I've wanted to build a deck that had strong wincons that could be called up rather consistently but I also wanted to take a look at the new commanders in 2016 to see if any would spark an interest. Reyhan, Last of the Abzan caught my eye but alone he seemed a little underwhelming so I figured partnering him with another commander would kick it up a notch. I wanted to do something with his counter ability, being able to transfer them to other creatures so I tried some proliferate tricky cards but it just seemed super clunky. I knew sacrificing Reyhan would be the fastest way to trigger him but getting him back is kindve a pain. Enter Ravos, Soultender, not exactly the most exciting but it's a way to consistently recur Reyhan, Last of the Abzan to get more counters without having to pay the extra mana cost for him being a commander. Also it actually makes the deck into full Abzan colors which is cute.
So after I was satisfied with the commanders I chose I wanted to make sure it could win games and I didn't care how. I started looking around for some combos in the colors and came across the Boonweaver Giant + Pattern of Rebirth plus Reveillark + Karmic Guide + Fiend Hunter combos and since I'm in black as well, there's one really easy way to end a game with infinite leave the battlefield triggers in Zulaport Cutthroat. But that's only like five cards, so what to fill the rest of the slots with, in case your opponents know about the Zulaport Cutthroat in your deck and also have cards like Infinite Obliteration or similar effects that can exile Zula, I figured I'd go with a bit of everything. Acidic Slime deals with those pesky permanents, Sadistic Hypnotist for those pesky "hands" full of potential permanents. Lotus Cobra for as much mana as you'd like in combination with Dryad Arbor. Orzhov Pontiff in case you're having trouble with Avacyn, Angel of Hope (You know who you are).
Those are the base combos that this deck will run. I have a bunch of instants for spot removing annoying permanents before I can assemble the combo. Speaking of the combo, it can actually be turned on off of a 5 card hand if the stars align. A starting hand of Sol Ring, Forest, Academy Rector, Swamp or Plains, and a Sac outlet ( Nantuko Husk, Ashnod's Altar etc.) followed by drawing into whichever color land you need will give you the ability to make the full combo happen on turn 4 (Again, really only if the stars align, but it IS possible.). There's very few reasons why you wouldn't immediately combo into Zulaport Cutthroat and go infinite with Reveillark + Fiend Hunter. Off the top of my head Platinum Emperion nullifies your ability to drain and gain, Platinum Angel will keep it's controller "alive" for as many drain and gains as you can muster. Phyrexian Unlife as far as i know won't save a player since once you drain them to 0 life any extra damage dealt will be infect damage, however Phyrexian Unlife + Melira, Sylvok Outcast is a pretty sweet combo that can make a player immune to drain and gain once they hit 0 life. Assuming you're able to cobble together the pre-requisite combo pieces.
Of course Zulaport Cutthroat, while being the instant win button that it is, is not the only way I want to be able to win. Assuming once again the combo is in effect, Altar of Dementia is a sleeper win card with the combo as well. Targetting your opponent/s with each sacrifice creature trigger and then passing the turn will leave them with no library to draw from making them lose the game. Comeuppance is a cheeky one that I wanted to put in there to deal with some Storm strategies in case I ever come across an opponent who has an EDH Storm deck or even someone who runs say Ezuri, Renegade Leader Elves who wants to smack me with five billion X/X elves with Trample. Glistening Oil is a dirty little card that can be used in the event that some of your combos are somehow stopped or picked apart. Not only does it provide another avenue to victory, but it also reloads itself into your hand if your attacking creature were to bite it. So in the case that none of the above methods were good enough to seal the deal, straight up beating in with big creatures can also be done. You'll have to do a little work to get it going, but Reyhan, Last of the Abzan with any of the other creatures including Ravos, Soultender on the board can be sacced and recurred to make creatures with lots of +1/+1 counters. Rogue's Passage is a simple enough way to get through as by the time you're ready to be bashing in, you should have enough mana to activate.
Now as far as the negatives to the deck, I think my main concern should be graveyard hate. A well placed Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog or Tormod's Crypt could possibly put the kabosh on the infinite strategy. I've got Aegis of the Gods in there to try to stifle that effect. Enlightened Tutor, Academy Rector and Pattern of Rebirth are all ways to get straight to him quicker than usual. I don't think I'll be up against TOO much graveyard hate in my playgroup so that might just do it for protection. Another thing would be that I'm a bit light on creatures to begin with, though the ones that I do have in the list can be made much larger by Reyhan, Last of the Abzan's ability and some saccing and recurring. I'm not terribly worried about losing to straight up beats as my playgroup doesn't use the most agressive decks around, but I put quite a few lifegain mechanics in there mostly with lands coming into play. Crawlspace is also a pretty nifty gadget for keeping the masses of creatures at bay. If I see infect creatures I will probably point all my spot removal at them when the time is right, or dig super hard to find my infinite combo pieces asap. I don't think I'll ever have to worry about being decked, as I think I'm the only person I know who has a mono blue mill deck. But sticking an Eldrazi with the shuffle GY into library words, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth for example, could be a nice hedge agains opponents using that strategy. Unfortunately I do not own one myself but he can probably go in the deck if someone has that issue. If someone's running lots of Counterspells, then Vedalken Orrery will come in handy to get the jump on them if they ever tap out.
One of the problems I will have with this list is when I have only one or none of the combo pieces or just no really great cards in hand, say I had bad draws after a good rampy starting hand or something. Abundance, Sylvan Library, and Dark Confidant are "permanent" sources of card draw, which I'd rather have over one or two Read the Bones effects, in these colors. I should probably add a few "Cycle" lands to help out with drawing some cards since this deck has a relatively low curve, considering most of the power creatures will be tutored out of the library straight onto the field via Pattern of Rebirth. Sorin, Grim Nemesis is a spicy one that usually gains a lot of hate straight away, but he does some powerful things. Drawing cards and draining and gaining people, I really like running him in my B/W decks.
In the end I guess I'm looking to get the combo out asap and if I'm having trouble with that I can at least keep afloat with some spot removal and utility creatures that I can buff and recur with Reyhan, Last of the Abzan and Ravos, Soultender. I feel like this will be a relatively strong list that can hang around for a couple turns and then go off from almost nowhere which should be fun for me at the very least.
I am looking for better card draw than Abundance, Sylvan Library, and Dark Confidant, also my land composition is probably atrocious and I'm quite terrible at making proper mana bases so if anyone has any input on card choices or suggestions or just comments, feel free to leave a message in the comments section below, I check back regularly!
