I'm a big fan of building decks without any rares. (I'm well aware of the "pauper" and "peasant" formats.) But don't let that deceive you! This deck is cruel and vicious!
What I love about this deck is that it exemplifies everything I love about black- hand disruption, sacrifice effects, and speed at the cost of life. With 8 creatures with deathtouch and 8 creatures that require your opponent to sacrifice creatures we've essentially got 16 removal options on the backs of creatures. Add 4 Geth's Verdict's to that count and we've got a total of 20 removal options!
Removing creatures from your opponents hand isn't super relevant with the amount of deathtouch and sacrificing that's going on so we can get by with Duress (Though my feelings won't be hurt if someone wants to put in Inquisition of Kozilek. It's clearly the better modern card.) I didn't realize just how powerful funeral charm was though until I started playing with Kolaghan's Command. Instant speed discard is incredibly powerful and it's really not a bad early play either. But it's also a great finisher to add on to a Vampire Nighthawk.
The 4 sign in bloods and the 2 Night's whispers ensure that we don't run out of steam and if you can get your opponent down to 2 life, the sign in blood can act like a burn spell. (Though you might want to be sure they have no way to gain life first.)
The Gurmag Angler and the Blood Artist are there to make use of all the death that's going on. I wasn't really certain what do with the last slot because 4 Anglers can lead to clunky draws and 4 Artists can lead to completely dead draws since the creature count is only at 20. These numbers seem right as they've worked well in play testing. The Gurmag Anglers generally show up when the graveyard is full and the 2 Blood artists are usually a welcome addition when they show up. Blocking with a single Ruthless Ripper with a Blood Artist out will burn your opponent for 2 and set you ahead 2.
If your opponent is low on life though, a Blood Artist can be every bit as much of a win condition as it can completely tie their hands.
Your main strategy is to remove enough of his creatures so that your utility creatures become a threat such that your opponent has to use removal on them. When playing this deck, make sure you carefully consider how you attack and block. You want to do your best to lock your opponent down to no more than a single creature so that Geth's Verdict can operate as a targeted removal. (I once got rid of an Emrakul that way.) In some situations you might want to hold off on playing a Ripper or Nighthawk until your second main phase. By tapping out to attack you might convince your opponent not to block because he will have an open field to attack on his turn. Then you play your deathtouch Ripper or Nighthawk. Again, Your main strategy is to remove enough of his creatures so that your utility creatures are enough of a threat to spend removal on.
Let me know what you think! This likely won't win you a PTQ but it is still very much competitive and you will be surprised at the games it will win you. I'll figure out a sideboard at some point but suggestions are welcome. This is a very affordable gift to get one of your friends into magic. (Then if they like it, they can swap out the Fleshbags for Liliana of the Veil, Duress for inquisitions, refinance their house, sell their kidneys etc.)
