Egypt, The Chains Are On

Commander / EDH Control Cruel Control UBR (Grixis)

MalwareGod

Land (37)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Blasted Landscape
• 1x Canyon Slough
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Crypt of the Eternals
• 1x Desert of the Fervent
• 1x Desert of the Glorified
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 4x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Strip Mine
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Faith of the Devoted
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x New Perspectives

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Instant (19)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Censor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Countervailing Winds
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dimir Charm
• 1x Doom Blade
• 1x Fatal Push
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Kolaghan's Command
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Soul Manipulation
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Undermine

Sorcery (15)

• 1x Anger of the Gods
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Crux of Fate
• 1x Curse of the Cabal
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Hour of Devastation
• 1x Mystic Retrieval
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Slave of Bolas
• 1x Wit's End

Commander (1)

Creature (17)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 1x Architects of Will
• 1x Augur of Bolas
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Bontu the Glorified
• 1x Evil Twin
• 1x Hazoret the Fervent
• 1x Herald of Leshrac
• 1x Kefnet the Mindful
• 1x Mindclaw Shaman
• 1x Neheb, the Eternal
• 1x Nightscape Familiar
• 1x Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Street Wraith
• 1x Torrential Gearhulk

Artifact (6)

• 1x Abandoned Sarcophagus
• 1x Gem of Becoming
• 1x Obelisk of Grixis
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Thran Dynamo

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The Hour of Devastation Is Upon Us!

Nicol Bolas is an absolute favorite of mine as a card and as a character. His raw power and evil shows no bounds.Cruel Control is probably the best option for this deck and the most obvious. With Nicol Bolas's effect being a good hand destroyer and friendship ruiner, he deserves a deck thats as cruel as he is.

Bolas and His Minions

Not only will we be running Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker but also Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh for some devious pain. Neheb, the Eternal and Archfiend of Depravity are nice strong creatures to cause problems on the field, and running Kefnet the Mindful, Bontu the Glorified and Hazoret the Fervent is good for the possibility of strong creatures in very specific situations.

Cruel Control

The mainstay of this deck will be its use of cruel control cards. Crux of Fate, Cruel Ultimatum, Slave of Bolas and Wit's End fit this roll well, disrupting their hands and their playing fields. Anger of the Gods is a decent board wipe for smaller creatures and deals with tokens without any problem.

Draw Engines

Opt, Serum Visions, Dig Through Time and Ponder are wonderful draw engines and Scrying before or after drawing is always welcome to cycle through the deck.

Cycling

With Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation's Cycle spells, it will be useful to get through my deck with cards that I can dump for the opportunity of drawing other cards. Archfiend of Ifnir and Faith of the Devoted benefit from the use of cycling, and a set of as many cycling lands as I can get will be helpful of course.

Counterspells and Removal

No control deck is complete without some spot removal and counterspells. Countersquall and Undermine are great for dealing with threats, and deal damage at the same time. Classic counterspells like Counterspell and Negate help with having some bulk counterspells for such a big deck. Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt and Terminate help with creatures on the board, and Dreadbore and Hero's Downfall help clean up the field of planeswalkers while we are at it.

Creature Base

Besides the above mentioned, creatures like Mindclaw Shaman and Augur of Bolas are definitely flavorful and help get through both your deck, and your opponents. Herald of Leshrac is nice and cruel, especially for EDH.

"My, my, my in the land of no tomorrow

Where you pray just to end each day

And your life just slowly melts away

Each day you hear the sand as it moves and whispers

Come and sail on my golden sea

Maybe one day you'll be just like me and that's free

But still your chains are on"

• Ronnie James Dio

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.83
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U