Chasedrk1 Deckling

Rite of Belzenlok doesn't provide a named demon to trigger Liliana's Contract, also, the demon requires an upkeep sacrifice that can't be avoided. lastly, 4x 0/1 tokens on the board still die to 1 Goblin Chainwhirler or 1 Plague Mare then we are stuck taking 6 damage.

That said, Liliana, Death's Majesty creates tokens for it to eat if your in a pinch.

is Ipnu Rivulet more relevant than Field of Ruin? doubtful I would run at least 2 Field of ruin in this build.

by definition, Janky

mirror image would mess up my mana base pretty bad. Mirage Mirror is an interesting sideboard option against GPG, Benallia, and a bunch of other fringe decks though. Thanks for the idea brother!

Boom!

You should be able to edit it as well. Try

Don’t think that adds value as much as it just continues to complicate the land base. Blue is added in a lot of these decks specifically for Tetzuma. The long game should be avoided in most cases with the elements this deck works with. I have dug the mono-black version if you took a look at it. But if blue was going to stay, Censor & Search for Azcanta  ^Flip are the winners. Search helps you sift and stick a rat in the grave yard and costs less than the Champion to put on the board. Ending the game as quick as possible is the safest with this deck as everyone else is going to be better in the late game than this would be.

see, since you are aware of their play, you play around it and & hope they tapout.

Rat black copy

From testing against GB snakes, mono-Red, Rakdos midrange, mono-black Control, & UW approach-

there isn’t many ways that the straight on attack is going to succeed. Tetsuko dies to every single removal spell except Magma Spray, Shock, and Fungal Infection which makes it hardly a bomb against any competitive deck. It’s upside is rarely going to have an effect on the board state before being handled. Mastermind inquisition is slow, but it’s also a game 1 lost legacy against UW, UB, or help digging out a contempt to deal with a threat.

Ixalan's Binding is not a turn 4 play for any deck. So Spell Pierce is at best 1 possible success +3 dead cards. In that way Censor is stronger .

copied your rat deck and made mono black adjustments. you can edit it as well.

well it needs some basic things. 1) mana base is too deep. this deck is super low to the ground and mana draws kill it in the mid and late game.

2) Doomfall should be a mainboard in some fashion as it is absolute interaction in turn 3-5 where its critical you stop a threat.

3) it needs filtering/draw more than anything. a Search for Azcanta  ^Flip can provide a path to the graveyard for an early rat and help you dig for your cards. or Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip can give you an engine to get things going.

4) Spell Pierce isn't really helpful in this meta. & I don't think you need hard counters. perhaps drop blue all together & run Aethersphere Harvester & Night Market Lookout to synergize with the monument and harvester.

5) Mastermind's Acquisition could be a 1 of here to provide you access to a key card in the clutch.

6) perhaps augment the creature base to get some bigger creatures for protection. OR Metallic Mimic if its in the budget to help make the rats tougher.

I know that seems like a lot of advise but really its not that far off of being a solid build. +1

The secret to a good rats build: make the rats fuel not the wincon. Well done brother! I am gonna try it out now

I have been running the mono-black horse hard the past 6 weeks or so & tested tons of variations and build arounds. Iamme10000 is spot on with Mastermind's Acquisition 2 is more than adequate as its purpose is to extend the count of your power cards. - i.e. if you need a Josu Vess, Lich Knight to close out the game. Acquisition acts as a 3rd copy. Treasure Map  ^Flip & Gilded Lotus in this build are are specifically worse than Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip & Renegade Map. if you were to run Karn, Scion of Urza, treasure map is exactly what you want over the lotus. Blood fast takes over games and is a must for any deck that can fit black into it. I wish I understood why it costs as little as it does even being in as much of the pro meta as it is. Not to mention, Lich's Mastery requires a painless draw engine or life gain engine to show real value.

Glint-sleeve siphoner just isn't worth running at the moment in a build that can run arguel's & a creature hate package.

Only other suggestion I would offer, Golden Demise doesn't handle enough threats to be a 4 of right now. Yahenni's Expertise is providing more consistency right now - even with Sorcery speed & often no card to take advantage of the bonus Oracle ability.

This is the first deck I put together and ran, it shares some similarities with yours. Cabal Control

I love the feel of this deck. I will do some playtesting with it today. cheers!

in many cases, a single Arch of Orazca can be to many if it comes to early, or you have more important things to spend your mana on. I would reduce the count to a singleton & add another Swamp. 19-20 Swamp is a good bench mark with Cabal Stronghold

Also, 2x Torgaar, Famine Incarnate in addition to 2x Demonlord Belzenlok & 2x Josu Vess, Lich Knight is way to top heavy. you do not want any of them in your starting hand or the early game in general. I would recommend dropping Torgaar entirely for something smaller and more useful - Gifted Aetherborn Fatal Push, & Never // Return are definitely top priorities.

Also, the same is true with Mastermind's Acquisition 4x of them is too top heavy without purpose. treat that card as an emergency duplicate for your sideboard. having 1 or 2 in the opening hand or early game is just not a good thing as everything you may want is further into the late game. dropping to a singleton or 2 of will allow you to speed up the decks aggression.