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Welcome to the third of a series of posts that will examine Elder Dragon Highlander Staples for budget players. Many of the top cards in EDH are monetarily too restrictive to get. I will go through one of the colors of the Top EDH cards and try to find suitable replacements at prices below $1. This month, we will look at Black. Black is considered by many to be one strongest colors in EDH. Black has some of the best tutors, creature control, graveyard recursion, and good card draw spells in the game. Luckily, about half of the best Black EDH cards are budget. On to the Top Black EDH cards...

This list was taken from MTGSalvations Forums, maintained by DalkonCledwin. Cheaper variants of each card are listed to the right ">>" or Budget Card is listed if the card sells for less than $1. The Honorable Mentions section lists other cards mentioned as EDH staples in other threads on many different Forums. All prices were added by me from five online MtG Singles resellers.
{Note: Prices for Magic cards are not static, they fluctuate from day to day. The prices were accurate as of the day this post was made.}

Black::
1 Ambition's Cost ($0.20-$1) >> Budget Card
1 Ancient Craving ($1.50-$2.50) >>  Hoarder's Greed ($0.10-$0.25)
2 Avatar of Woe ($4-$6.50) >>  Minion of Leshrac ($0.60-$1.25)
3 Beacon of Unrest ($1.50-$2.50) >>  Rise from the Grave ($0.25-$0.50)
4 Chainer, Dementia Master ($0.45-$2) >> Budget Card
5 Consume Spirit ($0.25-$0.50) >> Budget Card
6 Damnation ($11-$16) >>  Forced March ($0.50-$0.80)
7 Death Cloud ($1.50-$2.50) 
8 Decree of Pain ($1.50-$2.50) >>  Dregs of Sorrow ($0.45-$1.00)
9 Demonic Tutor ($7-$10) >>  Demonic Collusion ($0.50-$0.60)
10 Diabolic Tutor ($0.80-$1.50) >> Budget Card
11 Dread ($1-$2) >> Budget Card 
12 Grim Tutor ($130-$150) >>  Beseech the Queen ($0.75-$1.50)
13 Imperial Seal ($185-$300) >>  Night Dealings ($0.50-$0.60)
14 Infernal Darkness ($0.40-$1) >> Budget Card
14 Contamination ($1.25-$3)  
15 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni ($5-$9) >> Bone Dancer ($1-$2.50)
16 Insidious Dreams ($0.80-$1.50) >> Budget Card
17 Liliana Vess ($6-$10)  
18 Mind Twist ($3-$5) >>  Mind Shatter ($0.50-$0.80)
19 Myojin of Night's Reach ($0.50-$1.50) >> Budget Card
20 Necrologia ($0.10-$0.40) >> Budget Card
21 Necropotence ($3.50-$5) >> Phyrexian Etchings ($0.35-$0.50)
22 Nezumi Graverobber ($0.40-$1.50) >> Budget Card
23 Oversold Cemetery ($3.50-$4.50) >>  Oath of Ghouls ($050-$1)
24 Overwhelming Forces ($28-$55) >> Plague Wind ($0.75-$1.25) 
25 Phyrexian Arena ($2-$4)  >>  Gravestorm ($0.60-$1.50)
26 Profane Command ($2-$6) >>  Phthisis ($0.25-$0.30)
27 Promise of Power ($0.45-$0.50) >> Budget Card
28 Puppeteer Clique ($0.75-$2) >> Budget Card
29 Reiver Demon ($1-$2.50) >> Budget Card
30 Rend Flesh ($0.25-$0.50) >> Budget Card
31 Skeletal Scrying ($0.50-$1) >> Budget Card
32 Sorin Markov ($8-$12) >> Magus of the Mirror ($0.50-$0.60)
33 Syphon Mind ($0.10-$0.50) >> Budget Card
34 Vampiric Tutor ($11-$16) 
35 Yawgmoth's Will ($12-$15) >>  Yawgmoth's Agenda ($0.50-$0.60)

Honorable Mentions:
Tendrils of Corruption ($0.25-$0.50)
Withered Wretch ($0.50-$1.25)
Kagemaro, First to Suffer ($0.75-$1.25)
Promise of Power  ($0.50-$0.75)

1 Ancient Craving ($1.50-$2.50) >> Hoarder's Greed ($0.10-$0.25)
Ancient Cravings is sure to draw you more cards, but Hoarder's Greed might draw you more if you are extremely lucky (Note: My math might be wrong, but with 40% of most peoples decks being land, and revealing a land is an automatic clash loss, I figure that your odds of winning a clash are approximately 60% (the odds of you drawing a nonland) * 40% (the odds of your opponent drawing a land) = 25%). You can of course increase these odds by stacking your deck with Crystal Ball / Scroll Rack , and other such effects. Sign in Blood is another possibility that can be used to target someone else and also fairly inexpensive. Other possible choices are Night's Whisper ($1) that draws the same as Sign in Blood, Infernal Contract (and its Portal cousin Cruel Bargain isn't budget) that draw twice as much at a much higher cost.

2 Avatar of Woe ($4-$6.50) >> Minion of Leshrac ($0.60-$1.25)
This card was difficult to find a suitable replacement for. Avatar of Woe is so good because it is a fattie that can be cast sometimes for very little, it has evasion, and it can serve as creature control. If you didn't care about the heavy hitting, you could use Tsabo's Assassin who's drawback isn't that horrible, or Bounty Hunter that is twice as slow but doesn't have any targeting restrictions. If you weren't trying to get rid of utility creatures, and instead wanted to hit attackers then you could use Rathi Assassin (although their are few Mercenary cards worth searching for Silent Assassin , Shapesharer ).

3 Beacon of Unrest ($1.50-$2.50) >> Rise from the Grave ($0.25-$0.50)
If I were talking about multicolor budget staple cards, then I would probably mention Crime // Punishment / Hymn of Rebirth (except the former is only playable in 5 color, Doran, or Teneb decks). Beacon of Unrest comes with its own reusablity and the ability to revive artifacts which have a strong presence in EDH. Rise from the Grave isn't bad though and is easier to splash. Plus, Rise from the Grave was recently reprinted in M11. So go pick up a couple.

6 Damnation ($11-$16) >> Forced March ($0.50-$0.80)
Extinction and Tsabo's Decree both are only effective against tribal decks, and Do or Die only hits one person. Forced March is probably the best fit. If you have Cabal Coffers or other mana acceleration, then you can usually wipe the board of all but the highest mana cost creatures and regenerators. You can also use this fact to your advantage and play with creatures with regeneration.

7 Death Cloud ($1.50-$2.50) >> None
Death Cloud is a new take on the card Pox . Unfortunately, Smallpox doesn't have a big enough effect to do much in EDH, and the other two Balance cards are in the wrong color. Bond of Agony could be a good finisher, but doesn't hit any of the other resources like Death Cloud/Pox do.

8 Decree of Pain ($1.50-$2.50) >> Dregs of Sorrow ($0.45-$1.00)
Another difficult choice to find a replacement. The cycling ability (while nearly uncounterable) of Decree of Pain is easy to find a replacement for, Massacre is sometimes free to cast, Infest is cheaper, and if you wanted an instant like the original you have Hideous Laughter , Havoc Demon has a fat body, evasion and -5/-5 instead, and Bane of the Living has a variable Infest ability that is nearly uncounterable like the original. The card drawing Damnation is the difficult part. Overwhelming Forces fits but as a Portal 3 Kingdoms card, it isn't cheap. Dregs is by far the best fit. You can't get the cheap infest ability, but in EDH you don't see token decks as much. You see usually fewer than 15% of a deck is creatures (unlike regular multiplayer where you see 30%), and in EDH those creatures are usually bigger and more powerful.

9 Demonic Tutor ($7-$10) >> Demonic Collusion ($0.50-$0.60)
It is difficult to find tutors for cheaper than $1. Tutors never seem to be that cheap.   Beseech the Queen is probably the cheapest tutor in monoblack if you don't have the $7 to shell out for Demonic Tutor, and is the easiest to splash outside of its colors. It does have the drawback of not allowing you to grab cards that cost more than the number of lands you control so you likely can't use it for some sort of reanimation strategy and you have to reveal the card (which can work against you, or for you in some cases). Diabolic Intent costs the same, but has the additional cost of sacrificing a creature. Rhystic Tutor is to situational, for a format so slow that usually every player isn't tapped out. Night Dealings might be even better since it gives you card advantage over the course of the game, but you do need cards that damage your opponents. Demonic Collusion doesn't need anything else. It tutors, and can tutor again, and again as long as you can keep drawing cards ( Greed , Book of Rass ).

12 Grim Tutor ($130-$150) >> Beseech the Queen ($0.75-$1.50)
I would want to recommend  Death Wish here, but I have recently been informed that EDH doesn't have any concept of "outside the game" (Sideboards and Shahrazad withstanding). With that in mind, and the fact that I am running out of tutors to suggest (I don't want to have to resort to Transmute cards). Beseech the Queen is going to fit this slot.

13 Imperial Seal ($185-$300) >> Night Dealings ($0.50-$0.60)
If you are playing 5 color, you have Bringer of the Black Dawn that acts as a recurring Imperial Seal. Otherwise I am going to resort to another previously mentioned tutor Night Dealings . This card is especially good with cards that damage each opponent like Pestilence , Plague Spitter , Thrashing Wumpus , Pestilence Demon .

14 Contamination ($1.25-$3) >> None
As much as I tried, there is no real replacement for Contamination/ Infernal Darkness (luckily Infernal Darkness is budget). What is so amazing about these cards is that they completely deny your opponents access to all colored mana from their lands except , and they stop multiple mana land from generating more than as well (bye bye Tolarian Academy ). They are reduced to getting their mana from artifact sources (and a few enchantments). The closest thing I could find to help lock down your opponents mana is Desolation . Desolation slows down the game until someone finds a Disenchant, but until then, they must use mana dorks or artifact mana or hamper their mana production.

15 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni ($5-$9) >> Bone Dancer ($1-$2.50)
I almost hate listing a card that has an average price of over $1, but Bone Dancer fits as an excellent replacement to Ink-Eyes and it is less than half the price. Bone Dancer triggers off of not being blocked, so it even works with other Ninjitsu creatures. It also comes from a great tribe, with cards like Zombie Master , Death Baron to help your Bone Dancer get through, or at least win creature stalemates.

17 Liliana Vess ($6-$10) >> None
Planeswalkers are always a force to be reckoned with.

18 Mind Twist ($3-$5) >> Mind Shatter ($0.50-$0.80)
There isn't much to say here. Mind Shatter is a functional reprint of Mind Twist with an additional mana in the casting cost. If you wanted repeatability to do this multiple times, Greel, Mind Raker could be nice, especially with cards like Death of a Thousand Stings , Exile into Darkness . Bottomless Pit hits everyone, including you, or you could the better Gibbering Descent and stay Hellbent to avoid hitting yourself and to skip your own upkeep for cards like Infernal Darkness , Koskun Falls .

21 Necropotence ($3.50-$5) >> Phyrexian Etchings ($0.35-$0.50)
Minions' Murmurs is probably a lot cheaper in the long run than Phyrexian Etchings, but probably requires a deck built around tokens and it isn't reusable. Skeletal Scrying requires that you exile cards from your graveyard (this may or may not be important), but it is an instant which lets you cast it EOT of your opponent to your right. Oath of Lim-Dûl doesn't really trade life for cards like Necropotence does, and it costs twice the mana of Greed to activate and has a nasty drawback. Greed is a fairly decent fit for Necropotence, it won't be feared by your opponents as much either. But, I think overall Phyrexian Etchings does the best at recreating the power of Necropotence. You can even abuse it a bit by getting some Age Counters on it, and skipping your upkeep with Gibbering Descent / Eon Hub , or keeping the number of counters down with Power Conduit . You don't even have to pay any life if you can Exile the enchantment ( Wipe Clean / Return to Dust ) instead of letting it go to the graveyard.

23 Oversold Cemetery ($3.50-$4.50) >> Oath of Ghouls ($0.50-$1)
While Oath of Ghouls doesn't afford you the card advantage that Oversold Cemetery does, it does have a useful Plankton effect that everyone will appreciate you for. You could play mean with cards like Scrabbling Claws / Relic of Progenitus since there are so many Legendary Eldrazi floating around. A similar plankton card is Endbringer's Revel , with a much higher cost to return cards. If you did want card advantage Phyrexian Reclamation has a fairly cheap cost (although it does cost as much as Oversold Cemetery each time you want to use it). Dawn of the Dead has a small upkeep cost, and requires a sacrifice outlet if you don't want to keep exiling creatures. Disturbed Burial / Grim Harvest stays in your hand if you would care to have a non-permanent. If you prefer your card advantage all at once, there is Death Denied (that likes Soulshift creatures and Hana Kami ), and Reaping the Graves which will net you quite a few creatures when cast after other players counter wars. Tortured Existence is also a favorite of mine, but it needs support cards like Necroplasm (Dredge), Blood Speaker (with Demons), Entropic Eidolon + Shambling Shell , Grave Scrabbler (madness), Woebearer .

24 Overwhelming Forces ($28-$55) >> Plague Wind ($0.75-$1.25)
I am completely out of cards that let you wipe the board of creatures, and let you draw cards. Plague Wind at least kills all of your opponents creatures like Overwhelming Forces. Other possible contenders are Season of the Witch (which is slightly out of budget), the anti-tribal Extinction / Tsabo's Decree , Endemic Plague might be fun if you were playing with lots of Changelings. A personal favorite of mine is Spreading Plague , that wants to be played with colorless creatures or color changing creatures Wild Mongrel . Spreading Plague can be lots of fun if multiple players are playing tricolored decks, instead of monocolored decks.

25 Phyrexian Arena ($2-$4) >> Gravestorm ($0.60-$1.50)
While you could do some combo with Phyrexian Rager + Skull Collector , it is difficult to pull of any two card combo in a 99 card deck, without lots of tutors ( Dimir Machinations ). Graveborn Muse + Tombstone Stairwell (tutor for with Dimir House Guard ) might also be interesting, but Graveborn Muse is reduced to only working in Zombie decks. Dark Confidant got reprinted as an enchantment Dark Tutelage , but neither of those will be budget cards any time in the near future.

26 Profane Command ($2-$6) >> Phthisis ($0.25-$0.30)
It is difficult to find a card that does everything that Profane Command does. Phthisis can serve to slow your opponents from dropping fatties (and is half the mana cost of Profane Command when you suspend it),

32 Sorin Markov ($8-$12) >> Magus of the Mirror ($0.50-$0.60)
While Magus of the Mirror isn't nearly as powerful as Sorin, because you can use Sorin the turn you cast him to bring a player immediately down to 10 life. Magus does have a similar enough effect. I doubt that Sorin Markov ever lasts long enough to pull off his ultimate (barring Doubling Season tricks), and with a little help Vedalken Orrery you just might be able to pull off a Magus of the Mirror life switch.

34 Vampiric Tutor ($11-$16) >> None
If this was Gold cards, then Bringer of the Black Dawn acts as a Vampiric Tutor every upkeep. If we are only looking at Black cards, then the Diabolic Intent (not nearly budget) or Rhystic Tutor are the closest as mentioned before in a previous budget tutor replacement.

35 Yawgmoth's Will ($12-$15) >> Yawgmoth's Agenda ($0.50-$0.60)
Yawgmoth's Agenda isn't anywhere near as powerful as Yawgmoth's Will, but it can work fairly well with lots of instants, or with help from Vedalken Orrery . If you don't want those sort of limitations, Toshiro Umezawa also likes lots of instants (especially those with Rebound...not that there are many of those).