This is by far one of the most fun decks I have and I enjoy playing it often! The point of the deck is to destroy all your opponent's creatures by equipping Thornbite Staff to any creature with deathtouch and paying 2 mana to destroy a creature. This works even with TS's high equip cost since it equips for free when a shaman enters the battlefield. Therefore, the best creatures to use are Vampire Nighthawk (a shaman) and Moonglove Changeling and Cairn Wanderer (all creature types) which both have/can get deathtouch. Typhoid Rats is currently the only one-drop black creature with deathtouch, there because since this is a modern deck and we can't use dark ritual, there isn't a better turn one play I can think of. I play them to defend until turn 4, which is when this deck gets rolling.
Paying 2 mana to kill a creature is pretty average today, but thanks to the untap ability of the thornbite staff, that creature that you just destroyed causes you to untap to do it again! That seems like it would take a lot of mana, but that's what Korlash is for! If you have one Korlash in play and additional ones in your hand, you may discard him to put 2 swamps into play tapped! Not only does this make Korlash a bigger threat, but you can add more ammunition to use thornbite next turn. I like the idea of using Leechridden Swamps since Korlash's ability brings them into play tapped anyway, and they have the extra effect if needed. Dimir House Guard serves an important role in this deck for his transmute ability, which allows me to tutor for:
Korlash,
Tendrils of Corruption,
Ambition's Cost,
Gravedigger,
Damnation,
MOAR KORLASH!
Thanks to DHG, I can reliably get whatever utilty card I need, but most often it ends up being Korlash! The Sword of Light and Shadow, Gravedigger, and Recover all return a Korlash in the 'yard to my hand, giving me the possibility to play 1-7 swamps in a single turn! Cairn Wanderer often ends up being a beefed-up Vampire Nighthawk with additional fear thanks to DHG. Tendrils, Corrupt, and Essence Harvest are huge after Korlash gets online for additional damage. The icing on the cake of course, is attaching T.Staff to a 2 mana Avatar of Woe, then not needing to pay anything to destroy every creature on the other side of the field the next turn! Feel free to add maniacal laughter after doing so!
I love this deck, but am open to suggestions. I want to keep it modern legal for fun (although I know Dark Rituals would make this deck waaaay faster) and to keep it fun to play against my friends (who aren't into competitive play). Thanks for reading!