Black Box Messiah [retired]

Commander / EDH Combo Control Mono-Black Reanimator

O-higgs

Instant (2)

• 1x Entomb
• 1x Imp's Mischief

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Mind Slash
• 1x Necromancer's Stockpile
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Artifact (15)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x MImic Vat
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spawning Pit
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Trading Post
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana Vess

Creature (26)

• 1x Abhorrent Overlord
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sadistic Hypnotist
• 1x Shadowborn Demon
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Undercity Informer
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (38)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 30x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Commander (1)

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Sideboard

Instant (2)

• 1x Grip of Desolation
• 1x Scour from Existence

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Life's Finale
• 1x Victimize

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

Creature (3)

• 1x Dross Harvester
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Thief of Blood

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Reprocess

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Infernal Tribute

Artifact (4)

• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth

Land (3)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Petrified Field
• 1x Vesuva

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Chainer is a highly interactive commander that can be a fun experience for everyone, or he can be a fairly self-contained combo deck. It all depends on whether you're there for business or pleasure. Either way, it's a pretty good build that is fun and effective.

Abuse his instant speed reanimation and sac outlets to get repeated uses of ETB effects and gain resources. Rune-Scarred Demon and Sidisi, Undead Vizier provide repeatable tutoring. Kokusho, the Evening Star and Gray Merchant of Asphodel can create heavy swings in life totals around the table, and can go infinite with Chainer, Phyrexian Altar, and Abhorrent Overlord. Blood Artist is a good alternative in case Gary and Koko are unavailable. Zulaport Cutthroat will do the same while getting around shroud and hexproof, convenient in that they can do their job sitting on the board. Big mana with Cabal Coffers and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Pretty standard for a mono-black deck as far as land-base.

This build works with a number of synergies focused around ETB creatures and sac outlets that gain considerably more value when paired with Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos, or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed for board control and efficiency. Repeated reanimations of Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed to use Living Death multiple times in a turn can lead to a mess of ETB effects that will either win you the game from the effects themselves, or from your opponents conceding. Reanimate Dross Harvester in response to a wrath to gain a considerable amount of life. Or Grim Haruspex for some nice card advantage.

Typically larger games allow for more reactive plays to gain advantage in ways that may not be obvious to your opponents as they assess the field and forget the graveyard. Smaller games will call for more aggressive playing to set up combos and keep your opponents at bay. It handles well in either setting.

DO NOT SUGGEST LIST: These cards have been brought up several times and/or weighed against thoroughly.

Black Market, Liliana of the Dark Realms, Disciple of Bolas, Bone Shredder , Abyssal Gatekeeper , Sangromancer, Grave Betrayal, Soldevi Adnate,

Suggestions are welcome.

Date added	9 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 5 Rares 19 - 4 Uncommons 4 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.53
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Copy Clone, Goat 0/1 W, Harpy 1/1 B, Morph 2/2 C, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Fun commander ideas, Edh, EDH, to play, Cool Decks!, Chainer Tuning, Commander EDH, Cool Decks, A EDH Playtest, Redo