pain42

You should definitely make Manaweft Sliver your friend for this deck, otherwise looks like it'll work alright

Use Cover of Darkness instead of Dirge of Dread, it's two mana and permanent, trust me, it works excellently

also you're mono black and not running Korlash, Heir to Blackblade.... why?

i realize your on budget, but after looking at this deck again you're going to want more than one isochron scepter, mostly because it's going to draw LOTS of hate, so having a spare would not be a bad idea

i'm not saying she's bad, but if his goal is going to be more token output then sun's champion would be the way to go, quite honestly knight-errant is one of my favorite planeswalkers period, however there is a point were pooping out three 1/1's can be a more useful feat than just 1 1/1 at a time. But yes, errant is overboard OP lol

this is my extraction/mill/control if you're interested

http://www.mtgvault.com/pain42/decks/lich-lord-rising/

yup, it's a favorite of mine, i use it to rip lands and do kills in my mill deck

Highly Recommend Sadistic Sacrament, otherwise i like this a lot :)

You also might want to consider the newest elspeth instead of the one your running for increased soldier output

fair enough, a well thought out use if i do say so myself

I would recommend breaking//entering or paranoid delusions instead of dimir charm, the first being straight up better mill, the second being better long game.

also nightveil specters... respect sir

he has the potential to be the scariest, but honestly, not many a deck type are going to be able to generate 69 mana to do crazy damage with Polukranos that way, most that you're going to monstrosity with on average is at a max 11-13 mana, plus mana gen maybe giving you an extra ten mana or so, making him a 16/16 without trample, you just killed 5 3/3's without killing polukranos as a side affect, now that's turn 13

whereas in that same time, i could have a primordial hydra on the field (which can hit at turn two as a 1/1 if i'm feeling brave, which in the group i play with is usually the way to go) and by turn 5 (presuming turn two drop) it'll be an 8/8, turn 6 it gains trample and becomes a 16/16 and it's only downhill for your opponents from there, by turn 13 when polukranos just went monstrous, primorial will be a 2048/2048 with trample.

Not to mention Kalonian Hydra, who will make all your other hydras double whenever it attacks.

And the even better part is that neither of them are legendary, so there could potentially be four of each of them on the field.

I highly recommend Jace's Phantasm and Consuming Abberation, and if you'd like some ideas you can follow the link to a deck i'm currently working on putting together

http://www.mtgvault.com/pain42/decks/lich-lord-rising/

was sorta my thought, i personally like zhur-tha because even though it is for everyone, when you're playing a hydra based strategy he makes them just that much more of a threat, especially in partnership with savageborn if you can give it trample, though i do agree that his mana tends to be a drawback

You might also consider Savageborn Hydra and Zhur-Tha Ancient here, the first at least for an alternate hydra if nothing else, and i personally prefer it over Polukranos, Zhur Tha will help your big baddies get much bigger and badder, and if you run it with savageborn hydra it turns into 1 mana = 1 +1/+1 counter

Archetype of Courage and Satyr Firedancer perhaps?

This deck should definitely get an Arcum Dagson, nothing better than all indestructible artifacts on your opponents turn 4

I highly recommend Pyromancer Ascension, Pyromancer's Gauntlets , and Quest for Pure Flame

Also Pyromancer's Swath, but i'd take any of the above over it any day

Well, that's what really matters, is that you like how it runs.

Not a bad idea, but if you're going to stay mono black you could also consider Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Though you might also want to consider going G/B for reanimator in standard at the moment, or just to run Jarad or Varolz to make some use out of the contents of the graveyard. Right now it seems like you've got a lot of stuff to put stuff in your graveyard, but nothing to use it for once it's there, other than to be reanimated by the champion of stray souls

You need three more cards, otherwise I like the idea, reanimator decks are lots of fun