Hello everyone. As we get closer to the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, I'm taking a look at some current Standard decks that are focused around a specific color. This week, we're looking at decks featuring Black mana. Let's get started.

Mono-Black Aggro

As always, we'll begin by looking at a mono-colored deck. I have a super fast, aggressive Mono-Black deck. Let's take a look at it.

Mono-Black Aggro | DFT Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Adaptive Automaton
• 3 Bloodghast
• 3 Cult Conscript
• 3 Gonti, Night Minister
• 3 Tinybones, Bauble Burglar
• 3 Tinybones, the Pickpocket
• 4 Forsaken Miner
• 4 Gas Guzzler

• Instants (6)
• 3 Bitter Triumph
• 3 Cut Down

• Enchantments (8)
• 4 Case of the Stashed Skeleton
• 4 Corpses of the Lost

• Lands (21)
• 21 Swamp

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This deck is focused around Skeletons. Corpses of the Lost not only creates a 2/2 Skeleton Pirate creature token when it enters play, but it also gives all of your Skeletons +1/+0 and haste. And there are a lot of Skeletons in this deck, including Cult Conscript, Forsaken Miner, and both versions of Tinybones. You'll also want to choose to make Adaptive Automaton a Skeleton, giving all of your other Skeletons an additional +1/+1 bonus.

There's a lot of ways to return your cards from the graveyard to the battlefield in this deck. Cult Conscript and Forsaken Miner both have built-in ways of returning to the battlefield. So does Corpses of the Lost, as long as you had a permanent go to your graveyard. Thanks to the haste provided by Corpses of the Lost and your creatures returning from the dead, this deck can quickly attack for a lot of damage, ending games in a hurry.

Orzhov Life Gain

Next, let's take a look at an Orzhov deck that benefits from gaining additional life. First, take a look at the deck list.

Orzhov Life Gain | DFT Standard | MTGArenaOriginalDecks, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 3 Amalia Benavides Aguirre
• 3 Ketramose, the New Dawn
• 4 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 4 Essence Channeler
• 4 Exemplar of Light

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Ruthless Negotiation
• 4 Lay Down Arms

• Enchantments (12)
• 1 Authority of the Consuls
• 2 Lunar Convocation
• 2 Virtue of Persistence
• 3 Case of the Uneaten Feast
• 4 Ossification

• Lands (23)
• 3 Swamp
• 7 Plains
• 1 Fountainport
• 4 Bleachbone Verge
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Shadowy Backstreet

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Ketramose, the New Dawn is an amazing threat in this deck. While it can't attack or block until there are seven or more cards in exile, as you'll see, there are plenty of cards that you can use to exile other cards. These include Ruthless Negotiation, Ossification, and Lay Down Arms. Also, keep in mind that this counts any cards your opponent has exiled as well.

Once you've satisfied the seven cards in exile, Ketramose becomes a 4/4 attacker/blocker that has menace, lifeline, and is indestructible. As long as your opponent's creatures don't have trample, Ketramose can block all day long, and potentially keep your life total high. Given enough time, Ketramose can even help your Amalia Benavides Aguirre reach a power of 20. This will destroy all other creatures, giving you a clear route to victory.

Dimir Mill

Next, I have a Dimir deck that features one of my favorite alternative ways to win. Let's take a look at the deck.

Dimir Mill | DFT Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (2)
• 2 Horned Loch-Whale

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Jace, the Perfected Mind

• Instants (18)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Bitter Triumph
• 1 Into the Flood Maw
• 1 Negate
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict
• 2 Anoint with Affliction
• 2 Cut Down
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 3 Deduce
• 4 Three Steps Ahead

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Malicious Eclipse
• 1 Stock Up
• 3 Deadly Cover-Up

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Nowhere to Run
• 1 Virtue of Persistence

• Artifacts (6)
• 3 Mazemind Tome
• 3 Riverchurn Monument

• Lands (25)
• 3 Island
• 3 Swamp
• 3 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Demolition Field
• 4 Gloomlake Verge
• 4 Restless Reef
• 4 Underground River

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Even though mill decks were possible before Aetherdrift came out, Riverchurn Monument provided even more possibilities for mill decks to excel. This artifact can be activated to cause any number of players to mill two cards. It also has an exhaust ability that can be used to mill cards equal to the number of cards in that player's graveyard. This allows you to finish off an opponent quickly and effectively.

To help ensure that there is an ample number of cards in your opponent's graveyard, you can utilize Jace, the Perfected Mind's -X loyalty ability, causing your opponent to mill three times X cards. You can also use Three Steps Ahead to create additional copies of Riverchurn Monument, giving you additional exhaust abilities you can utilize.

Rakdos Lizards

Next, I have a kindred deck focused around Lizards. Let's take a look at this deck to see how it functions.

Rakdos Lizards | DFT Standard | DrRuckus, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate
• 4 Fireglass Mentor
• 4 Gastal Thrillseeker
• 4 Gev, Scaled Scorch
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Iridescent Vinelasher
• 4 Valley Flamecaller
• 4 Valley Rotcaller

• Instants (8)
• 4 Burst Lightning
• 4 Lightning Strike

• Lands (22)
• 2 Swamp
• 3 Mountain
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Blazemire Verge
• 4 Rockface Village
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

• Sideboard (14)
• 1 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Far Fortune, End Boss
• 1 Hazoret, Godseeker
• 1 Laughing Jasper Flint
• 1 Norin, Swift Survivalist
• 1 Screaming Nemesis
• 1 Thought-Stalker Warlock
• 1 Viashino Pyromancer
• 1 Anoint with Affliction
• 1 Cut Down
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 1 Duress
• 1 Nowhere to Run
• 1 Urabrask's Forge

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Gev, Scaled Scorch is right at home in a deck like this that features a bunch of Lizards. While you have Gev on the battlefield, whenever you cast a Lizard spell, Gev will deal 1 damage to your opponent. That damage will add up over the course of the game, assuming you are able to play Gev early on. He also provides all of your other creatures with a +1/+1 counter when they enter the battlefield, as long as your opponent has lost life this turn.

You can also gain additional incidental damage in other ways with this deck. If you have Iridescent Vinelasher in play, when you achieve landfall, your opponent will take a damage. This will stack if you have additional copies of Iridescent Vinelasher in play. Valley Rotcaller will also cause your opponent to lose an amount of life equal to the number of other Squirrels and Lizards (and Bats and Rats, which aren't in this deck) you control when it attacks. You'll also gain the same amount of life, making it more difficult for your opponent to win.

Golgari Graveyard

The final deck I have for you is a Golgari deck that uses self-mill to gain an advantage over its opponent. Let's check it out.

Golgari Graveyard | DFT Standard | LegenVD, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Harvester of Misery
• 4 Chitin Gravestalker
• 4 Gnawing Vermin
• 4 Hollow Marauder
• 4 Huskburster Swarm
• 4 Molt Tender
• 4 Overlord of the Balemurk
• 4 Souls of the Lost

• Instants (2)
• 2 Overwhelming Remorse

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Quag Feast

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Up the Beanstalk

• Lands (20)
• 1 Forest
• 5 Swamp
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Underground Mortuary
• 4 Wastewood Verge

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Molt Tender is just a common card from Aetherdrift, but it's a very important creature in this deck. It has a pair of activated abilities that will help you out immensely. First, it can be tapped to cause you to mill a card. Its other activated ability forces you to exile a card from your graveyard in order to add a mana of any color. This can be a great way to power out bigger threats faster than your opponent can.

Having creature cards in your graveyard can be very helpful to this deck. Chitin Gravestalker, Hollow Marauder, and Huskburster Swarm all receive a mana discount based on the number of creature cards in your graveyard. Souls of the Lost power and toughness are each based on the number of permanent cards in your graveyard. Keep this in mind when you're deciding what to exile with Molt Tender's mana ability.

Wrapping Up

Even though it's not my favorite color in Magic, the Black decks I've shown you this week all have aspects to them that look fun to me. I'm excited to try out each of these decks on Magic Arena soon.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes