Nirkana Revenant

Creature — Vampire Shade

Whenever you tap a Swamp for mana, add an additional .

: This gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Discussion (51)

trippy_mcfly on Mono Black Death Plague

1 month ago

Cool deck. I'm here to offer some suggestions after you pointed me here from your other deck.

Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip is a powerful commander and generates insane advantage in 4-player games. Let's take a look at this deck and see what it is doing, and then streamline it. I see three main objectives of this deck:

1 - RAMPING.

This is pretty much a primary objective of any commander deck, since if your only source of mana is playing one land per turn, you're going to fall way behind. Your main ramping plan for this deck is to double lands, using Cabal Coffers, Cabal Stronghold, Caged Sun, Crypt Ghast, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, and Nirkana Revenant. This is super cool and probably a pretty strong plan. We want to try to maximize this plan. How can we do that?

All of these cards want you to load up on basic swamps, which you did. We want to make sure we are playing a basic swamp every turn. Solemn Simulacrum is definitely a worthwhile add. Liliana of the Dark Realms is very helpful and I'm happy to see her in this deck. Often times Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a worthwhile add for decks with Cabal Coffers. I think it is worth it here. Although you yourself don't have many non-swamps that will benefit from Urborg, you are likely going to be stealing people's lands with Tergrid, and counting those as swamps will be helpful for you.

How else can we keep getting swamps onto the battlefield to power up this strategy? Card draw. The more cards in your hand the higher the chance you will have a swamp to play every turn. Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood are great for this. Disciple of Bolas is solid too. Dread Presence loves swamps and is a must-add. I would add Phyrexian Arena, which is great card draw for you. Necropotence, one of the craziest cards in the game, is also a worthwhile addition. Not as good but worth consideration are Yawgmoth's Bargain and Null Profusion. Two other well-known card draw machines in black are Dark Confidant and Bolas's Citadel. You have some costly spells in your deck, so they might be a bit of a liability. If you want to include them, Sensei's Divining Top pairs very well with them.

Just because you are mainly ramping with land doubling doesn't mean there isn't room for other ramping as well. You have Black Market, which I have never personally tested, but is probably decent. Black has some explosive, single-turn ramp with Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, and Culling the Weak. These cards would do well in letting you get out expensive plays ahead of schedule, mainly Tergrid. Artifact ramp is also great in any deck. I would add Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Jeweled Lotus, and Jet Medallion. I would consider adding even more artifact ramp as well. Getting down Tergrid as early as turn 1 or 2 is just so good.

2 - SACRIFICE AND DISCARD.

Once you have Tergrid out, sacrifice and discard become powerful effects that let you take control of your opponent's permanents. This is insane advantage and if left unchecked for very long will win you the game. Syphon Mind while Tergrid is in play not only puts you up 4 cards in comparison to each opponent (since they each went down 1 and you went up 3), but also could net you 3 more cards if they discard permanents that then go onto your field. That's insane. Let's take a look at all the cards you have that enable Tergrid:

SACRIFICE:

Archfiend of Depravity - A one-sided, almost board wipe that repeats every turn? Pretty solid. Getting the creatures onto your field with Tergrid? That is nuts. The one issue is that some commander decks won't have that many more than 2 creatures on the field when this comes down, and if they do, then this card and/or Tergrid become a big target, but if you survive the turn, this and your commander will put you ahead so far.

Butcher of Malakir - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Gatekeeper of Malakir - This guy only costs three and steals a creature if Tergrid is on the field. Love it.

Phyrexian Obliterator - If someone is dumb enough to deal damage to this guy, then you're getting a lot of their permanents! I don't love this card for you. People will just leave it alone and then you just hit someone for 5 each turn or leave up a blocker, which is a bit slow.

Sheoldred, Whispering One - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

Dictate of Erebos - I like it. Let's say you have 10 mana. Cast Tergrid, then somebody goes to kill him. Flash this card in. Now, you at least get 3 of your opponents creatures on the way out!

Grave Pact - I like this as well. You can't flash it in, but if you put this card on the field, then people will have to kill this before Tergrid comes down or else end up giving you their creatures.

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

DISCARD:

Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - You need to flip her first, but once flipped she is great.

Syphon Mind - Great.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

... and that's it. We need more cards that are busted with Tergrid! The following would be great adds to your deck: Smallpox, Dark Deal, Liliana's Triumph, Plaguecrafter, Soul Shatter, Mire in Misery, Innocent Blood, Vona's Hunger, Death Cloud, Burglar Rat, Demon's Disciple, Fleshbag Marauder, Elderfang Disciple, Liliana, Waker of the Dead, Bottomless Pit, Fraying Omnipotence, Rotting Rats, Cunning Lethemancer, Merciless Executioner, and a personal favorite: Smokestack.

Notice that all of these cards are typically even trades (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card, everyone else goes down 1 card.) These aren't great on their own since it costs you mana to do so, and, in the case of discard and sacrifice, the opponent gets to choose an asset that they are least upset to get rid of, making them actually below-even trades. However, they become insanely busted with Tergrid. (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card in hand for a measly 1/1. But, I get a Carpet of Flowers, basic plains, and Birds of Paradise on my field? Now that's an amazing play). Therefore, the ones that are recurring are better, since they give you more chances to make sure they resolve while Tergrid is on the field. (ex: I play Cunning Lethemancer and my opponent kills Tergrid. Later in the turn I play Tergrid again, albeit for 7 mana now due to commander tax. Next turn, with the Lethemancer trigger, I get some great value!)

Here are some other cards that work well with Tergrid, although they only target one opponent: Sudden Edict, Hellish Rebuke, Pharika's Libation, Diabolic Edict, Duress, Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, Chain of Smog, Despise, and Divest.

Notice that in the absence of Tergrid, these cards are negative trades. They set you and an opponent back by putting you both down one card. The other two opponents are left untouched. Seeing them early in the game is not particularly helpful since you'd rather spend the early game ramping. They are great and slowing down whoever is winning, but at the expense of your own board. There is a trade-off here, since these can be leveraged politically. "Each opponent discards a card"" can give you tons of value with Tergrid on the field but makes you 3 enemies. "Target opponent discards a card"" gives you not as much value in general but you can leverage this to make someone else the common enemy or make a deal with a player ("if you don't attack me next turn I won't target you with my Duress"). Things like Duress can also target specific cards, which is an added benefit for you and an added detriment to the opponent.

I would run some from each category, probably with an emphasis on maximizing Tergrid value.

3 - DRAIN AND GAIN.

Blood Artist and other cards gain you one life and drain your opponent one life. This is cool and certainly an interesting archetype of a deck. It doesn't synergize with Tergrid particularly well. I personally would not use this strategy at all in this deck and maximize the Tergrid plan. However, Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond is an awesome combo and an unexpected way to finish the game for you while people are busy dealing with Tergrid. If you want to keep this, I would trim some of the other cards, such as Exsanguinate and maybe Underworld Dreams.

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So, now that we know what the 3 objectives are, and have maybe cut the third, we have a bit more of a plan. I've suggested adding some card draw and mana rocks for ramp, and tons more Tergrid synergy. What are the cuts? I would say anything that doesn't fit in with the objectives, so basically any card I haven't mentioned already, unless it gives great value on its own. I'll go through some:

Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are incredible cards and provide great value. Diabolic Tutor, Scheming Symmetry, and Shrouded Lore are worse tutor effects and should probably be moved to the maybe board. Sudden Spoiling is interesting and stops somebody from comboing off on their turn so is probably worth it. Reanimate is good value and should probably stay, same with Animate Dead. Demonic Vigor protects creatures but not Tergrid, unless you want him going to your hand. This is risky but probably fine. I could see him getting countered and then removed from your graveyard which puts you back majorly, but I could also see you avoiding commander tax. Worth looking into. Undying Evil is strictly better since it has instant speed and keeps him on the field. We might also want to protect him with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots

Coffin Queen is too expensive and vulnerable. Drana, Liberator of Malakir is cool for aggressive strategies and can help you close out the game but is out of place in this deck. Falkenrath Noble is an overcosted Blood Artist. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is a value creature that if you can get his ETB many times, which your deck can't really do. Grave Titan isn't worth it in this deck. Gravedigger is fine but might be a bit slow. Helldozer is probably not worth it unless you want to pick on somebody lol. Korlash, Heir to Blackblade is not worth it. Massacre Wurm might not be worth it. Nighthowler isn't worth it. Opposition Agent is always a good add. Phage the Untouchable is too slow and vulnerable. Sepulchral Primordial might not be worth it. Skirsdag High Priest is probably not worth it. Syr Konrad, the Grim is not worth it. Wight of Precinct Six is not worth it. Tainted Strike is not worth it. Lashwrithe is not worth it. That's about 15 cuts right there.

Props to you for building Tergrid and having an interesting ramp strategy. I think if you go more in on the Tergrid plan by cutting unrelated cards for cards that ramp or are good with Tergrid then your deck will be a lot more reliable. After all, the most fun part of this deck is going off with Tergrid!

Hope this helps.

DemonDragonJ on Innistrad: Crimson Vow

2 months ago

I dislike how crossway troublemakers grants lifelink and deathtouch only to attacking vampires, as that encourages attacking, not blocking, and I would like to see this game be about more than simply aggressively attacking with creatures.

The new artwork on Swords to Plowshares, Nirkana Revenant, and Drogskol Captain is most excellent, so I am glad for it.

Timothar’s ability is quite awesome, but the tokens that he generates do not have haste and are very vulnerable, so the chance of recovering the exiled creature is less than optimal, unless the player has methods of protecting the tokens.

Why is disorder in the court blue and white, the two colors most concerned with order and structure? Will it be a suitable replacement for Turn to Mist in my Chulane, Teller of Tales EDH deck?

I like how spectral arcanist can cast spells from any graveyard, but the fact that it does not have flash limits its usefulness.

Ethereal investigator definitely should have been white, considering that it generates white tokens.

Sudden salvation is definitely a form of card drawing that feels white without violating white’s weaknesses.

Donal, herald of wings and whispering wizard could have been so awesome if they did not have the "once per turn" clause; why does WotC seem to think that that clause is a good idea?

On the other hand, the fact that haunted library does not have a "once per turn" clause is amazing, so I expect that that card shall be very popular and powerful.

Storm of souls is very nice, but the fact that it reduces all the creatures to 1/1’s means that its caster shall need another methods of making them more powerful, which is easy to do in white, thankfully.

Sinister waltz is amazing, and costs only five mana to recover three creatures, so I hope that I can find a way to fit it into some of my decks that contain red and black.

Glass-cast heart again suffers from the same problem from which all mass life drain has, recently, in that the amount of life gained does not increase with the number of opponents who lose life; why did WotC make that change?

Also, on that subject, the fact that WotC still has not printed a creature version of Exquisite Blood really annoys me, since this was the perfect set in which to print such a card; when will they ever print such a card?

griffstick on Commander Deckbuilding Advice - A …

2 months ago

Most my decks lay between a 6-7 power. So that's where my advice is coming from.

• Come up with a deck idea
• look for precons with that deck idea to get started with.
• if no precon, find cmdr that's enables deck idea.

In order of importance

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1. ramp: 14 to 17 sources of ramp. If your cmdr adds ramp these numbers may vary.

2. draw: 12 or more sources of draw. Draw is just as important as ramp. If your cmdr draws cards you'll need less card draw.

3. removal: about 10 to 12 sources of targeted removal or counterspells and at least 2 board wipes. P.s. try to find removal on cards that coexist with your deck idea.for instance, if your building an Elf deck then run Reclamation Sage over Filigree Fracture.

4. enablers and enhancers: find cards that make the deck hum. Cards that lean into the deck idea. Cards that make your cmdr better. For instance Selvala, Explorer Returned really likes cards that untap her like Instill Energy. Cards that pair well with multiple cards in the deck, synergy.

5. combo/s: find a combo that not just works if the combo cards are together, but each card by its self synergizes with the rest of the deck.

6. test: play the deck and find what's working and find what's not working. If you play a game and a certain card sits in your hand for several turns and you continue to not use it. Consider it for another card and make the change. Testing will help you fine tune your deck and build a deck that can win and have fun doing it.

7. Look for overlap: this is the last part of improvements to the deck. Find cards in the deck that only hit one part of what the deck is doing and look for a card to replace it with that does the same thing but also does other things as well. For instance if your mono black vampire deck has Caged Sun try replacing it with Nirkana Revenant. Anyway I have never put together something like this, but I was trying to keep it short and simple. If I would add more I would but maybe next time.

legendofa on Efficient way for black to …

2 months ago

Cabal Coffers, Liliana of the Dark Realms, and Nirkana Revenant can all accelerate in mono-black, but they all require a high mana and time investment, and they're not budget. Undead Warchief, Bontu's Monument, and Gravebreaker Lamia give you a discount. Outside of these, the most efficient and budget-friendly ramp is in green, if you're willing to splash another color.

Scytec on Consuming Vampires

3 months ago

Forerunner of the Legion is really solid for Edgar. I also really like Viscera Seer, Nirkana Revenant, Mentor of the Meek (not a vampire itself, but nets you TONS of draw power), and Pillar of Origins are all cards I really enjoy in my Edgar list. What are some of your favorites from your list?

dadezio on Tormod and Ravos Raise Again

3 months ago

More Combos

• Crucible of Worlds + Lake of the Dead = Ability to recur swamps sacrificed to Lake of the Dead

• Ashen Rider + Sac outlet + any graveyard recursion card ( Ravos, Soultender/Sheoldred, Whispering One / Liesa, Forgotten Archangel / ETC = recurring ability to exile to permanents

• Nirkana Revenant / Crypt Ghast = Ability to tap Swamps for additional mana. Have both out and each swamp taps for three

• Any Sac Outlet I.E. Phyrexian Altar + Living Death = Board wipe while being able to keep your non token creatures on the board

• Open the Graves + Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler = Infinite zombie creation and Infinite Mana

RambIe on ugg i need help

5 months ago

Thank you, for taking the time to respond
Squirrel_of_War, the deck tempos till combo. Stalling the game till turns 5-7 would be much easier then stalling the game till turns 7-9 wich would greatly increase my win%. That's why I'm focused on power level.

enpc, this deck does self milling, Crucible of Worlds is the only option in these colors to get lands back with out giving opponents there lands also, plus it being a 3 cmc permanent makes it a reanimate target.
Nirkana Revenant is never hard casted it's a reanimate target. I have actually had games were turn 0 gemstone-exile Rev, pull from eternity, turn 1 reanimate
Apprentice Necromancer was swapped for Priest of Fell Rites & Doomed Necromancer was swapped for Magus of the Will

Night's Whisper & Sign in Blood are fantastic suggestions cantrips are the key to frija

enpc on ugg i need help

5 months ago

Before I go on to card swaps, I think that having a measurable "Turn X - Y equates to power level Z" is a bit silly. I get what you're trying to achieve with it, but the concept is very two dimensional when deck building and piloting is is not.

As for actual card changes - if you want to make the deck faster then a more consistent mana base will be step one. Yes, that means fetches. You have stuff like Crucible of Worlds which is midrange tech, yet if the goal was for speed then this contradicts the gameplan.

On top of that, you're not running Demonic Tutor or Diabolic Intent . If we're talking no budget, Imperial Seal is another one worth a slot. Night's Whisper is good card draw too, as is Sign in Blood .

I would also look into cards like Mana Crypt , Mana Vault and Dark Ritual . Cheap ramp effects are your friend. Big mana accelerators like Nirkana Revenant are counter-productive here, they don't help in the early game which is where you're trying to win.

A few extra reanimation effects like Apprentice Necromancer and potentially Doomed Necromancer are both useful here, since most of your combos can be assembled as creature only.