Cookie-Thief: Lazav, Dimir Mastermind 150$ Budget

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Combo Mill Reanimator UB (Dimir)

CasualCombos

Creature (26)

• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Consuming Aberration
• 1x Dimir Doppelganger
• 1x Dimir Infiltrator
• 1x Dreamscape Artist
• 1x Duskmantle Guildmage
• 1x Evil Twin
• 1x Fatespinner
• 1x Fleet Swallower
• 1x Geralf's Mindcrusher
• 1x Guiltfeeder
• 1x Jace's Mindseeker
• 1x Jace's Phantasm
• 1x Lazav, the Multifarious
• 1x Manic Scribe
• 1x Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
• 1x Necroplasm
• 1x Nighthowler
• 1x Nightveil Specter
• 1x Possessed Skaab
• 1x Sewer Nemesis
• 1x Siren of the Silent Song
• 1x Undead Alchemist
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter
• 1x Wight of Precinct Six
• 1x Wrexial, the Risen Deep

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Fraying Sanity
• 1x Induced Amnesia
• 1x Memory Erosion
• 1x Patient Rebuilding
• 1x Psychic Corrosion
• 1x Sphinx's Tutelage

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Aether Gale
• 1x Ambition's Cost
• 1x Boneyard Parley
• 1x Connive / Concoct
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Extract from Darkness
• 1x Glimpse the Unthinkable
• 1x Increasing Confusion
• 1x Languish
• 1x Mind Funeral
• 1x River's Rebuke
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Talent of the Telepath
• 1x Traumatize
• 1x Walk the Plank
• 1x Whelming Wave
• 1x Yawgmoth's Vile Offering

Instant (7)

• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Induce Paranoia
• 1x Insidious Will
• 1x Perplex
• 1x Price of Fame
• 1x Shred Memory

Artifact (5)

• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Firemind Vessel
• 1x Keening Stone
• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Talisman of Dominance

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Dreadship Reef
• 1x Duskmantle, House of Shadow
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 11x Island
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 1x Submerged Boneyard
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Underground River

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace Beleren

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Your opponents keep playing those high-value creatures and you cannot do anything about it? You are tired of being slapped across the face with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed or other cards which are probably outside of your budget? Lazav, Dimir Mastermind is a Commander who profits from your opponent's cards. Why waste 200$ on heavy-hitting creatures if you can just take them from your opponents?

Please note

This is a deck used in my casual playgroup, with a larger budget the mana base (fetch- / shockland) and the main deck can get some upgrades. If you want a good start and a decent casual list, you may stick with this. And don't see milling as your primary win condition. Just don't.

Basics

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind can be turned into any creatures entering your opponent's graveyards while keeping his hexproof keyword. So if you thought Mill was jank (and it still is), it is less jank with this commander. A veriety of boardwipes, counterspells and pinpoint removals should cover your back. You should be trying to form alliances pretty early since your deck is best at focussing mostly on a single player until you get your player removal. So politics are key with this.

Win Conditions

Duskmantle Guildmage + Mindcrank = Player removal, both cards can be tutored for with Shred Memory and Dimir Infiltrator

Traumatize or Fleet Swallower (or a lot of previously milled cards) + Keening Stone or Fraying Sanity = Player removal

Undead Alchemist + Traumatize or Fleet Swallower = Zombie Army which will mill some more

Strategy Smategy

Dreamscape Artist can ramp you up, even though it costs you, control tools like Fatespinner help you maneuver through the turns.

Mill:

Heavy single instance milling with Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, Mind Funeral, Increasing Confusion or Glimpse the Unthinkable

Repeated milling with Psychic Corrosion, Sphinx's Tutelage, Memory Erosion, Patient Rebuilding, and Manic Scribe.

Profiting from your Opponent's graveyards

Wight of Precinct Six, Sewer Nemesis, Nighthowler, and Consuming Aberration grow with the number of cards in your Opponent's graveyards and help milling some more while being reasonable threats (and a diplomatic tool)

Avatar of Woe gets discounted easily and can come down early, while Guiltfeeder can deal some serious damage to Players who are not in .

Boneyard Parley allows you to resurrect some nice goodies your opponents did not want you to have.

Talent of the Telepath, Jace's Mindseeker, and Wrexial, the Risen Deep allow you to profit heavily from instant and sorceries hitting the graveyard.

Conclusion

Some decks use their graveyard as a resource, but why does it have to be their own? Lazav is great at disrupting combo decks and gets even better if your table has a higher powerlevel. The deck is by no means competitive but does exactly what Dimir wants you to do: destroying schemes, Stealthy KOs and a lot of action at the negotiation table. If that's what you enjoy, you should really give this deck a try.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.86
Tokens	Morph 2/2 C, Zombie 2/2 B