There will be a number of changes to update to the list eventually, then I can continue primer work. I've been getting some games in via webcam and cockatrice lately and have become more comfortable with loosely swapping cards to try things out on a whim. Notably,
Demon of Dark Schemes didn't last long before getting swapped back to
Massacre Wurm (it's so good it doesn't need flying). The games have given me good feedback on what I like about this approach and what things work or don't. It's been fantastic. I've played more in the past 2-3 months than in the whole 12 months before them.
But for now, set reviews.
Commander 2020
Nikara, Lair Scavenger -
Dark Prophecy would be easier for me, as the counter clause is more difficult (even though
Yawgmoth can technically supply them).
Boneyard Mycodrax - This is a function where I'd prefer
Nighthowler, as Scavenge is one-time. I also don't always end up with a ton of creatures in the graveyard, and I'd want quite a number for
4b to be worth the +1/+1 counters.
Daring Fiendbonder - Sorcery speed is a bummer, but indestructibility is alright. I could answer a need for indestructibility with
Darksteel Plate instead, but the main protection in this list is recursion in the first place.
Deadly Rollick - It's a nice option if you're likely to have your commander out. The irony is that I'm more likely to spend mana during my turn to develop some board presence (possibly not having any up for this), and more likely to leave mana up if I have Chainer out. I kindof want an instant-speed "target creature's controller sacrifices it" instead. It's bizarre that
Mercy Killing and
Sarkhan the Mad kindof do this and also give the controller something in exchange. And
Lingering Death is slow.
Dredge the Mire - Combined with heavy, selective graveyard removal this could be quite decent. I still rather prefer
Sepulchral Primordial myself for this type of function, but it's an okay card. With enough life+mana it can be looped with
XHD as a DIY, partial
Rise of the Dark Realms while looking a bit more innocent up front.
Mindleecher - Pretty good flavor-wise, and giving something flying (possibly making it 6/6) ain't bad.
Gonti's effect is far better, I think, since it lets you cast things with any type of mana, solving color issues. Sure, Mindleecher lets you play lands that happen to get exiled, but casting other people's stuff would be more desirable to me and so would being able to repeat this effect. If I need some flying enablement, there's still
Fallen Ideal.
Netherborn Altar - If Chainer gets expensive to cast, I'm not sure the lifeloss isn't just shooting myself in the foot. But at least it's an artifact that
XHD can return.
Parasitic Impetus - To me, the most useful bit is the lifegain, but I would expect this to be unreliable lifegain. Put it on too small a creature and they'll just attack into someone who will block and kill it (slow kill like
Lingering Death). Put it on a big creature and it can wreck things for a bit maybe, unless they have
a way to tap it. Kinda works with
Vilis if you put it on something of your own, though.
Species Specialist - Very decent tribal+aristocrats draw engine. I could indeed name Nightmare once I've got Chainer going with a sac outlet, or name Spirit when I'm using
Bloodghast or
Nether Traitor. Chainer can reset it to another creature type, and when he does so it'll be a Nightmare and would draw a card for itself dying, unlike
Grim Haruspex or
Harvester of Souls. Still probably easier to try
Dark Prophecy for both tokens and nontokens, but I might test this one because I could make
some tokens and draw a bunch off them dying but without losing life, too.
Titan Hunter - For large creature sacrifices I'd rather use
Disciple of Griselbrand, but this is not terrible for sacking tokens to. I'd almost want to put lifelink on this, though, but that would require opponents not to be sacrificing creatures enough to trigger for gaining me life, and I'm definitely more interested in those dying (see
Sangromancer). Probably worth some testing, though. It can sac itself, so if I have abundant mana somehow I can net gain life looping this with Chainer.
Nesting Grounds - Just a generally useful card that I'll probably end up with a couple copies of, whether they're useful in Chainer or not (since I don't do much with counters).
Manascape Refractor - This one appeals to me. My commander is slow enough that a 3-mana rock probably isn't a loss of tempo, but this could be extra activation of Coffers, Nykthos, Phyrexian Tower, or even just opponent's colored mana for a stolen creature's activated ability.
Ikoria
Bastion of Remembrance - Harder-to-remove
Zulaport Cutthroat. I rather like it and would definitely use it if this list were more into the life-leeching aristocrat triggers.
Bushmeat Poacher - I think this actually deserves some testing, but there are some downsides. 1: The
part of the cost means I can't use it right away and can only use it once per turn (without a loop involving haste). 2: The "another" clause means I can't sacrifice it to itself. A minor point, but I have used it to dodge exile removal or to loop things with
Living Death (I usually have a better sacrifice method when looping that anyway). Otherwise the gain life equal to toughness
plus drawing a card is great. After all, I'm testing
Ayara, First of Locthwain.
Cavern Whisperer - There's not enough mutate in mono-black to make this a feasible source of discard. I'd rather reanimate
Liliana's Spector or
Burglar Rats repeatedly if I were going to brute force it without
Oppression or
Mindslicer.
Chittering Harvester - Pretty much the same reasoning as the above. Also, Chainer is
not Nightmare-tribal. At least not in this way.
Dark Bargain - This is not bad, though. I would test this. It's like
Ancient Craving /
Ambition's Cost but friendlier for reanimator. Also, as a minor note, it doesn't trigger stuff like
Smothering Tithe/
Consecrated Sphinx/
Notion Thief.
Dirge Bat - Flash is one thing, but
4bb is a bit much for a simple targeted destroy.
Duskfang Mentor - The lifelink counter is okay. There's
much easier ways of giving my creatures lifelink. If you're in a lifelink-focused deck then this becomes better for its +1/+1 counter pump.
Extinction Event - Sure, it exiles tokens, but there are plenty of ways to deal with them. This seems like a build-around where you use mostly odd or even cmc creatures in your deck in order to make it asymetric and mostly leave your stuff alone, but even then it's rather a crapshoot what's going to be useful against opponents.
Grimdancer - Same issue as with some others above regarding ability counters and Nightmare-tribal.
Heartless Act - Some have said they wouldn't run this on principle, because the poor kitty is gonna die. But this is a pretty damn good removal spell, and mono-black shouldn't hold such qualms.
Insatiable Hemophage - Same Nightmare-tribal and mutate issues as above.
Memory Leak - It's a decent piece of cardboard since they're not going to do instant-speed versions of this. I think I like
Agonizing Remorse a little better, though.
Unbreakable Bond - Reanimation sorcery at 5 cmc is pretty standard in black. The lifelink counter is alright, but I think haste from
Bond of Revival is a hair better, though the lifelink could do fun stuff with Pestilence-like
creatures.
Unexpected Fangs - I'm probably sticking with my opinion that counters are too fragile in this list.