i wouldn't use Soul Ransom it just isn't that good in any constructed deck

Really? Although it gives opponents an option, I see it as an easy two-for-one that gets better after top-deck mode begins. What would you suggest to go in place of them?

i would use a kill spell or a board wipe, because you will get in the situation at some point where you need an answer or you die, and you will just have soul ransom which they can just pitch 2 cards then kill you, it does have its upsides but i play tested with Soul Ransom and it is just one of those cards that looks a lot better then it preforms

Maybe you should consider some 3 CMC things because there is a big gap in you curve there, i know you plan on kinda skipping it with Heartless Summoning but if it gets destroyed or you can't find it, it is always nice to still be able to curve out well

I could definitely go for a mix of those two suggestions. First to come to mind are Dreadbore , Killing Glare , and Tribute to Hunger . As much as I like the lifegain possibility, I think I lean towards the one capable of killing planeswalkers.

i like Dreadbore , there are better things then Killing Glare like Murder and Tribute to Hunger isn't bad either, now another thing you can look at, is to drop the Prophetic Prism and both Soul Ransom 's and put in 2 Chromatic Lantern and 1 of something else like Dreadbore , this would adding ramp in case you don't have Heartless Summoning , it would fix all you mana issues incase you have them, it allows you Havengul Lich to go insane on any card you opponent has, and lastly it is a good 3 drop to fill that gap

Oooh, I hadn't considered Lantern, and really like it over the Prism. Going with that for now, and hopefully will get to playtest this monstrosity sometime soon. Many thanks for the input so far.

I am curious to find out how this has been playing I was starting to build a similar deck myself that I'll post later, probably tomorrow and wanted to see how other people were playing with it.

I can't give any reviews yet until I meet up with my playgroup later this week for testing. And if I give into the temptation and FNM with it, I'll definitely make an update for that.

Straight up Grixis Midrange! This is a neat idea. My only suggestion would be to try and find a way to up the Chromatic Lantern count. I think it would be worth cutting a land to get another Lantern in there; ramp is important for this deck.

Thanks for the look again!

Thinking back on the times Chromatic Lantern fixed/ramped my mana at last FNM, I think another one can definitely do some good. As touchy as I am at the thought of reducing the creature count, with the curve in this deck I'd like to preserve my land count where it is. Mayhaps it's time to take out a Carnival Hellsteed ?