Definite work in progress. I do not recommend following this deck to the letter, just using this as a starting basis that is mostly on the cheap side.
Purpose is to try to flicker or otherwise get Gonti to use his effect as many times as possible.
Gonti is probably my favorite commander in terms of overall fun. Every game is different and you get to play cards you never thought you would play before. He isn't seen as a threat (usually) and can just quietly steal cards while other things are happening. He makes up for most weaknesses of being mono-colored by just taking the things you need in other colors. Looking for card draw, or maybe a counterspell? Hit the blue player. Some more ramp? Hit the green player, etc, etc.
More Triggers: Your bread and butter. Helps Gonti get his effect to go off as many times as possible. Have a few of these on the field and laugh at how many cards you're stealing each turn. The all-stars here are Panharmonicon, Conjurer's Closet, and Strionic Resonator, I consider all three must haves. If budget isn't a constraint, pick up a Blade of Selves as well.
More Thievery: Some backup in case Gonti can't get the job done on his own, a thief needs some help every so often. Most of these are expensive in terms of mana but they are pretty powerful.
Card Draw: Always super important in EDH, and mono-black is probably the best color for this. Thankfully this isn't as life and death as usual since you have Gonti. Phyrexian Arena is one of the best cards here, along with it's baby creature brother Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, who normally can't draw too many cards on his own but has the energy support from other cards in the deck. There are much better versions of Succumb to Temptation but I recommend at least keeping Live Fast if you keep the Siphoner.
Ramp: While this is always good to have in any EDH deck, Gonti especially needs as much ramp as possible to keep up with the cards you are stealing, as well as a pretty high curve in this deck. Almost all of it is mana rocks, but Crypt Ghast works wonders in monoblack as does Caged Sun. If you want to make changes I recommend some rocks that tap for any color, because even though you can cast stolen cards for any color, sometimes they have mana abilities that cost other colors.
Recursion: We aren't running an insane amount of creatures, so chances are you're gonna block with Gonti at some point, but that doesn't matter as long as you have some of these cards ready. Nim Deathmantle is the priciest card here but it is so, so good, and fuels the only infinite combo in the deck (more on that later, if you don't like combos don't be discouraged)
Removal: Self explanatory. Only thing of note is that there are a number of sacrifice effects, but that's better than normal removal because it doesn't care about indestructible nor hexproof.
Boardwipe: There are certainly better options in this field, and maybe I would recommend running some more of these, but as it stands, on a budget, this will serve you okay. Nevinyrral's Disk will probably be the first to replace as it hurts you a ton, it's really only for "In case of emergency, Break Disk"
Goodstuff: You can't rely entirely on stealing to win the game, sometimes you need a lot of power on your own as well, because not all decks are helpful to steal from. Feel free to change these up as you wish, but Gray Merchant of Asphodel is an absolute 100% must keep.
Lands: Self explanatory, didn't include too many non-basics solely because of some of the ramp cards, but there are some utility lands worth including. Bojuka Bog is a must have, it dismantles the entire strategy of some decks.
The Infinite Combo: Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Grave Titan or Abhorrent Overlord. Some people dislike infinite combos, which is understandable. This one is meant to be a backup win con in case the game is taking too long. If you'd rather go without it I would replace the Altar with another mana rock or something. Otherwise, Behold the Beyond is a good way to tutor the combo up and end the game fast.
Hope you all enjoy, and have fun stealing. Suggestions welcome and appreciated
