Putrid Leech does seem good - but I have to ask myself if he's better enough to negate its disadvantages:
-Can't be cast by Dark Ritual
-Needs a bayou (or forest, yuck)
-Life Loss (not a huge issue)
-only pumpable to a 4/4, even late game

I think it is certainly better for the situations you're talking about - being able to block and battle other big guys with no mana input. However, I often find myself emptying my hand and not needing mana open middle-late game, and the shade often becomes a much more powerful finisher. A lot of it depends on what kinds of decks you see, but I think I'll stick with the shade. I really enjoy not needing the green mana in some games.

It's definitely good to debate between these guys, as I can see how some people would like the leech a lot more.

Now I'm gonna share my list, as I'm relatively new to this thread:

4 Tombstalker
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Hypnotic Specter
2 Nantuko Shade

4 Dark Ritual
2 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
4 Sinkhole
4 Hymn to Tourach

3 Snuff Out
4 Vindicate

4 Wasteland
2 Swamp
3 Scrubland
3 Bayou
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
1 Windswept Heath

SB - depends on what tournament I'm in. Because I have white, a couple StP are nice against the mirror and Bobs. Choke, E Plague, Jitte, and Leyline of the Void are also my usuals.

I've read some of this thread and noticed that many people do not like the white splash. I personally think that splashing for Vindicate makes this deck sooo much better, as it is essentially MD removal for anything annoying, and it can ever-importantly manascrew your opponents. This deck can still run off of a couple basic swamps if it needs to. I agree that Snuff Out is better than StP in this deck, but it is also nice to pack a couple StP's in the SB. For anyone who's never playtested Vindicate against a wide variety of decks, I highly suggest you do it. I personally feel like the advantages of Vindicate highly outweigh the disadvantages of having a few more nonbasic lands - the card straight up wins games.

I've just started playing with this deck, so I may find out that I want to change some things as time goes on. I plan on playing at a couple of the Starcity Legacy 5K's later this year.

Criticism is always welcome, and I'm sure I'll receive a little for my white splash