After hours of playtesting and weeks of grumbling, I have decided to bring this deck from Legacy to Modern, for the simple reason of making it truly competitive. So here it is: my version of the true mono-black midrange deck.
The win condition is cards that simply defy removal, either by returning later at no mana cost to you, or by being undying. Constant aggro that only gets better as the game gets longer, with a sprinkling of card drawing and control.
Use Bloodghast early on to maximize its effectiveness, and attack with it often since to bring it back all you need to do is play a land card. Synergizes well with Buried Alive, allowing you to have all four Bloodghasts out and attacking by turn 4 or 5, and merely inconvenienced by most boardwipe spells.
The Whip of Erebos is specifically for bringing back Geralf's Messenger or a Phyrexian Obliterator. It is also great for countering all the life you lose due to Phyrexian Arena. Another great combo is Buried Alive + Demigod of Revenge, then whip a Demigod of Revenge into play, exhuming all of them at once and attacking for 15 haste and flying.
Phyrexian Arena is to counteract Liliana of the Veil's discarding, giving you the advantage.
Lashwrithe is a great card on its own, and attaching it to a Phyrexian Obliterator or Demigod of Revenge can become a game-changing win-condition.
The Gray Merchant of Asphodel is also a potent win-condition card, tipping the balance in a stalemate game where neither one of you wants to attack, and also offsetting life lost due to Phyrexian Arena.
Surgical Extraction and Thoughtseize are for early hand disruption, and removing trouble cards like blue counterspells or graveyard hate cards. You want to especially watch out for and use Surgical Extraction on cards like Tormald's Crypt.
This deck has gone through about fifteen revisions. If you have any questions, please let me know them in the comments! Thank you to everyone who has helped shape this deck.
