Ah, land destruction, one of the most hated strategies in Magic. Not just because it's mean, but because it sucks to lose to, mostly because it seems like a no-brainer to put together.
Doesn't mean it can't be good....
[This is a more budget-friendly version of my normal "Cursed Earth" deck (http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/cursed-earth), which includes the very budget-UNfriendly Fulminator Mage. This deck was stripped down for the Spellflinging Budget Challenge taking place at http://www.mtgvault.com/couch312/decks/spellflinging-challenge.]
Black has a long history of land destruction, going back to the days of Blight and the famous Sinkhole (perhaps the best land destruction card of all time).
In the last few years, however, black has moved away from the theme a bit, and most of its most recent land destruction is far inferior to what red offers. Thankfully, Modern still has a number of true gems.
- Rain of Tears is great; at only 3 CMC, it can start shutting down the opponent a turn earlier than anything else, which is really key for good land destruction/control decks.
- Poison/Drain the Well swing life totals one way or the other, both in your favor.
- Caustic Rain is a rare land exiling card, which is great for getting around problem cards like Crucible of Worlds and indestructible lands. (The sideboard has two more if needed.)
- Befoul is your typical 4 CMC land destroyer, but can also be turned against troublesome creatures in a pinch.
- Pooling Venom can keep your opponent from using key lands early on while you zap others around them, or forces them to take damage to keep themselves in the game. And later, when that land has gone beyond its' usefulness to you, you can destroy it. (Contaminated Ground is similar and cheaper, but without the built-in destruction ability.)
- Polluted Bonds doesn't destroy lands, but punishes the opponent who quickly tries to replenish them. If you face an opponent that's able to do that rapidly, another copy can be pulled in from the sideboard.
- And finally, while Nettlevine Blight gives the opponent a choice of what to destroy, it has a couple key advantages. 1.) It causes the player to sacrifice lands, getting around things that might prevent you from destroying them directly. 2.) It triggers every turn. 3.) It gives the opponent the really tough choice of letting their (hopefully) few remaining lands go or sacrificing their defense against your creatures. Neither is good.
Speaking of your creatures, they all contribute to the cause as well. Polluted Dead and Helldozer simply destroy lands. Mana Skimmer is nice for taking additional lands out of play until you can destroy them, putting a tighter noose on the mana-starved opponent.
And then finally, the artifacts. The Spellbomb ensures those destroyed lands won't be coming back, and Dingus Egg's inclusion is rather obvious.
The sideboard features more land hate, Hero's Downfall as some catch-all removal, and Blistergrub, who probably doesn't seem to fit until you realize that Contaminated Ground, Urborg, and Evil Presence force your opponents to have Swamps. Suddenly that swampwalk is looking pretty nice....