Endrek Sahr has been my favorite legendary creature, and pet Commander deck for years now. It's gone through several iterations, first as a casually generic mono-black, then a stax list that opted to be expensive, apparently at the expense of being good. Then it was a more focused mono-black control, and now it's a better control shell that threatens a handful of combo victories.
It's important, I think, to threaten more tried and true two-card combos, and to make sure your playgroup knows it. I've included Mike+Trike and Sanguine+Exquisite for more traditional game-enders that you want the table to be playing around. Demonic Collusion or Increasing Ambition can theoretically scrounge up any of them in one go, and odds are, you'll draw into one or two combo pieces naturally. Threatening one win while going for another has been a good strategy for me.
While you're waiting for any of that to happen, you'll be playing a grindy attrition strategy. Most of the removal comes in the form of activated abilities on permanents, for synergy with devotion, at the very least, and because I didn't want to flood the deck with all the instants and sorceries I'd need to handle a game's worth of threats. Get yourself safe and ready to combo in one or two ways, and win out of nowhere when folks are paying attention to someone else.
UPDATE Amonkhet: Took out Boots and Blightsteel for Bontu and his monument. I'd never yet won a game with Blightsteel. Bontu and his monument add more of what the deck does. Two prereleases at my LGS and not one Bontu opened, so it might be a bit to fill that sleeve, but I'm confident I'll fill it before release day is done.
The flagship win condition is Endless Cockroaches, Phyrexian Altar and Zulaport Cutthroat with Endrek Sahr in play, or Phyrexian Altar, Smothering Abomination and Blood Artist. Any variation of the above is just dandy. The first iteration bleeds everyone to death and the latter draws and plays every creature in the deck, wherein a Gray Merchant of Asphodel can get the job done. There are variants for each slot in the combo for some redundancy.
It's important, I think, to threaten more tried and true two-card combos, and to make sure your playgroup knows it. I've included Mike+Trike and Sanguine+Exquisite for more traditional game-enders that you want the table to be playing around. Demonic Collusion or Increasing Ambition can theoretically scrounge up any of them in one go, and odds are, you'll draw into one or two combo pieces naturally. Threatening one win while going for another has been a good strategy for me.
While you're waiting for any of that to happen, you'll be playing a grindy attrition strategy. Most of the removal comes in the form of activated abilities on permanents, for synergy with devotion, at the very least, and because I didn't want to flood the deck with all the instants and sorceries I'd need to handle a game's worth of threats. Get yourself safe and ready to combo in one or two ways, and win out of nowhere when folks are paying attention to someone else.
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
//Artifact (5)
1 Bontu's Monument
1 Caged Sun
1 Jet Medallion
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Skullclamp
//Artifact Creature (5)
1 Burnished Hart
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Triskelion
//Creature (28)
1 Blood Artist
1 Bontu the Glorified
1 Corpse Augur
1 Corpse Harvester
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Endless Cockroaches
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Mindslicer
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Shriekmaw
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Tar Fiend
1 Thoughtpicker Witch
1 Viscera Seer
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Attrition
1 Carnival of Souls
1 Conspiracy
1 Contamination
1 Dark Prophecy
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Grave Pact
1 Infernal Darkness
1 Mind Slash
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Shadows of the Past
1 Vampiric Rites
//Planeswalker (3)
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Liliana Vess
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
//Sorcery (6)
1 Barter in Blood
1 Demonic Collusion
1 Exsanguinate
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Innocent Blood
1 Sanguimancy
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
19 Snow-Covered Swamp
13 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
UPDATE Amonkhet: Took out Boots and Blightsteel for Bontu and his monument. I'd never yet won a game with Blightsteel. Bontu and his monument add more of what the deck does. Two prereleases at my LGS and not one Bontu opened, so it might be a bit to fill that sleeve, but I'm confident I'll fill it before release day is done.
I think I'd go with Diabolic Revelation over Demonic Collusion or Increasing Ambition, personally.
Otherwise I really like this list and the idea behind it.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK