My brain thinks in combos when I play magic, I can't really turn it off and it deeply influences all of my deck building. What I decided to do was create a deck that could operate on that level while also disrupting that same style of play at the same time. In a sense a C-C-C-C-C-C-OMBO BREAKER deck or a deck opposed heavily to opponents shenanigans.
1) Hitting Specific Cards with Gonti Lost Hours and Misinformation allow us to set up what will be on top and Lantern of Insight allows us to keep tabs on what people are drawing and what is potentially in steal range.
2) Multiple Gonti Triggers Blade of Selves allows for 2 extra Gonti triggers in a standard EDH game and Conjurer's Closet provides immense advantage if not dealt with (Panharmonicon was in the deck but it being 4 mana is a bummer and it often came up too late in the game or something better was able to be played)
The way this works is Thief of Blood steals all the Undying Counters and then Hexmage resets the Thief (Triskelion and/or Walking Ballista are not in the deck because I do not like those creatures in a vacuum), you can then add in any other non-human into this and loop them forever.
By the very nature of Gonti this deck can often win in strange ways using cards you did not plan on having access to, however since that is not always going to happen the deck also has some wins of its own built in.
1) Sadistic Sacrament + Bitter Ordeal
Most commander decks I play against are very well built but typically have limited ways to close out games, so if we have knowledge of how the deck plays these cards can be devastating to our opponents, Ordeal has the possibility to completely end the game in the right Combo situation (see 2 above for one example)
2) Gray Merchant of Asphodel a card that you will find in almost every mono-black deck under the sun, stabilizes life totals and also can pull out wins.
3) Tendrils of Agony not 100% on this card being here yet, however this deck can loop spells to a point where this card becomes lethal, and often it can be good at picking off opponents later in the game.
4) Sadistic Hypnotist people can't do nothing if they don't have the cards to cast and this creature is terrifying in that regard he also plugs into a couple of the infinite's above as a sorcery speed sacrifice outlet but yeah if this guy resolves alongside his best friend Abhorrent Overlord people will be having a very very bad day.
This is the list so far, I love playing this deck and Gonti and it does a great job of making opponents groan.
Some of those cards removed will return probably. I am seeing a lot of life gain and Aetherflux Reservoir these days so Erebos becomes a nice deterrent for those strategies also half considering False Cure. The Demon change was because one is Legendary Raz is generally harder for opponents to utilize as well as me and also he is not an ETB effect which the deck was favoring and needed to alter a bit.
Also the lands were updated to reflect some of the creature changes like Eye of Ugin and others just for utility like Thespian's Stage and Vesuva
Cards I am currently on the fence about would be Nirkana Revenant that feels like a win more and also the most expensive of those type of effects and Temporal Extortion which I am seeing now as the trap it is and rarely does amazing stuff.
Enter: Gonti, Lord of Luxury
The Commander
Gonti is a card so perfectly designed for this style or play for a variety of reasons.
1. He doesn't need to survive to keep the card
2. He allows for the casting of alternative modes and casting costs of the card
3. He can wipe opponents out when plugged into infinite Combos (more on that later)
4. He has deathtouch which does a lot to detain people especially combined with Number 1
The Deck
1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Land (35)
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Deserted Temple
1x Eye of Ugin
1x High Market
1x Lake of the Dead
1x Mirrorpool
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Petrified Field
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Strip Mine
14x Swamp
1x Temple of the False God
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vesuva
1x Winding Canyons
Artifact (9)
1x Blade of Selves
1x Chrome Mox
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Whip of Erebos
1x Abhorrent Overlord
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Demon of Dark Schemes
1x Duplicant
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Kagemaro, First to Suffer
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1x Sadistic Hypnotist
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Thief of Blood
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Viscera Seer
1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Sorcery (16)
1x All Is Dust
1x Bitter Ordeal
1x Damnation
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Footsteps of the Goryo
1x Hymn to Tourach
1x Living Death
1x Lost Hours
1x Mind Twist
1x Night's Whisper
1x Sign in Blood
1x Temporal Extortion
1x Tendrils of Agony
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Victimize
1x Yawgmoth's Will
1x Cabal Ritual
1x Corpse Dance
1x Dark Ritual
1x Entomb
1x Go for the Throat
1x Goryo's Vengeance
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Imp's Mischief
1x Misinformation
1x Shred Memory
1x Silence the Believers
1x Sudden Spoiling
1x Supernatural Stamina
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Warping Wail
1x Wretched Confluence
Enchantment (4)
1x Animate Dead
1x Necromancy
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
Maybeboard (4)
1x Culling the Weak
1x Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1x Lantern of Insight
1x Sadistic Sacrament
Synergy
1) Hitting Specific Cards with Gonti
Lost Hours and Misinformation allow us to set up what will be on top and Lantern of Insight allows us to keep tabs on what people are drawing and what is potentially in steal range.
2) Multiple Gonti Triggers
Blade of Selves allows for 2 extra Gonti triggers in a standard EDH game and Conjurer's Closet provides immense advantage if not dealt with (Panharmonicon was in the deck but it being 4 mana is a bummer and it often came up too late in the game or something better was able to be played)
3) Goryo's Vengeance
In combination with a GY with some creatures in it and a sac outlet this card has immense potential for Tutor, Board Wipe, Board Save, Recursion to just more Gonti triggers.
Combos
The deck has three primary infinite combos of varying complexity.
1) Vampire Hexmage + Thief of Blood + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Sacrifice Outlet
The way this works is Thief of Blood steals all the Undying Counters and then Hexmage resets the Thief (Triskelion and/or Walking Ballista are not in the deck because I do not like those creatures in a vacuum), you can then add in any other non-human into this and loop them forever.
2) Phyrexian Altar + Abhorrent Overlord + Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed + Victimize + A bit more devotion
3) Cabal Coffers + Deserted Temple + Rings of Brighthearth + 6 Swamps
Win-Cons Disruption and Ending Games
By the very nature of Gonti this deck can often win in strange ways using cards you did not plan on having access to, however since that is not always going to happen the deck also has some wins of its own built in.
1) Sadistic Sacrament + Bitter Ordeal
Most commander decks I play against are very well built but typically have limited ways to close out games, so if we have knowledge of how the deck plays these cards can be devastating to our opponents, Ordeal has the possibility to completely end the game in the right Combo situation (see 2 above for one example)
2) Gray Merchant of Asphodel a card that you will find in almost every mono-black deck under the sun, stabilizes life totals and also can pull out wins.
3) Tendrils of Agony not 100% on this card being here yet, however this deck can loop spells to a point where this card becomes lethal, and often it can be good at picking off opponents later in the game.
4) Sadistic Hypnotist people can't do nothing if they don't have the cards to cast and this creature is terrifying in that regard he also plugs into a couple of the infinite's above as a sorcery speed sacrifice outlet but yeah if this guy resolves alongside his best friend Abhorrent Overlord people will be having a very very bad day.
This is the list so far, I love playing this deck and Gonti and it does a great job of making opponents groan.
Currently Playing:
Multiplayer EDH Lists (click italics for a link to the thread!)
[Primer] Lord of Tresserhorn - Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do[Primer] Roon of the Hidden Realm - Rhino Blink
5 Color Tribal Guide (Slivers, Atogs, Allies, Spirits)
Also Playing (most decklists can be found on my profile)
MarathGeistKamahlGrenzoBolasThassaGitrog
PiratesZurVial Smasher&ThrasiosYennettJhoira(cEDH)Strix(Pauper)
Legacy: Maverick
Modern:
Melira PodRIP 1/19/15GWHatebearsYeah I already cut it from the deck and mentioned it in the above post.
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Lantern of Insight
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sadistic Sacrament
Some of those cards removed will return probably. I am seeing a lot of life gain and Aetherflux Reservoir these days so Erebos becomes a nice deterrent for those strategies also half considering False Cure. The Demon change was because one is Legendary Raz is generally harder for opponents to utilize as well as me and also he is not an ETB effect which the deck was favoring and needed to alter a bit.
Also the lands were updated to reflect some of the creature changes like Eye of Ugin and others just for utility like Thespian's Stage and Vesuva
Cards I am currently on the fence about would be Nirkana Revenant that feels like a win more and also the most expensive of those type of effects and Temporal Extortion which I am seeing now as the trap it is and rarely does amazing stuff.