My first deck brew, this is a mono-black deck which will be used primarily for casual play with my friends and in my LGS and it desperately needs your help, feedback and criticism to make it more functional and less janky.
The Plan:
Use the mana ramp of Crypt Ghast and the eternal usefulness of Diabolic Tutor to be able to play (and search for) the high cost cards such as Rise of the Dark Realms, Sorin's Vengeance or Necropolis Regent.
Card Breakdown:
Removal:
Doom Blade, Geth's Verdict as early removal during my first turns, plus Darkness to prevent the occasional Giant Growth heavy combat damage and Dash Hopes as counterspell. Also sided a set of Imp's Mischief to help bounce back burn spells and the like.
Mana Ramps and Tutor:
With the removal of Dark Ritual from my original plan it's all kind of relying on a bunch of Crypt Ghast's (which can be complicated if the opponent decides that this particular guy can't remain in play), which alongside the tutoring of Diabolic Tutor or Liliana Vess will allow me to pick and play the win cons.
Creatures:
Gatekeeper of Malakir can be very useful early on for it's ability (if kicked) to make the opponent sacrifice a creature, Vampire Nighthawk as chump blocker (giving me a little bit of health thanks to lifelink), simple deathtouch threat or a little bit of early flying damage (seriously, this guy is amazing), plus the oh-so-annoying Royal Assassin which will help me with removal and make my opponent want to get rid of it ASAP or forever think twice about attacking. Meanwhile, as soon as Crypt Ghast is on board I can play
Midnight Banshee
(good against weenies), Necropolis Regent or the (sideboarded by now) Reiver Demon for more creature wipe.
Win Conditions:
Army of the Damned will fill the battlefield with zombies (again, getting 8 mana to cast it is no big deal thanks to the mana ramps), with the possibility of flashback for even more zombies, Sorin's Vengeance for massive player damage (which, if I have Sanguine Bond in play, could mean instant win) and Rise of the Dark Realms (or, in alternative, the final ability of Liliana Vess), which thanks to all the previous removal will (hopefully) have a dudes to put in play all at once. Also sided Exquisite Blood which combos well with Sanguine Bond, included two Painful Quandary to make my opponent pay 5 life or discard a card to play a spell, which, paired with Sangromancer and any of the Sanguine/Exquisite duo can make for a very fun ride.
In theory, this could work but since this is my first deck I'm pretty sure that I've made a lot of obvious mistakes. So, please give me all the help you can to make this deck somewhat functional.
Thanks!
