Sadistic Hypnotist

Creature — Human Minion

Sacrifice a creature: Target player discards two cards. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

capwner on they exist to cease

4 months ago

Cool budget list, Torgaar is a neat commander and I hadn't seen him built before. I gotta rec some of my favorite black 'goobers' Bloodghast, Gravecrawler, and Nether Traitor, I think these are some of the best repeatable sac fodder you can get and not too expensive. Also seems like Bloodletter of Aclazotz could be a good add because Torgaar's ability results in life loss and would gib players at full or over 40 life, but I guess this sees pioneer play so it's a bit more $. Sadistic Hypnotist is also one of my favorite cards in mono b sac and like a $.50 card.

DreadKhan on bungo

5 months ago

I'm not super familiar with Zombie decks (and have zero experience with Crime decks), but I think I can spot a few cards that you could probably cut for something better. Brain Pry seems like it'd be embarrassing to cast, I'd cut this unless you want actively bad cards (I keep them in some decks so I know when I'm drawing truly awful, but it's very suboptimal). Crippling Fear seems pretty small when there is Kindred Dominance and even Necromantic Selection, either of these is a much bigger, beefier effect. Diabolic Tutor is not a very good card IMHO, if you have access to large amounts of mana potentially (and you do from multiple sources) Diabolic Revelation is a much bigger, better effect, I like to run it with Emergence Zone. Gravestorm is a pretty uneven card if your Commander isn't out, I'd cut this for Phyrexian Arena, your Commander comes out late and resolving Arena on turn 3 feels amazing, if you miss 2 or 3 free cards you might not even be able to cast Gisa. I feel like I'd run Sadistic Hypnotist over Cabal Therapist, even at 5 mana the effect is so much stronger. I might be missing something with Hunted Bonebrute, it's not a Zombie, and Hunted Horror exists, offering a much stronger political play. I usually like Keen Duelist, but your MV might not be high enough to support this kind of effect, in general you should be regularly walloping your opponent with huge MV stuff to justify this. I guess if you throw in Kindred Dominance and/or Necromantic Selection Duelist gets a bit better, but your MV probably needs to be closer to 4 or this will just give free cards to opponents unless your Commander is out (and people are going to be wiping you a lot I suspect). Unless you throw an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in I don't know if Oblivion Sower is good enough, ymmv. If you already have it by all means keep it in, but I feel like Urza's Incubator is not a very good card in here? You have a lot of {B} mana requirements, and your zombies aren't especially big overall, I'd switch this for Sceptre of Eternal Glory if possible.

This is a bit out in left field, but can you imagine if you have Zombie Trailblazer out with your Commander and an Amulet of Vigor? That's infinite, right? Not sure if you want infinites or not, just wanted to mention it (because it'd be a sweet combo because you'd still need Haste or your Altar of Dementia, so it'd still be a 'look out next turn!' thing at 3 cards).

Generally I'd say discard effects are a lot less powerful the less of them you use, but I get that you want to commit crimes in here, perhaps you could look into repeatable removal sources? Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief is a budget card that can commit a crime for BB, and if you have extra mana you can also pump Drana while killing off Blockers. You might also try out Transmogrifying Wand, this can commit 3 very useful crimes, 2/4 vanillas are about as useful as floppy carrots in Commander, especially compared to 3 of the best creatures on the board (which you can reanimate I guess, since it's a Destroy effect). There is always good old Royal Assassin, this is SO MUCH better than Urza's Glasses in practice, and it's only BB more to make a gigantic impact on the board.

Here's some stuff you might consider adding, Night's Whisper is a very good low-to-the-ground card draw effect, as is Sign in Blood, both can help you get your Commander out on time more consistently. Sign can even be used to finish off a vulnerable opponent in a pinch. You also might be curious about War Room and Bonders' Enclave, both are lands that can draw, very useful with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

Sorry if I missed some synergies, I like the idea of this deck but am a bit agog at how much this Commander can do if properly supported, Ward seems like major overkill! Have fun out there!

scottbaker91 on Budget Meren Eldrazi spawn

8 months ago

Some cards I would consider, in no particular order. IMO, you need more board control. Birthing Pod, Skullclamp, Parallel Lives, Doubling Season, Whisper, Blood Liturgist, Ghoulcaller Gisa, Infernal Genesis, Chatterfang, Squirrel General, Dauthi Voidwalker, Opposition Agent Tombstone Stairwell, Scroll Rack, Sadistic Hypnotist, Living Death, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Toxic Deluge, Fleshbag Marauder, Attrition, Survival of the Fittest (expensive), Pernicious Deed, Defense of the Heart

Deathreap Ritual ---> Moldervine Reclamation

DreadKhan on Chatter

1 year ago

I feel like your Commander would like One with the Kami and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest. You just need a free sac outlet like Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder, Woe Strider, Dimir House Guard (does double duty as a tutor for MV 4 stuff), or Sadistic Hypnotist. Most of these don't have a very good payoff other than killing a creature, but some have useful upsides.

I wonder if you could shave a few lands by running some of the following: Golgari Rot Farm, Blighted Woodland, Myriad Landscape, Castle Garenbrig, Guildless Commons, and Mosswort Bridge. Most of those are fairly budget, and getting a ramp effect out of a land feels extremely good in my experience. The best options also help with fixing your mana.

If you want to add something really pushed, Pitiless Plunderer is really good with your Commander, it looks like it's had a reprint, but it's still up there for a single card. Another card to keep an eye out for is Swarmyard. Toski, Bearer of Secrets is a solid Squirrel pick, if not the cheapest. If you often have 1/1 creatures you aren't super attached to their is always Skullclamp, it's a few bucks but it can do a lot of work with 1/1 tokens.

I'm not sure how desperate you are for tokens/are afraid of flyers, but I always have fun with Sandwurm Convergence. Transmogrifying Wand is a nice way to put pressure on your opponents' creatures, it plays well in budget decks. Grim Haruspex is a pretty nice card if you expect to lose creatures, it doesn't even charge life.

DreadKhan on Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

1 year ago

I've always loved Mazirek, such a cool Commander! I think Make an Example would probably do some work in here, and it's little brother Do or Die would probably be decent as well.

Mitotic Slime is a good source of creatures-from-a-creature, the only ones that can compete are cards like Underworld Hermit, which makes an army of squirrels equal to your devotion to Black. There are things like Grismold, the Dreadsower that can make a lot of bodies (it gives them to opponents as well, but if you can force them to sacrifice those tokens both Grismold and Mazirek go nuts), Grismold even offers a backup Commander of a sort for long games when you might not be able to recast Mazirek.

I'm not sure if you're interested in reanimation effects, but Hell's Caretaker is a free sac each upkeep, and he can bring back your best creature in exchange for your worst. Coffin Queen can reanimate from any graveyard, but it's especially useful to reanimate your opponent's stuff because it gets exiled when it dies. If you want a repeatable reanimation effect there is Demon of Dark Schemes, this offers a small wipe and it works very well with Pitiless Plunderer and something like the aforementioned Mitotic Slime.

Since your Commander cares about sacrifice effects, have you thought about using Diligent Farmhand and Dawntreader Elk in here? There is also Burnished Hart, all of these ramp you and can trigger Mazirek if he's out. There is also Ordeal of Nylea that would work with Mazirek later game (or anything that can get in early). I'm not sure if it comes up very much, but I put Forsworn Paladin in my Golgari deck because it had Haakon, but what I noticed was that it's also a useful way to ramp in Black, which importantly can fix your mana (to let you cast Green ramp), it's very low to the ground and can generate triggers for Mazirek or help recast Mazirek later.

Have you ever tried Sadistic Hypnotist? This offers a free and infinite sac outlet, and the effect can be pretty strong if you've got a bunch of creatures to burn through. Another really versatile sac outlet is Infernal Tribute, this lets you sacrifice any non-token permanent (it has to be an actual card) to draw a new card. I'm not 100% on it being a fit, but Savra, Queen of the Golgari is a pretty impressive payoff if you regularly have creatures being sacrificed, it can put a lot of pressure on an opponent's board.

It can get very out of hand with Mazirek, but I feel like I have to mention One with the Kami, it's very good on Mazirek with a free sac outlet. Similarly any creatures you can find with Persist will work very well with Mazirek and sac outlets, though again, this might be more pushed than what you're looking for. I took a gander and Aerie Ouphes might be interesting, and there is always Woodfall Primus, these might help support your Puppeteers!

If you ever want to throw in something pricier, I think Old Gnawbone would be absolutely hilarious in here.

Azoth2099 on Tergrid Sac Discard Draw help please

1 year ago

Asyriel

Ok, so here's a few top picks (imho) for Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip.

Oppression, Liliana, Waker of the Dead, Rankle, Master of Pranks, Living Death, Delirium Skeins, Innocent Blood, Cunning Lethemancer, Bottomless Pit, Necrogen Mists, Words of Waste, Smokestack, Sword of Feast and Famine & Chains of Mephistopheles (just proxy it lol)

There's also a lot of cheaper options that are just as synergistic like Plaguecrafter, Demon's Disciple, Raven's Crime, Hymn to Tourach, Mind Twist, Mind Shatter, Mind Slash & Sadistic Hypnotist.

Outside of the synergy pieces, I'd recommend replacing some of those low-power pieces like Bad Deal & Inevitable End with value pieces like Dark Ritual & Vampiric Tutor for greater consistency.

Last_Laugh on Tergrid, God of Rude

1 year ago

Liliana's Specter, Noxious Toad (oracle text is each opponent), Sadistic Hypnotist (this could be especially ugly in a creature heavy meta), and Words of Waste are all good discard options. Tinybones, Trinket Thief is a good payoff for all the discard. Dictate of Erebos is probably worth running in addition to Grave Pact.

legendofa on infinite rats

1 year ago

I leave this in your capable hands. Do you think the deck needs more removal? Sadistic Hypnotist or Feed the Swarm. Another win condition? Altar of the Brood, Altar of Dementia, or Karumonix, the Rat King. More card draw? Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Deadly Dispute, Bankrupt in Blood, or Village Rites. (I know I suggested some of these cards already; they've worked well for me.)