Cool Build. I like the splash for Revoke Existence. Definitely cut the Phyrexian Arena. I would rather see Hero's Downfall. +1

Thanks Chasmolinker! I will take your suggestion and cut the Phyrexian Arenas. I am worried that this deck will have difficulty with planeswalker heavy builds, and the Hero's Downfall will definitely help with that. I was also considering Anguished Unmaking, but the total of 5 life loss including Godless Shrine is too steep. Utter End may be too expensive at 4 CMC, but I haven't tried it out yet.

Your deck seems pretty light on targeted removal for a mono-black control deck. I get that you want the mana symbols from Bloodghast and Gifted Aetherborn, but with both Lilianas I think it would be better to be more all-in on the grindier plan since they excel in that regard. Cutting some of the lower cost creatures/moving them to the sideboard in favor of more removal such as Cast Down and main deck sweepers would give your deck a more focused gameplan, as if the game goes long both Lilis will win it for you. Gary would become less of an instant win-con and more of a way to get back in the game if behind, but with Phyrexian Obliterator and the Lilianas it would probably still be as effective at closing it out later on.

Thanks for commenting hungry000! I definitely see your point and I'll take your advice. I'm cutting Gifted Aetherborn altogether to bring in more removal.

With all this devotion it's ashame there's no Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, at least in a one of...

Hey, I also run Mono Black in Modern, and would suggest Gifted Aetherborn certainly!! Also, if you are splashing white, I suggest using it more, because it has some of the best sideboard cards in the modern format (i.e. Stony Silence and Rest in Piece.

Your list is also more heavy on removal than mine, but that is all meta dependant, but I am questioning the mainboard Damnation's, and would suggest threats like Gatekeeper of Malakir, Geralf's Messenger, and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, or other removal that is more versatile like Collective Brutality.

Hope some of my insights help, and here is my list for some reference (would love input on it as well)!!! Black Death

Thanks for the comments DrkNinja and xPotatox! All help is appreciated.

DrkNinja, I'm torn over Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. I used to run 1, and each time I drew it, it was during the first couple turns and it set me back a turn. But since you mentioned it, I'm going to pop 1 back in and see how testing goes.

xPotatox, regarding Gifted Aetherborn, I previously ran 4, but I noticed that they were useless during the late game, and I really needed removal. I like the card tho, it's a dilemma. I've also run Geralf's Messenger and its a great card, but it comes into play tapped and is too slow in my opinion. I'd almost always rather play a Liliana or a kicked Gatekeeper of Malakir instead.

You're right about the Damnations. My meta is super creature heavy, but it may be overkill. I've been leaning towards Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet as well, I've never used it but you and others use it, and it seems effective. What is your experience with Kalitas??

I'm considering Stony Silence on the sideboard, but I'm not sure what to cut!

I'd cut a Leyline for Stony.

Also Gifted Aetherborn is a solid card, but in modern I feel it's too heavily overshadowed by Vampire Nighthawk which is pretty much a removal spell.

Have you ever considered running an Erebos's Titan? A friend of mine plays a deck similar to this and that's one of his cards that he loves.

Scratch that, Just realized you are more aggro than first I thought.

My friend runs a deck very similar so I have some suggestions that I've seen do work in his deck. One Arena, it plus Obliterator is ridiculous. And with Urborg you can get it to be a swamp too. Gifted Aetherborn is a stud with deathtouch and lifelink, arena works great with him too. Geralf's Messenger is a great body and keeps putting pressure on your opponent because it's so hard to get rid of and keeps dealing damage.

DrkNinja, I took your advice and added Stony Silence to the sideboard, thanks. It seems too effective to pass up.

And thanks for the suggestions reptarjesus, but I think Arena is a little too slow in my meta, and I really want to hit that 4th black mana by turn four. I run into the same problem with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. I really like Gifted Aetherborn and Geralf's Messenger, but I'm going for more control in this build. I've traded creatures for removal and planeswalkers.

All in a days work my friend! <3

Hey, I would say that Dark Confinant is unplayable card against most of the modern decks. Your manacosts are too high to play them. They can work on sideboard against control decks, but I would replace them and few grey merchants with few Night's Whisper and add some Gatekeeper of Malakir too. Nice deck anyways :)

Thanks for the suggestions Muscletea! You have a very good point. So far the Dark Confidant life loss has not been a problem, but I am considering Sign in Blood as an alternative.

you could play arguel's blood fast in order to improve your cardadvantage. It's also nice because at later stages, you can just switch to sacrifising your creatures during combat and buy them back with lili. Phyrexian Arena is great right now in the meta, because very little enchantment removal is being played and you need to keep up with Jace and Teferi

Thanks Saturn999!! :) I appreciate that. It's a lot of fun to play.

Thanks Gods_Shadow, I didn't know Arguel's Blood Fast existed! Very interesting card. I'm going to try to fit one in somehow and test it out.

I'm not sure what your good and bad matchups are, but since you're splashing white for SB I think lingering souls could be a good SB card against control for this deck. Timely Reinforcements would be good against burn.

Thanks for the comment Sjorpha, interesting point. In your opinion what should I cut for Lingering Souls?

Well, you'd have to look at your local metagame to decide that so it's hard for me to say. What ends up being used the least in your SB? Also it's largely a matter of what your good and bad matchups are since you don't need SB slots dedicated to already good matchups. Lingering souls is good against Jund (or any other LotV decks) and blue control decks, so whether it's worth including would depend a lot on those matchups.

I also find the leyline/surgical split suboptimal as GY hate package, you should either go 4 leyline of the void or a 2/2 split surgical + relic of progenitus or rest in peace since leylines power relies on maxing out the chances of a free turn 0 casting, Rest in Peace is a way better topdeck so it's the superior card for any number below 4 copies. Leyline and rest in peace are both nonbos with bloodghast and Liliana, the Last hope though, so relics and surgical might be the better package.

Another card to consider is Collective Brutality, either side or main.

Sjorpha, thanks for the detailed response!! I definitely see your point about the 2/2 Leyline of the Void/Surgical Extraction split. I like Leyline because it only targets the opponent and it helps with devotion, so I'm going all in with 4 copies to increase my chances of starting with it.

Since you're already splashing White, how about Cloudshift? It allows you to double-up on your Grey Merchant's ability when it's time to kill, or give Dark Confidant some evasion and extend the resource gap further.

Thanks for the suggestion KongMing, but Cloudshift isn't the right fit for this build. This deck is designed to be mono-black but splashes white solely for sideboard artifact/enchantment hate. I could see how a different build focused around enter-the-battlefield abilities would benefit from running Cloudshift tho.