Djmentia Unchained

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Mono-Black Reanimator Sacrifice Tokens

BurtReynolds

Creature (30)

• 1x Abhorrent Overlord
• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodghast
• 1x Corpse Connoisseur
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Dread Presence
• 1x Geralf's Messenger
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gravebreaker Lamia
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Myr Retriever
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Oriq Loremage
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Priest of Gix
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Soldevi Adnate
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Artifact (15)

• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Desecrated Tomb
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Land (38)

• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 32x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Instant (4)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Village Rites

Commander (1)

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Bitter Ordeal
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Unmarked Grave

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Gate to Phyrexia
• 1x NecropotenceGC
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Bog Witch
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Graveborn Muse
• 1x Vile Entomber
• 1x Viscera Seer

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Bubbling Muck
• 1x Grim Tutor

Land (3)

• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Instant (3)

• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Songs of the Damned

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Vampiric Rites

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{B} Overview {B}

This deck revolves around sacrificing and reanimating creatures. Wins come primarily through life drain combos, but mill and attacking with a mass of tokens are also options. Wins should come by turns 5-7.

This Chainer, Dementia Master build differs slightly from others in that it is more line-of-play focused with substantial card redundancy. Whereas other builds tend to incorporate stax elements, toolbox options, and a degree of life gain, I prefer a 'the best defence is a good offence' approach (i.e. keep threatening to close out the game and see if other players can answer, rather than try and answer their threats).

A full list of combos appears at the end of the page, however the main winning combos with infinite life drain are:

• Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Geralf's Messenger

Generally high mana cost creatures are brought into play via the graveyard, and lower cost artifacts etc played from hand.

{B} How the deck plays {B}

Two reasons I enjoy this build are (a) it's consistency (b) the ways in which combos are assembled. The consistency primarily comes from the aforementioned redundancy of cards. There are so many cards aimed at achieving the same outcomes that the deck always largely plays as intended. Obviously you 'can't win them all', but turns consistently feel like they're building to a win and never stagnate or leave you hoping to top deck something useful.

In regards to the combos, there are over 90 included in the deck but they are mostly just different versions of the same style of infinite reanimation and life drain. As such, it is not the variety of combos themselves that keep the deck interesting, rather the ways in which the combos are assembled. That is, around turns 5-7 you usually have enough tutors, token generators and sac outlets to get things rolling but the path to get there and figuring out the order in which things need to be played is always different.

In the next section I ran two quick playtests to give some indication of how the deck plays. These were the first and only playtests I ran, which perhaps speaks to the deck's consistency of play in that no further runs were needed to demonstrate how the deck 'should' work. Test 1 could close out the game at turn 4, which admittedly is a bit earlier than normal. Test 2 could close out at turn 6. Obviously there's no interaction from other players in these tests but as mentioned earlier, the aim of the deck is to keep threatening wins a force other players to answer.

Playtest 1

Opening hand (no mulligan):

• 3*Swamp, K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth, Pitiless Plunderer, Buried Alive

Turn 1:

• Draw Sol Ring (lucky draw that helps with the early threat of a win)
• Play Swamp
• Tap 1*Swamp (1 mana)
• Play Sol Ring

Turn 2:

• Draw Geralf's Messenger
• Play Swamp
• Tap 2*Swamp and Sol Ring (4 mana)
• Play K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth (life total = 34)

Turn 3:

• Draw Grave Titan
• Play Swamp
• Tap Sol Ring (2 mana)
• Play Buried Alive; bury Abhorrent Overlord, Rune-Scarred Demon, Priest of Gix (life total = 32)
• Tap 3*Swamp (3 mana)
• Play Chainer, Dementia Master (life total = 28)

Turn 4:

• Draw Phyrexian Arena
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Rune-Scarred Demon and select Phyrexian Altar (life total = 19)
• Tap Sol Ring and 1*Swamp (3 mana)
• Play Phyrexian Altar
• Tap 2*Swamp (2 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Abhorrent Overlord and generate 6*harpy tokens (life total = 14)
• Use Phyrexian Altar to sac Rune-Scarred Demon and 3*harpy (3 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Rune-Scarred Demon and select Blood Artist (life total = 11)
• Use Phyrexian Altar to sac 2*harpy (2 mana)
• Play Blood Artist
• Use Phyrexian Altar to sac Abhorrent Overlord, K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth and 1*harpy (3 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Abhorrent Overlord (life total = 8)

{now have infinite life drain with Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + Abhorrent Overlord + Blood Artist}

Playtest 2

Opening hand (no mulligan):

• 2*Swamp, Corpse Connoisseur, Soldevi Adnate, Arcane Signet, Skullclamp

Turn 1:

• Draw Wurmcoil Engine
• Play Swamp
• Tap 1*Swamp (1 mana)
• Play Skullclamp

Turn 2:

• Draw Swamp
• Play Swamp
• Tap 2*Swamp (2 mana)
• Play Arcane Signet

Turn 3:

• Draw Swamp
• Play Swamp
• Tap 2*Swamp (2 mana)
• Play Soldevi Adnate
• Tap 1*Swamp (1 mana)
• Attach Skullclamp to Soldevi Adnate

Turn 4:

• Draw Altar of the Brood
• Play Swamp
• Tap 4*Swamp and Arcane Signet (5 mana)
• Play Corpse Connoisseur and bury Rune-Scarred Demon

Turn 5:

• Draw Dread Pressence
• Tap 4*Swamp and Arcane Signet (5 mana)
• Play Chainer, Dementia Master
• Use Soldevi Adnate to sac Corpse Connoisseur (5 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Rune-Scarred Demon and select Phyrexian Altar (life total = 37)

Turn 6:

• Draw Swamp
• Play Swamp
• Use Soldevi Adnate to sac Rune-Scarred Demon (7 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Rune-Scarred Demon and select Blood Artist (life total = 34, floating mana 4)
• Play Phyrexian Altar (floating mana 1)
• Tap 5*Swamp (6 mana)
• Play Wurmcoil Engine and create 2*wurm tokens
• Tap Arcane Signet and use Phyrexian Altar to sac 1*wurm token (2 mana)
• Play Blood Artist
• Use Phyrexian Altar to sac Wurmcoil Engine, Soldevi Adnate and 1*wurm token (3 mana)
• Chainer, Dementia Master reanimate Wurmcoil Engine and create 2*wurm tokens

{now have infinite life drain with Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + Wurmcoil Engine + Blood Artist}

{B} Card breakdown {B}

Creature

• Abhorrent Overlord: Incredible in this deck. It will always generate a minimum of two tokens, which along with Abhorrent Overlord can be sacked to Phyrexian Altar to pay the mana cost in Chainer, Dementia Master's ability. With Chainer, Dementia Master in play you'll be netting an additional two tokens each time, which can then be sacked for more mana or left to build a token army {see also Grave Titan and Wurmcoil Engine}.
• Ayara, First of Locthwain: Used in the cycling combos for life drain and life gain, allowing Chainer, Dementia Master to go infinite {see also Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat}.
• Blood Artist: Used in the cycling combos for life drain and life gain, allowing Chainer, Dementia Master to go infinite {see also Ayara, First of Locthwain and Zulaport Cutthroat}.
• Bloodghast: Useful because of low mana cost and easy graveyard return. Can be sacked to an altar for mana, used to pay for such costs as Diabolic Intent, or combined with Skullclamp to draw two additional cards each turn {see also Gravecrawler, Priest of Gix and Reassembling Skeleton}.
• Corpse Connoisseur: Quite good graveyard tutor. Only works for creatures but it's mostly only creatures we want in the graveyard anyway {see also Oriq Loremage and Gravebreaker Lamia}.
• Crypt Ghast: Relatively cheap way to double mana production. Also draws some attention and can encourgage other players to 'waste' spot removal {see also Nirkana Revenant}.
• Dread Presence: A new addition and not sure if it will stay. In there just to draw cards if things are looking bad at turn 4.
• Geralf's Messenger: Built-in life drain and graveyard return; just what this deck likes.
• Grave Titan: Another token generator that can be sacked to pay for Chainer, Dementia Master's ability. Not as good as Abhorrent Overlord because tokens are set at two rather than determined by devotion {see also Abhorrent Overlord and Wurmcoil Engine}.
• Gravebreaker Lamia: Another graveyard tutor, slightly better than Corpse Connoisseur as it can target non-creature cards {see also Corpse Connoisseur and Oriq Loremage}.
• Gravecrawler: Another low cost sac target with relatively easy graveyard return {see also Bloodghast, Priest of Gix and Reassembling Skeleton}. Also part of an infinite loop.
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel: In every Chainer, Dementia Master deck. Can go infinite but also capable of finishing the game alone with enough mana available {see also Kokusho, the Evening Star}.
• Kokusho, the Evening Star: Can go infinite or close out alone {see also Gray Merchant of Asphodel}.
• K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth: A really fantastic card. This deck doesn't care how much life you spend as the only goal is to get a combo rolling within a given turn, so this card essentially says 'ignore all black mana costs'.
• Meteor Golem: Goes against the focused line-of-play mentality, but is the only spot removal in the deck.
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: Useful in some combos or just to get a second hit from the many ETB/LTB in the deck (NB: I don't run any combos that only involve Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and one other card, as then it then just starts feeling like a Mikaeus deck).
• Myr Retriever: Altars are important to this deck and this gives us a way of getting them back from the graveyard.
• Nirkana Revenant: Another mana doubler {see also Crypt Ghast}. Not as good as Crypt Ghast due to higher cost.
• Ophiomancer: Perhaps more useful in paying upkeep costs in decks running stax effects, but a few extra tokens are always good in this deck too.
• Oriq Loremage: Another graveyard tutor {see also Corpse Connoisseur and Gravebreaker Lamia}. Lower cost than the other two options but not an ETB effect, so probably the worst of the three.
• Pitiless Plunderer: Another token generator that also forms part of a few infinite loops.
• Priest of Gix: Another low cost sac target as it essentially pays for itself {see also Bloodghast, Gravecrawler and Reassembling Skeleton}. Also forms part of a cycling combo.
• Reassembling Skeleton: Another low cost sac target {see also Bloodghast, Gravecrawler and Priest of Gix}. Again forms part of an infinte loop.
• Rune-Scarred Demon: Very useful as a repeatable tutor {see also Sidisi, Undead Vizier}.
• Sidisi, Undead Vizier: Another repeatable tutor {see also Rune-Scarred Demon}. Maybe the better of the two as it can exploit itself and doesn't need a sac outlet to keep going back to the graveyard
• Soldevi Adnate: Can be excellent at getting enough mana open to start a combo (e.g. use Soldevi Adnate's ability on Abhorrent Overlord and sac one token to Phyrexian Altar to bring out Chainer, Dementia Master and pay for his ability to start cycling Abhorrent Overlord).
• Solemn Simulacrum: Not amazing but an extra land on turn 4 if nothing else is happening isn't terrible.
• Wurmcoil Engine: Another token generator {see also Abhorrent Overlord and Grave Titan}.
• Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: Nice way of pulling things back out of the graveyard.
• Zulaport Cutthroat: Used in the cycling combos for life drain and life gain {see also Ayara, First of Locthwain and Blood Artist}.

Artifact

• Altar of the Brood: Rarely sees play, but gives the option to mill opponents if they have life drain protection {see also Bitter Ordeal}.
• Arcane Signet: Just a good ol' mana rock {see also Gilded Lotus and Sol Ring}.
• Ashnod's Altar: One of the most important sac outlets in the deck and combines excellently with Nim Deathmantle {see also Phyrexian Altar}.
• Bolas's CitadelGC: Works well as a hail mary card if a win hasn't come about - spend all your life playing top decks and see what happens.
• Desecrated Tomb: Helps generate some extra tokens for sacs and also features in a few combos.
• Expedition Map: Not amazing but gets Cabal Coffers in hand.
• Gilded Lotus: Another mana rock {see also Arcane Signet and Sol Ring}. High cost but it does cover one activation of Chainer, Dementia Master.
• Jet Medallion: Solid way to reduce mana costs in any mono black deck.
• Nim Deathmantle: Excellent repeatable reanimator that means you're not solely reliant on Chainer, Dementia Master {see also Animate Dead and Reanimate}.
• Phyrexian Altar: Another very important sac outlet that features in many combos {see also Ashnod's Altar}.
• Rings of Brighthearth: Cheaper way to get off another Chainer, Dementia Master reanimation, or Nim Deathmantle etc.
• Sensei's Divining Top: Good for helping optimize the cards you're drawing.
• Skullclamp: When attached to something like Bloodghast or Grave Crawler you've got a relatively cheap and repeatable card draw earl;y in the game.
• Sol Ring: It's Sol Ring.
• Wayfarer's Bauble: Pretty basic but better than nothing if the early game isn't rolling.

Enchantment

• Animate Dead: A decent, low cost reanimation card {see also Reanimate and Nim Deathmantle}
• Gate to Phyrexia: One of the few ways for black to destroy artifacts.
• NecropotenceGC: Quite powerful in this deck. Spend the life and draw ~20 cards, with the aim of winning on the next turn. Combines well with Reliquary Tower.
• Phyrexian Arena: Okay for some extra card draw {see also Sign in Blood and Village Rites}.

Sorcery

• Bitter Ordeal: Gives option to mill opponents {see also Altar of the Brood}.
• Buried Alive: Good graveyard tutor for creatures {see also Unmarked Grave and Entomb}.
• Demonic TutorGC: Great tutor to target any card {see also Vampiric TutorGC and Diabolic Intent}.
• Diabolic Intent: Quite a good tutor but does require a creature sac {see also Demonic TutorGC and Vampiric TutorGC}.
• Reanimate: Best single-use reanimation spell in the deck {see also Animate Dead and Nim Deathmantle}.
• Sign in Blood: Not amazing but an okay card draw option if there's some mana going unused {see also Phyrexian Arena and Village Rites}.
• Toxic Deluge: The only board wipe in the deck.
• Unmarked Grave: Nice graveyard tutor in this deck as there aren't too many Legendary creatures we'd want to tutor {see also Buried Alive and Entomb}.

Instant

• Dark Ritual: Can be very useful in getting a combo rolling a turn earlier.
• Entomb: Probably the best graveyard tutor in the deck {see also Buried Alive and Unmarked Grave}.
• Vampiric TutorGC: Another great tutor {see also Demonic TutorGC and Diabolic Intent}.
• Village Rites: Some more basic card draw {see also Phyrexian Arena and Sign in Blood}.

Land

• Buried Ruin: Can be used to retrieve altars from the graveyard.
• Cabal Coffers: Pretty much in evy mono-black deck.
• Myriad Landscape: A bit slow but better than nothing in the early game.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Doesn't do as well in this deck as other mono decks as creatures typically don't stay on the board for very long.
• Reliquary Tower: Pairs well with NecropotenceGC.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Helps mitigate draw backs of other colourless lands.

{B} Combos {B}

Infinite life drain

• Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Geralf's Messenger
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Kokusho, the Evening Star
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar + Corpse Connoisseur/Geralf's Messenger/Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Mikaeus, the Unhallowed/Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Reassembling Skeleton + Phyrexian Altar + Pitiless Plunderer/Desecrated Tomb/Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat
• Requires two opponents: Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Kokusho, the Evening Star
• Requires nine life gain: Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Infinite mill

• Chainer, Dementia Master + Phyrexian Altar + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Geralf's Messenger + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal
• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal + any creature
• Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar + Corpse Connoisseur/Geralf's Messenger/Gray Merchant of Asphodel/Mikaeus, the Unhallowed/Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Ayara, First of Locthwain/Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal
• Reassembling Skeleton + Phyrexian Altar + Pitiless Plunderer/Desecrated Tomb/Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Altar of the Brood/Bitter Ordeal

Infinite mana

• Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Priest of Gix

Date added	9 years
Last updated	2 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.21
Tokens	Bat 1/1 B, Harpy 1/1 B, Snake 1/1 B, Treasure, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B