Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions! thanks to your suggestions, I was motivated to get up off my lazy ass and make a sideboard. :)

VampireArmy, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is expensive (though not compared to Griselbrand ). He has a very good and useful ability, that's for sure, but I prefer Griselbanned in the maindeck right now for sheer draw power. So I stuck him in the sideboard until he's called to replace Griselbanned. I switched Killing Wave for Mutilate though, as they will both kill things that Damnation can't. I also added 3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and removed Ashenmoor Gouger for 3 Stalker Hag , because unblockable things are awesome.

Thanks PriestessKikyo1!

Haha, yeah, I know Snowstorm. I was going to put an image of him in the description, but I don't know if it's acceptable to use someone else's picture. :P But I did add in 2 Damnation s to the sideboard.

Vessago, added in the Tombs; I also cut Royal Assassin for Geralf's Messenger .

Reaperkingmtg, Sideboarded Mikaeus; but I feel that the interaction with Cauldron of Souls is too clunky. I also sideboarded Reiver Demon and Exsanguinate as alternate win conditions. If push comes to shove, I'll side out Griselbrand for the Demon.

Thanks Elliote50!

Sniper83, put Bloodghast and Lili in the sideboard. I find Gatekeeper of Malakir a bit meh with all my removal.

Haemogoblin, no, I'm just going to wipe the field and hope that Phyrexian Arena is still on the field or I just drew a bunch of cards with Griselbrand . Should it be sideboarded?

overlordbranmuffin, I actually added 4 Rakdos Cackler s instead because Deathrite Shaman isn't going to be doing much but sitting there early game when I'm hopefully casting spells on curve. The Cacklers can help keep pressure up.

ryankurz, yeah, it may not be competitive, but that's okay. It's just a fun build that I will probably never put together anytime soon because of its price tag. :(

And now I have to update the description. Gah.

I'd consider siding it in at least, just because everyone loves double gary lol

Done.

Since you took out Ashenmoor Liege , I would replace Rakdos Cackler with Deathrite Shaman s, that way it will get +2 from Creakwood Liege , and it's better anyways.

I did originally, but after some playtests, it just kinda sat there doing nothing. I can actually cast stuff on curve pretty easily, and pretty much the only time it's able to use its abilities is on turn 2 (when I don't cast Go for the Throat ) or after turn 5. Although its isn't counting using Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx ...

Executioner's Capsule

Funeral Charm

Oona's Gatewarden

Quag Vampires

Pulse Tracker

Thrull Parasite

Will-o'-the-Wisp

Inkfathom Infiltrator

None of those cards really accomplish what I want in a 1 drop. Thanks for the suggestions though.

I would remove Geralf's Messenger , way too slow to be of use in modern. Can only attack on turn 4, and not block the turn it enters? Not very good. Sure the undying is useful, but then it still enters the battlefield tapped. The thing with this deck is you are relying too heavy on Gray Merchant of Asphodel , what you want to consider is to use cards that can win without Gary, but still provide synergy with him. As a replacement I would use Bloodghast . He is faster, still provides devotion, can even get faster, and has numerous occurrences of reanimation.

Also, how soon can you get Griselbrand out? He has to be out before turn 6 to of any use to you, otherwise you'll either die before he gets out, or when he gets out he'll be easily countered/removed. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed I think is the better choice because because it gives your creatures a tonne of resilience, which is really useful with your board wipes.

Your lacking in your turn one and turn two plays. I would put in some discards as they are the best form of control. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek are really useful. Sign in Blood can help with a bit more draw too.

You need a better sideboard, as what you've got right now won't cut it, at least not in my books. Leyline of the Void for reanimation and graveyard interaction. Extirpate and Surgical Extraction against the win conditions in control and combo. Spellskite for removal heavy and control heavy decks. I also think Essence Harvest would be better than Exsanguinate .

I would argue that I'm not leaning on Gray merchant too heavily. Definitely heavily, but a turn 4 Phyrexian Obliterator does put pressure on the opponent- they have to remove it, sac a bunch of stuff, or take 5 damage a turn. And while I do like Bloodghast , I don't like just straight-up replacing Geralf's Messenger for him. I'd have to replace probably a Stalker Hag for a third, and the Hag is a very good damage dealer, especially with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . Not sure whether that would be a better trade.

I can usually drop Griselbrand turns 5-7. Which isn't terrible, I suppose, but it does require Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . The main reason I have him is because of the massive amount of card advantage he can give me- I can often cast him, draw 7, then cast half of the cards I just drew.

As for the discards, I'm not going to argue that they're very very good, especially after playtesting your Death's Shadow build, but I'm very wary about cutting devotion creatures or removal for them. If I want to add more draw, I'd rather add more Phyrexian Arena than Sign in Blood because it triggers every turn, provides devotion, and I can stack them.

Yeah, my sideboard sucks, I just got lazy and threw in cards that other users had suggested and looked good.

Thanks for your input!

Actually Femme_Fatale, can you elaborate on why you prefer Essence Harvest to Exsanguinate ?

It is cheaper in all instances of the usage between the two (except if you don't have any creatures on the field). And I presume you're going 1 vs 1 with this deck. Though I wouldn't even use it in the side, it isn't potent enough to shut down the opposing deck, whatever that deck is. It was just a suggestion if you wanted to keep on using a card like Exsanguinate , because a 5 damage 5 gain for 7 mana is a lot worse than a 5 damage 5 gain for 3 mana. I would personally run something like Torpor Orb and my other suggestions over it.

Thanks for the explanation and suggestions Femme_Fatale. I'll definitely look at those cards for the sideboard.

Thanks RedZebra. Moar lands, you say? Well, I suppose so. How many times were you mana flooded compared to mana screwed in your billions of playtests?

So to add Bloodghast , I'll probably need to cut either Vampire Nighthawk or Stalker Hag along with Geralf's Messenger . So which one should be cut? Stalker Hag provides more devotion and pushes more damage through, but Vampire Nighthawk gives me life and is an effective attack deterrent.

you have a lot of zombies, so why not Gravecrawler instead of Rakdos Cackler ? and if you don't want to run Bloodghast , then i would instead run Vampire Hexmage to get rid of affinity creatures (Arcbound Ravager ), planeswalkers (Liliana of the Veil ), and add 2 devotion.

Deck definitely needs more lands. Good deck otherwise. Probably should drop Mikaeus, the Unhallowed for more lands.

Could be fun to add in some Murderous Redcap and possible with some sacrifice outlet or some sort to combo off with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed . And in worst case, he'll add two more towards black devotion or maybe even just take some creatures along with him when he dies~

Dude, Divinity of Pride would tear shit up in here! All that devotion and the lifegain synergy?? I would definitely include.

Also, I dig it. +1

i would replace Stalker Hag for Restless Apparition : he can grows with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and persist with Mutilate it's too cool.

Removed 2x Damnation , 2x Geralf's Messenger , and 3x Stalker Hag for 2x Swamp, 4x Bloodghast , and 1x Phyrexian Arena . Although now I wonder if Mikaeus, the Unhallowed will be as effective without the other two boardwipes.

Thanks for your input RedZebra. I removed Damnation , but I'm going to keep the two in the sideboard.

Droxium, right now I'm testing Bloodghast , but I'll definitely consider switching to Vampire Hexmage if I end up getting wrecked too badly by other Modern decks on the site. And since I removed Geralf's Messenger , my Zombie count is down to 6, and none have a CMC under 5. Thanks for the suggestions though!

Thanks APPLE01DOJ. As of now, Mikaeus will stay in, but we'll see for how long.

Infral, Murderous Redcap needs to be put into a combo deck to be effective. It would just be a 2/2 for 4 in this deck, which is pretty bad, even considering its ability and 2 devotion. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Jp3ngu1nb0y, I love Divinity of Pride , but right now it just takes up space in Gary's 5-drop slot. Maybe I'll use him if Mikaeus underperforms. Thanks for the suggestion and the +1! By the way, your name is the absolute hardest to type on an iPod. Took me five times to get it right, lol.

Vessago, Restless Apparition can get big and come back, but that's it. No evasion, no other great ability. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Personally I think Geralf's Messenger is better for this deck than Bloodghast deff would put him back in.

Well, I think Femme_Fatale brought up good points about Geralf's Messenger 's weaknesses- basically he doesn't do enough soon enough. Plus now I have an actaul turn 2 play that's not a Rakdos Cackler I drew that turn, and as long as I have land drops, you can never really get rid of Bloodghast .

I'm going to counter that APPLE01DOJ.

He is too slow. The 2-4 life loss is practically nothing, and he is only useful at turn 4. A turn 4, 3/2 creature? Not very good, even if he has undying, Bloodghast has numerous occurrences of re-animation and can easily do more damage than Geralf's Messenger can. This deck also has too many 3 drops already. Why play Geralf's Messenger when you could play Phyrexian Arena , Vampire Nighthawk or Hero's Downfall instead?

I also think this deck could use discard. I personally would remove Mikaeus, the Unhallowed entirely, and drop Phyrexian Obliterator and Hero's Downfall both by one two leave you with room for 4 discard spells. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek are your two main options. Duress is your other one.

I agree Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is a waste of space. ...but having played with Geralf's Messenger quite a bit (and I play tested this deck 5-6 times yesterday with him in it) I can definitely say how effective he is matters on the build. In this deck he does a lot more than a reoccurring 2/2. There already is 4x Rakdos Cackler .

Also, u make a poor arguement. Vampire Nighthawk Hero's Downfall and Phyrexian Arena are all 2nd choices when it comes to modern. What you should be aiming to cast T2/T3 is Liliana of the Veil .

The best 1 drop for Mono B and most of modern is Deathrite Shaman but understand for him to properly be effective in mono black you need to invest in fetches. This will literally fuel your entire deck.

In addition to mana ramp, DRS survives -1/-1 board wipes such as Golgari Charm Can deal 2 unblockable damage each round (same potential as Bloodghast ) while eating away annoying flashback cards like Lingering Souls and can even nullify Snapcaster Mage completely.

Given that u give the logical splash he can also gain life in a pinch or eat away creatures like Bloodghast .

So here is the most common example of DRS that shows his value.

T1: Verdant Catacombs > Swamp > Deathrite Shaman T2: Swamp > Exile Verdant Catacombs from the graveyard with Deathrite Shaman then cast Liliana of the Veil + activate one of her abilities. (you could also use this same tactic to put a Phyrexian Arena into place)

Now back to explaining the logical green splash. Since you are forced to run fetches to make DRS optimal, you might as well throw in a few Overgrown Tomb s. You can grab 1 with any of the 3 main fetches you could be running. Verdant Catacombs Marsh Flats Misty Rainforest and it will allow you to activate his G ability. However this also gives access to proper removal Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse (Hero's Downfall = uhhh what?? a bad joke maybe). You may be saying wait, Black already has access to all the removal in the world. ..but it doesn't it can't answer things like Oblivion Ring or Isochron Scepter on it's own. Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse do answer these things.

I also think 4x Thoughtseize should be auto include.

Ignore my part about the poor argument, I realize u said what u said because those are cards he's currently running.

(sorry I'm a super pot head and often loose my place lol)

Also, the spill about DRS was to GoldGhost012

lol so wish this place had an edit button.