King Macar, the Gold-Cursed is the only commander with "inspired", yet a tap related commander is not unique by no means. What is unique about King Macar is a tap related commander with creature removal that actually exiles the creature in addition to giving you a golden bonus of "mana". If you actually look at all the cards that exile creatures from play inside of mono-black the list is extremely limited, let alone anything that can do so multiple times.
Reasons you will enjoy running King Macar if
Enjoy a challenge with "off" color interaction with artifacts
Go to sleep at night dreaming of shiny objects; are you part Magpie?!?!
Your sole purpose in life is to play the combo
Reasons you will dislike running King Macar if
You are not a Jhonny/Jenny type of person
Your favorite card is Vandalblast,why are you here you monster!
Have a play group that runs every from of grave hate known to humanity
If you wish to skip my opinion and analysis on Macar click here
Geth, Lord of the Vault This commander on the other hand is the forefather of mono-black artifact interaction; able to raise even artifacts under your control is nothing to sneeze at. I personally opted to not run him as his mana was a tad higher than I liked but by no means is a bad commander as this card is a real powerhouse. I ultimately went into a less know direction with minimal reanimation and more artifact heavy plays but will most likely add him to the 99 down the road.
Shauku, Endbringer This creepy "lady" is truly the only other commander that is remotely similar in function King Macar, the Gold-Cursed. Creepy as can be and with a much higher mana cost of 5BB nearly double the mana cost of Macar, with two drawbacks in addition to having to often wait a turn to do anything, I cannot advise this card as your commander unless you run crazy ramp and actually take a fancy of spending a great deal of time with this creepy lady(if it even is one...)
King Macar provides the versatility of a "tap" related ability, without the need of haste. As confusing as that may sound, it might be easier to understand if you read the ruling below.
"4/26/2014: Inspired abilities trigger no matter how the creature becomes untapped: by the turn-based action at the beginning of the untap step or by a spell or ability."-magiccards.info
Analysis
The true beauty of "Inspired", is that it dose not matter how the creature is tapped or untapped. This is not affected by summoning sickness as there is no T in the ability, so if you can tap King Macar with something like Honor-Worn Shaku then untap Macar somehow with something like Clock of Omens(if it was an artifact somehow...) you can get the trigger of Inspired the same turn Macar comes into play!
So taking this into perspective this is a card that can do the "tap" related shenanigans that other commanders that usually have to wait one turn to do. Now let that sink in, a BBLACKB commander that can do the infinite "tap" shenanigans where the only commander on par with Macar is Azami, Lady of Scrolls. So we have a black not Azami, Lady of Scrolls...but with exiling other creatures and you get useless gold tokens...exciting... So we have a commander that can go "infinite" but how? The secret is in the gold! The gold possibly the biggest asset of Macar! Now what can useless artifact tokens be good for in mono-black you ask? Plenty!
The fact that you have piles of gold means almost always means
Your opponents near certainly have no creatures left
You have a ludicrous amount of resources for you next turn that can cast any card in you deck!
Your opponents' are most likely frantically scrambling to rebuild their armies
Putting you the player in an unique situation that if used correctly can typically end the game on the spot if not your next turn!!!
"But you still have not told me how to turn armies to gold with this "combo" you have been blabbing about", well that question is over as the combo is really quite simple, so simple it is almost on par with Azami!
It is important to note that this combo has immense reliance on clock of omens and the ability to turn King Macar, the Gold-Cursed into an artifact is vital. Fortunately there are redundancies available for Mycosynth Lattice both of which are permanent based;Silverskin Armor and Liquimetal Coating. I would advise running the two listed and tutor for them if you are concerned about being seen as a prominent threat as you assemble the combo. One thing I cannot stress enough is the reliance on clock of omens for this to work, it is the card you should be most concerned about being recognized, play this last if possible with some form of recursion ready to snatch it back.
How to execute "the combo" in three simple steps
First you want to treat King Macar, the Gold-Cursed as an artifact with either of the three options(Silverskin Armor, Liquimetal Coating, or Mycosynth Lattice). Second you tap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and clock of omens as the cost to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed; this will create a gold artifact token if you exile a valid target creature. The third and final step is to tap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and the newly generated gold token as the cost to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed. The tapping and untapping of King Macar, the Gold-Cursed becomes self-sustaining, as you exile all opposing creatures.
Now it is important to remember that as the final creature opposing creature is exiled that you repeat step three a final time to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and do not use his may ability on this final untap! You will begin exiling your own creatures otherwise.
To effectively use this deck it is important to remain aware of where you are in the game state, as it will influence your options and the potential impact your plays will make.
House Rules: My playgroup tends to allow one free mulligan (you do not go down a card the first time)with each mulligan after you lose a card. Once you have decided to keep your hand, you may scry 1 before the player with priority begins their turn. We do NOT use partial pairs, as there was often conflict; by all means do what your playgroup approves.
What to look for in a hand: The ideal hand is 2-3 lands hopefully with 1 source of Bor an way to get a black source(preferably though draw) with a combination of 0-2 and/or mana rocks or card draw
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Early Game The 1st three turns are about accelerating to the mid-game while developing your board simultaneously. Ideally you are accelerating your mana and drawing into sustainable card draw, to keep you in the game and maintain if not begin outpacing in development for mid-game. See mulligans for the ideal opening hand here Also this is where you begin making risk assessment and start accessing your opponents' by priority of which is the direct threat. This is where interaction with your opponents is important. The balance of being passive and aggressive is purely off experience at this point and the risks are highly situational. A good rule of thumb is to think, "what will my opponent see/think based on the current game state", if your play is hyper aggressive then you better be able to back it up with recursion somehow. If you do not wish to have sights set on you play with the mindset of keeping pace of the second most advanced player by gamestate.
Mid Game Typically at this point it is turns 4 to 6 where you and your opponents have had time to start building the game state that people are using to get to late game and by extension end the game. This is where the development of turns 1 through 3 have lead into, most commanders have been cast at least once and some removal has been used. This is where you start playing more aggressive and start assembling "the combo", via tutors or have drawn into with your assorted draw. This is also where interaction is primarily on the board, counter magic is typically causing a bottleneck that is about to give way as 2-3 cards are being cased by the turn player. Begin searching aggressively with the tutors you have left and go for the combo pieces or recursion to protect the combo. By your turn 6 you should have all the pieces or 2 of the three pieces cast or ready to cast.
Late Game This typically turn 7 if not 8, you have gone off with "the combo" or at least attempted to do so once. This turn is where the careful planning is most needed for each action such as the multiple tutors from Kuldotha Forgemaster. If you managed to pull off Mycosynth Lattice and truly need to win by any means, use darksteel forge + Nevinyrral's Disk with clock of omens to seal any hope your opponents' have of making a comeback. I would only land nuke in a true act of desperation only, as it is a truly cold as steel combo that could make you lose friends. Ideally you will not have to go to such measures to utilize Kuldotha Forgemaster and a simple cranial plating will end the game quickly.
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Where credit is due, it is not often seen so here it is.
To dementedkirby the person who made this dream into action, their primer worthy work is truly inspiring. Not to mention the tips they gave for helping me troubleshoot the formatting process of the OP
To the cockatrice users that helped me test this build so extensively, with a special shout-out to Inferno and jordansgoldowl for their invaluable input and time.
1-Why Play King Macar,The Gold-Cursed
1.2-Other Possible Commanders
1.3-What dose King Macar even do?
1.3a-"Inspired" Ruling
1.4-"The Combo"
2-Decklist
2.2-Card Choices
3-Strategy
3.2-Mulligans
3.3a-Early Game
3.3b-Mid Game
3.3c-Late Game
4-Changelog
5-Credits
Reasons you will enjoy running King Macar if
Reasons you will dislike running King Macar if
The true beauty of "Inspired", is that it dose not matter how the creature is tapped or untapped. This is not affected by summoning sickness as there is no T in the ability, so if you can tap King Macar with something like Honor-Worn Shaku then untap Macar somehow with something like Clock of Omens(if it was an artifact somehow...) you can get the trigger of Inspired the same turn Macar comes into play!
So taking this into perspective this is a card that can do the "tap" related shenanigans that other commanders that usually have to wait one turn to do. Now let that sink in, a BBLACKB commander that can do the infinite "tap" shenanigans where the only commander on par with Macar is Azami, Lady of Scrolls. So we have a black not Azami, Lady of Scrolls...but with exiling other creatures and you get useless gold tokens...exciting... So we have a commander that can go "infinite" but how? The secret is in the gold! The gold possibly the biggest asset of Macar! Now what can useless artifact tokens be good for in mono-black you ask? Plenty!
The fact that you have piles of gold means almost always means
1 Clock of Omens
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
It is important to note that this combo has immense reliance on clock of omens and the ability to turn King Macar, the Gold-Cursed into an artifact is vital. Fortunately there are redundancies available for Mycosynth Lattice both of which are permanent based;Silverskin Armor and Liquimetal Coating. I would advise running the two listed and tutor for them if you are concerned about being seen as a prominent threat as you assemble the combo. One thing I cannot stress enough is the reliance on clock of omens for this to work, it is the card you should be most concerned about being recognized, play this last if possible with some form of recursion ready to snatch it back.
How to execute "the combo" in three simple steps
First you want to treat King Macar, the Gold-Cursed as an artifact with either of the three options(Silverskin Armor, Liquimetal Coating, or Mycosynth Lattice). Second you tap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and clock of omens as the cost to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed; this will create a gold artifact token if you exile a valid target creature. The third and final step is to tap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and the newly generated gold token as the cost to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed. The tapping and untapping of King Macar, the Gold-Cursed becomes self-sustaining, as you exile all opposing creatures.
Now it is important to remember that as the final creature opposing creature is exiled that you repeat step three a final time to untap King Macar, the Gold-Cursed and do not use his may ability on this final untap! You will begin exiling your own creatures otherwise.
1 King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
Land
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Polluted Mire
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Sequestered Stash
21 Swamp
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Terrain Generator
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of Whispers
Artifact
1 Clock of Omens
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Cranial Plating
1 Darksteel Forge
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Hedron Archive
1 Honor-Worn Shaku
1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mana Vault
1 Mimic Vat
1 Mind Stone
1 Mycosynth Lattice
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Sol Ring
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Tamiyo's Journal
1 Trading Post
1 Ugin's Nexus
1 Voltaic Key
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Burnished Hart
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Foundry Inspector
1 Junk Diver
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Kuldotha Forgemaster
1 Leaden Myr
1 Magus of the Will
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Metalwork Colossus
1 Myr Retriever
1 Necrotic Ooze
1 Scarecrone
1 Scrap Trawler
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
Enchantment
1 Greed
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
Instant
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Snuff Out
1 Vampiric Tutor
Planeswalker
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Morbid Curiosity
1 Mutilate
1 Night's Whisper
1 Read the Bones
1 Sign in Blood
1 Toxic Deluge
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Revisions
Where credit is due, it is not often seen so here it is.