You can pay the base cost and get an effect, or pay more for the effect to get stronger
Here are ten staple win condition cards that I look to when doing new builds: Craterhoof Behemoth Description : Craterhoof Behemoth is a creature that grants all your creatures trample and +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control
These cards might be gruesome, ugly, and more than a little weird, but theyve also got heart (which is still beating despite being ripped from someones chest)
This means buying an inner-sleeve (its a tighter fit, so the regular, or outer, sleeves can sleeve over them well)
And then just keep up the card flow
Skeletal Scrying (S, Block) While blue usually draws cards for a mana cost only, black ends up paying life for that privilege