Vilis, Broker of Blood

Legendary Creature — Demon

Flying

, Pay 2 life: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

Whenever you lose life, draw that many cards. (Damage causes loss of life.)

Discussion (48)

GreenHamma on K'rrik

4 days ago

sfolsom2006 theres the problem... I usually win by turn 4 lol don't need the card draw... jokes aside some card draw combos that have been good

1. Final Parting into Vilis, Broker of Blood & Reanimate which you can definitely do on budget, and when you reanimate vilis you auto draw 8 cards because of the life loss from reanimate

2. Skullclamp which you can keep killing off your shadowborn and drawing more which also fits with your Dictate of Erebos (mana for skull clamp is the only hard part but can be solved by adding Carnival of Souls or some other kind of ritual or spells say like Skirge Familiar

3. Vilis, Broker of Blood if you dont have shadowborn apostles to sac for razaketh grab vilis instead and you can cast shadowborn for life and draw more... then you will have enough to grab razzy and win.

4. Peer into the Abyss if you play this and you draw rituals or even just cast shadowborn sac get razaketh, then tutor songs of the damned you can win

5. Just tutor these options doesn't matter what tutors just have some.

you have lots more draw options than the original deck so you should be good. Just think outside the box and strategies will pop up. Weird things that you would have never thought of.

I own my deck in paper but i proxy a few like grim monolith, city of traitors, and divine top.. don't be afraid to proxy you can make some solid ones.

"Also, I have no idea how to give you credit for the original deck construction, is there a place I can tag you for credit?"

This is usually done by putting a hyperlink in the description then posting the website so people can click on it if need be. Thanks for asking and it's all good I appreciate you actually trying lol. do let me know when you fix your problems with the deck i would like to hear how yours goes.

seshiro_of_the_orochi on Licia Gain and Drain

5 days ago

There are so many good lifegain cards I could mention, but your deck looks fine. I haven't seen many Licia lists, but I like the way you're taking with it.

Just to list some potentially interesting cards to consider: Vilis, Broker of Blood is insane. Tivash, Gloom Summoner is powerful, as well. You could add in Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant, and Ajani's Pridemate becomes huge in no time. Btw, Sunbond and Light of Promise can turn everything into Pridemate. Pontiff of Blight for more extort seems good here. Beacon of Immortality is a big life splash, and Serra Avatar can become really big.

ghostfire86 on Black Bolt | Athreos, Shadowborn [PRIMER]

1 month ago

Rune-Scarred Demon is a lovely tutor as a stand alone beat creature/tutor.

Vilis, Broker of Blood is also a wonderful card that grants draw, beat stock, and board control.

I’ve played both and have removed both from my list as I find their cmc to high and actual board presence a hinderance. Keep in mind before y’all jump at that statement that it’s play style and expectation. I play my build against CEDH decks and my expectation is that when I make my move I can achieve it in one turn as a glass cannon. I’ve done this as fast as turn 2 and can possibly do it on turn one but would require to much of the perfect hand/top deck scenario to contemplate it.

RSD gets dropped, I’m hard casting it and the board is on alert to watch my next turn.

VBB gets dropped, I’ve either hard casted and don’t have the mana to use, or my board is prepped to cheat him and my opponents are on alert.

Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire is my card choice as I find him a stable threat for the table to overlook and a lightning rod for removal threats to ensure safety.

Essentially the entire argument breaks down to “Tempo”. At what speed do you expect you deck to achieve things and at what tolerance do you accept volatility. I don’t care about my life total with this deck, my Glass Cannon. I win games at less than 10 life the vast majority of the times. I often hurt myself more than my opponents, but I sacrifice a lot for my speed and bypassing other zones/avenues of approach for the win.

My take on these card choices:

Remembrance? To slow. Needs cost reductions on the Shadowborn and a sac outlet that’s better than their own ability.

Secret Salvage? Creates play issues as the set up becomes overly complicated. Looks great on paper but rarely works out if you’re playing to speed.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den? only allows one play.

Mortal Combat? requires upkeep trigger and you can’t get that many creatures in you grave on the opponents turn or play MC at instant speed at EOT. You give to much time for multiple players to react to you and possibly in prepared ways.

We can at least agree that Razaketh, the Foulblooded is staple.

The rest just seems to be tempo choices and nothing more to me.

GreenHamma on Black Bolt | Athreos, Shadowborn [PRIMER]

1 month ago

Beware i don't disagree with rune-scarred demon being powerful. I just stand behind that vilis is more viable. It is a 8/8 beater, removal on a stick, and card draw on a stick. I mean probably could just add both, but most of the time you are just going to search for Razaketh, the Foulblooded. Vilis, Broker of Blood also combos with razaketh when you tutor you auto draw cards so if you run out of creatures to sacrifice you can draw into some.

Rune-Scarred Demon can tutor you a card but what if (and i don't like hypotheticals...) your card gets countered? Vilis would allow you to keep digging rune-scarred would be a 6/6 beater on the field it would be fun to flicker RSD though now that would be some fun stuff.

GreenHamma on Black Bolt | Athreos, Shadowborn [PRIMER]

1 month ago

1. "I tried this deck without any tutors except Rune-Scarred Demon and Razaketh, the Foulblooded, added some redundant pieces like Cruel Celebrant, and added more draw too. It still had a whiff rate I didn't like. So I'm shooting for a tuned 80%."

Have you tried Vilis, Broker of Blood instead of rune-scared? Rune tutors 1 thing.. vilis lets you keep drawing and playing shadowborn

1. "I did see Aetherflux Reservoir as a popular win condition. I've played it in other decks before so I thought I would try something different here. I think it fits in the same spot as Mortal Combat for me. What do you think about either of these? I kind of like having a free win card in the deck."

I like free win cards.. I would have one in every deck if i could.

1. "Peer into the Abyss I had not even thought of here. It makes sense in the same way Ad Nauseam does but what's interesting is that 1/3 of the cards I would eventually discard at end of turn would be Shadowborn Apostles. So if there is a Immortal Servitude effect in hand that is bonkers! I might have to try this out to understand it better. Funny how I'm OK with this kind of half life risk but not Carnival of Souls. :D"

Now just imagine you had Edgewalker on the field with blood artist, and phyrexian altar.

Yes you are right Carnival of Souls is aggressive.. you have the cards to make it not so much. Example... Blood Artist and a sac outlet you could secret salvage without Edgewalker and still cast all of your shadowborn. It is an acquired taste lol.

Your decklist is fun and i'm glad people are still making these.

Btw here is my deck if you want a look.

K'rrik TurboStone - Cedh (Primer 2019 - 2021)

DawnsRayofLight on ULTRA REACTIVE MONO BLACK

1 month ago

I've been playing monoblack in EDH for a while! So, I have some advice I can offer that I hope will help you out!

Land base: 35 should be enough, consider some utility lands: Maze of Ith Cabal Coffers (get it while it is cheap!) maybe some land destruction like Field of Ruin, Wasteland, Ghost Quarter, Strip Mine, etc. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Temple of the False God Cabal Stronghold Castle Locthwain Rogue's Passage

Equipment to boost your general:

Sword of War and Peace, life gain and protection Sword of Light and Shadow, recursion and protection Sword of Hearth and Home, protection, blink your ETB kill a guy creatures, ramp Sword of Feast and Famine, expensive, but super good Lashwrithe: ouch Vorpal Sword: haha double ouch Blackblade Reforged Sword of Truth and Justice Sword of the Animist

I might try to add a few more win cons in your creature base

Vilis, Broker of Blood, draw and beat stick Razaketh, the Foulblooded, search and beat stick K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth ramp and can get big Archon of Cruelty been debating adding it to chainer

Ramp and utility suggestions

Bolas's Citadel: super good but can be rough if you aren't gaining a lot of life Caged Sun: super good ramp and works when your opponents tap Skyclave Relic: better than darksteel ingot Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools: good for draw and blockers Grief: hand control Thought-Knot Seer: hand control Ob Nixilis Reignited: stayed in my chainer deck for a while until Tevesh came along

Grim Tutor and Mastermind's Acquisition over diabolic tutor (depends on you play group if they allow a "wish board," some don't, I run acquisition but may pick up a grim tutor for groups not okay with it)

I might lose some of the instant speed removal for:

Hero's Downfall: which you are running Deadly Rollick Eat to Extinction Vraska's Contempt

Some general removal as monoblack suffers from inability to handle certain types like enchant and artifact:

Karn Liberated Ugin, the Ineffable Steel Hellkite Nevinyrral's Disk

Suggested drops:

Tattered Mummy: Not that good, more consistent ways of grinding out damage Skyclave Shade: Bloodghast is better 1x Skeletal Grimace: I get the point, but there are better cards 1x Underworld Dreams: I am iffy on this one, Painful Quandary and Polluted Bonds may be better or good additions to complement it. The entire instant pool save hero's downfall and malicious affliction, there are better killspells Expedition Map: really only useful for setting up tron or land combos Liliana, Waker of the Dead: Liliana Vess works better

The True Meaning of Death and Taxes: this is my chainer death and taxes reanimator list, check it out for suggestions, I have a lot of cards in the maybeboard I have considered and even used at one point that may spark some ideas.

Cornonjacob07 on Never Break the Chain (Chainer, Nightmare Adept)

1 month ago

FunnyDuck

After further testing and time to parse through the upcoming Forgotten Realms regular and commander cards, I think you're right about the "discard hand, draw 3" model. While it sometimes works, it takes far too much commitment and loss of control to rely heavily on. I will keep Ox of Agonas as I still think its Escape mode is pretty great, but Anje's Ravager and any others are out. I'm also putting Stinkweed Imp back into the deck because being able to process 5 cards without spending mana, just a draw, is powerful.

I think for now, I should tighten my sources of card advantage. Though it adds a bit more consistency to have more smaller looting cards like Thrill of Possibility or the aforementioned Anje's Ravager , I could just be using those slots for more powerful cards that actually impact the board or are otherwise useful while consolidating the draw power to the heavy hitters like Magus of the Wheel , Vilis, Broker of Blood , or Disciple of Bolas for example. Specific tools and answers will be handled by the tutors I was adding anyway and the general system will be greased with odd cards like Squee, Goblin Nabob and Phyrexian Reclamation .

Everything else needs to be playtested rather than theorized about, but I think it's safe to say this is a core part of the deck that I should reconsider and upgrade. I'd also like to put forward the new Warlock Class as a possible replacement or partner to Archfiend of Despair and the possibility of Heartless Hidetsugu .

I'm also interested in the new Hurl Through Hell , Fevered Suspicion , and Orcus, Prince of Undeath . The former two I'm more optimistic about, and am willing to sacrifice a little reliability for their potential and because they look like a lot of fun, but I suspect Orcus will be one of those cards that look a lot better on paper than in practice.

As always, thanks for your suggestions and consultations. I hope Shenanigans and Hellkite Tyrant have been working for you as they have for me.

Coward_Token on Adventures in the Forgotten Realms …

2 months ago

Hoard Robber: kinda dislike black getting this straightforward ramp, should have been red instead

Leather Armor: neat, tho the drawback is going to be kinda swingy

Neverwinter Dryad: compare Diligent Farmhand . It's kinda funny that the card with less green mana symbols is more suited for mono-green decks

Dragon's Fire: Much more OK with this than Charge of the Forever-Beast , tho I'm not sure if I want to cut the repeatable Spit Flame or the cheaper & scaling Weight of Spires for it in my Lathliss deck

Temple of the Dragon Queen: Seems mostly good in two-color dragon tribal decks? it reminds me of Prismatic Vista more than anything.

Loyal Warhound: Obvious comparison to Knight of the White Orchid (which, should be noted, puts its land into play untapped which is quite impressive). Blinking this before you play your actual land drop for the turn isn't a bad proposition.

Asmodeus: Ooof, this guy doesn't play around. for seven cards (plus the ones you'd just draw normally...), at will, seem pretty good; more mana-efficient than Vilis, Broker of Blood in terms of pure advantage, tho I think I'd still prefer him most of the time