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Don't you just love how things always work out? I made a deck that I thought would be a rogue deck and would take everyone by surprise - it was a mono-red Grafted Skullcap/Ensnaring Bridge deck. In my playtesting, the deck did extremely well. I finished third in a local tournament before making modifications to the deck. I figured that I could do very well at States with my deck... But as it turns out, I finished 4-4. This was good, but I was hoping to do much better.

On the way home from States, I was looking over the spoiler for Onslaught again and noticed Oversold Cemetery. As soon as I saw this card, I was amazed. I just had to get a playset of it, along with a playset of Braids, Cabal Minion. I figured the two cards would work extremely well together, since I could sack the Braids during my upkeep and then get it back with the Cemetery. After a few different decks, I came up with one that used Krosan Tuskers, Undead Gladiators, and Walls of Mulch to draw cards and fill my library. However, this deck was way too slow, especially for the current environment. (This deck, however, is a good and fun multiplayer deck. Maybe I'll write an article about it sometime!)

I decided to keep the deck B/G - but I needed to make it much, much faster. After reviewing the current metagame and the dominance of U/G Opposition, U/G Threshold, U/G Madness, etc., I realized that B/G Madness could be strong, too...

I started putting together the deck by first picking out all the cards I'd like to be in it, as I usually do. Then it came time to cutting some cards. I reluctantly got rid of the Hystrodons. I decided I did not need the Mesmeric Fiends. I had to keep four Cabal Therapy and four Smothers, but I got rid of four Duresses. When all was said and done, I still had to get rid of four cards. From my then current decklist, if I would have gotten rid of any other creatures, I would have had too few to make Oversold Cemetery useful. Also, I needed nearly every non-creature card in my deck - so my only choice was to cut my four Oversold Cemeteries. I was a little upset that my precious playset was forced to just sit in my box of cards along with my other cards... But oh well. It was okay to cut them anyway, because nearly every deck that can runs enchantment hate in its sideboard thanks to the dominance of Opposition, Astral Slide, Mirari's Wake, Worship, and so on. Here is the deck I ended up with:

Maddening Minion
3x Putrid Imp
4x Wild Mongrel
2x Zombie Infestation
4x Basking Rootwalla
4x Arrogant Wurm
3x Roar of the Wurm
3x Living Wish
3x Braids, Cabal Minion
3x Phantom Centaur
4x Smother
4x Cabal Therapy
3x City of Brass
11x Forest
9x Swamp

Sideboard:
1x Braids, Cabal Minion
1x Druid Lyrist
1x Elvish Scrapper
1x Phantom Centaur
1x Spellbane Centaur
1x Silvos, Rogue Elemental
1x Visara the Dreadful
1x Putrid Imp
1x Genesis
1x Crypt Creeper
1x Silklash Spider
4x Naturalize

Now to explain my some of the card choices:

Putrid Imp, Wild Mongrel, Zombie Infestation: These are all great madness outlets. The Putrid Imp is an excellent one-drop - especially if you can discard a Rootwalla immediately and have two creatures out on your first turn. Imps are the equivalent of Careful Study for U/G.

Braids, Cabal Minion: Let's say that I play first-turn Cabal Therapy, second-turn Wild Mongrel, third-turn Arrogant Wurm, and fourth-turn Braids, with Smother back-up. That's not all that uncommon for this deck to pull off!

Living Wish: This basically lets you have six Braids in your deck. It can also be used to get"silver bullet" creatures from your sideboard.

Cabal Therapy: Some people may choose Duress over this card. I like Therapy because it can get rid of creatures, too - and you can use it twice. Also, after the first game, once you know what your opponent is playing, you can often first-turn Therapy to get rid of, say, two Astral Slides.

Smother: You play Merfolk Looter? I don't think so. Wild Mongrel? Nope. Roar of the Wurm? You wish. Goblin Piledriver? Stupid Sligh! Every black deck should play four of these, every time.

I think that most of the cards for the sideboard are self-explanatory.

How the deck beats you: It plays early threats like Putrid Imp, Mongrel, or Infestation, and follows these up with madness cards and 6/6 Wurm tokens. Once you have an attack going, play Braids to choke your opponent's resources and ensure your victory.

U/G Opposition:
These decks start off very similar, only U/G uses Merfolk Looter, whereas B/G Madness uses Putrid Imp and Zombie Infestation. Smother must be used to kill off opposing madness enablers (Merfolk Looter and Wild Mongrel). You can use Cabal Therapy to get rid of just about anything that may give you grief. Do they only have two mana untapped? Play Therapy, naming Arrogant Wurm. Are they in a good position to play Opposition? Get rid of it.

The great thing about Therapy is that even if they counter it the first time, you can play it again for zero mana. If you can get an early creature lead, beat them down, and drop a Braids, you've pretty much won.

After the first game, if you are really worried about Opposition hitting the table, side in 4 Naturalize. What you take out depends on what variant you are playing against. Remember, you can Wish for Spellbane Centaur to make Opposition much less powerful. You also have Therapy to get rid of Opposition way before it could ever hurt you.

U/G Madness, U/G Threshold:
Both of these match-ups are very similar to U/G Opposition. Kill off early madness enablers and Roar tokens and beat your opponent down with 6/6s, 4/4 tramplers, and 5/3 Phantoms. If the game stalls, Wish for Visara to kill a creature a turn or Silvos to simply win the game.

After the first game, abuse Cabal Therapy to get rid of tons of threats. It's great to get out an Infestation, discard two Rootwallas, play Therapy, and then sacrifice your 2/2 token to play it again.

Wake:
Yes, four Moment's Peace really buys time for Wake decks - and Wrath of God sucks. The key to winning this match-up is to Therapy away their Wraths and Wakes and doing whatever it takes to get Braids out before they can hit five mana. Wake decks don't run many/any creatures, so a fourth-turn Braids leaves your opponent with only three lands during his upkeep. If they don't have any lands, they can't play Moment's Peace! After the first game, get rid of useless Smothers for Naturalizes, just in case Wake hits the table.

Sligh:
Who doesn't hate playing against Sligh? The key here is to pray that your opponent doesn't play with Blistering Firecats. Any other creature in their deck can be dealt with by discarding two cards to Infestation to create a 2/2 chump blocker, along with Wurms or Rootwallas. This matchup is what makes me wish I could fit four Engineered Plagues into the sideboard to take care of Firecats. Oh well.

If possible, just use your Therapies to get rid of them before they can hurt you. If your opponent gets the least bit mana screwed, drop a Braids and sit back - because Sligh decks typically can only get four lands out at the most. If you can keep Braids alive, you can stall long enough for her to work her magic and clear the board for your Centaurs and Wurms.

Mono-Black Control:
This match-up isn't really that bad. Just get rid of their Mutilates - or the Diabolic Tutors that can be used to get Mutilates. If you can get Braids out, they'll have to sacrifice oh-so-precious lands. After a few turns, your opponent will have nothing on the board. Most of the cards in MBC decks that can really hurt you cost four or more mana, so get Braids out quickly.

UZI/Tog:
This match-up is the same as any other, basically. Therapy away counters and bounce cards and get out Braids to clear the board and seal the victory. Against most Tog decks, Smother will kill everything they will play.

AstroGlide:
Get rid of their Astral Slides at all costs, but Lightning Rift isn't that big of a deal. If you can Therapy away both of their key enchantments early and then get out Braids, you've got the game sealed. If you aren't so lucky - which will happen - and a Slide resolves, then you are basically screwed for game one. After that, side in four Naturalizes for four Smother. This provides you with eight ways of dealing with or preventing Slides and Rifts - not to mention that you can wish for a Druid Lyrist. Once you get rid of their enchantments, then you should easily win. If your opponent happens to get out an Exalted Angel, then Wish for your Silklash Spider and shoot it from the sky.

That's all of the review of the main match-ups. In my playtesting, this deck did extremely well. There are a few changes that could be made to the deck, though, if you'd like; some people prefer Duress over Cabal Therapy. Again, I love Therapy since it is so much more versatile than Duress. I wish I had room for a few Squirrel Nests, one more Living Wish, one more Roar of the Wurm, and another Zombie Infestation - but there are only so many card slots. Squirrel Nests are great by themselves, but they combo perfectly with Braids. Another Living Wish would just provide more durability to the deck and allow it to answer any threat. Another 6/6 for four mana could never hurt.

I'd love to add another Infestation to get another route for the madness cards and Roars. Not only do you get to play your cards cheaper (or free, in the Rootwalla's case), but you also get a 2/2 out of the deal. These are all cards that I would like to add. In my opinion, I think I have a fairly optimal build, but I'm sure changes could be made. If anyone cares to playtest this deck and you discover that some of my choices are subpar, then please email me at coinmagic45@hotmail.com and let me know what I did wrong! Thanks and have fun!