I feel like you don't have a lot of kill spells. The discard deck I run is Rakdos and it contains a playset of Hero's Downfall plus 2 Dreadbore . Also, there are 3 Doom Blade s in the sideboard. I understand your reasoning behind Black Cat and Brain Maggot , but I feel your approach is too slow.

An ideal starting hand for my deck:2 Thoughtseize, 1 Waste Not, 1 Shrieking Affliction, 1 Duress, 1 Mind Rot and drawing into another swamp.

T1: Swamp, Thoughtseize.T2. Swamp, Waste Not.T3. Swamp, Thoughtseize, Duress. Waste Not gets activated twice, probably resulting in me getting 2 2/2 creatures. T4: Mountain, Shrieking Affliction, Mind Rot. From here on out the game is yours.

Brain Maggot is cool but gives them back their card once he dies which doesn't benefit you in any way. Black Cat and Drainpipe Vermin are also cool but are really one trick pony's that don't benefit you later on.Corpse Blockade comboed with Cat and Vermin I understand, but I wouldn't want to rely on that.

Some cards to consider would be Pack Rat , Deathrite Shaman (for its second ability), Liliana's Reaver , Lifebane Zombie for your sideboard, and splashing red for the likes of Rakdos's Return , Anger of the Gods , Dreadbore . and Mizzium Mortars . Aggro is our worst enemy, and as of right now I wouldn't say you have a substantial answer to it.

Check out my deck if you feel inclined and would like to give suggestions and feedback and +1! Goodbye Hand, Hello Victory

And +1 for playing discard!

Btw, in my ideal starting hand scenario, I wouldn't be choosing a creature card with Duress , so with the Waste Not out there I would get a creature with Thoughtseize and get to draw a card for the Duress . Still good though!

rochdalekilla9....I can't say I disagree with you. After playing FNM this past week, even though I went 2-2, it became clear to me that my deck lacked some punch and needs to pick up the tempo. I like your suggestions, and up until a few days ago I even had those very same cards you suggested in my MaybeBoard. Here is my dilemma though. I love Mono-Black. I want to be successful with black without having to splash. I love the idea of discard. And lastly, I don't want to follow the herd and copy one of the Devotion to Black that a vast majority of players use.

I know that what I want is perhaps a dream, but I think I can make it happen. There has got to be a way to make this deck mono-black and answer the few drawbacks that exist. The splash cards you talk about, must have an equivalent or black version that can do a similar job. Admittedly I am having some trouble finding them. There is the right combo out there, I know it. I am hopeful that when Khans comes out, those gaps will be filled with some new cards.

I love the deck. Running a rakdos discard right now. I feel the biggest problem with the deck is it's inconsistent. Waste not, and shrieking affliction, plus discard spells is awesome. But you need card draw to ensure that you're getting the parts you need. I'm currently running it with 3x Sign in Blood and 2x Read the Bones .I don't think the Black Cat does enough for you in the early game. And it does nothing at all late. Also, I've dropped Liliana's Reaver in large part because of the complete lack of evasion. I feel it's running a lot smoother since these changes. The deck is at Recycling for the Living Impaired if you want to look for comparisons sake. Granted, it's Rakdos instead of mono-black, but it might be useful.

In your sideboard, I would replace Shrivel with Drown in Sorrow It's more viable as a board wipe, and it gets rid of those pesky Tajic, Blade of the Legion

why no Liliana's Caress or Megrim ?? I have a similar deck and built my cards around those enchantments.

RickySmith123 those two cards are not in standard...this is a standard deck...hence the reason those cards aren't in here...

TheGreatLiar... You are absolutely correct. I was noticing through my play testing that card draw was becoming an issue. As a result I have added Read the Bones and Sign in Blood . Two great cards that I wanted to incorporate into the deck, and their time has come! Read the Bones solely for my benefit and Sign in Blood works both ways. If I need cards I use it on me, if I have managed to get opponent down to 0 cards, and I have a Mind Rot available, I can sting him and get benefit from Waste Not .

As I have mentioned previously, I am trying my hardest to stay away from turning this into a mild Rakdos discard deck. I will admit I like your deck and after checking it out, Recycling for the Living Impaired going that way certainly would make my deck more aggressive. But I am going to hold fast and am determined to make this mono-black a winner.

As for Liliana's Reaver , he stays. I understand your point, but I am confident that his lack of evasion won't be that much of an issue. I say this because if the deck is played the way it should be, I won't have to worry about his minor deficiencies.

Thanks to rochdalekilla9 for setting RickySmith123 straight

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has commented and for the +1s.

Keep'em coming!

with only 10 creatures in the deck and only lightly devotion-giving enchantments as well as a curve maxing out at 5, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx may not give enough mana to make it worth the spot over some other utility lands that running mono-coloured gives access too.

It seems to be turning into a nice deck...+1.

i dont think i understand cruel sadist here - it seems slow at its removal and also i dont see how it "bestows" your reaver or des demon. i dont see how it works with your deck.

bretters... you are correct, I don't know why I wrote that. I must have been distracted or confusing it with another card at the time.Cruel Sadist is an interesting card, though. It's cheap, can get pretty fat if circumstances are right and can do some spot removal in a pinch. I needed an inexpensive drop and compared to other 1 mana creatures this one is pretty decent imo. If you can suggest another to take its place, let me know.

Gnarled scarhide? the one mana deathtouch guy?

I like the deck except for cruel sadist

Man, your idea is awesome!

Here are some suggestions, if your are willing to splash for red...

+2 Rakdos's Return +1 Slaughter Games +4 Temple of Malice +4 Blood Crypt

-4 Radiant Fountain -3 Cruel Sadist -4 Swamp -1 Mental Vapors -1 Sign in Blood -1 Shrieking Affliction (Since you have Desecration Demon you probably won't kill with this)+3 Ultimate Price or Devour Flesh

derkarus...thanks for the suggestions, and I would most certainly put those cards in, and a few other Rakdos, if I was going to splash. Trying to avoid that for the moment, though.

Master of the Feast is great with discard, especially when you have effects that trigger when your opponents discard, such as Waste Not . It's difficult to make somebody discard if they have no cards in their hand, right? Also, to add insult to injury, throw in Fate Unraveler . They draw a card on your turn, lose a life, then you make them discard so on their turn they lose 3 or more from Shrieking Affliction .

I personally would rather see a Pharika's Chosen over a Cruel Sadist , especially late game. If you're seeing good results from it though, nevermind.