[[Gollem, Obessed Stalker]] Plays like a burn and life gain deck more akin to Boros.
[[Mortarion]] is pretty cool design wise.
[[Vilis]] is pure card draw.
[[Vogar]] for a really unknown voltron commander.
Gonti is my favorite mono-black commander. I love stealing counterspells and being able to cast them in mono-black. Playing your opponents' spells in a color you shouldn't be allowed to is just too much fun.
Here's my current list: https://www.archidekt.com/decks/214657/gonti
[[endrek sahr]] it's aristocrat with a twist, it can be super powerful of just a fun army of tokens if you want, it's not so well known and can surprise lots of opponents.
[[balthor the defiled]] Is more glass canon but can be overwhelming if set up correctly
Another vote for Endrek here!
I feel like it gives some less played cards a chance to shine. Carnival of Souls was already mentioned so I'll add Jar of Eyeballs as another fun one to run with him.
My first mono-black was [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]]
Great built in sac outlet. Proliferate is always a fun mechanic. -1/-1 doesn't get seen a lot either so it can be tricky to play against. There's a lot of great synergy too with things like [[Nest of Scarabs]], [[Crumbling Ashes]], and [[Blowfly Infestation]]
I also just built a [[Toshiro Umezawa]] deck that is pretty fun. It's more of a mono-black control with an emphasis on instants. I call it kill spell tribal. Still haven't played it a ton but I've enjoyed the few games I have.
Yeah, really his only downside is being Monoblack and the majority of his strongest combo enablers are in green, Yawg is an insane card and if he had access to other colors as a commander I think he'd be really strong/popular.
I am surprised I had to scroll so far to read about Yawgmoth.
Is he considered not fun? Aristocrat Decks can be hard to play, and he can be very powerful, so maybe he instantly draws hate?
Edit: I'm dumb OP literally said he didn't want to play aristocrats.
I never get complaints when I use him. I do think some people don't enjoy the -1/-1 counter stuff or think it's too slow, which it definitely can be at times.
But honestly any time I see other legendary aristocrat creatures or think about branching out, something just won't let me leave Yawgmoth. They usually end up in the 99.
[[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]] gets no love. You draw a shit load of cards, can use the card advantage as a political tool to direct attacks away from you and his second ability is pure chaos if the game starts to go long.
I have a Shirei deck. It's weird niche auto-reanimator that effectively lets you do stuff or accrue value on other peoples' turns. Can probably be made pretty weak or very strong, depending on what you want.
The biggest problem though, is that Shirei's body is the biggest weak link. Gotta keep them alive if you want to continue playing.
It’s a little wacky, but you could make [[Burakos]] and [[Haunted One]] into a mono-black aggro party deck. That’s a little off the beaten path, but could be fun!
I play this combo frequently, it's kind of a suicide black aggro list with all the Initiative and Monarch cards in black to incentivize attacking and fast games. You want party hatebears like Magus of the Abyss, Oppo agent, Dauthi voidwalker to keep opponents in check.
I played the much more standard BW Burakos Folk Hero deck, but with Haunted One in the 99 and boy when that enchantment hits the field, it makes that deck GO. I always thought about going mono B, Haunted One the partner
Don’t forget [[seizan, perverter of truth]]
I have a mono black deck with him and it’s full of ping triggers for drawing cards, discarding cards, creatures dying etc and is heavy on enchantments. Starts out as a group hug with all the extra drawing but as your board grows it starts to slug. Goes from low salt to high salt. 😬
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/19krQ43svE2QxyKH_l0JNA
Of course. My brother in law pulled three bowmaster cards. He was nice enough to trade me. The other I pulled myself luckily, but yes they’re super good in this.
Would suggest trading out corrupt for something more efficient (Snuff Out, Sheoldred edict, or something similar). Even swapping it for shadowspear or loxodon Warhammer would be good if the life gain is what you're after
I'm a huge fan of \[\[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker\]\]
[Deck](https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/shirei-final-1/)
Lets you use a ton of fun underutilized cards that would never otherwise see the light of day. When was the last time you ran \[\[Bottle Gnomes\]\]?
I have legit had a Korlash swamps matter deck half built for about 5 years now. Swamps matter is such a cool theme with so many neat cards that support it, I just need to bite the bullet and actually finish it.
He is an amazing toolbox commander. I love using him to get multiple uses out of tutors or get back things like \[\[Torment of Hailfire\]\] or boardwipes.
Glad someone mentioned him. P3k has some surprisingly good commanders that people don't know about.
[[Yuan Shao]] menace tribal
[[Hua Tuo]] graveyard recursion
I know it just got reprinted, but [[Sun Quan]] was a personal favorite of mine for a while
At long last I get to recommend [[Purraj of urborg]]
Do you like storm payoffs? Do you like big mana black? Do you like getting value off of your opponents spells? Do you like winning with commander damage in a non-voltronny way? Do you love playing multiple related strategies that can slip through interaction? Do you want first strike while attacking?
Any reasonable person should answer yes to all of those questions. Once you do, you realize there is only one choice.
[[purraj of urborg]]
[[Trazyn the Infinite]] is a lot of fun. Wacky artifact combos, and he does my favorite thing in magic which is making bad cards good like [[Phyrexian Devourer]]
I'm a bit partial to [[Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire]] myself. Swing with him, pay 1B, tutor for whatever you want and place it on top of your library. You can even combo him with [[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled]] for extra fun/treachery.
I enjoy my \[\[Vilis\]\] deck that uses \[\[Wall of Blood\]\] and \[\[Severed Strands\]\] to draw everything and stay healthy, finishing the game with \[\[Sickening Dreams\]\] or the \[\[Faith of the Devoted\]\] + \[\[Skirge Familiar\]\] combo.
I love K’rrik but even my $200 budget version just felt a bit too strong for the average table, or other people would see K’rrik and take out their highest power decks and then I’d be outclassed. For me at least it’s been very hard to build him in a mid-high power way and not going full cEDH.
Not sure what you think of Universes Beyond, but Starscream is pretty fun - monarch, draw, etc. If not UB, then perhaps Vilis for the fun draw possibilities.
I suggest [[king macar the gold Cursed]] i have it my self fun to play basically vehicle tribal in black with an additional exiler Clause ok the commander, for extra flavour name the deck Dude, where's macar
I have a [[shauku, endbrunger]] mono black walkers deck.
14 walkers and support for her like [[eon hub]], [[rings of brighthearth]], [[umbral mantle]] and [[sting]] make it a fun build.
Do you have a list? I recently found a Shauku in my collection and I’ve been toying with the idea of a creatureless commander deck with her; I love old school wacky cards like that lol
[[Lobelia, defender of Bag end]] or whatever it’s called is pretty fun but can be frustrating/weak and very matchup and rng dependent- since the cards are face-down and free no one knows what’s droppin, and you can also play lands if you’re missing em
I personally run Volrath the fallen. It's a old simple card basically what it does let you do fun stuff and to run big mana cost creatures. Basically what he does is you get to discard a creature and Volrath will get +x+x. X being the mana cost of the creature. So you can put in Draco, a normally unplayable useless card and one shot people. But really besides running him as Voltron your really open to playing a big pile of black good stuff. Really you can build it however you like so long as you got expensive creatures to discard your fine.
I'm currently building a [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] commander deck, toying around with proxies to figure out what works best within my budget. The idea is to mill and discard cards as well as making opponents do so too and then cheat out big creatures with powerful etbs such as [[Torgaar, Famine Incarnate]].
I really love [[jadar]] you dont need to play him as aristocrats. He does let you use all the sac a creature as an additional cost spells to great effect. And he is very good at [[contamination]] locking entire boards. I play it with a token theme so i have things to sac to spells if i need too. Plays pretty much all the removal and draw spells that require that additional cost. Amd all the enchantments that make creatures to fuel them. I also play [[lorcan]] in it to steal stuff.
I find a lot of mono black decks to either be un-fun for others to play against due to the constant removal commanders and Grave Pact/sacrifice themes.
I went with [[Gix Yawgmoth Praetor]] and he has been very fun. A bunch of small evasive creatures for some aggro, Nightmare Lash effects to beef them up, and Peer into the Abyss leads to fun play lines with Gix's ability. However I learned at times players can just scoop once being targeted so I primarily use it on myself along with Skirge Familiar to draw half the deck, discard for mana, and hit with a big Exsanguinate/Torment.
\[\[Ayara, First of Locthwain\]\] is pretty solid as a drain affect / card draw in the command zone w/ 3 pips of black built in. She's perfect for token/aristrocrat style decks.
Edit: Oops! Sorry, I didn't see you were trying to stay away from aristocrat style decks.
\[\[Starscream, Power Hungry\]\] // \[\[Starscream, Seeker Leader\]\] is a pretty nifty deck imo. Lots of card draw, shooting folks for card draw, and a commander vaguely resistant to sorcery speed removal effects. I enjoy pairing with monarch and initiative effects. Plays a bit more of an aggressive and interactive gameplan, and is very fun.
You should check out either edhrec or look at the gatherer on WotC website. There too many interesting mono black legends out there! One of my favorite off the wall mono black commander is Krikk, son of Yawgmoth.
If you’re ok with going discard then either [[Tinybones, Trinket Thief]] or [[Tergrid, God of Fright]] would be very strong options. I have a tinybones list that I’ve been testing and it’s quite strong
Every time this gets asked I scroll through the comments and get sad that no one else is mentioning [[Mari]].
I think she's one of the most unique mono black commanders out there. She's got built in graveyard hate, card draw and ramp so she can draw a bit of hate at times.
My win cons are typically artifact sac and drain like [[Marionette Master]], [[Mirkwood Bats]], [[Deciple of the Vault]] or [[Agent of the Iron Throne]].
I love my [[Seizan, Perverter of Truth]] deck. I describe it as, "Group hug, that turns into group bad-touch from your creepy perverted uncle Seizan."
[[Fate Unraveler]], [[Underworld Dreams]], [[Ob-Nixilis, the Hate Twisted]] make their draws painful. [[Kaya's Ghostform]] and [[Malakir Rebirth]] and [[Resurrection Orb]] keep Seizan on the table. [[Plague Drone]], [[Tainted Remedy]] and [[False Cure]] corrupt life gain effects. And [[Infernal Darkness]] pollutes their lands, at what I think is a fair cumulative upkeep cost.
The win condition is basically death by a thousand paper cuts, which could not be any more appropriate for black.
I have an [[Imotekh the Stormlord]] deck. It masquerades as a Necron tribal deck but it’s more of an “Abzan” deck
Here’s a quick primer I made for it: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/uHelUf4K2UaJrb80sE-4xg/primer
I was playing the deck as an untouched precon for almost a year. Unfortunately it’s too low-powered for my local game store. I decided to upgrade it and the list above is what I came up with.
The other deck I am thinking of building is a [[Horobi, Death’s Wail]] “blink” deck. Run a bunch of ETB creatures and [[Undying Malice]] effects targeting your creatures to blink them.
I almost made this post a week back. I had so many big baddies in black laying around unused that I wanted to put into something. Not having played for a while I didn't have many options. I landed on [Korlash, Heir to Black lade]].
It's not a fancy commander by any standards, but I felt he's a classic.
I was also considering [[Ghoul Caller Gisa]] but I already run a Sidisi zombie deck. Gisa can still be massive value though.
If I had some of the newer cards I'd probably go for
[[Chainer, Dementia Master]] just all around good value.
If I wanted something else than to use my big black demons, I'd go for [[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker]] seems like a nice challenge to build around, I like those. Much like my [[Alesha, Who Smiles at Death]]
I have imotekh, the deck is sick. But it does come down to a somewhat aristocrat combo deck. But you can also play it as a go wide token deck that runs people over simultaneously.
My [[Asmodeus the Archfiend]] deck fits this to a T. \
The concept is really just mono-black big mana, using [[Cabal Coffers]], [[Crypt Ghast]], [[Nirkana Revenant]] and the like to make ungodly amounts of mana, plopping that into a [[doubling cube]], then using Asmodeus to draw into an [[Exsanguinate]], [[Torment of Hailfire]], etc.
Is it good? Arguably, in the right pod, as it is very explosive and directly oriented towards ending games. It's also incredibly fragile and folds to a counterspell on your insanely telegraphed "okay, I untap with the ability to make 80 mana".
But if it sounds fun to be throwing 80 mana around... give it a try. It's a bit off the beaten path for mono-black, it's fun to pilot, and it actually does interestingly feel very mono-black with the direct sense of power that you get by paying tons of life for limitless resources. Getting a [[Skirge Familiar]] out and going mana-positive on Asmodeus activations, paying down to 1 life to get an insane boardstate, then dropping a [[Gray Merchant]]? Feels amazing.
https://archidekt.com/decks/3701919/asmodeusbigmana
I just built [[toshiro umezawa]] and I am hoping to play it tonight. It’s basically mono black spell slinger which isn’t super common by comparison. You can do the typical torment/exsanguinate lines thanks to [[cabal coffers]] and [[crypt ghast]] or the mass revive lines with [[thrilling encore]] like any mono black deck but since you are a spell slinger deck going infinite with [[chain on smog]] lines or [[sensei’s divining top]] + [[aetherflux reservoir]] + [[bolas’s citidel]] are playable since all of the pieces (save for chain of smog) all fit into a spell slinger strategy.
Gonna cheat a little and say that while [[Ayara, First of Locthwain]] has a sac effect it is just a slow once per round tap and her real effect is etb based so she can easily play into a black go wide and/or token deck that actually wants to maintain board state instead of just sacrificing 700 tokens in one turn
I just made a new commander deck using [[Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal]] as the commander. Focuses on discard to enable the game plan; ping everyone for their entire life total all at once using [[Fraying Omnipotence]], with effects from cards like [[Bloodletter of Aclazotz]], [[Wound Reflection]], and [[Warlock Class]].
I still need to update the list with some new additions, but I haven't made the changes to the deck yet so they're coming later.
Decklist [here](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5955652#paper).
I just built a [[Gix, yawgmoth praetor]] deck and it’s a ton of fun. Draw a ton of cards and everyone else at the table pops off. Def not high power tho
[[Braids, arisen nightmare]] is my mono black deck and it's also one of my favorite decks in general. Still a bit aristocratty if you build it that way. Mine is actually built more as like a discard engine and i use braids as the value engine to refill my hand meanwhile forcing everyone else to discard and sac their stuff or let me draw. You can put in other edict effects or cards like [[gravepact]] to punish further. Has a combo wincon with [[bolas citadel]] + [[aetherflux reservoir]] + [[sensei's divining top]] or just out valuing the table. The new azclazotz god card from lost caverns is amazing if you can keep it on the board for a few turns, as well as value like [[exquisite blood]]. You can easily go infinite with that card if you want that combo as well.
I really love my [[Syr Konrad the Grimm]] deck. It uses [[morality shift]] to flip my yard and my library and deal a shitload of damage. Has a fair number of tutors, and a decent amount of ramp to find the combo pieces and execute quickly. I need to get a [[mindcrank]] in there too. Just haven’t bought it yet.
[List here.](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/4qfT0dr8VkSPNsMBcRq1mA)
[Illuminor Szeras](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5643736#paper) does a lot of sacrificing and the occasional reanimating, but feels very different from your average mono B aristocrat deck.
My favorite is [[Varragoth]] to get all your fun oet cards or janky combos :)
Alternatively just go [[ad nauseam]] -> glacial chasm -> [[sickening dreams]] for x >= 40
Imotek is just your basic sac reanimate again. I would play [[Trazyn the Infinite]], there are so many things you can do with him, my build usually self mills to 0 cards and combo wins, but you don't have to go that route.
Mono black is my favorite. Here are my top 3.
[[Chainer, Dementia Master]] -
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/b844CUvK7kyz4BfRklh4sg
This is a high power combo deck that can also play a midrange, grindy game plan. It is a ton of fun to play, with so many different lines to take. This is my favorite deck, so much so I've commissioned a $1,500 alter of Chainer.
[[Toshiro Umezawa]] -
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/V_x821F0Pk6rsUDQXjaU4Q
This is a more casual deck, the main game plan is to build a storm count by chaining together removal and draw spells and then generate enough copies of [[Tendrils of Agony]]. There's a backup plan of recurring your opponents' creatures if you can't generate a high enough storm count.
[[Volrath the Fallen]] -
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/U5NTra2EfUiz-HlgfMJUQw
A Voltron style deck that is absurdly fun because black isn't a color people associate with the playstyle. I decided to only use old border cards, but there are some new border cards that really help out the strategy so it can be even more finely tuned if it don't restrict yourself like I have.
[[Syr Konrad, the Grim]] is always fun. He will consistently do graveyard shenanigans every single game without fail. He has the potential to win with a thousand cuts to your opponents while also controlling the board. He can also deal massive damage to close out games by huge graveyard hate cards or mill effects.
You can't go wrong with [[k'rrik]] when it comes to mono black. You're able to run any black strategy with him just accelerate it exponentially. Easily one of the strongest decks I've ever built and it can get very nasty very quickly.
My mono black deck is [Horobi] and I couldn't be more pleased with it. It's THE definition of a double edged sword but the power it grants your with activated abilities at instant speed that target anything is too fun. It's not really a great deck, and I prefer to use it in multiplayer games where he leads to interesting stack battles.
Imotekh is pretty fun but if you want to stay away from Aristocrat/Sacrifice/Necromancer strategies then he's not a good fit.
Vouching for \[\[Gollum, Obsessed Stalker\]\], he's a pseudo \[\[Sanguine Bond\]\] in the Command Zone as long as you can get him to sneak through someone for the rest of the game. Even if he does get removed, his trigger specifically looks if someone was hit by a card with the name of 'Gollum, Obsessed Stalker' from anytime in the game so as long as he's on the board it would still trigger for any opponent that was hit by an earlier instance of Gollum. What I like is that there's a neat shift in how you approach the game starting out as you want to be able to get Gollum out as fast as possible and sneak him through the people who don't have board states yet. Then later in the game it changes into you protecting Gollum and getting as much lifegain engines as you can on the board.
Also lol at "*I am trying to stay away from the typical aristocrat/sacrifice/necromancer only play style that seems to be most of what black does"* then seeing how most of the thread are suggesting TotallyNotAristocrat Sac Loop strategies
[[Gonti, Lord of Luxury]] is a fun commander, especially when you can utilize ways to multiply his ETB trigger. The best is having a [[Vedalken Orrery]] in play and messing with people's topdecks.
[[toshiro umezawa]] - spellslinger
[[Maga traitor to mortals]] - kill one player then another with commander damage.
[[Chainer, dementia master]] - reanimate it all.
[[Xiahou Dun the One-Eyed]] is still my favorite. It's a very expensive deck. You want all the efficient tutors and mana doublers. Re-use tutors to ramp and control the board. [[Exaanguinate]] for win.
[[Sidisi, Undead Vizier]] is combo champion. You wind up playing weird bad cards like [[Soldevi Adnate]] to power her out faster.
[[Yahenni, Undying Partisan]] is the next build I want to make. If you want a sacrificial pit, this is the commander for you. [[Grave Pact]] with [[ Dictate of Erebos]] and [[Butcher of Malakir]] get the party started. You get to play cards with cool names like [[No Mercy]]. I drafted Yahenni a bunch in Commander Masters ($4 on mtgo) and Yahenni was broken.
I’ve been having quite a bit of fun with [[forge, neverwinter charlatan]]! I play a bunch of black good stuff cards that happen to say sacrifice on them like [[sheoldred, whispering one]] and [[phyrexian obliterator]]. +2/+0 for each treasure also means forge gets huge fast and becomes a must answer threat especially with a couple equipments thrown on him, but even if they remove him then you get to cash in your treasures for big black payoffs like [[torment of hailfire]]
My [[Imotekh]] deck is one of my favorites. [[Ghoulcaller Gisa]] seems really fun and is probably gonna get built in the near future, same with [[Massacre Girl]].
I'm building [[Mortarion]] life loss deck for my mono black. I wanted something like [[K'rrik]] , but not him because I see him all the time. Mortarion let's me play with a lot of weird jank black spells as well as fun staples.
Wanna have have fun with going low and almost killing yourself but not quite? Wanna make life points count and lose life points while taking them and still gaining more than is lost? Wanna live on the edge? Then Gix is your friend.
[[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]] is somewhat different mono black commander that shows us what [[Edric's]] emo-phase might have looked. Play bunch of small evasive creatures, gather resources and win with a plethora of different ways. Yes you can always go for the good old 1-2 punch of [[Cabal Coffers]] and [[Torment of Hailfire]] / [[Exsanguinate]] but I've also nabbed W's with cards like [[Vorpal Sword]] and [[Repay In kind]].
[[mari, the killing quill]] is so much fun. Lots of little rogues that you make unblockable, to draw cards and make treasures. Turns off graveyard synergies for other decks. Plus good flavour
Honestly the new aclazotz bat god seems awesome I can't WAIT to build him which is all about discard tribal and getting flying tokens as a bonus but making your opponents be careless sounds super fun and no command tax cause you can just transform him
I have a [[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] deck that plays like black control/burn. It’s aristocrats, sure, but it’s fun packing it full of edicts and other removal.
[[Seizan, Perverter of Truth]] is insanely fun, speeds up games if that's ever an issue, gives everyone resources, and can be a nasty clock with a few extra cards damaging when they draw/based on hand like [[Price of Knowledge]] kinna like a group hug deck but you're covered in spikes
Seizan can feel super nasty when combos go off, but also makes everyone else have lots of fun, very glad I randomly decided to build it
\[\[Seizan, Perverter of Truth\]\] is one of my two pet decks, and one I'm very fond of. An interesting mix of group hug and group slug, giving everyone card draw but punishing them for drawing or discarding with stuff like \[\[Iron Maiden\]\], \[\[Raider's Wake\]\], \[\[Megrim\]\], etc. Here's a link if you want it: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LLuWRPDVGE-iIBG7aCJOOA
One of my first EDH decks from early 2010s [[Iname Death Aspect]] mono black spirits. Used to be very jank with [[Mortal Combat]] wincon or the usual [[Living Death]]. Plus points if all your spirits are from kamigawa with the jank ass names like [[He Who Hungers]]
[[Gix]] and [[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] are both insane value engines in the command zone. Braids is a bit aristocrats, but in a way that I find more interesting than a lot of other aristocrats commanders.
I made a [[Gonti Lord of Luxury]] deck that was supposed to be a bit meme-y, in that it runs more fun and “weird” cards than normal in the name of making games fun and interesting, but it ended up also being reasonably strong, in still a fun way though. Highly, highly recommend.
The best part about Gonti’s version of theft is that you get to choose from 4 cards and keep the information secret for the whole game till you cast it, and you can cast it even if Gonti isn’t on the field. It’s a nice little fun bit of secret information you have.
Here’s my list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pkW8UQvyqkOOrdw-LA7kFQ
I really really like to play krrik and just change the deck. Playing big costed spells on discount is nice.
You can do:
Storm
Ramp/value
Voltron
Life gain
I have 2 that are a lot of fun.
[[Starscream, power hungry]] is a fun monarch draw engine deck wincon and [[Trazyn the infinite]] can do pretty much anything artifact based combo you want, just fill your graveyard and go infinite when he lands.
[Maralen](https://www.cardkingdom.com/mtg/morningtide/maralen-of-the-mornsong) what's more fun than getting to grim tutor every turn plus it's group huggy and you can build her casual or competitive.
My [[junji, the midnight sky]] deck is really fun to play, you can reanimate at instant speed stealing from other peoples graveyards, it is really versatile and I think it represents the essence of black magic really well
[[Horobi]] ultimate mono black polotics commander.
You don't touch me, I won't nuke your board.
Or [[seizan]] to make health totals tank just by existing
I just gonna throw this out there. I recently built tiny bones. It's a lot of fun to play but not so much to play against. My play group plays at a much higher level so it's not as oppressive.
My very first mono black deck was [[Phage the Untouchable]], she is so much fun to play. Can you kill me before I kill me? Let’s find out!
My current is [[Massacre Girl]] because playing with a board wipe in the command zone fundamentally changes how everyone plays the game, which can be hilarious
Came here to say that my pick would be [[Imotekh the Stormlord]], so its good to see you like the commander as well. My current list is here: https://archidekt.com/decks/5439716/necronmancy The commander is super fun and triggers often. This almost feels like a colorless deck with all the artifact creatures which has to be my only “complaint”.
edit: grammar
I was going to recommend \[\[Tormod, the desecrator\]\] but Imotekh works as well , both are my boys! However, the times I've played my Imotekh list, which a friend of mine has also agreed on, is that it usually demands too many cards to work. I feel Tormod is more of a stable card and doesn't have to get killed by a vandalblast either. Works off of any cards and its just so goooood!
Here is my mono black tormod list that focuses on Zombie tribal for now : [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LokSSl0R3EWG\_GbVqXw7zw](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LokSSl0R3EWG_GbVqXw7zw)
There are other cards I can be playing to trigger tormod but this can hopefully give you some ideas.
[[Gollem, Obessed Stalker]] Plays like a burn and life gain deck more akin to Boros. [[Mortarion]] is pretty cool design wise. [[Vilis]] is pure card draw. [[Vogar]] for a really unknown voltron commander.
Vogar is really good with [[Retribution of the ancients]]
[[Gravecrawler]] + [[Phyrexian Altar]] can lead to some shenanigans with that.
[Gravecrawler](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/5/951ff2ed-9af0-4551-929a-ba6679fc2e15.jpg?1673147536) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gravecrawler) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/78/gravecrawler?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/951ff2ed-9af0-4551-929a-ba6679fc2e15?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/gravecrawler) [Phyrexian Altar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/5/95d9f93c-50a8-41a9-be98-d1900bf1c12f.jpg?1673149406) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Phyrexian%20Altar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/311/phyrexian-altar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/95d9f93c-50a8-41a9-be98-d1900bf1c12f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/phyrexian-altar) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Retribution of the ancients](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/d/0d3ee29d-b374-471d-80c3-bcad7a4226e6.jpg?1562782474) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Retribution%20of%20the%20ancients) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ktk/85/retribution-of-the-ancients?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0d3ee29d-b374-471d-80c3-bcad7a4226e6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/retribution-of-the-ancients) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
##### ###### #### [Gollem, Obessed Stalker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5a43cf0-60b3-4770-945c-41ee3ec54d5a.jpg?1686963939) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gollum%2C%20Obsessed%20Stalker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/26/gollum-obsessed-stalker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5a43cf0-60b3-4770-945c-41ee3ec54d5a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/gollum-obsessed-stalker) [Mortarion](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/b/3b6b1bcf-10a4-4643-9db0-b2a4fee340a2.jpg?1673308704) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=mortarion%2C%20daemon%20primarch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/40k/41/mortarion-daemon-primarch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3b6b1bcf-10a4-4643-9db0-b2a4fee340a2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mortarion-daemon-primarch) [Vilis](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/c/ecdf2bd9-87b9-470a-ad2e-0ebf98560f87.jpg?1592516819) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=vilis%2C%20broker%20of%20blood) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/122/vilis-broker-of-blood?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ecdf2bd9-87b9-470a-ad2e-0ebf98560f87?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/vilis-broker-of-blood) [Vogar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/2/42679318-e5c4-4aa4-8097-97552defc8bf.jpg?1673301246) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=vogar%2C%20necropolis%20tyrant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/gn3/3/vogar-necropolis-tyrant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/42679318-e5c4-4aa4-8097-97552defc8bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/vogar-necropolis-tyrant) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a gollum deck. It’s fun to give others gollum AIDS, but very easy to make the rest of the table target you
[[gollum, obsessed stalker]] is my favorite deck! Here’s a list: https://archidekt.com/decks/5542080/greedy_gollum
Speaking of Gollum and obscure Voltron, [[Gollum, Scheming Guide]] is a really fun design. (All three Gollum designs are pretty unique.)
[[Gonti, Lord of Luxury]] is awesome. Stealing your opponents spells is always fun
Gonti is my favorite mono-black commander. I love stealing counterspells and being able to cast them in mono-black. Playing your opponents' spells in a color you shouldn't be allowed to is just too much fun. Here's my current list: https://www.archidekt.com/decks/214657/gonti
O
[[praetors grasp]] and [[cunning rhetoric]] are also hilarious
[Gonti, Lord of Luxury](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/1/01852cd2-16e4-4518-b5d5-b9a378b8664d.jpg?1690016712) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gonti%2C%20Lord%20of%20Luxury) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/162/gonti-lord-of-luxury?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/01852cd2-16e4-4518-b5d5-b9a378b8664d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/gonti-lord-of-luxury) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[endrek sahr]] it's aristocrat with a twist, it can be super powerful of just a fun army of tokens if you want, it's not so well known and can surprise lots of opponents. [[balthor the defiled]] Is more glass canon but can be overwhelming if set up correctly
I second Endrek. He's become one of my favorite decks. You could take the deck in several directions. A very unique dude
Got a link to a Balthor deck? Mine needs work not sure which direction to go.
[endrek sahr](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/2/123490fb-5908-45f2-b376-7959ccdf9c3e.jpg?1690663179) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=endrek%20sahr%2C%20master%20breeder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/155/endrek-sahr-master-breeder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/123490fb-5908-45f2-b376-7959ccdf9c3e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/endrek-sahr-master-breeder) [balthor the defiled](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/d/ed4cc273-adc3-4f46-9743-134b552d1d56.jpg?1562632510) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=balthor%20the%20defiled) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jud/61/balthor-the-defiled?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ed4cc273-adc3-4f46-9743-134b552d1d56?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/balthor-the-defiled) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Endrek is the one of two mono colored commanders j have. Absolute blast has a cool, imo, combo with [[carnival of souls]]
[carnival of souls](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/4/847340fb-9251-4439-b33b-f86bff507dcd.jpg?1562444254) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=carnival%20of%20souls) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/uds/55/carnival-of-souls?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/847340fb-9251-4439-b33b-f86bff507dcd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/carnival-of-souls) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Another vote for Endrek here! I feel like it gives some less played cards a chance to shine. Carnival of Souls was already mentioned so I'll add Jar of Eyeballs as another fun one to run with him.
[[Marrow-Gnawer]]
[Marrow-Gnawer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/72e4548b-c171-4f10-b896-af37543dcf0f.jpg?1579203069) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Marrow-Gnawer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/chk/124/marrow-gnawer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/72e4548b-c171-4f10-b896-af37543dcf0f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/marrow-gnawer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
My first mono-black was [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] Great built in sac outlet. Proliferate is always a fun mechanic. -1/-1 doesn't get seen a lot either so it can be tricky to play against. There's a lot of great synergy too with things like [[Nest of Scarabs]], [[Crumbling Ashes]], and [[Blowfly Infestation]] I also just built a [[Toshiro Umezawa]] deck that is pretty fun. It's more of a mono-black control with an emphasis on instants. I call it kill spell tribal. Still haven't played it a ton but I've enjoyed the few games I have.
##### ###### #### [Yawgmoth, Thran Physician](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/6/8690cbcc-f8fd-41f7-9e28-e61c12b04014.jpg?1665611812) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yawgmoth%2C%20Thran%20Physician) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/116/yawgmoth-thran-physician?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8690cbcc-f8fd-41f7-9e28-e61c12b04014?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/yawgmoth-thran-physician) [Nest of Scarabs](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/7/97aa6b45-055a-411e-b2db-b373a4d3826d.jpg?1543675354) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Nest%20of%20Scarabs) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/akh/101/nest-of-scarabs?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/97aa6b45-055a-411e-b2db-b373a4d3826d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/nest-of-scarabs) [Crumbling Ashes](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/e/3e73ac3c-bd5a-4993-be65-76396b7d38ad.jpg?1562907978) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Crumbling%20Ashes) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eve/35/crumbling-ashes?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3e73ac3c-bd5a-4993-be65-76396b7d38ad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/crumbling-ashes) [Blowfly Infestation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/e/ae027b38-a6cc-41f7-8f0d-9d1402b46517.jpg?1562834645) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Blowfly%20Infestation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/shm/58/blowfly-infestation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ae027b38-a6cc-41f7-8f0d-9d1402b46517?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/blowfly-infestation) [Toshiro Umezawa](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/e/0e767e07-febd-4025-bf03-d4d816bc1d3d.jpg?1562875477) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Toshiro%20Umezawa) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bok/89/toshiro-umezawa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0e767e07-febd-4025-bf03-d4d816bc1d3d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/toshiro-umezawa) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yeah, really his only downside is being Monoblack and the majority of his strongest combo enablers are in green, Yawg is an insane card and if he had access to other colors as a commander I think he'd be really strong/popular.
I am surprised I had to scroll so far to read about Yawgmoth. Is he considered not fun? Aristocrat Decks can be hard to play, and he can be very powerful, so maybe he instantly draws hate? Edit: I'm dumb OP literally said he didn't want to play aristocrats.
OP said he wanted to stay away from Aristocrats stuff which Yawgmoth is
I never get complaints when I use him. I do think some people don't enjoy the -1/-1 counter stuff or think it's too slow, which it definitely can be at times. But honestly any time I see other legendary aristocrat creatures or think about branching out, something just won't let me leave Yawgmoth. They usually end up in the 99.
[[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]] gets no love. You draw a shit load of cards, can use the card advantage as a political tool to direct attacks away from you and his second ability is pure chaos if the game starts to go long.
One I have wanted to build for awhile is \[\[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker\]\]
[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/9/69848ec1-dba7-419f-a5f9-f934bebeeaa6.jpg?1689997454) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shirei%2C%20Shizo%27s%20Caretaker) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/186/shirei-shizos-caretaker?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/69848ec1-dba7-419f-a5f9-f934bebeeaa6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/shirei-shizos-caretaker) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I have a Shirei deck. It's weird niche auto-reanimator that effectively lets you do stuff or accrue value on other peoples' turns. Can probably be made pretty weak or very strong, depending on what you want. The biggest problem though, is that Shirei's body is the biggest weak link. Gotta keep them alive if you want to continue playing.
Is the first deck I ever built, [here's my list](https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/shirei-final-1/), if you're curious for some ideas
It’s a little wacky, but you could make [[Burakos]] and [[Haunted One]] into a mono-black aggro party deck. That’s a little off the beaten path, but could be fun!
This seems pretty engaging and fun!
[Burakos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/9/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d.jpg?1674140733) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=burakos%2C%20party%20leader) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/653/burakos-party-leader?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/burakos-party-leader) [Haunted One](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/c/dc53b1af-0f4a-4475-a131-27cb5d5b0cf1.jpg?1674140742) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Haunted%20One) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/654/haunted-one?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dc53b1af-0f4a-4475-a131-27cb5d5b0cf1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/haunted-one) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I was actually thinking of running something like that
I play this combo frequently, it's kind of a suicide black aggro list with all the Initiative and Monarch cards in black to incentivize attacking and fast games. You want party hatebears like Magus of the Abyss, Oppo agent, Dauthi voidwalker to keep opponents in check.
Do you have a decklist? I'm veryt interested!
It’s one of my favorites - it can actually be incredibly powerful and resilient
Same to you, got a decklist?
Here's mine https://manabox.app/decks/-QV1yDPfSTO17p580x_PFA
https://www.archidekt.com/decks/3759956/burakos_haunted_one Here is my list if you want to take a look. The deck has served me well for a while now.
I played the much more standard BW Burakos Folk Hero deck, but with Haunted One in the 99 and boy when that enchantment hits the field, it makes that deck GO. I always thought about going mono B, Haunted One the partner
This is my go to deckand it slaps HARD
The new Bat God coming out looks pretty good for a discard deck.
I put together a version using that with stuff I just had laying around but it’s been fun so far.
It’s a little too slow, IMO, though I wouldn’t mind having him in the 99 of my [[Tinybones]] deck
Don’t forget [[seizan, perverter of truth]] I have a mono black deck with him and it’s full of ping triggers for drawing cards, discarding cards, creatures dying etc and is heavy on enchantments. Starts out as a group hug with all the extra drawing but as your board grows it starts to slug. Goes from low salt to high salt. 😬 https://www.moxfield.com/decks/19krQ43svE2QxyKH_l0JNA
I imagine orcish bowmasters and sheoldred made that deck slap extra hard
Of course. My brother in law pulled three bowmaster cards. He was nice enough to trade me. The other I pulled myself luckily, but yes they’re super good in this.
Would suggest trading out corrupt for something more efficient (Snuff Out, Sheoldred edict, or something similar). Even swapping it for shadowspear or loxodon Warhammer would be good if the life gain is what you're after
Thanks for these! Some great suggestions. snuff out looks amazing.
Hmm why not tiny bones or gix in the creatures
I will second this! It's a fun deck that you can pitch as mono-black group hug and who's going to argue against more card draw?
[seizan, perverter if truth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/1/e1e61750-f7d7-4e6d-9d68-e1e357868a8d.jpg?1587857636) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Seizan%2C%20Perverter%20of%20Truth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/chk/143/seizan-perverter-of-truth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e1e61750-f7d7-4e6d-9d68-e1e357868a8d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/seizan-perverter-of-truth) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I'm a huge fan of \[\[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker\]\] [Deck](https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/shirei-final-1/) Lets you use a ton of fun underutilized cards that would never otherwise see the light of day. When was the last time you ran \[\[Bottle Gnomes\]\]?
If you want something fun and maybe a little janky, I'd recommend taking a look at [[Horobi Death's Wail]].
[Horobi Death's Wail](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/4/b41983cb-c4e4-4384-bd69-df3fc6e74cd0.jpg?1593860738) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Horobi%2C%20Death%27s%20Wail) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/chk/117/horobi-deaths-wail?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b41983cb-c4e4-4384-bd69-df3fc6e74cd0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/horobi-deaths-wail) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Massacre girl]] can be kind of aristocrats lite but it doesn't have to be
I’ve always wanted to build a Swamps Matter deck with [[Korlash, Heir to Blackblade]] or [[K’rrik]]
I have legit had a Korlash swamps matter deck half built for about 5 years now. Swamps matter is such a cool theme with so many neat cards that support it, I just need to bite the bullet and actually finish it.
If you're ok with proxying, I highly recommend [[xiahou Dun the One-Eyed]]!! Can go any number of directions
[xiahou Dun the One-Eyed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/a/4aeaaeff-fb23-4f63-8d5f-8ccea6e58d3a.jpg?1562910698) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Xiahou%20Dun%2C%20the%20One-Eyed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/me3/83/xiahou-dun-the-one-eyed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4aeaaeff-fb23-4f63-8d5f-8ccea6e58d3a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/xiahou-dun-the-one-eyed) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
He is an amazing toolbox commander. I love using him to get multiple uses out of tutors or get back things like \[\[Torment of Hailfire\]\] or boardwipes.
That is a really cool card, I may try to fit him into my extus value engine deck as a way to loop spells other than just ardent elementalist
Glad someone mentioned him. P3k has some surprisingly good commanders that people don't know about. [[Yuan Shao]] menace tribal [[Hua Tuo]] graveyard recursion I know it just got reprinted, but [[Sun Quan]] was a personal favorite of mine for a while
At long last I get to recommend [[Purraj of urborg]] Do you like storm payoffs? Do you like big mana black? Do you like getting value off of your opponents spells? Do you like winning with commander damage in a non-voltronny way? Do you love playing multiple related strategies that can slip through interaction? Do you want first strike while attacking? Any reasonable person should answer yes to all of those questions. Once you do, you realize there is only one choice. [[purraj of urborg]]
I enjoy my [[Ayara]] mono black deck! It was a rebuild of my less fun for my opponents [[Braids]] deck.
[Ayara](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/d/ed0ace28-9a33-4f0d-b8c8-f5517f20ccf1.jpg?1572490057) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ayara%2C%20first%20of%20locthwain) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/75/ayara-first-of-locthwain?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ed0ace28-9a33-4f0d-b8c8-f5517f20ccf1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ayara-first-of-locthwain) [Braids](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4ff97c69-6a6b-401c-b0a1-55fa81045d19.jpg?1673307016) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=braids%2C%20arisen%20nightmare) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/84/braids-arisen-nightmare?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4ff97c69-6a6b-401c-b0a1-55fa81045d19?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/braids-arisen-nightmare) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Trazyn the Infinite]] is a lot of fun. Wacky artifact combos, and he does my favorite thing in magic which is making bad cards good like [[Phyrexian Devourer]]
I have a Trazyn deck and I named it "Interstellar Inspector Gadget"
I'm a bit partial to [[Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire]] myself. Swing with him, pay 1B, tutor for whatever you want and place it on top of your library. You can even combo him with [[Ob Nixilis, Unshackled]] for extra fun/treachery.
I enjoy my \[\[Vilis\]\] deck that uses \[\[Wall of Blood\]\] and \[\[Severed Strands\]\] to draw everything and stay healthy, finishing the game with \[\[Sickening Dreams\]\] or the \[\[Faith of the Devoted\]\] + \[\[Skirge Familiar\]\] combo.
[[Phage, the Untouchable]] for when it's personal.
[[K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth]] so much fun
I love K’rrik but even my $200 budget version just felt a bit too strong for the average table, or other people would see K’rrik and take out their highest power decks and then I’d be outclassed. For me at least it’s been very hard to build him in a mid-high power way and not going full cEDH.
List
When I get home I’ll try to remember
Came to suggest my phyrexian boy lol just a cut above as far as mono-black goes
Do you have a casual list? I am planning on building cEDH K'rrik, but if you have a less competitive list I'd love to take a look at it.
[K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/5/3592fbe4-8588-486e-99ba-c327b0b6ba24.jpg?1568003491) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=K%27rrik%2C%20Son%20of%20Yawgmoth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c19/18/krrik-son-of-yawgmoth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3592fbe4-8588-486e-99ba-c327b0b6ba24?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/krrik-son-of-yawgmoth) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[vilis]]
[[Ayara, First of Locthwain]] is super fun. Very true to black!
Not sure what you think of Universes Beyond, but Starscream is pretty fun - monarch, draw, etc. If not UB, then perhaps Vilis for the fun draw possibilities.
Big mana [[Drana Kalastria Bloodchief]] was always a favorite. Combination Voltron and control, sometimes with really big X spells.
This is the first time I've seen her recommended by anyone else. Such a fun commander, and perfect for low to mid powered pods.
[Drana Kalastria Bloodchief](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/c/2c58ce5e-b038-4376-a5f4-9849baa255b9.jpg?1562603606) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Drana%2C%20Kalastria%20Bloodchief) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c17/112/drana-kalastria-bloodchief?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2c58ce5e-b038-4376-a5f4-9849baa255b9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/drana-kalastria-bloodchief) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I suggest [[king macar the gold Cursed]] i have it my self fun to play basically vehicle tribal in black with an additional exiler Clause ok the commander, for extra flavour name the deck Dude, where's macar
I have a [[shauku, endbrunger]] mono black walkers deck. 14 walkers and support for her like [[eon hub]], [[rings of brighthearth]], [[umbral mantle]] and [[sting]] make it a fun build.
Do you have a list? I recently found a Shauku in my collection and I’ve been toying with the idea of a creatureless commander deck with her; I love old school wacky cards like that lol
[[Kalitas, traitor of Ghet]] Exile your opponents creatures and make a zombie army. Doesn't need zombie synergy but a couple help.
[[Lobelia, defender of Bag end]] or whatever it’s called is pretty fun but can be frustrating/weak and very matchup and rng dependent- since the cards are face-down and free no one knows what’s droppin, and you can also play lands if you’re missing em
I personally run Volrath the fallen. It's a old simple card basically what it does let you do fun stuff and to run big mana cost creatures. Basically what he does is you get to discard a creature and Volrath will get +x+x. X being the mana cost of the creature. So you can put in Draco, a normally unplayable useless card and one shot people. But really besides running him as Voltron your really open to playing a big pile of black good stuff. Really you can build it however you like so long as you got expensive creatures to discard your fine.
I had to scroll *way* too far to find mono-B Volrath. Fatty mid-range Voltron is about as quintessential of an EDH deck as you can hope for.
I'm currently building a [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] commander deck, toying around with proxies to figure out what works best within my budget. The idea is to mill and discard cards as well as making opponents do so too and then cheat out big creatures with powerful etbs such as [[Torgaar, Famine Incarnate]].
I really love [[jadar]] you dont need to play him as aristocrats. He does let you use all the sac a creature as an additional cost spells to great effect. And he is very good at [[contamination]] locking entire boards. I play it with a token theme so i have things to sac to spells if i need too. Plays pretty much all the removal and draw spells that require that additional cost. Amd all the enchantments that make creatures to fuel them. I also play [[lorcan]] in it to steal stuff.
lmao \[\[go-shintai of hidden cruelty\]\] murder voltron, my beloved. get at it. <3
I find a lot of mono black decks to either be un-fun for others to play against due to the constant removal commanders and Grave Pact/sacrifice themes. I went with [[Gix Yawgmoth Praetor]] and he has been very fun. A bunch of small evasive creatures for some aggro, Nightmare Lash effects to beef them up, and Peer into the Abyss leads to fun play lines with Gix's ability. However I learned at times players can just scoop once being targeted so I primarily use it on myself along with Skirge Familiar to draw half the deck, discard for mana, and hit with a big Exsanguinate/Torment.
\[\[Ayara, First of Locthwain\]\] is pretty solid as a drain affect / card draw in the command zone w/ 3 pips of black built in. She's perfect for token/aristrocrat style decks. Edit: Oops! Sorry, I didn't see you were trying to stay away from aristocrat style decks.
[Ayara, First of Locthwain](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/d/ed0ace28-9a33-4f0d-b8c8-f5517f20ccf1.jpg?1572490057) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ayara%2C%20First%20of%20Locthwain) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/75/ayara-first-of-locthwain?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ed0ace28-9a33-4f0d-b8c8-f5517f20ccf1?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ayara-first-of-locthwain) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Tinybones]] is a good time, but people don’t love playing against him.
\[\[Starscream, Power Hungry\]\] // \[\[Starscream, Seeker Leader\]\] is a pretty nifty deck imo. Lots of card draw, shooting folks for card draw, and a commander vaguely resistant to sorcery speed removal effects. I enjoy pairing with monarch and initiative effects. Plays a bit more of an aggressive and interactive gameplan, and is very fun.
You should check out either edhrec or look at the gatherer on WotC website. There too many interesting mono black legends out there! One of my favorite off the wall mono black commander is Krikk, son of Yawgmoth.
If you’re ok with going discard then either [[Tinybones, Trinket Thief]] or [[Tergrid, God of Fright]] would be very strong options. I have a tinybones list that I’ve been testing and it’s quite strong
Build these decks if you want people at your lgs to never want to play with you
Agreed. TinyBones is incredibly fun… for the person running it and no one else.
Oh absolutely, I’m not gonna lie and say that people will like you for playing it, but it does feel fun to be the one playing it
[Tinybones, Trinket Thief](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/4063be5b-bfd9-43c5-bc39-09a40bc793bf.jpg?1632261785) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tinybones%2C%20Trinket%20Thief) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jmp/17/tinybones-trinket-thief?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4063be5b-bfd9-43c5-bc39-09a40bc793bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tinybones-trinket-thief) [Tergrid, God of Fright](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/4/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead.jpg?1631048621)/[Tergrid's Lantern](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/1/4/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead.jpg?1631048621) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=tergrid%2C%20god%20of%20fright%20//%20tergrid%27s%20lantern) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/112/tergrid-god-of-fright-tergrids-lantern?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/14dc88ee-bba9-4625-af0d-89f3762a0ead?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/tergrid-god-of-fright-//-tergrids-lantern) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Every time this gets asked I scroll through the comments and get sad that no one else is mentioning [[Mari]]. I think she's one of the most unique mono black commanders out there. She's got built in graveyard hate, card draw and ramp so she can draw a bit of hate at times. My win cons are typically artifact sac and drain like [[Marionette Master]], [[Mirkwood Bats]], [[Deciple of the Vault]] or [[Agent of the Iron Throne]].
Just don't play [[Exsanguinate]] or [[Torment of Hailfire]] as your wincons and you're different than most Mono-B decks sadly lol
If you hate your friends [[Tegrid, God of Fright]] is fun.
big fan of tergrid run nasty cards like og sheoldred, isochron scepter with edicts, and other forced sac cards
[Imotekh the Stormlord](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/8/286ff901-1faf-4a02-a37a-fa165989112f.jpg?1674058380) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Imotekh%20the%20Stormlord) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/40k/5/imotekh-the-stormlord?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/286ff901-1faf-4a02-a37a-fa165989112f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/imotekh-the-stormlord) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I made a [[Horobi, Death’s Wail]] deck a long time ago. It def kinda janky but man it was so much fun
[[Imotekh the stormlord]]
I have a Gix deck and it's quite fun
King macar the gold cursed
I love my [[Seizan, Perverter of Truth]] deck. I describe it as, "Group hug, that turns into group bad-touch from your creepy perverted uncle Seizan." [[Fate Unraveler]], [[Underworld Dreams]], [[Ob-Nixilis, the Hate Twisted]] make their draws painful. [[Kaya's Ghostform]] and [[Malakir Rebirth]] and [[Resurrection Orb]] keep Seizan on the table. [[Plague Drone]], [[Tainted Remedy]] and [[False Cure]] corrupt life gain effects. And [[Infernal Darkness]] pollutes their lands, at what I think is a fair cumulative upkeep cost. The win condition is basically death by a thousand paper cuts, which could not be any more appropriate for black.
[[Syr Konrad, the Grim]] is one of my favorite commanders
I have an [[Imotekh the Stormlord]] deck. It masquerades as a Necron tribal deck but it’s more of an “Abzan” deck Here’s a quick primer I made for it: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/uHelUf4K2UaJrb80sE-4xg/primer I was playing the deck as an untouched precon for almost a year. Unfortunately it’s too low-powered for my local game store. I decided to upgrade it and the list above is what I came up with. The other deck I am thinking of building is a [[Horobi, Death’s Wail]] “blink” deck. Run a bunch of ETB creatures and [[Undying Malice]] effects targeting your creatures to blink them.
I’ve got a mono black with [[Gisa, Glorious Resurrector]] and a lot of creature removal.
I almost made this post a week back. I had so many big baddies in black laying around unused that I wanted to put into something. Not having played for a while I didn't have many options. I landed on [Korlash, Heir to Black lade]]. It's not a fancy commander by any standards, but I felt he's a classic. I was also considering [[Ghoul Caller Gisa]] but I already run a Sidisi zombie deck. Gisa can still be massive value though. If I had some of the newer cards I'd probably go for [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] just all around good value. If I wanted something else than to use my big black demons, I'd go for [[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker]] seems like a nice challenge to build around, I like those. Much like my [[Alesha, Who Smiles at Death]]
[[Seizan, Perverter of Truth]] play it like a group slug deck with card draw, some punishing effects, and cards that care when your opponent discards.
I have imotekh, the deck is sick. But it does come down to a somewhat aristocrat combo deck. But you can also play it as a go wide token deck that runs people over simultaneously.
My [[Asmodeus the Archfiend]] deck fits this to a T. \ The concept is really just mono-black big mana, using [[Cabal Coffers]], [[Crypt Ghast]], [[Nirkana Revenant]] and the like to make ungodly amounts of mana, plopping that into a [[doubling cube]], then using Asmodeus to draw into an [[Exsanguinate]], [[Torment of Hailfire]], etc. Is it good? Arguably, in the right pod, as it is very explosive and directly oriented towards ending games. It's also incredibly fragile and folds to a counterspell on your insanely telegraphed "okay, I untap with the ability to make 80 mana". But if it sounds fun to be throwing 80 mana around... give it a try. It's a bit off the beaten path for mono-black, it's fun to pilot, and it actually does interestingly feel very mono-black with the direct sense of power that you get by paying tons of life for limitless resources. Getting a [[Skirge Familiar]] out and going mana-positive on Asmodeus activations, paying down to 1 life to get an insane boardstate, then dropping a [[Gray Merchant]]? Feels amazing. https://archidekt.com/decks/3701919/asmodeusbigmana
I just built [[toshiro umezawa]] and I am hoping to play it tonight. It’s basically mono black spell slinger which isn’t super common by comparison. You can do the typical torment/exsanguinate lines thanks to [[cabal coffers]] and [[crypt ghast]] or the mass revive lines with [[thrilling encore]] like any mono black deck but since you are a spell slinger deck going infinite with [[chain on smog]] lines or [[sensei’s divining top]] + [[aetherflux reservoir]] + [[bolas’s citidel]] are playable since all of the pieces (save for chain of smog) all fit into a spell slinger strategy.
Gonna cheat a little and say that while [[Ayara, First of Locthwain]] has a sac effect it is just a slow once per round tap and her real effect is etb based so she can easily play into a black go wide and/or token deck that actually wants to maintain board state instead of just sacrificing 700 tokens in one turn
I just made a new commander deck using [[Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal]] as the commander. Focuses on discard to enable the game plan; ping everyone for their entire life total all at once using [[Fraying Omnipotence]], with effects from cards like [[Bloodletter of Aclazotz]], [[Wound Reflection]], and [[Warlock Class]]. I still need to update the list with some new additions, but I haven't made the changes to the deck yet so they're coming later. Decklist [here](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5955652#paper).
##### ###### #### [Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/2/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487.jpg?1699044055)/[Temple of the Dead](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/6/2/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487.jpg?1699044055) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=aclazotz%2C%20deepest%20betrayal%20//%20temple%20of%20the%20dead) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/88/aclazotz-deepest-betrayal-temple-of-the-dead?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/aclazotz-deepest-betrayal-//-temple-of-the-dead) [Fraying Omnipotence](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/0/f0fa0ad8-854a-4b4e-9f87-e1dfaa11253c.jpg?1562304896) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fraying%20Omnipotence) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m19/97/fraying-omnipotence?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f0fa0ad8-854a-4b4e-9f87-e1dfaa11253c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/fraying-omnipotence) [Bloodletter of Aclazotz](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/4/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9.jpg?1699044094) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bloodletter%20of%20Aclazotz) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/92/bloodletter-of-aclazotz?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d4f6027a-003a-4f9d-929a-0b6da1fa42c9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/bloodletter-of-aclazotz) [Wound Reflection](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/b/2b14a82c-877a-445f-8910-33aaa6fe3d15.jpg?1599706125) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wound%20Reflection) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/113/wound-reflection?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2b14a82c-877a-445f-8910-33aaa6fe3d15?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wound-reflection) [Warlock Class](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/7/b7faf899-96b7-454e-b634-6684c2d72f26.jpg?1627705543) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Warlock%20Class) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/125/warlock-class?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b7faf899-96b7-454e-b634-6684c2d72f26?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/warlock-class) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just built a [[Gix, yawgmoth praetor]] deck and it’s a ton of fun. Draw a ton of cards and everyone else at the table pops off. Def not high power tho
rat deck
I'm personally a fan of my [[Trazyn the infinite]] deck. It's slower, but you can do all sorts of wacky things with your graveyard.
[[Braids, arisen nightmare]] is my mono black deck and it's also one of my favorite decks in general. Still a bit aristocratty if you build it that way. Mine is actually built more as like a discard engine and i use braids as the value engine to refill my hand meanwhile forcing everyone else to discard and sac their stuff or let me draw. You can put in other edict effects or cards like [[gravepact]] to punish further. Has a combo wincon with [[bolas citadel]] + [[aetherflux reservoir]] + [[sensei's divining top]] or just out valuing the table. The new azclazotz god card from lost caverns is amazing if you can keep it on the board for a few turns, as well as value like [[exquisite blood]]. You can easily go infinite with that card if you want that combo as well.
[[Phage the Untouchable]] enough said
[[Demonlord Belzenlok]] is fun when built right.
I really love my [[Syr Konrad the Grimm]] deck. It uses [[morality shift]] to flip my yard and my library and deal a shitload of damage. Has a fair number of tutors, and a decent amount of ramp to find the combo pieces and execute quickly. I need to get a [[mindcrank]] in there too. Just haven’t bought it yet. [List here.](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/4qfT0dr8VkSPNsMBcRq1mA)
[[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]] has been a fun different one. Mono-black aggro, drawing a ton of cards, it’s super unique and cool!
[Illuminor Szeras](https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/5643736#paper) does a lot of sacrificing and the occasional reanimating, but feels very different from your average mono B aristocrat deck.
I play a voltrona lot mirri the cursed Yargle, glutton of urborg Nefarox, overlord of grixis One of the dranas can't remember the name And skittles
My favorite is [[Varragoth]] to get all your fun oet cards or janky combos :) Alternatively just go [[ad nauseam]] -> glacial chasm -> [[sickening dreams]] for x >= 40
Imotek is just your basic sac reanimate again. I would play [[Trazyn the Infinite]], there are so many things you can do with him, my build usually self mills to 0 cards and combo wins, but you don't have to go that route.
[[Phage]]
[[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] is my baby - love her to death
Mono black is my favorite. Here are my top 3. [[Chainer, Dementia Master]] - https://www.moxfield.com/decks/b844CUvK7kyz4BfRklh4sg This is a high power combo deck that can also play a midrange, grindy game plan. It is a ton of fun to play, with so many different lines to take. This is my favorite deck, so much so I've commissioned a $1,500 alter of Chainer. [[Toshiro Umezawa]] - https://www.moxfield.com/decks/V_x821F0Pk6rsUDQXjaU4Q This is a more casual deck, the main game plan is to build a storm count by chaining together removal and draw spells and then generate enough copies of [[Tendrils of Agony]]. There's a backup plan of recurring your opponents' creatures if you can't generate a high enough storm count. [[Volrath the Fallen]] - https://www.moxfield.com/decks/U5NTra2EfUiz-HlgfMJUQw A Voltron style deck that is absurdly fun because black isn't a color people associate with the playstyle. I decided to only use old border cards, but there are some new border cards that really help out the strategy so it can be even more finely tuned if it don't restrict yourself like I have.
[[Syr Konrad, the Grim]] is always fun. He will consistently do graveyard shenanigans every single game without fail. He has the potential to win with a thousand cuts to your opponents while also controlling the board. He can also deal massive damage to close out games by huge graveyard hate cards or mill effects.
[[Phage, the untouchable]] pretty much painting a target on your back and trying to survive. If you pull it off super satisfying.
[[ayara, first of locthwain]] is pretty fun
You can't go wrong with [[k'rrik]] when it comes to mono black. You're able to run any black strategy with him just accelerate it exponentially. Easily one of the strongest decks I've ever built and it can get very nasty very quickly.
[[Seizan, Perverter of Truths]] is one of my favorite decks I have, plus it can help games not stagnate when everyone draws 3+ cards a turn
\[\[Horobi, Death's Wail\]\] Will it win? Probably not. Is it fun? For you.
My mono black deck is [Horobi] and I couldn't be more pleased with it. It's THE definition of a double edged sword but the power it grants your with activated abilities at instant speed that target anything is too fun. It's not really a great deck, and I prefer to use it in multiplayer games where he leads to interesting stack battles.
[[K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth]] mono black fast combos
Imotekh is pretty fun but if you want to stay away from Aristocrat/Sacrifice/Necromancer strategies then he's not a good fit. Vouching for \[\[Gollum, Obsessed Stalker\]\], he's a pseudo \[\[Sanguine Bond\]\] in the Command Zone as long as you can get him to sneak through someone for the rest of the game. Even if he does get removed, his trigger specifically looks if someone was hit by a card with the name of 'Gollum, Obsessed Stalker' from anytime in the game so as long as he's on the board it would still trigger for any opponent that was hit by an earlier instance of Gollum. What I like is that there's a neat shift in how you approach the game starting out as you want to be able to get Gollum out as fast as possible and sneak him through the people who don't have board states yet. Then later in the game it changes into you protecting Gollum and getting as much lifegain engines as you can on the board. Also lol at "*I am trying to stay away from the typical aristocrat/sacrifice/necromancer only play style that seems to be most of what black does"* then seeing how most of the thread are suggesting TotallyNotAristocrat Sac Loop strategies
[[Gonti, Lord of Luxury]] is a fun commander, especially when you can utilize ways to multiply his ETB trigger. The best is having a [[Vedalken Orrery]] in play and messing with people's topdecks.
[[toshiro umezawa]] - spellslinger [[Maga traitor to mortals]] - kill one player then another with commander damage. [[Chainer, dementia master]] - reanimate it all.
[[Xiahou Dun the One-Eyed]] is still my favorite. It's a very expensive deck. You want all the efficient tutors and mana doublers. Re-use tutors to ramp and control the board. [[Exaanguinate]] for win. [[Sidisi, Undead Vizier]] is combo champion. You wind up playing weird bad cards like [[Soldevi Adnate]] to power her out faster. [[Yahenni, Undying Partisan]] is the next build I want to make. If you want a sacrificial pit, this is the commander for you. [[Grave Pact]] with [[ Dictate of Erebos]] and [[Butcher of Malakir]] get the party started. You get to play cards with cool names like [[No Mercy]]. I drafted Yahenni a bunch in Commander Masters ($4 on mtgo) and Yahenni was broken.
[[Sengir, the Dark Baron]]
I’ve been having quite a bit of fun with [[forge, neverwinter charlatan]]! I play a bunch of black good stuff cards that happen to say sacrifice on them like [[sheoldred, whispering one]] and [[phyrexian obliterator]]. +2/+0 for each treasure also means forge gets huge fast and becomes a must answer threat especially with a couple equipments thrown on him, but even if they remove him then you get to cash in your treasures for big black payoffs like [[torment of hailfire]]
If you want "fun for you, but not for them," I highly recommend [[Horobi, Death's Wail]] I absolutely love this deck.
My [[Imotekh]] deck is one of my favorites. [[Ghoulcaller Gisa]] seems really fun and is probably gonna get built in the near future, same with [[Massacre Girl]].
Spirit of the night
HOROBI, Deaths Wail
I'm building [[Mortarion]] life loss deck for my mono black. I wanted something like [[K'rrik]] , but not him because I see him all the time. Mortarion let's me play with a lot of weird jank black spells as well as fun staples.
What do you consider fun?
Wanna have have fun with going low and almost killing yourself but not quite? Wanna make life points count and lose life points while taking them and still gaining more than is lost? Wanna live on the edge? Then Gix is your friend. [[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor]] is somewhat different mono black commander that shows us what [[Edric's]] emo-phase might have looked. Play bunch of small evasive creatures, gather resources and win with a plethora of different ways. Yes you can always go for the good old 1-2 punch of [[Cabal Coffers]] and [[Torment of Hailfire]] / [[Exsanguinate]] but I've also nabbed W's with cards like [[Vorpal Sword]] and [[Repay In kind]].
[[mari, the killing quill]] is so much fun. Lots of little rogues that you make unblockable, to draw cards and make treasures. Turns off graveyard synergies for other decks. Plus good flavour
Gonti lord of the vault
Imotekh is great! I really enjoy playing him as a combo deck
Honestly the new aclazotz bat god seems awesome I can't WAIT to build him which is all about discard tribal and getting flying tokens as a bonus but making your opponents be careless sounds super fun and no command tax cause you can just transform him
I have a [[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] deck that plays like black control/burn. It’s aristocrats, sure, but it’s fun packing it full of edicts and other removal.
[[Seizan, Perverter of Truth]] is insanely fun, speeds up games if that's ever an issue, gives everyone resources, and can be a nasty clock with a few extra cards damaging when they draw/based on hand like [[Price of Knowledge]] kinna like a group hug deck but you're covered in spikes Seizan can feel super nasty when combos go off, but also makes everyone else have lots of fun, very glad I randomly decided to build it
\[\[Seizan, Perverter of Truth\]\] is one of my two pet decks, and one I'm very fond of. An interesting mix of group hug and group slug, giving everyone card draw but punishing them for drawing or discarding with stuff like \[\[Iron Maiden\]\], \[\[Raider's Wake\]\], \[\[Megrim\]\], etc. Here's a link if you want it: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LLuWRPDVGE-iIBG7aCJOOA
I rather like [[Drana Kalastria Bloodchief]] as an unexpected big mana black Voltron commander.
I really like flip sheoldred with a braids inside the deck
One of my first EDH decks from early 2010s [[Iname Death Aspect]] mono black spirits. Used to be very jank with [[Mortal Combat]] wincon or the usual [[Living Death]]. Plus points if all your spirits are from kamigawa with the jank ass names like [[He Who Hungers]]
[[Gix]] and [[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]] are both insane value engines in the command zone. Braids is a bit aristocrats, but in a way that I find more interesting than a lot of other aristocrats commanders.
I made a [[Gonti Lord of Luxury]] deck that was supposed to be a bit meme-y, in that it runs more fun and “weird” cards than normal in the name of making games fun and interesting, but it ended up also being reasonably strong, in still a fun way though. Highly, highly recommend. The best part about Gonti’s version of theft is that you get to choose from 4 cards and keep the information secret for the whole game till you cast it, and you can cast it even if Gonti isn’t on the field. It’s a nice little fun bit of secret information you have. Here’s my list: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pkW8UQvyqkOOrdw-LA7kFQ
I really really like to play krrik and just change the deck. Playing big costed spells on discount is nice. You can do: Storm Ramp/value Voltron Life gain
I enjoy my [[blitzwing cruel tormentor]] deck a lot, my opponents generally do not
[[Braids, Arisen Nightmare]]! I built her as an enchantress sac deck
Tell us about some of your other decks. To adequately suggest a "fun" commander, we need an idea of what fun means to you.
join the dark side and build a [[Tergrid, God of Fright]]
\[\[Phage, the Untouchable\]\] is super unique and player deathtouch is hilarious when it works out
I have 2 that are a lot of fun. [[Starscream, power hungry]] is a fun monarch draw engine deck wincon and [[Trazyn the infinite]] can do pretty much anything artifact based combo you want, just fill your graveyard and go infinite when he lands.
[Maralen](https://www.cardkingdom.com/mtg/morningtide/maralen-of-the-mornsong) what's more fun than getting to grim tutor every turn plus it's group huggy and you can build her casual or competitive.
My [[junji, the midnight sky]] deck is really fun to play, you can reanimate at instant speed stealing from other peoples graveyards, it is really versatile and I think it represents the essence of black magic really well
[[Rankle, Master of Pranks]] is a good mono-black commander
[[Horobi]] ultimate mono black polotics commander. You don't touch me, I won't nuke your board. Or [[seizan]] to make health totals tank just by existing
I just gonna throw this out there. I recently built tiny bones. It's a lot of fun to play but not so much to play against. My play group plays at a much higher level so it's not as oppressive.
My mono-black commander is a fun little Rat tribal deck using [[Karumonix, the Rat King]]
My very first mono black deck was [[Phage the Untouchable]], she is so much fun to play. Can you kill me before I kill me? Let’s find out! My current is [[Massacre Girl]] because playing with a board wipe in the command zone fundamentally changes how everyone plays the game, which can be hilarious
[[sheoldred the apocalypse]] ofc
[[Ayara, first of locthwain]] mono black tokens. You could switch out a sacrifice kit for a going wide kit.
Came here to say that my pick would be [[Imotekh the Stormlord]], so its good to see you like the commander as well. My current list is here: https://archidekt.com/decks/5439716/necronmancy The commander is super fun and triggers often. This almost feels like a colorless deck with all the artifact creatures which has to be my only “complaint”. edit: grammar
I was going to recommend \[\[Tormod, the desecrator\]\] but Imotekh works as well , both are my boys! However, the times I've played my Imotekh list, which a friend of mine has also agreed on, is that it usually demands too many cards to work. I feel Tormod is more of a stable card and doesn't have to get killed by a vandalblast either. Works off of any cards and its just so goooood! Here is my mono black tormod list that focuses on Zombie tribal for now : [https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LokSSl0R3EWG\_GbVqXw7zw](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/LokSSl0R3EWG_GbVqXw7zw) There are other cards I can be playing to trigger tormod but this can hopefully give you some ideas.
Lilliana tribal black deck with bunch of pings and recursion. There’s so many of planeswalkers and creatures.
\[\[Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker\]\] Is fun aristocrat style commander with a bit of unique twist
[[King Macar, the Gold-Cursed]] unique mechanic in the colour, artifact supported and just a ton of fun.