I've been looking to build a list like this, and I think you found a few of the cards I'd want to fill in the gaps. Namely, I like Nantuko Husk. I forgot about the guy and and he is a house in this deck.

A couple suggestions come to mind. You could easily run one or maybe even two Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to alleviate the colorless mana an early Nykthos gives you. With that, I might even run up to 3 Nykthos. I would also debate Surgical Extraction or Extirpate to truly hose combo decks after you disrupt their hands.

If you ever want to dump some cash on the deck, I invest in splashing either green for Abrupt Decay or white for Path to Exile.

Hi, bro! Happy my list inspired you. Yeah, the Nantuko (Shade* :P) really fits good here ... It becomes huge late, and if you drop it early, well, one less removal for your Obliterator most of the times! :P People really freak out sometimes when they see it.

I thought about Urborg, but since it's only 2 Nykthos (I tried 3, they screw you too often ...), I find it to be too much a gift for my black-playing opponents. :/ I will include it if I run more colorless lands (like Ghost Quarter), anyway!

I already tried Extirpate too, but I don't like it too much. I chose other types of hate in the end.

I agree with you for the splash. Green splash in particular is excellent, it gives you Abrupt, as you said, Maelstrom Pulse, and many more ... I will try it the moment I'll have some money! :P

Thanks for the feedback, and don't hesitate to ask me if you need a tip for your list!

perhaps Languish in the side, kills most of affinity, hatebears and elfs, while leaving your Obliterators untouched.

Also Fulminator Mage over Rain of Tears.

I chose Rain because budget. Fulminator is marginally better but costs much more.

Languish is nice, but I already have Drown, that comes one turn earlier and still manages to take care of aggro decks.

Some staples for MBD that you are missing include Geralf's Messenger, Liliana of the Veil, and Bloodghast.

lemmingllama I already tried the Messenger, but it's too slow and don't stabilize well the mid-game, that's why I switched him for Batman. :)

Lilly is a staple, hands down, but it's not in my budget, at least for now. Maybe later.

Bloodghast could be good, but I think it needs testing. I'm a bit unsure about his body: you know, a 2/1 that can't block, even if almost unkillable, stays a 2/1 that can't block. :/

Thanks for the suggestions!

@TheLivingCME Geralf's Messenger is good because it doesn't die to removal. When you have a lot of decks playing Lightning Bolt, it really sucks to have your three drop killed. Vampire Nighthawk is a potent card, but sees next to no play in Modern due to that.

Bloodghast is normally added because he can get aggressive and you will always have some devotion for Gary. I guess that he doesn't fit if you are trying to do a more heavy control deck, but always having a beater is nice.

Have you tried Go for the Throat? That might be helpful.

I think Sign in Blood is better than Vampire Hexmage, unless you face some 1/1 counter deck that is really janky and weird.

Nantuko Shade can be replaced by Pack Rat? Or you can add Gravecrawler and Bloodghast for a cool graveyard recursion effect. Your choice on that.

lemmingllama Batman dies to removal, true, but it's a better stabilizer. Does it stick around? Good. Does it get bolted? I gained 3 life. Does it get killed in combat? 1-for-1 trade where I gained 2 life. Does it get killed by removal? 1-for-1 trade, and one less removal for my Obliterator. The Messenger can be really good, but can't achieve this, since he's essentially a beater. If I grow scared of removals, my choice would be Phyrexian Crusader, I think. :)

Yeah, the "recursive devotion" aspect of Bloodghast is nice. Really need to test it. :)

Lifelink says damage dealt by, not damage dealt to. So Vampire Nighthawk gains no life when killed by Lightning Bolt.

GabeCubed GftT is a nice removal, but I chose Victim of Night over it. It will be my choice in case I'll start running more removals :)

Yeah, Hexmage would be highly situational, it just hits planeswalkers and some cards. Maybe I'll test it as a singleton.

I tried Pack Rat, and it slows down the deck too much unfortunately. :/ I'll try Bloodghast, as I said, but I think I don't run enough zombies for Gravecrawler. Maybe if I go the Crusader route mentioned above ...

That's an expression to say "They can't bolt me now". XD

If you do decide to use Gravecrawler, then swap the Nantuko Shades for Stromgald Crusader. Just adds one more way to get in that value.

I can understand. Also depends on your meta. Actually, it might be a little better than Dismember? It lets you keep a few life points. Again, dependent on your meta.

And I just realized it did that. I'd at least try as a singleton. Again, meta-dependent.

And I get that. It is just a little pet card of mine, so I like to see people use it. And I'd still try those two. Remember, Gray Merchant of Asphodel is also a Zombie. Just so you know. And Phyrexian Crusader happens to be too.

I guess so? I mean, usually decks that will bolt creatures plan on doing that anyways.. So sure, I guess that'll work. I mean, if burn used a bolt on a creature, then sure, you are gaining 3 life, but against most decks I don't think that is quite the case.

lemmingllama Stromgalds are good! The main problem is that they are more fragile, but they make up for it with the flying clause and the protection. It's a more aggressive creature, but if I go the zombie route, they're surely going in.

GabeCubed As you said, it's a meta call unfortunately. I often face Affinity, which means running profitably GftT becomes difficult. Besides, killing */5 for one single mana is often invaluable. If my meta shifts, I could try 4 Victims and 2 GftT, replaceable with the 2 Drown in Sorrow in side. :)

Hexmage is definitely a meta call, too. XD

Yeah, I'll test the zombie route, it could turn out profitable. Just, I don't consider Gary too much for being a zombie. It enters at least on turn 5, and at that point one more Gravecrawler doesn't matter too much.

Yeah, the case in which Batman gets bolted is still the worse scenario of course, since it's not a "removal" as generally intended. Still, it served me right until now. :)

That makes a lot of sense then. D-Member would be better then. And run the Hexmage if that is the case. And I would try out the Zombie route. I personally don't know how well it will do, but I think exploring it won't hurt.

And I guess that works out just fine then.

I'll try that right now! Thanks for the help!

You are welcome! Good luck!

Have you gone to any local tournaments with this deck? It looks awesome!

ItsReshiram Yes, I have done several FNMs with this deck, and the results were pretty good. :) Sure there's room for improvement, but I really can't complain about how it performs. I'm glad you like it!

Just curious as to why you would choose Duress over Thoughtseize? Any particular reason? Also a card to consider is Corrupt as it can be a possible win condition late game. I know Gray Merchant of Asphodel is the ultimate win condition but you could possibly have a power house in Maga, Traitor to Mortals. Which also makes your opponent lose life. One thing a lot of mono-black decks try to do is have a lot of answers against creatures Gatekeeper of Malakir, Victim of Night, Dismember, ect, but in modern there are very few decks that truly utilize that many creatures. It ends up with you holding dead cards. I'd suggest cutting maybe a couple of those to add in cards that are a little more versatile overall (I saw you cut Phyrexian Obliterator but maybe add it back in at 2?) Once your opponent realizes what deck you're playing they'll bring in as much removal as possible just to stop the devotion; bringing in other win conditions could be a benefit. Other cards I'd like to bring up is maybe Liliana of the Veil which helps devotion and is a powerhouse in herself. Also maybe 4 Phyrexian Arena instead of Sign in Blood, or switch it to 3 arena's and 2 Sign in Blood. Phyrexian Arena seems to help your deck more overall than Sign in Blood.

Duress over Thoughtseize because I already play Inquisition of Kozilek, and I can get everything I want with those without losing 2 life, since I already lose a lot of life with this deck. :)

Corrupt and Maga, Traitor to Mortals are overall worse than Gray Merchant of Asphodel, so i'd prefer to add more copies of it in case!

I'm testing to decide the addition of another Phyrexian Arena and two Phyrexian Obliterator again actually. :)

As for the rest, Liliana of the Veil would take care of the "dead cards" thing and would be a bomb, but it costs so much ... :/

Thanks for the suggestions bro! :)