Avacyn - Back in Black by Alistair_Steele

Format: Commander

Commander: Avacyn, Angel of Horror

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 39

Deck overview

Avacyn, Angel of Horror helms a mono-black big-mana aristocrats deck that exploits delayed end-step recursion. Because Avacyn returns any nontoken creature that died back to the battlefield at the next end step, the deck transforms sacrifice outlets into compounding engines that trigger on every player's turn. Supported by a robust mana package featuring Cabal Coffers, Crypt Ghast, Throne of Eldraine, and land tutors, the deck reliably ramps to eight mana by Turn 6 to deploy its commander alongside key sacrifice outlets and high-impact payoffs. Looping drain engines like Kokusho, the Evening Star and Gray Merchant of Asphodel drains 20 to 36 life across a single table rotation, creating an immediate lethal clock that closes on Turn 7. Secondary lines utilize mass reanimation via Living Death or colossal finishers like Emrakul, the Exigent Doom. While vulnerable to instant-speed exile and lacking stack interaction, the deck overwhelms opponents through unrelenting board attrition, asymmetric graveyard denial, and massive life swings.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abhorrent Overlord
  • 1 Altar of Dementia
  • 1 Anticausal Vestige
  • 1 Apprentice Necromancer
  • 1 Archenemy's Charm
  • 1 Arid Archway
  • 1 Armaggon, Future Shark
  • 1 Avacyn, Angel of Horror
  • 1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
  • 1 Beamsaw Prospector
  • 1 Bloodgift Demon
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bontu's Monument
  • 1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
  • 1 Bringer of the Last Gift
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Dauthi Voidwalker
  • 1 Decorum Dissertation
  • 1 Demolition Field
  • 1 Demon of Dark Schemes
  • 1 Disciple of Bolas
  • 1 Emrakul, the Exigent Doom
  • 1 Expedition Map
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 God-Eternal Bontu
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Guildless Commons
  • 1 H.E.R.B.I.E. Scout Unit
  • 1 Harvester of Souls
  • 1 High Market
  • 1 Homeward Path
  • 1 Insatiable Avarice
  • 1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
  • 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
  • 1 Krav, the Unredeemed
  • 1 Lazotep Quarry
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Massacre Wurm
  • 1 Metamorphosis Fanatic
  • 1 Morbid Opportunist
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Overseer of the Damned
  • 1 Phyrexian Arena
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Rise of the Deathbringer
  • 1 Saw in Half
  • 1 Scampering Surveyor
  • 1 Sceptre of Eternal Glory
  • 1 Shadowgrange Archfiend
  • 1 Sheoldred // The True Scriptures
  • 1 Sinister Gnarlbark
  • 1 Soldevi Adnate
  • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
  • 1 Stinging Study
  • 1 Summon: Anima
  • 1 Summon: Bahamut
  • 1 Summon: Primal Odin
  • 1 Susur Secundi, Void Altar
  • 20 Swamp
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talon Gates of Madara
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 The Sibsig Ceremony
  • 1 The Soul Stone
  • 1 Thespian's Stage
  • 1 Thieving Amalgam
  • 1 Throne of Eldraine
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Troop of Ponies
  • 1 Umbral Collar Zealot
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Cave
  • 1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
  • 1 Viscera Seer
  • 1 Warren Soultrader
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
  • 1 Withering Torment
  • 1 Zodiark, Umbral God