Be'Lakor, the Dark Master

Legendary Creature — Demon Noble

Flying

Prince of Chaos — When Be'Lakor, the Dark Master enters the battlefield, you draw X cards and you lose X life, where X is the number of Demons you control.

Lord of Torment — Whenever another Demon enters the battlefield under your control, it deals damage equal to its power to any target (creature, player or planeswalker).

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (13)

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 week ago

Profet93

Do you think [Ardyn, the Usurper] from the new FF set is a must-include in the list? While 8 CMC, giving all my Demons haste, lifelink, and menace coupled with a way to exile creatures from an opponent's GY to spawn 5/5 Demon creature tokens seems pretty powerful with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master.

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 year ago

SephUsori

I used to run Warstorm Surge but really don't like the fact it costs 6 mana to cast. I know it combos well with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master, but it's too expensive and I'd much rather have the 3-drop Imprisoned in the Moon to completely shut down someone else's commander (until they can remove the enchantment). I love Wound Reflection also but, exactly like with Wound Reflection, the 6 mana needed to double up on damage/life loss is why I don't have it in the deck, either.

Thank you for the suggestion, and just know it's not missed on me, I've just played quite a few games where I had Wound Reflection in my hand and found it more of hindrance as opposed to an asset given every one in my pod plays 8+ power level decks.

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Davy Jones Locker

1 year ago

Profet93

I definitely love those two colors together, especially when mixed with red - Grixis is my favorite color combo in MTG. As always, I appreciate and look forward to your feedback!

Also, I made some minor tweaks to Be'Lakor, the Dark Master following the release of the last couple sets. Would definitely like to get your take on the latest changes if you happen to have a few minutes to give it a glance.

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 year ago

Profet93

I do like MImic Vat, though as I mentioned before it's super difficult to make a slot. I'm honestly a huge fan of Great Unclean One. I had a game the other night where I had him, Bloodletter of Aclazotz, and Phyrexian Metamorph out (as a copy of Great Unclean One) - that was a pretty solid board even without Be'Lakor, the Dark Master out. Tough decision because MImic Vat grants some security and a little bit of control...

GeminiSpartanX on Volrath, Voltron Reanimator

1 year ago

Profet93- I'm mostly trying to make it as consistent as possible while still giving homage to my commander's strengths. I know there are better reanimator commanders out there, but Volrath was one of the first legendary creatures I ever played with and as such, has a special place in my heart. In the previous version, I was just focusing on having the biggest cmc black and colorless cards in MtG and trying to swing in with him for the win, but it was too easily disrupted and the ramp wasn't enough to get there just by playing 1 fattie a turn otherwise. I figured the reanimation package will keep me in the game longer and make this deck more than a one-trick pony. I'm simply looking to cut the weakest cards from the list to keep up with the other powerful decks I normally play against (Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip, Be'Lakor, the Dark Master, Pantlaza, Sun-Favored, Edgar Markov, and Kaalia of the Vast).

leon_bulminot- This deck is not a 'sac' or aristocrats deck, so unfortunately some of your suggestions won't fit the bill here. My Kozilek is there to keep me from getting milled out against people who run infinite mill combos, and LotV is great at allowing me to discard a beefy guy from my hand to reanimate afterwards. The others Lilys are nice, but I actually cut a few tutors already to try and speed up the deck as too many tutors in a non-combo deck slow things down by paying extra mana for the cards you need, and this deck has enough ramp under 4 cmc that lily of the dark realms just barely didn't make the cut.

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 year ago

Point well taken. I thought that running the lower CMC demons with higher P/T was a solid play with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master, but now that I think about it Ammit Eternal never really paid the sort of dividends I had envisioned. Yawgmoth's Will has certainly earned this guy's spot.

I don't aim to win each game with Liliana's Contract, but when I do get it into play I do my best to keep it around long enough to reap its end-game benefits. Bolt Bend & Imp's Mischief will definitely be used, in addition to the counter spells already in the deck, to keep this wincon around OR, depending on the situation, protect my general. I will add that Rite of Replication is one heck of a way to win the game with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master and is something else that Bolt Bend & Imp's Mischief can be used to protect.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, thanks again for your insightful feedback and tip-of-the-hat to my demon tribal decklist. Demons are my favorite tribe in magic because they fit how I like to play going all the way back to when I first started - use your life total as a resource to gain advantage and put yourself in a great position to win or, at the very least, put up one hell of a fight.

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 year ago

Love the suggestions, Profet93! Bolt Bend is in over Demon Bolt, Imp's Mischief is in over Feed the Swarm, Mystic Remora is in over An Offer You Can't Refuse, and Phyrexian Metamorph is in over Spark Double.

To the question you raised - games typically go well given the ramp and tutors that allow me to set up, cast other demons/useful enchantments, and ultimately expedite the summoning of Be'Lakor, the Dark Master triggering additional card draw. There have been a few instances where I've gone through a "creature drought", but that's pretty rare and is just how it shakes out every once in a while just like getting land flooded (or starved).

With respect to Yawgmoth's Will, I would like to slot it in but am unsure of what to take out. I'm hesitant to remove a creature but it might not be a bad idea given the power YW offers. Any final thoughts on this addition given the updated list?

Thank you again for all of the valuable suggestions, Profet93!

ThassaUpYo@ssa on Be'Elz A'Boot

1 year ago

Hey, Profet93! Thanks for the upvote & the comment as you raise a very valid point. While I do have ways to remove Abyssal Persecutor and understand his drawbacks, these are the three main reasons I run him:

1) He's a great early game 'meat stick' that I can use to inflict solid damage for multiple turns and force a removal response ahead of casting Be'Lakor, the Dark Master

2) He makes for a great blocker should my opponent(s) have a strong creature(s) of their own offering some deterrence

3) He combos pretty well with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master in the mid-to-late game dealing 6 damage anywhere I need for just 4 mana

My thought here is "once the garden has been watered, just turn off the hose" - after the damage has been done and/or Abyssal Persecutor has served his purpose simply cast a board wipe, use him as a chump blocker, kill him off with Be'Lakor, the Dark Master's ability, etc. With all of this being said, I have thought about swapping him out for quite some time.

I am curious about how good Mystic Remora is in EDH - it seems like it doesn't realistically hang around for long since you'll find yourself paying quite a bit of mana each upkeep to keep it around. I'm sure I'm missing something here, but to me it seems I'll want to end up wanting to use that mana to cast spells of my own as opposed to paying this cost.

Yawgmoth's Will is a great option for sure, and a solid play especially in the late game, I'm just torn on what I'd replace Abyssal Persecutor with but think this may be the leading candidate.

Were there any specific changeling(s) you had in mind that would be worth a look?