Neheb, the EternalNeheb, the Eternal | Art by Chris Rahn

Welcome back to Archetypes of Imagination, an ongoing series about popular Commander archetypes. I'll be using Scryfall's tagging system and EDHREC's Tag pages to build around a new theme each week. This week, we'll be building a Group Slug deck. We'll be mean to all of our opponents, dealing damage to all of them in bursts before finishing the game with… even more damage.

Ok, maybe the plan's a little bit straightforward. But there's room for a lot of nuance within a mono-red group slug list helmed by Neheb, the EternalNeheb, the Eternal!

NehebNeheb is a super powerful commander, and was at the center of a controversy involving functional errata back around the time that Bloomburrow released. To make a long story short, Wizards changed the way that cards involving your post combat (or, second) main phase will work going forward but unintentionally also changed the way that cards like NehebNeheb work. I've had my eye on this card since then, so I'm excited to finally brew up a list with him at the helm!

NehebNeheb incentivizes us to deal a lot of damage to our opponents before we get to our post-combat main phases. There's several great ways to do this, ranging from combat damage to direct damage spells, and I'd like to focus on those direct damage spells. Although they're not necessarily the most glamorous cards, something like Flame RiftFlame Rift can turn into with our commander on the battlefield.

That's an absurd amount of value, and it'll be really fun to find the spells that can add the most second main phase for the least first main phase investment. With all that said, let's get brewing!

Seeing Red

Red is the color of burn, so it should come as no surprise that we've got a wealth of options to choose from for this section of our deck. To see the relevant Scryfall search, which makes use of “otag:burn,” take a look at this link.

First up is a collection of pingers that'll make each spell we cast hurt our opponents just a little bit more. Kessig FlamebreatherKessig Flamebreather and its variants, like GuttersnipeGuttersnipe and Erebor FlamesmithErebor Flamesmith, feel great when they hit the board early. Even if we're just filtering our hand with Faithless LootingFaithless Looting, these creatures will make sure our opponents get hurt.

Let's move on to the most efficient burn spells. The recently released BoltwaveBoltwave can turn a investment into should we have our commander on the battlefield. SlagstormSlagstorm is a great fit here, acting as a board wipe that spares NehebNeheb or a relatively cheap way to cash in on NehebNeheb's ability.

Then there's Wheel of MisfortuneWheel of Misfortune, one of my favorite includes in the deck. I'm willing to bet that our opponents won't want us to have a hand full of cards and extra mana from NehebNeheb, so they'll either pay a really high amount of life to prevent us from wheeling or zero life to ensure that they take no damage from it. With that in mind, this card should perform beyond its normal capacity here.

And because we'll be dealing so much noncombat damage to our opponents, there are three cards that'll become super effective in this deck. Satyr FiredancerSatyr Firedancer and Chandra's IncineratorChandra's Incinerator can each turn our burn spells into removal spells, turning a Lightning BoltLightning Bolt pointed at someone's face into another Lightning BoltLightning Bolt pointed at their best creature. Plus, Chandra's IncineratorChandra's Incinerator will usually be a hyper-efficient one-mana 6/6. And, of course, Virtue of CourageVirtue of Courage is an over-costed burn spell and a massive source of card advantage as the game goes on. Paired with our commander, Virtue of CourageVirtue of Courage can get us close to victory in short order.

Extra Combat Spells for Neheb

Of course, this deck revolves around NehebNeheb, who loves having more than one combat step per turn. So I've included some of my favorite extra combat spells in this deck, based on this Scryfall search. Fury of the HordeFury of the Horde is here because it's hard to beat what's essentially a mana cost of zero, World at WarWorld at War is here because it's got two extra combats stapled onto one card, and we have BloodthirsterBloodthirster because it's just fantastic in any combat-oriented red-based deck.

Because this deck revolves around our commander so heavily, we'll need to ramp up to him quickly and protect him well. Aside from the typical collection of mana rocks, I've included Generator ServantGenerator Servant and Sunset StrikemasterSunset Strikemaster. Generator ServantGenerator Servant is great with our commander, who's got a 4/6 body with afflict 3 that works really well as an attacker. If NehebNeheb can attack the turn he comes down, we may net even more mana in our second main phase. And, given my longstanding love for cards that provide me with decision points as a player, Sunset StrikemasterSunset Strikemaster serving as both ramp and removal is quite nice.

Lastly, I've included a few cards to protect our commander at instant speed. Although the options in mono-red are relatively slim, Bolt BendBolt Bend, Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat, and Untimely MalfunctionUntimely Malfunction all work well to protect Neheb for cheap.

One more thing before I show you the full 99, in all of its glory. I wanted to talk about what we'll actually be doing with all of the extra mana that our commander provides us with. Cards like Zenith FestivalZenith Festival and Commune with LavaCommune with Lava are great mana sinks that can provide us with enough cards to keep the wheels turning on future turns, which is helpful for a mono-red list with less card advantage than I'd like. And cards like Crackle with PowerCrackle with Power and Jaya's Immolating InfernoJaya's Immolating Inferno can end the game on the spot should we have enough mana available. Point is, we're not starved for options for our excess !

And, as promised, here's the full decklist:

C-C-C-Combo…

I want to point out that this deck has an infinite combo in it, meaning it's somewhat different from other decks in this series so far. NehebNeheb goes infinite with Aggravated AssaultAggravated Assault, providing infinite red mana and infinite combat phases. This combo is cool and should have a place in most NehebNeheb decks, but let me know if you disagree in the comments!

Thanks once again for reading! I'll see you all soon for another edition of Archetypes of Imagination: a bounce deck!