Hello everyone. The past couple of weeks, I've been taking a look at some two-color decks that focused on White and Blue. I'm a sucker for patterns, so I figured I would keep this going by looking at some two-color decks that all feature Black mana. Let's get started with our first deck.

Orzhov Planeswalkers

Pairing Black and White gets us Orzhov, a fine starting point for this week. Let's take a look at a deck featuring multiple planeswalkers in this color combination.

Orzhov Planeswalkers | MAT Standard | SlothMtg, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (2)
• 2 Ambitious Farmhand // Seasoned Cathar

• Planeswalkers (12)
• 1 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
• 2 Kaya, Intangible Slayer
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 3 Sorin the Mirthless
• 3 The Wandering Emperor

• Instants (10)
• 2 Fateful Absence
• 4 Cut Down
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Farewell
• 1 Sunset Revelry
• 4 Sunfall

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Urza Assembles the Titans
• 3 Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity

• Lands (26)
• 6 Plains
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Raffine's Tower
• 4 Shattered Sanctum

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The only planeswalker in this deck that you won't be able to put into play with Urza Assembles the Titans is Kaya, Intangible Slayer. She has a mana value of seven mana, but she's definitely worth it. With her +2 loyalty ability, you gain three points of life while your opponent loses three points of life. That extra loyalty will allow you the potential of activating her -3 loyalty ability numerous times. With it, you'll be able to pick off your opponent's greatest threats, removing them from the game while creating a diminished Spirit copy for yourself.

Dimir Horror Control

The next deck I have for you is another control deck, which features a few truly horrifying finishers. Let's take a look at the deck.

Dimir Horror Control | MAT Standard | drztdrdn, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant
• 1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
• 4 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim

• Instants (14)
• 2 Dissipate
• 2 Fading Hope
• 2 Negate
• 2 Rona's Vortex
• 2 Thirst for Discovery
• 4 Cut Down

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Soul Transfer

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 The Cruelty of Gix
• 2 Phyrexian Arena

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 The Celestus

• Battles (4)
• 4 Invasion of Fiora // Marchesa, Resolute Monarch

• Lands (26)
• 6 Island
• 8 Swamp
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 2 The Dross Pits
• 2 The Surgical Bay
• 4 Shipwreck Marsh

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Another finisher that this deck has that I need to talk about is Hullbreaker Horror. As a control deck, you want to keep your mana untapped so it can be used to counter your opponent's spells, so for Hullbreaker Horror to have flash is such a blessing. Since it can't be countered, it's sure to hit the battlefield where you can start causing chaos by returning your opponent's permanents to their hand. Very quickly, you can eliminate most of the threats on the battlefield, letting you swing for the win.

Rakdos Vampire Typal

The next deck I have for you is themed around the Vampire creature type. For those of you that love typal decks, you'll want to give this deck a try. Let's take a look at it.

Rakdos Vampire Typal | MAT Standard | Stealth_Vicious, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (27)
• 3 Falkenrath Pit Fighter
• 3 Ichor Drinker
• 3 Vampire Socialite
• 3 Voldaren Bloodcaster
• 3 Voldaren Epicure
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Falkenrath Forebear
• 4 Markov Baron

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Sorin the Mirthless

• Instants (6)
• 2 Vampires' Vengeance
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Duress

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Gift of Fangs

• Lands (20)
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Haunted Ridge
• 2 Secluded Courtyard
• 2 Voldaren Estate
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Voldaren Epicure
• 2 Dominating Vampire
• 3 Voldaren Stinger
• 1 Duress

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Gift of Fangs is the other card that gets quite a boost in this deck. Normally, if this enchantment were to be played, you would usually target an opponent's creature with it to give that creature -2/-2. While a removal spell for a single Black mana isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's limited to killing only small creatures. However, if you enchant your own creature with Gift of Fangs, since all of the creatures in this deck are Vampires, your creature will get +2/+2. That can help you overpower your opponent's creatures, and give you the upper hand.

Golgari Proliferation

The final deck I have for you uses proliferation to potentially get some quick wins. Let's take a look at the deck.

Golgari Proliferation | MAT Standard | MTGDing, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (15)
• 3 Blightbelly Rat
• 3 Cemetery Prowler
• 3 Llanowar Loamspeaker
• 3 Tenacious Underdog
• 3 Urborg Scavengers

• Planeswalkers (9)
• 3 Liliana of the Veil
• 3 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
• 3 Wrenn and Realmbreaker

• Instants (9)
• 3 Infernal Grasp
• 3 Tear Asunder
• 3 Whisper of the Dross

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Drown in Ichor

• Lands (24)
• 5 Forest
• 7 Swamp
• 2 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 2 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 4 Deathcap Glade
• 4 Llanowar Wastes

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Numerous spells in this deck allow you to proliferate. Whisper of the Dross and Drown in Ichor both act as creature removal plus proliferation, while Blightbelly Rat only proliferates when it dies. It does, however, have toxic 1, which can allow you to start to give your opponent poison counters. Once your opponent has one poison counter, proliferating will eventually allow you to defeat your opponent, and they will be helpless to it happening.

Vraska, Betrayal's Sting has a 0 loyalty ability that allows you to proliferate. By using this ability, you'll eventually be able to work toward activating her ultimate -9 loyalty ability, which will increase the number of poison counters your opponent has to equal nine. Proliferate once more, and your work is finished, and so is your opponent.

Wrapping Up

Of the four decks I've shown you this week, three of them lean more toward being control decks. The Rakdos Vampire typal deck is the only one close to being an aggressive deck. That's one of the reasons I usually don't play Black decks. However, I do enjoy playing planeswalkers, so each of these decks has things in it that I can enjoy.

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