I've always loved Cao Cao, and have never understood why he's remained so underrepresented in the EDH community. When a search for solid Cao Cao lists turned up mostly uninteresting or underpowered variants, I decided to make my own. I've spent about a month now building and playtesting this deck, and am very happy with how it's progressed. This current version is able to win frequently among my semi-competitive playgroup, and I think it's ready to share with the community.
Description
This is a mono black control deck that uses big mana, constant hand destruction, and frequent board wipes to control the game by establishing large card advantage mismatches. It then wins through a combination of grinding the table down (Painful Quandary, Shrieking Affliction, Megrim, etc), beating down opponents with their own reanimated creatures, and pumping obscene amounts of mana into gamebreaking X-costed spells and abilities. There are no combos, and almost everything in this deck occurs at sorcery speed, so the typical late-game strategy consists of using 20-30 mana per turn to make the biggest, most effective plays possible. It's an incredibly fun deck to play and has always led to interesting games.
Background
I've always loved Cao Cao, and have never understood why he's remained so underrepresented in the EDH community. When a search for solid Cao Cao lists turned up mostly uninteresting or underpowered variants, I decided to make my own. I've spent about a month now building and playtesting this deck, and am very happy with how it's progressed. This current version is able to win frequently among my semi-competitive playgroup, and I think it's ready to share with the community.
Description
This is a mono black control deck that uses big mana, constant hand destruction, and frequent board wipes to control the game by establishing large card advantage mismatches. It then wins through a combination of grinding the table down (Painful Quandary, Shrieking Affliction, Megrim, etc), beating down opponents with their own reanimated creatures, and pumping obscene amounts of mana into gamebreaking X-costed spells and abilities. There are no combos, and almost everything in this deck occurs at sorcery speed, so the typical late-game strategy consists of using 20-30 mana per turn to make the biggest, most effective plays possible. It's an incredibly fun deck to play and has always led to interesting games.
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Consume Spirit
1 Damnation
1 Decree of Pain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Drain Life
1 Exsanguinate
1 Mind Twist
1 Mutilate
1 Overwhelming Forces
1 Profane Command
1 Reanimate
1 Syphon Mind
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Enchantments (17)
1 Animate Dead
1 Bitterblossom
1 Black Market
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Liliana's Caress
1 Megrim
1 Mind Slash
1 Necromancy
1 Necropotence
1 No Mercy
1 Oppression
1 Painful Quandary
1 Pestilence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Quest for the Nihil Stone
1 Shrieking Affliction
1 Words of Waste
1 Abyssal Specter
1 Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Guul Draz Specter
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Puppeteer Clique
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Shimian Specter
1 Wei Night Raiders
Artifacts (9)
1 Caged Sun
1 Expedition Map
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Geth's Grimoire
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sol Ring
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Wheel of Torture
Instants (3)
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Liliana of the Veil
Lands (38)
28 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Deserted Temple
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Strip Mine
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vesuva
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Maybeboard
1 Greel, Mind Raker
1 Sangromancer
1 Abyssal Nocturnus
1 Noetic Scales
I'd love some input on potential additions to or removals from this list, or just general impressions of the deck overall. Thanks.