<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ardyn, the Usurper" href="#" target="_blank">Ardyn, the Usurper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/ludongjun" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russel Lu</a></em></p>
<p>I might not have the best history with the <em>Final Fantasy</em> games, but I <em>do</em> have a long history with the Demon creature type, which is why <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ardyn, the Usurper" href="#" target="_blank">Ardyn, the Usurper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> stood out to me as the previews for the newest set came in. My first-ever booster pack was a <em>Champions of Kamigawa</em> pack, which had some real beauties in it, including one of my prized Magic possessions: a foil <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kuro, Pitlord" href="#" target="_blank">Kuro, Pitlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. While time and power creep haven’t been kind to poor Kuro, the creature type has remained iconic. Like they have been since <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lord of the Pit" href="#" target="_blank">Lord of the Pit</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in <em>Alpha</em>, Demons are huge flying creatures based in black. Over the years, however, they’ve been released from the shackles of drawbacks to become truly terrifying!</p>
<h2>Notable Demons for Ardyn, the Usurper</h2>
<p>Ardyn is not a Demon, nor does he meet many of the requirements of a Demon, outside of a high mana value and a whole lot of black color pips. What Ardyn <em>does</em> do, however, is give Demons a host of keywords: menace, lifelink, and haste. He also reanimates creatures of any type from our graveyard as 5/5 black Demons (which, of course, get all the keywords he provides).</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ardyn, the Usurper"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ob Nixilis, Unshackled"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Valgavoth, Terror Eater"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vilis, Broker of Blood"></div></div></p>
<p>We want our Demons to be big creatures that dominate the board and provide large chunks of flying damage. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rune-Scarred Demon" href="#" target="_blank">Rune-Scarred Demon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a big, beefy brawler that battles above the clouds, but the best aspect of this bruiser is that he brings along a buddy. With all the different jobs Demons can do, he’s a veritable swiss army knife!</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demonlord Belzenlok"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rot-Curse Rakshasa"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rune-Scarred Demon"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Harvester of Souls"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Great Unclean One"></div></div></p>
<p>One of my favorite Demons is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodgift Demon" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodgift Demon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a medium-sized flying threat that gives a mini-<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sign in Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Sign in Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to any player each upkeep. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Arena" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Arena</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is still potent, and one attached to a large flyer is fairly good. Even better, though, is the political aspect. If someone else needs cards to catch up we can give them some, and it can also deal the final point of damage in a pinch!</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plague Drone"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bloodgift Demon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bloodletter of Aclazotz"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sower of Discord"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archfiend of Despair"></div></div></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Desecration Demon" href="#" target="_blank">Desecration Demon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> used to dominate <em>Return to Ravnica</em> Standard, and it’s still a cheap political threat that gets better as the game goes on. While it appears to be an above-rate flyer, it gets better in the context of a Demon deck. By itself, it forces opponents to choose between letting him grow and sacrificing a creature to tap him down and grow him. Some decks will have spare bodies, but most will have to make a tough call; even those who can regularly pay the sac tax will eventually have to pay the piper once our other removal goes online.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Burning-Rune Demon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lord of the Void"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Razaketh, the Foulblooded"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Venomcrawler"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Desecration Demon"></div></div></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abhorrent Overlord" href="#" target="_blank">Abhorrent Overlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is our equivalent to Gary (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). Maybe we should call her Abby. Would that catch on? Let me know in the comments below! Regardless, the Overlord gives us a host of Harpies equal to our devotion to black, which should be quite high. While not quite the game-ending big bang shot of Gary, Abby gives us enough power to close games out in one or two big, evasive swings.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demon of Wailing Agonies"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reiver Demon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abhorrent Overlord"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demon of Loathing"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kothophed, Soul Hoarder"></div></div></p>
<p>One of the more instantly impactful Demons on a game of Commander is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Whisperer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Believe it or not, the most dangerous aspect of this card isn’t a word or a number: it’s a punctuation mark. The colon between the phrase “Pay 2 life” and “Surveil 2” means that we can pay any amount of life in increments of two to stack our topdeck and load up the graveyard. We can even set up the reanimation of powerful creatures.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doom Whisperer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demon of Dark Schemes"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nightmare Shepherd"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rakshasa Debaser"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Infernal Sovereign"></div></div></p>
<h2>Cards for Demon Typal Strategies</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Liliana&#039;s Contract" href="#" target="_blank">Liliana&#039;s Contract</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the more powerful pieces of typal technology any creature type has access to. Even in a deck without Demons, four Changelings can facilitate the alternate win condition. Since the deck is packed with them, fulfilling the condition is nice and easy.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Liliana&#039;s Contract"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Speaker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demonic Counsel"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Living Death"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whip of Erebos"></div></div></p>
<p>One of the aspects of Demons in popular culture is that they're closely tied to death, making them incredibly difficult to put down once and for all. Reanimation spells like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> epitomize this, although perhaps the scariest and deadliest reanimation spell in <em>Magic</em> is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dread Return" href="#" target="_blank">Dread Return</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, castable from the graveyard without paying any mana, combining perfectly with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Whisperer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>’s graveyard loading to bin the threat and the reanimation spell without paying a single mana.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dread Return"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Demonic Covenant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Animate Dead"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haunting Voyage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bringer of the Last Gift"></div></div></p>
<h2>Demon Ramp</h2>
<p>One of the major downsides of Demons is their high casting cost. Rituals can help pay costs beyond the amount of mana we have, but we start to feel the aftereffects later when removal starts to catch up. Foretelling Demons with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dream Devourer" href="#" target="_blank">Dream Devourer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> helps us to control how wide and how quickly our board develops, letting us play around removal and pressure just enough to provoke responses.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dark Ritual"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cabal Ritual"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dream Devourer"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Cellarspawn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abyssal Harvester"></div></div></p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bontu&#039;s Monument" href="#" target="_blank">Bontu&#039;s Monument</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is another cost reducer, this time coming with a repeated source of card advantage. Each creature we create comes with a mini-<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sign in Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Sign in Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodgift Demon" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodgift Demon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, helping us find more creatures and dig deeper and deeper for the pieces we need to close out the game.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Herald&#039;s Horn"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Urza&#039;s Incubator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sol Ring"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bontu&#039;s Monument"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jet Medallion"></div></div></p>
<h2>Removal Spells for Ardyn</h2>
<p>Demons are warped and twisted minds, thriving on asserting their power over the living. This is shown in their propensity for forcing opponents to sacrifice creatures rather than using targeted destruction. After all, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Blade" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Blade</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is more likely to answer the specific threat, making the opponent choose between their favorite creatures with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of Depravity" href="#" target="_blank">Archfiend of Depravity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is so much more delicious!</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archfiend of Depravity"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reaper from the Abyss"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Indulgent Tormentor"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Overseer of the Damned"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Withering Torment"></div></div></p>
<p>While spot removal might not be the Demon's way, sometimes it is necessary. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Infernal Grasp" href="#" target="_blank">Infernal Grasp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feed the Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Feed the Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are some of the rare bits of enchantment removal in mono-black, although some say that they're color pie breaks. Here, however, they're necessary bits of removal for permanents we can’t easily answer.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Infernal Grasp"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Feed the Swarm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kindred Dominance"></div></div><br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadowgrange Archfiend"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pestilence Demon"></div></div></p>
<h2>Ardyn, the Usurper Commander Deck List</h2>
<p>Here's our list:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Ardyn, the Usurper Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Ardyn, the Usurper
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Abhorrent Overlord
*1 Abyssal Harvester
*1 Ancient Cellarspawn
*1 Archfiend of Depravity
*1 Archfiend of Despair
*1 Blood Speaker
*1 Bloodgift Demon
*1 Bloodletter of Aclazotz
*1 Bringer of the Last Gift
*1 Burning-Rune Demon
*1 Demon of Dark Schemes
*1 Demon of Loathing
*1 Demon of Wailing Agonies
*1 Demonlord Belzenlok
*1 Desecration Demon
*1 Doom Whisperer
*1 Dream Devourer
*1 Great Unclean One
*1 Harvester of Souls
*1 Indulgent Tormentor
*1 Infernal Sovereign
*1 Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
*1 Lord of the Void
*1 Nightmare Shepherd
*1 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
*1 Overseer of the Damned
*1 Pestilence Demon
*1 Plague Drone
*1 Rakshasa Debaser
*1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
*1 Reaper from the Abyss
*1 Reiver Demon
*1 Rot-Curse Rakshasa
*1 Rune-Scarred Demon
*1 Shadowgrange Archfiend
*1 Sower of Discord
*1 Valgavoth, Terror Eater
*1 Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
*1 Venomcrawler
*1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Animate Dead
*1 Demonic Covenant
*1 Liliana&#039;s Contract
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Demonic Counsel
*1 Dread Return
*1 Feed the Swarm
*1 Haunting Voyage
*1 Kindred Dominance
*1 Living Death
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Bontu&#039;s Monument
*1 Herald&#039;s Horn
*1 Jet Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Urza&#039;s Incubator
*1 Whip of Erebos
[/Artifacts]
[Instants]
*1 Cabal Ritual
*1 Dark Ritual
*1 Infernal Grasp
*1 Withering Torment
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*40 Swamp
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Final Thoughts on Ardyn, the Usurper Demon Typal</h2>
<p>Demons are large black flyers, and Ardyn helps make them ever more dangerous and threatening. They do a variety of jobs, from drawing cards to forcing opponents to sacrifice their own creatures. Sometimes they're a little slow at contributing to the board, but there are cost reducers to help with that, and they've been power crept in a definitive way!</p>


Building a Demon Typal Deck with Ardyn, the Usurper

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Diabolic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Diabolic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | <a href="https://www.originalmagicart.store/collections/mark-winters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Winters</a>)</h6>
<p>Each color in <em>Magic</em> has its own strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the first things you learn about the game when you start and is what keeps most people playing for years.</p>
<p>Broadly speaking, you know what a “blue deck” can do and what it can’t. When they have untapped mana, you have to be careful not to get countered. If you have permanents that grow over time, you have to prepare for them to be returned to your hand.</p>
<p>You have to keep an eye on their hand size to ensure they don’t draw their whole deck by turn four. Or mill you out!</p>
<p>Similarly, if someone is playing Boros (red and white), you can expect a board-spanning conflict where they’ll attempt to win with martial superiority. Expect token generation, life gain, equipment, and pinging. All the wonders of white and red brought together.</p>
<p>So what if you threw all that to the wayside and did the exact opposite of what each color lends itself to?</p>
<h2>What Is Playing “Out Of Type?”</h2>
<p>The neat thing about the <em>Magic </em>color pie is that, despite the fact each color has its strengths, it’s rare a mechanic is completely devoid from a color.</p>
<p>For instance, countering is the domain of blue decks. But there are cards in other colors which either counter a card or cause a similar effect. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tibalt’s Trickery" href="#" target="_blank">Tibalt’s Trickery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is perhaps the most famous (or infamous) of such an example, but there are certainly others.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lapse of Certainty"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Red Elemental Blast"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Veil of Summer"></div></div><br />
<em>To varying degrees of how strictly it “counters” something</em></p>
<p>Certainly, there aren’t enough non-blue counters to have any other color reasonably claim to be a true competitor. The same is true with life gain in white or mana production in green. Each color has its competencies and its deficiencies.</p>
<p>But isn’t it interesting that other colors can flirt with mechanics normally seen as foreign to them? And does that not necessitate the exploration of such an idea?</p>
<h2>A Quick Disclaimer</h2>
<p>While it certainly wouldn’t be competitive - and I would argue it goes against common wisdom as well - there’s a certain joy to purposefully avoiding the strengths of the color you’re playing. It gives an emphasis to cards that aren’t traditionally given the time of day and completely overhauls how you interact with the game.</p>
<p>While you can certainly play out of type of a multicolored deck, the theme is most clear with a monocolored, which means you’re limiting yourself quite heavily by doing this.</p>
<p>So in order to exemplify how this might work, I wanted to choose what I feel is the most flexible of the colors: black.</p>
<h2>What Black Does Well in <em>Magic</em></h2>
<p>When I think of black in <em>Magic</em>, I think of needless sacrifice.</p>
<p>Your cards? Don’t need them.</p>
<p>Your creatures? Expendable.</p>
<p>Your life? The only one that matters is the last.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phyrexian Unlife"></div></div><br />
<em>And sometimes the last life doesn’t even matter!</em></p>
<p>But crucially, all of these sacrifices give massive benefits to the one making them. Whether life gain or card draw or token creation, black excels at spending one resource to make another. And then, of course, spending that new resource to create yet another.</p>
<p>That removal also extends to opponents’ boards! Primarily creature removal, but no one excels at clearing a board quite like black.</p>
<p>Other colors might have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">“damage”</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sunfall" href="#" target="_blank">“board</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aetherize" href="#" target="_blank">“bounce</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But it’s black that can do it cheaply, repeatedly, and at scale.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cut Down"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Murder"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Feed the Swarm"></div></div><br />
<em>There are a lot of black removal cards</em></p>
<p>As in, there are so many black creature removal spells that the fact Commander limits cards to a single copy per deck is functionally meaningless.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smother"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Terror"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Diabolic Edict"></div></div><br />
<em>There are a LOT of black removal cards</em></p>
<h3>Finding Cards</h3>
<p>While I don’t think of this as one of my first associations with black, I would be remiss not to mention its tutors. When it comes to building engines or putting together combos, few colors have the means to actually find what they need like black does.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grim Tutor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Diabolic Tutor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cruel Tutor"></div></div><br />
<em>Black literally caused the namesake of “tutors”</em></p>
<p>Further, while red is the home of impulse draw and blue has traditional drawing, black has access to more than tutors. With some surveilling and draw-discard, black can go through its library faster than most colors if not simply choose which cards to acquire.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sinister Starfish"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Seizan, Perverter of Truth"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Asmodeus the Archfiend"></div></div><br />
<em>Black certainly has options</em></p>
<p>It also has fantastic graveyard retrieval, bringing cards back for a second casting. Or, knowing black, out for the first time since it got discarded initially.</p>
<p>This can even extend to opponents’ cards, taking them from the battlefield and turning them against their former master.</p>
<h3>In Summary</h3>
<p>Black decks excel at hurting everyone. They hurt you, they hurt your opponents, they hurt the people temporarily aligning themselves with you.</p>
<p>Life totals are a suggestion, and the graveyard is a second hand. Creatures are a resource to be spent ruthlessly and without consideration.</p>
<h2>But What If…</h2>
<h3>… You Play a Black Deck Where You Jealously Keep Your Permanents Safe?</h3>
<p>Of all the colors, black is the one that plays the most fast and loose with its permanents. And hand. And life.</p>
<p>So to play against type in black, it’s a rather straightforward methodology. Instead of sacrificing your creatures and discarding your hand, minimize the damage dealt to you.</p>
<p>Play a game where more than just the last life matters.</p>
<h3>Protect Your Permanents</h3>
<p>Luckily - and somewhat surprisingly - black excels at this!</p>
<p>While black lacks many keywords such as hexproof in abundance, or protection from colors, it has quite a few ways to protect its creatures.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Offer Immortality"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Offer Immortality" href="#" target="_blank">Offer Immortality</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great demonstration of this on two fronts. The first is the direct indestructibility it grants. While not exceedingly common, black has a fair number of ways to impose temporary protections on its permanents.</p>
<p>But the mindgames start with granting your creatures deathtouch.</p>
<p>Assuming your opponents aren’t running a traditional black deck which sacrifices its creatures readily, they'll often be reluctant to sacrifice their creatures. Sure, a token deck might swarm you or an aggro deck might not have the patience to avoid deathtouch. But in a fair number of cases, opponents will hesitate to attack if they know you can give your creatures deathtouch, which has the pleasant effect of keeping your creatures safe!</p>
<p>And if that doesn’t work, just threaten your opponents. If you set up a series of enchantments to destroy their creatures or bring back yours, suddenly it becomes a lot less appealing to destroy your creatures.</p>
<p>All without having to get your hands dirty.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grave Betrayal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grave Pact"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Not Dead After All"></div></div><br />
<em>Who said black never treated its creatures well?</em></p>
<h3>Environmentally Sustainable Mana Production</h3>
<p>Though it should be mentioned that sacrificing permanents is more of a symptom than the disease. Black decks sacrifice their creatures to achieve an end, whether that be damage, life gain, or mana. So perhaps instead of focusing on protecting your creatures, you focus on overhauling mana production?</p>
<p>The fact that green is the monarch of mana means nothing to the industrious black deck. While you can certainly invest in a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Altar" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Altar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and commit a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to sit awash in your ill-gotten currency, those are your creatures!</p>
<p>How cruel could you be to sacrifice them for, what, temporary gains? You aren’t even holding onto mana between phases unless you’ve opted for a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omnath, Locus of All" href="#" target="_blank">“very</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></p>
<p>Think sustainably! There are means for you to access additional mana that leaves your creatures unharmed.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cabal Coffers"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cabal Stronghold"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crypt Ghast"></div></div><br />
<em>It’s incredibly green of you to get so much mana</em></p>
<p>Aside from the somewhat comical adherence to protecting your permanents, leaving your creatures alive and well has the benefits of… having a board full of creatures!</p>
<p>Many of black’s strongest creatures come with a cadre of negatives to offset their positives. Whether <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Carnophage" href="#" target="_blank">“costing</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on the field or literally causing you to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of the Dross" href="#" target="_blank">“lose</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> if not dealt with, black often incentivizes you to cycle through creatures.</p>
<p>Resist the temptation.</p>
<h3>Choke the Stars With Life</h3>
<p>Black has some quite strong <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodthirsty Conqueror" href="#" target="_blank">“life</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> often accompanied or preceded by damage dealt, but not always. Aside from the flat benefit of gaining life and reducing your chance of losing the game, black can synergize its life gain with damage dealing in order to have a legitimate win condition from this.</p>
<p>Now, this would involve direct damage which isn’t exactly playing “against” black’s color typing. But hey, we’re doing the best we can with what we got. The goal is to win, so unless you want to play alternative win conditions, this is your best bet!</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exquisite Blood"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sanguine Bond"></div></div><br />
<em>A simple spell, yet quite unbreakable</em></p>
<h2>When to Do This</h2>
<p>There are many ways to play <em>Magic</em>, and some are more likely to lead to victory than others. Commander damage, poison counters, alternative win conditions - all are valid and even can be competitive!</p>
<p>This is not one such strategy.</p>
<p>But if you felt you were struggling to connect to black decks or the monotony of the same <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changers</a> was boring you, try to see what you can come up with when you push the bounds of the color pie. You might just find that building a deck out of type shines a whole new light on a color.</p>
<p><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exsanguinate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Creeping Bloodsucker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nullpriest of Oblivion"></div></div><br />
<em>There’s always another way</em></p>


How to Play Black Differently in EDH

Technically Playable - Sauron, the Necromancer

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art By: <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CEric+Peterson%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art">Eric Peterson</a>)</h6>
<p>If there's one thing a commander player loves, it's new cards. There is, however, possibly one thing that they love even more than that<em>: unbanned</em> cards. With the latest update to the format, <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/commander-bracket-system-updates-and-unbans-april-2025">five cards were freed</a> from the prison known as the Commander Banned List.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gifts Ungiven"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sway of the Stars"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Coalition Victory"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Panoptic Mirror"></div></div>
<p>Four of these cards are very cool in their own right, and I won't lie to you and say I am not excited about the possibilities of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Panoptic Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Panoptic Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gifts Ungiven" href="#" target="_blank">Gifts Ungiven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I'm even happy to lose the game for the first time to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coalition Victory" href="#" target="_blank">Coalition Victory</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There is one card, and one card alone, that we will discuss today, and that is the big baddie with the <strong>braids</strong>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Cabal Minion"></div></div>
<h2>Typical Mono-Black Nonsense</h2>
<p>Braids is a reasonably simple card, especially by 2025 design standards. It's a stax piece in the command zone that is meant to punish your opponents for playing permanents.</p>
<p>Unless your entire deck is enchantments, planeswalkers, or battles, you are going to be losing a permanent to Braids every upkeep.</p>
<p>The most common idea is to turbo out Braids as soon as possible with cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and fast mana, such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and then lock your opponents out from playing the game until they concede.</p>
<p>BUT THAT'S BORING! All screaming aside, if this is what you want to do, go ahead. I'm not here to stop you. Play the game however you want, as long as everyone is having fun.</p>
<p>What I want to do is the cruelest trick of them all: make the table agree that Braids is...helping? Well, maybe not helping, but not hurting until it's too late.</p>
<h2>It's Braids, But <em>Backwards</em></h2>
<p>What's one of the most essential things needed in any Braids deck, regardless of the strategy? <strong>Trash</strong>. Things to throw away to her effect so that you're not caught in a loop of recasting your commander every two turns and doing nothing else until you lose the game.</p>
<p>So, what type of things make the best trash-producers? Tokens and cards that put other trinkets onto the board.</p>
<h3>Trinkets For Us, Trinkets For The Table</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bitterblossom"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dreadhorde Invasion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Greedy Freebooter"></div></div>
<p>While the deck might be backwards, we do need some cards that can allow us to put on the facade that we are a regular Braids deck.</p>
<p>We also have cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia" href="#" target="_blank">Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Liliana, Heretical Healer" href="#" target="_blank">Liliana, Heretical Healer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that have situational ways of providing us with a token.</p>
<p>Some cards in the deck even give all players tokens or at least an option to get tokens.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tombstone Stairwell"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Plague of Vermin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Infernal Genesis"></div></div>
<h3>Horrors, Horses, and Trolls Oh My!</h3>
<p>The real driving force of the deck is, however, is what we have that gives our opponents the direct counter to what's expected of the deck. Some of these cards you might be familiar with:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tribute to Horobi"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Clackbridge Troll"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hunted Bonebrute"></div></div>
<p>What do you mean you've never seen these cards? But you know these next few, I bet.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slaughter Specialist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hunted Horror"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Akroan Horse"></div></div>
<p>Odds are, most of these cards have never crossed your sightline and have almost certainly never been put into a sleeve and jammed into a deck box.</p>
<p>These are the keys to the deck. These are the puzzle pieces that will make our opponents forget we're playing Braids.</p>
<p>Why would you want to attack the Braids player when I can blink my <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hunted Horror" href="#" target="_blank">Hunted Horror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conjurer&#039;s Closet" href="#" target="_blank">Conjurer&#039;s Closet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and give you more Centaurs? These are the thoughts I'm trying to plant in the table's mind.</p>
<h3>Profit?</h3>
<p>So, after we successfully flood the board of our opponents with Myr, Centaur, Goats, and Soldiers, what do we do? We spring the trap.</p>
<p>This is the point in the game that we show our opponents how mean we can truly be. We show them that they never should have underestimated Braids.</p>
<p>First, it'll be something small, like another version of Braids. <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> will have opponents throwing away the tokens to prevent us from drawing cards, sure, but this is exactly what we want.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Arisen Nightmare"></div></div>
<p>Second, we add <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist" href="#" target="_blank">Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to the table to start gaining small amounts of mana.</p>
<p>Third, if our opponents haven't caught on by this point, start to tip your hand with something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sangromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Sangromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>; it's amazing how fast three life adds up.</p>
<p>Finally, we hit them with a card that will feel like getting slammed with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossus Hammer" href="#" target="_blank">Colossus Hammer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Massacre Girl"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Massacre Wurm"></div></div>
<p>Cards with the word "massacre" in the title and a decimating opponent's board full of creatures have always been a match made in heaven.</p>
<p>Another classic for black-centric decks is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toxic Deluge" href="#" target="_blank">Toxic Deluge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. In this deck, it's especially easy to profit from paying as little as one life to wipe a board away.</p>
<p>While the Girl and the Deluge are skilled at killing boards, they struggle to turn that into a personal advantage. That is where some old classics and new players come in.</p>
<h3>Classics</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Artist"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Falkenrath Noble"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Syr Konrad, the Grim"></div></div>
<p>Staples in back decks often focus on an Aristocrat-ic vibe, these are how we best turn the cards given to our opponents into their downfall.</p>
<p>The Artist and the Noble do double duty by keeping our life total nice and high because no matter what we do in this deck, we should expect a healthy dose of retaliation.</p>
<p>Luckily for us, the designers have decided over the years that more cards of this nature were needed.</p>
<h3>New Players</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blood Seeker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archfiend of the Dross"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vein Ripper"></div></div>
<p>Creatures have seen a significant increase in the arbitrage of gaining value by eliminating an opponent's board. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archfiend of the Dross" href="#" target="_blank">Archfiend of the Dross</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vein Ripper" href="#" target="_blank">Vein Ripper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> even became powerhouses in multiple 60-card formats.</p>
<p>But one card stands above the rest when it comes to the new players, and it might even rival some of the old classics. I am, of course, talking about:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Meathook Massacre"></div></div>
<p>This card is so powerful that it had to be banned in Standard. Now, without having a board of our own, this card won't be enough to win us the game, so we need to use some cards that are more typical of mono-black strategies that your opponents are used to seeing.</p>
<h3>Familiar Faces</h3>
<p>Call it a backup plan or call it filling out the curve, either way, the deck needs to be 100 cards, so these are making it into the list. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is possibly the most classic card in a mono-black deck if there ever was one.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gray Merchant of Asphodel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bastion of Remembrance"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zulaport Cutthroat"></div></div>
<p>At this point, it might as well be the first card added to any of those decks, even before the likes of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swamp" href="#" target="_blank">Swamp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bastion of Remembrance" href="#" target="_blank">Bastion of Remembrance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <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> make sure that if an opponent decides they no longer want us to have a board, it's going to cost them dearly.</p>
<h3>Nice to Have</h3>
<p>A deck like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lends itself to being able to run cards not often seen anywhere else, and when you see those cards at the table, you can't help but to audibly exclaim, "Nice".</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Prized Statue"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ichor Wellspring"></div></div>
<p>Artifacts aren't safe from the wrath of Braids, and for us, that can be to our advantage. More specifically, card advantage and mana advantage.</p>
<p>Lands also allow us to do silly things. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drownyard Temple" href="#" target="_blank">Drownyard Temple</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can help us in a pinch when the board has gone bad, and the best thing for us to do is throw away a land. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gods&#039; Eye, Gate to the Reikai" href="#" target="_blank">Gods&#039; Eye, Gate to the Reikai</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> might only see play in a Braids deck, and it happens to be perfect.</p>
<h3>Hidden Commander</h3>
<p>One final card that deserves special attention for the deck:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Trespasser&#039;s Curse"></div></div>
<p>For this deck, I wish there were four or five different versions of this card. Sadly, we only have one. The card can be tutored up with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bitterheart Witch" href="#" target="_blank">Bitterheart Witch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the sacrifice effect on Braids feeds into finding this card nicely.</p>
<p>I didn't want any of the other mono-black Curses in the deck, so the Witch did not make the cut. Sometimes, the thrill of drawing this card at the right time will be the reason to come back to the table and shuffle up for another game. Or we just cast our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and grab it when the time is right.</p>
<h2>Wrap Up</h2>
<p>Is this the best version of a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Cabal Minion" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Cabal Minion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck to ever hit the table? No, it certainly is not. Is the ideal strategy still going to be turboing out Braids with fast mana, slamming down a token producer for yourself, and loading up on other cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smokestack" href="#" target="_blank">Smokestack</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>?</p>
<p>Most likely yes. That deck, however, builds itself, and if I am going to bring you a <em>Tech the Deck</em> article, I want to do my best to think outside the box to the degree in which I can without going completely insane. You know. Like Braids.</p>
<p>Braids as a commander is not my cup of tea. I would sit down at a table and, depending on the day, agree to play against your deck no questions asked. I even claimed that this card should be unbanned when discussing bringing back the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/myth-realized-should-we-bring-back-banned-only-as-commander-3">Banned as Commander</a> rule in January of this year.</p>
<p>Whatever the case, I hope you find this Braids deck interesting at the very least. Someday, if you ever set up a Braids lock across the table from me as you recur your <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Strip Mine" href="#" target="_blank">Strip Mine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crucible of Worlds" href="#" target="_blank">Crucible of Worlds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I will shake your hand and shuffle up for another game, hopefully against a non-Braids deck. Unless it's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Braids, Conjurer Adept" href="#" target="_blank">Braids, Conjurer Adept</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, because nothing can go wrong if she's your Commander.</p>
<h2>Decklist</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="ƨbiɒяꓭ Backwards" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Braids, Cabal Minion
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Akroan Horse
*1 Archfiend of the Dross
*1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
*1 Blood Artist
*1 Blood Seeker
*1 Bloodghast
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Clackbridge Troll
*1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
*1 Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist
*1 Falkenrath Noble
*1 Gravecrawler
*1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
*1 Greedy Freebooter
*1 Hunted Bonebrute
*1 Hunted Horror
*1 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
*1 Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer
*1 Massacre Girl
*1 Massacre Wurm
*1 Morbid Opportunist
*1 Reassembling Skeleton
*1 Sangromancer
*1 Slaughter Specialist
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
*1 Vein Ripper
*1 Zulaport Cutthroat
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Darkness
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Fake Your Own Death
*1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
*1 Snuff Out
*1 Withering Torment
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Awaken the Erstwhile
*1 Decree of Pain
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Living Death
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Plague of Vermin
*1 Reanimate
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Toxic Deluge
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Conjurer&#039;s Closet
*1 Crucible of Worlds
*1 Genesis Chamber
*1 Ichor Wellspring
*1 Jet Medallion
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Panharmonicon
*1 Prized Statue
*1 Sol Ring
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bastion of Remembrance
*1 Bitterblossom
*1 Black Market
*1 Dreadhorde Invasion
*1 Infernal Genesis
*1 Phyrexian Reclamation
*1 Quest for the Gravelord
*1 The Meathook Massacre
*1 Tombstone Stairwell
*1 Trespasser&#039;s Curse
*1 Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death&#039;s Wail
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Barad-dûr
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Cabal Coffers
*1 Cabal Stronghold
*1 Command Tower
*1 Drownyard Temple
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Field of Ruin
*1 Forbidden Orchard
*1 Fountainport
*1 Gods&#039; Eye, Gate to the Reikai
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Mortuary Mire
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Phyrexian Tower
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Springjack Pasture
*12 Swamp
*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
*1 Urza&#039;s Cave
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Witch&#039;s Cottage
[/Lands]"></span></div>


Tech The Deck - Braids, Cabal Minion

Bracket For Your Buck - Multiple Brackets, Low Budget

2024’s EDHighlights - Massacre Girl, Known Killer

Brew For Your BRAAINS - Budget Zombie Hot Swap!

Build A Demons Deck With Valgavoth, Terror Eater

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.cavotta.com/">Matt Cavotta</a>)</h6>
<h1>Technically Playable - Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</h1>
<p>Welcome to <em>Technically Playable</em>, where our mission statement is "Every commander is <em>Technically</em> playable" (the best kind of playable).</p>
<p>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!</p>
<p>This week's random commander is: <div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer"></div></div></p>
<p>It's no secret that I'm a massive fan of reanimation, and recently I've begun dipping my toes more and more into theft effects. That way, the power level of my deck is often on a similar (or sometimes lower) power level to the rest of the table therefore, theoretically, ensuring I am never playing a deck that is completely mismatched with the others.</p>
<p>With that in mind, let's jump into talking about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a commander that works on both of those facets.</p>
<h2>Reanimating Your Opponents' Creatures</h2>
<p>The way that makes the most sense to play this deck (at least in my mind) is the same way people used to play <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet" href="#" target="_blank">Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in Standard.</p>
<p>By landing Lim-Dûl or Kalitas with the mana to remove creatures you give yourself the ability to not only keep yourself alive and your opponent's boards less dangerous but also give yourself the ability to build your own board over time.</p>
<p>Of course, Lim-Dûl is a little harder since you need the mana for the removal and Lim-Dûl's ability but you can get around that with some cheap removal like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Defile" href="#" target="_blank">Defile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or even free removal spells like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snuff Out" href="#" target="_blank">Snuff Out</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>The other way of getting around the high cost of Lim-Dûl is to run redundancy, the main version of this is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Betrayal" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Betrayal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as this gives you effectively a second version of your commander that doesn't require you to pay an additional two mana every time a creature dies.</p>
<p>This works particularly well with some of the more powerful boardwipes like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Decree of Pain" href="#" target="_blank">Decree of Pain</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Money" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Money</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that give you a benefit as well as wiping the board meaning you will not only have a one-sided boardwipe thanks to Grave Betrayal[/el] but you will get a ton of resources from the spell itself as well.</p>
<p>Obviously, the boardwipes and removal that have a low cost or an extra benefit are ideal in this deck due to Lim-Dûl's extremely high cost but realistically any removal works well in this deck.</p>
<p>Boardwipes in particular are great because of the way that death triggers work. Even if Lim-Dûl is in play if he dies to the boardwipe at the same time as other creatures he still "sees" them die. This means you will get a trigger for each creature and it will allow you to pick and choose how to use your mana based on which creatures you want to save.</p>
<p>The ideal situation here is playing Lim-Dûl and then using a board wipe the next turn because if you have something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Damnation" href="#" target="_blank">Damnation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, you will almost definitely have enough mana to return two creatures. But you can also use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cabal Coffers" href="#" target="_blank">Cabal Coffers</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> together to have tons of mana to be able to play Lim-Dûl <em>and</em> hold up mana to reanimate creatures.</p>
<p>Of course, this also makes Lim-Dûl great against opposing board wipes as well as long as you have some mana lying around to use.</p>
<p>But we don't have to rely on Lim-Dûl and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Betrayal" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Betrayal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to take our opponent's creatures, we have plenty of ways to rip them straight out of our opponent's decks.</p>
<p>If you read my last article about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Captain N&#039;ghathrod" href="#" target="_blank">Captain N&#039;ghathrod</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> you'll know I've been really hot on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstealer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstealer Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It is a very expensive creature to play but I think it has a really high ceiling in terms of power level, if you can keep it alive for a turn cycle it can really quickly take over a game.</p>
<p>We also have access to some older ways to steal cards from decks. While we don't have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bribery" href="#" target="_blank">Bribery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> we do have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Praetor&#039;s Grasp" href="#" target="_blank">Praetor&#039;s Grasp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This card is particularly flexible because it can act as a silver bullet to remove a combo piece, find an answer to the current board, or even just grab someone else's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sol Ring" href="#" target="_blank">Sol Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to help pay for Lim-Dûl's commander tax.</p>
<p>Lastly is mono-black <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Etali, Primal Conqueror" href="#" target="_blank">Etali, Primal Conqueror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (yes I'm still dying on this hill), <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Breach the Multiverse" href="#" target="_blank">Breach the Multiverse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. One of the best ways to take cards from our opponent's decks as it allows us to hit each player, including ourselves while also fuelling graveyards which we could use as a resource since we're playing black.</p>
<p>What is funny is playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Breach the Multiverse" href="#" target="_blank">Breach the Multiverse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and then casting an opponent's Etali, or even an opponent's Breach to start a hilarious chain.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Snuff Out"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Grave Betrayal"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Damnation"></div></div>
<h2>Reanimating Your Own Creatures ("Keep your hands off my graveyard!" -My opponents probably)</h2>
<p>Lim-Dûl is great at using other people's decks against them, but we might want to have our own threats in case our seven-mana value commander doesn't last very long (spoiler: that will be often).</p>
<p>But we can still keep the deck on theme and go with a powerful reanimation package. These tend to be made up of two parts:</p>
<p>The first is getting stuff into your graveyard.</p>
<p>The second is making sure those cards are threatening enough to either act as a lightning rod for removal to keep something else alive <em>or</em> are threatening enough to simply end the game.</p>
<p>For filling our graveyard there are as many options as there are decks that want the effect. In black we have arguably the best options out there. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Buried Alive" href="#" target="_blank">Buried Alive</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entomb" href="#" target="_blank">Entomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are probably the two best cards you can play.</p>
<p>Both allow you to search for the exact cards you want in your graveyard and being a low mana value means you can start to set up in the earlier turns of the game, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entomb" href="#" target="_blank">Entomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> even allowing some really powerful plays as early as turn two.</p>
<p>The other benefit of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entomb" href="#" target="_blank">Entomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is that it allows you to search for any card, not just creatures.</p>
<p>This means you can even search for something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dakmor Salvage" href="#" target="_blank">Dakmor Salvage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or a flashback card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dread Return" href="#" target="_blank">Dread Return</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. But these two aren't the only ways to fill our graveyard.</p>
<p>I'm personally a huge fan of dredge and being able to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Buried Alive" href="#" target="_blank">Buried Alive</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golgari Thug" href="#" target="_blank">Golgari Thug</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stinkweed Imp" href="#" target="_blank">Stinkweed Imp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets you turbo-fill your graveyard with tons of threats that you can then bring back en-masse with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or even do it at instant speed with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Twilight&#039;s Call" href="#" target="_blank">Twilight&#039;s Call</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>When it comes to the actual reanimation, again black gives us the best options in the game. I've already mentioned <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dread Return" href="#" target="_blank">Dread Return</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which is amazing because you can <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entomb" href="#" target="_blank">Entomb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> it, but even if you draw it, being able to use this spell twice can swing some games in your favor very quickly.</p>
<p>We can also use the reanimation auras. The best of these are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necromancy" href="#" target="_blank">Necromancy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, since they are cheap, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necromancy" href="#" target="_blank">Necromancy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, has the ability to be cast at instant speed which definitely makes up for the cost of having to get rid of the creature at the end of the turn since you can just reanimate something with a powerful effect when it enters.</p>
<p>If don't want to risk running into enchantment removal you can also use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reanimate" href="#" target="_blank">Reanimate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, probably the best reanimation spell in the game (I mean, the archetype is named after it) and if you're looking to return non-legendaries you can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persist" href="#" target="_blank">Persist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which also has an incredibly low mana value.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Buried Alive"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reanimate"></div></div>
<p>Now onto the fun part, the reanimation targets.</p>
<p>Personally, I've always been a fan of being able to reanimate huge legendary creatures like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, Whispering One" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldred, Whispering One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vilis, Broker of Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Vilis, Broker of Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and of course <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Griselbrand" href="#" target="_blank">Griselbrand</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (but obviously this one is banned sadly...).</p>
<p>Duskmourne also gives us <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Terror Eater" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth, Terror Eater</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a huge nine mana 9/9 that gives you another Lim-Dûl that allows you to pay life instead of mana to bring back dead creatures.</p>
<p>But recently we've seen more and more non-legendaries making <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persist" href="#" target="_blank">Persist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> particularly good. If you look to the past of course you have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grave Titan" href="#" target="_blank">Grave Titan</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sepulchral Primordial" href="#" target="_blank">Sepulchral Primordial</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, old-timey beaters that really start to show my age.</p>
<p>But in recent years you've had cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodletter of Aclazotz" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodletter of Aclazotz</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>[ and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Cruelty" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Cruelty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> who really put the threats we used to worry about to shame.</p>
<p>My favorite thing about adding a reanimation package to your deck is that you can completely tailor it to the power level of your playgroup, are they running high-powered decks?</p>
<p>Play something like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, Whispering One" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldred, Whispering One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Cruelty" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Cruelty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Is your playgroup lower-powered? Maybe go with a Zombie theme and run stuff like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Undead Warchief" href="#" target="_blank">Undead Warchief</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Headless Rider" href="#" target="_blank">Headless Rider</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Being able to be so flexible means you could even run a sideboard of reanimation targets, shuffle them, and add a randomized selection to your deck every game.</p>
<p>The goal is just to make sure everyone has a good time!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sheoldred, Whispering One"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archon of Cruelty"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Valgavoth, Terror Eater"></div></div>
<p>As with all <em>Technically Playable</em> articles, this was a very quick look at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a commander, and a few of the cards that can really make a deck with Lim-Dûl as the commander tick.</p>
<p>Let me know in the comments below if you play <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, if you want to build a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Lim-Dûl the Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!</p>
<hr />
<h4>Read more:</h4>
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