This is a build posted of a deck that I've constructed on MTG Arena & took me all the way up to Diamond Ranking with extremely minimal losses & without having to switch up decks once (plus I'm still working my way up with it; though I've since started switching out decks to complete Non-Black daily challenges for Coins/XP).
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I really (truly and extremely) HATE that they included Thoughtseize in the Arena lineup honestly, as it's a well-known format-breaking card (I've lamented about it in the past). BUT to remain competitive it was worth picking up some Amonkhet Remastered packs online wih my game-earned coins in order to keep up with all the other builds running these (particulary since they were in an Anthology release, so loads of people have them). I truly wish I could get away with running something else in its place, but here we are...
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I went ahead and broke down for the extra 1 mana to include Agonizing Remorse over some of the other 1-mana Discard options. I like the selection & Exile on it (extremely nice for Escape & Jump-Start cards). I also included some Pilfering Imps as a Turn-1 drop & so far he's been pretty snazzy. Picking away at the opponent's lowest-mana cards has proved to be a decent strategy; I can leave high mana threats in-hand to be dealt with by one of the more mana costly Discard threats. Plus, to further sell me on the Agonizing Remorse swap is the fact that it can hit the Graveyard too if need be against Escape creatures or creatures like Gutterbones, Reassembling Skeleton, and sometimes (depending) even Cauldron Familiar -- all of which can otherwise be a real potential annoyance.
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It is REALLY hard to overstate the power of Blightbeetle. I've won a CRAZY number of games on the back of this little guy. Protection from Green can be a real nice surprise when it's a color in your opponent's arsenal & these can become chump blockers, but shutting down your opponent's +1/+1 counter generation can be a game-changer. Many, many of those games I've played with this deck on the back of Blightbeetle were won by just having him sit in play & preventing my opponent from gaining any real strength. This is especially true given how many super-lazy "Ajani Decks" I've run into in rotation where anyone can just stick Ajani's and Lifegain into a deck with no real direction or overall strategy beyond that. This is a complete #shutdown for those type of 'lowbrow' decks, as well as Amass and Adapt-mechanic decks (since opponents can't even create a token and/or upgrade existing creatures with the Beetle on the board), and quite a few other types. In addition to the chump-blocking, Protection from Green also provides some limited destroy-protection from the array of mono-green and red-green creature damage (or creature 'fight') options. Other commonly-played creatures (continuing to update as I've run across them in Historic) that Blightbeetle COMPLETELY shuts down (kills as they enter play) are:
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Hydroid Krasis (he's still a decent Card Draw ratio though before he dies)
- Stonecoil Serpent
- Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig
- Embodiment of Agonies
- Swarm Shambler
- Polukranos, Unchained
- Worldsoul Colossus
- Ivy Elemental and
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Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager (possibly even some others I've forgotten or that aren't used all that often)
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I chose to keep in a few Yarok's Fenlurker because even though (for its benefit) he has a high cost on his activated ability, it still renders him a decent chump blocker once he's entered play. Also, Exile is a far better option to mere Discard. Even at a mere 1/1 for 2 mana, he can make a devastating play if drawn late-game & opponent has only 1 or 2 cards to choose from. And, in the event he's the only creature I have in play (not totally unheard of in this build), at very least I can keep the game moving along faster than 1 damage per turn.
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I'm a big fan of Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage as he provides the capacity for enormous amounts of discard for only 3 mana. Plus, he can be an attrition win for games that end up with both players topdecking.
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Especially with all the other removals/disruptions in this deck, a few Mind Drains and Inscription of Ruins are a good choice to finish cleaning up an opponent's hand (especially if you've been able to drop a Fenlurker and/or pick & choose a card or two by other Discard means first!)
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Feed the Swarm has been increasingly beneficial in online matches. I don't know if it's just randomness in the queue or what, but lots of Enchantment-heavy decks in the rotations lately it seems. These might cycle out if they start to lose usefulness, but so far they've been holding up extremely well; particularly early-game when I'm not likely to lose much life from the casting cost.
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Mind Drain is a huge upgrade to Mind Rot, this switch was a no-brainer...and now with Skull Raid the "discard two" options are really quite nice in this format. Being able to Foretell Skull Raid and play it out in combination with another Discard spell is extremely nice since doing it this way usually nets me a Card Draw too on top of everything else while cleaning out the opponent's hand.
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Additionally, unlike most of the "opponent discards..." type cards, drawing Skull Raid mid-to-late game is awesome. This deck has been running a lot more consistently now that Castle Locthwain isn't my only card draw option for Mono-Black in this construction. Village Rites was a consideration, but my creature base is too small with this build for it to be reliable. I can see Skull Raid making its way into quite a few of my builds just for the card-draw option alone.
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Any card with Choice options on it is likely to see quite a bit of play in the proper build. Inscription of Ruin, for example, which can re-create cards like Mind Rot for equal mana cost, but can be played in a variety of situations. Bonus points for the Kicker option late-game turning it into a much more powerful card potentially as well!
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Swapping Murderous Rider for Never / Return was a hard-thought decision, and I'm still not 100% sure this change is permanent. I wasn't a fan of his life-loss, as I don't have much to gain it back (other than casting him out and hoping he can actually attack/survive to regain some) in the build. Also, I've been increasingly drawn towards cards which can exile from an opponent's graveyard. Since this deck tends towards the mid/long game for win conditions, having big threats just lurking there that may/may not re-enter play isn't something I'm keen on. Additionally, there have been an increasing number of viable Dredge-type builds; not to mention Escape, Jump Start, and similar abilities that already exist in play on Arena.
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Bontu's Last Reckoning is a nice removal that's useful both early-game and for later-game. I was really surprised by how much difference 1 mana can make in terms of an opponent expecting (and thus preparing for; either with counterspells or Indestructible effects) a boardwipe. Not many people see this one coming in my experience, and a Turn 3 boardwipe in a Mono-Black build has won me many, many games as generally aggro decks fling themselves at me head-on once they realize I'm not playing Black/Blue for counterspells. Combined with all of the other Discard-related elements in this deck, it's not often that having (at least most of) my mana tapped out for 2 Turns is a serious issue. Ideally this is used in conjuction with Discard spells (leaving creatures in-hand to be destroyed later in some cases even) targeting early-play (particularly Card Draw) stuff.
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I have another deck built exclusively around Torment of Hailfire because it is one of my all-time favorite printed cards (not even exactly sure why, I just really enjoy it), so at first I was leaving them out of this build. However, after quite a rigorous bit of playtesting, I've found they can do quite well here too as a finisher/boardwipe - since usually with the rest of the build my opponent's hand is fairly well picked over and looking rather sparse.
