+1

Why do you have a bunch of non-swamps, you're not running field. Perhaps I'm missing something?

Thoughts of swapping defense grid with Contamination ? Very similar but contamination helps you more IMO. While grid is symmetrical and can be bypassed more easily in the late game, contamination mostly hurts your opponents. They can use rocks and dorks to bypass it, but their cradle/nykthos will be shut off and it makes your colorless lands tap for black. The upkeep cost can be easily done with gravecrawler and another zombie

Drag to the underworld < Hero's Downfall /most black removal.

Profet93, thanks for the +1 and your comment! You bring up some important points.

I’ve optimized the deck for Tainted Pact . I can use it to search for any particular card I need at the moment to complete a combo, since I only have 1 of each card in the deck. If I can steal an opponent’s Thassa's Oracle with Praetor's Grasp (which is more likely than not if an opponent is running blue), then I can cast Tainted Pact , naming a random card not in the deck, and exile my entire library for the win. I can also set this up with Doomsday , as I explain in the primer.

I considered Contamination , but the creature sac requirement prevents me from keeping it in play for long, since I run only a few creatures. Infernal Darkness accomplishes the same objective but I can keep it around a turn or two as necessary by paying life during my upkeep with K’rrik. The goal is to protect myself for at least 1-2 turns while I assemble a combo. You are right that Defense Grid is more effective during the early game, but this build is designed to win asap, and I rarely ever reach the late game where this becomes an issue.

You are also right that Drag to the Underworld is a lesser removal spell compared to others. However, in this build I mulligan aggressively to ensure that I can cast K’rrik within the first 1-3 turns. With K’rrik on the field I meet Drag’s devotion requirement, so I only have to pay 4 life and 0 mana with K’rrik to destroy any creature. Hero's Downfall requires at least 1 colorless mana to cast. I’m thinking in terms of speed, since each mana I have should go towards the 3 mana I need to cast Bolas's Citadel once I pull off Doomsday . So I would rather pay 0 mana to kill a creature with Drag and save my mana for Citadel.

sick deck!! been playing ur list online its awesome!!

BigSwettiYeti, thanks for the compliment! Glad you’re enjoying the deck!!

This deck is sweet! I want to start building cEDH decks but man are they expensive. I will definitely be using this for ideas if I ever build K'rrik.

Thanks Freerunner19! If you are just getting into cEDH, I encourage you and your playgroup to try proxying the most expensive cards so you can try out each deck at full potential. It’s like taking a car for a test drive before you buy. Then if you like it, you can gradually replace the proxies with the real cards. Sometimes you can find great deals on eBay and at your local game stores, or find another enthusiast and score some good trades, so the prices listed here are inflated.

But as far as cEDH goes, Mono-Black is probably the cheapest deck you can get relative to power level, which in this case I think is among the most powerful. Multi-colored decks require lots more expensive lands and tutors.

I've seen this deck win on Turn 2, and it can theoretically win with an opening hand on Turn 0.

Disgusting.

@TypicalTimmy: "disgusting" in a very sexy way :D