Posting here now, to avoid excessive derailing in your other deck.

Yeah, Grave Betrayal is pretty expensive, but it can be neat in a deck with lots of removal and/or ramp. Then again, I've never actually played it, so it might be more unreliable then I expect.

Hm, don't really think Kalastria Highborn would do it. The mana production is very limited. You only have 6 other vampires in your deck, which makes that mana bonus very flimsy. Also, on a mono-black deck, it doesn't really matter if it's 1B or BB. You're almost going to produce black mana only, anyway :P I mean, sure, you have Swarmyard , but I don't really think that'll hinder your black mana production at all.

Actually, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth can be tapped for mana, since it's affected by its own ability as well. Maybe up it to 2, instead. They're very situational, and there can be only one on the field at any given time, but can still be useful.

A card I'd suggest removing from that deck would be Desecration Demon . It can grow a lot, but it's pretty useless to have a growing creature if it won't ever manage to attack, since your opponent can tap it. It's especially bad if you're going against someone who can sacrifice creatures without a second thought, like a token deck. Maybe a couple Crypt Ghast s would better fill the spot. The ramp they provide is really amazing and could enable you to cast Sheoldred, Whispering One on turn 5, along with a couple extorts (since you already have Basilica Screecher s, why not?)

I did have second thoughts on Kalastria Highborn and went with Basilica Screecher because the first time I read the description I didn't notice it only effected the vampire subtype. Extortion as a whole seems like a much better tool. Although as I typed this I think I'm going to replace the 2 drop spot with Wight of Precinct Six . It fits the theme better and pays off for making all of my opponents creatures take the easy way out. Not to mention the synergy with Desecration Demon . 1 creature gets a boost forcing it to remain tapped while another creature gets the same boost without tapping and your opponent looses a creature off top. I think Desecration Demon is that in this deck it has a pretty high chance of untapping. I know that there are some insane cards like Army of the Damned or Endless Ranks of the Dead out there but taking chances makes things fun.

I see what you mean by the combo with Desecration Demon and Wight of Precinct Six but, if it happens that the other player has tokens (which is extremely likely), they can be sacrificed without a single worry, you won't get anything for the Wight, since tokens vanish as soon as they hit the graveyard. Wight is better used for a mill deck, that is, a deck that will put cards directly from the opponent's library into the graveyard.

What about Blood Seeker then? Or possibly just upping Skirsdag High Priest to 4 and calling it a day? He gives the Typhoid Rats a second use. ..and being that this deck built around sacrifice a creature dying each turn is ,more than likely to happen.

Yea, taking out some of the two drops, going to balance some Crypt Ghast in.

Yes, upping on Skirsdag High Priest may be an interesting idea. Maybe run 3 of those and decrease either Desecration Demon or Phyrexian Obliterator to 3. That should balance things out better. Since you still have 2 more unused slots, you could maybe add 3 Mortician Beetle . It's a 1-mana creature that can be relevant at any time of the game and grow really big.

CaveShinobi you were certainly right about Crypt Ghast .

1st playtest turn 5 I had out 4 swamps 2x Typhoid Rats 2x Vampire Nighthawk a Skirsdag High Priest and a Crypt Ghast .

However I think I need to add something to create a card draw effect because if all goes well my hand gets empty fairly quick.

Another playtest, was actually able to get Sheoldred, Whispering One out by turn 5 just like u said.

If you want card draw, one good card for that is Sign in Blood . There's also Phyrexian Arena which, at the cost of 1 life, gives you an extra card draw per turn.

It's good but against my modern dragons deck it just got railed. It's far to slow. still I likw the idea

what would u do to make it faster bradyofportdetroit

which deck are u talking about? u have hella on ur profile. link me to it please!

Blood Artist and Consuming Vapors are my first thoughts

Blood Artist does too little for what it's mana cost. I really like Consuming Vapors It fits in well, a 2-1 Tribute to Hunger . However I'm not sure what I could take out to make room for it to fit in?

Blood Artist will trigger off of Consuming Vapors , Desecration Demon , Phyrexian Obliterator (assuming they sac creatures), sheoldred, and even the rats when/if blocked...I understand on their own they are rather weak, but even on artist in a deck like this could amount to a lot of damage.

Okay u sold me on it.

Still not sure I could take out for Consuming Vapors though

how about swapping out 2 Tribute to Hunger for 2 Consuming Vapors ? basically the same cards except the 2 vapors act as 4 tributes at only 1 extra mana a piece giving you 6 removals in total within the 4 spells

well the thing is that I use both Geth's Verdict and Tribute to Hunger as soon as I get them. I don't want to take any out of the deck. I also really like the way this deck functions as is. I think I'm just going to use Consuming Vapors for future deck building.

You could put in Raper.. I mean Reaper from the Abyss . Then you could kill more creatures, and that one is targeted so you could kill what you want, instead of them choosing

First off, I approve of this deck simply because it's based on what was my favorite card when I got back into Magic shortly after New Phyrexia was released (It then changed to Olivia Voldaren the day she was spoiled). It also kind of surprises me that the deck looks like it could work if only because Crypt Ghast can get Sheoldred relatively fast. The only real complaint I have is that you could probably replace Typhoid Rats with something better like Fume Spitter or Shriekmaw which sacrifice themselves for useful effects to also add counters to Mortician Beetle.

First off, thanks for taking the time, looking, and offering your critique and suggestions.

I really like Fume Spitter because as u said, it builds Mortician Beetle and it also triggers Grave Pact . I'm not sure I want to give up the Typhoid Rats for it though because they offer a great deal of protection early game, forcing an opponent to trade or waste a removal spell. Going to find a way to work in both. 1-drops are always a good thing.

While I do like the effect, I think the mana cost on Shriekmaw would slow this deck down too much.

The intent with Shriekmaw is that you're casting him for his evoke cost most of the time since it gives you a sorcery speed Terror and sacrifices itself so Mortician Beetle triggers.

I'll do some play tests with Shriekmaw in theory it seems the earliest turn someone realistically would cast him is turn 6 (provided that turn 5 was used to cast Sheoldred) and I think if I were in need of more removal past Sheoldred, Whispering One I should turn to Avatar of Woe . It would potentially be cast the same turn as Shriekmaw would. Granted it can't trigger growth for Mortician Beetle or trigger Grave Pact , but it's removal is also free, and less specific.

Additionally, a card that would just plain be a blowout in this deck would be Liliana of the Veil since, ideally, you'd have so much sac effects that you could keep rolling Liliana up while she needs recharging all while pumping Mortician Beetle.

You might also like Gatekeeper of Malakir as a potential replacement for Vampire Nighthawk since his is a sac effect which works with the Beetle.

The whole point of the Shriekmaw is that you're ideally casting it on turn 2 or 3 as a terror when your opponent starts building their board. You'd only be casting it to keep it on very rare occasion. For the most part it's just another removal spell that happens to activate triggers on your side.

okay, i actually get it now. blame that one on me being a new player, I thought u had to cast it initially for it's full mana cost before u could cast it for it's evoke cost. I clearly see the brilliance of it now.

I know that Liliana of the Veil would be perfect for this deck. I've went back and forth if I should include her or not. My debate, is if I added her in, would it cheapen the focus of the deck being about Sheoldred and just turn it into another ordinary black deck?

As I'm reading this, I think my arguement sounds stupid. She's in. How many would u run?