Death Takes a Holiday by TheAceWheelie

Format: Commander

Commander: Avacyn, Angel of Horror

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 51

Deck overview

This deck is a mono-black aristocrats and reanimator strategy that uses sacrifice engines, death triggers, and big-mana spells to control the board and drain all opponents. Early turns focus on establishing mana acceleration with artifacts and swamp doublers like Cabal Coffers and Crypt Ghast. By Turn 4, the deck deploys sacrifice outlets such as Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Warren Soultrader, or Phyrexian Altar alongside recurring creatures like Reassembling Skeleton to draw cards and generate mana. On Turn 6, it reaches critical onset by resolving Living Death, establishing a board lock with Grave Pact, or recurring Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Kokusho, the Evening Star. The commander, Avacyn, Angel of Horror, provides an optional late-game recursion engine that returns all sacrificed nontoken creatures each end step. The deck finishes games on Turn 7 through overwhelming drain triggers, mass combat, or multi-piece sacrifice loops while recovering swiftly from removal using cheap reanimation.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Accursed Marauder
  • 1 Altar of Dementia
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Avacyn, Angel of Horror
  • 1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
  • 1 Azog, Moria's Ruin
  • 1 Black Market
  • 1 Blood Artist
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Burnished Hart
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Carrion Feeder
  • 1 Castle Locthwain
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Deserted Temple
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Dictate of Erebos
  • 1 Disciple of Bolas
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fleshbag Marauder
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Grim Haruspex
  • 1 High Market
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
  • 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 Massacre Wurm
  • 1 Merciless Executioner
  • 1 Meteor Golem
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Morbid Opportunist
  • 1 Necromancy
  • 1 Nirkana Revenant
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Pawn of Ulamog
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Pitiless Plunderer
  • 1 Plaguecrafter
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reassembling Skeleton
  • 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
  • 1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Stinging Study
  • 24 Swamp
  • 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 The Sibsig Ceremony
  • 1 Thran Dynamo
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Troop of Ponies
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Vesuva
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Viscera Seer
  • 1 War Room
  • 1 Warren Soultrader
  • 1 Withering Torment
  • 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
  • 1 Zulaport Cutthroat