Once You Go Black(Dead Cycle)

No sideboard found.

The owner of this deck hasn't added a sideboard, they probably should...

The goal was to make a deck that epitomized black. Over time this deck has evolved from a one trick combo to a versatile killing machine. The newest additions include disturbed burial and liliana's reaver in order to deal with two problems I've been noticing while playing the deck.

Introduction:

The idea should be pretty self explanatory. the deck revolves around getting out a sacrifice engine and using negative repercussions of sacrificing a creature to your benefit.

Creature Base:

The gravecrawler is pretty much the only sac fodder you need as long as you can consistently have another zombie on the field. The addition of the liliana's reaver is to help make sure you always have a zombie in play and with buried alive you can always grab a zombie from your graveyard in order to sustain the gravecrawler.

the sac outlets are all good but for reasons stated in the above paragraph, gutless goul is probably the best. viscera seer and thoughtpicker witch are both amazing for adding pre-battlefield control and scrying.

vampire nighthawk gives some lifegain and flying defense for if they have a big flyer that they refuse to sacrifice.

the beaters are all just huge black creatures I get out using cabal coffers shenanigans except for phyrexian obliterater which is just a flagrantly broken card. Use them as you will. That is the black way after all.

Enchant Base:

Gravepact and dark prophecy are obvious. Just be careful with the prophecy that you don't kill yourself since you have not way of getting rid of enchantments.

Spell Base:

Tragic slip is just to add spot removal. Since the creatures they are least likely to sacrifice are the ones they want the most, there is little that's as satisfying as tragic slipping those exact creatures after a round of mass destruction. tragic slip also gets around indestructible which is very niffty.

Disturbed burial is to ensure that one something other than gravecraweler dies, it won't stay dead. especially when they kill off Sheoldred, it is extremely satisfying to bring him back to your hand.

Do or die is to deal with the rare occasion that your opponent's field gets out of hand and is also a great tragic slip trigger. It is also hilarious to use when you have multiple grave pacts out on the field and want to do some insane amounts of creature removal by using it on yourself. Happens less often but is an unconventional but effective combo none the less.

Innocent blood is really good in the event that someone is rushing you out and is also a good ts trigger. works nicely with a grave pact on the field as well.

Conclusion:

That's essentially it in a nutshell. The deck is extremely effective but only truly thrives under a player who can think outside of the box. Remember that the entire point of black is that hurting yourself can be better in the long run so don't be afraid to get a little dirty.

• Creature-Based
• Black
• Control
• Sacrifice