Debts to Pay and Taxes to Collect

Commander / EDH Group Slug Lifelink Primer Stax WB (Orzhov)

PrettzyDizzy

Creature (21)

• 1x Angel of Destiny
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Indulging Patrician
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Nighthawk Scavenger
• 1x Resplendent Angel
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Witch of the Moors

Instant (8)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Despark
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Tithe

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Sorin Markov

Land (34)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x High Market
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 7x Plains
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions

Artifact (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Well of Lost Dreams

Commander (1)

Enchantment (15)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Court of Ambition
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Wound Reflection

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Debt to the Deathless
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Wrath of God

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Maybeboard

Creature (10)

• 1x Alms Collector
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Marauding Blight-Priest
• 1x Marauding Blight-Priest
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Samurai of the Pale Curtain
• 1x Sanctum Prelate
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Wandering Archaic  ^Flip

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Syphon Mind

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Rest in Peace

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Debts to Pay and Taxes to Collect

Another day at the The Multiversal Revenue Service and Regulatory Agency (MRSRA for short) and another mundane day to its newest employee Liesa, Shroud of Dusk .

Since its not weekend yet, join Liesa on her journey through her average work day. Work is a drag then you die.

This job will be the death of me.

- Liesa, Junior Tax Collector and Enforcer of Non-vital Mandates

Your job description (Quick summary of what this deck is about)

This is a group slug deck with lifegain and staxing mixed in it. We aim to win with punishing while slowing down our opponents. This deck has several silver bullets against different strategies and can be very cutthroat. It also has some control elements in it and can lead in to some absurd games so if that sounds like your thing this deck may be for you.

Your workplace (Mana base, draw, ramp and Removal)

I wanted to prioritize lands that give us colors instead of colorless lands since this deck can be a very color hungry. Some of our best spells require multiple instances of colored mana and we want to cast them without any problems. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is especially good in this and works wonderfully with Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers . I also usually and cycling lands like Barren Moor and Secluded Steppe to smooth some of our draws.

As in every deck draw is very important part of our gameplan. Night's Whisper , Read the Bones and Syphon Mind are great one time draw cards while cards like Well of Lost Dreams , Necropotence and our co-workers Erebos, God of the Dead and Twilight Prophet can give us cards more than once. While not card draw, Bolas's Citadel can net us great deal of cards from the top of our library and can be a part of a combo with Sensei's Divining Top and Aetherflux Reservoir (NOTE: This deck does not run that combo as of now but I've got my on it). Citadel can also close out some games thanks to its secondary ability (often forgotten asset), so its an all around breadwinner.

Our ramp package is pretty standard and full of two cmc rocks like Arcane Signet , Orzhov Signet and Talisman of Hierarchy . Tithe and Land Tax are here to help get us some lands. Note that Tithe does not restrict itself only to basic lands, so you can grab likes of Godless Shrine with it.

I've lately cut back mass removal in my decks in favor of targeted removal effects. While I still run Wrath of God and Toxic Deluge , cards like Generous Gift , Despark , Swords to Plowshares , Path to Exile , Grasp of Fate and Anguished Unmaking are able to get rid off so much.

Last day of the month (How do we close out the game and how do we get there)

What hands to keep when starting: Couple of lands and a ramp piece is what we generally want to start with.

The way this deck wins is not by some combo but by punishing our opponents for having fun without paying their dues. Liesa, Shroud of Dusk herself is a threat not only because of her ability but also thanks to her stats; 5/5 flyer with easy to circumvent commander tax is nothing to scoff at.

Liesa's two damage per spell may sound small but it quickly adds up. Pairing that ablity with cards like Painful Quandary , Twilight Prophet , Kambal, Consul of Allocation , Court of Ambition , Wound Reflection and Bloodchief Ascension can really speed up our opponents doom. Extort cards like Crypt Ghast and Blind Obedience do a double job here, since they gain us life and drain our opponents. Lets also not forget our mana sinks, Torment of Hailfire , Exsanguinate and Debt to Deathless are bombs to behold.

Sorin Markov is our lone planeswalker here but he definitely deserves to be here. Changing our opponents life totals to meager 10 usually puts them on a lethal range for our staxing effects.

I'm not gonna lie, I was very indifferent towards Angel of Destiny when I first saw it. I thought its effect is very subpar and even bad but after running it here and Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn deck I must say I was wrong about it. It has won me games and it's stats are great for defensive purposes. Angel of Destiny I'm so sorry for dismissing you at first, you rock!

Slowing and staxing down our opponents is a vital part of our strategy. While cards like Linvala, Keeper of Silence , Drannith Magistrate , Hushbringer , Good boy Kunoros, Hound of Athreos , Erebos, God of the Dead , Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet , Mangara, the Diplomat and Aura of Silence can hinder (or even be a silver bullet against some decks) some decks, cards like Sphere of Safety , No Mercy , Ghostly Prison and Nighthawk Scavenger can protect our hides. Use Demonic Tutor to get whatever piece you need when you need it and behold the horror of your opponents face when you play the exact card they were in fear of.

Since Liesa, Shroud of Dusk does not play favorites her ability hurts us as much our opponents. Luckily we can protect ourselves from Liesa's office scorn via lifegain effects. Authority of the Consuls and Blind Obedience do a double duty here since they both slow down our opponents and net us some life and same goes for Heliod's Intervention who can give us life or destroy some pesky artifacts or enchantments. Sanguine Bond , Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose , Resplendent Angel , Indulging Patrician , Archangel of Thune , Vizkopa Guildmage and Well of Lost Dreams are our lifegain payoffs. Even Serra Ascendant can be considered a type of lifegain payoff, so I added it here.

Possible win cons

Aetherflux Reservoir + Sensei's Divining Top + Bolas's Citadel = Draw your deck and blast off your opponents with a laser beam/ Aetherflux Reservoir . I currently don't run this combo because it's a nonbo with couple of our cards. It's still viable and strong so if you want to run it its totally possible. Maybe add some more tutors and ways to get rid of your own stax pieces ( High Market and Phyrexian Tower are pretty good for that in my opinion) before blasting off.

Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond OR Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose = Drain out your opponents life totals. This is a classic combo but I feel like running it puts a target on our back. I don't currently run it but if I'm ever able to get Exquisite Blood for a reasonable prize I'll totally add it to here. Wizrds plz.

Our business partners (My other primers)

Eligeth and Esior, Sphinx and his Owl - Mono-blue partner deck which aims to give its pilot absurd amounts of card advantage which then helps them to close out the game. - Eligeth, Crossroads Augur and Esior, Wardwing Familiar are at the helm of this deck.

Changelog (Look here if you want to see how this deck has evolved)

UPDATE 12.4.2021

CHANGES:

Syphon Mind --> Witch of the Moors . I was able to trade myself a Witch so I'm currently giving it a spin in the deck. So far I've been able to get it on the field once ad even then it was destroyed immediately so yeah, not the best first impression. Further testing is needed.

WHAT NEXT:

1. More graveyard hate is needed. I'll try to find a place for Rest in Peace or/and Samurai of the Pale Curtain in the deck.
2. Wandering Archaic   from Strixhaven looks really interesting. If I get my hands on it I'll probably try it in here.

So that was it, a day with Liesa, Junior Tax Collector and Enforcer of Non-vital Mandates of The Multiversal Revenue Service and Regulatory Agency. Please give us your rating of how you were treated by our Junior Tax Collector and Enforcer.

Thank you!

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 41 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.00
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, City's Blessing, Elephant 3-3 G, Soldier 1/1 W, Monarch Emblem, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Liesa Inspiration