Toshiro Umezawa is an unusual creature, effectively a constant Yawgmoth's Will, but for Instants only. This, coupled with his color, makes it a very tedious task to design a deck around him, largely because the best instants usually aren't B.
Toshiro is very weak as a result. His options are largely kill spells, and he himself is only a 2/2 (Bushido notwithstanding). But there is a way to play around this.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a mono-Black Group Hug, but not really.
A kingmaker scenario is when one person knows he can't win by himself, but also knows that he can do some serious damage to at least one opponent, and in the process give an ally the proverbial high ground. In other words, actively hindering everyone but one person, and going out of your way to make enemies.
This deck is the antithesis of Group Hug, which looks to help people as much as it can, and either steal the glory from under their noses or ensure the game is enjoyable for at least one other player. Toshiro doesn't care about "fun". Toshiro is a back-stabbing badass with an axe to grind, and his only friend is the person with the strongest board position.
This deck isn't centered around building up an army, it's designed to tear down your opponent's army and throw it in the trash. You don't care about the victory, just the relentless slaughter it took to get to that point.
The mechanics of this deck are short and sweet.
Removal.
In spades, as EDH games have often been decided by multiple power creatures. Almost every instant or sorcery in this deck can kill something, usually creatures. This helps trigger Toshiro's ability, while keeping the board under control. As a personal rule, I have excluded "narrow" spells (IE: Spells with a color restriction), largely because you never know who you will be helping and who you will be gunning down in an ally.
Disruption
This category is separate from the above largely by what it deals with: Other permanents or cards in other zones. Extirpate, Lux Cannon, Head Games, and other spells were chose specifically for their ability to hinder an opponent even further. These spells are in here to neuter a single target, and should be recurred as many times as possible to ensure victory.
Fat things that ruin people's days.
A self-explanatory category. Grave Titan, Avatar of Woe, Dread, Herald of Leshrac, and Phyrexian Obliterator all fulfill this role wonderfully. This is the most flexible category; you can change any creature in this section to suit your needs or flavor.
Fuel.
Mana accel and card draw. There are two primary forms of accel in this deck: Mana doublers like Caged Sun and cost reducers like Helm of Awakening. These are easily the most important category, as you will need a massive amount of mana.
Your best friend.
At the start of the game, pick someone. That person is your Charge, the player you are going to go out of your way to ensure victory for. Everyone else at the table is your enemy, and they won't be happy to learn this. No matter what happens, the only time you should do something to hinder your Charge is when you have no choice in the matter (such as when all other players have been eliminated). This is the essence behind the Kingmaker strategy.
While the mechanics are straightforward, the strategy behind them isn't. Toshiro's ability is mana-intensive and tends to run out of gas really quickly, especially if you get Bojuka Bogged in the mid-game. For this reason, use his trigger sparingly.
Oddly, this deck is very flexible as far as generals go: Almost every legendary creature in the deck can be substituted for Toshiro and there won't be a noticeable loss of efficacy. Xiahou Dun in particular works best as a substitute, due to his unblockable nature and his ability to recur any colored card in your graveyard (while triggering Grave Pact no less).
All right, every now and again you will find yourself in a situation where your Charge is either your only target left, or where your Charge gets taken out before you can stop the opponents. In these situations, the deck has several options to pull you ahead of the remaining opponents.
Geth+Chainer: This tag team is built for these situations. By the time a player gets eliminated, you will have plenty of targets in graveyards and should be able to steal as many as possible thanks to your mana ramp. This gives you a reason to overextend: It isn't your crap, you don't care if they blow it up!
Karn Liberated: Of all of your win conditions, this is the toughest to pull off because of how big of a target he is. You can't protect him from Burn or spot removal the way a Blue deck can, but you have the ability to utterly dominate the combat phases. Getting Karn to his ultimate may be the one time when you can forsake your Charge and go for the gold yourself.
Liliana Vess: As with Geth and Chainer, but on a much larger scale. Either they wrath or they die very quickly.
Sorin Markov+Any Beatstick: Grave Titan works best here, but so does the Obliterator (and even Toshiro himself!). Hell, you can even just let Sorin do all of the work depending on the board state.
Toshiro Umezawa: As a general, a 2/2 is incredibly weak. Works better if you switched in Xiahou Dun. However, you have the removal needed to keep the board clear. Consider putting in Hatred, just to go the extra mile or two.
Ulamog: The one-card wincon is always an option in this situation, as you have enough removal to ensure he goes unblocked and can just use his annihilator to kill everyone.
Darksteel Juggernaut/Korlash, Hier to Blackblade: Both of these creatures are powerhouses late-game, and can be a touch tricky to kill off.
Necropotence+Soul Conduit: This is, by far, the meanest combo to pull on someone. It's far more powerful than Sorin's -3, and capable of filling your hand with the removal you need to keep them from blocking that last 1 damage.
Decking them: You can also just stall and pray they can't kill you with an Instant or Sorcery. You cannot deck yourself unless Ulamog and Elixir of Immortality are exiled.
As with any deck that focuses on the graveyard, you are very vulnerable to things like Relic of Progenitus or Bojuka Bog. For this reason, you need to keep ahold of Ulamog or Elixir of Immortality ASAP. In fact, if you are in a decent board position, you should hold back on several removal spells and just let the board play itself out until one of these threats gets used up, then get rid of it once and for all. The more you can afford to hold back, the better.
That said, getting hit with one isn't the end of the game. You just lose out on major card advantage from Toshiro.
The only major threats to this deck as-is are Pristine Angel, Progenitus, Thrun, Akroma, and pretty much anything you can't target with removal. Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon can deal with Akroma fairly easily, but Pristine Angel is a bidding war between you and it's controller. Progenitus is literally invulnerable to your removal (with the exceptions of Tsabo's Decree, Damnation, and Oblivion Stone). Thrun and other hexproof creatures are also problematic, as several of these removal spells cannot bypass his regeneration. Animar especially is a pain in the neck due to his ability to ramp while being untargetable.
But that's where your Charge comes into play. If you've been loyally protecting that player, odds are they will notice and can provide support. This is the backbone of the deck: You are not alone, make use of your ally as much as possible. Communicate with that player.
This section is reserved for cards that have been added in, and what they replaced.
-1 Dead Reckoning, +1 Soul Conduit
I wish I had been informed of this card sooner. It's perfect for the Kingmaker strategy, and a life saver for stuff like Necropotence.
-1 Tortured Existence, +1 Nihil Spellbomb
Have you ever seen someone recur Primeval Titan 8 times in one game? I have. It kinda sucked.
-1 Gravestorm, +1 Darksteel Plate
Anything that can keep Toshiro alive longer is a good card to have, and Gravestorm is largely useless due to being counterintuitive (since my deck likes filling people's graveyards). Necropotence is better anyway.
-1 Grim Tutor, +1 Vampiric Tutor
Hello there $150 that I'm not spending, how are you doing? Good? Great, because it turns out I have a better option here.
-1 Grim Discovery, +1 Korlash, Hier to Blackblade
I really needed another beater, and in mono-Black, it's hard to get better than Korlash. Grim Discovery wasn't helping much either.
-1 Lux Cannon, +1 Mortivore
Lux Cannon's main weakness is it's speed: 3 turns is murder on it's life expetancy, and most players will wipe it ASAP. Mortivore, while not the tower of pain that Korlash is, fits thematically and is a solid beater.
-1 Oversold Cemetery, +1 Word of Command
A review of my creature base has rendered Oversold Cemetery considerably less useful than it should be, and Word of Command can steal their removal spells, possibly multiple times a turn. There's nothing wrong with going Head Games into Word of Command for a late-game power swing.
-1 Nirkana Revenant, +1 Umbra Stalker
Now this one was just me messing around. In the several playtests I've done, Nirkana has not been seen, even when I've been milled. The card may as well not exist for me. Umbra Stalker is about as dangerous as Mortivore, but with the potential to be nearly three times as big as Korlash.
-1 Night of Soul's Betrayal, +1 Phyrexian Crusader
NoSB has not served me well. Toshiro is vulnerable, my opponents often don't use weenie creatures, and it can get really annoying to remember that it's on the table. Phyrexian Crusader not only serves as a potential 5-hit kill, he pumps up Necroskitter and is capable of stopping some weenie strategies. His First Strike is really powerful on the Infect body, and he has proven to be useful to me in other decks.
-1 Forbidden Orchard, +1 Volrath's Stronghold
Without NoSB, I have no need for Forbidden Orchard's token effect and would be better suited to a different land. Volrath's Stronghold can reuse any creature I draw, making it invaluable for blocking purposes. Plus it lets me keep Toshiro around 3 mana, instead of making him cost 2 more every time he dies (which he does).
-1 Null Profusion, +1 Umezawa's Jitte
While largely for flavor reasons, the Jitte is a perfect killing tool for this deck because it costs no mana to activate, can be used at instant speed, and circumvents protection/regeneration/indestructible. I've never hit the profusion and never needed it.
-1 Cruel Edict, +1 Sol Ring
This deck has been having mana troubles, so I'm going to be cutting a few cards for better mana sources.
-1 Knowledge Vault, +1 Mox Opal
The vault is a great card, but for mono-Red. This deck is not hurting for that much card draw, although the fact that it fills your graveyard if they mess with it was very nice. Mox Opal keeps the artifact count high while providing more mana, and has served me well in other decks. It is a welcome addition.
-1 Grave Pact, +1 Spine of Ish Sah
This may look crazy to some of you, but this deck is in desperate need of spot removal that can hit Artifacts and especially Enchantments. Karmic Justice and Martyr's Bond see a lot of play on Cockatrice, so my removal actually will hurt me at times. For this reason, I need a way to get rid of these things that is fairly reliable and easy to recur (I can destroy it myself several times over).
-1 Cloud Key, +1 Eldrazi Conscription
Cloud Key just hasn't helped me as much as the Jet Medallion and the Helm of Awakening, the latter of which goes a long way to helping my Charge. The Conscription is a death threat on Toshrio, but also triggers his ability while drawing in removal. A late-game threat that stands on the same ground as Ulamog himself.
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Ancient Tomb
Because I need it, and the Tomb is always useful.
-1 Mystifying Maze, +1 Scrying Sheets
I really needed this. The Maze just isn't that good, despite being a backup Maze of Ith. Too many 186 effects out there to make it good.
-1 Extraplanar Lens, +1 Thawing Glaciers
The lens hasn't helped, largely because the only times I've hit it there was an Oblivion Stone on the table (stupid Warp World).
-1 Hex, +1 All is Dust
Again, this deck has problems with Enchantments. This helps take care of that problem, while leaving my Artifacts untouched.
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Everglades
Karoos are a bit dangerous, but most people are going to hit either Urborg, Coffers, or Crypt of Agadeem before they hit this thing.
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Dust Bowl
Whereas this shuts down enemy Gaea's Cradles, Coffers, or other problematic lands.
-1 Mortivore, +1 Ulamog's Crusher
After some extensive playtesting, the little guy just doesn't help out. Yes, he gets big, but he often gets exiled, or worse someone uses Relic of Progenitus and eats everyone's graveyard. The Crusher doubles as a way to eat some enchantments or artifacts, so he's a fair bit more useful.
-1 Simulacrum, +1 Expedition Map
More fixing is required, and this is the best card I can cut.
-1 Umbra Stalker, +1 Ashes to Ashes
While the Stalker has been a decent beater, it's reliance on my graveyard has been a setback. Toshiro likes to exile things, and I constantly recycle spells or abilities with the Elixir of Immortality. Ashes to Ashes deals with very problematic creatures in a near-permanent method, which makes it invaluable for me.
-1 Ulamog's Crusher, +1 Chill to the Bone
I'll be honest with you; Chill to the Bone may well be my favorite removal spell. Ulamog's Crusher just isn't up to par with the deck itself.
-1 Eldrazi Conscription, +1 Nemesis Trap
Eldrazi Conscription has never resolved. I'd be better off with a cheap removal spell that stops the threat from being recured. I have plenty of tricks that can kill a creature before blockers, allowing me to recast the Trap just fine. Also, there are three White decks in my meta, and one of them is a Voltron deck. While the trap may become useless when SoLaS or SoFaF hits the board, it at least has some use until that point.
-1 Feldon's Cane, +1 Sever the Bloodline
With Innistrad's release on Cockatrice, I've found the need to put in the single best removal spell they printed in the set. Sever the Bloodline is a house for this deck, simultaneously dealing with Indestructible creatures, Clone effects, and token hordes. Exiling a creature means Toshiro doesn't trigger, but Sever's built-in Flashback makes it that much more useful. And, in all honesty, I've yet to need Feldon's Cane. People just don't see my graveyard as a threat...
-1 Avatar of Woe, +1 Darksteel Juggernaut
Here's a strange trade that would probably get me yelled at, but in all honesty I've never actually had the Avatar trigger in a timely manner. It's great against Omnath or other decks that have trouble with spot removal, but she's just too slow for the deck to function. The Juggernaut, on the other hand, has some serious potential (I run over 15 artifacts).
-1 Herald of Leshrac, +1 Duplicant
Don't get me wrong: I love the Herald and everything it does to the gamestate if he sticks, but he never sticks. EVER. Even against mono-Green. I originally ran Darksteel Plate to help keep him alive, but it just isn't working out. Duplicant is another Exile effect, a cheaper beater, and capable of pulling me out of a tight spot the turn I cast him.
-1 Helm of Awakening, +1 Nevinyrral's Disk
Every single time I've hit the Helm turn 2, it's come back to murder my Charge. That's a terrible problem for this deck, seeing as protecting him is more important than my accelerating into something. The Disk helps solve a problematic board state while leaving me a few options (namely Karn).
-1 Do or Die, +1 Tribute to Hunger
This was difficult for me to accept. Do or Die is an amazing card in the right circumstances, but those circumstances hardly ever come up. Tribute to Hunger may be considerably less of an effect for more mana, but Instant speed really helps here. Besides, Do or Die's primary effect gets raped by Tsabo's Decree.
-1 Head Games, +1 Dismember
Let me spell out one thing: I've never cast Head Games and had it ruin that player completely. Even when it got turned around on me via Reiterate, I recovered within two turns. And I've even gone so far as to cast it on my Charge and let them win because of it. Dismember is one of the best removal spells ever printed, and costs very little for what it hits. It can turn Toshiro into a power blocker against Inferno/Sun/Primeval/Frost Titan. It can be flashed back for 1 mana and 4 life in the same turn I cast it, letting me hit 2 creatures with one spell thanks to Toshiro.
-1 Darksteel Plate, +1 Extraplanar Lens
The loss of the Herald now means the Plate is meaningless (although PLate+Obliterator=EVIL), and the Lens is a welcome addition.
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Jeweled Amulet
The more I use it, the more I realize that the Amulet is really good. It's an Artifact version of Reflecting Pool, but it works even if my turn 1 land is Ancient Tomb/Scrying Sheets/Dust Bowl.
-1 Necroskitter, +1 Runechanter's Pike
Necroskitter's price tag is jumping, but not because of EDH. He's a 1/4, and is a creature I've never had any luck with (probably should have run Black Sun's Zenith with him, but oh well). The Pike, however, is a godsend for Toshiro himself. Bushido nothing, he's now more powerful for every spell I put in my 'yard!
Don't let the above decklist seem like the end-all, be-all Toshiro decklist. Modify it yourself and see what you like. This is a primer, not a pro-tour report. This is only a single decklist that may or may not suit your tastes, style, or local metagame.
SinfireTitan: I like the Soul Conduit now.
SinfireTitan: It utterly rapes people with Necropotence.
Look for me on Cockatrice if you are interested in playing against this deck!
Word of Command it is an instant and thus can be reused with your commander. It gives you some utility that you currently do not have in your list but it is a bit spendy to obtain.
Nihil Spellbomb personally this card is so much better than Surgical Extraction even if you can use the extraction twice. The spellbomb replaces itself in hand if you have B open and it hits everything in their bin rather than just a single card.
Vampiric Tutor a tutor that is instant for only B seems like it is a must have for your list. Why isnt this in here? Due to it being instant means you can use it twice with your commander so that is very tasty.
Slaughter this card could be really good for you. Keep in mind it does say nonblack creature, however you could cast it. Then when you go to recur it with your commander you pay the buyback and it doesn't get exiled. This means you only need to pay the buyback on every other cast which could be really cool. I guess if the nonblack is a deal breaker for you and or if it is too slow at 4 mana are the questions to be asked for it.
Some cards I might reconsider:
How has Phyrexian Obliterator worked out for you??? Generally speaking it seems a bit lackluster in EDH.
Why dont you change Dead Reckoning to be a direct rez into play effect. You could even get one that can target opponents creatures such as Beacon of Unrest. You run somewhat of a low creature count to run something as narrow as a rez that can only rez from your yard to the top of your library.
Oversold Cemetery I think you seriously have a lack of creatures to try to run this in your list. You only run 14 creatures in your list and ulamog shuffles your graveyard if he hits so that is only 13 creatures in your list that even might be in your graveyard.... get rid of this.
Tortured Existence again wayyyyyy too few creatures in your list to reliably hit this in my mind.
I suggest a Darksteel Plate. It is a nice card in general to avoid kill spells, but with it on your general and some mass destruction spells, he will survive and still net you some instant-recursion.
Word of Command it is an instant and thus can be reused with your commander. It gives you some utility that you currently do not have in your list but it is a bit spendy to obtain.
Past experiences with Word of Command have left me unimpressed. I prefer it in 5-color, and even then, I prefer Praetor's Grasp to it.
Nihil Spellbomb personally this card is so much better than Surgical Extraction even if you can use the extraction twice. The spellbomb replaces itself in hand if you have B open and it hits everything in their bin rather than just a single card.
Strange that you mention this, but this actually just came up during a match: I had to draw the Extraction or I would have lost (I had no mana open due to being triple-Terastodon'ed the turn before). I will consider the spellbomb though, simply for a backup Bojuka Bog effect.
Vampiric Tutor a tutor that is instant for only B seems like it is a must have for your list. Why isnt this in here? Due to it being instant means you can use it twice with your commander so that is very tasty.
A bad oversight, that's why. Replacing Grim Tutor.
Slaughter this card could be really good for you. Keep in mind it does say nonblack creature, however you could cast it. Then when you go to recur it with your commander you pay the buyback and it doesn't get exiled. This means you only need to pay the buyback on every other cast which could be really cool. I guess if the nonblack is a deal breaker for you and or if it is too slow at 4 mana are the questions to be asked for it.
The nonblack is the dealbreaker. I dislike color restrictions with a ferocious intensity.
Some cards I might reconsider:
How has Phyrexian Obliterator worked out for you??? Generally speaking it seems a bit lackluster in EDH.
As I expect him to: Draw removal or be effectively unblockable. Imp's Mischief is the key here, as I can shunt burn or other effects to him and screw up my opponent rather nicely.
I just wish I could draw him earlier than I do.
Why dont you change Dead Reckoning to be a direct rez into play effect. You could even get one that can target opponents creatures such as Beacon of Unrest. You run somewhat of a low creature count to run something as narrow as a rez that can only rez from your yard to the top of your library.
The removal really. Though I admit, it is a very lackluster card right now.
Oversold Cemetery I think you seriously have a lack of creatures to try to run this in your list. You only run 14 creatures in your list and ulamog shuffles your graveyard if he hits so that is only 13 creatures in your list that even might be in your graveyard.... get rid of this.
Ulamog is more of an emergency reshuffle than a graveyard reset for me. The cemetery is there for recuring some of my creatures while leaving my Instants open for Toshiro. I could use a better effect, but the cemetery is not supposed to be redundant with Ulamog.
Tortured Existence again wayyyyyy too few creatures in your list to reliably hit this in my mind.
I only included it as an outlet for Ulamog. I could use something better, if anyone has a suggestion here.
Soul Conduit seems solid in a kingmaker deck. Hurts opponents and protects your charge.
I really need to make room for this then. It really helps, since this deck also runs on it's life total a lot.
I suggest a Darksteel Plate. It is a nice card in general to avoid kill spells, but with it on your general and some mass destruction spells, he will survive and still net you some instant-recursion.
I'd probably run both this and the Shield, but I need to cut more cards for them.
Past experiences with Word of Command have left me unimpressed. I prefer it in 5-color, and even then, I prefer Praetor's Grasp to it.
I posted this in the SCD about Word of Command, but I'm wondering if you're misreading the card. If you prefer it in 5C or would rather have Praetor's Grasp, it sounds like you think you're stealing a spell from them to cast yourself, when in actuality you're taking control of the player and using their resources to your advantage.
Ulamog is more of an emergency reshuffle than a graveyard reset for me. The cemetery is there for recuring some of my creatures while leaving my Instants open for Toshiro. I could use a better effect, but the cemetery is not supposed to be redundant with Ulamog.
I think the point was more that Cemetery isn't going to be active all that often with only 12 (sometimes 11, with Pharaoh) creatures that stay in the yard. The times when you draw into Cemetery after drawing, playing, and losing 1/3 or more of the creatures in your deck seem like they would be pretty sparse.
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[Pr]Jaya | Estrid | A rotating cast of decks built out of my box.
I think the point was more that Cemetery isn't going to be active all that often with only 12 (sometimes 11, with Pharaoh) creatures that stay in the yard. The times when you draw into Cemetery after drawing, playing, and losing 1/3 or more of the creatures in your deck seem like they would be pretty sparse.
^ this was what I was trying to say.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I posted this in the SCD about Word of Command, but I'm wondering if you're misreading the card. If you prefer it in 5C or would rather have Praetor's Grasp, it sounds like you think you're stealing a spell from them to cast yourself, when in actuality you're taking control of the player and using their resources to your advantage.
Oh, right. Yeah, I have been.
I think the point was more that Cemetery isn't going to be active all that often with only 12 (sometimes 11, with Pharaoh) creatures that stay in the yard. The times when you draw into Cemetery after drawing, playing, and losing 1/3 or more of the creatures in your deck seem like they would be pretty sparse.
True enough. The deck needs several more creatures to help round it out.
I'm trying to build Toshi myself, and this is a great resource, thanks!
Extirpate seems kinda useless in Commander? It's graveyard hate, but the rest of it just doesn't work when there's only one copy of any card.
Also, why no Overwhelming Forces?
I'm trying to build Toshi myself, and this is a great resource, thanks!
Extirpate seems kinda useless in Commander? It's graveyard hate, but the rest of it just doesn't work when there's only one copy of any card.
Also, why no Overwhelming Forces?
It only targets one player due to the errata. Also, 8 mana is a hefty price when he could just play Decree of Pain, Black Sun's Zenith, Damnation, etcetc. Even if it draws you cards, Decree of Pain is just outright better.
My two suggestions are Hatred and Soul Spike. A free 8 damage spell is pretty good, I hear.
My two suggestions are Hatred and Soul Spike. A free 8 damage spell is pretty good, I hear.
I considered Soul Spike, but ended up using Tendrils of Corruption instead. I found that casting Soul Spike twice in the same turn was often impossible against most of the key creatures in EDH, and that 4 damage was not nearly enough for 2 cards. Both Dismember and Tendrils have served better.
As for Hatred, it's very prone to being countered, be it by removal or by actually countering the spell itself. The life loss required to get it to work is also steep (at least with Unspeakable Symbol I could pay life in increments and just turn Toshiro from chump to threat).
I've been having more success with the Runechanter's Pike anyway. Even something as counterintuitive as slapping it on Phyrexian Obliterator has worked out for me overall.
I see your reasoning behind Soul Spike, it is a heavy loss of CA, plus it hurts with Ad Nauseum. But Hatred, I implore you to reconsider. Are you running Boseiji? Hand disruption? It plays from the grave, being an instant, and is practically a second wincon.
I see your reasoning behind Soul Spike, it is a heavy loss of CA, plus it hurts with Ad Nauseum. But Hatred, I implore you to reconsider. Are you running Boseiji? Hand disruption? It plays from the grave, being an instant, and is practically a second wincon.
The only major Hand Disruption effects I run are Liliana, Karn, and the Myojin. And as you can see in the list, Boseiju is not in the deck. And it really has very little place in it: My deck can cast cards from the graveyard, why would I care if some of my removal gets countered?
Glad to see you put Pike in the deck, I've had nothing but good things with it. I also have Tainted Strike in there for quick assassinations with Hatred.
Very, very intriguing deck. Also, very expensive. I got a price of $170 for the missing cards on MTGO. Of course, some of the cards don't help, like: $45 for Vampiric Tutor, $17.50 for Karn Liberated, $14 for Maze of Ith, and $12 for Mox Opal.
Mox Opal? Why is this card even here for a single color deck?!
I hate taking out some of the more powerful cards, but there are still some questionable cards worth replacing:
-1 Oubliette
There are better kill spells that do a better job than a black, creature-only, still-saves-Auras-and-counters Journey to Nowhere. Ones that are instants or exiles. (Too bad you can't play Unmake.)
or +1 Shred Memory, which doubles as a 2CMC Transmute.
-1 Ad Nauseam
0 Ashes to Ashes
Not a huge fan of the life cost on these, though I suppose it's worth it for Ashes to Ashes. Sure you have Soul Conduit, but that's only one card out of 99.
(What the hell did you RL MTG players do to Portal? Did you hate it so much that you had deck burning bonfires to get rid of the cards, thus increasing the rarity and prices? Did people mail back their fat packs to WotC in droves, demanding refunds?)
Toshiro is very weak as a result. His options are largely kill spells, and he himself is only a 2/2 (Bushido notwithstanding). But there is a way to play around this.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a mono-Black Group Hug, but not really.
This deck is the antithesis of Group Hug, which looks to help people as much as it can, and either steal the glory from under their noses or ensure the game is enjoyable for at least one other player. Toshiro doesn't care about "fun". Toshiro is a back-stabbing badass with an axe to grind, and his only friend is the person with the strongest board position.
This deck isn't centered around building up an army, it's designed to tear down your opponent's army and throw it in the trash. You don't care about the victory, just the relentless slaughter it took to get to that point.
While the mechanics are straightforward, the strategy behind them isn't. Toshiro's ability is mana-intensive and tends to run out of gas really quickly, especially if you get Bojuka Bogged in the mid-game. For this reason, use his trigger sparingly.
Oddly, this deck is very flexible as far as generals go: Almost every legendary creature in the deck can be substituted for Toshiro and there won't be a noticeable loss of efficacy. Xiahou Dun in particular works best as a substitute, due to his unblockable nature and his ability to recur any colored card in your graveyard (while triggering Grave Pact no less).
1 Dread
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Myojin of Night's Reach
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Grave Titan
1 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Phyrexian Crusader
1 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
1 Darksteel Juggernaut
1 Duplicant
1 Caged Sun
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mind's Eye
1 Jet Medallion
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Soul Conduit
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Mox Opal
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Expedition Map
1 Sol Ring
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Jeweled Amulet
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Black Market
1 Necropotence
1 No Mercy
1 Phyrexian Etchings
1 Ad Nauseam
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Go for the Throat
1 Extirpate
1 Imp's Mischief
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Tsabo's Decree
1 Word of Command
1 Dismember
1 Chill to the Bone
1 Nemesis Trap
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Consuming Vapors
1 Curse of the Cabal
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 All Is Dust
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sorin Markov
1 Everglades
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Maze of Ith
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Volrath's Stronghold
23 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Dust Bowl
Geth+Chainer: This tag team is built for these situations. By the time a player gets eliminated, you will have plenty of targets in graveyards and should be able to steal as many as possible thanks to your mana ramp. This gives you a reason to overextend: It isn't your crap, you don't care if they blow it up!
Karn Liberated: Of all of your win conditions, this is the toughest to pull off because of how big of a target he is. You can't protect him from Burn or spot removal the way a Blue deck can, but you have the ability to utterly dominate the combat phases. Getting Karn to his ultimate may be the one time when you can forsake your Charge and go for the gold yourself.
Liliana Vess: As with Geth and Chainer, but on a much larger scale. Either they wrath or they die very quickly.
Sorin Markov+Any Beatstick: Grave Titan works best here, but so does the Obliterator (and even Toshiro himself!). Hell, you can even just let Sorin do all of the work depending on the board state.
Toshiro Umezawa: As a general, a 2/2 is incredibly weak. Works better if you switched in Xiahou Dun. However, you have the removal needed to keep the board clear. Consider putting in Hatred, just to go the extra mile or two.
Ulamog: The one-card wincon is always an option in this situation, as you have enough removal to ensure he goes unblocked and can just use his annihilator to kill everyone.
Darksteel Juggernaut/Korlash, Hier to Blackblade: Both of these creatures are powerhouses late-game, and can be a touch tricky to kill off.
Necropotence+Soul Conduit: This is, by far, the meanest combo to pull on someone. It's far more powerful than Sorin's -3, and capable of filling your hand with the removal you need to keep them from blocking that last 1 damage.
Decking them: You can also just stall and pray they can't kill you with an Instant or Sorcery. You cannot deck yourself unless Ulamog and Elixir of Immortality are exiled.
That said, getting hit with one isn't the end of the game. You just lose out on major card advantage from Toshiro.
The only major threats to this deck as-is are Pristine Angel, Progenitus, Thrun, Akroma, and pretty much anything you can't target with removal. Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon can deal with Akroma fairly easily, but Pristine Angel is a bidding war between you and it's controller. Progenitus is literally invulnerable to your removal (with the exceptions of Tsabo's Decree, Damnation, and Oblivion Stone). Thrun and other hexproof creatures are also problematic, as several of these removal spells cannot bypass his regeneration. Animar especially is a pain in the neck due to his ability to ramp while being untargetable.
But that's where your Charge comes into play. If you've been loyally protecting that player, odds are they will notice and can provide support. This is the backbone of the deck: You are not alone, make use of your ally as much as possible. Communicate with that player.
-1 Dead Reckoning, +1 Soul Conduit
-1 Tortured Existence, +1 Nihil Spellbomb
-1 Gravestorm, +1 Darksteel Plate
-1 Grim Tutor, +1 Vampiric Tutor
-1 Grim Discovery, +1 Korlash, Hier to Blackblade
-1 Lux Cannon, +1 Mortivore
-1 Oversold Cemetery, +1 Word of Command
-1 Nirkana Revenant, +1 Umbra Stalker
-1 Night of Soul's Betrayal, +1 Phyrexian Crusader
-1 Forbidden Orchard, +1 Volrath's Stronghold
-1 Null Profusion, +1 Umezawa's Jitte
-1 Cruel Edict, +1 Sol Ring
-1 Knowledge Vault, +1 Mox Opal
-1 Grave Pact, +1 Spine of Ish Sah
-1 Cloud Key, +1 Eldrazi Conscription
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Ancient Tomb
-1 Mystifying Maze, +1 Scrying Sheets
-1 Extraplanar Lens, +1 Thawing Glaciers
-1 Hex, +1 All is Dust
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Everglades
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Dust Bowl
-1 Mortivore, +1 Ulamog's Crusher
-1 Simulacrum, +1 Expedition Map
-1 Umbra Stalker, +1 Ashes to Ashes
-1 Ulamog's Crusher, +1 Chill to the Bone
-1 Eldrazi Conscription, +1 Nemesis Trap
-1 Feldon's Cane, +1 Sever the Bloodline
-1 Avatar of Woe, +1 Darksteel Juggernaut
-1 Herald of Leshrac, +1 Duplicant
-1 Helm of Awakening, +1 Nevinyrral's Disk
-1 Do or Die, +1 Tribute to Hunger
-1 Head Games, +1 Dismember
-1 Darksteel Plate, +1 Extraplanar Lens
-1 Snow-Covered Swamp, +1 Jeweled Amulet
-1 Necroskitter, +1 Runechanter's Pike
Don't let the above decklist seem like the end-all, be-all Toshiro decklist. Modify it yourself and see what you like. This is a primer, not a pro-tour report. This is only a single decklist that may or may not suit your tastes, style, or local metagame.
SinfireTitan: It utterly rapes people with Necropotence.
Look for me on Cockatrice if you are interested in playing against this deck!
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
Word of Command it is an instant and thus can be reused with your commander. It gives you some utility that you currently do not have in your list but it is a bit spendy to obtain.
Nihil Spellbomb personally this card is so much better than Surgical Extraction even if you can use the extraction twice. The spellbomb replaces itself in hand if you have B open and it hits everything in their bin rather than just a single card.
Vampiric Tutor a tutor that is instant for only B seems like it is a must have for your list. Why isnt this in here? Due to it being instant means you can use it twice with your commander so that is very tasty.
Slaughter this card could be really good for you. Keep in mind it does say nonblack creature, however you could cast it. Then when you go to recur it with your commander you pay the buyback and it doesn't get exiled. This means you only need to pay the buyback on every other cast which could be really cool. I guess if the nonblack is a deal breaker for you and or if it is too slow at 4 mana are the questions to be asked for it.
Some cards I might reconsider:
How has Phyrexian Obliterator worked out for you??? Generally speaking it seems a bit lackluster in EDH.
Why dont you change Dead Reckoning to be a direct rez into play effect. You could even get one that can target opponents creatures such as Beacon of Unrest. You run somewhat of a low creature count to run something as narrow as a rez that can only rez from your yard to the top of your library.
Oversold Cemetery I think you seriously have a lack of creatures to try to run this in your list. You only run 14 creatures in your list and ulamog shuffles your graveyard if he hits so that is only 13 creatures in your list that even might be in your graveyard.... get rid of this.
Tortured Existence again wayyyyyy too few creatures in your list to reliably hit this in my mind.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Everything combos with Tombstone Stairwell.
Past experiences with Word of Command have left me unimpressed. I prefer it in 5-color, and even then, I prefer Praetor's Grasp to it.
Strange that you mention this, but this actually just came up during a match: I had to draw the Extraction or I would have lost (I had no mana open due to being triple-Terastodon'ed the turn before). I will consider the spellbomb though, simply for a backup Bojuka Bog effect.
A bad oversight, that's why. Replacing Grim Tutor.
The nonblack is the dealbreaker. I dislike color restrictions with a ferocious intensity.
Some cards I might reconsider:
As I expect him to: Draw removal or be effectively unblockable. Imp's Mischief is the key here, as I can shunt burn or other effects to him and screw up my opponent rather nicely.
I just wish I could draw him earlier than I do.
The removal really. Though I admit, it is a very lackluster card right now.
Ulamog is more of an emergency reshuffle than a graveyard reset for me. The cemetery is there for recuring some of my creatures while leaving my Instants open for Toshiro. I could use a better effect, but the cemetery is not supposed to be redundant with Ulamog.
I only included it as an outlet for Ulamog. I could use something better, if anyone has a suggestion here.
I really need to make room for this then. It really helps, since this deck also runs on it's life total a lot.
I'd probably run both this and the Shield, but I need to cut more cards for them.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
I posted this in the SCD about Word of Command, but I'm wondering if you're misreading the card. If you prefer it in 5C or would rather have Praetor's Grasp, it sounds like you think you're stealing a spell from them to cast yourself, when in actuality you're taking control of the player and using their resources to your advantage.
I think the point was more that Cemetery isn't going to be active all that often with only 12 (sometimes 11, with Pharaoh) creatures that stay in the yard. The times when you draw into Cemetery after drawing, playing, and losing 1/3 or more of the creatures in your deck seem like they would be pretty sparse.
^ this was what I was trying to say.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
Oh, right. Yeah, I have been.
True enough. The deck needs several more creatures to help round it out.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
:symb::snow: Seizan, Perverter of Truth
Extirpate seems kinda useless in Commander? It's graveyard hate, but the rest of it just doesn't work when there's only one copy of any card.
Also, why no Overwhelming Forces?
It only targets one player due to the errata. Also, 8 mana is a hefty price when he could just play Decree of Pain, Black Sun's Zenith, Damnation, etcetc. Even if it draws you cards, Decree of Pain is just outright better.
My two suggestions are Hatred and Soul Spike. A free 8 damage spell is pretty good, I hear.
:symb::snow: Seizan, Perverter of Truth
I considered Soul Spike, but ended up using Tendrils of Corruption instead. I found that casting Soul Spike twice in the same turn was often impossible against most of the key creatures in EDH, and that 4 damage was not nearly enough for 2 cards. Both Dismember and Tendrils have served better.
As for Hatred, it's very prone to being countered, be it by removal or by actually countering the spell itself. The life loss required to get it to work is also steep (at least with Unspeakable Symbol I could pay life in increments and just turn Toshiro from chump to threat).
I've been having more success with the Runechanter's Pike anyway. Even something as counterintuitive as slapping it on Phyrexian Obliterator has worked out for me overall.
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
:symb::snow: Seizan, Perverter of Truth
The only major Hand Disruption effects I run are Liliana, Karn, and the Myojin. And as you can see in the list, Boseiju is not in the deck. And it really has very little place in it: My deck can cast cards from the graveyard, why would I care if some of my removal gets countered?
Driving Stick with Isochron Scepter.
Trinkets and Treasure: An Artificer's Toolbox.
Proc Drops: Playing with One Drops.
Deck Primer: Toshiro Umezawa
Legacy
Control
Miracles
All flavors of Stoneblade
Aggro
Grixis Delver
UR Delver
Burn
Combo
Dredge
TES/ANT
UR & UB Reanimator
Belcher
Mox Opal? Why is this card even here for a single color deck?!
I hate taking out some of the more powerful cards, but there are still some questionable cards worth replacing:
-1 Oubliette
There are better kill spells that do a better job than a black, creature-only, still-saves-Auras-and-counters Journey to Nowhere. Ones that are instants or exiles. (Too bad you can't play Unmake.)
-1 Extirpate
-1 Surgical Extraction
Nihil Spellbomb does a better job of GY hate. If you really need something for a single instant GY card, you can use Coffin Purge or Cremate or Ebony Charm or Fade from Memory or Headstone or Rapid Decay or Ravenous Trap or Shadowfeed or Suffer the Past
or +1 Shred Memory, which doubles as a 2CMC Transmute.
-1 Ad Nauseam
0 Ashes to Ashes
Not a huge fan of the life cost on these, though I suppose it's worth it for Ashes to Ashes. Sure you have Soul Conduit, but that's only one card out of 99.
-1 Crypt of Agadeem
Why? You only have 15 creatures total.
-1 Jeweled Amulet
Seems like you're better off with a Storage land like Bottomless Vault or Subterranean Hangar.
-1 Ancient Tomb
+1 Temple of the False God
Needs 5 lands, but that's easy enough and requires no 2 life cost each time (which can really add up).
Some suggestions:
Tragic Slip
Choice of Damnations
Forbidden Orchard - a bit of a Charge hug
Spectral Searchlight - same here
Mystifying Maze - couldn't afford the Maze of Ith, so I settled for this
Altar of Shadows - Expensive, but it fits the goal
Reaper of the Abyss - Since you are killing so much, might as well kill some more. (Just need to make sure that a target still exists...)
Rune-Scarred Demon - Just to add a useful creature or two
Mimic Vat - Because you are killing so much, might as well use them.
Consume the Meek - Yes, it's specific, but it's also instant.
Annihilate - Experimenting with this one...
Tainted Strike
Withering Boon
By the way, I've been trying to optimize a Toshiro list awhile, as he's one of my favorite characters. It's so hard though, his card quite weak.