MTG Salvation

This deck is intended for use in games with 4+ players. It should still be good in 3 player games but probably won't match well against a finely tuned 1v1 commander deck. With this list, I'm trying to combo out as quickly as possible but not any faster. By this I mean that I've foregone combo pieces and tutors like sylvan tutor, worldly tutor, entomb, gamble (to name a few) for non-combo, non-combo-set-up cards, such as control cards. You can switch the tutors around if you like but I don't suggest having more tutors unless you want to rework it for 1v1 play. The combo is based around Melira, Sylvok Outcast or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, creatures with persist, and any sac outlet. This result in infinite sacrifices, ETB triggers, leaves the battlefield triggers, dies triggers, etc. Murderous Redcap is ideal as he comes with his own winning trigger. Woodfall Primus also has a winning trigger; destroy all their lands, but you have to then win over multiple turns with normal combat damage - not as exciting but just as easy. Puppeteer Clique will only win under certain conditions (like one of your opponents has a creature with a winning trigger on it in their GY, or there's enough creatures in the GY to swing for lethal). However, even if something like torpor orb is in play, you can still combo with Blood Artist, Flesh-Eater Imp, Goblin Bombardment, Vicious Shadows. or even Harvester of Souls. Another infinite loop is Reassembling Skeleton + Phyrexian Altar + Pawn of Ulamog.

Braids, Cabal Minion, and Smokestack are things you can work around with ease, but your opponents will probably hate. You might think a crucible of worlds would be nice, and it would. But it'd be at the cost of creature recursion. Since you're deck is all about creatures, any utility you can get from a non-creature card that you could also get from some creature, is better to have on the creature card. For example, Bloodgift Demon instead of Phyrexian Arena would be nice because it's sacrificeable and discardable to Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest . Do this as much as you can, but not more! Bloodgift is very nice but at two more mana it's not an obvious choice. Keeping the CMC down is another important aspect of the deck. Deadwood Treefolk, Genesis, Hell's Caretaker, Oversold Cemetery, Phyrexian Reclamation, Cauldron of Souls, and Sword of Light and Shadow should all, in theory, be more useful than crucible of worlds. If you really want to have crucible of worlds, you should try it instead of Chromatic Lantern. I'm even thinking of making that switch for some sexy Oracle of Mul Daya synergy since there isn't much blood moon / Magus of the moon in my meta.

When it comes to control, you don't generally have to worry about creatures too much thanks to Butcher of Malakir and Grave Pact. Most of the control is focused on non-creature removal for this reason. Acidic Slime is a Swiss army knife. Deathrite Shaman is mostly for GY hate with mana as a secondary bonus. Scavenging Ooze is obvious, with withered wretch and Nezumi Graverobber as alternate options. Sylvan Primordial is great control, but you need 4+ player games to justify the CMC. Viridian Zealot might be overkill, but I like him for now. Beast Within and Chaos Warp are combo-stoppers, so automatically in. Living Death is a two-for-one and I'm even thinking of replacing oblivion stone with either all hallow's eve or living end. Cauldron of Souls can't be used for going infinite. Save it for the EOT before your turn. Almost all the tricks you might use it for can be done at instant speed, and it's an anti-board wipe in some cases. If you're facing a terminus, unhallowed burial, merciless eviction, etc the best thing to do is to send everything to the GY with sacrifices. You can then tutor for living end, or bring it back slowly with genesis. Always name Shaman for Cavern of Souls to cover your commander as well as 7 other creatures. Leyline of the Void seems to bother the most decks in my meta. Stanglehold is an alternative, or else just more combo-oriented cards.

Creakwood Liege is a recent addition. I don't think there's much justification to token generation like bitterblossom. Liege at least buffs other creatures which can be useful. Alternatives are awakening zone and master of the wild hunt.

Dimir House Guard is not an especially good sac outlet but his trasmute gives him double functionality and it's that versatility that lets him keep his spot for now.

crop rotation is there for gaea's cradle or phyrexian tower. Cradle nets a lot of mana, so much that crop rotation is taking the slot of a land. It can also get a wasteland when optimal.

Vicious Shadows is very high CMC, but It pays it back in kind with insane damage potential.

Lightning Greaves is there to protect combo pieces. I'd like to add swiftfoot boots as well, but I haven't figured out if there's room yet. At the same time, I sometimes think to drop this for other "fun" things but a voice in my head reminds me that sometimes the effective important stuff isn't so fun.

Oblivion Stone is my choice for reseting the board. It's not as potent as a sorcery like damnation where the opponents don't know it's coming. But I find it makes up for that with it's potential to save a few of your key permanents. However this can also draw a lot of hate, people might want to kill you before you get it off (multiplayer politics, not something to consider for 1v1). This could be replaced by all hallow's eve, living end, or maybe pernicious deed.

Sword of Light and Shadow. With so much sacrificing, the more recursion the better. This is probably my least favorite one on the list but the only other option I've considered seriously is Sheoldred, Whispering One and his CMC seems too high for the slot. I think animate dead, beacon of unrest, stitch together, etc are too limited; I want something that can recur things multiple times.

High Market is cheap to activate, but maybe Grim Backwoods would be better.

Reliquary Tower is meh.. it's basically for skullclamp tricks and very few other situations. Probably better lands out there. - Replaced by woodland cemetery

We play with the official partial Paris mulligans. Using this, I keep up to 4 lands and mull the rest. Once in a while I'll keep a key card like Melira or surivavl of the fittest, but never more than 1 if my hand is under 4 lands.

Quote from Khepera

How are you enjoying the persist combos? and, what's your primary target for [card]Cavern of Souls[card]. I find Sek'kuar is all over the place when it comes to creature types.

Its a great list, but some description besides just the list would be help a lot. I'm an avid Sek'kuar fan and love conversing about his various strategies.

I'm really enjoying it. Seems I can get it off in the early turns of the game if left alone. I find it's best not to play key cards until actually going off.

Thanks for the feedback. I added some text to explain some choices and strategy, and updated the list a little. Let me know what you think.

Since you already have Ashnod's Altar and persist/undying creatures, what about Nim Deathmantle for more infinite combos?