PHYREXIAN DOOMSDAY - Kombo [cEDH Primer MH2] (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

PHYREXIAN DOOMSDAY - Kombo [cEDH Primer MH2]

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Devotion Doomsday Pile Mono-Black Primer Reanimator Sacrifice Suicide Black Zombie

zAzen7977

Land (28)

Reanimator (8)

Ramp (16)

Tutor (11)

Draw (8)

Commander (1)

Disruption / Removal (11)

Infinite Combo (10)

Protection (5)

Combo Hate (2)

Maybeboard

Disruption / Removal (14)

Land (6)

Draw (12)

Infinite Combo (7)

Reanimator (2)

1x Exhume
1x Victimize

Tutor (9)

Ramp (8)

Protection (2)

Top Rank: #1 on T/O - thanks for reading!

GREETINGS!

“Perfection is at hand. You have been freed of weakness and made compleat.”

-Sheoldred, Whispering One

OVERVIEW

Behold my K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth cEDH combo build designed to trigger Doomsday as quickly as possible, as the day of compleation cannot arrive soon enough.

The objective is to summon K’rrik on turns 1-3 and harness him to pay life instead of mana, allowing me to cast Doomsday or other infinite combos and win in a single turn. To achieve victory I must carefully monitor my life total, as life is my most precious resource.

WIN-CONS

Infinite Flux

Requires K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Aetherflux Reservoir on the battlefield, plus:

Leshrac's Sigil (to cast and bounce it repeatedly by paying life with K’rrik, gaining infinite life with Flux, then killing each opponent with Flux), or

Gravecrawler + Carrion Feeder (to cast Crawler with K’rrik and sac Crawler repeatedly with Feeder, gaining infinite life with Flux, then killing each opponent with Flux), or

Bolas's Citadel + Sensei's Divining Top (to use K’rrik to cast the Citadel for 3 mana and 6 life, cast the Top from the top of the deck for 1 life repeatedly using the Citadel, gaining infinite life, then killing each opponent with Flux)

I can also use Insidious Dreams to stack any of the cards mentioned above, then use a draw spell to draw into them (especially Necropotence, which enables me to draw the entire combo, assuming I can pull it off during my next turn). For example, I can use Dreams to stack the Citadel, Flux, and Top on my library, then use a draw spell to draw into Citadel, cast it, then trigger the infinite combo. This requires at least 6 mana if K’rrik is in play.

Infinite Devotion

Requires K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth on the battlefield, plus Buried Alive targeting Chainer, Dementia Master, Carrion Feeder, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Then I reanimate Chainer using one of many possible reanimation spells (Animate Dead, Corpse Dance, Dance of the Dead, Goryo's Vengeance, Necromancy, Reanimate, Shallow Grave, or Yawgmoth's Will).

Next I use Chainer’s ability, paying 3-9 life to return Gary to the Battlefield, draining each opponent of 7 life. Then I use Chainer to return Feeder to the battlefield, paying another 3-9 life. Then I sac Gary with Feeder, pay 3-9 life to return Gary to the battlefield with Chainer, draining 8 more life per opponent, and so on, draining infinite life and killing each opponent.

This also works without Buried Alive if 1 or more of these cards (Chainer, Feeder, or Gary) are in my hand or grave, plus a reanimation spell if necessary, and I can draw/tutor for any missing pieces.

If Chainer is removed, Corpse Dance using buyback is a more costly substitute if I also control Blood Celebrant. The Celebrant is a mana generator with K’rrik in play (3-life per black mana), so I can pay the colorless costs of spells like Corpse Dance which K’rrik cannot pay with life.

Doomsday Piles

There are 3 Doomsday piles which consist of the combos described above. Using Doomsday is only possible if K’rrik is on the battlefield, and I have enough mana and life to spend with K’rrik (typically at least 2 lands, 3 mana, and 22 life - the more lands I can sacrifice with Zuran Orb, and the more mana I can generate, the more life I have to execute the combo). K’rrik can also be used to attack or block and generate life via lifelink, but it could be too risky to lose him in combat.

Winning on the same turn I cast Doomsday also requires a way to draw into at least the first card of the pile (Barren Moor (cycled), Cling to Dust, Razaketh's Rite (cycled), Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Sign in Blood, Soul-Guide Lantern, or Tainted Pact). This means winning on the same turn as Doomsday costs additional mana and/or life. Before casting Doomsday, the math must check out so I’m guaranteed to win.

The key to each pile is leading with Bolas's Citadel, to enable me to spend life to cast the next four cards in the pile. Next, Zuran Orb is necessary to sac my lands and generate additional life. Alternatively, mana can be generated with Dark Ritual or Rain of Filth instead.

Leshrac Pile:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to enable me to sacrifice lands and gain 2 life per land)
Aetherflux Reservoir (paying 4 life to cast - enables infinite life gain once Sigil is bounced)
Lion's Eye Diamond, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, or Lotus Petal (upon casting I gain 4 life due to Flux, plus 1 life if I used cantrip to draw into the pile - the ramp artifact is used pay for Sigil’s casting and/or bounce ability to minimize life loss from K’rrik)
Leshrac's Sigil (upon casting I net 1 life, or 2 if I used a cantrip to draw into the pile - I then play and bounce Sigil repeatedly (paying 4 life) until I gain infinite life with Flux, then kill each opponent with Flux)

Crawler Pile:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to enable me to sacrifice lands and gain 2 life per land)
Aetherflux Reservoir (paying 4 life to cast - used to gain infinite life once Crawler is cast repeatedly)
Carrion Feeder (upon casting I net 3 life due to Flux, plus 1 life if I used a cantrip to draw into the pile)
Gravecrawler (upon casting I net 4 life due to Flux, plus 1 life if I used a cantrip to draw into the pile - I sac Crawler to feeder, cast Crawler from the grave repeatedly by paying 2 life, then repeat until I gain infinite life with Flux, then kill each opponent with Flux)

Devotion Pile:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to enable me to sacrifice lands and gain 2 life per land)
Gray Merchant of Asphodel (paying 5 life to cast - Gary then drains at least 8 life from each opponent - I play Gary third because often I will need life before casting the next two cards, but the order is flexible)
Carrion Feeder (paying 1 life to cast - Feeder is used to sac Gary)
Chainer, Dementia Master (paying 5 life to cast - I use Chainer to return Gary to the battlefield using K’rrik by paying 1-3 mana or 2-6 life, then I drain at least 11 life from each opponent with Gary, then I sac Gary with Feeder, and so on, until I kill each opponent)

Stolen Thassa’s Oracle

If I have Dauthi Voidwalker, Praetor's Grasp, or Opposition Agent (in response to an opponent’s fetchland or tutor) and Tainted Pact in hand, and my opponent is running blue and I suspect Thassa's Oracle (or Laboratory Maniac) as a win-con, I can use Voidwalker/Grasp/Agent to steal it and win the game with Tainted Pact (naming a random card not in my deck and exiling my library). I can also use Grasp along with Doomsday with this pile:

Oracle Pile:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to enable me to sacrifice lands and gain 2 life per land)
Lion's Eye Diamond (to pay for Thassa's Oracle later)
Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, or Lotus Petal (to pay for the 1 colorless mana in Grasp)
Praetor's Grasp (cast with a ramp artifact and 4 life, and targeting an opponent’s Thassa's Oracle or Laboratory Maniac. I then cast the Oracle/Maniac with mana from Lion's Eye Diamond for the win, since I have no remaining cards in my library)

STRATEGY

Opening

To summon K’rrik as soon as possible for a minimum of 4 mana, I must seek out a combination of Ancient Tomb, Blood Pet, City of Traitors, Cabal Ritual, Crystal Vein, Dark Ritual, Gemstone Caverns, Grim Monolith, Jet Medallion, Jeweled Lotus, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Mox Diamond, Mox Opal, Peat Bog, and Sol Ring in my opening hand.

I must also start with one or more combo pieces, or a way to draw or tutor for what I need. Aggressive mulligans are critical. If I think I can pull it off, I will seek out Doomsday first.

Tutors

To find missing combo pieces during my turn, I can use Beseech the Queen, Demonic Tutor, Grim Tutor, Razaketh's Rite (which I chose due to its flexibility, Profane Tutor (to set up the win 2 turns later), Tainted Pact, and Wishclaw Talisman, each of which tutor for a card and place it directly in my hand.

The lesser tutors Imperial Seal, Insidious Dreams, and Vampiric Tutor are also useful, but I need a cantrip or Bolas's Citadel to access the combo piece immediately.

I have optimized the deck for Tainted Pact by only running 1 of each card, so Pact can always find the card I search for.

Inventors' Fair can also be sac’d if I have enough artifacts to search for an artifact I need.

To enable reanimation combos and place creatures in my graveyard, I use Buried Alive, Entomb, and Final Parting (choosing Chainer in hand and Gary in the grave, or Feeder in hand and Crawler in the grave, or Reanimate and Vilis).

Note that I never use Wishclaw Talisman unless I know I can win the turn I use it.

Protection

Depending on the play-style of my opponents, I can delay going for the kill and protect my combo pieces with Lightning Greaves (to prevent targeted removal of K’rrik and possibly enabling early game hasted attacks), Conqueror's Flail (to completely prevent the opponent from acting my turn), Defense Grid (not as good as the Flail, but still useful), Imp's Mischief (to redirect a counterspell at itself), Infernal Darkness (the cumulative upkeep is minor to lock down non-black players), Cavern of Souls (naming Minion for counterspell protection for K’rrik and Chainer), and Boseiju, Who Shelters All (to protect my Yawg’s Will, tutors, or removal spells from counterspells), and Emergence Zone (to enable me to cast combos at the end of an opponent’s turn, once they’ve tapped out). Against control decks, I wait to pull the trigger on Doomsday or another combo until I have at least some sort of protection.

Recovering Combo Pieces

K’rrik is absolutely critical to the deck’s strategy, since this build cannot pull off combos fast enough without him. Command Beacon allows me to bypass the commander tax if K’rrik dies one or more times. I K’rrik dies, I would rather send him straight to my hand, rather than risk him hitting my graveyard to reanimate later. I have encountered Rest in Peace too often to risk K’rrik entering my graveyard. If K’rrik is stolen, I can tutor for Homeward Path and break the spell.

If a combo piece is removed, I can either abandon the combo or try to return its pieces to my hand or battlefield. If Citadel, Flux, or Top are destroyed by an opponent, I can tutor for Buried Ruin and use its ability to return the artifact to my hand. If Chainer, Crawler, Feeder, or Gary are killed, I can tutor for a reanimation spell and restore the combo. Yawgmoth's Will is also a great way to re-cast combo pieces and recycle Buried Ruin for a second use.

Removal

Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek provide early game disruption and artifact/enchantment hate, plus Blast Zone is Ratchet Bomb disguised as a land. I want to prevent my life from being consumed by enemy creatures, so I’m running both targeted creature removal including Deadly Rollick (free exile with K’rrik), Drag to the Underworld (cast for only 4 life with K’rrik), Feed the Swarm (to destroy a problematic enchantment), Font of Agonies (to rapidly rack up counters as I spend life and destroy multiple creatures, for only 1 mana and 2 life per creature), and area removal including Force of Despair (to stop combo creature token wins), and Damnation and Toxic Deluge (to wipe the board if necessary).

For graveyard hate, I am running Bojuka Bog, Cling to Dust and Shred Memory, which is minimal, but my focus is on triggering Doomsday or another combo before my opponents can pull off their own graveyard-based combos.

Other Combos

I am running only one of each card so that I can use Tainted Pact to win the game with Thassa's Oracle.

Peer into the Abyss is amazing, as it allows me to draw half of my deck and use cheap mana sources and K’rrik to put together any combo I can find. It could be considered a win-con on its own.

The combo of Vilis, Broker of Blood in the grave and Reanimate allows me to draw 8 cards after I lose 8 life. Villis synergizes with K’rrik and allows me to draw many cards as I spend life, but I have to be careful so that I won’t deck myself or spend too much life.

If I have a Lion's Eye Diamond in play and cast Yawgmoth's Will, I can sac the Diamond in response to the casting of Yawg’s Will, so that I gain 3 mana and the Diamond resolves before Yawg’s Will can exile it. Then I can use Yawg’s Will to cast the Diamond from the grave one last time for 3 additional mana.

EXCLUSIONS

Mike and Trike/Ball

I am on the fence with running Mike and Trike/Ball (the infinite combo of Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion or Walking Ballista) or Victimize. Mike and Trike are expensive mana-wise (especially Trike, which cannot be cast with life using K’rrik, and eats up a lot of life to cast with Citadel). Without Buried Alive and Victimize or another reanimator spell, both Mike and Trike are hard to cast on their own. Ball also requires a sac outlet like Carrion Feeder to go infinite. Regardless, Mike and Trike are an effective 2-card combo, and can be used in a Doomsday pile like this one:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to gain 2 life per sac’d land as necessary)
Buried Alive (paying 3 life to cast - targeting Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion.)
Victimize (paying 3 life to cast, then sac’ing K’rrik to reanimate both Mike and Trike. Next I use Trike to ping an opponent once and itself twice, killing itself. But Trike has undying and returns to the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter, so then I ping the opponent twice and itself twice, killing itself. This continues forever until each opponent dies.
The fifth card is unnecessary.

Ball can replace Trike in a Doomsday pile, but requires a sac outlet like Feeder and costs 4 additional life:

Bolas's Citadel (paying 3 mana and 6 life to cast)
Zuran Orb (to gain 2 life per sac’d land as necessary)
Carrion Feeder (paying 1 life to cast - to sac Ball later)
Buried Alive (paying 3 life to cast - targeting Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Walking Ballista.)
Victimize (paying 3 life to cast, then sac’ing K’rrik to reanimate both Mike and Ball. Next I sac Ball to Feeder. But Ball has undying and returns to the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter, so then I ping an opponent once and sac it to Feeder. This continues forever until each opponent dies.

Creature Sac

I avoid creature sacrifice effects like Culling the Weak, Sacrifice, and Diabolic Intent, because I run very few creatures other than K’rrik and I very rarely want to sac him.

Scheming Symmetry

Giving another player any card they want on their next turn with Scheming Symmetry is usually a bad idea unless I can win the turn I cast it, as my opponent can immediately tutor for a response to Doomsday or complete their own combo before me.

Dark Confidant

Since this build is so focused on spending life efficiently, I’ve cut Dark Confidant. With cards with high mana values like Peer into the Abyss, Vilis, Broker of Blood, etc, it is too risky to run Bob.

Volrath’s Stronghold

I prefer Command Beacon over Volrath's Stronghold, since I’m worried about graveyard hate, and against a control player it is likely that I will lose K’rrik one or more times. Besides K’rrik, I would rather reanimate creatures in my graveyard than return them to my hand with Stronghold.

BUDGET OPTIONS

There are several options if someone wants to build a budget-friendlier version of this deck. Lots of cheaper options on the Maybeboard can be substituted for the most expensive cards. While obviously the deck will lose a lot of speed, as long as the core combos are present, the deck will play essentially the same way.

Expensive tutors like Imperial Seal, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, etc. can be excluded in favor of Diabolic Tutor, Razaketh's Rite, Scheming Symmetry, and one-drop cantrips like Aphotic Wisps, Cremate, etc.

Expensive mana rocks can be swapped with cheaper ones like Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, and Mind Stone.

Expensive lands can be swapped for multiple swamps and Cabal Stronghold. There is no need to run only 1 of each land if you aren’t running Tainted Pact.

This deck is a work in progress and I want to make it as competitive as possible. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!

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Casual

96% Competitive

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 5 months ago
Date added	6 months
Last updated	2 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.35
Folders	Uncategorized, Favorite Builds, Great EDH Ideas, EDH Decks, Uncategorized, commander decks, Stuff
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