Mono B Clerics

Game Plan

Mono B Clerics opens as a disruptive aggro-combo deck that uses Dark Ritual to operate a full tempo bracket ahead of its mana base. The first two turns establish the board under cover of Duress and Cabal Therapy, stripping the one or two answers the opponent is most likely to hold before committing Rotlung Reanimator to the table. Once Rotlung Reanimator is in play, every Cleric that dies becomes a 2/2 Zombie token, transforming the board from a handful of modest bodies into a self-replenishing resource. Priest of Gix accelerates this engine further: its enters-the-battlefield ability produces three black mana on the spot, letting the deck cast a second three-drop the same turn before feeding the Priest into the sacrifice outlet. The primary kill is Dark Supplicant: tap and sacrifice three Clerics to put Scion of Darkness directly into play, with Rotlung Reanimator replacing each sacrificed Cleric with a Zombie, so the board grows even as the combo fires.

When the fast Scion of Darkness path is unavailable (a removal-heavy opponent keeps Rotlung Reanimator off the table, or Dark Supplicant is answered), the deck pivots to Cabal Archon as a sustained drain engine. Each activation sacrifices one Cleric to drain two life and gain two, and Rotlung Reanimator replenishes the body count immediately, letting the drain loop iterate as long as Clerics are in hand or the graveyard. Unearth recycles fallen Rotlung Reanimators or key Clerics to restart the loop after board wipes. Withered Wretch and Shepherd of Rot serve as the in-reserve Cleric count needed to keep activations live, while Bad Moon converts the accumulated Zombie tokens, byproducts of the engine, into a lethal board-wide pump that ends games without needing the combo at all.