I'm almost suprised of this deck's win ratio - about or even over 80%. In the last 8 games I lost only once and only because of some mass removal and Sunder casted in short succession. If I get Food Chain or Prophet of Kruphix online it is almost impossible to stop the flow of creatures - for either combo or full control over a table.
Changes (01/01/2014):
- Voidmage Prodigy - it's too color intensive and I need every blue I have most turns
- Leyline of Anticipation - rarely gets cast and having it at opening hand is even more rare
- Garruk Wildspeaker - rarely useful and the aggro is less frequent than combo
- Decree of Silence - I'd rather cast a creature then keep 6 mana open; also hardcasting it is... hard and Teferi gives all the protection I need
- Moldgraph Monstrosity - not many sac outlets to make it useful and random clause is a nuissance
- Terrastodon - resource denial is not that needed here even if it has 9 power for Zegana
- Ixidron - while being one of the best creature based "removal" it can fold my plans when flipped from Primal Surge into a table full of important creatures. I cannot risk it.
- Yavimaya Elder - it costs 5 mana to get 3 cards, two of them being lands.
Phyrexia Eternal (or Deck version full of Phyrexian Flavor)
A deck below is stuffed with more Phyrexia themed/named cards (P) without losing much of its function, game plan and strength. Put some suggestions on what Phyrexia (old and new) related cards add if you like.
I play with Sheoldred from the New Phyrexia's prerelease but I'll document only the latest changes as I didn't keep record of the older ones. Feel free to look at Card explanation section in a post above for spells used in earlier iterations.
Changes (Mar 2015): Karn Liberated -> Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - most important update after Fate Reforged release Phyrexian Obliterator -> Mindslaver - this card became more popular in our meta and it fits deck's strategy anyway Geth's Verdict -> Hero's Downfall - instant, targeted removal became much more important lately (Sphinx, Prophet etc.) Shriekmav -> Toxic Deluge - another major update as I finally acquired this card Arena -> Swamp - not needed without Obliterator Marsh Flats -> Swamp - thinning a deck is not that important here and every little pain can ruin a plan
Changes (Jun 2015): Erebos, God of the Dead -> Trading Post - costed me too much life so decided to test this multipurpose artifact in his place. Grave Titan -> Massacre Wurm - meta became full of small mana creatures so it seems like a perfect fit against them. Braids' absence also makes it less important.
Changes (Dec 2015): Sorin Markov -> Wretched Confluence - Sorin is great for crippling most dangerous opponent but it does nothing against that player's board position and other players still need to break through defences to finish the job. Confluence turned out to be quite useful in games I played with it. Praetor's Grasp -> Corpse Augur - this guy is fantastic. He draws minimum of 3 cards usually and can be brought back to draw more with easy condition to do that. Grasp is useful but more often than not I like to play MY deck than others'. Blighted Fen -> High Market - more sac outlets help against steal and copy effects. Makes Mindslicer and new Corpse Augur happy too.
Changes (Feb 2016): Swampx1 -> Terrain Generator - it's back not only as occassional ramp but to help casting Warping Weil if there are no artifacts around. Phyrexian Arena -> Warping Wail - I'm sad to see Arena go but it was rarely used and slow. WW is just too good. Worn Powerstone -> Grim Monolith - finally acquired it so it's quality change. Slum Reaper -> Fleshbag Marauder - faster is better... in most cases I think. Loosing a part of 4CMC toolbox may hurt but we'll see. Nihil Spellbomb -> Faerie Macabre - suprise factor and going under any stax/denial effects is better than wider AoE and cantrip. Havoc Demon -> Ascendant Evincar - he kills fast ramp, hatebears and some combo strategies and his effect lasts all the time. Crovax's best out of Big Three I tested (Demon, Wurm and him), at least in black-light metas. Nirkana Revenant -> Vulturous Aven - she's great and all but too slow for what she's supposed to do most of the time (mana doubling) Burnished Hart -> Bubbling Muck - like Nirkana moose is simply too slow but I don't thing Muck will last here forever either. We'll see. Yawgmoth's Will -> Reanimate - cheaper is better and YW fits combo-builds better than stax/control ones.
Changes (Jun 2016): Swampx1 -> Nihil Spellbomb - it's back for fighting reanimation and spell recursion. Lower land count goes in pair with more mana rocks and lesser overal spell cost. Thespian's Stage -> Blinkmoth Well - Stage rarely copied anything relevant and Well goes in for testing its interation with updated Orb effects. Bubbling Muck -> Entomb - this card is bonkers, especially when followed by reanimation spell or when Sheoldred is around. Finally acquired foil version from Graveborn so I could put it in. Eye of Doom -> Unstable Obelisk - Eye is great but having control over what to destroy is better. Obelisk does double duty as mana rock too. Puppeteer Clique -> Cathodion - another mobile mana rock. Works best with Adnate but it's good with other sac effects too. Clique was a hit or miss too many times. Vulturous Aven -> Tooth Collector - got rid of him earlier but it needs to be noted. Collector pings mana dorks and beats for 3 which gave me timely win at least once. He's first on the chopping block when anything better arrives though. Wretched Confluence -> Sign in Blood - cheaper draw is better and I had troubles casting Confluence from under stax/prison effects and Gaddok Teeg too many times. Rise of the Dark Realms -> Void Winnower - I tend to face creature strategies less and less so Rise was an overcosted half of Living Death too many times. On the other hand Winnower is simply bonkers. It single-handed won me two games last time I played by Entombing and Reanimating it on Turn 2 and Turn 3. I was lucky but it can do many bad things even later in the game.
Converted to Phyrexian (or Many Thanks to)
Many thanks to calderstrake for spelling and grammar corrections of the post. May the power of the Dark Realms be with you Kris!
Black is arguably the most powerful color in a Multiverse. Even if Phyrexia leaders learned to use other mana colors, Black is still their source of strength and resolve. Resolve for world (table) domination!
Dark Memories and Dark Deeds (or few words about myself)
Biggest, baddest and bannest
Welcome to my world. I started playing Magic many, many years ago (Urza block if I recall) but the true enjoyment came after getting into EDH (or Commander as it's called now) at the beginning of this format. The first deck I build was Mono Black Control commanded by Kuon, Ogre Ascendant. Despite being pretty weak it quickly earned me reputation of a "bad guy" in my small, developing meta as nobody wanted his creatures killed over and over. That's just a fate of someone playing black. I built other mono-colored decks as well as some multicolored ones over the years but I've been always returning to the "source". Even if some funky web tests show that I'm Blue-Green in terms of character and objectives, I’ve always enjoyed playing BBB the most. After Kuon I tested several other black leaders and finally settled on Sheoldred after the banhammer landed on Griselbrand. As I've got lot of experience playing mono-black stuff, I'll make a quick review of other Commanders I came to test in that time:
Kuon, Ogre Ascendant - fun when flipped but worked against my own creature plans and there wasn't enough "become a creature" artifacts that time. Was hard to flip anyway and my card pool was tiny at that time so I was unable to make it work better.
Maga, Traitor to Mortals - the only plan here was producing a lot of mana (infinite the best) which was boring and easy to read. She didn't determine any gameplan beside it so boring goodstuff was the only option. Wasn't much of a beater either (without any evasion) so I moved forward.
Kagemaro, First to Suffer - I tend to overextend a little (or a lot) and "be aggressive" so I couldn't keep enough cards in hand to make him threatening. Seems more suited to pure control builds with low creature count and more reanimation; creature strategies are not the only ones I usually face so his ability would be kind of useless at times.
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - everyone saw him coming and he died a lot with that fragile body of his. Making tokens would lead to combo and that's what I wanted to avoid at that time and it was too hard to setup anyway.
Horobi, Death's Wail - required running subpar cards to make use of his targetting ability and he died from basically everything. Looked fun on paper only being not much of a beater either.
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade - just a dumb, square beater with no chance to use his grandeur ability. A little more resilient than the rest of the bunch but voltron plan didn't fit my plans and doesn't work in my meta.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - better than Korlash and best of all (excluding unreachable Xiahou) at that time but also a dumb beater. Played him for over one year but was looking for viable replacement anyway.
Geth, Lord of the Vault - he lasted till Sheoldred came and lost the competition for being too power (mana) hungry. I prefer reanimating my own creatures over my opponents’ anyway.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - he screams COMBO too loud and is even more hated than Lady Sheol. It would be shame not to use his potential but doing that would lead to boring, repeatable games.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - powerful but serving only one purpose - recursion. Tried him few games but he seemed slow and kind of bland. He's better suited as a support creature for Sheoldred.
Chainer, Dementia Master - played only against him and he seemed slower than Shelly. Sure, he's best at reanimation, both domestic and foreign but he pays for it dearly, in both mana and life. He also requires dedicating precious card slots into much more drain/life gain effects and sac outlets than any other Commander.
Griselbrand - the best of all and clearly broken so he had to be banned. Had fun comboing Turn 4 to kill the whole table but I think I would get bored with him in time.
Sheoldred is one of the Phyrexian Praetors, a leader of Phyrexian hordes and one of the most powerful non-planeswalker entities in the Multiverse. I won't delve into her history as there is little to be told; the only thing one should know about her is that she fits perfectly into being a Commander of a control/stax oriented deck. Our Dark Mistress has two triggered abilities - one that forces opponents to sacrifice creatures and the other which raises our own. Both greatly support plan of ruling the table by board advantage and resource denial which is core strategy here. Let's take a closer look:
6/6, Swampwalk
I wished she was 7/7 but it's not that bad anyway. In fact she's one of the biggest creatures in a deck and greatly supports a beatdown which eventually occurs. With Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth she's unblockable all the time and can be pumped with swamp-matter effects (Nightmare Lash, Lashwrithe, Liliana of the Dark Realms) to kill in 1-3 hits if able. She shouldn't be treated as a voltron commander thought - 7 mana is a lot and she will probably die soon enough given her other abilities are more threatening than her body.
At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield
This is a very powerful ability and it's free of charge which is important for following the game plan. Sure it triggers only once per turn and we have to wait a whole cycle to use it but it's the most useful trait of Lady Sheol. The entire deck is designed to benefit from it one way or another and while creatures I use aren't the biggest ones, they become dangerous or enable powerful plays if used several times. I wouldn't go reanimation route farther than necessary but if there is a possibility then cards like Entomb or Buried Alive can allow to bring some scary monsters back from the grave.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature.
This skill is perfect for stopping voltron strategies and keeping opponents from developing their creature presence. It also paints a huge target on Sheoldred so beware. Token players will laugh at it but even they can be short of one creature to make a combo or lethal strike. It's also great political skill in situation when "enemy of my enemy" cannot deal with one problematic creature other player has and allows to resolve Sheoldred only to punish that opponent. It never useless, even on empty table as it prevents foes from casting their Commanders as they would lose them right away.
Barring all the above you should ask yourself if you are ready for such a power, as with great power comes great responsibility and loads of removal and hate your opponents will cast your way. Sheoldred will win you many games but you won't win many friends playing her. Because of her abilities she can be build as a voltron or mid-range aggro, she can serve as reanimator engine or go for pure stax strategy but the best results she gets in hybrid stax-control-reanimator build. She herself is a hybrid and so a deck should be - using all her abilities equally. Some may say she's a Jack (Jenny?) of all trades but master of none and that will be true. The thing is she should NOT be treated as central figure in play but more like support or backup plan. She's like a turbo boost in a car or energy drink on a dance floor. A deck with her at the lead should work fine without her but should also work better when she join the party. Browse through the card list and strategy section to see what I mean. To sum this up:
You should play Sheoldred if You:
like thinking hard about your plays and make uneasy decisions
want to control a game state in many aspects and stages
like to cripple your opponents, watch them struggle and make them fold eventually
are ready to embrace power of the Dark Realms
You should stay away from Sheoldred if You:
prefer simple decks and playing autopilot
want to win by quick aggro or instant win combo
want to lay low, not being much of a threat to anyone
Deck contents has changed over the years with acquisition of better cards or better ideas and finally established as a control/stax hybrid as you can see below. It's a result of years of playing and planning Mono Black "dominator" so beware - reading the list may get you infected by Phyrexia flavor.
Dark Realms of Phyrexia (or Card Choices explanation)
This deck has two themes if it comes for both flavor and functionality. The first one is using Phyrexian cards as a lot is playable and powerful. Some of them were discarded after acquiring better or more suited cards (like Phyrexian Obliterator, Phyrexian Gargantua or Gate to Phyrexia) but a core remains. If you are focused more on flavor than power, feel free to include them if you like, I may even prepare a separate decklist for it in a future.
The second theme is Dimir House Guard's and Fleshwrither's toolbox of cards with CMC of 4. Both cards not only help fetch necessary answers or build the board position but being creatures they work very well with Sheoldred's reanimation ability. Below is a breakdown of cards by function/purpose of being included (cards bolded are used currently):
Fleshwrither toolbox:
Crypt Ghast - very effective and cheap mana doubler; lifegain is just an icing on a cake. Unlike Nirkana he flies under radar most of the time.
Dimir House Guard - not only finds the most useful 4CMC cards but is free of charge sac outlet, ideal for Living Death loops. Works great with Phyrexian Reclamation as uncounterable and repeatable tutor.
Disciple of Bolas - draw with lifegain bonus, great with cards like Clique and Kokusho. Don't be hesistant in saccing Shelly if you need to refill.
Erebos, God of the Dead - repeatable and indestructible draw effect but can hurt a lot and 2 mana per card is often too much in tight fights. It blocks our opponents' life gain effects which may turn the tables sometimes though.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - gives repeatable option to use opponent's cards to our advantage - both quality and quantity.
Mindslicer - mass discard; losing cards doesn't hurt that much as Dark Mistress gets them back easily. Best cast having 7+ mana next turn and sacrifice outlet on demand.
Phyrexian Obliterator - great attack deterrent but doesn't do much else unless paired with Arena. It sure scares a hell out of opponents but is better used in more aggressive decklists.
Slum Reaper - who wants opponents to sac two creatures per turn? Sheoldred and this guy make it happen. Its stats are not bad either, at least for reusing for life and cards with Disciple.
Solemn Simulacrum - standard goodstuff ramp and draw, easy to abuse with Sheoldred and sac outlet.
Vulturous Aven - more draw is always better than less. Better than Disciple if there is nothing else to sac. Best with Mindslicer as you can stack triggers to draw after discard. It's always "draw only 2" though.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - recursion for everything black each turn sounds great, even better with Rings of Brighthearth. Late game he enables looping Rise of the Dark Realms, our main wincon.
Dimir House Guard toolbox (all above and...):
Fleshwrither - finding creatures directly into play is really powerful. Add a Skullclamp to the mix and he becomes pure card advantage.
Damnation - black's most known mass removal spell, it's a staple anyway.
Insidious Dreams - best tool for setting up mass reanimation (Living Death or Realms) but useless without creatures in hand which is not that rare occurence. Fits more reanimation or combo-focused decklists.
Silence the Believers - instant exile effect can be very helpful if facing something Lady Sheol + other removal won't take care of. Such situations are rare though and 4-mana removal can be too much in early game. It sure shines with late game mana production (Coffers and the like) but permanently removing creatures we could reanimate later (Rise) is against our gameplan sometimes. It's still viable option though, especially when facing opposing reanimation.
Snuff Out - the suprise factor is its greatest strength and life cost can be mitigated later with a help of Kokusho or Merchant. Allows tapping out without risk of being killed by suprice attack or creature-based combo.
Eye of Doom - this strange card proved to be very usefull politicaly. It usually cripples the most dangerous opponent and backfires very little if cast when someone else got the upper hand in a game. Remember to announce it with a long "doooooom" when you cast it.
Helm of Possession - one of the few answers to indestructible creatures (if sacrifice is not an option) and hate like Iona. With sac outlet acts as removal and can serve as sac outlet itself. Skeleton and Sheoldred's reanimation breaks it in half.
Infernal Darkness - another stax element that fits toolbox but not so easy to upkeep like Contamination. It also doesn't hinder the amount of mana produced which can be relevant at times (Gaea's Cradle, opposing Coffers).
Liliana of the Dark Realms - ramp, pump and removal; her ultimate can be acchieved quite easily when played early or right after clearing a table.
Grave Pact - works great with few sac outlets and self-saccing dudes I run but there's not enough of them to make it valid I think. Need more token-makers for it and Sheoldred does most saccing I need.
Nevinyrral's Disk - the fact it enters battlefield tapped gives opponents time to react and destroy it. It's still a good card for less explosive metas though.
Thran Dynamo - standard ramp artifact, useful as any other. Better than Basalt Monolith as it untaps and costs only 1 more mana (and fits toolbox).
Hedron Archive - gives mana or cards so it's very flexible tool.
Trading Post - multipurpose card which supports both reanimation and sacrifice. Requires higher artifact count to be most usefull and can produce fodder for Skullclamp and Contamination.
Other Cards by function:
Mana:
24 Swamp - produce Dark Power. As a side note Swamp is a most common basic land type for a land-matters effects and there are some here too (Coffers, mana doublers)
Ancient Tomb - important land for explosive starts, usually first target for Map.
Cabal Coffers - the best ramp at black's disposal, but most effective in a mid-late game. Fetching some Swamps first is a priority.
Deserted Temple - serves as Coffers#2, draw engine with Underworld Connections' enchanted land and sac engine with Phyrexian Tower. Part of infinite mana combo if Rings are included.
Drownyard Temple - works great with discard engines and mass discard strategy.
Myriad Landscape - searches for two Swamps which is enough to be viable. Can be untapped with Temple to work right away.
Petrified Field - another Coffers saver but can also bring back other necessary lands.
Phyrexian Tower - ramp and sacrifice engine for repeated reanimation as well as creature stealing prevention.
Terrain Generator - helps with ramping and does it well especially with all the extra draw and Liliana. Doesn't help with mana screw though.
Thespian's Stage - usually copies Coffers for even more mana or any other important land in response to being destroyed. It's kind of wasted slot without Dark Depths though.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - transforms our colorless lands into swamps which can be relevant for some B heavy spells like Sorin. It also helps Coffers making more mana (a lot more sometimes), strengthens Liliana's skills and makes Sheoldred unblockable.
Bubbling Muck - doubling mana production is good in both early and late game. Sadly it works for a turn only.
Phyrexian Totem - gives mana and can dish out some damage, especially when table is cleared by Sheoldred's sacrifice ability. Can also serve as the last resort sacrifice fodder for Contamination or Disciple. Multipurpose item.
Wayfarer's Bauble - searching for new Swamps and ramping is very important here and this one acts as a colorless Rampant Growth.
Dark Ritual - getting turn one Phyrexian Arena or Myojin two turns earlier is often a win. Never underestimate power of the Dark.
Soldevi Adnate - this one enables really sick plays as it's not only sac outlet but can produce a lot of Dark Power at the same time. He/she's (there are two art versions) most broken with Mindslicer - declare casting a draw spell, pay mana by saccing 'slicer, everyone discards their hands, you draw cards. It also serves as emergency backup battery when lands get destroyed by an opponent and we're able to cast and use it to battle post MLD threats.
Basal Sliver - single-use mana dork. Allows explosive plays next turn and can be reanimated.
Burnished Hart - elk is little slow but fetching two Swamps is priceless, especially then Coffers are out. Then do it again next turn with the help of Sheoldred.
Unstable Obelisk - does double duty as removal which gives it upper hand over other mana rocks.
Cathodion - walking mana-battery. Works best with Soldevi Adnate and Phyrexian Tower.
Overeager Apprentice - mana-battery with an option to dump something more suited for reanimation. Best with Living Death as it enables finite loops costing 2 mana per cast and fills grave with more and more creatures to reanimate every time.
Nirkana Revenant - she's big removal magnet but mostly of her ability to grow complementing doubling our dark benefits. Late game she can kill in one hit (assuming life totals are little lower) but is kind'a easy to block.
Draw:
Barren Moor - cycling lands can be good in some scenarios, like when searched for with Expedition Map to draw something tutored right away.
Geier Reach Sanitarium - serves similar purpose as the above and can mess up opponent's plans.
Skullclamp - clamp is pure card advantage but everyone already knows that. Its best uses are with Mindslicer (we can stack triggers to draw after discard), self-saccing mana batterries (Apprentice, Adnate) and Skeleton which reads 1BB: draw two cards.
Sign in Blood - classic cheap card draw. Nothing else to say.
Waste Not - works with discard only but there is enough support to varrant running this card. Has great potential.
Read the Bones - helps digging for aswers, great card from God-set.
Underworld Connections - usually goes under radar as a simple Strip Mine can end its "life" but paired with Deserted Temple suddenly generates enormous card advantage.
Phyrexian Arena - kind of staple despite being little slow; can be replaced with Necropotence if there are no Mindslavers around.
Necropotence - this is "staple of staples" in MBC. It can be little roadblock here though as we discard a lot and this exiles all discarded stuff. It's also death sentence if someone uses Mindslaver or new Emrakul against us.
Memory Jar - allows to dig deep, play stuff and discard the rest for reanimation. Bonkers with Waste Not. Watch out for blue players with open mana though.
Moonlight Bargain - instant card draw which can dump creatures for reanimation. May cost a lot of life but it's like a Fact or Fiction in black (only we choose what to discard).
Promise of Power - great draw effect even if little slow (sorcery) and quite costly; can produce formitable beater late game.
Removal:
Strip Mine - staple, not much to say here. Without Azusa-like effects even Crucible won't break it at multiplayer table. Better to keep it for powerful lands like Gaea's Cradle, Winding Canyons or opposing Coffers.
Blighted Fen - creature removal on a land is always welcomed even if it costs more than a spell.
Arena - repeatable removal in a land spot is good but black usually packs a lot of creature hate already. Works best with Phyrexian Obliterator so it's auto-include if that one goes in too.
Tragic Slip - with the amount of sacrifice (self and other's) this is almost always -13/-13 instant for single B
Gate to Phyrexia - card with unique ability in black which makes it useful even if it requires a whole turn and a creature on the battlefield to kick-start it. Kind of auto-include if we don't use Disk or OStone but unnecessary with them.
Go for the Throat - cheap removal that kills almost every creature. It's never dead in multiplayer games.
Fleshbag Marauder - Slum Ripper fits into 4CMC toolbox and there is a lot of sacrifice here already but he still fits well, especially in faster environment.
Hero's Downfall - unconditional killing spell which sometimes deals with Karn or Ugin dudes. Versatility is the name of it.
Oblivion Stone - kills our stuff too but is too powerful and versatile to not to run it. If there is opportunity to put a counter, do it. Opponents will try to force it used sooner or later anyway.
Toxic Deluge - the best creature removal ever printed in black. Goes around regeneration, hexproof, indestructibility and Gaddok Teeg at a "small" price in blood.
Tooth Collector - repeatable removal for mana dorks and smaller tokens, works like a mini-Sheoldred with delirium.
Living Death - staple removal and reanimation in one, working especially well with Xiahou, Apprentice and Bargain. Just make sure opponents won't benefit more from it so clear their graveyards first.
Archfiend of Ifnir - backed up with enough cycling and already present discard can level field of dorks every turn. Its cycling makes it easy to reanimate.
Massacre Wurm - powerful creature able to hold any creature-based combos at bay (if they involve sacrificing) or even kill a player if he/she overextends.
Ascendant Evincar - he shines in competitive metas full of mana-dorks and hatebears as he kills most of them permanently. He also turns Shelly into 3-turn clock.
Havoc Demon - kills most creatures in play and leaves Sheoldred unharmed. Needs a sac outlet though.
All is Dust - very powerful removal but doesn't hit artifacts and it's a sacrifice effect which can sometimes be liability (Sigarda).
Karn Liberated - can win games if protected for long enough but usually serves as single or double exile effect for 7 mana.
Decree of Pain - mass removal and fat draw in one, even cycling is handy sometimes. It costs a lot though so it's suited for the late game only.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - ultimate permanent removal for everything not being artifact which means keeping our own stuff and working below Sheoldred's CMC range. Can serve as a sac outlet in a pinch (already done this with Myr Retriever).
Recursion:
Phyrexian Reclamation - cheap and repeatable recursion expecially good against grave hate and for hating graves with Fearie Macabre as well as repeatable tutoring with DHG.
Reanimate - cheap trick to bring back something crucial or steal a bomb if we cannot afford expensive reanimation spell.
Myr Retriever - cheap Skullclamp fodder which not only brings back destroyed artifacts but enables some interesting loops with Sheoldred and sac outlet. Imagine Mindslaver or Oblivion Stone every turn and start drooling.
Corpse Dance - instant speed makes it great as we can reanimate at the end step or use it as an answer when the top creature card is something like Slum Reaper, but if our most important stuff rots at the bottom of graveyard pile, it's hard to get it sometimes. Having buyback makes it a pure advantage card and is absolutely bonkers with infinite mana and a sac outlet. It is better suited for decks with lower creature count and more ETB effects.
Necromancy - instant speed makes it also a grave hate and combat trick, depending on graveyards' contents.
Puppeteer Clique - dark faerie proved her usefulness many times already, getting all sorts of creatures from opponents' graveyards. Sakura-Tribe Elder for ramping, Muldrifter for card draw, Primordials for blowouts and even Chancellor of the Spires once, copying itself infinite times with Rite of Replication. She also acts as a gravehate, not only because of exile clause but persisting at instant speed with the help of a sac outlet. It does close to nothing against non-creature strategies though.
Sepulchral Primordial - can change the tide of battle or even win a game with its single cast but costs a lot, it doesn't work at instant speed like Necromancy and Clique (with sac outlet) and can easily be used against us (clones, opposing reanimation).
Rise of the Dark Realms - ultimate reanimation spell and most powerful wincon available in black. It's like a Tooth and Nail using all libraries and getting two cards from each one. Kind of. It costs a lot and can be useless against non-creature strategies though.
Stax and control:
Blinkmoth Well - can tap mana rocks and works great as anti-stax effect on Winter and Static Orbs.
Hope of Ghirapur - Silence which can be reanimated? Count me in. Lethal with Phyrexian Reclamation - for both the user and oponent.
Phyrexian Revoker - this little helper lock down abilities of most dangerous or annoying permanent on a table. His low cost makes it useful in hindering fast ramp like Sol Ring and it's ilk. It also helps battling token generals like Ghave or Marath, control/combo ones like Derevi or Oona and annoying non-creature permanents we cannot deal with so easily, like Luminarch Ascension or Birthing Pod.
Contamination - stax wincon, easy to upkeep with Sheoldred and Skeleton. It "kills" our Coffers (which I often forget about myself) but mana doublers work under its effect as usual.
Oppression - powerful effect against spellslingers and combos. Doesn't hurt us much as Shelly can get our stuff back.
Imp's Mischief - helps against point removal, counterspells and targeting reanimation but best used to redirect any targeted draw and Time Warp effects.
Withering Boon - answer against powerful ETB creatures (Primordials and such) and no one expects it from someone playing Mono Black. Suprice factor is its greatest strength.
Warping Wail - universal spell for solving many problems MBC faces like killing annoying hatebear, making a token for ramp or sac or countering that nasty Jokulhaups.
Tangle Wire - classic stax piece, nothing else to say.
Myojin of Night's Reach - stripping opponents' hands is a game winning move especially early, no question about it. Sure it costs a whole eight mana but it's worth it as he keeps our stuff intact. He doesn't do much after removing his divinity counter but can serve as a nice sac target for Disciple of Bolas or deal some combat damage.
Void Winnower - it can lock opponents' decks entirely or at prevent them from casting their generals at least.
Tutors:
Expedition Map - finds one of special lands. Early game the best search target is Ancient Tomb, later it is Coffers unless we need something tricky like Deserted Temple or Phyrexian Tower.
Praetor's Grasp - usually gets artifact ramp or artifact/colorless creatures or prevents opponent from comboing out.
Increasing Ambition - getting three cards instead of one is always a good move. The bad thing is a cost so it's useful late game only.
Razaketh's Rite - while it can be used mid-late game, cycling makes it viable early on too
Sidisi, Undead Vizier - as she can sacrifice herself with her trigger she works as repeatable tutor with Sheoldred and that's more than enough to be viable.
Rune-Scarred Demon - he's just obvious, body and tutor in one. Having enough mana we can search and play Contamination the same turn and Sheoldred the next to return demon and search for more bad stuff. He's also one of the few big bodies here and flying makes it great blocker and oppressor. Just beware of Bribery effects.
Support:
Bojuka Bog - staple gravehate for black, not much else to say.
High Market - another sac outlet helps with Mindslicer and Clique, provides colorless for Weil as well as gives back some of the lost life (this deck hurts it's owner a lot)
Nihil Spellbomb - it's useful not only for battling enemy's reanimation but also for setting up profitable Living Deaths, as we don't want others to benefit too much from them. It signals our intentions though.
Sensei's Divining Top - everyone's favourite slow-play enabler. There are no tricks with using it unless Rings of Brighthearth and infinite mana are involved (draw a deck, play everything).
Reassembling Skeleton - I play only one self-reccurring creature here as there is little need for more (Sheoldred's reanimation is sufficient) and the Skeleton is the best of all. He's all star with Contamination, Post, Helm and even mana for Phyrexian Tower.
Faerie Macabre - uncounterable (most of the time), instant speed gravehate which can be recovered with Reclamation and Confluence or reanimated to slap the face later.
Crucible of Worlds – bringing back destroyed Coffers or rebuilding after Armageddon-type effects is very useful but it depends on meta. Still it's very decent card but little too defensive for my taste.
Mimic Vat - works great as token generator for sac outlets and can imprint some powerful or useful creatures. It's a hate magnet though and doesn't work with discard, only die triggers.
Rings of Brighthearth - great card but useless without abilities to copy which happens quite often. Still, being able to get 2 Swamps out of one fetch or search two creatures with Fleshwrither is very tempting. Not to mention infinite mana with Basalt Monolith or Coffers and Deserted Temple. Sheoldred has no activated abilities, so it’s not a tight fit here.
Karn, Silver Golem - paired with lady Sheol, he forces opponents to sacrifice artifacts and can kill some 0 mana rocks but doesn't do much more on its own. Can serve as a backup creature producer for Contamination but fits more artifact oriented builds anyway.
Kokusho, the Evening Star - he's powerful but strangely not so broken as he was before, especially in presence of one broken common (Merchant). He flies though and this makes him a beater and good attack deterrent. Best to have a sac outlet ready and Erebos's support if someone clones it.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - he's like a best mono-black common ever printed. Sure it cost five for a 2/4 body but he can easily drain far more life than Kokusho and his ability triggers at ETB so no sac outlet is needed. In fact he's one of the finishers in this deck, especially in Living Death chains.
Grave Titan - brings in a lot of power to a table for both beatdown and sacrifice. Braids absence makes it less useful but it's still very decent creature.
Sorin Markov - rarely does more than crippling life total (he gets killed instantly) but is a threat allowing to kill or help to kill the most dangerous opponent.
Mindslaver - very powerful effect allowing to totally cripple or even kill one player and hurt others as well depending on "taken" opponent's cards.
Braids, Cabal Minion - brutal, legendary stax character. Won many games after casting T2/T3 and didn't hurt our stuff if paired with sac outlet and Sheoldred. Sadly was banned when new rules emerged.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - he doesn't seem to bow to Phyrexia and there are a lot of humans involved.
Geth, Lord of the Vault - I don't want any battles for leadership and there is a lot of reanimation here already.
Lashwrithe/Nightmare Lash - voltron plan is rarely an option but being able to kill in 1-2 hits is tempting.
Graveborn Muse - without the support of other zombies it's just more expensive and easier to kill than Phyrexian Arena.
Heartless Summoning - allows quicker board development, but stifles our beatdown plan and kills some important creatures (Skeleton, Disciple).
Phyrexian Gargantua - replaces itself twice but costs 6 and has mediocre stats. Rune-Scarred is far better here.
Bitterblossom - it's a great card to pair with Braids or Contamination early game, but it’s a dead draw mid-late game.
Magus of the Coffers - he's slow. He's creature and creatures die fast. While he can pull out an infinite mana combo using Corpse Dance and a sac outlet we pack a lot of ramp in this deck already.
It That Betrays - one of the best creatures to pair with Lady Sheol, but fits cheap reanimation-oriented builds better and can rot in our hand too long.
Entomber Exarch - versatile critter but works only on a single opponent (discard mode). Sadly, he had to go.
Sangromancer - with Mindlicer or Myojin we can gain tons of life but we don't need that much and Merchant is strictly better here.
Magus of the Abyss - he usually kills himself the turn after he hit the board so I had little profit of him.
Wurmcoil Engine - it has to die to make tokens so Grave Titan is better most of the time.
Caged Sun - Nirkana and Ghast are more than enough mana doublers and creatures too. This one cannot be raised so easily.
Skeletal Scrying - great instant draw but I have to remove my own cards (creatures most of the time) to power it up and that's no good.
Beseech the Queen - Demonic Tutor is far better and we don't play combo to use that many tutors anyway.
Syphon Mind - works poorly when opponents already dumped their hands (Myojin) or if there is only one foe left.
Consuming Vapors - sorcery speed disqualifies it and lifegain is not that necessary.
Possessed Portal - ultimate stax engine but hurts too much without massive token prodution.
Though-Knot Seer - can help against combo or hard control opponents but Mindslicer is far better with that.
Mana Crypt - the best and pricest legal mana-artifact. My meta became very fast so it's on my list anyway.
Word of Command - good card with the worst art ever which keeps me from getting it.
Guardian Beast - not only rare but very expensive. Could make nice protection against our own Oblivion Stone and Disk.
Most Mono Black constructions do not differ one from another so much because there is a lot of kind-of-must-play cards like mana doublers (Nirkana, Ghast, Coffers), removal (Damnation, Decree, Living Death) and control elements (Contamination, Myojin). Some of them are slightly better in one kind of decks and slightly worse in other, but no one will question their power or usefulness. What distinguishes one deck from another is usage of non-staple cards, interactions they have with the General and each other and overall game plan.
This deck wins usually in three ways:
Contamination lock
The plan is to ramp a little, cast Sheoldred and another creature (or dump one into the yard) and lock the board with Contamination. You may need to practice your evil cackle because this move is almost always backbreaking for opposing non-black decks. While opponents struggle to find an answer or a way to produce mana they desire, we pump out more threats and go for a kill. It won't take long - they usually fold. Reassembling Skeleton is our best buddy in this case and can easily replace Lady Sheol in reanimation part. We can also cast Contamination as a temporary nuisance only to prevent an opponent from comboing-out or building up huge board position after some crazy ramp. Sure it will die after a turn or two but we will manage to stabilize and can always bring it back with Xiahou if we are ready. As a side note - Contamination cripples our own Coffers so plan accordingly.
Accidental combo
This deck can make infinite mana if using Rings of Brighthearth* + (Coffers + Temple)/Basalt Monolith or loop Living Death infinite times (requires about 6 pieces to do that) but aside from those, there are no real combos here. It doesn't mean we can't use our opponents' creatures and spells to combo out - that is why we include Necromancy, Praetor's Grasp, Puppeteer Clique and Rise of the Dark Realms. Infinite possibilities exist depending who/what we're playing against and infinite ways to make opponents taste their own "medicine". More often than not we can also use Mindslaver or Sorin's ultimate to take someone's turn and play it in such way to benefit our next turn the most.
Mass reanimation
This focuses on using Living Death or Rise (or even Corpse Dance if mana flooded) to bring a huge army of Sheoldred's minions. Setting the ground for it with Myojin of Night's Reach or Mindslicer or just dumping our hand with the help of Overeager Apprentice and Moonlight Bargain is highly advisable. Xiahou and Dimir House Guard help loop both spells for repeated ETB/death triggers and opponent's frustration. Depending on opponents' graveyards content casting Rise of the Dark Realms can end the game at the spot - usually by opponents' scoop.
Game plan and win conditions (above) change depending on what is drawn but it all resolves around building a proper board state for future Invasion:
Early game
First step in board/world domination is about building a mana base. Both cheap artifacts and little critters able to produce mana (usually sacrificing themselves in the process) are leveraged to drop something bigger or to prepare the ground for an invasion. The most valuable are Soldevi Adnate, Overeager Apprentice and Jet Medallion and the former two can be resurrected if killed. Sol Ring is bonkers as usual and Dark Ritual allows some powerful early plays. It's surprising how fast this deck can ramp but it can also start very slowly if RNG is not on our side. At such times we need to act as a control deck keeping answers for anything our foes will play. That's why this deck packs a lot of cheap instant removal as well as two black counter-like spells (Mischief and Boon). There are times when our early game leads to the end game with openings like T2 Reassembling Skeleton + T3 Contamination or T1 Sol Ring + T2 Soldevi Adnate + T3 Mindslicer but these are rare. The perfect openning hand should consist of a ramp, removal and draw spell or tutor to start a real game plan.
Mid game
First thing we need to take care of is mana. We need to bring Cabal Coffers online or search for Crypt Ghast/Nirkana to boost our resources greatly. The latter ones die from removal so we should keep some form of reanimation ready for such case. If we succeed, the plan is to drop some minor threats to bait counters and eat removal from opponents if they have any. If they don't - good for us. Phyrexian Obliterator, Grave Titan, Trading Post, Contamination and all three Planeswalkers are perfect examples of these. In the meantime, we use draw spells to refill our hand and mass/spot removal for worst case scenarios (someone brings out an army or tries to unleash a combo). We don't cast Shelly yet unless we need to make use of her sacrifice ability, bait a counter for playing something more important or we're already safe to do that (eg. opponents lost their hands). Now it's a perfect opportunity to try and take control over a game with MassDiscard or Contamination lock. If this succeeds, the next stage is mere formality.
Late game
If for some reason our plans for board domination didn't come to fruition yet or opponents were able to stall them, it's time to show the real power of the Dark Side. Two words - MassReanimation. Casting Sheoldred is also a solid move as our opponents probably used most of their hate already and we've probably depleted our resources as well and need to get them back. It's a good practice to keep at least one of our draw engines ready for such an occasion, like Promise of Power, Disciple of Bolas or any tutor to search for our finishing move. While beatdown is an option, the best results usually come from drain life mechanics like Kokusho and Merchant until opponents bleed out. Repeated casting of Living Death and Rise (Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed makes it happen) helps speed up the process. The longer a game goes the better our chances are as Shelly will have the upper hand over most of the other Commanders.
Casting Sheoldred rules:
The most important and tricky part in all game stages is casting Sheoldred herself. The rule of thumb here is "don't cast her unless you have to". There is also an exception which says " use her as a last nail in opponent's coffin". Generally speaking:
Do NOT cast Shelly as soon as you have mana up. You'll only burn it and you don't want Her to be killed, copied or stolen. Use your other threats to bait a counter or removal first. If you're out of them and expecting removal anyway, cast Her only if you can do it again in at least two subsequent turns.
Cast your removal in hand first. If you are out of removal, scout a table. If a creature needs to be removed or else, cast Shelly. Use politics to explain benefits of this move to other players (removing a threat). This may let Her stay to your next turn and that may be enough to get things going.
Use your stax and discard to remove/cripple board and hands of your opponents first. They won't kill Shelly without cards in hand or mana to cast them. Cast Her to finish them.
Phyrexia vs Multiverse (or Meta strengths and weaknesses)
Sheoldred's natural nemesis
Sheoldred control/stax has no inherent weakness and can win against any deck sans god-hand accidents. There are some cards that pose a problem but this deck can adapt to almost every situation and scenario as it's constructed this way and provides answers to almost every boardstate and play.
Strong against:
Voltron - unless it's a very fast one, a deck reliant on one or few creatures to kill a player will usually fold to a resolved Sheoldred if has no removal. She is also supported by cheap single and mass creature removal so Voltron usually doesn't stand a chance.
Midrange - this kind of decks also tend to rely on mostly creatures, so they are easy prey for us. Denying them one resource (creatures, hand or mana) leaves them defenseless.
Ramp - sure it can be tough if they land a T3 Terrastodon (hello GMA) but generally we are at an advantage with repeatable removal and discard effects.
On equal terms with:
Control - they can't counter everything so the best approach is to tutor/draw into 2-3 serious threats (mass discard/Contamination/Planeswalker) and bait counter with one to cast another undisrupted. Imp's Mischief is a boss here as control decks tend to leave mana for one counterspell only.
Stax - aside from using our own stax, this deck can withstand others' stax effects with cheap creatures, draw spells and artifact ramp. Cabal Coffers is all star here giving a lot on mana despite any Winter/Static Orbs if only we have 2 other mana to activate it (Sol Ring will suffice). If Sheoldred manages to stick, they won't keep up with blocking Phyrexian progress.
May have problems with:
Combo - unless we establish our stax elements or keep cheap, instant removal we are in bad shape if they resolve something like Tooth and Nail and just win out of nowhere. Discard helps too but the best strategy here is forcing the opponent to use his or her resources to combat our stuff, not to build up undisturbed.
MLD - without Swamps this deck can do nothing and there is only one artifact producing black. Keeping a swamp or two in hand is advised when facing MLD decks. Crucible and creature ramp can help too.
Clones - Sheoldred is very powerful entity so cloning her doesn't work in our favor. We want to kill creatures not help reanimate them so new legendary clone rules aren't good for us.
focused hate - there are times we have to combat a whole table united to take us down and we can hold them only until depleting our own resources (removal and control elements). Since this deck is not meant to win by combo, a topdeck mode doesn't suit us well. Gravehate hurts a lot too. We also need to consider specific hate cards that can prevent us from doing anything:
Iona, Shield of Emeria - blocking most of our spells doesn't sound fun but we have few outs. The first is Karn which also prevents any comebacks, the other are Helm of Possession and Eye of Doom which can be searched with DHG (Iona doesn't block that). OStone works too.
Sigarda, Host of Herons - this one cuts Sheoldred's skills in half and negates spot removal because of hexproof. Mass removal works here unless she's indestructible because of someeffect. In this way Deluge and Ugin are our last resort.
Dovescape - kind of indestructible for us so aggro plan is the only option. It even works in our favor as Sheoldred becomes safe from removal and slowly generates advantage on our side. Cycled Decree of Pain gets rid of unwanted tokens and Massacre Wurm can kill any other player if they'll overextend with token production.
Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace - only Karn, Ugin and OStone can get rid of these, so no crazy graveyard shenanigans until we get one of them. We can still win without using our bin but it will take longer.
Containment Priest - blocks reanimation plans entirely but it's a creature and creatures are easy to remove here.
Stranglehold - another hated and painful enchantment for us, but we can draw to play around it (until OStone or Ugin is drawn). Casting Sheoldred under Hold isn't a bad move either as half (in a 4-man pod) of the opponents won't search for any removal for her and Stranglehold will be their priority target anyway.
Torpor Orb - doesn't hurt us that bad, we only pack a few ETB creatures here although quite strong ones. Game plan doesn't change much with Orb out anyway.
Grafdigger's Cage - shuts down Fleshwrither and all reanimation (Sheoldred's included) except for Living Death thanks to exile clause. I haven't seen anyone using it though.
Nihil Spellbomb, Tormod's Crypt - if opponent puts it on battlefield preemptively we have two choices. One is to bait its use with some annoying stuff like Skeleton or Fleshwrither (with Sheoldred) and the second is to search for Phyrexian Revoker and block it until we reach our goal.
Karma - ugh, it hurts. Fetching Urborg makes it all-sided but we need to focus on getting Kokopuffs and Merchant online as soon as possible until Karn or Stone gets rid of it. Rarely anyone plays Karma though.
Erebos, God of the Dead - this one is hard to deal. It kills our life-gain effects and that hurts, even a lot sometimes. The only way to deal with it is to use Ugin or wait until it becomes creature to force a sacrifice or take control with Helm of Possession.
Sample matchups
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician - the main offender in our meta (Vysogota). Stax effects gallore and small creature beatdown. Slow hands are out of question as all the artifact and creature mana is needed ASAP to overcome amassing stax pieces. Toxic Deluge works wonders against mana-dork/hatebear army as well as Ascendant Evincar if cast/reanimated fast enough. Cabal Coffers + Sol Ring allow to cast spells under Orb / Hokori locks.
Kami of the Crescent Moon - extra turn and heavy control powered by multiple draw effects. Hand discard doesn't work well as Kami and other Howling Mine effects fill opponents' hand back. The best plan is to use silver bullets like Warping Wail and Imp's Mischief for his Time Warp effects. Contamination works well here.
Sakashima the Impostor - copy and steal with combo wincons and staple control spells (GMA). Discard works best here but beware of casting Shelly without companion as he can copy her with Sakashima and get back discarded critters to combo out.
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur - standard ramp-to-draw build full of artifacts and counters. Keeping instant removal with mana open is crucial in this matchup. Early discard works too.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage - pure combo, very fast one. Phyrexian Revoker will block Teferi until removed, Hero's Downfall can kill it once and Oblivion Stone clears his field of artifacts. Fast mana is needed to keep up though.
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - not a best build but can be annoying. It all depends how much developed our mana base is before Arbiter arrives so we need or need not to kill him. Snuff Out is the best out.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - reanimator build which we have cards to fight with. Faerie Macabre is all star against it.
Prime Speaker Zegana - combo build filled with fast mana, tutors and denial. Sheoldred herself does a great job against it as well as discard outlets. Can win out of nowhere though so we have to be vigilant.
Akroma, Angel of Fury - big mana build filled with mana-artifacts, mana-doublers and land destruction. Warping Wail is best card against it and Shelly prevents beatdown from Akroma.
Child of Alara - land-matters build able to ramp extremely fast. Hand destruction works well until Alara's controller draws into another hand-replenishing effect which he has many. Kalitas will work great against it.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain - competitive Boomweaver-combo build. He's removal suite is low though so Sheoldred herself prevents many shenanigans to happen. Keeping spare instant removal in hand is highly advisable as well as grave-hate effects.
Yes, you've read this right. This Zegana deck differs from all the other in that it runs only PERMANENT cards except for Primal Surge, thus the name. It assembled shortly after Gatecrash release and already changed a few times. This is the latest iteration of it and I'm sure it will change more if I'll aquire cards I need. Here I go:
Self mill/draw a library - either by resolving Primal Surge or drawing/milling whole deck with the help of Zegana and someengine into Laboratory Maniac. This can be achieved even without infinite mana.
Aggro-Control - there are over 50 creatures waiting to be send into a red zone and while most of them are small their numer makes a difference. While doing damage we can control our opponents with multiple creature-based counters and bounce.
To achieve victory one must prevent his opponents from doing the same and prepare a ground for own operations. Having all-permanent deck may seem like a liability but luckly both green and blue creatures give all sorts of tools to make it happen.
Ramp - green has quite a lot of cheap, mana-producing or land-searching creatures preparing ground for beefer and more expensive stuff. There are 15 ramp creatures backed up by 2 artifacts and Food Chain to provide that early ramp (CMC 3 or less) so this deck can have some explosive starts leading to combo or board control.
Tutors - tutoring with permanents is kind of difficult but possible by all means. Real winners here are Vedalken Aethermage (tutor for Prophet, Teferi and Venser among the others), Fauna Shaman (getting Dead-Pal combo), Tezzeret (Masticore, Pod, Metamorph) and lousy Drift of Phantasms (Food Chain for the win).
Answers - Prophet, Teferi and Refugee allow playing some stuff at instant speed which protects against sorcery board wipes and enables both reactive and proactive play. Given flash, some creatures become real monsters. Spike Weaver gives tripple fog effect, Witness restocks stuff to be flashed in again, Man-o'-War bounces, Duplicant kills, Bane destroys, Sower steals and Primordial can use opponents' stuff to blow up the world. The big winner here is Temur Sabertooth, especially paired with Prophet - the best creature in deck.
Protection - some creatures like Snake, Venser or Husher allow saying NO to opposing spells and abilities without resorting to instants. There are total eight permission permanents (including Chimera) not to mention possibility of bouncing and copying them. Teferi and Gargoyle can create soft locks for decks reliant on instants and sorcery spells, disabling opposing combos and protecting our own.
How to play Primal Zegana? Simply - cast ramp creatures, durdle a little threating with an aggro, counter and remove something and finally search for one or more combo pieces and win. The most interesting games come from resolving Prophet and battling a whole table united to take us down while getting enormous card advantage with Zegana's draw.
My local group sees this as a more player friendly deck so I can play it without becoming archenemy on the spot because this deck has no early power plays - it's strength lies in a mid-late game. When I have time I'll give you more detailed strategy of how to use this deck to the fullest.
Previous version of this deck (The Living End combo) turned out to be too repetitive and weak so it was disassembled a while after posting a deck. This time I concentrated on a Flashback theme backed up by some powerful spells from Grixir repertoir and recursion for both creatures and instants/sorceries. Flashback Forward season 1 begins:
Deck plays in a classic draw-go manner with occassional tapouts for sorcery removal and threats (Traximundar usually). There are only two counterspells, with Soul Manipulation being more of a recursion spell then counter, but a deck is packed with card draw, answers and tricks. The main plan is to clear a board and beat face with Trax but there are also other interesting options:
The mana base is kind of budget but it suffices for a multiplayer deck that does not want to be to competitive (but wins quite often anyway). I consider this deck as a weakest one of my builds but a most fun to play for both me and my friends.
Wishlist: more cards with flashback in Dark Acension and Avacyn Restored. Also cheap Snapcaster Mage but it's a fool's dream.
Changes:
- Zameck Guildmage - counter shenaningans aren't that great
- Scavenging Ooze - great creature but many times useless and hard to tutor for (only with a Shaman)
- Mindless Automaton - Zegana provides all the draw I need
- Tradewind Rider - too slow without haste
- Yeva, Nature's Herald - Prophet's better
- Seedborn Muze - as above, but may return some day
- Fanthom Sage - too slow and unreliable
- Kamahl, Fist of Krosa - amassing creatures without comboing is rare
- Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger - don't need so many mana and draws hate
- Craterhoof Behemoth - see Kamahl
- Woodfall Primus - slow
- Simic Keyrune - prefer mana creature in its place
- Bear Umbra - I rarely attack
- Greater Good - most of my creatures are small now
- Llanowar Reborn - works one time only
- Wood Sage - kind of useless without a top manipulation
+ Willbender - targetting protection
+ Voidmage Prodigy - counterspell and sac outlet for Zegana
+ Dawntreader Elk - more ramp
+ Yavimaya Elder - good stuff
+ Drift of Phantasms - Food Chain tutor
+ Master Thief - Sower's companion
+ Glen Elendra Archmage - couterspell of stick
+ Sakashima Student - clone is always useful; bounces ETB creatures
+ Wickerbough Elder - answer to Torpor Orb
+ Ixidron - mass removal
+ Prophet of Kruphix - most broken Simic creature
+ Cloudthresher - big, flashy body for Zegana's draw
+ Nullstone Gargoyle - doubles opponents' need for removal, protects against counters
+ Perilous Forays - ramp and sac engine in one
+ Decree of Silence - ultimate control
+ Riptide Laboratory - bounces Zegana and other ETB wizards
I'm almost suprised of this deck's win ratio - about or even over 80%. In the last 8 games I lost only once and only because of some mass removal and Sunder casted in short succession. If I get Food Chain or Prophet of Kruphix online it is almost impossible to stop the flow of creatures - for either combo or full control over a table.
Changes (01/01/2014):
- Voidmage Prodigy - it's too color intensive and I need every blue I have most turns
- Leyline of Anticipation - rarely gets cast and having it at opening hand is even more rare
- Garruk Wildspeaker - rarely useful and the aggro is less frequent than combo
- Decree of Silence - I'd rather cast a creature then keep 6 mana open; also hardcasting it is... hard and Teferi gives all the protection I need
- Moldgraph Monstrosity - not many sac outlets to make it useful and random clause is a nuissance
- Terrastodon - resource denial is not that needed here even if it has 9 power for Zegana
- Ixidron - while being one of the best creature based "removal" it can fold my plans when flipped from Primal Surge into a table full of important creatures. I cannot risk it.
- Yavimaya Elder - it costs 5 mana to get 3 cards, two of them being lands.
+ Phantasmal Image - more clones, more ETB fun; comboes with Palinchron
+ Barrin, Master Wizard - ultimate bouncing machine; with so many creatures it will never run out of permanents to sac
+ Oracle of Mul Daya - more ramp and helps dropping excessive lands
+ Azami, Lady of Scrolls - broken with Prophet and other wizards
+ Diluvian Primordial - gives a lot of options depending on graveyard contents
+ Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger - more mana for combo, especially with Palinchron
+ Oblivion Stone - removal in place of Ixodron, can be searched with Tezzeret
+ Sylvan Ranger - little more ramp
Now the list is pretty much optimal and waiting only for new cards to test.
(or Deck version full of Phyrexian Flavor)
(or Changelog)
Changes (Sep 2013):
Praetor's Grasp -> Hero's Downfall - grasp became less and less usefull
Insidious Dreams -> Erebos, God of the Dead - stable draw is always better than all-in tutor
Crucible of Worlds -> Burnished Hart - new toy for upping swamp count
Changes (Nov 2013):
Hero's Downfall -> Tragic Slip - new removal emerged and it's cheaper one
Rings of Brightheath -> Crucible of Worlds - Crucible is back as more MLD emerged in my meta
Corpse Dance -> Phyrexian Reclamation - reprint of this card helped to get it and Dance was hit or miss too often
Gate to Phyrexia -> Pawn of Ulamog - Gate was too slow and Pawn produces bodies to sac
All is Dust -> Oblivion Stone - seems more reliable
Thawing Glaciers -> Helm of Possession - less mana but more control; card proved to be bonkers
Changes (Sep 2014):
Crucible of Worlds -> Rings of Brighthearth - my meta became more combo-oriented so I decided to go with the flow and include more chances to win against other combos
Worn Powerstone -> Basalt Monolith - as above
Braids, Cabal Minion -> Myr Retriever - Braids was banned and little Myr helped battling hate against my combo parts
Decree of Pain -> Phyrexian Obliterator - decided to give Obliterator another shot and support a gameplan with another threat in absence on Braids
Verdant Catacombs -> Arena - to pair with Obliterator
Buried Ruin -> Swamp - Retriever and Crucible's absence made this card obsolete
Changes (Nov 2014):
Terrain Generator -> Myriad Landscape - a new toy from Comm2014
Mind Stone -> Mana Vault - more mana to keep up with faster meta
Pawn of Ulamog -> Go for the Throat - the more removal the better
Changes (Mar 2015):
Karn Liberated -> Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - most important update after Fate Reforged release
Phyrexian Obliterator -> Mindslaver - this card became more popular in our meta and it fits deck's strategy anyway
Geth's Verdict -> Hero's Downfall - instant, targeted removal became much more important lately (Sphinx, Prophet etc.)
Shriekmav -> Toxic Deluge - another major update as I finally acquired this card
Arena -> Swamp - not needed without Obliterator
Marsh Flats -> Swamp - thinning a deck is not that important here and every little pain can ruin a plan
Changes (Apr 2015):
Zoetic Cavern -> Petrified Field - more protection for Coffers
Sign in Blood -> Vampiric Tutor - finally bought it
Rings of Brighthearth -> Eye of Doom - decided to test this funny card and it works well
Increasing Ambition -> Sidisi, Undead Vizier - perfect Sheoldred's minion and much better than overcosted sorcery.
Changes (Jun 2015):
Erebos, God of the Dead -> Trading Post - costed me too much life so decided to test this multipurpose artifact in his place.
Grave Titan -> Massacre Wurm - meta became full of small mana creatures so it seems like a perfect fit against them. Braids' absence also makes it less important.
Changes (Oct 2015):
Petrified Field -> Blighted Fen - more removal doesn't hurt.
Massacre Wurm -> Havoc Demon - Wurm's life loss hardly kills anyone in my meta and Demon kills more stuff.
Rune-Scarred Demon -> Praetor's Grasp - giving Grasp a third chance until better tutor emerges. Still getting Birthing Pod or Phyrexian Metamorph can be game-changing move.
Promise of Power -> Yawgmoth's Will - already proved to be strong card.
Thran Dynamo -> Hedron Archive - direct upgrade even if losing 1 mana in a proces.
Trading Post -> Mind Stone - to pair with Hedron and Will; making deck faster is always good.
Changes (Dec 2015):
Sorin Markov -> Wretched Confluence - Sorin is great for crippling most dangerous opponent but it does nothing against that player's board position and other players still need to break through defences to finish the job. Confluence turned out to be quite useful in games I played with it.
Praetor's Grasp -> Corpse Augur - this guy is fantastic. He draws minimum of 3 cards usually and can be brought back to draw more with easy condition to do that. Grasp is useful but more often than not I like to play MY deck than others'.
Blighted Fen -> High Market - more sac outlets help against steal and copy effects. Makes Mindslicer and new Corpse Augur happy too.
Changes (Feb 2016):
Swampx1 -> Terrain Generator - it's back not only as occassional ramp but to help casting Warping Weil if there are no artifacts around.
Phyrexian Arena -> Warping Wail - I'm sad to see Arena go but it was rarely used and slow. WW is just too good.
Worn Powerstone -> Grim Monolith - finally acquired it so it's quality change.
Slum Reaper -> Fleshbag Marauder - faster is better... in most cases I think. Loosing a part of 4CMC toolbox may hurt but we'll see.
Nihil Spellbomb -> Faerie Macabre - suprise factor and going under any stax/denial effects is better than wider AoE and cantrip.
Havoc Demon -> Ascendant Evincar - he kills fast ramp, hatebears and some combo strategies and his effect lasts all the time. Crovax's best out of Big Three I tested (Demon, Wurm and him), at least in black-light metas.
Nirkana Revenant -> Vulturous Aven - she's great and all but too slow for what she's supposed to do most of the time (mana doubling)
Burnished Hart -> Bubbling Muck - like Nirkana moose is simply too slow but I don't thing Muck will last here forever either. We'll see.
Yawgmoth's Will -> Reanimate - cheaper is better and YW fits combo-builds better than stax/control ones.
Changes (Jun 2016):
Swampx1 -> Nihil Spellbomb - it's back for fighting reanimation and spell recursion. Lower land count goes in pair with more mana rocks and lesser overal spell cost.
Thespian's Stage -> Blinkmoth Well - Stage rarely copied anything relevant and Well goes in for testing its interation with updated Orb effects.
Bubbling Muck -> Entomb - this card is bonkers, especially when followed by reanimation spell or when Sheoldred is around. Finally acquired foil version from Graveborn so I could put it in.
Eye of Doom -> Unstable Obelisk - Eye is great but having control over what to destroy is better. Obelisk does double duty as mana rock too.
Puppeteer Clique -> Cathodion - another mobile mana rock. Works best with Adnate but it's good with other sac effects too. Clique was a hit or miss too many times.
Vulturous Aven -> Tooth Collector - got rid of him earlier but it needs to be noted. Collector pings mana dorks and beats for 3 which gave me timely win at least once. He's first on the chopping block when anything better arrives though.
Wretched Confluence -> Sign in Blood - cheaper draw is better and I had troubles casting Confluence from under stax/prison effects and Gaddok Teeg too many times.
Rise of the Dark Realms -> Void Winnower - I tend to face creature strategies less and less so Rise was an overcosted half of Living Death too many times. On the other hand Winnower is simply bonkers. It single-handed won me two games last time I played by Entombing and Reanimating it on Turn 2 and Turn 3. I was lucky but it can do many bad things even later in the game.
Changes (April 2017):
Underworld Connections -> Waste Not - I'll see how it works
Drownyard Temple -> Geier Reach Sanitarium - direct support for the above and reanimation targets' enabler
Disciple of Bolas -> Gonti, Lord of Luxury - one card advantage for another and the latter doesn't cost me a creature
Tooth Collector -> Basal Sliver - more mana to speed up a deck and delirium turned out to be hard to achieve
Changes (July 2017):
Blinkmoth Well -> Barren Moor - Well was too low on targets and low priority search usually
Go for the Throat -> Hope of Ghirapur - removal for creatures becomes less useful in my meta than disruption for combos
Animate Dead -> Phyrexian Reclamation - it's better support for the above as well as Faerie Macabre
Corpse Augur -> Phyrexian Arena - Arena's back for another round.
Changes (August 2017):
Fleshwrither -> Memory Jar - sad to see it go but I need slots for more synergies / card advantage and 4CCtoolbox is thinning
Sidisi, Undead Visier -> Razaketh's Rite - basicaly the same effect but cycling makes a difference in early turns
Unstable Obelisk -> Tangle Wire - decided to expand my stax options
Sign in Blood -> Archfiend of Ifnir - cycling for reanimation and more fat should serve me better
Solemn Simulacrum -> Oppression - good disruption is good. Godly with Waste Not.
(or Many Thanks to)
Many thanks to calderstrake for spelling and grammar corrections of the post. May the power of the Dark Realms be with you Kris!
Black is arguably the most powerful color in a Multiverse. Even if Phyrexia leaders learned to use other mana colors, Black is still their source of strength and resolve. Resolve for world (table) domination!
(or few words about myself)
(or Lady in Command overview)
6/6, Swampwalk
I wished she was 7/7 but it's not that bad anyway. In fact she's one of the biggest creatures in a deck and greatly supports a beatdown which eventually occurs. With Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth she's unblockable all the time and can be pumped with swamp-matter effects (Nightmare Lash, Lashwrithe, Liliana of the Dark Realms) to kill in 1-3 hits if able. She shouldn't be treated as a voltron commander thought - 7 mana is a lot and she will probably die soon enough given her other abilities are more threatening than her body.
At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield
This is a very powerful ability and it's free of charge which is important for following the game plan. Sure it triggers only once per turn and we have to wait a whole cycle to use it but it's the most useful trait of Lady Sheol. The entire deck is designed to benefit from it one way or another and while creatures I use aren't the biggest ones, they become dangerous or enable powerful plays if used several times. I wouldn't go reanimation route farther than necessary but if there is a possibility then cards like Entomb or Buried Alive can allow to bring some scary monsters back from the grave.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature.
This skill is perfect for stopping voltron strategies and keeping opponents from developing their creature presence. It also paints a huge target on Sheoldred so beware. Token players will laugh at it but even they can be short of one creature to make a combo or lethal strike. It's also great political skill in situation when "enemy of my enemy" cannot deal with one problematic creature other player has and allows to resolve Sheoldred only to punish that opponent. It never useless, even on empty table as it prevents foes from casting their Commanders as they would lose them right away.
You should play Sheoldred if You:
You should stay away from Sheoldred if You:
(or Decklists by type and function)
Deck contents has changed over the years with acquisition of better cards or better ideas and finally established as a control/stax hybrid as you can see below. It's a result of years of playing and planning Mono Black "dominator" so beware - reading the list may get you infected by Phyrexia flavor.
24 Swamp
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Deserted Temple
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Phyrexian Tower
0 Terrain Generator
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Mana Crypt
1 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Grim Monolith
2 Jet Medallion
2 Mind Stone
2 Soldevi Adnate
3 Basal Sliver
3 Cathodion
3 Overeager Apprentice
3 Phyrexian Totem
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
Draw engines and spells: 8
0 Barren Moor
0 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Skullclamp
2 Waste Not
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Read the Bones
5 Memory Jar
5 Moonlight Bargain
0 Strip Mine
1 Tragic Slip
3 Fleshbag Marauder
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Damnation
4 Snuff Out
5 Archfiend of Ifnir
5 Living Death
6 Ascendant Evincar
8 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Recursion & Reanimation: 7
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Reanimate
2 Myr Retriever
3 Magus of the Will
3 Necromancy
4 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
Stax & Control: 11
1 Hope of Ghirapur
2 Imp's Mischief
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Warping Wail
2 Withering Boon
3 Contamination
3 Oppression
3 Tangle Wire
4 Mindslicer
8 Myojin of Night's Reach
9 Void Winnower
1 Entomb
1 Expedition Map
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Demonic Tutor
4 Dimir House Guard
5 Razaketh's Rite
Support & Miscallenous: 10
0 Bojuka Bog
0 High Market
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Faerie Macabre
4 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
6 Mindslaver
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One (*)
Creatures: 22
1 Hope of Ghirapur
2 Myr Retriever (*)
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Reassembling Skeleton (*)
2 Soldevi Adnate
3 Basal Sliver
3 Cathodion (*)
3 Faerie Macabre (*)
3 Fleshbag Marauder (*)
3 Overeager Apprentice (*)
3 Magus of the Will
4 Crypt Ghast (*)
4 Dimir House Guard
4 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
4 Mindslicer (*)
4 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed (*)
5 Archfiend of Ifnir (*)
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel (*)
6 Ascendant Evincar (*)
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star (*)
8 Myojin of Night's Reach (*)
9 Void Winnower
Enchantments & Planeswalkers: 8
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Waste Not
3 Contamination
3 Necromancy
3 Oppression
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms (*)
8 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
0 Mana Crypt
1 Expedition Map
1 Mana Vault
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble (*)
2 Grim Monolith
2 Jet Medallion
2 Mind Stone
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Phyrexian Totem (*)
3 Tangle Wire (*)
6 Mindslaver
Instants & Sorceries: 17
1 Dark Ritual (*)
1 Entomb (*)
1 Reanimate (*)
1 Tragic Slip (*)
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Imp's Mischief (*)
2 Warping Wail
2 Withering Boon
3 Hero's Downfall (*)
3 Read the Bones (*)
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Snuff Out (*)
4 Damnation (*)
5 Moonlight Bargain (*)
5 Living Death (*)
5 Razaketh's Rite
0 Ancient Tomb (*)
0 Barren Moor
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Deserted Temple
0 Geier Reach Sanitarium
0 High Market
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Phyrexian Tower
0 Strip Mine
0 Terrain Generator
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (*)
24 Swamp (*)
(or Card Choices explanation)
The second theme is Dimir House Guard's and Fleshwrither's toolbox of cards with CMC of 4. Both cards not only help fetch necessary answers or build the board position but being creatures they work very well with Sheoldred's reanimation ability. Below is a breakdown of cards by function/purpose of being included (cards bolded are used currently):
Other Cards by function:
(or Wincons and Game Stages)
This deck wins usually in three ways:
Contamination lock
The plan is to ramp a little, cast Sheoldred and another creature (or dump one into the yard) and lock the board with Contamination. You may need to practice your evil cackle because this move is almost always backbreaking for opposing non-black decks. While opponents struggle to find an answer or a way to produce mana they desire, we pump out more threats and go for a kill. It won't take long - they usually fold. Reassembling Skeleton is our best buddy in this case and can easily replace Lady Sheol in reanimation part. We can also cast Contamination as a temporary nuisance only to prevent an opponent from comboing-out or building up huge board position after some crazy ramp. Sure it will die after a turn or two but we will manage to stabilize and can always bring it back with Xiahou if we are ready. As a side note - Contamination cripples our own Coffers so plan accordingly.
Accidental combo
This deck can make infinite mana if using Rings of Brighthearth* + (Coffers + Temple)/Basalt Monolith or loop Living Death infinite times (requires about 6 pieces to do that) but aside from those, there are no real combos here. It doesn't mean we can't use our opponents' creatures and spells to combo out - that is why we include Necromancy, Praetor's Grasp, Puppeteer Clique and Rise of the Dark Realms. Infinite possibilities exist depending who/what we're playing against and infinite ways to make opponents taste their own "medicine". More often than not we can also use Mindslaver or Sorin's ultimate to take someone's turn and play it in such way to benefit our next turn the most.
Mass reanimation
This focuses on using Living Death or Rise (or even Corpse Dance if mana flooded) to bring a huge army of Sheoldred's minions. Setting the ground for it with Myojin of Night's Reach or Mindslicer or just dumping our hand with the help of Overeager Apprentice and Moonlight Bargain is highly advisable. Xiahou and Dimir House Guard help loop both spells for repeated ETB/death triggers and opponent's frustration. Depending on opponents' graveyards content casting Rise of the Dark Realms can end the game at the spot - usually by opponents' scoop.
Early game
First step in board/world domination is about building a mana base. Both cheap artifacts and little critters able to produce mana (usually sacrificing themselves in the process) are leveraged to drop something bigger or to prepare the ground for an invasion. The most valuable are Soldevi Adnate, Overeager Apprentice and Jet Medallion and the former two can be resurrected if killed. Sol Ring is bonkers as usual and Dark Ritual allows some powerful early plays. It's surprising how fast this deck can ramp but it can also start very slowly if RNG is not on our side. At such times we need to act as a control deck keeping answers for anything our foes will play. That's why this deck packs a lot of cheap instant removal as well as two black counter-like spells (Mischief and Boon). There are times when our early game leads to the end game with openings like T2 Reassembling Skeleton + T3 Contamination or T1 Sol Ring + T2 Soldevi Adnate + T3 Mindslicer but these are rare. The perfect openning hand should consist of a ramp, removal and draw spell or tutor to start a real game plan.
Mid game
First thing we need to take care of is mana. We need to bring Cabal Coffers online or search for Crypt Ghast/Nirkana to boost our resources greatly. The latter ones die from removal so we should keep some form of reanimation ready for such case. If we succeed, the plan is to drop some minor threats to bait counters and eat removal from opponents if they have any. If they don't - good for us. Phyrexian Obliterator, Grave Titan, Trading Post, Contamination and all three Planeswalkers are perfect examples of these. In the meantime, we use draw spells to refill our hand and mass/spot removal for worst case scenarios (someone brings out an army or tries to unleash a combo). We don't cast Shelly yet unless we need to make use of her sacrifice ability, bait a counter for playing something more important or we're already safe to do that (eg. opponents lost their hands). Now it's a perfect opportunity to try and take control over a game with Mass Discard or Contamination lock. If this succeeds, the next stage is mere formality.
Late game
If for some reason our plans for board domination didn't come to fruition yet or opponents were able to stall them, it's time to show the real power of the Dark Side. Two words - Mass Reanimation. Casting Sheoldred is also a solid move as our opponents probably used most of their hate already and we've probably depleted our resources as well and need to get them back. It's a good practice to keep at least one of our draw engines ready for such an occasion, like Promise of Power, Disciple of Bolas or any tutor to search for our finishing move. While beatdown is an option, the best results usually come from drain life mechanics like Kokusho and Merchant until opponents bleed out. Repeated casting of Living Death and Rise (Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed makes it happen) helps speed up the process. The longer a game goes the better our chances are as Shelly will have the upper hand over most of the other Commanders.
Casting Sheoldred rules:
(or Meta strengths and weaknesses)
Strong against:
- Voltron - unless it's a very fast one, a deck reliant on one or few creatures to kill a player will usually fold to a resolved Sheoldred if has no removal. She is also supported by cheap single and mass creature removal so Voltron usually doesn't stand a chance.
- Midrange - this kind of decks also tend to rely on mostly creatures, so they are easy prey for us. Denying them one resource (creatures, hand or mana) leaves them defenseless.
- Ramp - sure it can be tough if they land a T3 Terrastodon (hello GMA) but generally we are at an advantage with repeatable removal and discard effects.
On equal terms with:- Control - they can't counter everything so the best approach is to tutor/draw into 2-3 serious threats (mass discard/Contamination/Planeswalker) and bait counter with one to cast another undisrupted. Imp's Mischief is a boss here as control decks tend to leave mana for one counterspell only.
- Stax - aside from using our own stax, this deck can withstand others' stax effects with cheap creatures, draw spells and artifact ramp. Cabal Coffers is all star here giving a lot on mana despite any Winter/Static Orbs if only we have 2 other mana to activate it (Sol Ring will suffice). If Sheoldred manages to stick, they won't keep up with blocking Phyrexian progress.
May have problems with:Sample matchups
PERMANTENTS ONLY ALLOWED
Yes, you've read this right. This Zegana deck differs from all the other in that it runs only PERMANENT cards except for Primal Surge, thus the name. It assembled shortly after Gatecrash release and already changed a few times. This is the latest iteration of it and I'm sure it will change more if I'll aquire cards I need. Here I go:
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Llanowar Elves
2 Coiling Oracle
2 Fauna Shaman
2 Kiora's Follower
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Stratus Dancer
2 Vedalken Æthermage
2 Voidmage Apprentice
2 Wall of Roots
2 Willbender
3 Barrin, Master Wizard
3 Drift of Phantasms
3 Eternal Witness
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Fierce Empath
3 Laboratory Maniac
3 Man-o'-War
3 Raven Familiar
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
3 Somberwald Sage
3 Wood Elves
3 Yavimaya Granger
3 Yavimaya Dryad
4 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Misthollow Griffin
4 Molten-Tail Masticore
4 Mystic Snake
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Spike Weaver
4 Temur Sabertooth
4 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Voidmage Husher
4 Wickerbough Elder
5 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
5 Body Double
5 Perplexing Chimera
5 Prophet of Kruphix
5 Riptide Shapeshifter
5 Sages of the Anima
5 Seedborn Muse
5 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
6 Duplicant
6 Bane of Progress
6 Deadeye Navigator
7 Diluvian Primordial
7 Palinchron
8 Terastodon
9 Nullstone Gargoyle
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
Artifacts & Enchantments: 4
1 Sol Ring
2 Simic Signet
3 Food Chain
4 Birthing Pod
Sorcery: 1
10 Primal Surge
Lands: 37
0 Alchemist's Refuge
0 Ancient Ziggurat
0 Breeding Pool
0 Command Tower
0 Halimar Depths
0 Hinterland Harbor
0 Misty Rainforest
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Riptide Laboratory
0 Simic Growth Chamber
0 Yavimaya Coast
13 Forest
13 Island
Leader: 1
6 Prime Speaker Zegana
This Zegana wins in three ways:
To achieve victory one must prevent his opponents from doing the same and prepare a ground for own operations. Having all-permanent deck may seem like a liability but luckly both green and blue creatures give all sorts of tools to make it happen.
How to play Primal Zegana? Simply - cast ramp creatures, durdle a little threating with an aggro, counter and remove something and finally search for one or more combo pieces and win. The most interesting games come from resolving Prophet and battling a whole table united to take us down while getting enormous card advantage with Zegana's draw.
My local group sees this as a more player friendly deck so I can play it without becoming archenemy on the spot because this deck has no early power plays - it's strength lies in a mid-late game. When I have time I'll give you more detailed strategy of how to use this deck to the fullest.
1x Traximundar
Creatures (22):
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Cephalid Sage
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Grozoth
1 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
1 Kagemaro, First to Suffer
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Magma Phoenix
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Mulldrifter
1 Nevermaker
1 Nuclavee
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 River Kelpie
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sphinx of the Lost Truth
1 Taurean Mauler
1 Undead Alchemist
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
Lands (39):
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Graven Cairns
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Izzet Boilworks
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
8 Island
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
1 Call to the Grave
1 Coalition Relic
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Dimir Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Mizzium Transreliquat
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Obelisk of Grixis
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Rooftop Storm
Instants & Sorceries (27):
1 Army of the Damned
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Buried Alive
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Clutch of the Undercity
1 Crosis's Charm
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Deep Analysis
1 Desperate Ravings
1 Devil's Play
1 Dissipate
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Grim Harvest
1 Into the Core
1 Living Death
1 Memory Plunder
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Probe
1 Prophetic Bolt
1 Slave of Bolas
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Terminate
1 Think Twice
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Void
1 Wild Ricochet
Deck plays in a classic draw-go manner with occassional tapouts for sorcery removal and threats (Traximundar usually). There are only two counterspells, with Soul Manipulation being more of a recursion spell then counter, but a deck is packed with card draw, answers and tricks. The main plan is to clear a board and beat face with Trax but there are also other interesting options:
- Nuclavee + Blasphemous Act/Cruel Ultimatum/Void/Slave of Bolas + Soul Manipulation = killing some/all creatures (and countering one) every turn
- Buried Alive into Haakon, Stromgald Scourge+Taurean Mauler/Vengeful Pharaoh/Kederekt Leviathan/Magma Phoenix = sculpting own graveyard into the backup hand, full of answers and/or threats
- Kagemaro, First to Suffer/Fulminator Mage/Mulldrifter + Grim Harvest = another method for killing a board/land/card draw every turn
- Call to the Grave + Rooftop Storm + Traximundar = obvious is obvious
- Undead Alchemist + Nephalia Drownyard = some mill with option for dudes
- Grozoth transmuted into Blasphemous Act/Artisan of Kozilek = trick or threat
- River Kelpie + spells with Flashback = card advantage
- Haakon, Stromgald Scourge + Nameless Inversion = creatures dying all over the place
- Army of the Damned + Wild Ricochet = pulled it once, 26 zombies beat face hard
The mana base is kind of budget but it suffices for a multiplayer deck that does not want to be to competitive (but wins quite often anyway). I consider this deck as a weakest one of my builds but a most fun to play for both me and my friends.
Wishlist: more cards with flashback in Dark Acension and Avacyn Restored. Also cheap Snapcaster Mage but it's a fool's dream.