Liesa Never Dies

Commander / EDH Primer Sacrifice Tokens WB (Orzhov)

VayraTheGatherer

Sac Fodder (18)

• 1x Blade Splicer
• 1x Cauldron Familiar
• 1x Doomed Dissenter
• 1x God-Eternal Bontu
• 1x Gutterbones
• 1x Imperious Oligarch
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Nether Traitor
• 1x Orzhov Enforcer
• 1x Priest of Gix
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Serrated Scorpion
• 1x Silversmote Ghoul
• 1x Skullport Merchant
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Vizier of the Scorpion
• 1x Xathrid Necromancer

Powerhouses (6)

• 1x Divine Visitation
• 1x Dreadfeast Demon
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Mirror Entity
• 1x Teysa Karlov
• 1x Torgaar, Famine Incarnate

Liesa's Armory (5)

• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Shielded by Faith
• 1x Timely Ward
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Land (36)

• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Goldmire Bridge
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 10x Plains
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Silverquill Campus
• 1x Snowfield Sinkhole
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Removal (11)

• 1x Akroma's Vengeance
• 1x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 1x Despark
• 1x Kaya's Wrath
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Rite of Oblivion
• 1x Selfless Glyphweaver  ^Flip
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Vanishing Verse
• 1x Vindicate

Recursion Loop (5)

• 1x Apprentice Necromancer
• 1x Bereaved Survivor  ^Flip
• 1x Doomed Necromancer
• 1x Priest of Fell Rites
• 1x Veinwitch Coven

Commander (1)

When Dies Triggers (13)

• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Blight Mound
• 1x Dramatic Finale
• 1x Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
• 1x Ghoulish Procession
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Ogre Slumlord
• 1x Open the Graves
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Requiem Angel
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Welcoming Vampire

Ramp (5)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Priest of Forgotten Gods

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Maybeboard

Other (9)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Gisa, Glorious Resurrector
• 1x Priest of Gix
• 1x Sacrifice
• 1x Wedding Announcement  ^Flip
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

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Playstyle

This commander-centric Liesa, Forgotten Archangel build is entirely focused on generating value from sacrificed creatures. Gradually, we build a board of creatures that leave behind tokens while they also keep coming back themselves. We're never out of cards to recast and our stack is also seeded with creatures that self-replace with a card draw, or more. To fuel this wealth of options, numerous sac outlets and 'when dies' triggers also generate mana. To protect our play, we have a decent amount of removal, a handful of protection options for Liesa, and five creatures that recurse directly to the battlefield to loop numerous other effects in the deck several times per turn, or buy back a creature for less than what we would pay out of hand. There is no shame in dropping Liesa in your grave for a while, it might even be the preferable option. And if we get going, rest assured people are going to be keen to destroy her.

Accelerators & Game Changers

Sifter of Skulls, Pawn of Ulamog, Pitiless Plunderer and the rest of our ramp category are fantastic ways to get a lot of stuff out on the field fast. All of these guys ramp up in effectiveness alongside the number of token triggers on death we can assemble.

The main catalyst however is just insane card advantage - this deck draws a lot and almost everything remains in play. Too many cards? Discard! We're prepared for having our stuff in the grave, even if we risk some graveyard hate. Any board wipe will work in our advantage when we have token triggers out. Be aware though, that all of this hinges on having Liesa on the field. As long as she's there, almost every card in the deck is tremendous value. We also use her, primarily, to trigger our 'when gain life' effects.

The Powerhouses category contains our ways to win fast: Divine Visitation boosts our tokens into killing machines. Liliana, Heretical Healer   becomes a planeswalker that empties enemy hands, and then has an even stronger effect than Liesa herself for recursion, freeing up our mana entirely. Mirror Entity makes wide go big; Teysa Karlov doubles the trouble. Finally, Dreadfeast Demon will just keep creating copies of himself.

Removals

Lots of single target exile to clear the big threats we cannot chump block with tokens or Sac Fodder, and extend Liesa's total graveyard hate even if she's not there. Three board wipes. Ideally, we don't wipe, but build so we can win by going wide & grindy.

Maybeboard

The maybeboard contains several powerful options that might not be table friendly, such as Gisa, Glorious Resurrector. Earlier versions of this build were played with these cards, but weren't that fun or effective at the table. An alternate play to win would be maxing out creatures with 'gain life/lose life' triggers such as Cruel Celebrant. Politically, this is not a great play because its slow and people see it coming, but above all, you're a nuisance with all those little triggers while you're not really getting a board presence to deter attackers. Therefore, the final (?) version of my Liesa build resorts entirely to sacrifice value generation, with an apparent 'weenie' creature setup to stay under the radar and get opportunity to grow.

Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.17
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Inkling 2/1 WB, Morph 2/2 C, Pest 1/1 BG, Phyrexian Golem 3/3 C, Rat 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 WB, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie Army 0/0 B
Folders	Commander