6 lands that enter tapped seems really loose for a format as fast as modern. maybe try fast lands like Darkslick Shores or even some off-color horizon lands for the lifeloss.

I agree with Nathanaiel. Also you might need more ways to turn on Death's Shadow . Rite of Consumption seems like the opposite of what you want to be doing, unless I'm missing something.

Maybe add Watery Grave to help the shadow?

Whoops I’m blind

@nathaniel @CheeseE

Thank you for yor input, gentlemen.

I realize that 6 untapped lands are not optimal. However I don't absolutely require an untapped land T1, like all the other shadow decks. If the meta shifts away from GY decks, I'll certainly replace the Bojuka bogs. And being able to control land flood with Lonely Sandbar is valuable. In fact, I've been testing a version with darkslick shores and I feel this one is superior.

As for Rite of Consumption , due to the continuous life loss, and if paired against very agressive decks, it extends my life span. Also hits planeswalkers. Testing proved I need some life gain either way

Dismember , Night's Whisper , Street Wraith , Notion Rain , and Bloodstained Mire are all the cards I could think of for this deck

Death's shadow player here. As incredible as it seems, DS does not pair that well (in my opinion) with dark confidant and bitterblossom because you do not choose the lifeloss. The ideal spot for you in the game is where you are at 5-6 lifepoints, clear to bolt but low life to have a big DS. Here, the 5-6 lifepoints spot, you will be staying it one turn or two, which can be not enough to shut the game.

Just my opinion but many have tried to pair DS with Bitterblossom or bob and it did not go well.

Honestly, I believe that Bitterblossom can absolutely work with Death's Shadow , I‘m just not sure it usually fits the gameplan. In this list, I feel that it‘s a decent fit with the midrange-y type gameplan. I do agree though that Dark Confidant is too uncertain for what the deck is trying to achieve, in that it can potentially chunk you hard when you‘re already low. It may be more worth it if you had trample enablers to fully make use of the sudden power spike, but going to 3 or lower life without any reliability on whether you can actually end the game seems too risky even for a shadow list.

Still, you are the person who has playtested this deck, and if you feel the small amount of lifegain helps you to overcome this issue, big props to you for deckbuilding.

Another idea that just popped into my head: Have you tried River of Tears at all? Might be worth a shot in a strict Dimir build. Taps for black turn 1, comes in untapped and while it is in some ways a blue-only land, if you have multiple untapped lands in your opening hand it usually works out fine.

@Toak83 thank you for taking the time to comment!

That being said, I'll be completely honest here and tell you I don't like your comment. That's not being salty or anything and I don't feel bad about it and I certainly don't intend to be mean here. If you don't have anything constructive to contribute, why comment at all?

The whole spirit of building this deck was exploring the idea of combining the cards you see in the description. If I, or we as a community, can make it work somehow, that would be really cool (hence the "needs help" tag).

I've been playing Shadow decks for a long time myself, and I'm aware of the challenges. One way to control life loss with Dark Confidant is Serum Visions for example. Playing mostly CMC 1 spells also helps a lot, and again, I'm using Rite of Consumption to be able to reset half of my life.

Please understand that not only I, but anybody, don't appreciate dismissive comments on their decks when they are having a certain idea and try to make it work, even if it ends up not being competitive or eventually unplayable at the end of the process.

Cheers, and thanks for reading!

@nathaniel wow, river of tears was totally under my radar! I'll put it in the maybe section and might toy around with it at some point, thanks!

The big battle is managing bitterblossom/bob life loss, however blue has tools to deal with this through card filtering. I'd look at topdeck control options- Condescend Treasure Map  ^Flip and Counterbalance are decent, and with a lot of relevant spells in the 1/2 mana cost slot you should have a lot of hits. Counterspells, counterbalance and bitterblossom was really good for a time.

Other interesting cards - Incubation / Incongruity for consistant creatures Ancient Stirrings style

Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip offers card advantage and then stablization in the danger zone.

Faerie Seer / Spellstutter Sprite /ninjitsu offers tools- not just for tempo/disruption, but also to tuck confidant back into hand.

Devour Flesh old school edict effect which can gain life in a pinch. Very situational

Font of Agonies interesting but impractical

Gonti's Machinations Black lightning helix/rift bolt hybrid. Often too slow, may work here.

Plunge into Darkness a weird nieche pick that sometimes saw play in ad nausiem. The lifegain mode is surprisingly strong in bitterblossom lists, and the 'oh crud I need an answer' is decent against combo.

Shadowfeed I saw this in someones sideboard instead of surgical- it tested surprisingly ok, and in a deck which needs life total manipulation is a contender.