What You Can Do, I Can (Probably) Do Better

Commander / EDH Control Cruel Control Infinite Combo UBR (Grixis)

Zarbonite

Land (28)

• 1x Akoum Refuge
• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Bloodfell Caves
• 1x Cinder Barrens
• 1x Crypt of the Eternals
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x Highland Lake
• 2x Island
• 1x Isolated Watchtower
• 1x Izzet Guildgate
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Nephalia Academy
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Rakdos Guildgate
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rocky Tar Pit
• 1x Savage Lands
• 1x Submerged Boneyard
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Swiftwater Cliffs
• 1x Temple of the False God

Artifact (9)

• 1x Brain in a Jar
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Empowered Autogenerator
• 1x Oracle's Vault
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Tamiyo's Journal
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Tower of Calamities

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver

Creature (24)

• 1x Agent of Treachery
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Atemsis, All-Seeing
• 1x Blood Tyrant
• 1x Cryptoplasm
• 1x Echo Mage
• 1x Erebos's Titan
• 1x Flameblast Dragon
• 1x Frost Titan
• 1x Gravewaker
• 1x Inkwell Leviathan
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Jhoira of the Ghitu
• 1x Nightveil Specter
• 1x Oblivion Sower
• 1x Obsidian Fireheart
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Phyrexian Delver
• 1x Rakdos Ragemutt
• 1x Silent-Blade Oni
• 1x Sire of Stagnation
• 1x Stormtide Leviathan
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Wildfire Elemental

Instant (11)

• 1x Beacon of Destruction
• 1x Commit / Memory
• 1x Counterlash
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Fated Return
• 1x Insidious Will
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Magmaquake
• 1x Overwhelming Denial
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Sudden Substitution

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Banefire
• 1x Baral's Expertise
• 1x Breaking / Entering
• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Crush of Tentacles
• 1x Ghastly Conscription
• 1x Mind's Desire
• 1x Necromantic Selection
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Rakdos's Return
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Spelltwine
• 1x Stolen Identity
• 1x Thought Distortion
• 1x Volcanic Vision
• 1x Yahenni's Expertise

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Omniscience
• 1x Precognition Field
• 1x Sunbird's Invocation

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Maybeboard

Artifact (4)

• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Creature (2)

• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Nightscape Familiar

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Phyrexian Arena

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Hello, this'll be my first time posting a deck on this site and I'm sorta new to this, so any constructive feedback would be much appreciated!

So this deck here grew out of a desire to play a Nicol Bolas, the Ravager   Commander deck a little unorthodox compared to at least what I see other people do with it. Essentially envisioned to be a deck that can answer almost anything while stealing the spotlight by stealing other people's... stuff. The deck mainly revolves around five main areas, to hopefully be executed more or less in order:

1: Playing out stall enchantments/creatures early-game (such as Rakdos Ragemutt to gain life constantly or Cryptoplasm to just copy whatever important creature someone else has, as well as Monastery Siege Dragons to stall opponents' tempo),

2: Building all the engines while fixing the manabase (including Precognition Field or Brain in a Jar for great card advantage, Liliana Vess 's (-2) to tutor or Praetor's Grasp to tutor mine or someone else's library for something valuable, and Chromatic Lantern + other mana-rocks for, you know, mana and fixing), COMBO TO NOTE: Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal for infinite mana/untaps, this here is probably the best combo in the deck

3: Stealing away everyone else's answers while playing them out myself ( Nightveil Specter , Silent-Blade Oni , Agent of Treachery , and Fated Return to name a few),

4: Playing out many things for cheap or free ( Jhoira of the Ghitu , Baral's Expertise , Mind's Desire , Yahenni's Expertise , and Omniscience being the primary ones), and

5: Playing out as many finishers as possible to eliminate the board before anyone can respond ( It That Betrays , Ghastly Conscription , Stormtide Leviathan , Inkwell Leviathan , Atemsis, All-Seeing ... this list especially is a little long). COMBO TO NOTE: Silent-Blade Oni + Master of Cruelties (see maybeboard) for surprising fatal combat steps

Combine all that with some removal, counterspells, and boardwipes, and I have myself what I think to be a decent deck.

During original testing/playing of this deck, it generally fared well enough, but I found more often than not that I just couldn't get any/enough finishers out before an opponent swung for lethal. I have plenty my own theories on what MAY be wrong (such as poor land choice and poor mana curve), but I just want to see what you all think first before I lock down any major decision (the cards I think I need most are all in the acquireboard). Thanks again for reading!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	5.11
Tokens	Clue, Copy Clone, Emblem Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Manifest 2/2 C, Octopus 8/8 U, Zombie 2/2 B