Demons are the iconic creature of and have featured consistently in appearance and function since Alpha. However, they were briefly phased out and replaced by Horrors due to cultural concerns in the 90s before being reinstated in the early 2000s.

Demons began as high-costed, high-statted creatures which came with some notable drawback such as forcing you to sacrifice creatures or pay mana for their upkeep. This has changed somewhat over time, with cheaper Demons imposing less severe consequences supplementing the creature type.

Many Demons have keywords such as flying and trample, with less common keywords including deathtouch or lifelink.

Demons and Angels act as foils to one another mechanically and narratively. Both usually having flying, Demons are while Angels are , Demons lose life while Angels gain life, and Demons are nearly entirely male while Angels are nearly entirely female. Each creature type also involves "creature hate" spells that directly target the opposing creature type.

Demons and Devils are distinct creature types, though they have significant overlap and effects targeting one often target both. Devils occupy the fiendish creature type, though many Demons are .

Rip and Tear

Demons are mid-to-high statted creatures, with weaker Demons either being utility creatures to support larger Demons or being able to grow over time. The majority of them have flying and a decent amount of other keywords such as trample, deathtouch, lifelink, or haste. Some have targeted removal in the form of dealing damage or destroying a creature outright.

This leads to a comprehensively solid baseline for Demons. No matter what your strategy, Demons will almost always be able to be effective by virtue of being good at attacking traditionally. This provides a fantastic degree of flexibility in how you run your Demons, whether by leaning into that with more aggressive plays or by shooting for an alternate win condition.

A Fiend Like Me

Demons have overlap narratively and mechanically with Devils, as well as other hellish creature types such as Imps and Tieflings. Many Demons prioritize abilities that affect other Demons, just as Devils do with Devils, though a fair few affect all of the various fiends across the multiverse.

A good number of Devils are cheap, weak creatures that deal damage to any target upon their death. These make for great sacrificial fodder for your more-powerful Demons. Imps have a range of effects, but tend towards being cheaper, weaker creatures that have flying and can act as screening chaff to protect you.

Tutor and Draw

The ability to search your library for a card and then either put it in your hand or on top of your deck is called "tutoring" for it, as a reference to powerful cards such as Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor that did exactly that.

Demons have an association with tutoring, even if most of them don't have that specific ability printed on their cards. Some Demons will allow you to search for specific cards in your library or thin your deck, but most tutoring support comes from non-creature spells that are thematically tied to Demons. These spells fall under the same colors as Demons and have explicit synergies with them, particularly with how many Demons allow you to draw cards.

A Price to Pay

Demons are expensive, oftentimes in more than just mana. They tend to be reasonable for their power and toughness, particularly considering their propensity to have the flying keyword alongside other abilities, though not always. Many Demons are significantly undercosted in mana but force you to sacrifice another creature, lose life, or make some other payment to supplement the mana.

When playing Demons, this ends up being a blessing in disguise. Because you're in control of when you make these payments, you can set yourself up with abilities to capitalize and compensate you for losing creatures or life. This then becomes a benefit in a roundabout way, leaving Demons cheap for their stats across all "costs."

No One Likes Them

There are multiple other creature types that actively hate Demons, such as Angels and Clerics. Being the iconic character for , Demons feature regularly in prominent roles across the multiverse. This then leads to many ways for other colors, particularly , to single out Demons or a collection of creature types that includes Demons with specific abilities that target them.

This isn't unique to Demons, but it hurts a bit more given that Demons tend to come with costs other than mana without in-built protections. That means it's quite easy to cast a Demon spell only to then lose the Demon before it provides value. They don't worry as much about being destroyed in combat, so focus on including ways to counter targeted removal or permanents that impart hexproof, indestructible, and/or ward to your creatures.

Be'lakor, the Dark MasterBe'lakor, the Dark Master

Be'lakor, the Dark MasterBe'lakor, the Dark Master is a 6/5 Demon who has multiple enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects related to bringing Demons onto your field.

When Be'lakor enters, you draw cards equal to the number of Demons you control and lose the same amount of life. This ensures that Be'lakor gives immediate utility by being cast, which as a commander can be repeated over the course of a game and adds up over time. aren't the dominant token-generating colors, meaning the number of Demons you control shouldn't ever hurt your life too badly. It's functionally free card draw.

Also, whenever a Demon enters under your control, it deals damage equal to its power to any target. Given Demons' propensity to have midrange or higher power, this is consistent removal of most threats or ping damage. This damage is dealt by the Demon that enters, meaning if it has a keyword such as deathtouch or toxic those will apply as well.

Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast

Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast is the sixth-most-played commander at the time of this guide's writing.

Whenever Kaalia attacks an opponent, you may put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking that opponent. This doesn't come with any additional caveats, meaning it's just a means to increase your pressure while cheating out expensive creatures consistently.

Kaalia has flying, as do many Angels, Demons and Dragons. This usually leads to direct damage with Kaalia's cheated creature, in addition to whatever other effects they might have. Kaalia is cheap enough to be worth playing even with additional commander tax given how much it can potentially save you with even a single free creature.

Rakdos, Lord of RiotsRakdos, Lord of Riots

Rakdos, Lord of RiotsRakdos, Lord of Riots cannot be cast unless an opponent has lost life this turn, but is a 6/6 with flying and trample. For , that requirement can effectively be ignored due to how accessible it is.

Running a Rakdos deck requires active pressure, with pinging effects that deal incremental damage consistently and spells that deal damage being essential. This is because Rakdos reduces the cost of your creature spells by for each 1 life your opponents have lost this turn. This means you can gain advantage by getting ahead on life while not neglecting your board, playing powerful creatures for cheap. Just be aware that many Demons tend to have high colored-mana costs, which aren't reduced by Rakdos.

Raphael, Fiendish SaviorRaphael, Fiendish Savior

Raphael, Fiendish SaviorRaphael, Fiendish Savior is a 4/4 with flying that grants your other Demons, Devils, Imps, and Tieflings +1/+1 and lifelink.

At the beginning of each end step, if a creature card was put in your graveyard that turn, you create a 1/1 Devil that deals 1 damage to any target upon death. This is notable for a few reasons. It's any end step, not just yours. This therefore triggers if an opponent uses a sorcery to destroy your creatures or you block their attacks. Also, any time a creature card is put in your graveyard is not the same as if a creature is destroyed. That means discarding a creature or it being milled both count!

Further, the created Devil becomes a 2/2 with lifelink. When it dies, it deals 1 damage to any target, which then gains you 1 life from lifelink. This means you have consistent token generation of above-average chaff that then can sustain you for longer while pinging opponents.

Rakdos, the ShowstopperRakdos, the Showstopper

Rakdos, the ShowstopperRakdos, the Showstopper has an ETB where you flip a coin for each creature that isn't a Demon, Devil, or Imp. For each coin that comes up tails, you destroy that creature.

This is entirely luck-based, which can be very fun! has a variety of coin-flip effects, but a 50% chance per creature to destroy it can be quite powerful. As a commander, the consistency to be able to play Rakdos multiple times maximizes its value. And even if there are still some defenders remaining, Rakdos is a 6/6 with flying and trample.

Athreos, God of PassageAthreos, God of Passage

Athreos, God of PassageAthreos, God of Passage is indestructible, but isn't considered a creature if your devotion to and is less than seven. This means that across all permanents you control, their combined or colored-mana costs must equal seven or higher.

Independent of whether or not Athreos is an enchantment, whenever another creature you own dies, it is returned to your hand unless a target opponent pays three life. This relies on ownership, meaning if an opponent steals a creature from you then you still get the benefits from it. Also, you choose which target must pay the life, which you can leverage to force opponents in the least fortunate position to make a choice they'd rather avoid.

Ardyn, the UsurperArdyn, the Usurper

Ardyn, the UsurperArdyn, the Usurper grants your Demons menace, lifelink, and haste. At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may exile up to one creature from a graveyard and create a copy of it as a 5/5 black Demon.

This is incredibly useful for a Demon deck, with menace assisting flying to bypass blockers, lifelink adding much-needed sustainability, and haste ensuring immediate activity from high-costed cards. Ardyn's second effect can target any graveyard, allowing you to remove anchor-creatures from opponents' graveyards while gaining tokens yourself.

Taborax, Hope's DemiseTaborax, Hope's Demise

Taborax, Hope's DemiseTaborax, Hope's Demise has flying and gains lifelink as long as it has five or more +1/+1 counters on it. Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, it gets a +1/+1 counter. If a nontoken Cleric you control dies, you may draw a card and lose a life.

Taborax is slow to build and requires five creatures to die before getting lifelink, at which point it is a 7/7 with flying and lifelink. You can sacrifice your own creatures, particularly Clerics, to rush that quickly. But Taborax has no in-built protections, so its greatest value actually comes from its Cleric synergy, growing stronger while drawing you cards. Lifelink will offset the damage dealt by Clerics dying with only an attack or two.

Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood

Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood is an 8/8 with flying that allows you to draw a card for each life you lose. You can also pay and two life to give target creature -1/-1 until end of turn.

While quite expensive at with no in-built way of cost-reduction, Vilis is a solid statline with a great effect. For a single mana, you lose two life and therefore draw two cards before giving a creature -1/-1. That's enough of a reduction to take out most mana-producing creatures or a token with an effect. And there's no limit per-turn to this other than your life and mana, meaning you can activate it multiple times to apply -1/-1 to the same creature multiple times or across multiple creatures, all while drawing cards.

Varragoth, Bloodsky SireVarragoth, Bloodsky Sire

Varragoth, Bloodsky SireVarragoth, Bloodsky Sire is a 2/3 with deathtouch and a boast ability, which can only be activated once per turn and only after this creature attacked that turn. Varragoth's boast allows a target player to search their library for a card, shuffle their library, then put that card on top of their library.

This ability to tutor is reliant upon active, aggressive action where you attack every turn. But being a 2/3 with deathtouch, many opponents won't block Varragoth with anything that can destroy it out of fear of losing their blocker. They might let it hit direct or use a 1/1, but Varragoth isn't at immediate risk after that first swing. This means you'll likely get a few activations out of its boast, sculpting your next few draws.

Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector

Lord Xander, the CollectorLord Xander, the Collector is a 6/6 with an ETB to force a target opponent to discard half of the cards in their hand, rounded down. Whenever Lord Xander attacks, the defending player mills half their library, rounded down. And whenever Lord Xander dies, target opponent sacrifices half of their nonland permanents, rounded down.

Lord Xander is at its most effective when you can cast it to get that ETB activation, swing to get the attack activation, then die in combat to get the death trigger. With any amount of graveyard reclamation, this can be a repeated threat used to considerably disrupt a single opponent or harass multiple players over time.

Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots

Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots are a generally-applicable artifact that grants hexproof and haste to an equipped creature. This is more useful for Demons than other creature types for a few reasons.

Demons are expensive, high-power flying creatures without in-built protections who have additional costs. A Demon may be removed from the battlefield before it can actually be useful, so both hexproof and haste work towards mitigating the risks of playing high-cost Demons. With flying, a Demon can swing at an opponent immediately and directly, safe from blockers due to their high toughness.

Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos

Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos grants your creatures lifelink and allows you to pay to return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with haste. At the beginning of the next end step, or if it would leave the battlefield, exile that creature.

This is solid graveyard reclamation allowing you to retrigger ETB and sacrificial death triggers for your Demons, often at a cheaper cost than casting them normally. But also, it gives your creatures lifelink. With how much life you'll be losing from activated abilities and spells with life costs, this adds a great deal of sustainability when paired with ping damage and high-power Demons.

Drach'NyenDrach'Nyen

Drach'NyenDrach'Nyen has an ETB to exile a target creature and then grants menace and +X/+0 to an equipped creature, where X is the exiled card's power. This gives immediate targeted removal that bypasses indestructability alongside a legitimate power boost to one of your creatures.

A Demon with flying can bypass blockers that much easier with menace. Based on which creature you exile with Drach'Nyen, the power bonus can more than double the already-high power of your Demons. The cost of Drach'Nyen is its biggest weakness, but if you're reducing costs elsewhere it's a worthwhile investment.

Unholy Annex // Ritual ChamberUnholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

Being a Room, you may cast either half of Unholy Annex // Ritual ChamberUnholy Annex // Ritual Chamber by paying its cost. As a sorcery, you may unlock the other door on your turn by paying its mana cost. Or in simple terms, you pay for one immediately and have the option of casting the other one as a sorcery.

Ritual Chamber creates a 6/6 Demon with flying upon it being unlocked, which is slightly above-average in value-per-mana. However, it sets up Unholy Annex quite nicely, given that it has a conditional effect based on if you have a Demon. At each of your end steps, you draw a card and if you have a Demon, each opponent loses two life and you gain two. Otherwise, you lose two.

With the Demons you'll have in the deck, you don't even need Ritual Chamber and can instead immediately get out Unholy Annex. This grants you card draw at the end of each of your turns, consistent ping damage across the board, and life gain. If you ever run out of Demons you can rely on Ritual Chamber as a backup, given the effects of Unholy Annex only trigger at your end step.

Demonic CovenantDemonic Covenant

Demonic CovenantDemonic Covenant is a Kindred enchantment, meaning it counts as a Demon. It allows you to draw a card and lose one life each time one or more Demons you control attack a player. During your end step, you create a 5/5 Demon with flying and then mill two cards. If the milled cards share all of their card types, you must sacrifice Demonic Covenant.

This is card draw and life loss with Demon creation each turn. There's the risk of losing Demonic Covenant to an unlucky mill, but so long as you have any amount of library sculpting you'll be able to work around that at least for a few turns. Being able to draw cards helps, and even if Demonic Covenant only creates a few Demons it will already have provided value when sacrificed.

Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections

Black Market ConnectionsBlack Market Connections allows you to choose one or more of the following at the beginning of your first main phase:

Create a Treasure token and lose one life. This allows you to offset the mana sink of Demons for minimal life loss.

Draw a card and lose two life. While a worse deal than card draw offered by your Demons, it is additive with their abilities. Therefore, it's often worth it to draw additional cards and run through your library quicker.

Create a 3/2 Shapeshifter with changeling and lose three life. Changeling gives the Shapeshifter every creature type, including Demon, which means it synergizes with the rest of your abilities. Three life is steep for a 3/2 with no combat-relevant keywords, but if you need blockers or sacrifice fodder, it provides additional options.

Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor

Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor is a Game Changer, meaning it is only to be included in decks intended for higher-bracket play. Learn more about that here.

Demonic Tutor allows you to tutor a single card, searching your library for it and putting it in your hand. If you are playing Demons at a bracket with Game Changers, this is an essential selection that is narratively tied to the rest of your deck.

Demonic CounselDemonic Counsel

Demonic CounselDemonic Counsel is a limited tutor, only allowing you to search for a Demon. However, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, it expands to being able to tutor for any card.

In a Demon deck, this is functionally a second copy of Demonic Tutor that isn't a Game Changer. And even for tutoring non-Demon cards, the delirium effect that expands the range of the tutor is easy to accomplish with any amount of self-discard or self-mill.

Sign in BloodSign in Blood

Sign in BloodSign in Blood allows target player to draw two cards and lose two life. This will most often target yourself, given that you're looking to draw as many cards as possible and don't particularly mind losing life.

It can also be used to deal damage to an opponent, where you then either allow them to draw their cards because you can handle it, they have no mana available, or you can force them to discard them immediately thereafter.

Ob Nixilis, the AdversaryOb Nixilis, the Adversary

Ob Nixilis, the AdversaryOb Nixilis, the Adversary has casualty X, which allows you to sacrifice a creature upon casting this spell to copy it. This copy of Ob Nixilis isn't legendary and begins with loyalty X, while the original Ob Nixilis has loyalty three. It has the following abilities:

+1. Each opponent loses two life unless they discard a card, then you gain two life if you control a Demon or Devil. This is control over your opponents, forcing them to thin their hand or life totals while you gain life passively. This is a great option for your original Ob Nixilis, starting at loyalty three.

-2. Create a 1/1 Devil that deals one damage to any target when it dies. This creates a good sacrificial creature token or blocker, which can be bolstered with various effects such as lifegain.

-7. Target player draws seven cards and loses seven life. This is a great way to draw lots of cards for yourself, cushioned by Ob Nixilis's additive loyalty ability. It can also be used to deal a large hit to any opponent's life or to push them over their hand limit. But since they don't discard until the end of their turn, that's a lot of free card draw to give an opponent.

Ob Nixilis of the Black OathOb Nixilis of the Black Oath

Ob Nixilis of the Black OathOb Nixilis of the Black Oath has loyalty three and the following abilities:

+2. Each opponent loses one life and you gain life equal to the life lost. This is small, consistent damage that heals you for quite the large amount over time. Demons have high power and swing with heavy hands, but incremental damage over time will make the difference between a one-turn kill and a battle of attrition.

-2. Create a 5/5 Demon with flying and lose two life.

-8. You get an emblem that you can activate by paying and sacrificing a creature. If you do, you gain life and draw a number of cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. If Ob Nixilis is your commander, this becomes a very easy mid-game achievement that remains for the rest of the game. This can then be used on the 5/5 Demons Ob Nixilis can create, giving a net gain of three life and five cards drawn.

Westvale AbbeyWestvale Abbey

Westvale AbbeyWestvale Abbey allows you to spend and pay one life to create a 1/1 Human Cleric. This isn't very good by any metric, but allows you to spend excess mana to create a creature token, which is necessary for its second effect. You may alternatively pay and sacrifice five creatures to transform the land into Ormendahl, a 9/7 Demon with flying, lifelink, indestructible, and haste.

Ideally, you don't need to spend mana to create a 1/1 Human Cleric, you can just sacrifice other cheap creatures to transform into Ormendahl. But being able to create just a single last creature to sacrifice may be what you need to activate the transformation, so may be used as appropriate.

Demons want to win the game via flying, high-power attacks supplemented by consistent ping damage. Quite a few Demon abilities trigger on attacking or dealing damage to an opponent, meaning they're rewarded for aggressive play. But due to their lack of protections, Demons prefer to make calculated strikes where only a few swings can take down an opponent after multiple turns of ping damage.

Sustainability is an issue, particularly against spellslinging decks that can damage you faster than you can damage them. This is where lifelink and life gain are essential to prevent you from accidentally sending yourself into a position where an opponent can deal lethal damage.

Demons also have access to alternative means of dealing damage to their opponents, though most of them still want to reduce their opponents' life to zero. Odd combinations of Demons such as Sower of DiscordSower of Discord and Bloodletter of AclazotzBloodletter of Aclazotz allow you to link the damage dealt to two opponents and have it be doubled for both. Ob Nixilis, UnshackledOb Nixilis, Unshackled acts as a deterrent to your opponents tutoring, forcing them to sacrifice a creature and lose ten life each time they do.

These strategies still involve damage dealt to opponents, sometimes through combat and sometimes not. This can be enhanced by Demons such as Archfiend of DespairArchfiend of Despair or Plague DronePlague Drone to shut down life gain, especially when paired with massive life reductions from something like Master of CrueltiesMaster of Cruelties.

Generally, Demons want to reduce your opponents' life to zero. They just have multiple ways to go about it.