This is really nicely done. It has nice synergy and you seem to have put a lot of time into it which shows well! I +1 this for the uniqueness and the pure awesomeness of it being black!

Check mine out! Not yours but similar. Your hand is kind of big, let me take care of that

I would probably run 4 bloodstained mire and 4 evolving wilds in this list just to get more cards in the grave yard.

also you may want to find room for a couple of drown in sorrows in the main and the rest in the board - kill all their mana dorks - check, kills your cat to make them discard - check, puts more cards in your graveyard - check, lets you scry to a potential threat or land drop if you need it - check

you may also want a couple of hall of triumphs coz nothing says win motre than naming black and making all your zombies bigger :)

love empty the pits and love this concept too :)

ooo obnixilis could be quite good fun here too :)

Rid yourself of the creatures. Go more of a monowrath with urborg out. Add 2 lilianna

@fertileorphan Thanks for the +1, much appreciated! I'll definitely check yours out when I get a chance.

@GooseNotts Fetch lands are a good idea, I'm just worried about losing too much life to my own cards against aggro, but I'll definitely playtest and see if they kill me or not. :P

I've thought about both Drown in Sorrow and Ob Nixilis, Unshackled , but I'm conflicted. I simply don't know what I should take out for Drown in Sorrow , and ob seems like he comes out a bit late to be really effective. Maybe as a 1-of to hopefully grab with the whip?

@benelas16 I'm a bit wary of depending on just Empty the Pits and liliana for win-cons, as if they get dealt with (counters, wipes) I have no way of winning. Creatureless is intriguing though, so I'll definitely consider it if I can make it dependable.

Thanks again for the feedback and +1's guys, this build is still in its early stages and I'm sure can develop nicely with a bunch of playtesting. I think I'm going to run it at FNM and see what happens, so I appreciate all the help I can get!

@GooseNotts I've decided that you're right. Fetchlands are too good to pass up here. Besides, it's black, so suicide still fits the theme.

+3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , you want bigger empty the pits right?

@DiEaBoLiK I can't believe I forgot about Nykthos! I'm adding in 2, as I find that my devotion often isn't high until later in the game, and I can't afford to have a dead land drop early. But I will bump it up if they are working well for me in testing.

Thanks for the suggestion!

no Polluted Delta ? or just too expensive for you maybe? still nicely done.

@Hills
I can't justify spending that much right now for a playset of Polluted Delta when all it will do will give me maybe one or two extra zombies from Empty the Pits . That said, if budget is not an issue for someone, 4x Polluted Delta is a great addition, and Despise can be replaced with Thoughtseize as well.

sujrondc fetches fuel the yard. You're in black if you have issues with counters pull them out with like thoughtseize or mardu charm if you're that worried. Trust me when I tell you liliana gets there

have you considered going mono black? mogis isn't really worth it and you could run erebos in that slot - stop them gaining life, draw some cards and a better chance of activating ...

I like Mogis' ability in this deck, if I'm in a position to turn him on I'm usually going to win regardless. Since they typically won't be able to stick a creature, he's a pretty reliable 2 damage per turn in the mid-late game. If I have Indulgent Tormentor out, they combo for some pretty substantial pressure. I used to run erebos in the SB, but truth be told I've always been underwhelmed by him. Although, now that Siege Rhino is a thing, I might have to reconsider...

I'll do some more playtesting, as not having to deal with the red splash would be nice. I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience running Erebos, God of the Dead and what they think of him in this shell.

You're disgusting...

Hahaha that has to be the single best comment I've ever gotten. I guess the deck is working!

Would suggest something like Grim Haruspex to keep your hand full of removal.

Also, consider Murderous Cut in sideboard against mono-green/RG fatties, cos I know that you don't wanna be wasting 2 Bile Blight s on an Arbor Colossus cos you're saving your Hero's Downfall for that Nissa. Also, it seems like a Dissolve bane of this deck.

no Thoughtseize ?

Why not run 4 Temple of Malice ? I would suggest cutting a Swamp. I also think this deck could use a Chandra, Pyromaster as both a way to kill weenies and to draw extra cards. Possibly run it instead of 1 Drown in Sorrow , which is only good in certain matchups.

@Vyxil:
I've thought about Grim Haruspex before, but I just don't run enough creatures for it to have an impact. I like the card, it just doesn't fit here. I run Silence the Believers in the SB for removal against bigger creatures, as Empty the Pits is so expensive, I don't want anything conflicting with delving it.

@atlantis55555:
I run Despise over Thoughtseize for a couple reasons. I find I'm almost always grabbing a creature or walker anyways, so I don;t gain much by running Thoughtseize . Also, the 2 life per cast can be a real detriment against really fast aggro decks, and it can make the difference between being able to stabilize, or losing G1.

@TheFanatic:
I'm totally on board with the Chandra idea! Not only can she take out weenies, allowing me to save my removal for bigger threats, she can also bring a bigger creature down into Bile Blight range. I'll swap out a Drown in Sorrow and see how she fares as a 1-of for now. Great idea!

Thanks so much for all the suggestions guys, keep 'em coming!

Also, I think Lightning Strike is a reasonable alternative to Pharika's Cure . Strike kills more things (Mantis Rider !) and can also go to the face if you need to finish off a game. I know that the lifegain from Pharika's Cure is nice, but unless you play against a TON of aggro I think Lightning Strike is the better card.

Hmm. I'll keep Lightning Strike in mind, but right now Pharika's Cure has kept me alive the one or two turns I needed to stabilize several times.

Being able to burn the face is a nice option, but I find I typically don't have trouble finishing games if I can make it through the early game and stabilize with some card/board control. Besides, I've won a few by sending a Sign in Blood their way, and that's just WAY more fun. :P

I'll test it out though, and see if it makes a big difference, as on its own it definitely is the better card. I'm just not sure I can pass up the utility of some instant lifegain in the early game.

maybe blue splash would be better than red? you can have dissolve and stroke and add jace in to draw n mill your deck. also once you have empty you can throw a mind sculpt at yourself to make you mill 7 then empty the next turn

@Hills
Blue splash technically does fit the control theme better, yes. However, I just wanted to make a controlling deck without using blue, for something different. I love the flavor of rakdos, and it fits with this deck extremely well. So great suggestions, and they are definitely tempting, but it's just a personal preference thing right now. Thanks!

clearly your going for a black deck to lightly splash red, and by no means do you appear short on removal however I would strongly consider Anger of the Gods in the sideboard, though Ill admit drown in sorrow is a top notch aggro wiper as well. Also I dont know that you would wanna empty the pits before you Empty the Pits but Murderous Cut can be awfully nice. just a thought. Love the deck though, mogis as a win con is absolutely the type of cruel control i am fond of.