<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine|MH3|366" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar, Sire of Famine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.jack-hughes.com/">Jack Hughes</a></h6>
<h1><b>Black and white cookies</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hi again! Welcome back to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">EDHighlights</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the series where I build decks for 2024's most popular commander for each color combination. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now that 2024's set releases have wrapped up, I'll be taking a look at the most popular legendary creatures that were released in the past year, talking a bit about them, and finally building hopefully-slightly-unique decks around them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week, I'm taking a look at 2024's most popular Orzhov commander, which means we'll be working with … <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar, Sire of Famine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> received a good bit of attention, with 4072 decks to his name as of the time of writing.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Interestingly, there was another popular commander from </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Modern Horizons 3</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sorin of House Markov" href="#" target="_blank">Sorin of House Markov</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to my very limited knowledge of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Magic</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">'s lore (</span><a href="https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Shilgengar%27s_Ritual"><span style="font-weight: 400;">and the MTG Wiki</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">), Shilgengar is (at least partially) responsible for Sorin's bloodline of Vampires coming into being and for the ignition of Sorin's spark. But, you're not here because you care about </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">MTG</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> lore. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You're here because you care about EDH deck building. So, let's get on with it already.</span></p>
<h2><b>Not everything is black and white</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a 6/6 Elder Demon with Flying for 5 mana. He's got two other abilities, too. We can sacrifice a creature to make a Blood token or several Blood tokens if the sacrificed creature was an Angel. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, by paying <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-wb" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-wb" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-wb" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and sacrificing six Blood tokens, we can reanimate every creature from our graveyard. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These are pretty powerful abilities. Free sacrifice outlets are always powerful, especially sacrifice outlets that create something beneficial like a Blood token. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, once we've sacrificed enough creatures to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (or discarded them to our Blood tokens), we can use his ability to bring them all back at a pretty low cost. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This presents a pretty solid Aristocrats gameplan, with a low-cost mass reanimate ability to finish out games stapled onto our commander too.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> But, I want to add another way to win: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Let's talk about the deck, ways to trigger that alternate win condition, and other cards that make the deck tick.</span></p>
<h2><b>Is that a Mortal Kombat reference?</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Let's start by talking about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This four mana enchantment asks that we have 20 creatures in our graveyard at the beginning of our upkeep, so we're gonna need a lot of ways to fill that graveyard. Our commander can help with that, but here are a few of my other favorites:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firja, Judge of Valor" href="#" target="_blank">Firja, Judge of Valor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will provide card advantage while filling the graveyard, and it's also an Angel (which works well with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s ability). <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ripples of Undeath" href="#" target="_blank">Ripples of Undeath</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is very similar, but it can be cast for just two mana.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dogged Detective" href="#" target="_blank">Dogged Detective</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a repeatable way to fill our graveyard once we have a sacrifice outlet (like our commander) on the field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Firja, Judge of Valor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ripples of Undeath"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dogged Detective"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once we've got a full graveyard, we do need to fetch up <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for the win. While more traditional tutors do work well here, there's a few special includes I wanted to show off.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dimir House Guard" href="#" target="_blank">Dimir House Guard</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can either be transmuted to find our win condition (thus adding another card to the graveyard for its 20-card requirement) or act as a sacrifice outlet to fill the graveyard with what we've already got on board. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beseech the Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Beseech the Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which can sacrifice a Blood token to get <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortal Combat" href="#" target="_blank">Mortal Combat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> down directly.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dimir House Guard"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Beseech the Mirror"></div></div></span></p>
<h2><b>An Orzhov aristocrats deck? Unheard of!</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, because it's an Orzhov deck with a sacrifice outlet in the command zone, there's good few cards to support that strategy in the 99. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz" href="#" target="_blank">Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher" href="#" target="_blank">Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are standouts here, triggering when we sacrifice creatures, tokens, and even fetch lands.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Arisen Nightmare" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Arisen Nightmare</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works very well too, as it can sacrifice either a Blood token or a spare creature, whichever is most strategic at each of our end steps.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Arisen Nightmare"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because this deck has a lot of Angels in it, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bishop of Wings" href="#" target="_blank">Bishop of Wings</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will provide a lot of life gain and a lot of Spirit tokens. Similarly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampage of the Valkyries" href="#" target="_blank">Rampage of the Valkyries</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will do a pretty good impression of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Pact" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Pact</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And, last but not least, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Liesa, Forgotten Archangel" href="#" target="_blank">Liesa, Forgotten Archangel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will rebuy each of our creatures while ensuring that our opponents' dead creatures stay dead.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bishop of Wings"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rampage of the Valkyries"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Liesa, Forgotten Archangel"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking of Angel synergies, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firja&#039;s Retribution" href="#" target="_blank">Firja&#039;s Retribution</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes Angels, can provide a ton of removal, and even end games if we've got enough Angels on board. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The recently-reprinted <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Righteous Valkyrie" href="#" target="_blank">Righteous Valkyrie</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will provide life gain and act as a sweet anthem once we cast enough Angels, and (as always) <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Giada, Font of Hope" href="#" target="_blank">Giada, Font of Hope</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does most everything that an Angel-centric deck wants for just two mana.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Firja&#039;s Retribution"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Righteous Valkyrie"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Giada, Font of Hope"></div></div></span></p>
<h2><b>Blood is thicker than water</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I included a few more ways to take advantage of our use of Blood tokens too, starting with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marionette Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Marionette Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card triggers off of both Blood tokens and creatures leaving the battlefield, pulling double duty here. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oltec Matterweaver" href="#" target="_blank">Oltec Matterweaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of my favorite cards from the past year, and it'll help add to our blood collection as the game drags on. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last up is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonstone Eulogist" href="#" target="_blank">Moonstone Eulogist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which feels purpose built for this deck. It'll become a huge flying threat in no time, and probably make a few extra Blood tokens along the way.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Marionette Apprentice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oltec Matterweaver"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Moonstone Eulogist"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And here's the full decklist…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="2024&#039;s EDHighlights - Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Angel of Despair
*1 Angel of Indemnity
*1 Angel of Suffering
*1 Angel of the Ruins
*1 Angelic Sell-Sword
*1 Battle Angels of Tyr
*1 Bishop of Wings
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher
*1 Dazzling Angel
*1 Dimir House Guard
*1 Disciple of the Vault
*1 Dogged Detective
*1 Fain, the Broker
*1 Firja, Judge of Valor
*1 Fleshwrither
*1 Giada, Font of Hope
*1 Golgari Thug
*1 Guardian of Ghirapur
*1 Herald of the Host
*1 Karmic Guide
*1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel
*1 Loran of the Third Path
*1 Marionette Apprentice
*1 Millikin
*1 Mirkwood Bats
*1 Moon-Blessed Cleric
*1 Moonstone Eulogist
*1 Oltec Matterweaver
*1 Overlord of the Balemurk
*1 Renegade Reaper
*1 Restoration Angel
*1 Righteous Valkyrie
*1 Sanctuary Warden
*1 Scholar of New Horizons
*1 Serra Paragon
*1 Shepherd of the Cosmos
*1 Starnheim Aspirant
*1 Stinkweed Imp
*1 Stitcher&#039;s Supplier
*1 Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz
*1 Woe Strider
*1 Youthful Valkyrie
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Beseech the Mirror
*1 Blasphemous Edict
*1 Damn
*1 Demonic Counsel
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Incarnation Technique
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Herald&#039;s Horn
*1 Orzhov Signet
*1 Palantír of Orthanc
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Black Market Connections
*1 Firja&#039;s Retribution
*1 Mortal Combat
*1 Rampage of the Valkyries
*1 Ripples of Undeath
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
*1 Fetid Heath
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Isolated Chapel
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Nesting Grounds
*7 Plains
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Seraph Sanctuary
*1 Shadowy Backstreet
*1 Shattered Sanctum
*1 Silent Clearing
*1 Snowfield Sinkhole
*1 Sunlit Marsh
*5 Swamp
*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
*1 Vault of Champions
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
[/Lands]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
&nbsp;"></span></div></span></p>
<h2><b><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Inevitable End" href="#" target="_blank">Inevitable End</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks for reading, folks! I didn't touch on it earlier, but when <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shilgengar, Sire of Famine" href="#" target="_blank">Shilgengar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> reanimates creatures with his second ability, he put a finality counter on each of them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I included a few ways to get rid of those counters, including <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scholar of New Horizons" href="#" target="_blank">Scholar of New Horizons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to turn finality counters into lands, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fain, the Broker" href="#" target="_blank">Fain, the Broker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to turn counters into <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Treasure" href="#" target="_blank">Treasure</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> tokens, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sanctuary Warden" href="#" target="_blank">Sanctuary Warden</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to turn them into 1/1 creatures and card advantage.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scholar of New Horizons"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fain, the Broker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sanctuary Warden"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before I go, I also wanted to talk about a few other Angels that work really well with the overall game plan. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shepherd of the Cosmos" href="#" target="_blank">Shepherd of the Cosmos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can bring back something we’ve sacrificed, and can even grab a fetch land for some sneaky ramp.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Herald of the Host" href="#" target="_blank">Herald of the Host</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is fine as a french vanilla 4/4 for five mana, but because the myriad tokens can be sacrificed to our commander, this creature becomes a lot stronger here.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> And, because of the high creature count in this deck, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angelic Sell-Sword" href="#" target="_blank">Angelic Sell-Sword</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can produce a boatload of tokens.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shepherd of the Cosmos"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Herald of the Host"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Angelic Sell-Sword"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'll see you all next week, when we take a look at 2024's most popular Izzet commander.</span></p>


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