General for the armies of the Three Kingdoms. For me he was the first commander that really made me want to play this format. His raw power combined with his awesome flavor and history really drew me into it. Not to mention his rarity and price tag, I'm a sucker for expensive and exclusive cards. My English Portal Three Kingdoms version is the crown jewel of my magic collection.
I would like to thank MCR for inspiring me to play the deck and I would also like to thank bobthefunny for the current builds position. No other users inspired as many choices as they did. Those two users’ deck lists are here MCR and bobthefunny.
Deck History:
This deck started out as a big mana drains deck based around MCR's deck list. It had a lot less stax based cards and a lot more combo pieces. These days the deck is a synergy deck where most of the cards are trying to work together. The major change from a big mana control deck to creatures and death triggers increased the fun and power of the deck quite a lot. I was able to remove cards that didn't do much and add in cards that allow me to keep casting spells and playing magic through all phases of the game. It is still mean and competitive but in a less boring way. The deck is not so centered on non-interactive sorceries anymore so it has a lot more lines of play then just Drain Life and Exsanguinate.
Recently the deck has moved away from a larger curve and cut some of the expensive artifacts. This is an effort to speed up the deck. A lower curve means that you can more consistently cast your spells and have an impact on the game.
No mono-black commander is better than Xiahou Dun (who I will now abbreviate as XHD). His ability is the most flexible and unique of all the top mono black generals. His simplicity and utility are paramount. Sometimes the simpler things are the most beautiful. Let us go through his competition.
Balthor is probably tied (with Chainer) for second best mono black commander. His ability allows you reanimate every creature in your graveyard. This is splashier then XHD, as he can only get one card back to your hand, but there are some downsides to Balthor. He exiles himself, so he doesn't trigger powerful cards like Grave Pact or Skullclamp, you can’t reuse him from the graveyard, his ability allows your opponents to profit as well, and sometimes you just don't have the right draw for him. If you don't have a large amount of creatures in the grave he doesn't do anything. Since XHD can re use any black card, you never run out of targets. He also does trigger all 'dies' requirements unlike Balthor.
Jmtd has an excellent primer for Chainer here.
Chainer is my second favorite black legend and XHD's main wing man. His ability allows you to steal your opponent’s creatures, reanimate yours, and all at instant speed for a low cost. This is a major bonus over both XHD and Balthor as they are both operating out of your own grave yard. Chainer's only downside is that when he dies you exile all the creatures that he has summoned so smart opponents can use that against you. XHD gets the leg up here for me because sometimes you need a board wipe or a tutor.
Shirei is a 'build around me general'. He is very powerful but restricts you to a certain style of play and card choices. It's not for me, but it might be something you want to look at. (I'm very ignorant of the cards one might use in a Shirei deck but I've seen him played to great effect.)
Mikaeus is a very powerful man. The only problem with him is that he brings a lot of hate for being a two card combo with Triskelion. People already hate on mono black for being what it is and Mikaeus doesn't help on that front. That being said, he would be an awesome general if you based your deck around sacrificing a lot of creatures. His reanimation ability is free and powerful.
Korlash is a huge beater. He can be powerful as a voltron (one creature with equipment) general, but that is all he can do. One could even argue that XHD is better than him at that because of built in evasion. Korlash is obviously powerful with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and some sort of swamp walking effect. Zombie Trailblazer or Filth.
When you read Xiahou Dun you probably imagine me sacrificing him over and over and casting Demonic Tutor like a mad man. This is far from the case and I rarely tutor for anything that would let me abuse him like Phyrexian Reclamation. I find that the more you do in commander the more of a threat you are, no matter what you're doing. It is much better to save him for when you really need him. I am not scared to use him at any point, even on turn four, but only if I really have to. There are engines that allow you to abuse the heck out of him but they are better saved for the late game where you will just win (hopefully) and politicking doesn't matter anymore.
Opening Hands:
I think that the backbone of your game should be making all of your land drops. If you can find something powerful like Phyrexian Arena or Pilgrim's Eye you can keep the lands flowing. My group doesn't use Partial Paris mullgians so I have to be pretty careful about what I keep. If you are using those rules then its pretty easy to get rid of high costing spells and keep any cheaper spells. I really like early draw in this deck, maybe a tutor. If you can find either of those you will be okay. Also keep an eye out for sweet synergies like turn 3 Liliana of the Veil and turn four Sangromancer. Anything that buffers your life total is nice as well as you are gonna want to turn life into cards at some point.
Step 1: Kill for Profit
1a: Draw Cards
All decks need fuel and this one is no different. I really like to have multiple ways to get physical cards in my hand. Sometimes all you need in the early game is something that can draw a couple of cards. Sign in Blood and Dark Tutelage are great examples.
1b: Play Swamps
All need mana as well. You obviously don't want to be missing tons of land drops in the early game. Anything that can keep you feet stuck in the muck is going to help the cause. Pilgrim's Eye and Liliana of the Dark Realms are the types of cards that help us here. There is always Crucible of Worlds and fetch lands as well.
1c: Syngergize!
This deck plays like you would imagine. You sacrifice creatures in many ways. Sometimes you turn them into life or mana but you want some gain from it. Sometimes just blocking to buffer that life total is a good way to use them. I'm not trying to play some sort of insane ramp game because I want to focus on small creatures and complex interactions. Pawn of Ulamog is one of the cards that is perfect early and synergizes with a ton of stuff. It doesn't scare anyone and it does all sorts of cool things. Blood Artist? Offset some of the life lost to Dark Prophecy or Phyrexian Arena. Bloodghast? Make tons of tokens and mana with Phyrexian Tower. There are so many interesting interactions that this deck can pull off. Just keep your eye out for them and keep track of all your triggers.
1d: Remove Stuff (optional)
Some metas might require the killing of a cheap general or some threat. While you will sometimes get lucky and have the removal spell, this deck is not intended to play control in the first 3 turns. You can handle creatures pretty well but artifacts and enchantments are going to be problem. Cards that can help you here are Murder, Toxic Deluge, and Fleshbag Marauder.
Middle Game:
During the middle game you want to get some engines going. One of my favorite cards is Harvester of Souls. If you can find a way to reliably trigger it, you will love that card draw. Your general will trigger it for you and help you set him up to keep your grip full. There are so many awesome ways to do this and sometimes your opponents will help you out by having lots of creatures to kill. Fleshbag Marauder is great with him and loves to be recurred. Disciple of Bolas goes great with Harvester as well. Disciple is one of my favorite ways to get some card draw going. He dies to skullclamp, he is great with a sacrifice outlet, and it feels pretty awesome to sacrifice a Rune-Scarred Demon with him, reanimate the demon, and then use it to tutor up ways to reuse the Disciple. You should try to take advantage of XHD by the middle game. Sometimes all you need to do is sacrifice him once to get back a board wipe or a tutor. Other times you might need to abuse him as much as possible. But the late middle game is a good place to start taking advantage of the power he can provide. The middle game is the best time to refill your hand and prepare for the end game.
Late Game:
During the late game you want to use Blood Artist and company to drain your opponents down and then lay a big Exsanguinate to finish them off (if you're running exsanguinate). This is the easiest and most reliable way to win a game. Boseiju Who Shelters All and Exsanguinate for a large amount of black mana is reliable and strong. To pull this off you want some of the mana doubling artifacts and Cabal Coffers. These huge mana effects are crucial to the strong late game you want. They are some of the best reasons to be playing mono black because of this super strong late game mana production. Any of the late game strategies will be very easy to set up with Caged Sun and Nirkana Revenant in play. But if Exsanguinate isn't how you want to win you can also reanimate entire armies with Chainer, Dementia Master or Geth, Lord of the Vault and use them to beat your opponents downtown, to the ground, all around. Geth is interesting because of his milling ability. He can get you even more targets and maybe he will feed himself by milling your enemies into even better targets. I normally try to wipe the board, and then bring it back on my side. There is also a third strategy which is demoralizing your opponents with frequent board wipes. XHD allows you to buy back Mutilate and Decree of Pain over and over. If you can combine these wipes with Blood Artist then you can turn creatures into a liability for them. With the unbanning of Kokusho there is yet another way for this deck to take over the late game. Getting her into play and then sacrificing it over and over will surely put your opponents so low and you so high that losing will be near impossible. She goes great with Corpse Dance and a sacrifice outlet. Recently the best late game win condition is Gray Merchant of Asphodel. This card is just bonkers in the Living Death chain explained below. You basically win when you cast him and your devotion is over 5.
Janky Combos
Lately I have adopted a Living Death end game strategy. Normally your early game creatures will die frequently because they get used for chump blocking or they get sacrificed for extra value. This normally makes Living Death stacked in your favor. With something like Spawning Pit you could even sacrifice all of your creatures before you cast living death so they come back for more enters the battlefield triggers.
XHD + Living Death is an awesome combination. You sacrifice him to get back the Living Death and when you cast it again he returns to play. This allows you cast it over and over. This can be accomplished infinitely as well. If one has XHD + 5 creatures + Phyrexian Altar this is infinite triggers on these creatures and infinite casting of Living Death. This is easily lethal if one controls, Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, Kokusho, the Evening Star, or Massacre Wurm.
If you have Deserted Temple, Cabal Coffers, and Rings in play you can make infinite black mana. You use Coffers for mana, you then untap it with Deserted Temple which triggers Rings. You pay to mana to copy the untap ability, and use it to untap the Temple itself. This costs seven mana the first time you do it, but if Coffers makes eight mana you can go to infinity and beyond.
Strengths:
This build has a ton of synergy in all of its cards. The deck can gain tons of life and promptly turn that life into cards. It also has to win the game very quickly with massive drains and crazy Living Death loops. During the early turns you are able to gain gradual card advantage without being a huge threat (sometimes). This is because of the great synergy.
Handling creatures well is another great boon to the deck. Great spot removal options and amazing wraths make black one of the best colors for keeping the board clear of creatures. This deck takes advantage of that as much as it can.
Weaknesses:
Your main weaknesses are the graveyard, faster combo decks, and becoming enemies early. The graveyard is obviously the most important weakness here. Since you plan to let all your creatures die and then resurrect them, running into a Nihil Spellbomb or an Angel of Finality is just not good. This slows you down, puts you in an awkward spot, and makes winning much harder. I like to bait graveyards with singular reanimation. Sometimes you can force someone into using their removal early.
Ironcially, graveyard hate has the same answer as faster combo decks. Sadistic Sacrament, Jester's Cap and Praetor's Grasp. These preemptive strikes are pretty much the only way one can prevent graveyard hate and fast combo decks from wrecking you. If you didn't guess why fast combo is good against you is that being the control deck isn't really our strong suite. Countering spells is worthless in black even with the niche options and killing an artifact or enchantment is just as pointless. Therefore fast combo can do almost whatever they want. You can put up great numbers against an Azami deck though.
Bojuka Bog is a free graveyard answer that only takes up a land slot. It happens to tap for black so it fits perfectly into our mana base. This free utility is what commander is all about. You really want to maximize all your cards and this is extra important in mono-colored.
Buried Ruin is here to protect important artifacts from being stuck in the graveyard. It can be reused with Crucible of Worlds and Trading Post to keep important artifacts safe.
Coffers is the best land in the deck. How can you say no to a mana doubler on a land? It does not actually do anything till around turn five or six, but after that it goes wild. There is not much more I can say about it. Just make sure you don't play it too early. Your opponents will be looking for a way to kill it if you do. Sometimes they might just try to kill you.
Temple helps to push Coffers even more. Coffers is considered among the strongest lands in the format so using it twice a turn can only be awesome. This land is also pretty interesting with other cards as well. High Market, Thawing Glaciers, and Volrath's Stronghold all love to be untapped and used more than once.
This card works great as a sacrifice outlet. The effect is great in almost any deck that can support it. You can protect your guys from exile, draw cards with Harvester of Souls, abuse Kokusho, The Evening Star, or control the board with Grave Pact.
This card functions the same was as High Market. It has the upside of acting as a two mana land when you sacrifice a creature. It also has some pretty epic flavor behind it as well. It goes very nicely with Bloodghast to act as a little Sol land.
One time I was playing with this card and my opponent opted to kill cabal coffers instead. This was actually making more mana at the time. The card is amazing and is the main reason we were able to cut all the expensive mana doubling artifacts. A must play in most mono colored decks.
You won’t be the only person packing awesome lands. This card provides an answer to lands and taps for mana. It is much more efficient than any other answers for lands and makes sure that you don't lose to a card like Gaea's Cradle. The same philosophy applies to Wasteland as well and I run both.
Glaciers makes it so that you don't miss a land drop. This deck never wants to do that. It doesn't matter what turn it is, you always want another swamp. This card also has potential to actually accelerate your mana as well. If you combine it with Deserted Temple or Rings of Brighthearth then you will be able to get two swamps off of it.
Urborg is amazing. In combination with Coffers it really shines, but it can also be good on its own. You will never have a problem with too few black mana if you have this one. Provides really good evasion with swampwalk creatures as well.
This card is awesome. It comes into play untapped and copies Cabal Coffers. The fact that it can be used as a normal land is why we run this instead of Vesuva. If your meta isnt too harsh on lands you could run both for epic win more situations.
Crucible is great in a deck like this. You have a lot of awesome lands that people will want to destroy. There are also a good amount of cards that can stock the graveyard so Crucible is a way to tap that resource. It also helps with the desire to never miss land drops. If you have a fetch land and this then you always have a land.
Map is a great way to find all of those awesome lands. It also keeps you playing lands if you happen to find it early. In this way it can act as a mana source and a tutor. This card is cheap to cast and use so you can even use it in the late game to get a clutch Reliquary Tower. Normally it will find Cabal Coffers but it has other uses as well.
Mana Crypt is amazing. I run so few mana rocks that the ones I do run must pack a punch, and this one provides. Two free mana lets us be on three mana turn one. That is pretty far above the curve. The deck also has some strong ways to gain back the life you can loose from its drawback.
O-stone allows you to have another powerful sweeper. It is similar to All is Dust although it destroys everything. It is a great answer to artifacts and enchantments which this deck can sometimes have a problem with.
Altar allows for you to return your investment on creatures. It ramps your mana and is very synergistic with the deck. It also allows for an infinite combo with XHD, Living Death, and 5 other creatures.
If you have Deserted Temple, Cabal Coffers, and Rings in play you can make infinite black mana. You use Coffers for mana, you then untap it with Deserted Temple which triggers Rings. You pay to mana to copy the untap ability, and use it to untap the Temple itself. This costs seven mana the first time you do it, but if Coffers makes eight mana you can go to infinity and beyond. Rings is also run because it creates an engine with the general. You can copy his ability and get back another card, usually himself as he will be in the graveyard when the second one targets. You can copy fetch lands and Thawing Glaciers and various other cards as well. Planeswalkers abilities, Sense's Top draw ability, and many more.
Both Top and Scroll Rack are great early game fixers. Top is basically a way for any deck to cheat and draw the perfect card every turn. It is good with used with a shuffle effect and keeps you playing the right cards. Lots of decks can be improved by a top. Even in the late game it can help with certain tutors or card effects that put things on top of your library. Over all top is a staple and should be played as not much is better at doing what it does.
This card is just amazing. A lot of the creatures in the deck love to wear this card. It is also amazing with the general who sacrifices himself for value as a built in ability. There is no reason not to run this card in a deck that wants creatures to die. Unless you don't like drawing cards. In which case I don't know what you want to play mono black...
Post is a great synergy card. It can recur artifacts, which is hard for mono-black. It can draw you some cards off of your artifacts if you don't mind sacrificing them. It can gain you life, which is great if you're using the suicidal black cards. It also makes tokens if you need them. All in all, its a great card for the deck.
This card is a really powerful mana rock. The reason I like this card so much and run it in a lot my decks is that it puts you ahead early but it does so with a land. This can really protect you from spells and people who want to destroy everything artificial.
All is Dust is an awesome sweeper. It kills almost anything that is troubling you and lets you keep your powerful artifacts. I run it mostly because black cannot kill enchantments and that can be an issue as some are very powerful against you. The deck is also quite fond of keeping the board empty and graves full. All is Dust is great for that.
This tutor is cheap to cast and is pretty versatile in the late game. It's great for grabbing Cabal Coffers or other powerful lands in the early game and in the late game it grabs whatever you need.
Recently I have been thinking about cutting this card. Now that they have unbanned Kokusho I feel that it’s worthy to keep in. It is amazing with XHD as he can sacrifice himself and won’t get exiled. Other creatures need a sacrifice outlet so that they can stay safe and warm in the grave. This spell is very good for decks that want creatures to enter the battlefield and leave the battlefield. Don't forget that it only gets back the freshest and juiciest of all your corpses.
Black has less versatile options for sweepers then White does. This one is cheap, cool looking, and doesn't allow regeneration which could matter against a Mayel deck. The deck loves to board wipe and once again this helps us.
Living Death it awesome. You can create loops with XHD and Sangromancer or Blood Artist. It can make tons of card advantage for you while killing all of your opponents creatures.
Sign in Blood is a good early game card drawer. It keeps you playing magic. It isn't necessary or important to your strategy so one could cut it for other spells. I'm always open to suggestions. It can be reused with XHD if you don't have anything else going on which most mono black decks cannot do.
Vampiric Tutor is a black staple and is always good. It puts you down a card but it’s an instant and can get you something that really puts you ahead to make up for itself. Tutors are extra strong in this deck and Vampiric one of the best ones available.
This card has won me a lot of games. If you can safely cast this on a turn with a lot of mana you're getting everything back and pretty much wining from there. I try not to cast too much sorcery though as it exiles things that would enter the graveyard. Artifacts and creatures are fair game though.
Blood Artist is a good way to turn creatures into a resource for you. The deck is very good at paying lots of life for certain cards and this adds a way to gain that life back. You can always equip it with Skullclamp when you don't need it anymore and it will gain you some life in the process.
Bloodghast is an awesome creature in decks that want to have creatures dying. He is free to reuse, combines great with Skullclamp, and helps the whole deck. He is extra powerful with Attrition or Harvester of Souls.
Bloodgift Demon is a Phyrexian Arena on legs. His five power and card draw really make him great in monoblack lists. Drawing extra cards is always good because you don't want to find yourself with nothing to do.
Chainer is the second best creature after XHD. He is really amazing at being a necromancer. For only three mana and three life he can bring back any creature. He also gives them a bonus in power and toughness. Wrathing the board and then slamming Chainer is a great way to take control of the game. He does have a slight weakness in that if he would die then the creatures he summoned will be exiled. I try to save him for my opponents creatures.
DHG is great for curving out. There are a lot of great targets for him and he combines nicely with Living Death. He tutors early and when he comes back from LD he acts a sac outlet so you can loop all your creatures with it.
This card is amazing. Disciple of Bolas can turn any creature you stole with Chainer into a lot of cards and life. It does so much for the deck, it’s such a good creature. Imagine sacrificing your Kokusho with this guy. You might notice that it has, um, one toughness. Hmm...
Duplicant is a great creature for almost any deck. It is an out to Iona, Shield of Emeria and it is a removal spell that you can reanimate over and over. Don't leave home without this guy.
So far in testing he is okay. Only okay. I might be cutting him soon for a sorcery based draw spell. I like that he is repeatable and has other abilities, but he is lackluster on the draw end.
This card plays very similar to Blood Artist. It doesn't die on its own to Skullclamp, but it’s a flyer and has power so it can block occasionally. Using those guys to gain life while you use Necropotence is just awesome.
Fleshbag is a great creature for any black deck. It’s cheap to cast, has a good power to toughness ratio, and helps you to control the board. It goes well with Grave Pact and fits great into the theme of the deck. Early removal is good and he helps with that.
Harvester of Souls is so epic. It goes great with the rest of the deck. I love drawing cards and this guy does just that. This turns all your board wipes into Decree of Pains. It goes great with Fleshbag Marauder, Grave Pact, High Market, Attrition, and Skullclamp as well.
Kokusho! I'm so glad I was able to cast you in a game of commander<3333333. This card is an amazing win condition and it fits perfectly into the theme of the deck. If you can get this into play and sacrifice it a couple of times I don't know what your enemies will do to stop you.
Pawn is great with the sacrifice theme and can do some awesome things with Living Death. Eldrazi Spawn are very versatile, you can sac them to control the board via Grave Pact, equip them with Skullclamp, and use them for mana.
Recurring Massacre Wurms can win you the game. It is really strong against tokens. If Avenger of Zendikar is giving you trouble then this guy can do some work for you. He also is another creature instead of a Sorcery. I cut Decree of Pain for him.
She doubles your mana and acts as another win condition. It is going to be hard to connect with her but if you can she hits hard. She might be easier to kill then Caged Sun but she is also much easier to bring back. Having creatures on board to ward off attackers makes the deck much stronger.
The Skeleton acts as another Bloodghast type creature. He is less powerful because you have to pay mana in order to return him but he does all the same stuff as Bloodghast and he can block on top of that!
This demon is great. It acts as another tutor, blocks and attacks, and can easily be reanimated to tutor over and over. I don't see any reason not to run this card.
Sangromancer is another way to gain life off creatures dying. She is less powerful because she doesn't count your creatures but she gains a lot more life when your opponent's minions suffer. She also goes great with Liliana Vess and Myojin of Night's Reach.
Karn is a pretty awesome removal spell. Exiling something is a great way to keep it out of your hair. He can also be used to take cards from your opponent’s hands. I have never aimed to restart the game with him, but I guess that could be the play in some situations.
Getting a swamp every turn is not all that threatening so Lily of the Dark Realms can sometimes provide you with a steady stream of card advantage. She goes great with a lot of the cards in the deck and if you can defend her just a little then she will repay you. I've used her ultimate ability twice. Won both those games.
Sometimes having a discard outlet is nice so you can add to your graveyard for Living Death. Otherwise she is a great way to disrupt your opponents and shes cheap to cast. A very awesome card.
Reclamation is a card that I feel not enough decks are running. For the small investment of two life and two mana you can return any creature to your hand. It allows for recursion and card advantage. It works well with all the creatures in the deck and especially the general.
Necropotence is pretty awesome. It refills your hand, creates a new play style, and is pretty evil feeling. The great thing is that when it does eventually die you get your draw step back. This card has dominated competitive formats of old and there is no reason not to give it the love it deserves.
Necromancy is a great reanimation spell. It operates very similar to Animate Dead but it has the option to be played at instant speed. It does have the drawback of costing one more mana, but it shouldn't matter too much in the late game.
Ambition's COst is strong and flavorful card draw spell. I don't run it because I feel four mana is a little high for the one shot card draw. The same goes for Ancient Craving
Lashwrithe and Nightmare Lash are great options for the XHD beat down plan. I'm not a fan of this but they're the best mono black equipment. Nim Deathmantle is awesome for re-using XHD, I might try and find room for this one...
Myojin is mean but amazing. If someone has a ton of cards in hand she can really punish them. Since you can return her to your hand with XHD you can reuse her. Night's Reach is a great way to bait counters from a blue player as well.
I love this card. I don't think of it as a board wipe, it’s more a card drawer. The cycling ability can be powerful against token decks and the full on cast normally wins you the game.
Reanimate is a cheap way to get something into play from the graveyard. I'm considering cutting it for Dance of the Dead as both are okay with XHD but Dance saves my life total.
Liliana Vess is a great way to tutor for cards you need and provide a threat to your opponents. Making them discard will limit their choices and her ultimate would be an epic victory. Planeswalkers are not considered overly powerful in EDH but Lily and her 3.0 version both provide some strong card advantage.
This card can be a good replacement for Shriekmaw. Some players like how he dies by himself and always keeps going to the graveyard. I like how Shriekmaw stays in play and blocks for me, but that is my personal preference.
Butcher can be another Grave Pact. It is also a creature so you can recur it easily and get into play cheaper via reanimation. It is good is black decks that want a small vampire theme or decks that want more stax elements at the top end.
This land is so valuable for a deck that wants to resolve important non-creature spells. If you have Urborg out you can tap it for black and not lose two life, which helps to mediate some of its weaknesses. The deck can find itself sacrificing a lot of life points so try to hold back on using this one too frequently. That being said, you won’t be sad to have this against counter heavy decks. Some of your sorcery can win the game or put you so far ahead you can't lose. Boseiju helps you get there.
Tower is great for being a greedy black mage. No I don't want to discard any of the spoils from Decree of Pain. It was such sweet sorrow for those poor Saplings. If only the mages from the Bant shard could see the evil realms surrounding this one..
There is just something so fun about stealing your opponents creatures from the graveyard. I mean, they're dead right? Those green mages have no use for zombies... In all seriousness though Geth is pretty powerful. He scales well into the late game and he gives you another way to win. You can also steal artifacts which is pretty cool.
Jar is strong for filling your graveyard and giving you a whole new hand to work with in big mana turns. It also can't hurt to play it on turn five and hope to untap with it on turn six. If someone wants to kill it you can just turn it into a plus seven to the 'yard. This is risky, but we like taking risks don't we? If you're not one for risks then you could cut this for something more reliable like Ancient Cravings.
This is a great win condition. It's pretty boring but it does the job. It’s a great way to say 'hey let’s play a new game this one is kind of stale.' Some opponents will hate it though, so make sure you know your group. They cannot complain if they play Tooth and Nail or Time Stretch.
Grim Discovery is full of value. With a fetch land and a good creature it can do a lot for you. It does great work with XHD. Its a solid card but could be cut for something that is a little more reusable without XHD.
Rack is an awesome card drawing machine. It goes great with shuffle effects like fetchlands, Thawing Glaciers, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and tutors. This is a great way to mulligan in the middle of a game. It can be used with Necropotence to get new cards into your hand during your turn instead of at the end of it like you must with Necro out.
Worn Powerstone is a newer addition to the deck. It has a low mana cost to mana output ratio and helps me ramp earlier. It can be a tad annoying that it comes into play tapped but it allows me to get ahead on mana earlier when it really matters.
This card has been pretty amazing in testing for me. If you ever take a big mana turn this card can really set you up to win. Sometimes I'll pay a little extra just to get Sol Ring and Mana Crypt to 'reduce' the cost of it. If you have a mana doubler out you can tap five lands and tutor for five cards. This builds whatever engine you need to win. Plus its an epic foil.
Think of this as Fact or Fiction in black but you get to choose the piles and no one gets to see what you take. You don't have to put any of the cards in your hand so you can reuse them with XHD which is a great line of play if you don't want to pay life. If you have a lot of life from Sangromancer or Kokusho, The Evening Star then you can draw five cards at instant speed for five mana. Is there a blue spell that efficient?
Stronghold lets you save creatures from the graveyard if you get targeted by graveyard hate. It isn't the most efficient way to reuse creatures but it can be used for that as well. It is much better when combined with a form of card draw like Skullclamp so you can get the creatures right away. It’s a great land and taps for mana so I think it’s a sweet black staple. Since mono-colored decks have such strong mana bases the colorless aspect isn't such a big deal here as it might be in a Mimeoplasm deck.
Vesuva is practically cheating. It’s not really fair to run two Cabal Coffers, but I do it anyway. It's also an okay trick to copy Thawing Glaciers with it and later return it to your hand and then copy something else. You can also use it as a way to clone and destroy a legendary land.
Caged Sun is part of our strong late game mana production. It gives your team a little boost to help with blocking or beat down. If it is cast off of Cabal Coffers and then doubles a bunch of untapped swamps it really shines. Most mono colored decks have to tap out for it and hope it lives, not this one. Doubling your mana in a format full of huge spells is a very powerful thing you can employ. These types of cards combined with Coffers let you surpass ramp decks.
Gauntlet works in a similar way as Caged Sun. It does help all of your opponents who happen to be running a large amount of basic swamps, but this is normally not a problem in most games of multiplayer.
Grim Harvest is another way to use XHD. His sacrifice ability will trigger Recover and its instant speed can let you save something from graveyard hate. It is very similar to Grim Discovery in that it isn't necessary. Although it is important to remember that they can help set up Corpse Dance.
Puppeteer Clique is an awesome card. It lets you steal your opponents creatures and smash them or anyone who needs it. It also acts as pseudo graveyard hate spell because it exiles the creature it steals. It goes great with any sacrifice outlets that you might have as well. Clique is a recent addition over Coffin Queen. I've found that it its enters the battlefield trigger Clique is faster and easier to pull off them Coffin Queen. I don't run any Greaves or Boots so there is no way to turn it on faster and Clique wants to die unlike Coffin Queen.
Shriekmaw is a great removal spell and the body it provides isn't half bad if you don't evoke it. This deck wants creatures in play and creatures to die. Shriekmaw is both powerful and on theme with the deck. If you do choose to evoke it though it goes great with Harvester of Souls, Grave Pact, and reanimation.
Keeper is a good threat and it makes tokens for us to chump or sacrifice for value. There are also seven vampires in the deck including it, so flipping it is pretty easy. It does a lot for us. It can be a huge threat, make tokens for defense, and it synergies with the deck well.
Out: Sudden Soiling, Petrified Field, Mind's Eye
In: Sangromancer, High Market, Coffin Queen
Sangromancer was a powerful card in testing. I loved the amount of life it could gain me and the body it provided for warding off unwanted attackers. High Market is amazing with the deck and it does so many things when combined with Harvester of Souls or the new addition of Kokusho. Coffin Queen hasn’t proven too amazing so far in testing. It has been okay but not amazing. I’m looking for a better reanimation spell at the moment. I felt that these cards could do more for me then the ones I cut.
September 16, 2012
Out Sculpting Steel
In Bitterblossom this helps the deck generate creatures and it goes well with skullclamp and other card effects. I felt that it would have a better impact on my early game plays then sculpting steel would.
September 19, 2012
Out Praetor's Grasp
In Kokusho, the Evening Star Praetor's grasp is sometimes weak and Kokusho will be an awesome inclusion. So far in testing she has proved amazing and really pushed the deck into another level. With all the tutoring this deck can pull off it becomes a reliable and fun endgame strategy.
Out Myojin of Night's Reach, Night's Whisper
In Necromancy, Oblivion Stone Necromancy and Oblivion Stone have proved pretty powerful in this deck. Due to my lack of important mana rocks and a relatively low number of non-creature permanents, Oblivion Stone has been a very strong answer to problem permanents that the deck sometimes has a problem with. Necromancy is great and does what this deck likes to do, steal stuff from graveyards.
Out Gilded Lotus
In Worn Powerstone This cut was made to lower the cut a tad and hopefully bring the ramp earlier.
Out Decree of Pain
In Massacre Wurm Massacre wurm just kills them. Decree of Pain is really strong but it costs a lot of mana and can be too slow sometimes.
Buried Ruin, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Smokestack, Hero's Downfall, Braids, Cabal Minion, Erebos, God of the Dead, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Liliana of the Veil, Dark Prophecy.
Wasteland was redundant with Strip Mine. I cut it for Buried Ruin so that I could have the added utility. This change boosts the power of Expedition Map and Crucible of Worlds.
Vesuva was normally used to copy Cabal Coffers and the Shrine to Nyx sorta does that without coming into play tapped. It also gives another big mana land which is pretty nice.
I cut Spawning Pit and Gauntlet of Power for Braids and Smokestack. I'm trying out an stax theme in the deck and seeing where it goes. So far I haven't had much positive results so those could become free slots in the future.
I cut Diabolic Tutor for Erebos, God of the Dead. The tutor is probably just better as it gets the card you need for the situation. I'm willing to try less tutoring though. It might make the deck more fun. I'm just testing Erebos and seeing how he plays.
I cut Slum Reaper for Hero's Downfall. I think that a tad more spot removal couldn't hurt at all. HD is versatile and powerful so I figured it was a good addition.
I think that Clique, Shriekmaw, and Animate Dead were just some weaker cards that could be removed to try out shiny new toys. Liliana adds to devotion and has great synergy with Sangromancer. She also adds to the stax package some giving me some hand disruption. She has been very powerful after board wipes so far. Dark Prophecy is amazing and it adds to devotion.
So far I'm super stoked for the changes. Let me know what you guys think. I'm a little iffy on the stax cards.
My stax package was never early or hard enough for the deck to really be a stax deck so I cut on of the pieces for an awesome theros card. I really like Read the Bones as an early draw card because the game is normally won or lost in the first few turns where Caged sun doesn't do anything. The late game power is nice, but I already have great mana doublers on lands.
I actually made this cut when commander 2013 was released. So far I havent missed the keeper even once and Deluge has saved my butt a couple of times. A good update.
That could be a problem but it hasn't came up yet. The main reason I run him is there is almost no way to kill an artifact or an enchantment in mono-black. His effect has to be stifled to be countered so he is a little more resilient to counters then a Spine of Ish Sah or a Karn.
I never noticed that one. I've never activated that for sure. I guess I could cut Rings as it isn't something I ever want early in the game and it seems to be a card that just makes too many combos.
You don't necessarily have to cut rings to disable your combo. Just don't play it or don't use it on that if you have coffers + deserted temple in play. I didn't make a full run through the list, but rings is pretty strong if you have any sort of activated abilities.
I also don't understand why you say that Karn and Spine are any less resilient to counters than Ulamog. Ulamog is a giant dude with indestructible, annihilator 4, and pops a permanent. I would say this is just as likely to be countered as say Karn, not to mention if Karn hits the field he isn't susceptible to removal from things such as beast within until you pass priority. AFAIK if you cast him and he resolves then you use one of his abilities nobody has a chance to deny that save (as you said) a stifle type effect.
I don't know if Xiahou Dun is really the best commander for this style deck. I run Xiahou Dun in a more combo/stax build and he excels there. I could also see him being used in mono black voltron. It looks like you're going more for a big mana black style deck. I think you'd be better off running one of the black mana sinks as your commander: Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Geth, Lord of the Vault or Maga, Traitor to Mortals.
Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power are very different.
Urborg makes everyone else's lands swamps, Gauntlet of Power helps everyone else as well.
Ulamog is good, especially with the ramp of coffers but is VERY scary to play in a mono black deck. If it gets briberied, desertioned, spelljacked you are screwed unless someone else can deal with it. I never play Ulamog in a deck if I can't deal with it myself.
I don't know if Xiahou Dun is really the best commander for this style deck. I run Xiahou Dun in a more combo/stax build and he excels there. I could also see him being used in mono black voltron. It looks like you're going more for a big mana black style deck. I think you'd be better off running one of the black mana sinks as your commander: Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief, Geth, Lord of the Vault or Maga, Traitor to Mortals.
I like him because his ability allows me to never run out of cards. I was thinking of adding a Geth of Maga to the deck for another way to use the big mana. As far as the commander goes though, I'm sticking with The One Eyed.
@ Gruel
Ulamog is good, especially with the ramp of coffers but is VERY scary to play in a mono black deck. If it gets briberied, desertioned, spelljacked you are screwed unless someone else can deal with it. I never play Ulamog in a deck if I can't deal with it myself.
That is something I haven't thought of. No one in my group plays those spells so it hasn't been on my radar yet. Any suggestions as to something I could run that gets around those spells?
@awesomer phantasm
two observations:
caged sun wants you to play gauntlet of power
ambition's cost wants you to play ancient craving
I want an ancient cravings! But I haven't gotten around to getting one and its not something I've seen in any tradebooks around here lol.
@nurse.jackson
I've never used the combo as I didn't even notice it. I normally use rings to double up on getting back cards with Xiahou Dun.
I like him because his ability allows me to never run out of cards. I was thinking of adding a Geth of Maga to the deck for another way to use the big mana. As far as the commander goes though, I'm sticking with The One Eyed.
Valid point. I'd still recommend adding some more stuff to maximize his effectiveness. Lashwrithe and Nightmare Lash both make him into a serious threat.
I've never swung with him lol. In all the games I've played I have never put him into the red zone. But I will admit to have winning with the red zone before, but it usually involves Nirkana Revenant. Lashwrithe might prove a good threat on its own though.
I rarely attack with him either, but in past iterations of my deck I ran one of the lashes as a backup plan. Eight swamps and you've got a two turn clock that's essentially unblockable.
I rarely attack with him either, but in past iterations of my deck I ran one of the lashes as a backup plan. Eight swamps and you've got a two turn clock that's essentially unblockable.
Attacking with XHD is just way too risky in my opinion. He's WAY too valuable to lose to a removal spell. He's just a recurable black regrowth unless you're packing some sort of means to shut an opponent down.
Cut Mana crypt for Geth, Lord of the Vault. Haven't got any testing in but I think having another thing for mana dump will be better then another early game artifact.
Ok, I don't have much time but I'll start with a few thoughts.
I think your land base needs a little tweaking. The first thing is that you need more swamps. It's all about the swamps. Ideally, you want to maximize Cabal Coffers without relying on Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Things are much smoother that way. Lake of the Dead - Sacrificing swamps is less than ideal. Sacrificing even more swamps for activate it is even worse. This isn't something control decks really want to be doing. Boseiju, Who Shelters All - I tried this land and wasn't impressed. Having to pay 2 life no matter what was kind of annoying. But I found that if someone countered my spell, I'd just recur it and cast it next turn...
Although if you regularly face things like Dovescape it might have a place. Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Giving cards to your opponents seems like a raw deal. How has this played in testing? Reliquary Tower - How often do you have > 7 cards in hand?
I actually have to run, but I will do the other sections when I get back. ;P
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My apologies, children, for I am afraid I cannot save you all.
Normally after I cast Decree of Pain I have tons of cards in hand. Boseiju is pretty strong to push through some of those critical spells. As for the Lake of the Dead I think youre right and I should just cut it for a swamp. I might cut card drawing land as well, its not horrible when I have it, but I do hate drawing cards for other people.
Terrain Generator is the card. Its an interesting thing to run but it has its pros and cons with Walking Atlas. Atlas can be untapped with Voltaic Key for super land dropz, it can put any land into play, and can be equipped with Skullclamp when I don't need it anymore. Terrain Generator is a land so it doesn't die to board wipes, it can be untapped with Deserted Temple, but it only puts in basics.
I think Walking Atlas is gonna stay in as long as I want that effect. Its good in certain draws and has synergy with the deck. It might come out at some point for an actual mana source but for now I like it.
I've updated the list due to recent bannings and cut Griselbrand for Harvester of Souls...
This is not meant to be a permanent change and would love some advice from you guys. Recently I've been winning with this deck (locally) and I've found myself having more fun with things like Geth, Lord of the Vault then things like Consume Spirit.
So if any of you have any cards I should be running let me know.
I've been considering getting Xiahou for my own Chainer deck, to recur some of the non-creatures I run. (Currently running Balthor at the head though).
I think you could also use a lot more card draw power in here.
Your decklist is a bit annoying to read through the way it's currently organized, fyi.
Banner by Sioux in the Heroes of the Plane Studios
Xiahou Dun, The One-Eyed.
Deck History:
No mono-black commander is better than Xiahou Dun (who I will now abbreviate as XHD). His ability is the most flexible and unique of all the top mono black generals. His simplicity and utility are paramount. Sometimes the simpler things are the most beautiful. Let us go through his competition.
Balthor The Defiled
Chainer, Dementia Master
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
Mikaeus, The Unhallowed
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Average CMC: 3.42
Deck List
1x Bojuka Bog (Japanese)
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Deserted Temple (Chinese)
1x High Market
1x Marsh Flats
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Polluted Delta
1x Strip mine (tower no sky)
24x Swamp
1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (Signed)
1x Verdant Catacombs
//Artifacts: 12
0 Mana Crypt (Signed)
1 Expedition Map (foil)
1 Nihil Spellbomb (foil)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp (FTV foil)
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble (Chinese)
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Phyrexian Altar
3 Rings of Brighthearth
4 Trading Post (foil)
1 Innocent Blood
1 Vampiric Tutor (foil)
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Sign in Blood (foil)
3 Beseech the Queen (Russian)
3 Corpse Dance
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Murder (foil)
3 Read the Bones
3 Toxic Deluge
3 Yawgmoth's Will
4 Damnation
5 Living Death
7 All is Dust (foil)
//Creatures: 26
2 Blood Artist (Chinese foil)
2 Bloodghast
2 Disciple of Griselbrand (foil)
2 Reassembling Skeleton (foil)
3 Burnished Hart
3 Dimir House Guard (foil)
3 Fleshbag Marauder (foil)
3 Grim Haruspex
3 Pawn of Ulamog (Japanese foil)
3 Pilgrim's Eye (foil)
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Disciple of Bolas (foil)
4 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Falkenrath Noble (foil)
4 Graveborn Muse
4 Sangromancer (foil)
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Bloodgift Demon (foil)
5 Chainer, Dementia Master
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
6 Duplicant (FTV foil)
6 Harvester of Souls (foil)
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
6 Massacre Wurm (foil)
6 Nirkana Revenant
7 Rune-Scarred Demon (foil)
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms (Korean)
7 Karn Liberated (foil)
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Bitterblossom
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Phyrexian Arena (foil)
3 Necropotence (foil)
3 Necromancy
Strategy
Xiahou Dun:
Opening Hands:
Step 1: Kill for Profit
Middle Game:
Late Game:
Janky Combos
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Lands:
Bojuka Bog
Buried Ruin
Cabal Coffers
Deserted Temple
High Market
Phyrexian Tower
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Strip Mine
Thawing Glaciers
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Thespian's Stage
Artifacts
Crucible of Worlds
Expedition Map
Mana Crypt
Nihil Spellbomb
Oblivion Stone
Phyrexian Altar
Instants and Sorcery
Creatures:
Enchantments and Planeswalkers
Out: Temple of the False god
In: Volrath's Stronghold
Out: Vedalken Orrery, Mana Vault
In: Claws of Gix, Geth Lord of the Vault
May 17, 2012.
Out: Swamp, Lake of the Dead, Lotus Bloom, Tendrils of Agony, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
In: Griselbrand, Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, All is Dust, Spine of Ish Sah
August 19, 2012
Out: Mind Twist, Drain Life, Voltaic Key, Doubling Cube, Profane Command
In: Bloodghast, Skinrender, Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, Solemn Simulacrum.
August 30, 2012
Out: Sudden Soiling, Petrified Field, Mind's Eye
In: Sangromancer, High Market, Coffin Queen
Sangromancer was a powerful card in testing. I loved the amount of life it could gain me and the body it provided for warding off unwanted attackers. High Market is amazing with the deck and it does so many things when combined with Harvester of Souls or the new addition of Kokusho. Coffin Queen hasn’t proven too amazing so far in testing. It has been okay but not amazing. I’m looking for a better reanimation spell at the moment. I felt that these cards could do more for me then the ones I cut.
September 16, 2012
Out Sculpting Steel
In Bitterblossom this helps the deck generate creatures and it goes well with skullclamp and other card effects. I felt that it would have a better impact on my early game plays then sculpting steel would.
September 19, 2012
Out Praetor's Grasp
In Kokusho, the Evening Star Praetor's grasp is sometimes weak and Kokusho will be an awesome inclusion. So far in testing she has proved amazing and really pushed the deck into another level. With all the tutoring this deck can pull off it becomes a reliable and fun endgame strategy.
September 27, 2012
Out Coffin Queen
In Puppeteer Clique The reasoning behind this cut is in the card description.
October 2012
Out Swamp
In Phyrexian Tower
Out Myojin of Night's Reach, Night's Whisper
In Necromancy, Oblivion Stone Necromancy and Oblivion Stone have proved pretty powerful in this deck. Due to my lack of important mana rocks and a relatively low number of non-creature permanents, Oblivion Stone has been a very strong answer to problem permanents that the deck sometimes has a problem with. Necromancy is great and does what this deck likes to do, steal stuff from graveyards.
Out Gilded Lotus
In Worn Powerstone This cut was made to lower the cut a tad and hopefully bring the ramp earlier.
Out Decree of Pain
In Massacre Wurm Massacre wurm just kills them. Decree of Pain is really strong but it costs a lot of mana and can be too slow sometimes.
Out Mutilate Reanimate Liliana Vess
In Living Death Pawn of Ulamog Innocent Blood Living Death proved AMAZING in the first game I played with it. Pawn goes great with it and Innocent blood controls the board well.
November 2012
Out Boseiji, Who Shelters All, Reliquary Tower, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Exsanguinate, Grim Harvest, Memory Jar.
In 2x Swamp, Slum Reaper, Nihil Spellbomb, Disciple of Griselbrand, Spawning Pit
January 2013
Out Scroll Rack, Diabolic Revelations, Worn Powerstone, Moonlight Bargain
In Dimir House Guard, Beseech the Queen, Pilgrim's Eye, Crypt Ghast
Febuary 2013
Out Volrath's Stronghold
In Thespian's Stage
March 2013
Out Skinrender, Grave Pact, Attrition
In Bloodline Keeper, Trading Post, Phyrexian Altar
October 2013
Out:
Wasteland, Vesuva, Spawning Pit, Gauntlet of Power, Diabolic Tutor, Slum Reaper, Puppeteer Clique, Shriekmaw, Animate Dead.
In:
Buried Ruin, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Smokestack, Hero's Downfall, Braids, Cabal Minion, Erebos, God of the Dead, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Liliana of the Veil, Dark Prophecy.
Wasteland was redundant with Strip Mine. I cut it for Buried Ruin so that I could have the added utility. This change boosts the power of Expedition Map and Crucible of Worlds.
Vesuva was normally used to copy Cabal Coffers and the Shrine to Nyx sorta does that without coming into play tapped. It also gives another big mana land which is pretty nice.
I cut Spawning Pit and Gauntlet of Power for Braids and Smokestack. I'm trying out an stax theme in the deck and seeing where it goes. So far I haven't had much positive results so those could become free slots in the future.
I cut Diabolic Tutor for Erebos, God of the Dead. The tutor is probably just better as it gets the card you need for the situation. I'm willing to try less tutoring though. It might make the deck more fun. I'm just testing Erebos and seeing how he plays.
I cut Slum Reaper for Hero's Downfall. I think that a tad more spot removal couldn't hurt at all. HD is versatile and powerful so I figured it was a good addition.
I think that Clique, Shriekmaw, and Animate Dead were just some weaker cards that could be removed to try out shiny new toys. Liliana adds to devotion and has great synergy with Sangromancer. She also adds to the stax package some giving me some hand disruption. She has been very powerful after board wipes so far. Dark Prophecy is amazing and it adds to devotion.
So far I'm super stoked for the changes. Let me know what you guys think. I'm a little iffy on the stax cards.
November 2013
Out: Smokestack, Caged Sun
In: Burnished Heart, Read the Bones
My stax package was never early or hard enough for the deck to really be a stax deck so I cut on of the pieces for an awesome theros card. I really like Read the Bones as an early draw card because the game is normally won or lost in the first few turns where Caged sun doesn't do anything. The late game power is nice, but I already have great mana doublers on lands.
January 2014
Out: Bloodline Keeper
In: Toxic Deluge
I actually made this cut when commander 2013 was released. So far I havent missed the keeper even once and Deluge has saved my butt a couple of times. A good update.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I also don't understand why you say that Karn and Spine are any less resilient to counters than Ulamog. Ulamog is a giant dude with indestructible, annihilator 4, and pops a permanent. I would say this is just as likely to be countered as say Karn, not to mention if Karn hits the field he isn't susceptible to removal from things such as beast within until you pass priority. AFAIK if you cast him and he resolves then you use one of his abilities nobody has a chance to deny that save (as you said) a stifle type effect.
two observations:
caged sun wants you to play gauntlet of power
ambition's cost wants you to play ancient craving
Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power are very different.
Urborg makes everyone else's lands swamps, Gauntlet of Power helps everyone else as well.
Ulamog is good, especially with the ramp of coffers but is VERY scary to play in a mono black deck. If it gets briberied, desertioned, spelljacked you are screwed unless someone else can deal with it. I never play Ulamog in a deck if I can't deal with it myself.
I like him because his ability allows me to never run out of cards. I was thinking of adding a Geth of Maga to the deck for another way to use the big mana. As far as the commander goes though, I'm sticking with The One Eyed.
@ Gruel
That is something I haven't thought of. No one in my group plays those spells so it hasn't been on my radar yet. Any suggestions as to something I could run that gets around those spells?
@awesomer phantasm
I want an ancient cravings! But I haven't gotten around to getting one and its not something I've seen in any tradebooks around here lol.
@nurse.jackson
I've never used the combo as I didn't even notice it. I normally use rings to double up on getting back cards with Xiahou Dun.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Valid point. I'd still recommend adding some more stuff to maximize his effectiveness. Lashwrithe and Nightmare Lash both make him into a serious threat.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Attacking with XHD is just way too risky in my opinion. He's WAY too valuable to lose to a removal spell. He's just a recurable black regrowth unless you're packing some sort of means to shut an opponent down.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
(First post)
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GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I think your land base needs a little tweaking. The first thing is that you need more swamps. It's all about the swamps. Ideally, you want to maximize Cabal Coffers without relying on Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Things are much smoother that way.
Lake of the Dead - Sacrificing swamps is less than ideal. Sacrificing even more swamps for activate it is even worse. This isn't something control decks really want to be doing.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - I tried this land and wasn't impressed. Having to pay 2 life no matter what was kind of annoying. But I found that if someone countered my spell, I'd just recur it and cast it next turn...
Although if you regularly face things like Dovescape it might have a place.
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea - Giving cards to your opponents seems like a raw deal. How has this played in testing?
Reliquary Tower - How often do you have > 7 cards in hand?
I actually have to run, but I will do the other sections when I get back. ;P
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Out: Swamp, Lake of the Dead, Lotus Bloom, Tendrils of Agony, Ulamog
In: Griselbrand, Verdant Catacombs, Marsh Flats, All is Dust, Spine of Ish Sah
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I think Walking Atlas is gonna stay in as long as I want that effect. Its good in certain draws and has synergy with the deck. It might come out at some point for an actual mana source but for now I like it.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I thought about making it black/green before just so I can have the mana ramp.
Sapling of Colfenor
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
This is not meant to be a permanent change and would love some advice from you guys. Recently I've been winning with this deck (locally) and I've found myself having more fun with things like Geth, Lord of the Vault then things like Consume Spirit.
So if any of you have any cards I should be running let me know.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
I've been considering getting Xiahou for my own Chainer deck, to recur some of the non-creatures I run. (Currently running Balthor at the head though).
I think you could also use a lot more card draw power in here.
Your decklist is a bit annoying to read through the way it's currently organized, fyi.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek