Erebos - Devotion Control

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Control Devotion Mono-Black

Arthursb

---TESTIG--- (7)

• 1x Imperial SealGC
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x The Abyss
• 1x Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Witch-king of Angmar

--- LANDS --- (35)

• 1x Ancient TombGC
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Fomori Vault
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x High Market
• 1x Lazotep Quarry
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 25x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Urza's Cave

Citadel Combo (2)

• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC

Extra Draw (5)

• 1x Call of the Ring
• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x NecropotenceGC
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Unholy Annex / Ritual Chamber

Infinite Draw (3)

• 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood

Life Combo (2)

• 1x Enduring Tenacity
• 1x Bloodthirsty Conqueror

Life Gain, Loss, Drain (6)

• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Bloodletter of Aclazotz
• 1x Whip of Erebos
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Archon of Cruelty

Ramp / Acceleration (10)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x The Soul Stone
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Nyx Lotus
• 1x Sceptre of Eternal Glory
• 1x Throne of Eldraine

Recursion (7)

• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Dawn of the Dead
• 1x Junji, the Midnight Sky
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Virtue of Persistence

Removal (5)

• 1x The Meathook Massacre
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Deadly Rollick

Self-Protection / Hate (8)

• 1x Orcish BowmastersGC
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Braids, Cabal MinionGC
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x The Darkness Crystal
• 1x Painful Quandary

Tokens (4)

• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Grave Titan

Tutors (5)

• 1x Entomb
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Beseech the Mirror

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (4)

• 1x Unmarked Grave
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Vile Entomber
• 1x Rottenmouth Viper

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Intro

Control deck that leverages the commander's best qualities. General philosophy for choosing cards is that they generate devotion or, if part of a combo, work decently well outside of the combo.

Although it is classified as Bracket 4, it is geared towards casual play and aims to win at turns 6 to 8.

Currently, early game is this deck's most glaring weakness. The most exciting things that can happen consistently up to turn 3 is to drop 2-cmc mana rocks...

How to Win

1. Assemble the Citadel Combo: Aetherflux Reservoir, Bolas's CitadelGC, Sensei's Divining Top
2. Assemble the Life Combo: Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Enduring Tenacity
3. Build devotion to cast Gray Merchant of Asphodel, which can be hastened by Bloodletter of Aclazotz
4. Build an overwhelming boardstate through powerful creatures and enchantments
5. Good old combat damage with flying creatures

Extra Draw

• NecropotenceGC is the best black card draw card ever and provide high devotion
• The second best one is Black Market Connections, which also ramps and creates tokens when needed
• Unholy Annex provides card draw that can be later transformed into life drain
• Call of the Ring later helps with card filtering thanks to the ring mechanic
• Phyrexian Arena provides more devotion and costs less per turn to draw.

How to Fill the Graveyard

• Discard big creatures using one the following: Fomori Vault, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Liliana of the Veil, Rankle, Master of Pranks or Witch-king of Angmar
• Use the commander's ability to draw multiple times and discard at the end of turn.
• Use graveyard tutors: Buried Alive and Entomb.

Token Generation

• Bitterblossom, Dreadhorde Invasion, and Ophiomancer provide tokens every turn to help blocking and to serve as sacrifice fodder
• Grave Titan is a late-game option that provides multiple bodies per turn.

Sacrificing

• Mostly delegated to lands since they are harder to remove: High Market, Lazotep Quarry and Phyrexian Tower
• Less obvious sac outlets: Rankle, Master of Pranks, Braids, Cabal MinionGC, Sidisi, Undead Vizier

Recursion

• One time reanimation: Junji, the Midnight Sky, Whip of Erebos, Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead and Reanimate
• Recurrent reanimation: Dawn of the Dead, Chainer, Dementia Master, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Virtue of Persistence and The Soul Stone

Date added	5 years
Last updated	10 hours
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.69
Tokens	Copy Clone, Demon 6/6 B, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, On an Adventure, Orc Army, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Snake 1/1 B, The Ring, The Ring Tempts You, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Army 0/0 B
Folders	Black EDH inspiration