18 Swamps is really very few for wanting to play a 6-drop. Probably too few for stuff like Lashwrithe too. There's no reason to run Staff of the Death Magus. Life gain for no reason is a bad idea. There's also no reason not to run one or two Gray Merchant of Asphodel.

A couple of thoughts--I would switch out a couple of the Explorer's Scopes for maybe a Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Lashwrithe/Nightmare Lash. Since Lash seems to be the word for mono- stuff, have you thought about Korlash, Heir to Blackblade?

This would be an upgrade to the 'scope: Sword of the Animist

As the others said, please play 1-2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel. They're too good not to play them!

And what do you think about adding the new Fatal Push from AER as an awesome Removal and throw in some Fetchies maybe if you got some? Bloodstained Mire or Polluted Delta are - besides activating Push - awesome ways to thin out your deck if you are stuck on 4-5 lands in your hand?

I don't know why tappedout isn't catching this, but nighthawk isn't pioneer legal. Other than that, this list is cool.

DogKnight156: Awwww, crap. I really liked that card, too. =(

But thanks for catching it, I must have thought the "explorers of Ixalan" set symbol on the Gatherer was the actual "ixalan" set. Anyway, I'll find something to replace it with soon and update. Good lookin out.

Would Nighthawk Scavenger now replace Vampire Nighthawk ?

I ran Multiple rounds with this one. I like it; it's interesting. Might I offer, though:

It seems like you're doing two things here that aren't working in synergy. You have the massive mana ramp with the Cabal lands + Sword, works amazing with the Nightmare and that pump guy. The devotion engine, not so much. Gifted Aetherborn kept doing nothing for me, and there were numerous times where I wished my kingdom for a simple Drain Life .

If I were to retool this deck based on having played it a few times, I'd find room for a 4x tutor and build around silver-bullet spells, and use that to smooth out the consistency. That's as simple as dropping some of the 4's down to 3: -1 merchant -1 blackblade -1 nightmare Makes room for 3x Diabolic Tutor

This increases access to each while adding versatility.

Other cards I'm looking at:

Damnable Pact holy crap why aren't you playing this card?? As for the 1-drop you mentioned, honestly I'd rather see some basic hand control in Duress or Inquisition of Kozilek .

Witch's Cottage

MontaukMonster: Hey there, great advice, and thanks for your time! As you can see above I'm taking a lot of your advice already. I had to scavenge one of the Cabals and the Dread Presence for a new EDH deck I made, but I'm hoping with the addition of more draw and some tutors that it won't hurt.

With Vampire Nighthawk illegal in Pioneer, that leaves Gifted Aetherborn and Gary as my only lifegain. I'd have to buy cards if I wanted to try something new.

I still need 2 more cards to complete the deck, so I may end up just putting some Duress es in there in the end.

Aww Dread Presence was one of the strongest plays for me

MontaukMonster: lol, you've probably played the deck more than I have tbh, recently anyway. (I have a lot of decks.) But your advice sounds good so I'll continue to keep it mind. And thankfully Dread Presence is not very expensive, so if I feel I need some after a few playthroughs, then I can order some (my LGSs kinda suck for singles).