Cornered by Black Mages Midrange

A mono-black midrange deck built around "Cornered by Black Mages" that combines efficient hand disruption, recursive value engines, and a life-drain finisher to out-grind the opponent.

• "Cornered by Black Mages" gives the deck a flexible black spell that either answers an opposing threat or applies pressure, and any creature it leaves behind can be sacrificed to fuel Beseech the Mirror's bargain cost.
• Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber and Preacher of the Schism both flood the board with tokens while drawing cards, so we never run out of gas and always have bargain fodder for Beseech the Mirror.
• Bloodthirsty Conqueror turns every token trade and combat step into a life swing, letting a wide board of small creatures drain the opponent out of the game.
• Massacre Girl, Known Killer wipes small blockers on entry, then grows into a must-answer threat, letting our tokens attack freely.
• Nowhere to Run strips hexproof and protection while killing small creatures, clearing the way for Preacher of the Schism and Bloodthirsty Conqueror to connect.

Keep hands with 2-4 lands, at least one two-drop (Deep-Cavern Bat, Nowhere to Run, Bitter Triumph) and at least one value engine (Preacher of the Schism or Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber). Mulligan any hand with five or more lands, no turn-two play, or multiple copies of Bloodthirsty Conqueror and no way to survive to cast them.

• Early: Disrupt with Deep-Cavern Bat to strip a key card, then trade one-for-one with Bitter Triumph and Nowhere to Run to keep the board stable.
• Mid: Land Preacher of the Schism and Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber to generate tokens and draw cards. Use Massacre Girl, Known Killer to reset the board, then attack with the surviving creatures and tokens.
• Late: Resolve Bloodthirsty Conqueror to turn every token, attack, and death trigger into life drain that closes the game. Use Beseech the Mirror (bargaining away a spare token or enchantment) to tutor for the exact removal spell, engine, or finisher you need, and cast "Cornered by Black Mages" to either remove a blocker or add pressure on the turn you go for the kill.

• Fast aggro decks can race us if we stumble on early interaction and never stabilize.
• Sweepers that kill our tokens and small creatures can strand our Preacher and Annex engines with nothing to sacrifice.
• Control decks with counterspells and graveyard/recursion hate can blank our value engines and answer Beseech the Mirror when it matters.
• Enchantment removal pointed at Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber or Nowhere to Run can swing a close game.