Teysacrats

Commander / EDH* WB (Orzhov)

mistahstoi

Creature (32)

• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cathodion
• 1x Corpse Augur
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Hallowed Spiritkeeper
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Krav, the Unredeemed
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Ministrant of Obligation
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Phyrexian Plaguelord
• 1x Pious Evangel  ^Flip
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Regna, the Redeemer
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Teysa, Orzhov Scion
• 1x Treasure Keeper
• 1x Tymna the Weaver
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (37)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x High Market
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 10x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 15x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Attrition
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Remember the Fallen
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Commander (1)

Artifact (11)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Deathrender
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Oketra's Monument
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

Instant (5)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Debt to the Deathless
• 1x Martial Coup

Creature (2)

• 1x Ogre Slumlord
• 1x Requiem Angel

Artifact (1)

• 1x Mind Stone

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Wait But Have You Heard Teysa's Better in the 99?

If I had a treasure for every time someone told me Teysa Karlov is better in the 99 I'd have more than if some dumbass Entered the Infinite with Smothering Tithe on the field. I don't care. What the hell does that even mean? That I should be playing old Teysa? THEY'RE DIFFERENT DECKS HOE. Okay, rant over. Welcome to what is probably my strongest deck, Teysa's Circus of Death.

This is an aristocrats focused deck with combo wincons as well as the capability to just outvalue the table. It splits its value generation between saccing creatures with death triggers and saccing tokens, usually reverting to tokens when doing more repeatable or impactful effects. There is some recursion, though it isn't a heavy theme of the deck.

General Game Plan

Early, you basically want to accumulate resources, preferably in ways that curve nicely and benefit one another. Sol Ring and Signets are wonderful, but you're in Orzhov - early ramp is tough. I'm working on slotting in a Wayfarer's Bauble , because Myriad Landscape is a nice early game play.

I could speed the deck up significantly to be able to compete with the borderline CEDH decks that occasionally show up in my meta, but that's not super common and in ~75-85ish tables where you'll hopefully be able to survive any god hands with a Swords to Plowshares , Path to Exile or Anguished Unmaking etc. the deck can usually weather the early game and set itself up for success. That is probably the biggest problem with the deck - speed - doing nothing on any of the first 3 turns can feel very bad :(

An example of an early curve without ramp could be...

• Viscera Seer - Zulaport Cutthroat - Ministrant of Obligation - Anointed Procession nut: cash Teysa next turn, sac the ministrant, drain 2, make 8 spirits with flying/vigilance/lifelink and scry

• Turn 1 - Altar of Dementia - Ophiomancer - on turn 3 you get to hold up a deathtouch blocker, then mill whoever for 1 which is nice and goes into pretty much anything well come your turn

• Carrion Feeder - Blood Artist - Mentor of the Meek - Treasure Keeper - Teysa, sac the Treasure Keeper, gravescade into idk something like Pawn of Ulamog and Dark Prophecy

• anything - anything - anything - Smothering Tithe :)

• Phyrexian Reclamation - Altar of Dementia - Oketra's Monument - Cathodion + Warrior - Turn 4: Teysa Karlov + Warrior, sac Cathodion make , cast Deathrender , equip to warrior, sac warrior, put out whatever GAS is in your hand like maybe a Elenda, the Dusk Rose and a Massacre Wurm :)... or a Tymna the Weaver and Regna, the Redeemer and then go tutor for her beautiful progressive husband...

Card Draw

Due to the nature of Orzhov, the card draw in this deck appears to be more one-shot drawing many cards as opposed to consistent hand-refilling. The former is accentuated with Teysa's synergy with black's card draw that cares about death, namely her turning Skullclamp into a sacrifice 1/draw 4 and her ability to double effects that scale such as Corpse Augur . Incremental card draw is possible with token generation and the deck's Dark Prophecy effects or recursion loops and the more-specific Midnight Reaper effects. Mentor of the Meek is good enough with the token theme and general power-level of the creatures to warrant inclusion despite not caring about death.

Ramp

Similar to the card draw, the deck's ramp can be volatile. It has a heavy treasure theme (partially incidentally as Treasure producing cards are just really fucking good.) Smothering Tithe has proven to be as good as advertised, and synergizes well with Pitiless Plunderer and Revel in Riches (both of which are doubled by Teysa. The deck may be able to borderline accidentally win with Revel in Riches, although this should be like the seventh wincon you're focusing on. Black Market is another card that can allow for ridiculous mana generation if left unchecked, and the deck is value-oriented enough that an absurd amount of mana can either straight win you the game or put you far ahead enough to secure the game. Much of the standard ramp is artifact based, e.g. Chromatic Lantern (for those pesky 3 Massacre Wurm et al. Oketra's Monument reduces some creatures and is a reliable fodder creator. Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar also obviously make the cut, and are among the deck's most powerful sacrifice outlets.

Token Generation

While Teysa greatly enjoys sacrificing value creatures, sometimes just having enough creatures you aren't opposed to sacrificing can allow you to play more aggressively with controlly effects. In addition, due to the nature of Teysa's ability, number of creatures is HEAVILY tied to my other resources. In a deck with numerous ways to turn creatures into mana, cards, other creatures, edicts and pretty much any other effect that puts you closer to winning, the value of having a full boardstate can't be overstated. Teysa also likes creature tokens, giving them vigilance and lifelink, and ability that while it could be errata'd to say "Teysa Karlov counts as an Atog" and I'd barely change the deck, is valuable and provides some bonus lifegain synergy for your Regna, the Redeemer and Tymna the Weaver effects. With the addition of vigilance you get the benefit of not particularly caring about swinging with your tokens, and the lifelink is further incentive. Why not put the pressure on and swing with your spirits or thrulls?

Death Triggers

The bread and butter of the deck, and Teysa's main contribution. Doubling death triggers is stupid. It's really, really fucking stupid. Like... do yall get how stupid it is? Do I need examples? Okay, fine. Y'know I've always thought Kokusho, the Evening Star isn't good enough. Like draining 5 from the table and gaining 10-15? Pssssh Teysa doubles this, turning Kokusho's death into a 60 life swing in a 4 player game. Vindictive Lich can be brutal, and can be set modally to maximize its effectiveness, hurting each opponent in the way they'd least prefer to be hurt. There's some creatures that make tokens when they die, such as Hallowed Spiritkeeper and Ministrant of Obligation replacing themselves with sac fodder and becoming even more efficient when paired with Teysa. Elenda, the Dusk Rose was borderline MADE for Teysa as she gets both of her abilities doubled by her. Double tokens when creatures die and double Vampires when Elenda kicks the bucket. Elenda's mere presence can tip your board over the edge from a value hotel to something that demands an answer or threatens to end the game. Other fun death synergy include the wurms - Massacre Wurm and Wurmcoil Engine , Reveillark and Pawn of Ulamog .

Sac Outlets

Part of the main skeleton of the deck, sac outlets are what put your deck online and allow every other aspect of the deck to function. Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar are obvious, as sacrificing creatures for mana has NEVER EVER made ANY broken interactions in MTG. Low-drops such as Viscera Seer and Altar of Dementia help you get off to a fast start and get value off an early boardwipe. Phyrexian Plaguelord is me trying to recreate how effective Deathspore Thallid is in my Slimefoot, the Stowaway deck, and High Market is a fine card for when you just haven't drawn a sac outlet yet. I prefer repeatable effects, although Diabolic Intent (my only tutor) is cheap enough for how good it is I couldn't not run it. Yahenni, Undying Partisan protects itself and has additional synergy with Teysa, and Skullclamp should be mentioned as well.

Recursion

While recursion isn't too prevalent, it is important in any graveyard deck, at least to a certain degree. Nim Deathmantle is, well it's fucking Nim Deathmantle, and provides incremental recursion even before it becomes a combo piece. Hell's Caretaker is good synergy, being a sac outlet in a pinch in addition to recursion. Athreos, God of Passage returns your creatures to your hand late game, and triggers twice with Teysa on board. This creates a fun choice where you can force one player to pay 6 life (target them with both Athreos triggers) or target two separate players (which will usually result in them both paying 3, but can have political ramifications depending how threatening you are and how dickhead your playgroup is). Phyrexian Reclamation is good utility and just a powerful enough card at 1-drop to make the cut. Karmic Guide and Reveillark are obviously a combo, but even one of them can provide insane value recurring one or more creatures (up to 4 if all conditions are met with Reveillark). Remember the Fallen is a card I haven't seen on any Teysa lists, and actually just had one laying around. But it's important to be able to have SOME way to recur your Deathmantle or Ashnod's Altar in a pinch. Living Death is the only "boardwipe" I play, as I currently feel I have enough removal and edict effects I don't need them, although I primarily use Living Death in grindier games to flip the script towards the end and put me in a winning position.

Wincons!

1. Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar : A very common combo that can create a loop of death triggers, ETB triggers and depending on the boardstate, either generate infinite mana or infinite tokens. The idea is a creature like Ministrant of Obligation with both artifacts on board. You can sacrifice a token and then the Ministrant to generate 4 colorless mana with Ashnod's Altar. When the Ministrant dies he'll make 2 spirits (or 4 with Teysa, or 8 with Teysa and Anointed Procession ). You then use the 4 mana to recur the ministrant with Deathmantle, and attach the Deathmantle to it. You have either netted 0 spirits, 2 spirits or 4 spirits, but regardless the loop is active. Throw in any of the Blood Artist type effects to finish the job, or use death-based card-draw to draw into a blood artist. This combo is very versatile and can be accomplished with a variance of creatures, including but not limited to Grave Titan and Hallowed Spiritkeeper

2. Karmic Guide + Reveillark + Free Sac Outlet: Another classic combo for these kinds of decks. Karmic Guide and Reveillark can both recur one another, and the latter has the bonus of being able to recur the necessary Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat . I don't need to explain this one right yall know how this works?

3. Big Mana Torment: You don't necessarily need to rely on your combos, so hands without combo pieces are very very keepable. The aforementioned Treasure synergy, Black Market and token loops with one of Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar can generate stupid amounts of mana. So Torment of Hailfire is in the deck and Exsanguinate will be shortly. Something like Elenda, the Dusk Rose will drastically reduce the amount of creatures you need to generate stupid amounts of mana, as she will more than replace everything you've sacrificed. The first game I ever played with this deck I won with a Torment of Hailfire for 28, and the third for ~60.

4. Revel in Riches: I'll laugh my ass off if this ever happens, but it theoretically wouldn't be too difficult. Smothering Tithe is one of the dumbest cards in the deck, and Pitiless Plunderer and Revel in Riches are both doubled by Teysa so it theoretically could happen. Not a terrible backup backup backup wincon.

5. Build-A-Combo workshop: The cool thing about the redundancies I've built into the deck are the flexibility it affords my combos. Ashnod's Altar in the Nim Deathmantle combo can be replaced with Phyrexian Altar if you're using Hallowed Spiritkeeper and have an Anointed Procession out. The mana generation can even be replaced with a Pitiless Plunderer , which makes 2 treasures with one of Teysa and Anointed Procession, and 4 with both, and then you can use a Viscera Seer or Altar of Dementia or any other free sac outlet. Additionally, the Karmic Guide and Reveillark combo can replace the Blood Artist with an Altar of Dementia to win the game through infinite mill instead. I can't list all the potential combinations of cards that create infinite or sub-infinite loops, but building them on the fly is part of the beauty and fun of the deck.

6. Outvaluing the Valuers: If all else fails, Teysa is never out of the fight. Between Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos locks, Teysa, Orzhov Scion and a pile of tokens exile locks, well-timed Living Death s, Massacre Wurm pressure (death trigger is doubled by Teysa), and even the potential for beatdown with a large Yahenni, Undying Partisan or Krav, the Unredeemed could theoretically all close out games

You SHOULD play this deck if...

• You like decks that have multiple win conditions, and combo decks that aren't overly reliant on the combos

• You enjoy playing a commander that operates more in the background and is additive to your strategy as opposed to the enabler of that strategy

• You have a thing for commanders that are apparently better in the 99

• Sacrificing creatures is literally the only reason to play creatures right?

• You like having a deck full of gas and a handful of ass

You SHOULDN'T play this deck if...

• You aren't necessarily a fan of decks that go infinite

• Wait why the hell would I want my own creatures to die?

• You want a commander that is necessary to your decks capacity to win

• You struggle with confidence regarding your penis size

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.33
Tokens	Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Morph 2/2 C, Snake 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 WB, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B