Hello everyone. I'm in the middle of my series of decks that you can play now that are focused on one color of mana. I've already looked at White and Blue decks, and now it's time to look at decks featuring Black mana. Let's get started.

Mono-Black Discard

I usually like to start off with a mono-colored deck, and this time is no exception. I have a Mono-Black deck that focuses on causing your opponent to discard. Let's start by taking a look at the deck.

Mono-Black Discard | DSK Standard | MTGArenaOriginalDecks, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Sheoldred
• 1 Unstoppable Slasher
• 1 Valgavoth, Terror Eater
• 2 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
• 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

• Planeswalker (4)
• 4 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (6)
• 2 Sheoldred's Edict
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Deadly Cover-Up
• 4 Ruthless Negotiation

• Enchantments (14)
• 2 Virtue of Persistence
• 4 Bandit's Talent
• 4 Hopeless Nightmare
• 4 Nowhere to Run

• Lands (24)
• 22 Swamp
• 1 Fountainport
• 1 Mirrex

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

Liliana of the Veil, Bandit's Talent, and Hopeless Nightmare all offer you the means of causing your opponent to discard cards from their hand. By keeping your opponent's hand size down, you limit their options. You also set up Bandit's Talent to help you maintain control as you level it up. Your opponent will need to maximize the playable cards in their hand, so they might discard higher mana value cards, since they don't have the mana to cast them.

That plays nicely into you playing Virtue of Persistence. This allows you to put any creature in a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. While there are a lot of great creatures in this deck for you to choose from, you can also return an opponent's creature, forcing them to work for you. It can be pretty demoralizing to be beaten by your own creatures.

Orzhov Anti-Life

Next, we'll add some White mana to the mix and take a look at a deck that wants to gain life in order to hurt its opponent.

Orzhov Anti-Life | DSK Standard | MTGArenaOriginalDecks, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (16)
• 2 Lifecreed Duo
• 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 4 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 4 Enduring Tenacity
• 4 Starscape Cleric

• Instants (4)
• 4 Get Lost

• Enchantments (17)
• 1 Lunar Convocation
• 2 Leyline of Hope
• 3 Case of the Uneaten Feast
• 3 Virtue of Persistence
• 4 Nowhere to Run
• 4 Phyrexian Arena

• Lands (24)
• 6 Plains
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Fountainport
• 1 Mirrex
• 3 Caves of Koilos
• 3 Shadowy Backstreet
• 4 Concealed Courtyard

Buy This Deck Export text

Lifecreed Duo and Starscape Cleric form a dynamic duo that causes you to gain 1 life and your opponent to lose one life whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control. Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim offers both a means of gaining life and causing your opponent to lose life. There's also Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, who can win games on her own simply by sitting on the battlefield for enough turns. This deck seems very solid, and annoying to play against.

Dimir Tamiyo Poison

Next, I have a deck that wants to win via poison counters. Let's check it out.

Dimir Tamiyo Poison | DSK Standard | LegenVD, aetherhub.com user

• Instants (34)
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Rona's Vortex
• 2 Serum Snare
• 2 Sheoldred's Edict
• 2 Whisper of the Dross
• 4 Anoint with Affliction
• 4 Bring the Ending
• 4 Cut Down
• 4 Experimental Augury
• 4 Prologue to Phyresis
• 4 Vraska's Fall

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 The Tale of Tamiyo

• Lands (22)
• 1 Island
• 5 Swamp
• 2 Mirrex
• 2 Undercity Sewers
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Gloomlake Verge
• 4 Underground River

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

There are a couple of ways to poison your opponent in this deck. The first is with Prologue to Phyresis, and the second is with Vraska's Fall. Alternatively, you might be able to sneak in with combat damage from a Phyrexian Mite created with Mirrex. Once you have one, you can cast spells with proliferate to increase the poison to 10. The Tale of Tamiyo can be used to proliferate a second time with any of those spells, once you reach the fourth chapter.

Rottenmouth Rakdos

The next deck I have for you thrives on sacrifices, both yours and your opponent's. Let's take a look at the deck.

Rottenmouth Rakdos | DSK Standard | LegenVD, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
• 2 Enduring Courage
• 4 Clockwork Percussionist
• 4 Greedy Freebooter
• 4 Rottenmouth Viper
• 4 Spiteful Hexmage

• Instants (6)
• 2 Fanatical Offering
• 4 Torch the Tower

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Gleeful Demolition

• Enchantments (10)
• 2 Nowhere to Run
• 4 Blacksmith's Talent
• 4 Disturbing Mirth

• Lands (20)
• 4 Mountain
• 4 Swamp
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Blazemire Verge
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

Your opponent will need to make a tough decision each turn you're able to attack, which will only get more difficult as the number of blight counters increases. Will they lose 4 life, sacrifice a nonland permanent, or discard a card? Any of these options will only help you take them down faster. And since you're able to add a blight counter each time you attack, their decision will get more and more difficult as they begin to run out of cards to discard and permanents to sacrifice.

Demon Golgari

The final deck I have for you this week features one of the iconic creature types of Black, Demons. Let's check it out.

Demon Golgari | DSK Standard | SlothMtg, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1 Tranquil Frillback
• 3 Glissa Sunslayer
• 4 Archfiend of the Dross
• 4 Caustic Bronco
• 4 Mosswood Dreadknight

• Instants (9)
• 2 Anoint with Affliction
• 3 Cut Down
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Duress

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

• Lands (26)
• 3 Forest
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Demolition Field
• 2 Fountainport
• 2 Underground Mortuary
• 4 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Llanowar Wastes
• 4 Restless Cottage

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Nissa, Ascended Animist
• 2 Liliana of the Veil
• 1 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal
• 1 Harvester of Misery
• 2 Tranquil Frillback
• 1 Anoint with Affliction
• 2 Tear Asunder
• 1 Gix's Command
• 2 Choking Miasma
• 2 Ghost Vacuum

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

The Unholy Annex side provides you with an extra card during your end step. Plus, as long as you control a Demon, your opponent will lose 2 life and you'll gain 2 life. These benefits stack, so if you have multiple copies of Unholy Annex in play, you'll draw even more cards and drain your opponent for extra life. You might not even have to attack in order to prevail over your opponent.

Wrapping Up

These Black-based decks prove that there's not a single means to victory for Black decks. Whether you're very aggressively sacrificing your permanents to force your opponent to sacrifice theirs, or playing a control deck while slowly poisoning your opponent, these decks all play very differently. That makes Black a very versatile color, indeed.

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