Hehehe ... So you want to win, eh? Well then ... it's going to cost you ...
SCRAPPED
Please note that this deck WILL NOT WORK in the current meta. DO NOT go about buying this deck or playing this deck in a large tournament. YOU WILL NOT WIN.
This deck's goal is to use your most plentiful resource, your life, to the best of its abilities. This deck really shines for those who know tempo the best.
The core card to this deck is Death's Shadow. With all the cards that have you lose life a certain way, and with your opponent dealing damage to you every now and then, this card just gets stronger and stronger. Till your opponent will be quickly staring at a 6/6 for one mana, and potentially way stronger.
Ah, Dark Confidant. I really wish you weren't worth $360 a set. But you are for many reasons! Your ability to swing for 2 has won me many a game. A turn two constant draw engine only for yourself is the best thing to keeping this deck far ahead of your opponents. If by change it is going to lose me the game then I can destroy it myself really easily, and its synergy with Phyrexian Unlife and Death's Shadow means that it is better if I lose 2 or 3 life on the draw. For every card I draw, I have a bonus buff to my creatures.
Abzan Charm is here as just having Dark Confidant isn't enough for the draw, and is useful for when I know my opponent plays heavy removal that makes Dark Confidant worthless. However it has particular bonuses to it in that it is a good Tarmogoyf remover, and can help escape things like bolts on certain creatures, while at the same time make those creatures permanently more powerful.
Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek are very important in any black deck. They are turn one removal for anything I don't want in their hand. A bonus is Thoughtseize buffs my Death's Shadow~.
Path to Exile is very simple to understand, best one mana creature removal in the modern game. Abrupt Decay is a bit more iffy, but I splash green for it because A) I can, and B) I need some form of non-creature permanent removal that I can use for when my Thoughtseizes have to target the larger threats.
Most people can't use all of
Orzhov Charm
's ability to their advantage. But here, it deserves a gold star. Firstly, I can destroy a creature on their field, which also buffs my own Death's Shadow at the same time. Secondly, I can return 3/4 of my creatures back to the battlefield, so I don't have to worry too much if my Death's Shadow gets Abrupt Decay'd or counter-spelled. Finally I can return my Dark Confidant back to my hand before his draw ability resolves to save me for on more turn to turn the game around.
Phyrexian Unlife is a card that has helped me out during those longer matches. If I need multiple Dark Confidants on the board and need to keep playing those Thoughtseizes and
Orzhov Charm
s on the board, this handy enchantment allows me to do so without any worry. A bonus? The loss of life means I can go to negative life, which means a even larger boost for my Death's Shadow! How about facing a 19/19 in your face for one mana?
Tarmogoyf is in here as the most effective two cmc beater modern has. You should have no problem having it come out as a 2/3 on turn 2, but what makes him so powerful is the potential to see exponential growth as the games go on. You can easily have a 5/6 by turn 4, and still be able to play MORE things that turn!
Bitterblossom? Sudden un-ban in modern?! Yes, you help the death this deck brings. Basic idea is this: I gain something to either prevent my opponent from over-whelming me with creatures or to attack my opponent with. Bonus? I lose life. And this loss of life grows my Death's Shadow. This card supplies me with the ability to hold out against decks that swing with one or two massive creatures, or many little creatures, as it will only be a matter of time before Death's Shadow creeps up to them.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth creates a nice little land situation with all my non-basic non-shock lands. If I can't afford to pay the life on any of my fetches or
Mana Confluence
, I can use Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to allow them to be used as a non-basic Swamp. Same thing applies to
Gemstone Mine
, I can make it last a lot longer when I can tap it for Black without ever using up it's mining counters.
Angel's Grace is the final addition to this deck, and really helps against a sudden surprise, or when I need to go all out in a couple consecutive turns in order to win. It's effectively prevents their all out attack on me in return to mine, and prevents any sudden spells that may kill me, like a Lightning Bolt or a Banefire. As a bonus, its split second allows me to interrupt many combos that I my come across. A card that has saved me many a day, Angel's Grace is a card that I'm pleased with.
Now let's go over the side-board shall we?
Choke
is fairly obvious. Any deck that runs , use this to shut it down considerably.
Faith's Shield
is here should I face a deck that houses too much removal for my
Orzhov Charm
to be worth while, or too many creatures for my Death's Shadow to be able to go through. It is also really good in keeping my enchantments in play, is it also grants them protection should I so deem fit to do that. Finally, it helps against RDW decks in the last moments with Angel's Grace, giving me protection from all that red burn.
Idyllic Tutor is to be used when I desperately need to get my Phyrexian Unlife our really quickly, and when my opponent packs tonnes of removal, discard and/or counterspells to keep them at bay.
I use Maelstrom Pulse for when I'm facing a deck with really high CMC's or a deck with tokens. Any ramp, token, control or midrange deck this would do nicely against.
Leyline of Sanctity is here to use against the discard, burn and mill decks. Though quite surprisingly, this deck wins against RDW, if by a hair, on numerous occasions.
Spellskite is really helpful in this, as it serves basically the same purpose as
Faith's Shield
, but can target more things, like auras and equipments. When I have my Phyrexian Unlife out, I can pay that two life no problem and I will never have to worry again about removal, or auras and equipments my opponents control. If I do have life problems,
Mana Confluence
and
Gemstone Mine
help with my lack of blue mana.