Meet Tivash, Gloom Summoner, and His Trimmed Clique of Lifegain

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/chriscold">Chris Cold</a></h6>
<h1><b>The call was coming from inside the house!</b></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hello there! Welcome once again to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">EDHighlights</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the mini-series where I build decks for the year's most popular commander for each color combination. Now that 2024's set releases have finished up, I'll be taking a look at the most popular releases from the past year. Here, I'll talk a bit about each of the most popular commanders and build a deck for them with a little twist to keep things interesting.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We're working with the year's most popular Rakdos commander this time, which means this article will be about… [<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls</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="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the first precon face commander in this series, and it's not hard to see why he's so popular. Rakdos is already a well-loved color pair, group slug is a popular strategy, and </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Duskmourn</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was a pretty popular set. So, let's see what this demonic dude can do.</span></p>
<h2><b>They put this thing in a precon?</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a 4/4 Elder Demon with flying and ward (cost: pay 2 life) for 4 mana. And, whenever one of our opponents loses life for the first time during their turn, we get to draw a card and put a +1/+1 counter on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a very strong commander, and it incentivizes us to ensure that we can create a steady stream of life loss for each of our opponents. If we can do that, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> promises us heaps of card advantage and a large, evasive creature to win in combat with.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's lots of ways to hurt our opponents in Rakdos colors, so we won't be starved for options. But, I promised that this deck would break the mold slightly. So, we'll be making our opponents lose life through Aristocrat-style gain-and-drain effects. This color combination is a natural fit for an Aristocrats strategy, and I'm excited to get brewing!</span></p>
<h2><b>Joining the aristocracy</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I think of Aristocrats, my mind immediately goes to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This creature is a format staple for a reason, and it works particularly well here. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When ANY creature dies, one of ours or one of our opponents', we'll get a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> trigger. Most of the time, we'll have a spare creature lying around that we can sacrifice, and something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zulaport Cutthroat" href="#" target="_blank">Zulaport Cutthroat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vraan, Executioner Thane" href="#" target="_blank">Vraan, Executioner Thane</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will trigger our commander.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Artist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zulaport Cutthroat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vraan, Executioner Thane"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and co. will make sure that when creatures die, we get <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to do his thing. But now we need a good pool of disposable creatures. One of the best ways to do this in Commander is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Loyal Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Loyal Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We'll (hopefully) have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the battlefield for the majority of the game, so this card can really shine. There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lord Skitter, Sewer King" href="#" target="_blank">Lord Skitter, Sewer King</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which makes tokens and acts as an efficient graveyard hate piece. And <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lagomos, Hand of Hatred" href="#" target="_blank">Lagomos, Hand of Hatred</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>] is here too, both as a token generator and (sometimes) as a repeatable tutor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Loyal Apprentice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lord Skitter, Sewer King"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lagomos, Hand of Hatred"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If we're going to have expendable creatures, and payoffs for them dying, we need some ways to sacrifice them too. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rakdos, the Muscle" href="#" target="_blank">Rakdos, the Muscle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a free sac outlet, a card advantage engine, and a big flying creature all in one. I think this card is great, and this deck actually plays very well around its “once per turn” restriction. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only cares about the first time an opponent loses life each turn, we can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rakdos, the Muscle" href="#" target="_blank">Rakdos, the Muscle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s free sacrifice ability quite well. There's also <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ayara, Widow of the Realm" href="#" target="_blank">Ayara, Widow of the Realm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. She provides a sacrifice outlet with built-in life loss, and can reanimate the best thing in our graveyard each turn once we manage to transform her. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I've also included <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Priest of Forgotten Gods" href="#" target="_blank">Priest of Forgotten Gods</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which can trigger our commander easily (just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ayara, Widow of the Realm" href="#" target="_blank">Ayara</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="Rakdos, the Muscle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ayara, Widow of the Realm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Priest of Forgotten Gods"></div></div></span></p>
<h2><b>A friendly game of ping pong</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of making this just another Aristocrats deck that happens to have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> at the helm, I'm also including some of the best group slug pieces that Magic has to offer. This commander is so strong, and I want to ensure that we can get maximum value out of him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Razorkin Needlehead" href="#" target="_blank">Razorkin Needlehead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scrawling Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Scrawling Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both released recently, and they're perfect cards for this deck. They're guaranteed to ping our opponents at least once on each of their turns, and odds are they'll do a lot more than that. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hearthborn Battler" href="#" target="_blank">Hearthborn Battler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a good card too, because we'll get to choose where the damage goes no matter who cast their second spell. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This means we can choose to either get more triggers from our commander or whittle down a specific player's life total, whichever seems best at the moment. I'm also a big fan of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mogis, God of Slaughter" href="#" target="_blank">Mogis, God of Slaughter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It gives our opponents a choice, but each option is pretty bad for them. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plus, because of the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-style effects in the deck, they'll usually trigger <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> no matter what.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Razorkin Needlehead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hearthborn Battler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mogis, God of Slaughter"></div></div> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rounding out the group slug package here is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Sharpshooter" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Sharpshooter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to act as either a way to ping someone's face or kill a creature, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kardur, Doomscourge" href="#" target="_blank">Kardur, Doomscourge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to make combat even more chaotic, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant" href="#" target="_blank">Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to disincentivize our opponents from attacking us. Combined, these creatures will hopefully make attacking us a little less appealing than it otherwise would be.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goblin Sharpshooter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kardur, Doomscourge"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant"></div></div></span></p>
<h2><b>All together now…</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Crucially, there are only 9 cards in the 99 of this deck that have a converted mana cost of 4 or higher. It's important to get some setup on the board before <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> arrives, and to be able to ramp up the group-slugginess quickly after that, so this deck is relatively low to the ground.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And now, here's the full decklist:</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="2024&#039;s EDHighlights - Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Ayara, Widow of the Realm // Ayara, Furnace Queen
*1 Blood Artist
*1 Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog
*1 Carrion Feeder
*1 Garna, Bloodfist of Keld
*1 Gleeful Arsonist
*1 Goblin Sharpshooter
*1 Grim Haruspex
*1 Hearthborn Battler
*1 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
*1 Juri, Master of the Revue
*1 Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant
*1 Kardur, Doomscourge
*1 Kederekt Parasite
*1 Lagomos, Hand of Hatred
*1 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
*1 Loyal Apprentice
*1 Marionette Apprentice
*1 Mayhem Devil
*1 Midnight Reaper
*1 Mogis, God of Slaughter
*1 Morbid Opportunist
*1 Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
*1 Ophiomancer
*1 Pawn of Ulamog
*1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
*1 Priest of Forgotten Gods
*1 Rakdos, the Muscle
*1 Razorkin Needlehead
*1 Rug of Smothering
*1 Scrawling Crawler
*1 Spiteful Prankster
*1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
*1 Totentanz, Swarm Piper
*1 Vein Ripper
*1 Vengeful Bloodwitch
*1 Viscera Seer
*1 Vraan, Executioner Thane
*1 Woe Strider
*1 Zulaport Cutthroat
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bastion of Remembrance
*1 Bitterblossom
*1 Black Market Connections
*1 Bloodchief Ascension
*1 Goblin Bombardment
*1 Roiling Vortex
*1 The Meathook Massacre
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Arena of Glory
*1 Blazemire Verge
*1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
*1 Canyon Slough
*1 Command Tower
*1 Graven Cairns
*1 Haunted Ridge
*1 Luxury Suite
*1 Mount Doom
*5 Mountain
*1 Phyrexian Tower
*1 Shadowblood Ridge
*1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
*1 Spymaster&#039;s Vault
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*10 Swamp
*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
[/Lands]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Edict
*1 Bloodsoaked Insight // Sanguine Morass
*1 Sundering Eruption // Volcanic Fissure
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Cryptolith Fragment // Aurora of Emrakul
*1 Mithril Coat
*1 Rakdos Signet
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
*1 Flare of Duplication
*1 Flare of Malice
*1 Ghostfire Slice
*1 Hellish Rebuke
*1 Kolaghan&#039;s Command
*1 Lightning Bolt
*1 Not Dead After All
*1 Plumb the Forbidden
*1 Supernatural Stamina
*1 Untimely Malfunction
*1 Withering Torment
[/Instants]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
[/Planeswalkers]"></span></div>
<h2><b><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Glorious End" href="#" target="_blank">Glorious End</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks for reading this week's edition of </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">EDHighlights</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">! This was a fun deck to build, and reminded me a lot of my own high-power <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin" href="#" target="_blank">Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> build. Both commanders want opponents to lose life, and both provide +1/+1 counters and card advantage when they do. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both cards are great, they both work great in the 99 of each other's decks. And, for a little extra Ob Nixilis in my life, I included <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ob Nixilis, the Adversary" href="#" target="_blank">Ob Nixilis, the Adversary</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It's a way to force lifeloss, another sacrifice outlet, and can even provide card advantage if it sticks on the board long enough.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ob Nixilis, the Adversary"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Which do you think is better? <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin" href="#" target="_blank">Ob Nixilis</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Let me know in the comments below. I'll see you all next time, when I look at the year's most popular Gruul commander!</span></p>


demon

Meet Tivash, Gloom Summoner, and His Trimmed Clique of Lifegain

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