__________________________________________________________________________________________________ DISCLAIMER
This control deck is for folks who are intrigued by Tasigur and enjoy interactive games. This is not an infinite combo deck. It has one combo which it treats as a panic button. However, the deck's resources are not devoted to digging up combo pieces to win. Pain is Sacrifice is designed for the long game: only controlling when absolutely necessary, then going for the kill (usually via combat).
DECK ORIGINS
I've been playing Magic since Ice Age and EDH/Commander since the original precons, and I've never been even remotely interested in the Ana/Sultai color combination until Tasigur, the Golden Fang. I remember buying Mirror Mastery 'cos Riku was a) Asian and b) hot. The same thing attracted me to Tasigur. And those pierced nipples! *swoon* Here was the BDSM general that I hadn't even known I was waiting for.
DECK CREATION
Building from Tasigur's backstory as a hedonistic tyrant, I knew I wanted the deck to be focused on the pain and sacrifice of others (and sometimes ourselves, 'cos masochism). Having a fair amount of experience with mono-B control, I elected to base the deck in Black and splash U and G. I also wanted to keep the flavor as close to my dark vision as possible. That made focusing on B an easy choice. The color also provides plenty of options for cards to force sacrifice. (This is especially helpful when facing hexproof commanders like Narset, Enlightened Master.)
DECK THEMES
Liliana of the Veil was one of the first cards to go in the deck for her sacrifice ability. However, after days of testing, it quickly became apparent that a Tasigur build would benefit immensely from more discard. Hand disruption soon became a secondary theme. Tasigur's ability, as well as that of Necropotence, allows Possessed Portal to be even more tyrannical than normal. With a token subtheme, courtesy of Empty the Pits, Army of the Damned and Bitterblossom, the deck is also able to make cards like Barter in Blood and Descent into Madness asymmetrical.
Tasigur likes a well-stocked graveyard. Rather than go for a reanimation strategy, I instead opted for cards with flashback -- and even unearth in the case of Kederekt Leviathan -- like Forbidden Alchemy and Sever the Bloodline. Buyback also becomes more interesting with Tasigur. Discarding spells to Forbid is less painful when there's a chance of returning them to the hand. Similarly, buying back Capsize isn't always necessary with Tasigur around.
Much like Dralnu and Toshiro, Tasigur wants to maximize the use of high-value cards. Whether playing politically or not, making opponents' decisions of what to return to your hand an ongoing Choice of Damnations is easier when deckbuilding with as many painful spells as feasible. While not a perfect toolbox commander, Tasigur can still ensure that a well-tuned deck will always provide more lashes for opponents' backs. Tasigur also mitigates the need for redundancy.
I've built over 30 Commander decks and 23 out of the 27 color combinations. I have never been as excited about a commander as I am about Tasigur, the Golden Fang.(EDIT: I wrote this before Wizards proclaimed Alesha, Who Smiles at Deathto be a transwoman. So, until Ashiok is released as a Commander, Alesha remains the commander I have EVER been most excited about!) The card offers much complexity to every turn of the game for me. With the graveyard as both a reusable extension of the hand and a sometimes one-time mana source, Tasigur makes every choice matter, both for myself and opponents.
Played an interesting game where Tasigur was only cast once, late in the game, just to be quickly removed. Despite his absence for the majority of the game, was able to sculpt hand with Necropotence and Rings of Brighthearth until the game-winning combo was found. The threat of a bought-back Capsize also kept opponents at bay. Game was a nice reminder that a good deck need not rely on its commander to win. And so far, this deck has been very good to me.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
I haven't even examined the deck closely yet, just the theme alone makes it super awesome Too few people build decks base on flavor.
Now onto the reading... Do you intend to use any green with it?
EDIT: Sorry, i see the green now. Told you I didn't look closely.
Welcome to the dungeon, cyberium_neo. We've got fun and pain! Check my signature; I almost exclusively build theme decks.
From a design perspective, the idea behind Pain is Sacrifice is to give mono-B control access to all the goodies outside its slice of the color pie. Greater Good offers card draw without life loss as well as a way to recycle Tasigur for more delving if needed. For even more mana ramp, Boundless Realms makes Cabal Coffers an experience in greed fulfilled. Black has issues handling noncreature permanents which is where Beast Within and Wave of Vitriol come in. Life from the Loam recurs Coffers if lost to the Wave or anything else, but additionally gives us more targets for Tasigur. LftL is arguably more resilient than Crucible of Worlds, too. To get even more activations out of Tasigur, I find Prophet of Kruphix more useful than the Training Grounds some other decks are using. Personally, I'd much rather bring Prophet back to my hand than Grounds, but that's just me.
I haven't even examined the deck closely yet, just the theme alone makes it super awesome Too few people build decks base on flavor.
Now onto the reading... Do you intend to use any green with it?
EDIT: Sorry, i see the green now. Told you I didn't look closely.
Welcome to the dungeon, cyberium_neo. We've got fun and pain! Check my signature; I almost exclusively build theme decks.
From a design perspective, the idea behind Pain is Sacrifice is to give mono-B control access to all the goodies outside its slice of the color pie. Greater Good offers card draw without life loss as well as a way to recycle Tasigur for more delving if needed. For even more mana ramp, Boundless Realms makes Cabal Coffers an experience in greed fulfilled. Black has issues handling noncreature permanents which is where Beast Within and Wave of Vitriol come in. Life from the Loam recurs Coffers if lost to the Wave or anything else, but additionally gives us more targets for Tasigur. LftL is arguably more resilient than Crucible of Worlds, too. To get even more activations out of Tasigur, I find Prophet of Kruphix more useful than the Training Grounds some other decks are using. Personally, I'd much rather bring Prophet back to my hand than Grounds, but that's just me.
I played tested your deck and added Eternal Witness and Acidic Slime for functionality, although I wonder how I should fit them into the theme. The girl is simple, but the slime...
With all the land/creature shenanigans I added Bloodghast and Nether Traitor, but that brings up the aforementioned question of flavor...
As for the emo-boy-feel, I tried out Sorin Markov.
Addition discard comes from Delirium Skeins. Bottomless Pit works but requires more dedication to mend the random discard. Twilight's Call brings out a lot of hell with opponent's grave being empty.
After purposefully skipping a land drop to enable a second turn Revenant, tutored for Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and began putting the smackdown on the Daretti player, tucking their early Grim Monolith with Unravel the Æther.
Drawing into Exsanguinate and Exquisite Blood emboldened me to pay life every time the Athreos player attempted returning weenies to their hand.
Rings of Brighthearth was just blood on the whip, quickly increasing my virtual hand size.
Eventually, I whittled the Daretti player down to zero with the Revenant with the Athreos player repeatedly returning card draw spells and Exsanguinate to my hand for fear of the other choices in my graveyard, such as Cyclonic Rift, Damnation, and the aforementioned Demonic Tutor. Their decision gave me what I needed to get to Sanguine Bond faster and win the game.
Ah, the ever painful paradox of choice.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
Have been playing more with Tasigur lately and while my decision to include Dead Drop was primarily about flavor, it's been an excellent way to Regrowth for the right kind of card in my graveyard.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
PAIN IS SACRIFICE
- STARRING TASIGUR, THE GOLDEN FANG -
DISCLAIMER
This control deck is for folks who are intrigued by Tasigur and enjoy interactive games. This is not an infinite combo deck. It has one combo which it treats as a panic button. However, the deck's resources are not devoted to digging up combo pieces to win. Pain is Sacrifice is designed for the long game: only controlling when absolutely necessary, then going for the kill (usually via combat).
DECK ORIGINS
DECK CREATION
DECK THEMES
Tasigur likes a well-stocked graveyard. Rather than go for a reanimation strategy, I instead opted for cards with flashback -- and even unearth in the case of Kederekt Leviathan -- like Forbidden Alchemy and Sever the Bloodline. Buyback also becomes more interesting with Tasigur. Discarding spells to Forbid is less painful when there's a chance of returning them to the hand. Similarly, buying back Capsize isn't always necessary with Tasigur around.
Much like Dralnu and Toshiro, Tasigur wants to maximize the use of high-value cards. Whether playing politically or not, making opponents' decisions of what to return to your hand an ongoing Choice of Damnations is easier when deckbuilding with as many painful spells as feasible. While not a perfect toolbox commander, Tasigur can still ensure that a well-tuned deck will always provide more lashes for opponents' backs. Tasigur also mitigates the need for redundancy.
This is not a stax deck, but there are some stax elements. In addition to the aforementioned Possessed Portal and Descent into Madness, the deck features cards like the new Archfiend of Depravity as well as old standbys like Pox and Death Cloud. To offset the benefit to other players utilizing their graveyards, Leyline of the Void is especially relevant.
Finally, the deck wins in a variety of ways:
I've built over 30 Commander decks and 23 out of the 27 color combinations.
I have never been as excited about a commander as I am about Tasigur, the Golden Fang.(EDIT: I wrote this before Wizards proclaimed Alesha, Who Smiles at Death to be a transwoman. So, until Ashiok is released as a Commander, Alesha remains the commander I have EVER been most excited about!) The card offers much complexity to every turn of the game for me. With the graveyard as both a reusable extension of the hand and a sometimes one-time mana source, Tasigur makes every choice matter, both for myself and opponents.On to the list!
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
TASIGUR'S DUNGEON, LLC
EST. 1969
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Breeding Pool
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Cephalid Coliseum
1x Flooded Grove
1x Flooded Strand
6x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x High Market
7x Island
1x Miren, the Moaning Well
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Polluted Delta
1x Strip Mine
1x Sunken Ruins
8x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Watery Grave
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
MISTRESS LILI
1x Liliana of the Veil
DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL
TO BECOME A DOMINATRIX?
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Deep Analysis
FOR THIS MUCH MONEY?
1x Boundless Realms
1x Life from the Loam
PUT THAT AWAY!
I'M NOT THAT KIND
OF SEX WORKER
1x Unravel the Æther
1x Forbid
MAKING FANTASY REALITY
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Forbidden Alchemy
DO THAT AGAIN! I LIKED IT!
1x Rings of Brighthearth
SACRIFICIAL PLAYTHINGS
1x Bitterblossom
1x Empty the Pits
1x Army of the Damned
SADOMASOCHISM
1x Descent into Madness
1x Mist of Stagnation
1x Possessed Portal
SADISM
1x Exquisite Blood
1x Sanguine Bond
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Dead Drop
1x Exsanguinate
1x Tyrant's Choice
MASOCHISM
1x Greater Good
1x Necropotence
1x Reanimate
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DUNGEON...
1x Beast Within
1x Sever the Bloodline
1x All Is Dust
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Wave of Vitriol
1x Barter in Blood
1x Innocent Blood
1x Damnation
1x Death Cloud
1x Pox
1x Leyline of the Void
1x Relic of Progenitus
THANK YOU, COME AGAIN
1x Capsize
THINKING ABOUT YOUR
NEXT TIME ALREADY?
1x Mystic Speculation
PLEASURE BRUISE
1x Treasure Cruise
DUNGEON SECURITY
1x Archfiend of Depravity
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Reiver Demon
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Indulgent Tormentor
1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1x Kederekt Leviathan
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Mindslicer
By Card Type
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Enchantment (8)
1x Bitterblossom
1x Descent into Madness
1x Exquisite Blood
1x Greater Good
1x Leyline of the Void
1x Mist of Stagnation
1x Necropotence
1x Sanguine Bond
Instant (10)
1x Beast Within
1x Capsize
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Empty the Pits
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Forbid
1x Forbidden Alchemy
1x Unravel the Æther
1x Vampiric Tutor
Sorcery (20)
1x All Is Dust
1x Army of the Damned
1x Barter in Blood
1x Boundless Realms
1x Damnation
1x Dead Drop
1x Death Cloud
1x Deep Analysis
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Exsanguinate
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Innocent Blood
1x Life from the Loam
1x Mystic Speculation
1x Pox
1x Reanimate
1x Sever the Bloodline
1x Treasure Cruise
1x Tyrant's Choice
1x Wave of Vitriol
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Possessed Portal
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Rings of Brighthearth
Planeswalker (1)
1x Liliana of the Veil
Creature (16)
1x Archfiend of Depravity
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Indulgent Tormentor
1x Kederekt Leviathan
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Mindslicer
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Reiver Demon
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
Land (40)
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Breeding Pool
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Cephalid Coliseum
1x Flooded Grove
1x Flooded Strand
6x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x High Market
7x Island
1x Miren, the Moaning Well
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Polluted Delta
1x Strip Mine
1x Sunken Ruins
8x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Watery Grave
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Change Log
1x Mist of Stagnation
1x Oppression
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
A card's color identity is any mana symbol appearing on that card.
"A card's color identity is any mana symbol appearing on that card."
http://magic.wizards.com/en/gameinfo/gameplay/formats/commander
Now onto the reading... Do you intend to use any green with it?
EDIT: Sorry, i see the green now. Told you I didn't look closely.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
From a design perspective, the idea behind Pain is Sacrifice is to give mono-B control access to all the goodies outside its slice of the color pie. Greater Good offers card draw without life loss as well as a way to recycle Tasigur for more delving if needed. For even more mana ramp, Boundless Realms makes Cabal Coffers an experience in greed fulfilled. Black has issues handling noncreature permanents which is where Beast Within and Wave of Vitriol come in. Life from the Loam recurs Coffers if lost to the Wave or anything else, but additionally gives us more targets for Tasigur. LftL is arguably more resilient than Crucible of Worlds, too. To get even more activations out of Tasigur, I find Prophet of Kruphix more useful than the Training Grounds some other decks are using. Personally, I'd much rather bring Prophet back to my hand than Grounds, but that's just me.
As for the deck's U inclusions, Glen Elendra Archmage works beautifully in tandem with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Pairing Kederekt Leviathan with Volrath's Stronghold is another way the deck reuses its resources.
Thanks again for the love!
I played tested your deck and added Eternal Witness and Acidic Slime for functionality, although I wonder how I should fit them into the theme. The girl is simple, but the slime...
With all the land/creature shenanigans I added Bloodghast and Nether Traitor, but that brings up the aforementioned question of flavor...
As for the emo-boy-feel, I tried out Sorin Markov.
Addition discard comes from Delirium Skeins. Bottomless Pit works but requires more dedication to mend the random discard. Twilight's Call brings out a lot of hell with opponent's grave being empty.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
After purposefully skipping a land drop to enable a second turn Revenant, tutored for Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and began putting the smackdown on the Daretti player, tucking their early Grim Monolith with Unravel the Æther.
Drawing into Exsanguinate and Exquisite Blood emboldened me to pay life every time the Athreos player attempted returning weenies to their hand.
Rings of Brighthearth was just blood on the whip, quickly increasing my virtual hand size.
Eventually, I whittled the Daretti player down to zero with the Revenant with the Athreos player repeatedly returning card draw spells and Exsanguinate to my hand for fear of the other choices in my graveyard, such as Cyclonic Rift, Damnation, and the aforementioned Demonic Tutor. Their decision gave me what I needed to get to Sanguine Bond faster and win the game.
Ah, the ever painful paradox of choice.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
Thoughts?
ADDED
Mist of Stagnation (I'm curious how much support this needs)
REMOVED
Oppression (will likely make it back in, but if I don't test, the deck gets…stagnant)