degenerate life gain by camd

Format: Commander

Commander: Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 36

Deck overview

This is a general-power Orzhov combo-control deck built around Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, life gain, and life-loss payoffs. The main win is the two-card loop of Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood, initiated by Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel's tap ability. Tutors give the deck meaningful access to the combo, while Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel also provides repeatable card draw from the life generated by Exquisite Blood. The deck carries a wide removal package and several useful defensive permanents, but its commander and combo pieces are expensive. Its interaction is stronger against creatures and permanents than against spells on the stack. Ordinary games should expect a turn-seven operational combo rather than a fast cEDH finish. Alternate wins include Approach of the Second Sun, Felidar Sovereign, and Doctor Doom, Unrivaled, but they are slower and less redundant. Life payment from tutors, lands, and engines is usually acceptable when the deck is preparing to win immediately.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Approach of the Second Sun
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archivist of Oghma
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Bilbo's Gambit
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blood Celebrant
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bloodthirsty Conqueror
  • 1 Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Call of the Ring
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Charismatic Conqueror
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Darksteel Mutation
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Demolition Field
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Doctor Doom, Unrivaled
  • 1 Eclipsed Steppe
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Enduring Tenacity
  • 1 Exquisite Blood
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Felidar Sovereign
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Glasswing Grace // Age-Graced Chapel
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grand Abolisher
  • 1 Grim Tutor
  • 1 Idyllic Tutor
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Imperial Seal
  • 1 Inkshield
  • 1 Insatiable Avarice
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
  • 1 Land Tax
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Mortify
  • 1 Murderous Rider // Swift End
  • 1 Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Pearl Medallion
  • 1 Phyrexian Arena
  • 5 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Rebuff the Wicked
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Reprieve
  • 1 Sanguine Bond
  • 1 Scavenger Grounds
  • 1 Sejiri Shelter // Sejiri Glacier
  • 1 Serra Ascendant
  • 1 Shadowy Backstreet
  • 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
  • 1 Silent Clearing
  • 1 Skirge Familiar
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul Warden
  • 1 Soul's Attendant
  • 1 Spectrum Sentinel
  • 1 Stroke of Midnight
  • 5 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 The Darkness Crystal
  • 1 The Wind Crystal
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Vizkopa Guildmage
  • 1 Windswept Heath
  • 1 Witch Enchanter // Witch-Blessed Meadow