A Lonely Existence *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH Artifact Bracket 3 Casual Control Exile Mono-Black Multiplayer

NV_1980

Artifact (24)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Clock of Omens
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Liquimetal Torque
• 1x Mana VaultGC
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Paradise Mantle
• 1x Patriar's Seal
• 1x Relic of Legends
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Springleaf Drum
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of the Paruns
• 1x The One RingGC
• 1x Thornbite Staff
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1x Throne of Eldraine
• 1x Umbral Mantle
• 1x Voltaic Key
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Drain Life
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Mire in Misery
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Creature (21)

• 1x Ancient Brass Dragon
• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Archon of Cruelty
• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Disciple of the Vault
• 1x Indulgent Tormentor
• 1x Karn, Silver Golem
• 1x Marionette Master
• 1x Metalworker
• 1x Nadier's Nightblade
• 1x Pain Seer
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Royal Assassin
• 1x Servant of Tymaret
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Skirsdag High Priest
• 1x Valgavoth, Terror Eater
• 1x Visara the Dreadful
• 1x Voltaic Construct

Instant (7)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Withering Torment

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x NecropotenceGC
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Blast Zone
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 18x Swamp
• 1x Terrain Generator
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Whispers
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x War Room

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ugin, Eye of the Storms

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Welcome to A Lonely Existence {B}

Hi there! Welcome to the primer of this mono-black, burial, exile, good-stuff deck; commanded by King Macar, the Gold-Cursed. Ah, Greek mythology. Awesome, isn’t it? This creature was 'inspired' (pun intended) from said formidable works, in the form of king Midas, whose greed turned into despair when all that he touched (including his child) turned to gold. WoTC managed to turn this ancient tale into a card of formidable power. One that could, under the right circumstances, clear opposing boards while simultaneously granting the means to summon some allies. It has been a joy playing this commander as he’s been surprisingly effective. This deck is played in casual formats. It’s not meant to be used in a competitive fashion, but of course anyone is welcome to try! Feel free to comment on anything you (dis)like throughout this primer; hopefully you will enjoy it!

Why King Macar?

Because there is so much to like! Let’s face it; very few commanders can reliably exile (not destroy, exile!) stuff for the low cost of just tapping first and then waiting for the untap phase; to say nothing about the plethora of ways available one can use to tap/untap him additional times every single turn without having to wait! And that’s not all; every exiling done in this way grants gold (that can be sacrificed for colored mana). Granted, by himself he’s not really a combat-force to be reckoned with (though you can’t off him with a single damage either) and he’s not the cheapest commander to cast. These however, are small prices to pay to have his power at one’s fingertips.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The following ten parameters have been used to determine the strength of the deck. For each, a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad) has been allocated; when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).

• Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
• Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
• Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
• Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
• Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
• Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
• Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
• Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
• Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
• Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.

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Mana: 5

Aside from Macar’s ability as a source, the deck contains plenty of cards that add to its land-base in terms of mana generation. Options include six rocks, two mana-doubling options, two mana generating creatures, one card that cheapens the casting of black stuff, two artifacts that generate mana upon the tapping of creatures and seven cards that can untap artifacts or creatures (to tap them again for more mana).

Ramp: 1

For a time, this deck featured some ramping creatures but it was decided to scrap these in favor of some more combo options. As an experiment, the deck does feature a land that can be used to play more lands.

Card Advantage: 4

In terms of direct draw, this deck has several options that allow for a steady game-pace. Six creatures either provide direct draw (usually with a condition or two attached) or aid in the gaining of advantage through stealing. Three enchantments and two artifacts have also been included for additional draw, as well as two tutors.

Overall speed: 4

This deck sports a really nice mana-curve with over forty cards of CMC3 or less. This combines well with the card-advantage options and the pace at which this deck can generate mana; pretty much ensures its momentum.

Combo: 4

With all the artifacts in here, including the ones that allow for untapping things, there’s bound to be several infinite colorless-mana combos in here. Also, found a few ways that allow Macar to keep exiling creatures within a single turn (until the board has been cleared of hostiles) or even have some other creatures destroy all of them instead.

Army: 3

The creatures featured in this force aren’t really a collaborative force; but they have been added to support their beloved king in achieving his objectives. About half of them are meant to increase the deck’s resources while the other half is bent on reducing the opposing creature-base by as much as possible without engaging into actual combat. 

Commander: 3

Without the king, the deck’s power is somewhat reduced in both exiling- and mana generating potential. However, the deck’s artifacts and creatures have been chosen so that they can interact with each other in case Macar is unavailable. The main strategy can also be followed without the king present.

Interaction: 3

For the most part, this deck is pretty decent at getting rid of the opposite side’s creatures. Aside from its commander doing lots of heavy lifting on this front, the deck includes nine other targeted destruction options (at least three of them permanents, so can be used repeatedly) and four untargeted wipes. Other permanents aren’t safe either, with three specifically included to target enchantments as well.

Resilience: 2

This deck stays alive by killing opposing armies. Against other forms of attack, it features two recursion options, two pieces of equipment to protect its valuable king and seven cards with which one can gain a variety of amounts in life, to recoup any losses.

Spellpower: 2

A small number of high-powered drain spells have been added to this deck, as well as some really, nifty mass-and spot removal ones. Other than that, this deck’s power is more dependent on permanents like artifacts and creatures.

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Total power score: 31

This deck scores above average strength, based on its speed (despite the absence of significant ramp), its combo potential and it being the bane of anything that even remotely resembles an opposing creature. Its resilience could be improved, though at the expense of cards that contribute to its primary strategy.

General strategy

Black is amazing at killing off opposing creature forces, and this deck capitalizes on that ability. This deck’s job is to off anything creature-like that could get in the way of its creatures as they attempt to murder their priority target(s). King Macar, the Gold-Cursed helps to accomplish this and even generates artifacts that can be sacrificed for mana as a reward. This can grant a sizeable energy-advantage over opponents, which enables the summoning of big, scary creatures like demons. Should those behemoths lack oomph in any way, there’s ways to combo off with some infinite mana shenanigans to power a spell with great effect. Usually, games with this deck will go through the following phases:

1. Initial resource build-up and slowing down of opponents by whacking individual creatures.
2. Summon Macar and start the vigil of keeping the opposing side free of hostile creatures (the idea is to get rid of anything that can threaten/stop the deck’s army so that it can act with impunity).
3. Get resources available to either keep the opposing side ‘clean’ indefinitely and attack until everyone’s dead OR generate infinite mana and power a game-ending spell with it.

This deck’s bane, are opposing decks that can overpower through spell slinging (dealing with which is not mono-black’s forte), apply lots of forced sacrifices (which this deck cannot keep up with) and/or create pillow-forts (which disables its creature force). So naturally, these are primary targets. In terms of allies, look for players whose decks are heavy on countering spells, persecuting enchantments/artifacts or maybe even the strongest creature/token generator.

Starting hand

At least three cards in the starting hand ought to be lands (or two lands and a CMC0 or CMC1 mana rock). It is recommended not to start a game without this hand (even if one has to mulligan down to three cards). The ideal hand would also contain some acceleration in the form of rocks, draw- and/or filter options.

Early game

To start a murder-spree, one needs some resources. After all, murdering stuff requires energy. If possible, start out with some nice, juicy rocks like Arcane Signet, Mana VaultGC, Mox Opal, Paladium Myr or Sol Ring. Secondary objectives in this phase are cheap draw/filter options like NecropotenceGC, Pain Seer, Phyrexian Arena, Scroll Rack or Sensei's Divining Top. An early whack with something like Tragic Slip or Mire in Misery can make a significant impact on the table’s balance of power in the early game.

Once some resources are down, start setting up for Macar’s arrival. His staying power can be increased by putting down equipment like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots), while his effectiveness can be increased by summoning the means for him to tap/untap multiple times a turn. Options for this include (but are not limited to) Paradise Mantle, Springleaf Drum, Umbral Mantle and Voltaic Key). Now the king joins us, so that his gold-touching fingers can start the process of evicting all opposing creatures.

Mid game

This phase’s objective is to disable at least one opposing deck in terms of combat-ability. This means expanding on the deck’s killing- and card advantage abilities, while one fishes for more powerful card combinations. Macar’s generated gold can be used to summon more of these per turn. In terms of card advantage, mid-game is a great phase to start using critters like Ancient Brass Dragon, Bloodgift Demon, Indulgent Tormentor, The One RingGC and Throne of Eldraine.

To augment its death-strike power, the deck’s wielder can summon cards like Archfiend of Depravity, Avatar of Woe, Royal Assassin or Visara the Dreadful to the battlefield. Instead of creatures, one can use spells like Damnation, Hero's Downfall, No Mercy and Sudden Spoiling.

End Game

In case the previously mentioned creatures were not enough to completely vaporize the opposition, a number of opportunities should be available by now to generate lots of mana in a single turn, which can be used to power some insane high-powered spells like Drain Life, Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire.

Combos and synergies

Here are some ideas to use that can elicit some chuckles:

• King Macar, the Gold-Cursed + Karn, Silver Golem *oversized*/Liquimetal Torque + Clock of Omens:
  1. Tap Torque OR pay 1 to turn Macar into an artifact (creature).
  2. Now tap Macar and Clock to use Clock’s ability; target Macar with it. He untaps, which allows him to exile a creature and generate a gold artifact token.
  3. Now tap Macar and the gold artifact token to use Clock’s ability again; target Macar again.
  Repeat the process to exile all opposing creatures and generate a gold per creature.
• Metalworker + Sword of the Paruns/Umbral Mantle/Voltaic Construct + at least two artifacts in hand:
  1. Tap Metalworker to add 4 mana to one’s pool.
  2. Use Sword/Mantle/Construct to untap Metalworker (which in each case costs less than 4).
  Rinse and repeat to create unlimited colorless mana.
• Throne of Eldraine + Karn, Silver Golem *oversized* + Voltaic Construct:
  1. Tap Throne to add {B}{B}{B}{B} to one’s pool.
  2. Use {B} to activate Karn’s ability to turn Lotus into an artifact creature.
  3. Use {B}{B} to untap Throne with Construct.
  4. Tap Throne again for mana.
  5. Again, use {B}{B} to untap Throne with Construct.
  Rinse and repeat to create unlimited {B}.
• Avatar of Woe/Royal Assassin/Visara the Dreadful + Thornbite Staff:
  1. Equip Staff to one of the mentioned creatures.
  2. Use Avatar/Assassin/Visara to kill a creature.
  3. Have Staff’s trigger untap Avatar/Assassin/Visara again to repeat.
  This allows one to clear the board of opposing creatures.
• Magus of the Coffers + Sword of the Paruns/Umbral Mantle:
  1. Equip Sword or Mantle to Magus.
  2. Tap Magus to generate mana.
  3. With Sword or Mantle, you need six swamps to create infinite black mana (three to untap Magus, two to activate Magus again; this way you net one mana per cycle).

Card Choices – mainboard

Lands

My reliable sources of mana, and some utility:

• Arcane Lighthouse: some creatures that require killing, cower behind spell-barriers; this land takes such advantages away (temporarily, which is usually long enough).
• Blast Zone: one of the ways available to black that can get rid of a lot of enemy artifacts/enchantments at the same time.
• Bloodstained Mire/Marsh Flats/Polluted Delta/Verdant Catacombs: allows for less actual lands in the deck, while still getting the lands required; great for filtering through the deck.
• Bojuka Bog: exile a whole graveyard by playing this land; fits nicely with the exiling theme.
• Cabal Coffers/Cabal Stronghold: has the potential to create a butt-load of mana, by the time the mid-game phase is reached; earlier if one is lucky with draws.
• Inventors' Fair: potential for a little life gain, and has the potential to aid in the search for combo pieces.
• Maze of Ith: especially useful while not having much available yet in terms of defensive measures against opposing creatures. Synergizes very well with Macar.
• Mortuary Mire: it comes into play tapped (so not useful at mana generation immediately), but does get a creature back from one’s graveyard, and ready for action soon after.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: staple land in a single-color, permanent-rich deck.
• Terrain Generator: the deck's single ramp card, though it can only use land cards that are already in my hand.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: helps my Cabal lands a great deal and allows all of my lands to be tapped for black mana.
• Vault of Whispers: helps the artifact count, which is useful for a number of combos.
• War Room: because a bit of extra draw always helps.

Mana and ramp

The cards used to accelerate mana-availability:

• Arcane Signet: cheap rock used to provide {B}.
• Caged Sun: bit expensive to cast, but it doubles swamp’s mana output and increases the power of black creatures.
• Crypt Ghast: doubles swamp mana output and has the added benefit of granting some life should one choose to pay a little extra mana during casting.
• Dark Ritual: an ideal spell in one’s starting hand (or any hand in the early game).
• Jet Medallion: helps to cast black stuff a little cheaper.
• Liquimetal Torque: a colorless-mana source that can turn stuff into artifacts.
li>Mana VaultGC: an excellent early game accelerator that enables early casting of expensive spells!
• Metalworker: hell of a colorless mana generator in an artifact-rich deck.
• Mox Opal: not as good as Mox Jet, but the requirement of needing some additional artifacts before it can be used can be fulfilled easily with this deck.
• Palladium Myr: was sort of a prototype decision at first, but its mana ability has come in handy during a few games.
• Paradise Mantle: looks nice on Macar, allows for passive aggressiveness in the form of mana generation as a prelude to exiling something (and creating potential mana again).
• Patriar's Seal: not just a mana source, but can untap the king as well.
• Sol Ring: are there EDH decks without this card?
• Springleaf Drum: another great way to force Macar to tap for some energy.
• Throne of Eldraine: solid mana rock that can be tapped for {B}{B}{B}{B}, not to mention for some excellent draw.

Card Advantage

The mechanisms that provide card advantage:

• Ancient Brass Dragon: not just one of the coolest recursion enablers ever, but he can steal from ANY graveyard!
• Bloodgift Demon: a decent flying demon that also grants some draw, at the expense of some life.
• Demonic TutorGC: the spell with which all other tutors are compared; a must in all decks featuring black.
• Erebos, God of the Dead: sometimes, the price of a life-points is definitely worth the price of some cards.
• Indulgent Tormentor: surrender life or allow for draw! What a beast!
• NecropotenceGC/Pain Seer: card advantage in exchange for life.
• Phyrexian Arena: for a small life-fee, draw a card.
• Sensei's Divining Top: filter and draw at negligible costs.
• The One RingGC: the strongest draw-artifact currently in existence in MTG.
• Valgavoth, Terror Eater: if your stuff dies, exile it. Not to worry though, it won’t be gone forever. Just not on your side of the battlefield.
• Vampiric TutorGC: {B} and two life, for whatever one needs from the deck; sounds fair.

Elimination resources

What is needed to get rid of all opposing creatures:

• Archfiend of Depravity: forces opponents to keep their creature-base small and is a serious problem for anyone not using creatures with haste.
• Archon of Cruelty: a terrible monster for our opponents, but a great boon for us!
• Avatar of Woe/Royal Assassin/Visara the Dreadful: tap to kill, beautiful.
• Damnation: a reset button.
• Deadly Rollick: an exile spell one can cast for free, provided Macar is around.
• Disciple of the Vault: deal damage whenever an artifact expires; great bonus when sacrificing Macar's gold.
• Feed the Swarm: black’s not an easy color to handle opposing enchantments with; fortunately they still have this.
• Hero's Downfall: usually reserved to blap walkers that can hamper plans, but of course it can also be used for nasty critters.
• Mire in Misery: another excellent anti-enchantment spell!
• No Mercy: really? You want to risk it?
• Sudden Spoiling: not a literal removal spell, but prepares the way for nastiness against anything that would otherwise be indestructible or have hexproof/shroud.
• Tragic Slip: circumvents indestructibleness of creatures that are on your hitlist.
• Ugin, Eye of the Storms: excellent removal with some massive resource advantage AND lifegain on top of it.
• Withering Torment: an excellent spell to untangle some opposing weave.

Untapping

Ways in which one can activate Macar’s untap ability again and again.

• Clock of Omens: in certain combos, this baby can untap anything; including Macar!
• Sword of the Paruns: defensive bonuses and offensive bonuses to the deck’s creatures AND it can untap our key creatures; hell yes!
• Thousand-Year Elixir: gives the deck’s creatures haste; sort of … at least concerning the use of special abilities AND it’s another untapping resource.
• Umbral Mantle: depending on the amount of mana available, this thing can make something terrifyingly strong; especially a creature with an activated ability that requires tapping.
• Voltaic Key: low-CMC untap-enabler.

Utility

Just some cards that prove to be handy in a variety of situations.

• Black Market Connections: utility at the cost of some life.
• Karn, Silver Golem *oversized*: turns inanimate matter into animate matter.
• Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots: a little protection for Macar.
• Marionette Master: massive damage whenever some gold gets sacrificed.
• Nadier's Nightblade: gold getting sacrificed has even more advantages now.
• Servant of Tymaret: drains opposing life while its caster gets to gain it; how inspiring.
• Shadowspear: allows one to make almost anything susceptible to a simple destroy spell/ability AND it grants life-link and trample; preferably to something strong.
• Skirsdag High Priest: use some zealots to have someone return as a demon.
• Voltaic Construct: fun to combine with Metalworker or a Macar that’s been turned into an artifact creature.
• Whip of Erebos: helps to compensate quite a bit for the life-loss one can experience when using some of the deck’s abilities; it can even resurrect some stuff (temporarily).

Thank you for reading!

Appreciate the time you took to read this primer. Hopefully it was entertaining and useful to you. If so, feel free to leave a +1 and/or feedback of any kind in the comments below. Thanks again!

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.26
Tokens	Demon 5/5 B, Gold, Servo 1/1 C, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Treasure