<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Erebos, God of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Erebos, God of the Dead</a> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/bugmeyer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter Mohrbacher</a>
Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable). The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it.
This week's random commander is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Erebos, God of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Erebos, God of the Dead</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Erebos, God of the Dead"></div></div>
We've covered a lot of mono-black commanders here on Technically Playable, from a <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/paul-palmer/5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Balthor the Defiled Reanimator deck</a> to <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/underplayed-partner-options-for-tevesh-szat-doom-of-fools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tevesh Szat and friends</a>, and realistically, a lot of these decks end up looking the same. You have some removal, some ways to reanimate, and then some tutors to find a card like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torment of Hailfire" href="#" target="_blank">Torment of Hailfire</a> to close the game out.
I'd like to use this article to showcase some cards from my personal <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anrakyr the Traveller" href="#" target="_blank">Anrakyr the Traveller</a> deck that are focused around life total manipulation since Erebos also works as an excellent option to head up a deck like this.
<h2>Time To Pay the Piper</h2>
The bread and butter of this deck is paying as much life as we can without dying, so that we can then benefit from a number of powerful payoffs.
If I had my, way <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Griselbrand" href="#" target="_blank">Griselbrand</a> (my favorite card of all time) would be legal, and that would be the end of the article. Griselbrand is both a way of paying life, and the payoff. Unfortunately, we don't live in Paul's magical dream world, so we have to make do with other options.
The first thing to do is to create a DIY <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Griselbrand" href="#" target="_blank">Griselbrand</a>. There are a couple of ways of doing this. My personal favorite is using <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vilis, Broker of Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Vilis, Broker of Blood</a> with a card like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necrodominance" href="#" target="_blank">Necrodominance</a> to create something close to an expensive version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yawgmoth&#039;s Bargain" href="#" target="_blank">Yawgmoth&#039;s Bargain</a>. Alternatively, the deck can run cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necrologia" href="#" target="_blank">Necrologia</a> which give a way to pay a one-off cost of mana to draw as many cards as you can pay life for; imagine this as the casual version of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a>.
Alternatively, you can run the card that I feel doesn't get enough love (or enough abuse), <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bolas&#039;s Citadel" href="#" target="_blank">Bolas&#039;s Citadel</a> (only in 8.15% of decks if you can believe that...). If your deck can gain life or has a payoff for losing life, you can effectively play through your entire deck, hopefully finding a way to win.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bolas&#039;s Citadel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Infernal Contract"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Necrologia"></div></div>
While "DIY <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Griselbrand" href="#" target="_blank">Griselbrand</a>" is one way to play this deck, there are some other routes that can also be built around. One fun way is to really go all in on the life loss. Instead of paying a few life here or a few there, aim to dump as much life as possible into individual cards. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Murderous Betrayal" href="#" target="_blank">Murderous Betrayal</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infernal Contract" href="#" target="_blank">Infernal Contract</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cruel Bargain" href="#" target="_blank">Cruel Bargain</a> allow the deck to have great ways of topdecking into huge life loss to help fuel the bigger payoffs, while <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Whisperer</a> gives a way to pay at will and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Marshland Bloodcaster" href="#" target="_blank">Marshland Bloodcaster</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">K&#039;rrik, Son of Yawgmoth</a> give the deck ways of cheating mana similarly to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bolas&#039;s Citadel" href="#" target="_blank">Bolas&#039;s Citadel</a>.
And of course, no black deck would be complete without a powerful suite of removal, but when I build a deck on a theme, I go all in. Luckily, there are plenty of removal spells that care about paying life in some way. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toxic Deluge" href="#" target="_blank">Toxic Deluge</a> is probably the most powerful of these, offering a cheap board wipe that gets around keywords like indestructible, all while allowing any amount of life to be paid to help with the payoffs mentioned below, similarly to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necrologia" href="#" target="_blank">Necrologia</a>.
While Deluge is an all-or-nothing type of card, there are also options like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Withering Torment" href="#" target="_blank">Withering Torment</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feed the Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Feed the Swarm</a> that have more limited life costs to them. The main upside of running these two removal spells in particular is access to enchantment removal, something that black has traditionally struggled with. While not as powerful or flexible as some of the above options, these are good utility cards that help the deck run while also offering some benefit for the deck's main focus.
<h2>Your Life Total Is a Resource</h2>
Just like mana, our life total can often be used as a resource. We've talked about how we're paying that cost above, but just like ramping turn three <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a> into turn four <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kodama&#039;s Reach" href="#" target="_blank">Kodama&#039;s Reach</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a> allows you an eight-drop on turn five, we need a way to do more with all of this life we're paying than just making it easier for the aggro player to hit us with a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goblin Guide" href="#" target="_blank">Goblin Guide</a> until we're out of the game.
One of the best and funniest ways to utilize paying life is definitely swapping life totals. By dropping a ton of life on a spell like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necrologia" href="#" target="_blank">Necrologia</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wall of Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Wall of Blood</a>/<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necropotence" href="#" target="_blank">Necropotence</a> (definitely two cards of equal power level) the deck can use <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Profane Transfusion" href="#" target="_blank">Profane Transfusion</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Conduit" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Conduit</a> to swap life totals and set up opponents for an easy kill. These are just the two that I have in my Anrakyr deck, but you also have <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magus of the Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Magus of the Mirror</a> and, for those with deeper pockets than I, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirror Universe" href="#" target="_blank">Mirror Universe</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Profane Transfusion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soul Conduit"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magus of the Mirror"></div></div>
And while life swapping is hilarious, you can also break out <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Repay in Kind" href="#" target="_blank">Repay in Kind</a>. Again, dump as much life as possible into a spell and then bring everyone down to the lowest life at the table - one life if you're feeling chaotic, or a more friendly five or six will finish a game quickly. This can also combo well with cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a> since so many of your enchantments have mana costs, or even the new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mai, Scornful Striker" href="#" target="_blank">Mai, Scornful Striker</a> from the <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/tla">Avatar</a> set.
One final way to utilize this is a bit of a cheeky one, and that's to use it in a political way. If this is the first time the deck is seeing play in a pod, the other players may not know what it's capable of. This can be used as an advantage as it allows the deck's pilot to point at the life totals in the middle of the table and say, "X player has more life than me, hit them." This might feel like cheating, but realistically, if your opponents fall for it, that's kind of on them.
This will hopefully let you set up enough pieces to prevent dying when it becomes apparent that you're a threat. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stunning Reversal" href="#" target="_blank">Stunning Reversal</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Golden Throne" href="#" target="_blank">The Golden Throne</a> allow a second (or third) go at closing the game out. This strategy is much riskier as you play more games. And if you win any games with this deck, you'll have to find something else to rely on.
<h2>The Supporting Cast</h2>
One really key element of this deck is that the cards are expensive to cast. A lot of the win conditions are seven or more mana, which can be a high price to pay in the world of 2025 Commander. The Anrakyr deck is fortunate enough that it can run cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Caged Sun" href="#" target="_blank">Caged Sun</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gauntlet of Power" href="#" target="_blank">Gauntlet of Power</a>, since if they're destroyed, Anrakyr simply brings them back, acting as both reanimation and life loss.
While these work with Erebos and will provide plenty of mana to repeatedly activate his own ability, this list would be much less reliant on artifact reanimation, so once they're gone, it will be much harder to return them.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cabal Coffers"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magus of the Coffers"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Command the Dreadhorde"></div></div>
In this case, it's better to look towards creature or non-artifact permanent sources of mana. Cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble</a> can get more lands into play, which gives the deck some legs in the race against <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a>. Alternatively, using tutors to find the deck's powerful lands like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cabal Coffers" href="#" target="_blank">Cabal Coffers</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth</a> allows it to create a ton of mana for big payoffs.
The deck can also use creatures like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Magus of the Coffers" href="#" target="_blank">Magus of the Coffers</a> or <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crypt Ghast" href="#" target="_blank">Crypt Ghast</a> as an alternative to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Caged Sun" href="#" target="_blank">Caged Sun</a>. Since this list will have cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reanimate" href="#" target="_blank">Reanimate</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Command the Dreadhorde" href="#" target="_blank">Command the Dreadhorde</a> to synergize with its life loss game plan, having the mana be tied to creatures makes the deck much more resilient against non-exile-based removal.
As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a very quick look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Erebos, God of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Erebos, God of the Dead</a> as a commander, and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Erebos as the commander tick. Let me know in the comments below if you play Erebos or any of the other Theros gods as commanders, and if you liked this, check out my <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/technically-playable-phenax-god-of-deception" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Phenax retrospective deck tech from last year</a>!
This is the last Technically Playable of the year, so I hope you have a lovely winter break and I'll see you in 2026 for more articles!

Technically Playable - Erebos, God of the Dead

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a> | Art By <a href="https://izzymedrano.artstation.com/">Izzy</a>)</h6>
<h1>That Sinking Feeling</h1>
Welcome back to our lesson on mana sinks. In this article, we’re going to be covering the remainder of the color pie, starting with black. If you missed part one of this series, where I cover white and blue as well as an introduction to why mana sinks are important in Commander, I encourage you to check out the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/preview-review-mana-sinks-part-one/">first part in this miniseries</a> before moving on to this one!
Don’t worry, I’ll wait... Right, you’re back? Great!
<h2>Black</h2>
Moving through the colors of Magic: The Gathering, we're coming to black.
As I mentioned in the last article, some colors have it easier than others when it comes to making use of your spare mana. Black will reward you with plenty of options to turn that mana into mischief, you just might have to pay a little life to go with it.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Greed"></div></div>
Let’s start with an old favorite, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a>. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a> goes all the way back to the Fourth Edition of Magic: The Gathering. Since 1995, we’ve been able to slot <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a> in our decks and turn our excess life and mana into more cards. If you’re new to the game, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a> is the epitome of the advantages a black card can grant you. You’re able to pay a small amount of mana coupled with a little bit of life to get that extra card. You can try to draw the key removal piece you need or your next land drop. What makes <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a> truly black though is the temptation. It’s only one mana, it’s only two life. How deep are you prepared to go to get what you want? (Don’t answer that question, that’s why <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ad Nauseam" href="#" target="_blank">Ad Nauseam</a> is a card) That is black magic.
Many of these effects exist in black, you can find the same ability tacked on to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Erebos, God of the Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Erebos, God of the Dead</a>. A very powerful commander in their own right, although one you see less and less of these days. Erebos slots nicely into the 99 of any deck that wants to make a lot of mana and have a place to spend it; with the added bonus that your opponents can’t gain life attempt to claw back the life they’ve lost. The added utility plus the fact that it’s stapled onto an indestructible enchantment that has the potential to become a creature is why you’re paying an additional mana here over <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Greed" href="#" target="_blank">Greed</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Erebos, God of the Dead"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dockside Chef"></div></div>
A modern rendition of the same effect is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Chef" href="#" target="_blank">Dockside Chef</a>. While it pays a lot less to be a chef than an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dockside Extortionist" href="#" target="_blank">extortionist</a>, card draw is nothing to be sniffed at. Rather than life, you’re looking to sacrifice other creatures or artifacts. If you’re looking for a way to shoehorn this effect into your deck at a lower mana value, the chef absolutely performs to a T. If your deck is running disposable artifact tokens like Clues, Treasures and Food, it’s easy to turn tokens card draw when you need them.
Now, it's worth knowing that black can do more than just draw you cards with your excess mana. There's no better way to invalidate your opponents' removal than ensuring that your creatures don't stay dead!
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phyrexian Reclamation"></div></div>
Black has numerous ways for you to get creatures back from the graveyard. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Reclamation</a> will allow you to return creature cards from your graveyard to your hand for two mana and two life. Once again, it works at that standard rate of two mana and two life for a card that black seems so fond of. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Reclamation</a> also allows you to reuse your best enter the battlefield effects: being able to sacrifice and recur your own <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a> and drain the table for life. That life can then be used to refuel <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Reclamation" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Reclamation</a> and potentially close out a game very quickly, much to the chagrin of your opponents.
<h2>Red</h2>
I have been so excited to write about red for this article. Black and the notion of paying mana for card advantage is a tale as old as time. Red is all about paying mana to give your creatures more power. Now, the purpose of this article series is to encourage the effective use of your mana.‘Firebreathing’ effects, like the ones listed on <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shivan Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shivan Dragon</a> and the namesake card <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Firebreathing" href="#" target="_blank">Firebreathing</a>, are great at pushing through excess damage on your turn. They can also be used to surprise your opponent during combat as you block their creature and increase your creature’s power to ensure a trade. I don’t want to cover those effects though, as frankly, I believe modern red can do a lot better. There is an effect that will allow you to make better use of holding up your mana than spending it all on firebreathing on your turn. That effect is Goad, and it is far more useful than you think.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shivan Dragon"></div></div>
When I talk about Goad, I’m not talking about Goad itself or forced-combat themed decks. I’m talking about the inclusion of cards that can give out Goad's effect at instant speed and the utility that it provides.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Farid, Enterprising Salvager"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content=", Enterprising Salvager" href="#" target="_blank">, Enterprising Salvager</a> is a card from the recent set, The Brothers’ War: Commander. has a static ability that creates colourless artifact tokens whenever non-token artifacts are put into the graveyard from the battlefield. This is great for effects that care about artifacts in your deck that may already exist. The ability that really makes this card shine, however, is its activated ability.
So now, let’s think about why instant speed Goad is important:
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blightsteel Colossus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chaos Warp"></div></div>
<ul>
<li>Let’s say there’s a huge scary creature in play, like a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a>.</li>
<li>You have a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a> in hand, you could remove the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> immediately, and you don’t have to worry about being hit.</li>
</ul>
In this scenario, you hold up the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a> until the player with the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> attacks you which could be first, could be third but either way, the threat is dealt with and it’s onto the dealing with the next threat from the next player.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blightsteel Colossus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chaos Warp"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name=", Enterprising Salvager"></div></div>
Or, with :
<ul>
<li>Let’s say there’s a huge scary creature in play, like a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a></li>
<li>You have a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a> in hand, you could remove the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> immediately, and you don’t have to worry about being hit.</li>
<li>Instead, you decide to hold up two mana to activate in response to that player moving to combat. You are now not getting hit, guaranteed.</li>
<li>The player with the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> must attack the other players and begins the process of removing your opponents for you.</li>
<li>It is now in the other player's best interest to remove the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> instead of you. If they don’t have the removal, they are at threat of dying from Infect. If they do have the removal, the Blightsteel is removed and you still have the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a>.</li>
</ul>
In this scenario, you have dealt with the Blightsteel for a potential of several turns for a two mana investment. Even if you didn’t have the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a>, you have extra turns to try to draw the interaction you need to answer the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a> when the other players are dead.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Laurine, the Diversion"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Laurine, the Diversion" href="#" target="_blank">Laurine, the Diversion</a> has the same ability printed on her, albeit she’s able to sacrifice both artifacts and creatures, widening her flexibility. She offers no way to generate either, due to her initial printing with her Partner commander <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kamber, the Plunderer" href="#" target="_blank">Kamber, the Plunderer</a>. Remember that Laurine’s ability can be paid with generic mana (making her the more flexible card to activate), so it’s up to you which to run!
That wraps up part two of our series on the different types of mana sinks in Commander. Hopefully this article points you in the direction of some useful cards to spend all that excess mana. In the final part of this article series, we will be looking at green and some artifacts that can find a home in any deck. This quick look at colors should hopefully allow us to identify each color's weaknesses. So I'll be recommending some artifacts you might want to include in white, blue, black, red and green!
In the meantime, I received a lot of great feedback from you all with suggestions for your favorite mana sinks. Why not drop a couple more down in the comments below? Or you can discuss them with me on Twitter (Yep, it's still called Twitter to me) at <a href="https://twitter.com/PrinceofBielTan">PrinceofBielTan</a>.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next one!
<h3>Read more:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/preview-review-mana-sinks-part-one/">Preview Review - Mana Sinks (Part One)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/too-specific-top-10-mana-positive/">Too-Specific Top 10 - Mana Positive</a></li>
<li><a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/solve-the-equation-mana-efficiency-vs-sequencing/">Solve the Equation - Mana Efficiency VS Sequencing</a></li>
</ul>

erebos

Technically Playable - Erebos, God of the Dead

Preview Review - Mana Sinks (Part Two)