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By: KaraZorEl, Winter Trabex
Apr 19 2012 11:45am
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In this article, I'd like to take a look at a Commander that I've utilized with a great deal of success, despite her being (on the surface), one of the more bland legendary creatures out there. This article explains a little bit more about Lyzolda and her role as the Rakdos guild champion. Let's take a look at what she does.

Lyzolda, the Blood Witch

So she's a legendary creature that lets you sacrifice another creature to draw a card and/or deal damage? Wait, what's up with that? Who wants to sacrifice their creatures in Commander? Isn't it your opponent's job to get rid of the creatures you have in play, not your own? Well, maybe...unless you can get your creatures back and make interesting things happen. Two damage isn't such a big deal in Commander, especially in a multiplayer match, but drawing a card often proves the difference between winning and losing. Here is the decklist I put together:

 

 

Sacrifice Targets

As might be expected, it's hard to play a general that asks you to sacrifice your creatures without playing some creatures that can easily get sacrificed and come back. Here are the ones I've chosen.

Abyssal Persecutor Bloodghast Squee, Goblin Nabob Vengeful Pharaoh Mindslicer Murderous Redcap Body Snatcher

When any one of these creatures are in play, they want to be sacrificed. I imagine them standing before a Rakdos altar, begging for their lives to end only so that they can come back and have it happen all over again. While Mindslicer is powerful, it doesn't come back on its own. I have included it here because there are times when a deck goes out of its mind drawing cards and I find that I want to be able to do something about that. Pitching my own hand in the graveyard is something my deck is prepared for more than others, so I generally feel confident doing this. I find that Mindslicer is better than Myojin of Night's Reach in at least one way: you don't have to cast Mindslicer from your hand to keep it going. You can just bring him back and kill him again.

Vengeful Pharaoh is generally a card I just pitch into my graveyard. He will destroy any attacker provided it can be targeted. Whenever I draw the Pharaoh in my opening hand and play first, I like to pass the first turn and pitch him into the graveyard at the end of my turn just so I have it there. Many players, from my experience in playtesting, aren't willing to swing into it, knowing that their creature will get killed. If you're playing against Animar, Soul of Elements or Edric, Spymaster of Trest, you probably want to get that first landrop instead. Those decks stand a very good chance at outracing this one.

Abyssal Persecutor is a card that there's no reason not to play. When your general can rid of him anytime you want, there's no downside to have a flying, trampling 6/6 beatstick. When you have the Persecutor, it's generally a good idea not to abuse your general so much: if she leaves play one time, it's better to leave her in the command zone until you're ready to sacrifice the Persecutor and win. If your opponent gets rid of it for you, that's just one less thing you have to spend mana on. 

Bloodghast, Squee, Goblin Nabob and Murderous Redcap all come back. Bloodghast needs a landfall trigger, which is easy enough in most matches. Squee wants to be cast again, which usually isn't such a problem in a Commander match. Even if he's countered, you get to try again. Your opponent needs to play exile effects such as Swords to Plowshares and tuck effects like Bant Charm to get rid of this guy. As the flavor text says, he is expendable and impossible to get rid of. The Redcap will only come back once. If you choose to sacrifice it again, you'll have to find another way to bring it back. He works best with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed when he can just keep coming back into play without the negative counters.

Body Snatcher replaced Braids, Cabal Minion in this spot when I realized that the Body Snatcher had a great deal more synergy with my commander than Braids did (even though I have a lot of fun with her in play). He lets you pitch a creature into your graveyard- something this deck wants to do anyway. Then when you kill him, you get a creature back. It doesn't have to be the same one you put there. This can be a fast way to cheat a game-winning creature into play.

Worldgorger Dragon combo

What would any good Commander deck be without a combo? Once I found out that Worldgorger Dragon had been unbanned in Commander last year, I wanted to find a way to use him in the way he was intended: as a combo piece that can let you hit a player in the face for an infinite amount of damage. He also synergizes well with Jokulhaups, if you have ten mana at your disposal. Put ten mana in your pool. Five of it needs to be red. Cast the Dragon, exile all permanents you control then cast Jokulhaups destroying all creatures, lands and artifacts. You get all your permanents back while every opponent has their board wiped clean. By this point, it's usually good game all around. Other than that, here's how the Worldgorger Dragon combo works:

Worldgorger Dragon Animate Dead Banefire Comet Storm

It works like this. Step one: put Worldgorger Dragon into your graveyard. With Lyzolda's ability to draw cards, this is not impossible to accomplish. You can also use Buried Alive. Step two: get Animate Dead and one of the two X-drop spells that I've listed here in your hand. Step three: cast Animate Dead targeting Worldgorger Dragon. This throws the game into an infinite loop where your lands keep coming back untapped as the dragon cycles between the graveyard and play. You can add any amount of mana to your pool during this time. Banefire is there for one-on-one matchups while Comet Storm is there for mutiplayer matchups. This combo is an instant win provided that your opponent doesn't have an answer for it. I ran into Swerve when I pulled it off. If counters become a problem, Molten Disaster can finish things as well, provided you have the most life out of all your opponents.

Consistency

Since there is a combo in my deck, I've chosen to utilize a few cards to help me find it. For reasons of cost, I've chosen to go without the tutor package that black has available to it such as Grim Tutor, Vampiric Tutor and so on. I have instead used a few cards that let me dig in repeatedly, rather than just one time.

Night Dealings Liliana Vess Sensei's Divining Top Diabolic Tutor 

No Commander deck would be complete without a Sensei's Divining Top. It's very hard to get rid of and it allows you to get three turns ahead in terms of drawing cards. It does require that you spend mana for it, but this is usually at the end of someone else's turn when you have untapped lands. Night Dealings is a card most players haven't seen and don't suspect. It does require that you deal damage (any kind of damage, not just combat damage) to a player to get it working, but given that Lyzolda is three CMC, there are often times when you'll catch someone open and hit through for damage. Its activation cost is the same as Diabolic Tutor. Liliana Vess doesn't put a card in your hand right away, but that usually doesn't matter if you have a top in play. If you need the card right away, just draw it with the top. Her +1 ability may or may not make a difference in Commander. Liliana of the Veil might be better for the build I have here, but she doesn't tutor for cards.

Mana, Mana Everywhere...

So what happens when you have to pay mana to do things? You put in cards that give you extra mana, of course!

Braid of Fire Sol Ring Mana Flare  Temple of the False God Caged Sun

Anytime you can get two mana out of one permanent, it's a good idea to throw that in your deck. Sol Ring and Temple of the False God are good for this reason. Both of them let you pay Lyzolda's activation cost without having to tap two lands. Braid of Fire lets you do the same thing, in addition to providing you with some mana for Night Dealings if you need it. Don't expect the Braid to go much over 5 or 6 in most games; it will either be destroyed or the game will be over by then. I've included here because it lets you keep your lands untapped while still paying for things.

Mana Flare is a tricky card to play in Commander. It gives you access to a ton of mana, but it also does the same for each opponent. When you play Mana Flare, make sure you can win that turn. Otherwise, someone else might use it to pull off a Genesis Wave or something similar. Caged Sun makes half your mana base double. I usually choose black because there are a lot of spells with triple black in their casting cost in my deck.

Recursion Pieces

So the deck puts things in the graveyard. How do you get them back?

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed Dance of the Dead  Oversold Cemetery Phyrexian Reclamation Volrath's Stronghold Sheoldred, Whispering One Chainer, Dementia Master Living Death Sword of Light and ShadowGrimoire of the Dead

As you can see, the biggest focus I have in the deck is recursion. Chainer, Dementia Master and Xiahou Dun work perfectly together, as you can always keep paying three black and three life to get Xiahou Dun back after you've sacrificed him. Xiahou Dun has the added bonus of horsemanship, which will allow him to swing through the vast majority of blockers if you have a Sword of Light and Shadow equipped. Buried Alive and Living Death are really strong together. This will usually allow you to lock up the game state, requiring an opponent to blow up the board...except that you can get Living Death back. Graveyard hate such as Relic of Progenitus is not your friend here.

The Beatdown Engine

If all else fails....just beat face with huge creatures. The amount of recursion the deck has will generally allow you to keep creature advantage throughout the game.

Savage Beating Xathrid Demon Wurmcoil Engine Steel Hellkite Bogardan Hellkite

What happens when a Wurmcoil Engine gets double strike and gets to attack twice? Good things for you, bad things for your opponent. Xathrid Demon isn't for everyone, but in this deck he's an all star. Just keep sacrificing a Bloodghast every turn- every opponent will lose two life. Or, even better, when you have Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in play, whatever you sacrifice just comes back stronger than before. A Wurmcoil Engine with undying? That's ridiculously strong.

The two Hellkites are flying attackers who can deal with problematic permanents. Remember that you can redirect Bogardan Hellkite's damage to a planeswalker if you choose. Steel Hellkite gets an attack boost every turn with Braid of Fire. See also: Moonveil Dragon.

Control Elements

What if things go wrong? Suppose the deck doesn't find what it wants and an opponent gets ahead of you? This is the scenario every Commander deck should prepare for because it happens all too often. As such, there are certain cards here that attempt to address troublesome situations.

No Mercy Crawlspace Grave Pact Oblivion Stone Terminate

No Mercy and Crawlspace together severly limits your opponent's chances at dealing combat damage. No Mercy by itself is a card every black deck should have given the amount of combat damage triggers running around everywhere. Grave Pact is a card that most creature-heavy decks don't like seeing. There's only one answer to this, and as of this writing, it has yet to be released in Avacyn Restored. Even after that, though, Grave Pact will still be a strong card for decks which like to sacrifice things. I've chosen not to include Butcher of Malakir or Rapacious One because I don't want this to be a deck centered around Grave Pact itself. For me, it's another piece of the puzzle, not the puzzle itself.

While a lot of Commander decks use Oblivion Stone, I've found that it's not nearly as good as its constant inclusion would seem to warrant. It's an 8-drop Planar Cleansing, one which can be destroyed before you have a chance to get it off. In the absence of any targeted enchantment removal for these colors, though, Oblivion Stone is a card which has to make it into the list. Otherwise, the deck will lose to Uril, the Miststalker

 Please note: the videos I've presented here are silent. I've included descriptions to help you understand what I was thinking at the time.

In this match, I came up against an Azami deck, which was really scary. Fortunately for me, my opponent missed a land drop or two early on and I didn't. My deck matches up well against control because creatures are supposed to be in the graveyard. This matchup shows the strength of Living Death, especially when you have Sheoldred in your graveyard. I didn't expect the interaction with Manic Vandal, so it was a pleasant surprise when I got three creatures for the price of one.

 

Here is a matchup against a Thraximundar deck, a deck similar to mine which relies heavily on its general. Grixis colors in Commander usually mean bad news. Here I got to show off the Worldgorger Dragon combo, only to have it work against me. I actually didn't mind losing here. The combo was a ton of fun to get going.

 

Edric, Spymaster of Trest is a general I often see in one-on-one Commander matches. He comes out fast and lets you draw lots of cards. He's not as effective in multiplayer, but for one-on-one games, he works well. In this match, I was still getting used to the deck and I made a lot of mistakes. This is a case where having good synergy in your deck can make the difference, even if you play poorly. Since then, Rage Reflection, Exhume and Loxodon Warhammer have all come out. The end of the video shows how Grimoire of the Dead can be a win condition.

 

Tribal Commander decks can be fun, but I'm not altogether sure Merfolk is the best tribe for a Commander environment. In this match, my creatures were simply more powerful. While playing this game, I chose not to use a combo but to keep beating down instead. My deck went faster than my opponent's, forcing them into a lot of unfavorable blocks. Tribal Commander decks also don't like lifegain and creatures that give you other creatures. Wurmcoil Engine is a terror to tribal decks for this reason.

In the matches I've played, no one else has run a deck with Lyzolda as the Commander. Is sacrificing creatures something that makes people hesitant? Maybe...but I've found it works for me. If you have Bloodghast, Lyzolda will read, "Pay two mana, draw a card." How many red/black creatures get to do that? The deck also can be fast, provided you don't have mana issues. In playtesting the deck, I found that most people weren't prepared to interact with the deck through the use of graveyard hate. One card like Planar Void would stop what I'm trying to do. Fortunately, most players prefer to go with their threats instead of answers, just as I do.

Overall, the deck has exceeded my expectations. I tried out Lyzolda simply as a way to play something different than what I'd been playing before. It turns out that the deck is strong enough to deal with most matchups and even has cards in it that make people quit just by seeing it on the stack (ie, Jokulhaups). Still in all though, I can't quite shake the feeling of quirkiness I get when I play her. The whole Rakdos strategy doesn't feel normal to me, but there are ways to make it work. As long as you can interact with your graveyard, sacrificing your own creatures actually helps you, rather than hurting you. The entire philosophy is different than the majority of Commander decks out there. If you want to try something different, try Lyzolda out. Playing the deck is definitely a unique experience.

Until next time!

2 Comments

Interesting deck. I didn't by Leviathan at Fri, 04/20/2012 - 18:02
Leviathan's picture

Interesting deck. I didn't realize that it was made specifically for 1v1 play until I got to the videos, as that definitely makes a difference for deck evaluation. 1v1 is generally more cutthroat, with more combos and early land destruction. Seeing videos is always interesting though.

Why is Sword of Body and Mind in the deck? Seems to go against your Living Death plan. Cairn Wanderer seems like it could be really hit or miss, and probably could be replaced with a more consistently good creature, like Bloodgift Demon, Puppeteer Clique or that vampire that makes tokens. I do like some of your other more unusual creature choices, plus Night Dealings, though.

The Azami deck in your first video was definitely on the lower end of the power scale, as can be seen by the use of cards like Thousand-Year Elixir and Spell Burst, plus the fact that targeted your with Blue Sun's Zenith for 3 while still at 20 life. But it definitely showed the power of Living Death.

Having the Banefire get Swerve'd back at you after getting the Worldgorger combo off was pretty funny.

Edric's deck didn't get a creature out until turn 5? That's crazy. He obviously wasn't completely aggro, though, since he had Woodfall Primus. And I'm jealous that you have the Knights v. Dragons Warhammer, I've been looking all over for that.

I'm not a fan of 1v1 Commander, but take my decks in there to make sure that the mana base is doing ok so I don't waste my time in a 4 player game just to get mana hosed. Like I said, it's very cutthroat, at least compared to the multiplayer games. I know I am not going to write about it any time soon, so it's interesting to see your take.

I've tried multiplayer by KaraZorEl at Fri, 04/20/2012 - 20:31
KaraZorEl's picture

I've tried multiplayer Commander, and I've often found that people would leave randomly- and often without explanation. I didn't like that. Sword of Body and Mind is in there in case I hit an interesting target that I use Animate Dead on.

Now that I think of it, Bloodline Keeper would be really good for this deck, as I can just keep sacrificing the token every turn. As far as the Warhammer, I just went ahead and bought the Knights vs. Dragons set. There's some fun stuff in there. :)