Mono-Black Standard Midrange

This Mono-Black Standard midrange deck wins by burying the opponent in card advantage, sacrifice synergy, and relentless flying demons.

Phyrexian Arena and Scavenger's Talent generate card advantage while Overlord of the Balemurk fills the graveyard and buys back key creatures. Abyssal Harvester can sacrifice a creature to return a bigger threat, and Bloodthirsty Conqueror gains life off all the opponent life loss from Massacre Wurm and Meathook Massacre II, making it both a stabilizer and a finisher.

Keep a hand with two to four lands and a mix of early interaction or draw. Hands with no one-drop, no removal, and only five-plus mana threats are too slow. Mulligan away hands with five or more expensive cards.

Early: cast Duress to strip removal, then use Murder, Bitter Triumph, and Hero's Downfall to keep the board clean. Mid: resolve Phyrexian Arena, Scavenger's Talent, or Overlord of the Balemurk to pull ahead on cards and graveyard value. Late: slam Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Valgavoth, Terror Eater, or Massacre Wurm to close the game while your draw engines and life-gain protect you.

The deck can stumble against very fast aggro if you fall behind before your lifelink creatures arrive. It also loses some life to its own draw spells, and Bitter Triumph asks for a discard, so aggressive red decks can punish your early game. Graveyard hate can reduce the value from Abyssal Harvester and Overlord of the Balemurk.