MTG Salvation

Mathas, Fiend Seeker:
How to Win at One Life and Influence People

1.0 Introduction:

My favourite way to win a game of magic is on very low life. Hanging on for dear life and having to play with no margin for error to barely eke out a win by the narrowest of margins is an exhilarating magic experience that I'm sure many can relate to. Naturally, I was drawn to the idea of winning with a Near-Death Experience but the idea of needing to be on exactly one life with a 5cmc enchantment that only triggers on upkeep seemed a bit unrealistic. Nevertheless following the printing of Stunning Reversal and Serra the Benevolent I put together the first iteration of the deck and found something rather unexpected: the deck could win... and often.

To actually win a game with Near-Death Experience there are a lot of requirements. First, you must cast a 5 mana enchantment that does nothing, then you must either already be at 1 life or find a way to get there, and finally, you must ensure your life total and enchantment last an entire turn cycle before finally winning on your upkeep. All three of these steps are vulnerable to interaction but as you will see there are ways to very effectively safeguard aginst such interaction.

For a commander I knew the colors I wanted:
W White for Near-Death Experience and Angel's Grace.
B Black for Stunning Reversal and ways to pay X life.
R Red for Sunforger.

Setting up all of the prerequisites to win with Near-Death Experience would require a commander that could control the game and perhaps politic in order to survive long enough. Queen Marchesa may seem like the obvious choice, unfortunately, she is far too creature reliant and actually incentivises your opponents so attack you and remove her. Oros, the Avenger could be interesting but his threatening 6/6 flying body, mana intensity and penchant for angering opponents takes him out of consideration. Mathas, Fiend Seeker is perfect, he ingratiates your opponents, draws cards, pads your life total, isn't a priority for opposing removal spells, and can be played early to dissuade attacks.

1.1 My Philosophy on Politics and Group Hug:

'Group Hug' and 'politics' can be extremely overpowered in commander, being able to accrue value, avoid attacks or dodge interaction without expending any resources is one of the most powerful things you can be doing in commander. Unfortunately, however, decks that focus on 'group hug' or 'politics' are very often self-defeating. Because both strategies are reliant upon influencing or manipulating the behaviour of your opponents, if they become aware of your intentions, your ability to do so is significantly restricted. If someone plays a graveyard or artefact deck they can reasonably expect their opponents to work against their strategy by targeting them with anti-graveyard or anti-artifact cards, expending resources to do so. Similarly, by advertising your strategy by playing overtly political or group hug-y cards your opponent is incentivised to act in opposition to your strategy and they needn't spend any resources to do so.

In my experience, the best way to gain political advantage is to do so without appearing to do so. This can be done by, for example, removing a scary on-board threat, frustrating a combo, or 'incidentally' rewarding other players. Targeted removal is a form of group hug, you are expending your own resources to benefit the two players whos permanent isn't being removed and with Mathas, Fiend Seeker as your commander, your resource is refunded and two players are 'incidentally' rewarded with card advantage and life gain. Furthermore by being known as a player who has a lot of answers other players are incentivised to keep you around to deal with whichever player is currently ahead. Making yourself invaluable is one of the better ways of staying in the game which is the first step to winning.

1.2 Example of a Possible Win Sequence:

1. Tutor for Sunforger with one of the many equipment tutors in the deck.
2. play Sunforger on a turn in which you can cast, equip and unequip it in the same turn.
3. Use Sunforger to protect yourself and handle threats until a turn cycle goes by where there is an opening to tutor for Enlightened Tutor
4. Cast Enlightened Tutor, fetching Near-Death Experience to the top of library
5. From here depending on the amount of mana available, defensive interaction in hand and ability of opponents to answer, play Near-Death Experience and hold up some in hand protection.
6. Wait until the end step of the opponent before your upkeep and fetch Fire Covenant with Sunforger to reach 1 life.
7. Untap, upkeep and win.

The above sequence may seem convoluted, and it is, but that sequence of plays can be carried out over several turns keeping up mana and interaction to handle threats. If you manage to naturally draw any of: Demonic Tutor, Idyllic Tutor, Academy Rector, Toxic Deluge, Necropotence, Fire Covenant, Chance for Glory or Near-Death Experience significant steps can be removed and Sunforger can be put on full-time protection duty.

2.0 Decklist:

3.0 Card Choices:

3.1 Key Cards
Near-Death Experience: The main win-con
Sunforger: This card makes the deck work, It can tutor for Near-Death Experience, reduce your life to 1, generate card advantage, interact with opponents, and protect itself and the win-con.
Fire Covenant: Tutorable via Sunforger this card can, at instant speed reduce your life total to 1 and in a pinch remove threats.
Enlightened Tutor: Also tutorable via Sunforger this card can tutor for the two most important cards in the deck: Near-Death Experience and Sunforger.
Toxic Deluge: A way of reducing your life to 1 and is also a mana-efficient board clear.
Necropotence: Also a way of reducing your life to 1 and a very powerful draw engine.
Mistveil Plains: with the card type 'plains' this card is a fetchable way of recycling Sunforger targets and can put Sunforger and Near-Death Experience back into the library if they should get removed.

3.2 Don't Die

Angel's Grace: Tutorable with Sunforger this card can prevent lethal and leave you at the perfect life total to win: 1
Faith's Shield: This card pulls double duty as either protection for your key permanents or once you're at the required low life total can prevent you from being dealt lethal damage.
Stunning Reversal: Can save you from lethal damage or a combo and can keep you in the game afterwards by refilling your hand.
Teferi's Protection: Probably the third most important card in the deck, Teferi's Protection simultaneously protects your key permanents and life total.
Settle the Wreckage: Perfect for dissuading attacks and preventing lethal combat damage.
Comeuppance: Similar to Settle the Wreckage this card can also prevent lethal non-combat damage.
Worship: provided you have a creature, your life total cannot be damaged to below 1. This effect is why the deck runs 7 man lands which are difficult to remove and can be made into creatures in response to a lethal attack or spell.
Serra the Benevolent: Serra's emblem provides an effect identical to Worship but is impossible to remove. Getting to the emblem can be a tricky, but playing Serra after a board wipe, or with spells in hand that can protect her means she can realistically survive the one turn cycle to reach her ultimate.

3.3 Sunforger Package
Tithe: can fix mana, smooth out land drops, and find Mistveil Plains.
Argivian Find: Can return Near-Death Experience or Sunforger to your hand from the graveyard.
Chance for Glory: Grants the extra upkeep step needed to win, and its 'lose the game' clause can be prevented with Angel's Grace or Stunning Reversal.
Bolt Bend: Protection for the vital permanents and with Sunforger equipped can be cast for only R from hand. Deflecting Swat could also work in this slot.
Kaya's Guile: Can create a creature to hold Sunforger, force sacrifice, exile graveyards, and maybe gain some life. Very versitile and always useful.
Rakdos Charm: Very versatile hate card against artifacts, graveyards, infinite creature comboes, and token stratigies.
Boros Charm: Protection for key permanents and the doublestrike is not useless.
Punishing Fire: Comboes with Mathas, Fiend seeker to chain destroy small creatures with bounty counters.
Lapse of Certainty & Red Elemental Blast: Counterspells
Crackling Doom: Very good for killing heavily protected voltron commanders.
Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Crush Contraband & Utter End: Staple exile removal.
Generous Gift, Bedevil & Mortify: Flexible destruction based removal that can trigger Mathas, Fiend Seeker

3.4 Tutors
Stoneforge Mystic, Open the Armory, Inventors' Fair, Steelshaper's Gift and Stonehewer Giant: Because the deck so heavily relies on Sunforger it is important to have redundant effects to find it.
Idyllic Tutor & Academy Rector: To find Near-Death Experience
Recruiter of the Guard: Can find Academy Rector or Stoneforge Mystic
Demonic Tutor: Can find anything

3.5 Alternate Win Conditions
Revel in Riches: The treasure generation alone warrants this card's inclusion but alongside Dockside Extortionist, Smothering Tithe and the plentiful permanent protection this card has the capability to win games.
Inkmoth Nexus: In late-game low resource scenarios, this card equipped with Sunforger can 1 shot opponents by unequipping to fetch Boros Charm granting doublestrike then reequipping to swing in the air with a 5/1 doublestriking infect creature. Repeatable with Mistveil Plains.
Mathas, Fiend Seeker: Bottom of the barrel in terms of a win condition, but when equipped with Sunforger Mathas is a 7/3 with menace. Definitely a 'hail mary', but in 1v1 at the end of a game, it is possible to pull out a win with commander damage.

3.6 Other Cards of Note

Mythos of Snapdax: This card has some interesting political possibilities as it can mitigate the ill will caused by wiping the board by allowing you to select, for your opponents, permanents that they are grateful to keep.
Parting Thoughts: Has cute synergy with Mathas, Fiend Seeker allowing you to trigger bounty counters and draw an extra card for each counter on the creature. Note: you may put as many bounty counters on a creature as you like, also, the effect is tied to the creature the counter is on and so persists even after Mathas has left the battlefield.
Emergence Zone & Electrodominance: can be used to flash in Near-Death Experience on the end step before your turn to win out of nowhere.
Weathered Wayfarer: can find Bojuka Bog, Mistveil Plains, Emergence Zone or Inkmoth Nexus
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: A bit mana intense but is excellent at protecting key permanents.
Sword of the Animist: Because of the plethora of equipment tutors, including a second piece of equipment stops subsequent tutors from being dead draws.

3.7 Notable Exclusions
Phyrexian Arena: Because this deck is often on only 1 life for extended periods of time, unpreventably losing 1 life is deadly.
Bounty Hunter: Draws removal to both himself and more importantly Mathas, Fiend Seeker and is too slow and costly to be worth inclusion.
Approach of The Second Sun: Used to be in the deck but I find it to be a very boring and unsatisfying way to win.


If there is interest in this deck I will include a 'playing the deck' strategy guide as well as go further in-depth regarding some of the deck's interactions I have only touched upon above. Any feedback or suggestions are greatly appreciated and I look forward to reading your responses.-Paulrus

Good to see a focus on alternative win here. A few things:

1) Given how difficult it is to win with Near-Death Experience, I'd recommend alternative wincons such as Axis of Mortality a go here too, in case your life is low and somehow cannot get the win to happen.
2) A common usage with Angel's Grace is Ad Nauseam, which works both as "tutor" and path to victory via NDE.
3) Another self life-loss card people commonly uses is Selenia, Dark Angel, which let's you cut yourself till you're are the optimal life range.
1~3) Triskaidekaphobia is another fun card that let you manipulate life and serves as an alt-wincon.