Deck Summary
Mono black Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools (and pal Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel) make a villainous board state full of control, forced sacrificing for opponents, big mana and card draw. Some aristocrats and similar effects (Bloodchief Ascension) to keep your life total in a good place - since we're not only sacrificing creatures for big gains, but also dumping life (Carnival of Souls, Dark Prophecy, Necropotence, etc.)
Tevesh Szat creates his own blockers as well as sacrifice fodder. As a Planeswalker, he also dodges most removal and board wipes. This deck does not run much of a discard package as opponent's find that very anti-fun. But since we're Mono-B, we have to do SOMETHING villainous and powerful, right? That's where the control package comes in.
Card Categories
Brutal Control
Royal Assassin intimidates merely by his presence and can allow for some politics as well. He, Ravenous Chupacabra, and Sheoldred, Whispering One are all supported by tutors, recursion + Entomb / Buried Alive.
Contamination can lock opponents out of the game without mass land destruction, for only 3 cmc?! You can let it hit the graveyard when you're done making your opponents feel helpless.
Silent Arbiter combined with your deathtouch and flying blockers is sure to upset some plans at the table. It also just buys you time to draw, create tokens, and establish a better board.
No Mercy is my favorite black pillow-fort card. At a cheap 4 mana, the table will think twice on swinging at you at all. But since they don't want to lose tempo, they most often just swing at your other opponents. Win-win!
Winter Moon is a new addition to the control cards available. This thing is amazingly one-sided when you play mono and everyone else is playing tri-color decks. Again, not MLD but just as good and extremely cheap at 2 cmc.
Tainted AEther is the tainted elephant in the room. This card is horrible to play against, even if you're rocking a token deck yourself, because it triggers once per creature that entered! Just be aware of your board state when you decide to put this disgusting effect out. For example, Tevesh Szat's +2 forces him to also sacrifice two creatures/lands. You're netting 0 creatures even with your token generators. However, you've got BIG MANA on your side (see below) so losing a land or two isn't the worst thing if you desperately need a creature to hit the battlefield. Also be aware you have very few ways to get rid of this once it's out!
Grave Pact - ah yes, what else needs to be said about this card? A one-sided board wipe if it stays in play longer than one turn and contributes for Devotion.
Big Mana
-Crypt Ghast, Nirkana Revenant for swamp doubling.
-Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to make your nonbasics swamps (with small synergy to Sheoldred's swampwalk).
-Cabal Coffers is always nuts and worth tutoring mid or even late-game.
-Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is dicey in most monocolor decks but not so in black! We're packing plenty of Devotion-fodder for Nykthos and Abhorrent Overlord: Necropotence, Dark Prophecy, Grave Pact, Ayara, First of Locthwain, Phyrexian Obliterator, and plenty of 2-symbol creatures/enchantments as well.
-A newer monocolor toy is Sceptre of Eternal Glory from the Necron 40k precon is an excellent and underutilized card that is effectively a Thran Dynamo which produces . It also produces if you're not at the 3-swamp threshold.
Removal
A problem mono black and mono red both face is the difficulty in removing enchantments. To this end, we run: Feed the Swarm, the newer staple Withering Torment, and Introduction to Annihilation. Tactically remember you have Phyrexian Obliterator as well, if he can help you here.
Note on some "obvious" missing cards
This is a working draft. I have dozens of 'maybe' cards in a large list to slot in for testing and adjustment, but here are some notable mentions if you want to copy-paste this deck and swap a few things to your liking. Cards I consider top-tier synergy and power for this style of deck.
Other Devotion: Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Gary didn't make the cut this time because I prefer cheaper lasting life-swing effects and I am not running infinite combo. But if you are, he's a must-include! Drag to the Underworld is a free removal spell. Altar of the Pantheon is a nice support mana rock for Devotion if you run enough of it.. and since it gets a bonus for gods, we need to honorably mention two: Erebos, Bleak-Hearted is excellent life-for-cards and an indestructible blocker, while God-Eternal Bontu can do a lot of draws at once and semi-recurs itself. Honorable mention for Tergrid, God of Fright
if you run more discard.
Big mana but no X spells besides Meathook!? Exsanguinate, Torment of Hailfire and my favorite Death Cloud are all solid options if you need 'X' spells in your life. Don't forget to also include Pitiless Plunderer if you go into the X-cast realm.
More Lifegain (if needed) - Other big considerations are: Exquisite Blood which I would run without the infinite-combo counterparts, Gary as mentioned above, Wurmcoil Engine and the many, many, MANY aristocrat options.. starting with Zulaport Cutthroat.
Other sac fodder - Bloodghast, Nether Traitor, Sengir Autocrat, Reassembling Skeleton, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Desecrated Tomb and others are all good options. I chose cheap enchantments (hard to remove) and Ophiomancer which produces deathtouch blockers.
More draw! - Liliana, Dreadhorde General would be my first choice as she gets tons of draw, produces tokens, and forces creature sacrificing. Necrologia, Season of Loss, Promise of Power, Damnable Pact, Kothophed, Soul Hoarder are all excellent options.
Sacrifice Outlets! - You will have a hard time keeping up with the amount of sacrifice needed for this decklist so you'd only need to swap outlets if you desired. The Golden Throne, Phyrexian Altar, Altar of Dementia, Viscera Seer, Sadistic Hypnotist, Hell's Caretaker are all great options.
Lastly, never ever underestimate running good ol' Nevinyrral's Disk as a way to rid yourself of all opponent enchantments/artifacts (and your own Tainted Aether), while keeping Szat on the table.
