Master of Cruelties

Creature — Demon

First strike, deathtouch

Master of Cruelties can only attack alone.

Whenever Master of Cruelties attacks a player and isn't blocked, that player's life total becomes 1. Master of Cruelties assigns no combat damage this combat.

Discussion (48)

Crow-Umbra on Alesha who doesn't smile

3 days ago

If you're going for a more aggro & attack based Alesha build, I highly recommend using a Menace sub-theme. My Alesha deck was more aggro-focused at first, but I recently rehauled it to be more Aristocrats/Combo. Menace can help your creatures get through for damage. I'd suggest checking out:

For evasion help

• Labyrinth Raptor
• Goblin War Drums
• Sonorous Howlbonder
• Shrieking Mogg
• Filth

For creatures that "hit heavy" despite their power, especially if they have Menace or other evasion:

• Grenzo's Ruffians
• Stigma Lasher (More-so Lifegain meta hate)
• Virtus the Veiled
• Raving Dead
• Mirror Entity
• Master of Cruelties (less budget friendly)

DrunkManSquakin666 on Kaalia's Inferno

1 week ago

If you're going the Sunforger route, I'd recommend Tithe and Mistveil Plains . You might also want a redirect and fork effect for the package. I'd also recommend Rakdos Charm , if only for the repeatable grave hate that setup would provide.

Speaking of grave hate, you'd definitely want to slot in that Bojuka in your Maybeboard. Also speaking of the Maybeboard, Phyrexian Reclamation is a wonderful card for abusing ETBs and Rakdos the Defiler or Master of Cruelties when combined with a sac outlet. Food for thought. =3

My Queen Marchesa deck, For da Kween!, should give you some ideas for the Sunforger package.

I'mma also leave my Kaalia deck, Hardcore Heavenly Inferno here for ya in case it gives you some ideas.

Happy gaming! :)

SquishyIsMe on Extus and the blood avatar

2 weeks ago

Thought more about this and there's still tons of options for this deck really. In my previous comment I mention how you may want to double up on Extus's effect with stuff like Ravos, Soultender but there's also enchantment options that may be a little harder for your opponents to get rid of. Stuff like Debtors' Knell and Palace Siege can also be useful enchantments to help you bring useful stuff back to cast multiple times. Crackling Doom is also a pretty good card that you could add as a substitute for any of the kill spells. A possibility for this deck could also be to reanimate some troublesome creatures for your opponents like Master of Cruelties Raving Dead Virtus the Veiled or Dire Fleet Ravager to help make killing your opponents with the sorcery easier. More boardwipes that only affect your opponents would also be good so something like Ruinous Ultimatum can help make the job a little easier. Other boardwipes such as Slash the Ranks Austere Command Merciless Eviction and Martial Coup give you some more options and not only target creatures but other pesky permanents as well.

TheVectornaut on Blue-Black Deck

1 month ago

I'd start by identifying what you want the main goal of your deck to be. I see two main ideas here that could be built around.

The first is dealing unblocked damage by disincentivizing blocks with deathtouch. Darkblade Agent , Eternal of Harsh Truths , Graveblade Marauder , and maybe Blightsteel Colossus (with enough reanimation) fit this archetype. Because of the two "blade" cards, there is some overlap with the second archetype which I'll cover next (and if you keep them, cards like Notion Rain , Mission Briefing , Thought Erasure , and Discovery / Dispersal are likely to get more mileage than Divination or Secrets of the Golden City ), but there may be even better ways to profit from unblocked creatures. Curiosity enchantments like Curious Obsession , Sixth Sense , and Keen Sense are frequent accompaniments to the Invisible Stalker s and other bogles of the world, and Bident of Thassa is a strong option for those going wide. I like Quietus Spike as a sort of midway point between Basilisk Collar and Master of Cruelties in decks like these too. Other beaters to get in with could be Tomebound Lich , Oona's Blackguard , Dimir Cutpurse , Looter il-Kor , Shadowmage Infiltrator , Surrakar Spellblade , Wharf Infiltrator , or Virtus the Veiled if he's legal in whatever format this is for. More generic deathtouch synergy could include Hooded Blightfang , Viridian Longbow , Thornbite Staff , Psionic Gift enchantments, and any source of first strike. Finally, I like Cipher as a way to gain advantage from repeated attacks, so maybe a Hidden Strings or Paranoid Delusions could come in handy.

The second main idea is to stack the graveyard(s) with as many creatures as possible to extract value from Undergrowth and similar mechanics. Avatar of Woe , Lotleth Giant , Trepanation Blade , Teferi's Tutelage , and some of your Disentomb effects fit here. Major threats in these kinds of decks include Wight of Precinct Six , Jace's Phantasm , Consuming Aberration , Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker , Fleet Swallower , Nemesis of Reason , Bonehoard , Mortivore , and Nighthowler . If you want to focus on your own graveyard, green is a great color to dip into as I alluded to earlier. Ghoultree , Boneyard Wurm , Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , Splinterfright , Nyx Weaver , Nemesis of Mortals , Spider Spawning , and Kessig Cagebreakers are just some of the tools you get access to. Golgari is also the king of Undergrowth, so Hatchery Spider , Izoni, Thousand-Eyed , Molderhulk , Rhizome Lurcher / Undergrowth Scavenger , Kraul Harpooner , and Necrotic Wound are on the table. If milling your opponents is more your thing, some staples to consider are Thought Scour , Sphinx's Tutelage , Drown in the Loch , Traumatize , Fraying Sanity , and the crab duo. Jace's Erasure , Psychic Corrosion , and the Tutelage pair benefit the most from other draw synergy, and Visions of Beyond is an obvious inclusion if that's the route you take. Either way, I'd cut down to only the most efficient of your reanimate to hand cards and the like since you don't want to be stuck with a fist full of them and no creatures in the graveyard to target. Speaking of cuts, for maximum power, it's usually correct to play as close to the 60 card minimum as possible. Picking a single strategy to hone in on should make it easier to whittle down to the most important 60 in the deck.

If you have questions, let me know. Good luck with your build!

DarkRequiem on Kaalia's Hordes (D)

1 month ago

Unha110w3d, yeah, well... Playing with Armageddon and a few more variants, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon , Iona, Shield of Emeria (prior to her banishing) and a few other offenders is fun when the group is on par. When people start rulling out infect due to random unanswerable kills, you have to change the deck. When land destruction is rule out because, lets face it, it isn't much fun and the group isn't that cutthroat, you have to change the deck. And when Emeria is banned... It still hurts.

I still believe it to be quite powerful and fun even if people don't think Rakdos to be fair (works like a charm if paired with Blood Clock or if think that a Master of Cruelties dropped by Kaalia, attacking someone who can't block it is overwhelming... No one said that Kaalia is fair, even if toned down. :)

And talking Master made me think that a Angrath, Captain of Chaos could be fun in this build...

DrunkManSquakin666 on Kaalia's Horde

2 months ago

Looking for suggestions, eh?

My best advice would be to try and get as much bang for your buck as possible, using cards that do more for less mana, and to keep that mana curve as low to the ground as possible. One of the biggest criticisms I have for other Kaalia decks is that their mana curves are too crazy, leaving them far too reliant on her.

That's not something you wanna do. She is your friend, but letting her become your crutch is asking for people to target her... and when you can't play her, you can't play your deck when you rely too much on her.

Obviously, the first thing you're gonna want is better dragons. I'd recommend Thundermaw Hellkite at the very least, to keep blockers outta your way. Angel of Serenity , Subjugator Angel , and Angel of Despair serve a similar purpose in my deck. Emancipation Angel also bounces them to be used again.

I also like having a sac outlet and Reya Dawnbringer , which goes quite well with cards who have ETBs. Alternatively, Phyrexian Reclamation can bring them back to hand to play again with her effect, which is quite nasty with Rakdos the Defiler and Master of Cruelties if you don't mind being mean, lol. Another card I like using specifically with those two is Oni of Wild Places , whom Thundermaw Hellkite and Kaalia, Zenith Seeker also like very much. XD

Never hurts to have more sweepers and spot removal as well... and redundancy when possible.

My deck's right here Hardcore Heavenly Inferno if you wanna take a look. Hope that helps. :)

TheVectornaut on Menacing Detainment

4 months ago

As far as menace creatures go, I like Dreamstealer or Kheru Mind-Eater to deny the opponent of additional creatures. Red is also well known for menace since you gain access to Labyrinth Raptor, Sonorous Howlbonder, and the odd Sin Prodder. It also has a bomb in Master of Cruelties that benefits from a lack of blockers. Silent Arbiter can accomplish a similar goal to your auras when attacking if you don't mind embracing an exalted style, possibly via Sublime Archangel.

Another option could be to embrace the large number of auras with synergetic cards like Eidolon of Countless Battles, Kor Spiritdancer, and Sage's Reverie. Some other Arrest options I like are Pillory of the Sleepless, Prison Term, or the cheap Demotion.

carpecanum on

5 months ago

Forcing people to attack means no blockers pretty frequently. You have the colors for Virtus the Veiled, Raving Dead or Quietus Spike. Master of Cruelties is less useful because if you can't attack with all creatures you have to attack with the most possible.

The same idea works with Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor or Tilonalli's Summoner.

Bedlam = chaos ensues