Mono Black Aggro was one of the first archetypes I experimented with when the Standard rotation arrived. Initially, the plan involved several cheap creatures with aggressive bodies, but it gradually became clear that the best cards for this strategy didn't mesh well with the Metagame and the playstyle proposed by Standard's main black cards today.
Gradually, influenced by the early Standard results and references from other players' decks, the list transformed, gaining more creatures with a mana value three that offer two-for-one trades or extra abilities in addition to their efficient bodies, pushing it a little less towards the traditional Aggro aspect while still maintaining enough pressure to win games quickly without needing to overextend the match.
The Decklist
Our main plan involves playing proactive spells in the early turns, ideally sequencing Cecil, Dark Knight with Deep-Cavern Bat for disruption, and Preacher of the Schism or Unstoppable Slasher to expand board position, generate card advantage, or even significantly reduce the number of turns we need to win the game. Then, we use our spells to deal with the opponent's creatures and remove blockers.
If this strategy doesn't work, we have cards that offer two-for-one trades with the opponent's removal and creatures to maintain a steady flow of cards, or we can play Archenemy's Charm and return two of the most important threats to the hand, allowing for both an explosive early game and the possibility of playing resource parity against the Midrange.
Maindeck

The early game.
Cecil, Dark Knight is the best black one-drop in Standard today. A body that trades positively against most creatures, has Deathtouch, and transforms into a 4/4 Lifelink as the game progresses with little to no effort. It's essential for aggro mirrors, effective in midrange games, and a powerful early-game clock against control.
Dark Confidant offers a constant, cheap source of card advantage with an aggressive body that pressures early or becomes a target for Qarsi Revenant in longer games if needed.
Deep-Cavern Bat has a relatively insignificant body, but it removes an opponent's interaction or forces removal on them to recover a key card. It's essentially a tempo play in most cases.

Unstoppable Slasher significantly speeds up our turn clock whenever it deals combat damage to the opponent. Furthermore, it bypasses Shoot the Sheriff, forces a two-for-one with non-exiling removals, and is one of the best targets for Qarsi Revenant with its Flying counter.
Qarsi Revenant excels against aggro and becomes an evasive threat in midrange games. Its Renew ability turns any creature into an evasive threat and/or one that offers favorable trades in combat.
Preacher of the Schism doesn't have the most aggressive body, but it offers more creatures in play or more cards in hand for its owner while dodging various damage-based removals and trading favorably against most red creatures.
Elegy Acolyte is the closest we have to Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor at the moment. Having Lifelink helps recover the life loss if we reveal it with Dark Confidant, and triggering Void isn't a challenge for a list with so many removals.

The interaction.
Tragic Trajectory has become the best one-mana interaction in black now that Cut Down has left Standard. Since we're using twelve removals and already expect trades in combat, enabling Void is relatively easy in this list.
Shoot the Sheriff is the most comprehensive two-mana interaction in the format today, handling most existing creatures. Notable exclusions include Unstoppable Slasher and several creatures from Rakdos Lizards, which occasionally appear in ranked matches.
Archenemy's Charm does a bit of everything: it permanently deals with creatures and Planeswalkers, returns creatures from the graveyard to the hand, and also functions as a combat trick with the +1/+1 counter mode.
Bitter Triumph complements Shoot the Sheriff and Archenemy's Charm. One copy is enough to have a fifth answer against Kaito, Bane of Nightmares without giving up cheap interactions.

While we don't have interactions with Unholy Annex, Soulstone Sanctuary still guarantees a 3/3 for that can be targeted by Qarsi Revenant to gain Flying, Deathtouch, and Lifelink, and it's the only manland we have available for monocolored decks.
Midgar, City of Mako offers a land drop combined with a draw effect that we can leverage with Preacher of the Schism tokens or other creatures when we no longer need them. It also provides a way to get rid of Dark Confidant when we're too close to losing to one of its triggers.
Sideboard

Duress replaces our removal in games where we need to focus more on reactive spells like removal and counterspells instead of creatures. It's a common side-in in Control games, but it can also be used against Repurposing Bay, Omniscience, and Prowess.
Intimidation Tactics has a similar function, but it works against games where the opponent's creatures provide a lot of value for them, such as Overlords, or when we need to deal with specific artifacts like Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
Poison the Waters works the same way as Intimidation Tactics, but replaces Cycling and the exile effect with the ability to give -1/-1 to all creatures, which has proven to be an effective way to deal with Dimir Midrange and Izzet Prowess, and also works against Overlord of the Mistmoors tokens.

Graveyards have been an important resource for some archetypes, and we need specific answers against Izzet Cauldron and Yuna, Hope of Spira decks.
Ghost Vacuum deals with specific-target cards at instant speed, making it more appropriate against effects that target a specific target. Remember that Agatha's Soul Cauldron's effect is part of the card's activation cost, so we need to be more proactive against it if we want to deal with Vivi Ornitier.
Strategic Betrayal is more comprehensive and handles Yuna lists a bit better, as they tend to have multiple targets in the graveyard and few creatures to exile from the battlefield.

Zero Point Ballad is a cheap sweeper that we can use to remove our opponent's X/1 and X/2 without losing too many creatures. In longer games, it can also be used as a unconditional sweeper.
The extra copy of Elegy Acolyte is a flexible slot, but it plays well against Midrange and other archetypes where we know we'll be trading a lot of one-for-ones and need more attrition tools.
Sideboard Guide
Dimir Midrange
IN

OUT

Izzet Cauldron
IN

OUT

Izzet Prowess
IN

OUT

Gruul Aggro
IN

OUT

Azorius Control
IN

OUT

Naya Yuna
IN

OUT

Simic Counters
IN

OUT

Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Thanks for reading!














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