Your deck appears to be about 20 years old (that's not in any way intended to sound insulting) and SO many cards have been printed since then.. A lot of our suggestions really depend on a) your budget and b) your typical playgroup. In other words, are you looking for our theoretical suggestions or more reasoanble ones? Also, are you usually playing duels or multiplayer?
There used to be a very good primer about Suicide Black on this very site but it seems this did not survive the migration of this site to the Curse platform. That's a pity.
I've run a dedicated Suicide Black deck since at least 2003 so I'm happy to help you here if I can. I've tried a lot of things over the years.
My deck skews a bit more controllish than aggro. It seeks to completely cut the legs out from under them, then mop up, not beat down out of the gates..
4x of each (budget permitting) I probably wouldn't run *8* strip mine effects but I currently run 5 total in mine. The idea is hopefully hit a land and a card or two. Knocks a lot of decks back on their heels. If you draw multiples, a lot of decks are just DONE right there. This is how Sui-Black wins a lot of games--cheese them out. Oh, and Sinkhole has finally been reprinted. It's a lot cheaper now!
Now, Thoughtseize is a pretty damn expensive card (as is Wasteland) for not a huge amount of upside over the cheaper alternatives. Honestly, I think you could easly replace TS with Inquisition of Kozilek or even Drill Bit (but Inquisition is 100x better). To be perfectly honest, Duress is great card already.
As far as beaters go, I'd update things a bit, yeah.
Hypnotic Specter is probably a bit long in the tooth these days but still serviceable here. I think Prowler is just perfect here. He applies pressure on them either way. Confidant is a no-brainer but expensive. SCrivener or Ruin Raider are decent budget options. The biggest creature upgrade of all probably has to be this guy but you have to sequence things properly. I run four. He's been reprinted a few times now so he's not too expensive either.
As far as getting your own life down, I'd probably recommend stuff like:
Hi, this is my old suiblack for critique. How should I update it?]
The best suicide aggro beater for black now is Death's Shadow. Play 4 of him.
Other than him, you can play a similar disruption suite and better black aggro creatures (e.g. Diregraf Ghoul, Bone Picker, Gurmag Angler,Tombstalker). That would be the simplest port of your old deck strategy into the present. If you have the money, splash green for Tarmogoyf and Abrupt Decay (if not then don't bother).
Land
17Swamp
Creatures
4Carnophage
4Nantuko Shade
4Hypnotic Specter
Enchantments
4Sarcomancy
Instants
4Dark Ritual
4Funeral Charm
4Snuff Out
4Smother
1Demonic Consultation
Sorceries
4Hymn to Tourach
4Duress
1Mind Twist
1Yawgmoth's Will
Please tell me what you think.
Death's Shadow
Street Wraith
Thoughtseize
Dismember
EDH - Ghave, Guru of Spores
EDH - Rafiq of the Many
EDH - Roon of the Hidden Realm
That is a pretty open-ended question.
Your deck appears to be about 20 years old (that's not in any way intended to sound insulting) and SO many cards have been printed since then.. A lot of our suggestions really depend on a) your budget and b) your typical playgroup. In other words, are you looking for our theoretical suggestions or more reasoanble ones? Also, are you usually playing duels or multiplayer?
There used to be a very good primer about Suicide Black on this very site but it seems this did not survive the migration of this site to the Curse platform. That's a pity.
I've run a dedicated Suicide Black deck since at least 2003 so I'm happy to help you here if I can. I've tried a lot of things over the years.
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
My budget is somewhere around 500$. I guess Duress should be updated to Thoughtseize.
I play duels with my playgroup. It's kitchentable casual powerless Vintage, not a lot of combo but some control and lots of aggro decks.
So. With that in mind..
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Sinkhole
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
4x of each (budget permitting) I probably wouldn't run *8* strip mine effects but I currently run 5 total in mine. The idea is hopefully hit a land and a card or two. Knocks a lot of decks back on their heels. If you draw multiples, a lot of decks are just DONE right there. This is how Sui-Black wins a lot of games--cheese them out. Oh, and Sinkhole has finally been reprinted. It's a lot cheaper now!
Now, Thoughtseize is a pretty damn expensive card (as is Wasteland) for not a huge amount of upside over the cheaper alternatives. Honestly, I think you could easly replace TS with Inquisition of Kozilek or even Drill Bit (but Inquisition is 100x better). To be perfectly honest, Duress is great card already.
As far as beaters go, I'd update things a bit, yeah.
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Dark Confidant
1 Blood Scrivener
1 Ruin Raider
1 Death's Shadow
Hypnotic Specter is probably a bit long in the tooth these days but still serviceable here. I think Prowler is just perfect here. He applies pressure on them either way. Confidant is a no-brainer but expensive. SCrivener or Ruin Raider are decent budget options. The biggest creature upgrade of all probably has to be this guy but you have to sequence things properly. I run four. He's been reprinted a few times now so he's not too expensive either.
As far as getting your own life down, I'd probably recommend stuff like:
1 Dismember
1 Snuff Out
1 Toxic Deluge
Of course, you want 4x Dark Ritual. (That's why I'm also recommending 4x Strip Mine--I assume no RL.) Season to taste.
If I had time, I'd probably write more. This is a few ideas though. Hope it helps.
Fully-powered 600-Card "Dream Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/dreamcube
450-Card "Artificer's Cube" https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/artificer
Cubing in Indianapolis...send me a PM!!
The best suicide aggro beater for black now is Death's Shadow. Play 4 of him.
Other than him, you can play a similar disruption suite and better black aggro creatures (e.g. Diregraf Ghoul, Bone Picker, Gurmag Angler,Tombstalker). That would be the simplest port of your old deck strategy into the present. If you have the money, splash green for Tarmogoyf and Abrupt Decay (if not then don't bother).
4 Dark Ritual
4 Fatal Push
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Snuff Out
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mind Twist
4 Death's Shadow
4 Bone Picker
4 Street Wraith
3 Tombstalker
//Lands: 20
3 Polluted Delta
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
9 Swamp
I assume you use Vintage B/R list and are on a budget (e.g. no Power9 or very expensive cards).