The Abyss Stares Back

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Budget Control Mono-Black Sacrifice Stax

Futuremonk

Land (35)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Crawling Barrens
• 1x Desert of the Glorified
• 1x Dread Statuary
• 1x Faceless Haven
• 1x Frostwalk Bastion
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Mobilized District
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 17x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Spawning Pool
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Blackbloom Rogue  ^Flip
• 1x Pelakka Predation  ^Flip
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Zof Consumption  ^Flip

Hidden Creature (12)

• 1x Chimeric Mass
• 1x Crawling Barrens
• 1x Dread Statuary
• 1x Faceless Haven
• 1x Frostwalk Bastion
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Mobilized District
• 1x Spawning Pool
• 1x Guardian Idol
• 1x Chimeric Egg
• 1x Fountain of Ichor
• 1x Phyrexian Totem

Other Removal (8)

• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Malicious Affliction
• 1x Withering Wisps
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Magus of the Abyss
• 1x Tainted AEther
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip

Recursion (6)

• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Tenacious Dead
• 1x Unearth
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Call of the Death-Dweller
• 1x Blood on the Snow

Anti-Tokens (4)

• 1x Illness in the Ranks
• 1x Virulent Plague
• 1x Withering Wisps
• 1x Tainted AEther

Tokens (3)

• 1x Hunted Horror
• 1x Bastion of Remembrance
• 1x Clackbridge Troll

Draw (17)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Desert of the Glorified
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 1x Unearth
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Gravelighter
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Morbid Opportunist
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Species Specialist
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Clackbridge Troll

Payoff (13)

• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 1x Blackbloom Rogue  ^Flip
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Morbid Opportunist
• 1x Draugr Necromancer
• 1x Species Specialist
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Drivnod, Carnage Dominus
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip

Ramp (12)

• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Guardian Idol
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Prismatic Lens
• 1x Fountain of Ichor
• 1x Phyrexian Totem
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Revel in Riches

Wincon (5)

• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Thieving Amalgam

Board Wipe (4)

• 1x Dead of Winter
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Withering Wisps
• 1x Blood on the Snow

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Drain (13)

• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 1x Bastion of Remembrance
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Withering Wisps
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Vindictive Vampire
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Zof Consumption  ^Flip
• 1x Thieving Amalgam

Mass Edict (12)

• 1x Innocent Blood
• 1x Abyssal Gatekeeper
• 1x Liliana's Triumph
• 1x Mire in Misery
• 1x Smallpox
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Gravelighter
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks

Discard (6)

• 1x Smallpox
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Pelakka Predation  ^Flip
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Syphon Mind

Utility (5)

• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Toymaker
• 1x Xenic Poltergeist
• 1x Clackbridge Troll
• 1x Thieving Amalgam

Graveyard Hate (3)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Shred Memory
• 1x Draugr Necromancer

Tutor (2)

• 1x Mausoleum Secrets
• 1x Shred Memory

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Maybeboard

Mass Edict (7)

• 1x Extract a Confession
• 1x Dystopia
• 1x Pox
• 1x Eradicator Valkyrie
• 1x Pharika's Spawn
• 1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
• 1x Curse of the Cabal

Drain (4)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Dingus Staff
• 1x Torgaar, Famine Incarnate

Anti-Tokens (2)

• 1x Ratchet Bomb
• 1x Ascendant Evincar

Draw (2)

• 1x Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
• 1x Harvester of Souls

Anthem (1)

• 1x Death Pit Offering

Steal (1)

• 1x Lim-Dul the Necromancer

Tokens (7)

• 1x Captain's Claws
• 1x Ghoulish Procession
• 1x Liliana's Devotee
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Nightmare Shepherd
• 1x Open the Graves
• 1x Overseer of the Damned

Hidden Creature (3)

• 1x Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 1x Ebony Fly
• 1x Chimeric Staff

Removal (3)

• 1x Culling Scales
• 1x Lux Cannon
• 1x Deadly Alliance

Utility (2)

• 1x Coretapper
• 1x Energy Chamber

Tutor (1)

• 1x Coveted Prize

Recursion (6)

• 1x Stitch Together
• 1x Deliver Unto Evil
• 1x Cavalier of Night
• 1x Drana, the Last Bloodchief
• 1x Thrilling Encore
• 1x Thwart the Grave

Board Wipe (5)

• 1x Last Laugh
• 1x Mutilate
• 1x Yahenni's Expertise
• 1x Night Incarnate
• 1x Necrotic Hex

Discard (2)

• 1x Acquisitions Expert
• 1x Bereavement

Ramp (1)

• 1x Crypt of Agadeem

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Kuon, Ogre Ascendant   is sort of like The Abyss on a creature, if you can flip him into an enchantment. To do that, you just need three creatures to die in a single turn. Good thing black is good at killing stuff!

(For redundancy, this deck also includes Magus of the Abyss, which of course is actually The Abyss on a creature.)

Since lots of things should be dying all the time when this deck is at the table, there are a ton of ways to benefit, drawing cards, making tokens, draining your opponents, and hopefully winning the game.

There are actually a bunch of great synergies in the deck, but one of my favorites is Assault Suit, since it lets one of your creatures bypass the upkeep trigger for Kuon's Essence. If all goes well, it might just be the only creature alive. Also, since otherwise you probably won't have any creatures either, there are several man lands, artifacts, and other "hidden creatures" that you can pay to turn into creatures but that otherwise aren't creatures and so dodge the upkeep trigger.

Lastly, thanks to the recent printing of Feed the Swarm, despite being mono-black this deck has two ways to deal with enchantments (the other is Mire in Misery). And I had to get creative, but I figured out a way to remove artifacts too: Toymaker and Xenic Poltergeist. All you have to do is get your opponents down to zero creatures, then you can turn whatever problem artifact they have into a creature in response to the Kuon's Essence upkeep trigger or any of the other mass edict effects in the deck, and then it will die. Incidentally, you can also use these creatures to beat people down with God-Pharaoh's Gift by making it into a 7/7.

As for winning ... this deck has struggled so I added a few non-ultra-budget cards: Revel in Riches and Tergrid, God of Fright  . Hoping that either of those will do the trick.

Kaldheim also gave the deck a few more snow payoffs. Of these Draugr Necromancer is probably the best. He's a bit of a non-bo with cards in the deck that care about opponents' creatures dying, but I think that cost is worth the benefit of shutting down opposing graveyard strategies and getting to steal your opponents' stuff.

Suggestions welcome!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Stax 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 39 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.97
Tokens	Centaur 3/3 G w/ Pro Black, Goat 0/1 W, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure
Folders	DEcks