Mono black aggro/control viable?

[Maximus009]

Hello, I've been out of the game for quite awhile (since about 2004 or so). And I wanted to get back in. The only tournements that are held in my area are Legacy. I used to play extended and standared so this will be even more confusing for me. I wanted to make a deck that was a little lighter on the wallet, but not just roll over and die to any good decks. So I was thinking of making mono black aggro/control. Here's my deck list:

Creatures:
3x Phyrexian Negator
I know that many people critisize him but you can't argue with a first turn swamp to dark rit to negator.
4x Dark Confidant
In all honesty, I'm still having a hard time understanding how you're not going to kill yourself with this guy. But I know the top will help with that...
4x Hypnotic Spector
Extra aggro/disruption.

Spells:
4x Duress
I'm not sure if this really needs an explanation, the standared black disruption.
4x Thoughtseize
A superb spell, first turn strategy killer.
4x Sensei's Divining Top
What makes Confidant work. I guess.
4x Diabolic Edict
Always been my favorite creature killer.
4x Dark Ritual
It makes Negator possible.
4x Lotus Petal
I double checked the banned/restricted list for this card but I couldn't find it. I could've sworn this one was banned in legacy when I used to play. Oh well, clear mana advantage.
4x Bitterblossom
I think this is a really neat card. Cool win condition.

Land:
4x Wasteland
Another excellent control card.
17x Swamp

Sideboard:
4x Withered Wretch
Always been a great choice for a multitude of decks.
3x Mutilate
Good mass removal, anti-regeneration.
4x Persecute
Probably not the best option, but can be good in a lot of situations.
4x Chalice of the Void
A very nice lockdown card when used correctly. But I do worry about it having a bad synergy with the deck.

I know this isn't the best decklist I've ever written. Which is why I'm posting it here instead of just going with it. Critiques/opinions welcome. Also, I think I could use a good explanation of the Dark Confidant/ Sensei's Divining Top thing.

[Nessaja]

You're playing like control and aggro tempo at the same time... That just doesn't work very well. Card disadvantage for speed with Ritual/Petal without any real follow up just doesn't seem that cool. For this you need Sinkhole for sure, Top is not a good card when you're playing the tempo role and you aren't playing Tombstalkers so there's no real need for it anyway.
21 lands seem overkill with a maximum of 3 mana spent and Bitterblossom is yet another card that plays the control role and not the tempo aggro role.
Where's Hymn to Tourach? You're playing mono black.
4 Duress actually does need explanation, especially when Hymn to Tourach is ran as well (which really is superior).
I can get over Negator, but I feel like Nantuko Shade is better, as is Tombstalker.

Try to find a focus for the deck and stick to it. Trying 2 strategies at the same time (one card disadvantage for early tempo and the other card advantage for lategame) just doesn't really work.

Also, I'm fairly certain there's a topic for decks like these already.

[Maximus009]

Hm. I see what you're saying. So I guess the question is, what's a more viable direction, mono black control or mono black aggro?

[Nessaja]

They both aren't tier 1 so to say. Not that they're bad decks but also suboptimal especially a green splash adds a lot (but also a lot of $$).

According to deckcheck MBA has 11 top 8 finishes and MBC has 16 t8's. MBA is much more defined as a deck though and MBC seems more like homebrews that didn't fit into another category. Anyway, with cards like sinkhole/ritual/hymn/wasteland I'd probably go for the MBA and eventually convert to Eva Green or so.

[Maximus009]

What cards would you use if you splashed green?

[Nessaja]

Well, since 2004, Tarmogoyf has turned the legacy format upside down and is basically splashed for in every aggro till midrange deck. It's also really expensive =/

Anyway: http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8220

[Maximus009]

ohhh ok i see. maybe i'll go the control route haha.

[FoulQ]

ohhh ok i see. maybe i'll go the control route haha.

The problem with this is that mono black control is a shit-stain deck and you will have no room for improvement. As you expand you can play...train wreck? haha, yeah, so you get my point.

I'd go with the aggro route. Control will be boring as hell, harder to play if you are getting into the format, and has no real decks to expand into.

But honestly I would avoid mono-black jankiness all together. If you want good budget, I'd go for ichorid in the current meta, as it can race combo, beats many aggro decks if built correctly, and has a good matchup percentage against most control decks. It's only problem is that it can crap out sometimes and once you start winning you have nowhere to expand to, but mono-black will crap out just as much and the best thing to expand into once you start winning is eva green/rock, which are not all that exciting of archetypes. And you don't necessarily need the LEDs, but from results that version is technically more successful.