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Silver Faces, an Unholy Cathedral

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Bracket 2 Mono-Black Reanimator Sacrifice

boba2989

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Creature (44)

Land (38)

Enchantment (4)

Instant (2)

Commander (1)

Commander: Syr Konrad, the Grim

Artifact (10)

Sorcery (1)

Deck concept: Syr Konrad, the Grim is an extremely powerful Commander. The card fascinated me since the day I first saw it on the battlefield during a Throne of Eldraine draft. So, I really wanted to build something around it, but every time I toyed with the idea of assembling the deck, the list devolved into the usual combo-heavy pile that just aimed to win the game within the first four or five turns. So, I decided to focus heavy on deckbuilding restrictions: I wanted to leave universally powerful cards, such as Necropotence, out of the deck, to enabling a more challenging and less one-sided experience.

Restrictions: only cards printed at common or uncommon rarity are allowed in the deck. This also applies to the Mana base, so a lot of powerful cards like Phyrexian Tower out of the picture. I also decided not to include any tutor effect, mostly because they would lead to extremely repetitive play patterns. We all know Mindcrank is Syr Konrad, the Grim’s best friend, but it’s way more interesting to have to churn through your decks to find it, rather than simply fire off a turn one Vampiric Tutor to grab it.

Strengths and weaknesses: despite all the deck’s restrictions, Syr Konrad, the Grim is still an absurdly powerful card. The incidental life loss that it is able to cause by virtue of simply being on the battlefield as the game spontaneously progresses is really impressive. Complement Syr Konrad, the Grim’s life loss ability with a solid number of Aristocrats effects and you will likely be chipping away at your opponents’ life totals in no time. The fun challenge with the list, however, comes by curtesy of its deckbuilding restrictions: having no access to are and mythic cards, you are short on mass removal by design. Aggressive strategy can easily put you on the back foot and your best way to counter creature-heavy lists is essentially to flood the battlefield with creatures of your own and hope your life drain effects are enough to win you the game.

How to play the deck: Syr Konrad, the Grim really wants to be on the battlefield, so the deck features a notable ramp suite, ideally allowing the Commander to be out way before turn five. Cheap creatures will also make sure resources are used as efficiently as possible and any unspent Mana should be directed towards recursion of creatures such as Reassembling Skeleton, Cult Conscript and the like. Dredge cards, such as the always awesome Stinkweed Imp and Dakmor Salvage, keep the engine going, while Aristocrat effects convert all the dying creatures into life loss for your opponents. Once your graveyard has been sufficiently filled, firing off a Footbottom Feast, Gravepurge or Forever Young should seal the deal, provided your Commander is still on the battlefield. This might be trickier than expected: despite being a measly uncommon, Syr Konrad, the Grim commands quite a presence on the battlefield and your opponents will be quick to remove it, once they get the chance.

Key cards and notable interactions: Skullclamp is probably one of the best cards in the list, as a good number of smaller creatures in the deck can be easily converted into more cards. Should Skullclamp be unavailable, Vampiric Rites and the other similar cards in the list can hopefully keep the creature flow as constant as possible, filling up your graveyard at the same time. To make sure the whole list runs as smoothly as possible, the creature count in the deck is quite high, so any random milling you may be doing with cards like Perpetual Timepiece is easily converted into even more creatures filling up your graveyard. As a final nail in the coffin, Bojuka Bog can become a very real win condition, as exiling your own overcrowded graveyard while Syr Konrad, the Grim is on the battlefield should pack quite a punch.

Evolving the deck: allowing rare and mythic cards in the list can easily push your decks to a higher tier. While I don’t think a deck like this could ever compete at a cEDH table, a well-rounded Syr Konrad, the Grim with no deckbuilding restriction can easily become the strongest deck in a casual playgroup. Just jam Yawgmoth's Will, Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel in the list and you are likely to take out an entire table on your own.

Origin of the deck's name: a verse from "A Black Minute" by Periphery.

Last updated: August 6th, 2025.

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