"There is only one god, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: Not today." - Syrio Forel, A Game of Thrones

"Orly?" - Erebos

Mono-black has been one of my favorite decks to play ever since I started playing Magic. The theme of absolute power at the cost of your soul has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. Demons play a big part in this, and so I have included quite a few of my favorite ones.

This deck is focused on pressuring your opponent with life drain and unavoidable life loss while controlling the board and keeping my hand full. Erebos doesn't usually become a creature, but it's very easy to get him in play early as an enchantment and keep him there for a long time. There is a minor focus on graveyard shenanigans, but only because black has some of the best efficient reanimation available.

This deck is still a work in progress, so this Tappedout decklist might be a couple iterations behind the current state of my deck. I'll update it whenever possible.

A few key cards for the deck include:

Sanguine Bond: Simply insane. Life drain effects are doubled, and life gain effects hurt my opponents. Combined with Erebos, the life gap just gets larger and larger. I will never add Exquisite Blood to this deck, because it's a stupid combo that isn't much fun to play against.

Whip of Erebos: More life advantage while being able to recur creatures like Rune-Scarred Demon. What would our God be without his trusty whip?

Baleful Force: This guy. I've had a lot of people say that his life loss was too quick to be worth it, and your opponents can simply leave him alive if they want you dead. Wrong. You seem to forget that he is a 7/7 who brings Erebos' Devotion requirement up to 4 with just the two of them in play. A single other permanent will give you not only insane card advantage, but two massive beaters with which to batter your opponents with. If no one gets rid of this guy, they're simply asking to die.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Read that carefully. Each opponent. Enough said.

Undercity Plague: A lot of people have questioned this inclusion. At first I put it in because I needed some black filler cards back when I was first building this deck. But it has far and away become one of the premiere cards of the deck. Ciphering it onto Erebos forces your opponent to block a 5/7 Indestructible every turn unless they like being Smallpox'd. It keeps the pressure on while making our God even more Godly.

Necropotence: Best black card ever printed. "But what about-" No, shut up, you're wrong.

Thoughtseize: Denying cards feels good, man.

Sheoldred, Whispering One: A ridiculous card. This deck would probably be just as powerful with Sheoldred acting as the general, if somewhat less divine. When she hits the board, I recurr my demons, I clear the boards, and everyone scrambles to take her out. But that's exactly what I want them to do. Because if they throw all their removal at Sheoldred, that means that I'm safe to cast...

Phage the Untouchable : Hey, I heard you like playing the game. Lol jk, get out. Phage fills several very important roles. First, she gives a crapload of Devotion. Second, she is a huuuuuuge threat that must be answered immediately. Phage + Lightning Greaves forces boardwipes and gives me a good amount of weight I can throw around in terms of "If you attack me, Phage will kill you" politics I can use.

Exsanguinate: Cabal Coffers + Crypt Ghast + Nykthos = me draining you for 20+ life. It happens a lot more often than you'd think.

Painful Quandary: Another must-answer card. This simply cannot be allowed to stay in play. It gives me all the card advantage more often than not. Usually doesn't last more than a turn or two, but it's nice forcing someone to Krosan Grip it so I'm safe to play Lightning Greaves.

Every other life drain and creature removal spell: 1-for-1 removal is usually pretty meh in EDH, but with the sheer amount of card draw this deck offers, I'm more than willing to Doom Blade anything I dont like.

"We each owe a death - there are no exceptions - but, oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long." - Paul Edgecomb, The Green Mile