Black and red are the colors I play least of all, I think literally all EDH decks I've ever had have had at least green, blue or white in them. But now I've decided that needs to change! So I decided on running Xantcha as my commander because I love the politicking that goes with it. At first I thought, looking on EDHrec, that I should go into the forcing to attack route and some cards to save Xantcha. However, I also have a set of Cabal Coffers, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Stronghold lying around so I decided to combine the classic big black mana deck strategy with Xantcha. That in itself has a lot of synergy already so the rest of the deck I want to play some black red control style like only black red can do as it will play differently from what I already have and I prefer controllish decks. And now I'm looking for input on small card combinations and or minor themes that I could add so that it will end up being a deck full of synergy that is truly black red.
Based on what I have seen, playing Xantcha instantly turns you into the archenemy no matter how good your deck is. She comes out very fast and really presses the pace of the game. Whoever you give her to is incentivized to go for your throat.
I half-built this deck as you describe but then changed my mind mid stream and went for The Scorpion God instead in hopes it would draw a little less hate. Not really sure there yet but I hope so
I really like the concept of RB as big mana black though, as red offers some really strong synergizes with black - looting and wheels and such are great with reanimation, and having great answers to artifacts (vandalblast, esp.) fixes a lot of issues black has as a color.
I have a Xantcha deck posted in the multiplayer decklist forum. Check it out if you want more detail, but as a player who has been using Xantcha frequently over the past 3 months, here are some things I use as synergy.
- I run several boardwipe effects that Xantcha dodges like Languish and Wildfire. Plus you can tune Toxic Deluge to keep her alive while wiping away small blockers. Obviously, careful of playing Wildfire if your playgroup frowns on MLD.
- I run Pestilence and Neheb, the Eternal as a way to make absurd mana. You can turn 5 black mana into 15 (or more) red and clear a bunch of pesky creatures. Also, Mana Geyser and Black Market are great huge mana cards that are somewhat difficult for opponents to interact with.
- You will need flexible answers to problem permanents, especially enchantments. I run Chaos Warp[/cars], Karn Liberated and Meteor Golem. The latter two are over-costed for the effect, but sometimes we really need an enchantment to die. Don’t forget to include this interactions stuff.
- I personally run Heartstone as Xantcha synergy and because of the lore with it and Xantcha and Karn. But you also have Olivia who would benefit (she is my 1v1 commander with the same 99.
- Augmenting Xantcha is not viable at all. You should see her as card draw first and a beatstick second. You can help her stick on the battlefield with certain lands, specifically Shizo, Death’s Storehouse and to a lesser degree Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep. In a pinch, Maze of Ith does the job, and while expensive Mystifying Maze can be used to flicker Xantcha and return her to the battlefield under another opponent’s control if you want to change who controls her.
I have a Xantcha deck posted in the multiplayer decklist forum. Check it out if you want more detail, but as a player who has been using Xantcha frequently over the past 3 months, here are some things I use as synergy.
- I run several boardwipe effects that Xantcha dodges like Languish and Wildfire. Plus you can tune Toxic Deluge to keep her alive while wiping away small blockers. Obviously, careful of playing Wildfire if your playgroup frowns on MLD.
- I run Pestilence and Neheb, the Eternal as a way to make absurd mana. You can turn 5 black mana into 15 (or more) red and clear a bunch of pesky creatures. Also, Mana Geyser and Black Market are great huge mana cards that are somewhat difficult for opponents to interact with.
- You will need flexible answers to problem permanents, especially enchantments. I run Chaos Warp[/cars], Karn Liberated and Meteor Golem. The latter two are over-costed for the effect, but sometimes we really need an enchantment to die. Don’t forget to include this interactions stuff.
- I personally run Heartstone as Xantcha synergy and because of the lore with it and Xantcha and Karn. But you also have Olivia who would benefit (she is my 1v1 commander with the same 99.
- Augmenting Xantcha is not viable at all. You should see her as card draw first and a beatstick second. You can help her stick on the battlefield with certain lands, specifically Shizo, Death’s Storehouse and to a lesser degree Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep. In a pinch, Maze of Ith does the job, and while expensive Mystifying Maze can be used to flicker Xantcha and return her to the battlefield under another opponent’s control if you want to change who controls her.
Those are some good tips, thanks! I checked out your deck, but the MLD won't fit my group nor will all the punishment cards make them want to play against it on a regular basis so even though it's probably good I have to take the deck a slightly different direction.
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The secret to enjoyable Commander games is not winning first, but losing last.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
My build is certainly not for everyone. Ramp is... rampant... in my meta, so I always want a way to punish that. That said, I think we generally end up in the same spot with Xantcha ending the game with a massive X spell. So you probably want to include Comet Storm
well hey - even if MLD isn't ok, targeted land destruction could be a way to go. It's important that some lands are kept in check. If there are no lands at all that need to be put in check, you can still use it to snipe someone's single open blue mana to ensure that you can do your super important thing that you don't want countered.
on the off-chance you've not seen this, scour from existence. It's like the golem, but exiles (that opposing kruphix, god of horizons getting you down?), AND can deal with annoying lands (don't just hit random karoo-lands. if someone throws down a gaea's cradle, get it!). Also, it's an instant.
just curious - why do you have a crucible of worlds? it doesn't seem to do anything in your deck.
well hey - even if MLD isn't ok, targeted land destruction could be a way to go. It's important that some lands are kept in check. If there are no lands at all that need to be put in check, you can still use it to snipe someone's single open blue mana to ensure that you can do your super important thing that you don't want countered.
on the off-chance you've not seen this, scour from existence. It's like the golem, but exiles (that opposing kruphix, god of horizons getting you down?), AND can deal with annoying lands (don't just hit random karoo-lands. if someone throws down a gaea's cradle, get it!). Also, it's an instant.
just curious - why do you have a crucible of worlds? it doesn't seem to do anything in your deck.
I agree. I don't prey on mana production but any land that produces 2 or more mana and/or has another ability is fair game.
Crucible is in the deck because when people know you play big mana everybody saves their ghost quarter or similar for your Cabal Coffers. This is a way too recur it easily.
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The secret to enjoyable Commander games is not winning first, but losing last.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
well hey - even if MLD isn't ok, targeted land destruction could be a way to go. It's important that some lands are kept in check. If there are no lands at all that need to be put in check, you can still use it to snipe someone's single open blue mana to ensure that you can do your super important thing that you don't want countered.
on the off-chance you've not seen this, scour from existence. It's like the golem, but exiles (that opposing kruphix, god of horizons getting you down?), AND can deal with annoying lands (don't just hit random karoo-lands. if someone throws down a gaea's cradle, get it!). Also, it's an instant.
just curious - why do you have a crucible of worlds? it doesn't seem to do anything in your deck.
I have had Scour From Existence in the deck at times, but my deck has a small lore subtheme (Xantcha's Heartstone is used to create Karn, Silver Golem, so I like playing Karn and the Meteor Golem as homage to that).
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Modern RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH UFblthpU BRXantchaRB BGVarolzGB URWZedruuWRU
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1 Xantcha, Sleeper Agent
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Harsh Mentor
1 Archfiend of Despair
1 Dark Impostor
1 Blanket of Night
Sorcery
1 Torment of Hailfire
1 Exsanguinate
1 Cut // Ribbons
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ill-Gotten Gains
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Caged Sun
1 Extraplanar Lens
Land
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cabal Stronghold
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
I half-built this deck as you describe but then changed my mind mid stream and went for The Scorpion God instead in hopes it would draw a little less hate. Not really sure there yet but I hope so
I really like the concept of RB as big mana black though, as red offers some really strong synergizes with black - looting and wheels and such are great with reanimation, and having great answers to artifacts (vandalblast, esp.) fixes a lot of issues black has as a color.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
- I run several boardwipe effects that Xantcha dodges like Languish and Wildfire. Plus you can tune Toxic Deluge to keep her alive while wiping away small blockers. Obviously, careful of playing Wildfire if your playgroup frowns on MLD.
- I run Pestilence and Neheb, the Eternal as a way to make absurd mana. You can turn 5 black mana into 15 (or more) red and clear a bunch of pesky creatures. Also, Mana Geyser and Black Market are great huge mana cards that are somewhat difficult for opponents to interact with.
- You will need flexible answers to problem permanents, especially enchantments. I run Chaos Warp[/cars], Karn Liberated and Meteor Golem. The latter two are over-costed for the effect, but sometimes we really need an enchantment to die. Don’t forget to include this interactions stuff.
- I personally run Heartstone as Xantcha synergy and because of the lore with it and Xantcha and Karn. But you also have Olivia who would benefit (she is my 1v1 commander with the same 99.
- Augmenting Xantcha is not viable at all. You should see her as card draw first and a beatstick second. You can help her stick on the battlefield with certain lands, specifically Shizo, Death’s Storehouse and to a lesser degree Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep. In a pinch, Maze of Ith does the job, and while expensive Mystifying Maze can be used to flicker Xantcha and return her to the battlefield under another opponent’s control if you want to change who controls her.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
on the off-chance you've not seen this, scour from existence. It's like the golem, but exiles (that opposing kruphix, god of horizons getting you down?), AND can deal with annoying lands (don't just hit random karoo-lands. if someone throws down a gaea's cradle, get it!). Also, it's an instant.
just curious - why do you have a crucible of worlds? it doesn't seem to do anything in your deck.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
Crucible is in the deck because when people know you play big mana everybody saves their ghost quarter or similar for your Cabal Coffers. This is a way too recur it easily.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
I have had Scour From Existence in the deck at times, but my deck has a small lore subtheme (Xantcha's Heartstone is used to create Karn, Silver Golem, so I like playing Karn and the Meteor Golem as homage to that).
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU