Balrog, Prince of Darkness by pat2210

Format: Commander

Commander: The Balrog, Durin's Bane

Bracket: 4

Deck overview

This is a Rakdos treasure-aristocrats midrange deck helmed by The Balrog, Durin's Bane. The plan is to flood the board with Treasure tokens and disposable creatures, sacrifice them to discount the commander and fuel drain payoffs, then close through combat and table-wide damage. The Balrog, Durin's Bane is a discounted 7/5 haste threat that is nearly unblockable and leaves a removal trigger on death, but the 99 carries the real engine: Treasure doublers, sac outlets, and payoffs like Mayhem Devil and Mirkwood Bats. Secondary finishers include Chandra's Ignition, Fiery Emancipation commander-damage kills, and oversized Dragon attacks from Smaug the Magnificent or Ancient Copper Dragon. The deck plays as proactive resource advantage that converts tokens into both mana and life-total pressure.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Academy Manufactor
  • 1 Ancient Copper Dragon
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arena of Glory
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Big Score
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blasphemous Edict
  • 1 Blazemire Verge
  • 1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bolt Bend
  • 1 Bonehoard Dracosaur
  • 1 Chandra's Ignition
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Crime Novelist
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Faithless Looting
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fiery Emancipation
  • 1 Flare of Malice
  • 1 Gimli of the Glittering Caves
  • 1 Gimli's Reckless Might
  • 1 Goldlust Triad
  • 1 Goldspan Dragon
  • 1 Graven Cairns
  • 1 Grim Hireling
  • 1 High Market
  • 1 Impulsive Pilferer
  • 1 Jeska's Will
  • 1 Juri, Master of the Revue
  • 1 Lich-Knights' Conquest
  • 1 Liquimetal Torque
  • 1 Lively Dirge
  • 1 Long-Range Sensor
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Mayhem Devil
  • 1 Mines of Moria
  • 1 Mirkwood Bats
  • 1 Morbid Opportunist
  • 1 Mortuary Mire
  • 7 Mountain
  • 1 My Precious // Allure of Power
  • 1 Obsessive Pursuit
  • 1 Ophiomancer
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Pitiless Plunderer
  • 1 Plundering Barbarian
  • 1 Professional Face-Breaker
  • 1 Prosper, Tome-Bound
  • 1 Rain of Riches
  • 1 Rakdos Charm
  • 1 Rankle and Torbran
  • 1 Rocky Tar Pit
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Rose, Cutthroat Raider
  • 1 Seize the Spotlight
  • 1 Shadowblood Ridge
  • 1 Skullport Merchant
  • 1 Smaug the Magnificent
  • 1 Smaug, Wicked Worm
  • 1 Smoldering Marsh
  • 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul Shatter
  • 1 Spiteful Banditry
  • 1 Sticky Fingers
  • 1 Sudden Spoiling
  • 1 Sulfurous Springs
  • 1 Supernatural Stamina
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Tainted Peak
  • 1 The Balrog, Durin's Bane
  • 1 The Black Gate
  • 1 Tibalt's Trickery
  • 1 Treasure Vault
  • 1 Undying Malice
  • 1 Unexpected Windfall
  • 1 Untimely Malfunction
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Withering Torment
  • 1 Xorn