Black devotion deck utilizing Leyline of the Void to ramp quickly with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx into large resilient threats.
Zombie subtheme of Gravecrawler and Relentless Dead for graveyard recursion.
Profane Command is a mana sink and an alternate win condition if I run out of threats.
The way this deck plays out is like a combo deck, even though it seems like a creature-based beatdown deck. For the first few turns that's what it might look like, a really bad mono black aggro deck, but since the threats are so resilient, your opponent doesn't want to trade or use removal for fear of being 2-for-1-ed. This lets us build devotion for the mid-game "combo." The combo is some combination of Demigod of Revenge or Phyrexian Obliterator + Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Profane Command over the course of 1 or 2 turns. Demigod is usually an unexpected threat and can usually get in for 5 damage before an opponent finds an answer, a flying blocker or a removal spell. Obliterator is basically unblockable + protection from damage-dealing removal spells, since it's usually so unlikely that an opponent is willing to sacrifice (at least) 5 permanents to get it off the battlefield. After getting in a couple of times with Grizzly Bear zombies and a 5/5, the opponent is usually at 10 or so life. With Demigod or Obliterator, you already have 4-5 devotion. Add a Zombie or Leyline, and playing a Gray Merchant is lethal.
You would say, "Well that's all well and fine in Christmas fairy-tale-land but what about in real life where opponents interact with you?" Most of my threats are very resilient, and will usually at least 2-for-1 with the opponent. "Destroy" effects have a hard time dealing with Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, Bloodghast and the like, and exile effects in Modern (apart from Path to Exile, which I'll discuss) are few and far between. Even if the opponent can deal with every single small threat, Relentless Dead with a few mana up is a huge deal.
Leyline of the Void is almost impossible to deal with pre-board (and even post-board, who's packing enchantment hate?) since it can't be hit by Abrupt Decay. Abrupt Decay can hit Phyrexian Arena, which is a concession I'm making since that card advantage is so good. I'm playing Phyrexian Arena instead of Dark Confidant to further blank their creature removal against my early threats
Path to Exile is a problem, but only in certain situations. A Path dealing with Phyrexian Obliterator or Demigod of Revenge is an issue, but generally you can force them to cast Path on a smaller threat. If a Bloodghast is constantly pinging a control player and they don't want to waste their Lightning Bolts and Lightning Helixes to deal with it, they'll be incentivized to Path to Exile it. Against a Hatebear opponent where you're constantly blocking and returning with Relentless Dead, they might choose to Path to Exile it to get in some more damage. A lot of these bad decisions come from the fact that this isn't a well known deck and most players don't know that Path to Exile is the only way to get rid of my big threats.
Another problematic card is Scavenging Ooze. A game 1 Ooze is pretty much impossible to beat. It blanks your recursion, becomes a wall that you can't attack through, and gains life to boot. However I believe 13 of my 15 sideboard cards can interact with it in some way, and Jund is a very good matchup apart from that card.
Thanks for viewing, and please upvote if you like the deck!
