Source: Inquest #18 (Oct 1996), p.53; author: Jeff Hannes

"In a game environment already short on efficient card-drawing tools, Necropotence is the ultimate in card advantage.  You can draw a card for the measly cost of one life, and you can do it as many times as you want.  The only real drawback is that you lose your draw phase.  Fortunately, if you're ahead, that's not much of a problem.  Necrodecks rely on card advantage to stay ahead, using Hymns to Tourach to knock down your opponent and using the Necropotence to keep your card supply full.

Amazingly efficient creatures like Hypnotic Specters and Orders of the Ebon Hand do the dirty work, while Nevinyrral's Disks keep you safe from just about anything.  Life-gainers like Ivory Tower, Zuran Orb and Drain Life insure that you'll be able to consistently use Necropotence without drawing yourself to death.  Put it all together and you've got the most powerful Type II deck out there.

HOW TO PLAY IT
- Know when to play the Necropotence.
It's the first rule of playing a Necrodeck.  Too many people make the mistake of throwing down the Necropotence as soon as possible.  Their eyes light up when they see a Dark Ritual and Necropotence in their opening draw.  We'll make it easy for you: this is bad.  The idea behind the Necrodeck is that it gives you a card advantage when you and your opponent are both low on cards.
By playing it early in the game, you're denying yourself the free cards of a regular draw phase.  Wait until your opponent is low on cards, or until you've only got one or two in hand, and then drop the Necropotence to fill up your hand.

- Keep a Disk handy.
Nevinyrral's Disk is the key to a Necrodeck.  Without it, your chances of winning decrease significantly.  Besides giving black the necessary capability to deal with artifacts and enchantments, it allows you to off your own Necropotence when you don't need it anymore.  If you've got a handful of cards and your opponent has none, you don't need the Necropotence any more.

- Don't play all your creatures at once.
Unless you need them for defense, you should pretty much never have more than two creatures on the board at once.  The last thing you want is for four creatures to be knocked out by a single Wrath of God or Pyroclasm.  It's also good to save creatures so that when you set off a Disk you've got some attackers in reserve.

- Take your time.
Despite what it looks like, the Necrodeck is not a speed deck.  Sure, a first turn Hypnotic Specter never hurts, but the idea isn't to overwhelm your opponent.  As long as your opponent has cards in hand, always use the Hymns before you do anything else.  You're much better knocking that Lightning Bolt out of their hand before you play your Black Knight.
Don't think you have to kill your opponent in a frenzy.  Wait for the game to settle into a balance and then drop a Necropotence to gain the card advantage that should carry you to victory.

HOW TO BEAT IT
- Don't get rid of the Necropotence.
As strange as it sounds, by knocking off your opponent's Necropotence, you're doing them a great favour.  Since Necropotence can always be used the turn it comes into play (destroying it doesn't prevent it's controller from getting cards at the beginning of their discard phase), your opponent will get to fill their hand no matter what you do.  By destroying the Necropotence, you're allowing them to regain their normal draw.  Save your Disenchants for the more dangerous cards, like Ivory Tower, Zuran Orb and the Disks.

- Direct damage is usually not the way to win.
Despite what many people may think, a deck full of Lightning Bolts and Incinerates isn't necessarily the bane of a Necrodeck.  If you don't take the time to off their creatures, they'll run all over you.  The alternative us the use mass creature-killers like Pyroclasm and Serrated Arrows and defensive beasts like Dancing Scimitar to keep your opponent's weenies at bay.  If you can set up a strong creature defense, pound away with direct damage.  Otherwise, you'll probably have to rely on hefty creatures (especially flying ones) to do the deed.

Of course, if all else fails, you could always try using a Juxtapose or Gauntlets of Chaos to give your opponent a Library of Leng..."