Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Historic Brawl | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Pre-release | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Standard | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Mask of Griselbrand
Legendary Artifact — Equipment
Equipped creature has flying and lifelink.
Whenever equipped creature dies, you may pay X life, where X is its power. If you do, draw X cards. (Dying is being put into the graveyard from the battlefield. Tokens enter the graveyard before they cease to exist.)
Equip (: Attach this to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery. This card enters the battlefield unattached and stays on the battlefield if the creature this card is attached to leaves the battlefield.)
DreadKhan on
Hey Jude
3 months ago
I fear and love this deck, such a terror! +1!
Seeing as people will probably try to kill your Commander a lot maybe a storage land could help? I wouldn't cut an actual land for one, but it can help you power out Judith and then cast a follow up wipe right away, as is people might have too much opportunity to kill Judith before you can wipe. Mercadian Bazaar and Subterranean Hangar are the 'better' two, but Dwarven Hold and Bottomless Vault are the worse options, I use all 4 in my Rakdos list (which does some similar stuff) and am often happy with their ability to ramp me.
Apologies if you were already aware, but with Bolas's Citadel if you have Sensei's Divining Top and Aetherflux Reservoir you usually win the game on the spot. FWIW with your life gain potential you could trigger Aetherflux Reservoir without using it's Storm ability, so that might be useful even without the combo, and Divining Top is just a great card to have around if you can afford it.
With your Commander I think I'd just as soon use Flare over Shock? 2 more mana to draw a card isn't awful, and it's still an instant, Deathtouch means it generally kills whatever you target either way.
It's a weird card but since you're pretty good at clearing the board I'm happy to suggest an old favorite of mine, Rite of the Raging Storm. If there is an opponent who neglects blockers (or you just kill them all over and over) they will quickly get swamped by the free 5/1 each turn. As an Enchantment it doesn't die very often, and 5 power with Trample is usually high enough that you can swing at someone. I use Rite with various things that help make the tokens even better, be they anthems like Berserkers' Onslaught, or equipment like Basilisk Collar. I'm not sure if you have enough high power creatures to make the card work most of the time, but Mask of Griselbrand is surprisingly powerful, even if all you're doing is drawing a 4 or 5 cards from a mid-size creature dying.
If your deck expects to kill a LOT of creatures, you might enjoy Ogre Slumlord, Sangromancer, and maybe Kothophed, Soul Hoarder? Ogre Slumlord makes token armies whenever you kill actual creatures, Sangromancer can gain you a ton of life (and win on the spot with Sanguine Bond maybe), and Kothophed can draw a LOT of cards. I think the first two are much better than the 3rd in most situations, but when Kothophed is good it means cards and cards are amazing.
I'm not sure if you run into stuff your deck can't kill very often, but Make an Example can kill just about any creature you want dead, and it hits each opponent. It's not as cheap as it was, but it's easily one of the strongest 'targeted' removal effects of all time, combining sacrifice with always hitting the exact creature you want for each opponent.
_Kane_ on
Valgavoth, Harrower of souls (HF-1)
5 months ago
Hey, welcome to TappedOut.net! I would recommend listing you basic lands under one art image so the counts are more accurate. We can chat about the mana base another time.
Here are a few quick suggestions;
Sulfurous Springs - Replace Ash Barrens
Basilisk Collar - Lifelink to keep your HP at a healthy amount and deathtouch for a decent chump-blocker.
Razorkin Needlehead - Ping dmg on opp turns.
Blasphemous Edict - Board wipes are needed along with targeted removal.
Stormfist Crusader - Card draw
Roiling Vortex - This reads, "Yes, yes, and more please."
Scrawling Crawler - Yes, you have your opps drawing more cards, but they will pay for it with their life. You will also draw more cards. Taking advantage of the "symmetric" card draw by making it weighted in your favor.
Florian, Voldaren Scion - Card selection and Card draw.
Underworld Dreams - Ping dmg on opp turns.
Withering Torment - Enchantment removal is extremely rare in Rakdos Colors.
Ankh of Mishra - Ping dmg on opp turns.
Rug of Smothering - Ping dmg on opp turns.
Nightshade Harvester - Ping dmg on opp turns.
Magebane Lizard - Ping dmg on opp turns and keeps spell decks in check.
Cemetery Gatekeeper - Exile someone's fetch land from a GY. Then, whenever a player play a land you ping for 2 dmg.
Malakir Rebirth Flip - A tapped land with a great spell on the backside.
Reanimate - Any graveyard...
I believe you opened a Bloodthirsty Conqueror!!
Expensive:
Zo-Zu the Punisher - I may have one of these for trade. I'll check.
As far a cuts:
Vile Entomber - Easy cut.
Olivia, Crimson Bride I would lose the graveyard reanimator subtheme.
Valgavoth's Lair - With your deck only being in two colors and with no add value for the land being an enchantment (the extra card type becomes more of a risk than reward), I would cut this land.
Enchanter's Bane - Just not strong enough and the damage isn't on your opponents turns.
Mask of Griselbrand - Too expensive to cast/equip and requires the creature to die for the card draw to trigger.
Temple of the False God - Easy cut. The pay off isn't there and the number of times you won't be able to tap this land for mana isn't worth the upside.
Light Up the Stage - There is better card draw.
Braids, Arisen Nightmare - The group slug effect is nice, but a potential cut due to being non-targeted removal/group sacrifice.
Massacre Girl - Black has better board wipes that can't miss.
Ash Barrens - Easy cut for a land more suited to your deck build.
Bloodfell Caves - Easy cut for a land more suited to your deck build.
DreadKhan on
Maga, Draining the Swamp
6 months ago
I think the general 'rule' around here is to never bring up politics in an existing discussion (or use it to harass people in their own spaces) because it's super off topic and poisons the well so to speak. I've got political decks (generally lefty stuff) and haven't had too much trouble, and I've seen people with some pretty right wing stuff that is acceptable on here.
In light of the present election I took another look at Maga, Traitor to Mortals and I was a bit surprised to realize (as you did) that it's a fairly playable card to build around. The card's name is objectively hilarious now, so I do wonder if it'll be a fun card to build, seeing this list illustrates the potential, but I have a few ideas that might be worth a look!
This might sound weird, but are you sure you want stuff like Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire? Ditto for Sanguine Bond stuff, I think you should leave in Exquisite Blood (it's amazing with your Commander), but I feel like making this a combo deck will make it much less fun to play (obviously ymmv, just my thoughts!). Anyways, your Commander already gives you an outlet for big mana, and with all your ramp it should be fairly easy to eliminate an opponent; have you thought about some Flash sources, maybe Emergence Zone and/or Vedalken Orrery? If Maga has Flash you can potentially hold up enough mana to eliminate an opponent that is about to win (or simply eliminate you!). I'd rather play against that than Torment of Hailfire!
I rarely regret including stuff like Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood, these can do a lot of work. I don't think I'd bother with the Fallen Empires one, but Subterranean Hangar is a fairly good card if you want to store mana, I look at it as a ramp card instead of a land. I'm not sure if it's too much of a hassle, but Diabolic Revelation is a pretty crazy tutor if you dig out more than 2 cards. Maybe War Room
? Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is a great sponge for extra mana, she can remove creatures (including blockers) and then hit the opponent like a truck. Morbid Opportunist can draw a decent number of cards. Once Maga is out either Scavenged Brawler or Mask of Griselbrand can offer a lot of value for mana, maybe Shadowspear? I don't know if you have enough Demons to make Liliana's Contract a viable win con (though TBH I think it's a reasonable one because it's so telegraphed, and more decks can interact with it) but it's also a good card draw effect. I can't decide if Mandate of Abaddon is worth it, if Maga is big he just wipes out EVERYTHING except himself, so he can probably kill a player the turn you play Mandate and swing.
Hope these ideas help!
DreadKhan on
Lucius, Champion of Slaanesh!
9 months ago
I feel like Transmogrifying Wand would do work in here (you both want a creature somewhere and want a specific body dead, and the 2/4 is ideal vs your Commander in a fight). Maybe Kiku, Night's Flower as removal on a stick? Royal Assassin is pretty good at getting your Commander back too, and has a different hoop to jump through. Not sure if it's too risky, but I love using Jaya Ballard, Task Mage as removal, her ping for 3 is big enough for most utility creatures, and she can just blow up any Blue permanent (such as Propaganda, and other annoying Blue Enchantments that are otherwise pretty sticky). Mask of Griselbrand is a repeatable 'big' draw effect, it also gives your Commander some useful abilities. Lyzolda, the Blood Witch can ping something if you want (to get your Commander back), and can also sacrifice your Commander if you need him dead (and want to draw a card and ping something). I think Lyzolda's ability would result in Lucius entering the graveyard with the ping ability still on the stack, meaning his death trigger would go on top and resolve first, so you could technically kill a creature with Lyzolda by sacrificing Lucius and get Lucius back right away (also a card I guess?), not sure if that's relevant in your meta. It might be hard to trigger, but Lagomos, Hand of Hatred can tutor up whatever you need situationally, and for no new mana. I'm not sure if it's enough of a buff, but Tenza, Godo's Maul is a is a nice equipment for a Red legend that likes to swing, and Equip 1 is pretty sweet for +3 and Trample.
I feel like Hellish Rebuke would be a neat trick to both wipe out some attackers and recur your Commander at the same time, nice dual purpose effect potentially. It's getting a bit pricey, but Make an Example is an incredible card for a Sorcery, since you pick the pile you'll always get at least the most problematic thing (for each player, unless you're being political) despite it not targeting and not being a destroy effect (so it gets around almost any protection yet printed).
I read some lore about this guy the other day, pretty crazy stuff!
DreadKhan on
lonely goth girl
11 months ago
Well, my Pavel Maliki deck liked to use a few interesting sources of evasion, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Dauthi Embrace, Mask of Griselbrand, and possibly Scavenged Brawler. I use these in conjunction with a fairly large number of board wipes that help thin the board and help get in for Commander damage. Flying, Shadow, Fear, and Trample are all useful ways to get in for damage, even if the opponent has potential blockers, they might not count. If your Voltron is big enough to try for the win you might try Mandate of Abaddon, this can easily let you one shot someone if Teysa's power is high enough (and nobody is retaliating vs you). You could also try Promise of Loyalty, this clears out almost all the creatures while also preventing the survivors from coming after you.
Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, but despite people making fun of it Grave Betrayal seems like it'd have some synergy with your Commander, not only do you get the 1/1, you'd also get their creature!
jawz on
BR Dirge for Drivnod
11 months ago
I saw a list trying to get value from Generous Plunderer and Bloodvial Purveyor as targets for the Lively Dirge. Plunderer has become my favorite ramp card recently so I'm in. Donating all these artifacts to the opponent helps maximize the Plunderer damage trigger which the Bloodletter doubles. Plunderer ramping from 2 to 4 seems better than Goldhound ramping from 1 to 3 given the deck doesn't have many 3 drops but has a lot of key 4 drops.
Purveyor is a nasty clock as a 5/6 flying trample for 4. Especially in a Bloodletter deck. Jaxis, the Troublemaker is a scary combo piece too for Purveyor or Plunderer.
I also felt like Drivnod's double death trigger ability was getting forgotten, so I looked around a bit for possible synergy cards. Body Launderer and Mask of Griselbrand caught my eye. Giving them a try too.
I decided to move away from the Bitter Reunion for Into the Fire instead. I have plenty of 2 drops but few 3 drops. Fire gives me more digging and at least an option for a small sweeper against wide aggro decks. Without the Goldhound I'm less cautious about sweepers. And I'm ok with putting some of my 2 drops into the graveyard because I can rely on Dirge to get a couple back. I don't think I need the Reunion's haste option as much as I originally thought I would.
DreadKhan on
1 year ago
I would take a look at Open the Way, if it doesn't get reprinted in the near future the card is going to get bonkers I suspect, the floor of 3 mana for your next land is both playable and less hassles than a true fetch effect (you don't have to shuffle for it), but if you play it mid game for 6 it's a bit unreal.
Have you ever thought about Mask of Griselbrand? Flying and Lifelink are very good keywords, and this can be a VERY effective form of protection for your Commander, people can't let it die or you get a new hand for almost nothing.
Since people have to attack with everything (and can't send them at you), Rite of the Raging Storm might do some work for you, if an opponent can't deal with 5/1 attackers they are very easily killed.
Not sure how big your Thantis gets, but I like Mandate of Abaddon in my Kresh deck, Kresh can get big enough that this is not just a 4 mana one sided wipe, it also means I'm going to Commander damage someone out of the game.
Not sure how often your Commander gets locked down with stuff like Song of the Dryads, but Angel's Trumpet can be a decent back up.
It's a bit of a weird niche card, but I love Tempting Licid in a Goad deck, this guy can be attached to a creature that you forced to attack at instant speed, and now the opponent that creature is attacking is getting blocked by the kitchen sink, and as soon as those blockers are declared you just detach the licid and go on your merry way. I think most people find the card too confusing to play, but the effect is extremely strong, useful to threaten attacking or blocking creatures. It can also be a one player wipe if your Commander is big enough.
DreadKhan on
Sauron, The Dark Lord Commander Deck
1 year ago
I feel like this deck should look pretty hard at Relic of Sauron, it's one of the best mana rocks for a Grixis deck, it also offers card draw and a discard outlet when you don't need the mana. I also feel like you might want more ramp, but I'm not sure I'd shave the land count too much further. I do have much higher average MV decks with similar land counts, they tend to run a lot of ramp though!
I've always liked the idea of evasive Changelings in this deck, the best being Changeling Outcast, but Mistwalker is also good, Mothdust Changeling less so but still interesting, evasion is really good on an Army in here. Taurean Mauler might be worth throwing in too, any of these is infinitely better than trying to use a token as the base for your army. Amoeboid Changeling can make any creature an army (to trigger Sauron). You might even try Maskwood Nexus, you can always choose not to wheel your hand away if you're happy with it (could be an issue if you're getting in with several armies in a turn).
Since Sauron discards your hand before he draws a new one you might want to look into some recursion effects, Black is very good at that kind of thing. Sheoldred, Whispering One is a nice easy-button recursion card that also hassles your opponents, but she is slow and a ton of mana, but you can reanimate her with something like Animate Dead or Reanimate. Since Sauron can make you a new token whenever someone casts a spell (if you don't already have one) you could use sacrifice based recursion effectively, Hell's Caretaker could do some work. These are just a few low hanging fruit, if you need a bunch more (or cheaper ones) I could probably rattle off more.
With this much built in discard you might look at the better Delve cards, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time come to mind immediately, both are pretty good card draw if you don't have to pay any generic mana in.
Mask of Griselbrand can work well as a draw source, it also gives two useful abilities for an Army. Not sure if this is too out there, but you could try Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep and Shizo, Death's Storehouse, if you make an Army your Ringbearer it becomes Legendary, meaning these lands don't just help Sauron (but making Sauron unblockable is inherently good in a deck like this because he has 7 power and he's a 3 hit kill). Fear from Shizo is probably better than First Strike in most metas, but First Strike is a very useful effect. Rogue's Passage is a nice budget card that can let Sauron or an Army get in each turn. I really have enjoyed using Scavenged Brawler, it would be very good with your Commander (if he can get in twice he can kill someone, regardless of their life total), but it'll also be useful with a good sized Army token, those key word abilities are pretty sweet in my experience. Dauthi Embrace is a nifty old card that can be very sneaky, you can use it to help opponents get in, not just to protect your creature from blockers. If you plan to attack and are in Red you might benefit from Berserkers' Onslaught, double strike on your entire board can be a very powerful effect.
If you want a way to protect Sauron from most board wipes, I really love Gift of Doom, this gem of a card can be cast as a Morph for 3 mana, after which you can sacrifice a creature to attach the aura to a creature (note that this method doesn't target the creature it attaches to, so you can get around Shroud on your creature) at literally any time you have priority iirc. It's also not a spell or ability, so you can use it in response to something with Split Second. Indestructible is very good, but if you can get Deathtouch on a creature with trample it only takes 1 point of damage to 'destroy' any creature (regardless of whether or not it dies), the rest goes over, so it has great synergy with Scavenged Brawler (and other Trample sources). You can always cast it for 5 mana, and it's not a terrible card in that form, but the Morph effect is one of the best ways to protect an individual creature (or to turn your opponent's block attempt into a blood bath).
Finally, Mercadian Bazaar, Subterranean Hangar, and Saprazzan Cove are my spiciest ideas for a deck like this, I will take no offense if you laugh at them, but you might be surprised by what they can do in a deck with a 6 mana Commander. I use the first two as well as two Fallen Empires storage lands (which I wouldn't encourage you to use unless you want gray hair) in my Rakdos deck, I play them as ramp cards, and it's openly hilarious how useful they can be if you really want to cheese out a big Commander (or recast them repeatedly).
Hope some of this brainstorming is helpful, Sauron is a pretty strong Commander that attracts a fair bit of attention afaik.
| Have (0) | |
| Want (1) | beesaurs |