While I am still on a GP Hong Kong hangover, I’ve found an interesting list of a Black aggro deck from our local Gameday here in Iloilo. The list was piloted by Rei Coo, which made top 8 of the said event. I have created before a Black Red version, but the current which is more on the mono color with a splash is much more consistent.

I initially decided to add Gray Merchant of Asphodel as the deck’s top curve but it looks to be too slow even though it is a good finisher and popularized by the Mono Black Control devotion decks. I sorted the list again, swapping cards, and here is what I’ve came up with:

Suicide Black by Mark Ian Alloso
Theros Standard

Maindeck
Lands
3 Mutavault
14 Swamp
4 Godless Shrine
2 Temple of Silence

Creatures
4 Tormented Hero
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Mogis’s Marauder
4 Thrill-Kill Assassin
4 Xathrid Necromancer
2 Lifebane Zombie

Spells
2 Boon of Erebos
1 Dark Prophecy
2 Doom Blade
2 Gift of Orzhova
3 Hero’s Downfall

The cut of the Grey merchants made the slot for Gift of Orzhova and Boon of Erebos to gain your critter advantage in certain combat scenarios. The ‘suicide’ cards are in the form of Dark Prophecy and Erebos, God of the Dead, life in exchange of card advantage.

The two-ofs Lifebane Zombie keeps Green decks in check and I have thought of having two more in the board. Thoughseize in the main was another of the options, but I think it needed board removals instead of the discard spells. It will surely be in the sideboard though.

The White splash is for Profit/Loss and probably Sin Collector. The sideboard is not yet finalized as of this posting, as I will adjust it according to the local meta on this coming weekend. I’ll be playtesting this list on Friday’s FNM and maybe gather some reports.

Until next post.