cards weren't completely overpowered and wanted to try to stick with the "vampire tribal" theme as much as possible. Any suggestions on which cards to remove or how to make the deck better would be greatly appreciated!
Vampire decks running Blade of the Bloodchief in any non-zero quantity oughtta check out Skeletal Vampire as a finisher. He's basically Steven Seagal anyway but he gets even better w/Blade. Get your grind on.
I think Sengir Nosferatu is probably even harder to permanently answer; I've just never tried him out.
This is what I personally recommend that you play. I think that you should cut the Contaminations and save them for a better Stax deck. Vampires are a solid drain tribe and in my opinion you should just focus on that above everything else. I do really like Contamination, I just think that you could find a better home for it and focus on doing what Vampires do best in this particular shell.
The idea behind our group is just to have fun, wanted to make sure these cards weren't completely overpowered and wanted to try to stick with the "vampire tribal" theme as much as possible.
From my perspective, these cards may not be considered "fun."
Contamination is not fun - if you can support it by sacrificing a creature each turn, it shuts down decks so some of your opponents can't "play magic," which can lead to scooping (which means no one gets to play), or very irate opponents.
Either Sanguine Bond or Exquisite Blood is fine. Combined, though, they create an infinite combo, which is kosher in some groups, but not others. With only a single copy of each (and no tutors or real ramp), it's not like EVERY game (or even many games) will end that way. But some folks get a little irrational when playing against someone with a known infinite combo and send unneeded hate in that direction.
Exsanguinate is an awesome card. My observation is mostly around running 4 copies. Odds are that you WILL see one of these each game, and it's hard not to just win with the card - which can feel a little abrupt. Abrupt may not be "fun." You may consider shaving the number of copies (FWIW, I typically play 1 or 2) - the deck already has access to a bunch of other life gain options.
Thanks everyone for the awesome feedback! I will drop the contaminations, based on the suggestions it doesn't seem like it would be fun to play with nor a good fit for this deck. Thanks cme for pointing out the infinite combo with Sangunine Bond and Exquisite Blood. It does seem a little cheap (even if it doesn't occur that frequently), I think I will just stick with 2x Sangunine Bond. As for Exsanguinate I think I may buy 4x of the card, but only play with 2x Exsanguinate and 2x Feast of Blood - maybe add or remove Exsanguinate depending on how the deck performs. Also I removed -1x Falkenrath Noble and added +1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief for flavor. Here is the revised deck
I'm pretty sure that most of the other posters (myself included) were aware if the infinite combo. I figured that it was intentional. The revised deck looks swell to me and I'd say that it's ready for a field test. Let us know how she fares!
Thank so much guys, ended up getting the cards and will be playing with friends over holiday break - I'll let you know how it plays! One last question - any suggestions as to which cards to remove/add if playing 1v1 instead of a multiplayer setting? Often we will end up playing a couple of 1v1 games and then a large multiplayer game. Wanted to know if I were to purchase just a couple of additional cards (say 5-10 cards) which specific cards I should replace in the current "multiplayer deck" to make it play better 1v1. Many thanks!
You might receive the best 1v1 advice in the casual subforum - and there is a primer on Vampires here.
I'd probably swap some of the cards that provide value over a longer game (i.e., Oversold Cemetery, Grave Pact, Sanguine Bond) for some of the usual suspects. This Modern deck might serve as a rough guideline.
You might replace the ridiculously expensive Lilianas with a mix of Geth's Verdict and Sign in Blood. And the manabase could remain 23 swamps and a Nykthos.
Thank so much guys, ended up getting the cards and will be playing with friends over holiday break - I'll let you know how it plays! One last question - any suggestions as to which cards to remove/add if playing 1v1 instead of a multiplayer setting? Often we will end up playing a couple of 1v1 games and then a large multiplayer game. Wanted to know if I were to purchase just a couple of additional cards (say 5-10 cards) which specific cards I should replace in the current "multiplayer deck" to make it play better 1v1. Many thanks!
To convert this or any other deck into a duel deck add 4x Hymn to Tourach and 4 spot removal spells. Victim of Night is cheap and almost always works for example. The main card that you need to add is Hymn to Tourach though. It's horrendously overpowered and costs nothing. For the spot removal spell you just have to take your meta into consideration and find something that will work for you. Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, Ultimate Price and more can all get the job done but I find that Victim of Night is generally your best bet.
P.S. I'm assuming that you aren't legally allowed to play with Mind Twist. If you are then that's another must-have duel staple. Buy 4 and play them alongside your 4 Hymns if I'm wrong. You absolutely cannot go wrong with 4 Hymans and 4 Twists in a casual duel setting. Your overall win % with any Black deck (not just this one, all current and future ones as well) will skyrocket.
Hey Guys, got the chance to play the deck over break -- it plays great, and has been super fun to play with friends. I was hoping to expand on this deck to make it suitable for multiplayer EDH. I have a draft version of the EDH deck completed but I'm just about ~15 cards over, was hoping to get recommendations on which cards to remove/add and any overall suggestions! Thanks so much!
I've been playing monoblack EDH for about a decade (Magic itself for about 15 years) and here's my take:
All of my Black decks play Dark Ritual. EDH is a "go big or go home" format and I'll always take "losing a card" to make an impactful play 1-2 turns earlier. Turn 1 Worn Powerstone/Phyrexian Arena wins games and I've rarely found it to be a "dead draw." At this point I don't even consider exluding it from my lists because it's overperformed too many times to count.
100% of my Black creature-based decks play Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead and Necromancy. Any creature from any GY for 2-3 mana is busted. This isn't even a consideration when I start my lists. In a similar vein I'm a huge fan of Reanimate and don't understand why so many lists exclude it. I get that some players dislike "drawback" spells but 1 mana for any creature from any GY is almost always heinously overpowered. I think that Beacon of Unrest is incredibly overrated because far more often than not you pay 5 mana for a Reanimate just so you "feel good" about shuffling 1 "good card" back into your ~80 card deck. I personally think that it's incredibly weak and always play Animate Dead and other cheap effects in that slot. The reshuffle clause isn't nearly as important as people make it out to be in my opinion. I obviously understand that Beacon hits Artifacts as well as creatures but I'm not willing to pay 5 mana for that privilege.
100% of my Black decks plays Necrologia and Syphon Mind. Again, it's not even a decision. I also consider Necropotence, Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Sidisi, Undead Vizier to be essential additions. If Potence is too pricey that's fine but the other cards you have no legitimate reason to omit. Add them if you want to win more games. Just compare Syphon Mind to Ancient Craving. Why play a 3-for-1 that costs 3 life when you can play a 6-for-1 that doesn't? Otherwise, if you or anyone else currently has a Black mEDH deck without Necrologia add one and just try and come back and tell me that it wasn't the best draw in your deck each and every time.
You don't play enough ramp in my opinion. I start all of my decks with Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Worn Powerstone, Basalt Monolith, Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus. Not "some," not "most," ALL. This isn't me exaggerating, this isn't me saying "100% of my decks play these cards" when only ~20% do, I legitimately rotate these into every single deck that I build. These are "the big 6" (as I call them) and are playable in 100% of all mutiplayer EDH decks and I strongly encourage that you invest in them. I guarantee their long-term effectiveness at all skill levels. Some are pricier than others but you want some more ramp in this thing. Otherwise I really like 2 CMC ramp such as Mind Stone and Everflowing Chalice. Hedron Archive is also criminally underrated and very budget friendly. Any of these cards can replace some of the "big 6" for budget reasons if needed.
(Before anyone asks about Mana Crypt I don't make it a point to suggest cards worth hundreds of dollars for casual EDH play.)
Zulaport Cutthroat is a must. The card is bonkers. From the new set I'm loving Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Sifter of Skulls has been great for me thusfar. My "second copy" of Pawn of Ulamog has been stellar and Kalitas is just nuts. I'm a huge fan of these "engine" creatures that provide constant value as the game progresses. I can't recommend them enough.
Your deck plays too few draw engines for my tastes. Dark Prophecy, Grim Haruspex and Smothering Abomination do serious work in my brews. I personally think that cards like Read the Bones and Ancient Craving are extremely weak compared to these engine-based alternatives. Read the Bones is fine in duels when you're trading 1-for-1 but Divination doesn't win multiplayer games of Magic. You need big, powerful, long-term effects that can randomly win games.
You have too many "swarm" pumpers such as Drana, Nocturnus, Coat of Arms, Necropolis Regent, etc. I like having some number of these but you've gone way overboard. In general I would rather have more cards like Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding that help me recover from mass removal and fewer cards that rely on me having a big board of dudes at all times. Again, you don't need to cut them all but you should shave the number in my mind.
I'm not going to state the reasons why I think that each card is terrible/overrated but the short answer is "I don't feel as though these cards win games of Magic." Too low impact, too slow, too weak, the reasons go on and on. Again, this is personal opinion but I've been playing this game competitively for close to 15 years so this isn't my first rodeo. The main difference between your deck and one that I would play myself is that I place more emphasis on engines, unfair ramp and card draw while focusing on powerful, game-winning effects. Pulse Tracker will never win a game of EDH for you but Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet will randomly put 20 power into play on turn 5 and seize victory. Sengir Nosferatu is cute but an "unkillable" 4/4 flier is worthless when you need to deal 120 points of damage and I'd much rather Gilded Lotus out a Crypt Ghast and Exsanguinate everyone for 20 the following turn. I haven't won many games casting turn 3 Vampire Nighthawk but an unchecked Pawn of Ulamog can get out of hand. You want engines, not low-impact spells.
If you have questions, comments, concerns, outbursts, go wild! I'm happy to discuss monoblack EDH at great length. The only caveat is that I'm a "play to win" kind of guy so if you want flavour/theme/fun suggestions I'm not the right person to ask.
Had a lot of fun yesterday with a "fair" pack rat / reanimate deck.
However my mana and card draw were distinctly unfair.
Coffers, ghasts and Nyx. Multiples.
Anyway, if flavor's needed I'll be happy to help.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
In magic there's Harry Dresden, Fizban, Sethra Lavode, Dorotea Senjak and me...
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
Oh trust me, it's legal lol. I play competitive EDH (turn 1-4 win decks) every Monday and unfortunatelty you see a lot of Mana Crypts. I'm so glad that Partial Paris is gone; no more 5 minute mulligan phases where people sculpt the perfect hand of 2 lands, 2 pieces of ramp a tutor and an action spell because you can just look at 20 cards for free (more-or-less). Here's hoping that people will have to start playing more than 30 lands in their deck again!
Wow guys I can't thank you enough for all the help and feedback on the deck, Prid3 your comments have been particularly insightful and helpful. Some of the suggestions such as Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Nirkana Revenant, or Cabal Coffers definitely seem like they would improve the deck..but are a little out of my price range (~20$/card). Below I have outlined the revised deck, let me know what you think!
The most glaring omission is Exquisite Blood. The card is way better than something like Blood Tribute. Otherwise if we ignore the creature-base and assume that we're building a Vampire deck then all of your spells look pretty good.
Something like this should give you some ideas. You can obviously pour thousands of additional dollars into the deck to make it better but I have no idea what you're looking to invest so I purposely omitted a ton of expensive "staples." I also have no idea how deep you want to go on degenerate combo kills (if at all) which is why I removed them. There's obviously a ton of ways to improve the deck though and if you have money for cards like Vampiric Tutor, Damnation, etc. then by all means. If you want Contamination for the lock then go for it. If you want Triskelion to pair with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed then go for it (Wake the Dead, Buried Alive, Victimize, Living Death, etc. support the combo well). If you want Necrotic Ooze to combo with Buried Alive, Triskelion and Phyrexian Devourer that's great too. If you want Leyline of the Void + Helm of Obedience then go for it. Spend as much money as you want, play as many broken combos as you want, field as many locks as you want, the world is your oyster.
...random rules question... If I generated a token (0/1 Eldrazi) from Pawn of Ulamog and I had Vampiric Rites in play. Would sacrificing the token also trigger Vampiric Rites, and could I use the generated mana to pay (in part) for Vampiric Rites ability?
...random rules question... If I generated a token (0/1 Eldrazi) from Pawn of Ulamog and I had Vampiric Rites in play. Would sacrificing the token also trigger Vampiric Rites, and could I use the generated mana to pay (in part) for Vampiric Rites ability?
No. Sacrificing a permanent/token is a cost that can only be paid once per unique object. If you sac an Eldrazi Spawn to generate a colorless mana, that's it, it's gone. Unlike triggered abilities that use the stack payments don't and once the payment is made (i.e the card is sac'd) the effect is both instantaneous and irreversible. It cannot be responded to and it cannot be taken back.
Otherwise you could simply sac an Eldrazi Spawn to itself 50 trillion times to generate "infinite" mana and/or sac any random creature 50 trillion times to Goblin Bombardment to kill everyone and everything. There's no "in response I also sac it to X" because that would be inherently broken.
Thanks Prid3! Just for my understanding, (I) I could sacrifice the (0/1 Eldrazi) to active Vampiric Rites but I would not receive the +1 colorless mana. (II) I could sacrifice the (0/1 Eldrazi) to generate +1 colorless mana, but I would then have to sacrifice an additional card if I wanted to active Vampiric Rites. In either scenario (I or II) sacrificing the (0/1 Eldrazi) would trigger effects such as Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos, is this correct?
Thanks Prid3! Just for my understanding, (I) I could sacrifice the (0/1 Eldrazi) to active Vampiric Rites but I would not receive the +1 colorless mana. (II) I could sacrifice the (0/1 Eldrazi) to generate +1 colorless mana, but I would then have to sacrifice an additional card if I wanted to active Vampiric Rites. In either scenario (I or II) sacrificing the (0/1 Eldrazi) would trigger effects such as Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos, is this correct?
Bingo.
That being said for clarity's sake you don't "sacrifice an additional card" in this example. Additional implies "in addition to" which is misleading since the events are completely independent. I would describe it as "sacrifice a different creature" because a sacrifice is a payment that can only be made once per unique object. Not trying to be nit-picky but when it comes to this technical jargon you never know what the baseline assumptions being made are so I try to be as clear as possible.
Out of curiosity, if you had 1x Increasing Ambition in your starting hand, and could play it beginning of turn 4 (due to mana ramp) what would you tutor for?
Out of curiosity, if you had 1x Increasing Ambition in your starting hand, and could play it beginning of turn 4 (due to mana ramp) what would you tutor for?
Necropotence or Necrologia unless I had access to an easy combo kill of some variety. Those are my most common tutor targets for any Black deck and it's not particularly close. Every deck wants to draw cards and those are the strongest card spells in Black outside of Ad Nauseam-based combo shells that can reliably draw ~15 cards.
Creature (18)
3x Blood Artist
3x Bloodline Keeper
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
2x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Kalastria Highborn
3x Vampire Nighthawk
2x Vampire Nocturnus
Enchantment (14)
2x Bloodchief Ascension
4x Contamination
1x Exquisite Blood
2x Grave Pact
1x Oversold Cemetery
2x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Sanguine Bond
Land (25)
4x Crypt of Agadeem
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
20x Swamp
Sorcery (6)
4x Exsanguinate
2x Feast of Blood
Artifact (5)
2x Blade of the Bloodchief
2x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Whip of Erebos
The general idea behind this deck was to use bloodline keeper to produce vampire tokens, then sacrifice those tokens using Contamination. Sacrificing creatures would work well with several other cards including Grave Pact, Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, and Blade of the Bloodchief. Hoping to avoid removal of Bloodline Keeper by using Swiftfoot Boots. The general idea was that by slowing down the game using contamination and by sacrificing creatures every turn I could generate enough mana using Crypt of Agadeem to end the game using either Exsanguinate and/or by ramping Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. I know bloodghast would probably work well with this deck... but its priced around $12/card a little too high for my budget. The idea behind our group is just to have fun, wanted to make sure these cards weren't completely overpowered and wanted to try to stick with the "vampire tribal" theme as much as possible. Any suggestions on which cards to remove or how to make the deck better would be greatly appreciated!
And maybe throw in one or two Captivating Vampires?
And... Just play it!
(-:
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
I think Sengir Nosferatu is probably even harder to permanently answer; I've just never tried him out.
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
20x Swamp
2x Crypt of Agadeem
2x Leechridden Swamp
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (21)
3x Blood Artist
2x Kalastria Highborn
2x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Vampire Nighthawk
2x Bloodline Keeper
3x Falkenrath Noble
2x Vampire Nocturnus
4x Malakir Bloodwitch
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
2x Bloodchief Ascension
4x Exsanguinate
1x Oversold Cemetery
2x Phyrexian Arena
2x Grave Pact
1x Exquisite Blood
1x Sanguine Bond
This is what I personally recommend that you play. I think that you should cut the Contaminations and save them for a better Stax deck. Vampires are a solid drain tribe and in my opinion you should just focus on that above everything else. I do really like Contamination, I just think that you could find a better home for it and focus on doing what Vampires do best in this particular shell.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Contamination is not fun - if you can support it by sacrificing a creature each turn, it shuts down decks so some of your opponents can't "play magic," which can lead to scooping (which means no one gets to play), or very irate opponents.
Either Sanguine Bond or Exquisite Blood is fine. Combined, though, they create an infinite combo, which is kosher in some groups, but not others. With only a single copy of each (and no tutors or real ramp), it's not like EVERY game (or even many games) will end that way. But some folks get a little irrational when playing against someone with a known infinite combo and send unneeded hate in that direction.
Exsanguinate is an awesome card. My observation is mostly around running 4 copies. Odds are that you WILL see one of these each game, and it's hard not to just win with the card - which can feel a little abrupt. Abrupt may not be "fun." You may consider shaving the number of copies (FWIW, I typically play 1 or 2) - the deck already has access to a bunch of other life gain options.
20x Swamp
2x Crypt of Agadeem
2x Leechridden Swamp
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (21)
3x Blood Artist
2x Kalastria Highborn
2x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Vampire Nighthawk
2x Bloodline Keeper
2x Falkenrath Noble
2x Vampire Nocturnus
4x Malakir Bloodwitch
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
2x Exsanguinate
2x Feast of Blood
Enchantments (10)
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
2x Bloodchief Ascension
1x Oversold Cemetery
2x Phyrexian Arena
2x Grave Pact
2x Sanguine Bond
The average CMC of the deck is ~3.11. Any other suggestions/tweaks to the deck?
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I'd probably swap some of the cards that provide value over a longer game (i.e., Oversold Cemetery, Grave Pact, Sanguine Bond) for some of the usual suspects. This Modern deck might serve as a rough guideline.
4 Bloodghast
1 Bloodline Keeper
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Kalastria Highborn
3 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Viscera Seer
4 Liliana of the Veil
Spells [9]
2 Dismember
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
2 Mutavault
11 Swamp (258)
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
To convert this or any other deck into a duel deck add 4x Hymn to Tourach and 4 spot removal spells. Victim of Night is cheap and almost always works for example. The main card that you need to add is Hymn to Tourach though. It's horrendously overpowered and costs nothing. For the spot removal spell you just have to take your meta into consideration and find something that will work for you. Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, Ultimate Price and more can all get the job done but I find that Victim of Night is generally your best bet.
Cut 2x Exsanguinate, 2x Malakir Bloodwitch, 2x Sanguine Bond, 2x Falkenrath Noble.
If that doesn't work cut 2x Bloodchief Ascension for 2 more discard spells. Wrench Mind and Mind Sludge can work but even things like Mire's Toll and Despise are usually fine. In the dark I really like Wrench Mind though as it compliments the 4x Hymn to Tourach insanely well.
P.S. I'm assuming that you aren't legally allowed to play with Mind Twist. If you are then that's another must-have duel staple. Buy 4 and play them alongside your 4 Hymns if I'm wrong. You absolutely cannot go wrong with 4 Hymans and 4 Twists in a casual duel setting. Your overall win % with any Black deck (not just this one, all current and future ones as well) will skyrocket.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
*heads off to cry himeself to sleep*
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Creature (34)
1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
1x Ascendant Evincar
1x Blood Artist
1x Blood Seeker
1x Bloodghast
1x Bloodhusk Ritualist
1x Bloodline Keeper Flip
1x Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
1x Bloodthrone Vampire
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Captivating Vampire
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Dark Impostor
1x Defiant Bloodlord
1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
1x Falkenrath Noble
1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1x Guul Draz Assassin
1x Kalastria Highborn
1x Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
1x Malakir Bloodwitch
1x Mephidross Vampire
1x Mirri the Cursed
1x Necropolis Regent
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Pawn of Ulamog
1x Pulse Tracker
1x Sangromancer
1x Sengir Nosferatu
1x Skeletal Vampire
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Vampire Nocturnus
1x Viscera Seer
1x Ambition's Cost
1x Ancient Craving
1x Barter in Blood
1x Beacon of Unrest
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Blood Tithe
1x Blood Tribute
1x Consume Spirit
1x Death Cloud
1x Decree of Pain
1x Exsanguinate
1x Feast of Blood
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Life's Finale
1x Profane Command
1x Read the Bones
1x Sorin's Vengeance
Artifact (10)
1x Blade of the Bloodchief
1x Caged Sun
1x Coat of Arms
1x Door of Destinies
1x Expedition Map
1x Jet Medallion
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Urza's Incubator
1x Well of Lost Dreams
1x Whip of Erebos
Instant (3)
1x Suffer the Past
1x Tainted Strike
1x Tendrils of Corruption
1x Black Market
1x Bloodchief Ascension
1x Dictate of Erebos
1x Exquisite Blood
1x Grave Betrayal
1x Grave Pact
1x No Mercy
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Polluted Bonds
1x Retreat to Hagra
1x Sanguine Bond
Land (35)
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Crypt of Agadeem
1x Leechridden Swamp
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
30x Swamp
1x Thespian's Stage
Planeswalker (2)
1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
1x Sorin Markov
All of my Black decks play Dark Ritual. EDH is a "go big or go home" format and I'll always take "losing a card" to make an impactful play 1-2 turns earlier. Turn 1 Worn Powerstone/Phyrexian Arena wins games and I've rarely found it to be a "dead draw." At this point I don't even consider exluding it from my lists because it's overperformed too many times to count.
100% of my Black creature-based decks play Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead and Necromancy. Any creature from any GY for 2-3 mana is busted. This isn't even a consideration when I start my lists. In a similar vein I'm a huge fan of Reanimate and don't understand why so many lists exclude it. I get that some players dislike "drawback" spells but 1 mana for any creature from any GY is almost always heinously overpowered. I think that Beacon of Unrest is incredibly overrated because far more often than not you pay 5 mana for a Reanimate just so you "feel good" about shuffling 1 "good card" back into your ~80 card deck. I personally think that it's incredibly weak and always play Animate Dead and other cheap effects in that slot. The reshuffle clause isn't nearly as important as people make it out to be in my opinion. I obviously understand that Beacon hits Artifacts as well as creatures but I'm not willing to pay 5 mana for that privilege.
100% of my Black decks plays Necrologia and Syphon Mind. Again, it's not even a decision. I also consider Necropotence, Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Sidisi, Undead Vizier to be essential additions. If Potence is too pricey that's fine but the other cards you have no legitimate reason to omit. Add them if you want to win more games. Just compare Syphon Mind to Ancient Craving. Why play a 3-for-1 that costs 3 life when you can play a 6-for-1 that doesn't? Otherwise, if you or anyone else currently has a Black mEDH deck without Necrologia add one and just try and come back and tell me that it wasn't the best draw in your deck each and every time.
You don't play enough ramp in my opinion. I start all of my decks with Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Worn Powerstone, Basalt Monolith, Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus. Not "some," not "most," ALL. This isn't me exaggerating, this isn't me saying "100% of my decks play these cards" when only ~20% do, I legitimately rotate these into every single deck that I build. These are "the big 6" (as I call them) and are playable in 100% of all mutiplayer EDH decks and I strongly encourage that you invest in them. I guarantee their long-term effectiveness at all skill levels. Some are pricier than others but you want some more ramp in this thing. Otherwise I really like 2 CMC ramp such as Mind Stone and Everflowing Chalice. Hedron Archive is also criminally underrated and very budget friendly. Any of these cards can replace some of the "big 6" for budget reasons if needed.
(Before anyone asks about Mana Crypt I don't make it a point to suggest cards worth hundreds of dollars for casual EDH play.)
Zulaport Cutthroat is a must. The card is bonkers. From the new set I'm loving Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Sifter of Skulls has been great for me thusfar. My "second copy" of Pawn of Ulamog has been stellar and Kalitas is just nuts. I'm a huge fan of these "engine" creatures that provide constant value as the game progresses. I can't recommend them enough.
Your deck plays too few draw engines for my tastes. Dark Prophecy, Grim Haruspex and Smothering Abomination do serious work in my brews. I personally think that cards like Read the Bones and Ancient Craving are extremely weak compared to these engine-based alternatives. Read the Bones is fine in duels when you're trading 1-for-1 but Divination doesn't win multiplayer games of Magic. You need big, powerful, long-term effects that can randomly win games.
Cards that I would personally never play in this style of deck includes Retreat to Hagra, Suffer the Past, Tainted Strike, Blade of the Bloodchief, Feast of Blood, Blood Tribute, Sorin's Vengeance, Sengir Nosferatu, Pulse Tracker, Mirri, the Cursed, Bloodhusk Ritualist and Blood Seeker. If you were to hand this deck over to me I would remove them without hesitation.
Cards that I think are incredibly overrated include Consume Spirit, Read the Bones, Ambition's Cost/Ancient Craving, Blood Tithe, Tendrils of Corruption, Mephidross Vampire, Beacon of Unrest and Polluted Bonds. They're not unplayable or anything but I wouldn't sleeve any of them up myself.
You have too many "swarm" pumpers such as Drana, Nocturnus, Coat of Arms, Necropolis Regent, etc. I like having some number of these but you've gone way overboard. In general I would rather have more cards like Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding that help me recover from mass removal and fewer cards that rely on me having a big board of dudes at all times. Again, you don't need to cut them all but you should shave the number in my mind.
I'm not going to state the reasons why I think that each card is terrible/overrated but the short answer is "I don't feel as though these cards win games of Magic." Too low impact, too slow, too weak, the reasons go on and on. Again, this is personal opinion but I've been playing this game competitively for close to 15 years so this isn't my first rodeo. The main difference between your deck and one that I would play myself is that I place more emphasis on engines, unfair ramp and card draw while focusing on powerful, game-winning effects. Pulse Tracker will never win a game of EDH for you but Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet will randomly put 20 power into play on turn 5 and seize victory. Sengir Nosferatu is cute but an "unkillable" 4/4 flier is worthless when you need to deal 120 points of damage and I'd much rather Gilded Lotus out a Crypt Ghast and Exsanguinate everyone for 20 the following turn. I haven't won many games casting turn 3 Vampire Nighthawk but an unchecked Pawn of Ulamog can get out of hand. You want engines, not low-impact spells.
If you have questions, comments, concerns, outbursts, go wild! I'm happy to discuss monoblack EDH at great length. The only caveat is that I'm a "play to win" kind of guy so if you want flavour/theme/fun suggestions I'm not the right person to ask.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Had a lot of fun yesterday with a "fair" pack rat / reanimate deck.
However my mana and card draw were distinctly unfair.
Coffers, ghasts and Nyx. Multiples.
Anyway, if flavor's needed I'll be happy to help.
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
Oh trust me, it's legal lol. I play competitive EDH (turn 1-4 win decks) every Monday and unfortunatelty you see a lot of Mana Crypts. I'm so glad that Partial Paris is gone; no more 5 minute mulligan phases where people sculpt the perfect hand of 2 lands, 2 pieces of ramp a tutor and an action spell because you can just look at 20 cards for free (more-or-less). Here's hoping that people will have to start playing more than 30 lands in their deck again!
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
1x Ascendant Evincar
1x Blood Artist
1x Bloodline Keeper
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Captivating Vampire
1x Dark Impostor
1x Defiant Bloodlord
1x Falkenrath Noble
1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
1x Guul Draz Assassin
1x Kalastria Highborn
1x Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
1x Malakir Bloodwitch
1x Necropolis Regent
1x Pawn of Ulamog
1x Sangromancer
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Vampire Nocturnus
Sorcery (10)
1x Barter in Blood
1x Blood Tribute
1x Decree of Pain
1x Exsanguinate
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Life's Finale
1x Living Death
1x Patriarch's Bidding
1x Profane Command
1x Syphon Mind
1x Animate Dead
1x Black Market
1x Bloodchief Ascension
1x Dance of the Dead
1x Dark Prophecy
1x Dictate of Erebos
1x Grave Betrayal
1x Grave Pact
1x Necromancy
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Sanguine Bond
1x Wound Reflection
Artifact (13)
1x Blade of the Bloodchief
1x Caged Sun
1x Door of Destinies
1x Expedition Map
1x Jet Medallion
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sol Ring
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Urza's Incubator
1x Venser's Journal
1x Well of Lost Dreams
1x Whip of Erebos
1x Worn Powerstone
1x Dark Ritual
1x Malicious Affliction
1x Necrologia
Land (39)
1x Crypt of Agadeem
1x Leechridden Swamp
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
35x Swamp
1x Thespian's Stage
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I'll post a fair deck that I build and played a few weeks ago for reference. It purposely has no infinite combos and the General could be anything from Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed to Erebos, God of the Dead to Chainer, Dementia Master to Sheoldred, Whispering One. Literally doesn't matter.
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Lands (38)
32x Swamp
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Unholy Grotto
Creatures (21)
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
1x Blood Artist
1x Bloodghast
1x Reassembling Skeleton
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Mindslicer
1x Graveborn Muse
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Disciple of Bolas
1x Chainer, Dementia Master
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Shriekmaw
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Grave Titan
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sepulchral Primordial
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Dark Ritual
1x Reanimate
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Exsanguinate
1x Damnable Pact
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Wake the Dead
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Buried Alive
1x Victimize
1x Praetor's Grasp
1x Mutilate
1x Massacre
1x Syphon Mind
1x Living Death
1x Necrologia
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Crux of Fate
1x Decree of Pain
Other Spells (20)
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Expedition Map
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Vault
1x Skullclamp
1x Jet Medallion
1x Mind Stone
1x Charcoal Diamond
1x Dance of the Dead
1x Animate Dead
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Unstable Obelisk
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Necropotence
1x Necromancy
1x Grave Pact
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Dictate of Erebos
1x Gilded Lotus
Something like this should give you some ideas. You can obviously pour thousands of additional dollars into the deck to make it better but I have no idea what you're looking to invest so I purposely omitted a ton of expensive "staples." I also have no idea how deep you want to go on degenerate combo kills (if at all) which is why I removed them. There's obviously a ton of ways to improve the deck though and if you have money for cards like Vampiric Tutor, Damnation, etc. then by all means. If you want Contamination for the lock then go for it. If you want Triskelion to pair with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed then go for it (Wake the Dead, Buried Alive, Victimize, Living Death, etc. support the combo well). If you want Necrotic Ooze to combo with Buried Alive, Triskelion and Phyrexian Devourer that's great too. If you want Leyline of the Void + Helm of Obedience then go for it. Spend as much money as you want, play as many broken combos as you want, field as many locks as you want, the world is your oyster.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
No. Sacrificing a permanent/token is a cost that can only be paid once per unique object. If you sac an Eldrazi Spawn to generate a colorless mana, that's it, it's gone. Unlike triggered abilities that use the stack payments don't and once the payment is made (i.e the card is sac'd) the effect is both instantaneous and irreversible. It cannot be responded to and it cannot be taken back.
Otherwise you could simply sac an Eldrazi Spawn to itself 50 trillion times to generate "infinite" mana and/or sac any random creature 50 trillion times to Goblin Bombardment to kill everyone and everything. There's no "in response I also sac it to X" because that would be inherently broken.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Bingo.
That being said for clarity's sake you don't "sacrifice an additional card" in this example. Additional implies "in addition to" which is misleading since the events are completely independent. I would describe it as "sacrifice a different creature" because a sacrifice is a payment that can only be made once per unique object. Not trying to be nit-picky but when it comes to this technical jargon you never know what the baseline assumptions being made are so I try to be as clear as possible.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
-2 Swamps
+1 Consume Spirit
+1 Crypt Ghast
Out of curiosity, if you had 1x Increasing Ambition in your starting hand, and could play it beginning of turn 4 (due to mana ramp) what would you tutor for?
Necropotence or Necrologia unless I had access to an easy combo kill of some variety. Those are my most common tutor targets for any Black deck and it's not particularly close. Every deck wants to draw cards and those are the strongest card spells in Black outside of Ad Nauseam-based combo shells that can reliably draw ~15 cards.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold