Taking It Back to the River (Kiku Primer)

Commander / EDH Devotion Lifegain Mono-Black Reanimator Theme/Gimmick Voltron

canterlotguardian

Instant (7)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Fated Return
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Malicious Affliction
• 1x Terror

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Increasing Ambition
• 1x Profane Command
• 1x Victimize

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Sanguine Bond

Artifact (19)

• 1x Argentum Armor
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Lashwrithe
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Nightmare Lash
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Pariah's Shield
• 1x Smokestack
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strata Scythe
• 1x Thornbite Staff
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath

Creature (19)

• 1x Archetype of Finality
• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Magus of the Coffers
• 1x Nightmare
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Scion of Darkness
• 1x Sima Yi, Wei Field Marshal
• 1x Soul of Innistrad
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Squelching Leeches
• 1x Stuffy Doll
• 1x Visara the Dreadful

Land (37)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 32x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Damnation

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Bitterblossom

Artifact (1)

• 1x Deathrender

Creature (1)

• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier

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This idea came to me after I saw that most decks centering around Kiku, Night's Flower were mostly devoted to making her pick off opponents' troublesome creatures. I then thought, "Well what about dealing damage to herself? Her ability does just say 'target creature,' you know."

Thus, after some brainstorming... This was born. Kiku self-damage/aggro mono-black.

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Early game shenanigans

Make your opponent's creatures kill themselves. Fun, right? Just wait.

Mid-game

Start voltron-ing up Kiku, Night's Flower . Make sure you have Loxodon Warhammer equipped (or at least Whip of Erebos in play). Also, you probably will want to tutor up Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond for the late game kill.

Late game

Alternate between attacking and making Kiku deal damage to herself via her own ability (which, with lifelink, will put you safely ahead of the opposition). Eldrazi Monument and Darksteel Plate will make sure that Kiku doesn't go away before her time. (Need tokens to sac to the Monument? Hello, Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder and Grave Titan.)Then, drop the Bond + Blood combo, and win. (If that doesn't work, search up Stuffy Doll + Pariah's Shield and then combo off.)

If your opponent's creatures are getting in the way, go the Avatar of Woe + Thornbite Staff or Thornbite Staff + Visara the Dreadful path and wipe their boards before you head for Combo Off Hills.

What hand should you keep?

You want at least three lands in your opening hand/two lands and a mana rock. The rest should be either (hopefully) combo pieces or tutors, or (more realistically) a kill spell or two, plus a creature that you can maybe throw under the bus if you have to.

If you have less than two lands in your hand and no mana rocks in sight, I would mulligan (after any Partial Paris mulls, if that's how your playgroup plays). No combo pieces are more ok, as the deck packs a decent amount of tutors to search them up if need be (or protection for said combo pieces, if not).

How long should this deck take to win?

It depends on how quickly you want to rush things. Provided a mana rock or two within the first five or six turns, you can have Kiku out and an equipment beefing her up and dealing damage to herself for some early life gain. (And being EDH, most people are still setting up their fields during this time, so you shouldn't meet too much resistance during this time [unless you're facing a control player, that is, in which case good luck].)

By turn 8 to 10, you should be able to win within the next few turns (if you're turning Kiku sideways more often than activating her ability) or at least be able to tutor for the way to win within the next few turns.

If the deck has to go into the late game, that's when you start dropping the fatties or ramping with Liliana of the Dark Realms' ultimate into a game-ending Exsanguinate.

Does a slow start kill this deck?

Not necessarily. Because the combo pieces (or should I say, interaction pieces) usually take at least two turns to start and finish the interaction cycle, you can not get rolling until around turn 6 or 7 and still be fine. Even on two or three lands, you have enough for kill spell mana, not to mention a few small creatures to defend you.

If your slow start turns into a slow mid-game too, then you should start being worried. The tutors in the deck should help out a bit, but if you aren't hitting them either, then just pray you can gain enough life to hold on until luck starts turning around for you.

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Alternate commanders for the deck (just to switch things up): Geth, Lord of the Vault , Erebos, God of the Dead, Sima Yi, Wei Field Marshal , Visara the Dreadful, Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder

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Thoughts/suggestions?

Date added	9 years
Last updated	8 years
Key combos	Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond Avatar of Woe + Thornbite Staff Thornbite Staff + Visara the Dreadful Pariah's Shield + Stuffy Doll
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 2 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.30
Tokens	Demon 5/5 B, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Emblem Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Thrull 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Mono black ideas