This is the fourth post in a series of pauper deck lists I'm sharing to introduce different ways of playing Magic: The Gathering. The first was blue mill, second was red burn, and most recently, I covered white soldiers.

Now it's time to contrast that last noble and honest deck with gloom and decay. I will raise the dead as a zombie horde. I will bestow curses upon my foes. This is the kind of deck that feeds the Satanic Panic fear of card games. In other words, this is fun for everyone who isn't across the table from me or clutching their pearls over bits of cardboard.

CMC 1-2-3

Honestly, this is the deck I spent the least effort constructing and revising, but it might be the most lean and mean so far. Nothing has a converted mana cost (CMC) or mana value (updated game term) of more than 3 mana, yet it has life gain, deathtouch, card draw, 2/2 zombie tokens, and more. Our basic land suite is 20 Swamps, and the black mana they generate is used to unleash all manner of nastiness. There are four copies of each card listed below, so everything has identical odds of being drawn.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Typhoid Rats are the cheapest creature in the deck. These 1/1 vermin with deathtouch can destroy anything they block or which blocks their attack, no matter how big it is.

Child of Night is a lovely little vampire with lifelink, an ability which gives me life each time it deals damage to an opponent or creature. Life gain does not win games, but it does keep you in the game until you can win.

Doomed Dissenter seems like an over-costed 1/1 for CMC 2, but when he dies, I get a 2/2 zombie creature token. We may be playing black, but we're going green by recycling!

The strategy here is to use the deathtouch Typhoid Rats to dissuade attackers, although flying and first strike do get past it. The Doomed Dissenter is definitely disposable, but an opponent knows that killing him means I get a token that is twice as powerful to replace him. Child of Night offers little in the way of defense, but even if she only blocks (or is blocked by) an opponent's 1/1, she deals two damage and I gain two life.

Don't forget the rest of the deck, though, because on one hand, these stats are just a starting point, and on the other, the graveyard is just another resource for black to exploit. Death is but another stage of life...

Enchanting Ways

This deck relies on enchantments more than any of the others I built for this series, and these fit well with the selfish and malicious vibe of black decks in my opinion.

Crippling Blight can outright kill a 1/1 creature by immediately dropping its toughness to zero, but it is better used to prevent an opponent's big blocker from stopping my zombies and Child of Night lifelink attacks. The side benefit of reducing the damage I take when it gets relegated to attacking me is a bonus.

Stab Wound is even more powerful, inflicting a permanent -2/-2. It's also even more useful for targeting creatures with at least 3 toughness, because if the enchanted creature stays alive, it hurts their controller every turn. Sure, they could just use it as a sacrificial blocker, but that also benefits my game plan in this deck. Losing 10% of their starting life total each turn is not only a tactical benefit, it also adds psychological pressure. They know their clock is ticking.

Infernal Scarring enchants my creatures with an attack bonus. My weak creatures hit harder, and if they die anyway, I get to draw a card. This also means Child of Night could cause me to gain 4 life. Win/win for me, and that's the entire point!

These enchantment cards, like the creatures mentioned earlier, should be used to give my opponent hard choices about what they use and when they choose to attack me or defend against my assault. Ideally, they also prevent my opponent from maintaining any effective defenses. Do you feel like a villain yet? Well, if not, perhaps the rest of the deck will convince you to turn to the dark side.

Instant Regret

Touch of Moonglove is another card which gives my opponents a tough choice if cast before combat, or adds a nasty surprise if I use it after declaring blockers to defend myself. On offense, deathtouch discourages blocking, and makes this ideal for Child of Night; or makes someone's choice to block my creature into a painful lesson as their stringer defender succumbs unexpectedly. On defense, this lets me turn a chump block into a death blow.

Vile Rebirth, which I eventually found less useful in my other black 60-card deck, can make one of my dead creatures into a 2/2 zombie creature token or exile a creature card from my opponent's graveyard for the same effect. Oh, that big scary monster that just died from my rat? He's on my side now! Salt in the wound. Delicious.

Crypt Incursion is a nice answer to that blue mill deck, or a way to recycle my dead defenders into more life, or even a way to remove all creatures from an opponent's graveyard. This can take me from the brink of defeat to exceeding my starting life total for a sudden reversal of fortunes.

Dark Sorcery

Like the red deck's Orcish Cannonade spell, this deck has a card which uses my life points as a resource to be spent on drawing cards. Instead of shocking my opponent, I get to peek at the cards I could draw, and then decide whether to keep either of them or gamble on different cards by putting one or both on the bottom of my library and taking my chances. It isn't cheating if the card says I can do it, but it sure feels like cheating anyway!

Read the Bones lets me scry 2 and then draw two cards. Then I lose 2 life. I'm not too worried, though, because in case you hadn't noticed, this deck already has several ways to gain that life back again and then some.

Card draw is always a strong effect, and despite several reprints, this is one of the few cards in this deck which might command a slight premium. It's still cheap compared to counterspell or Lightning Bolt, and there are some commons which command even higher prices.

This deck needs more testing, but it promises a lot of dark power for a pile of bulk commons so far. It is fast, and the balance of aggro and control makes it a menace, at least in this limited meta of five whole decks thrown together by a madman. What is that fifth deck, though, and will you be green with envy when it is revealed?

As always, I hope this deck inspires you to explore the possibilities in your collection of draft chaff commons gathering dust somewhere, or even to start playing the game without the daunting cost of the competitive meta. Support your local game shop if you can, and have fun! As you see more of my deck ideas, I hope it suggests alternate multi-color builds to combine their strengths, or cover weaknesses inherent in any one deck.