The Evening Phylactery by Blackzoit

Format: Commander

Commander: Kokusho, the Evening Star

Bracket: 4

Deck overview

This is a mono-black sacrifice/combo deck helmed by Kokusho, the Evening Star, built on the premise that life total is a resource to be spent, not protected. The core loop weaponizes Kokusho's death trigger - drain 5 from each opponent, gain 15 - through a dense sacrifice-and-recursion package (Lifeline, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Out of the Tombs, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed) to repeatedly drain the table. The Lich effects (Lich, Lich's Mastery, Nefarious Lich) convert that life gain into raw card draw, letting the deck rip through its library. The fastest kill is a Doomsday pile ending in Lich + Repay in Kind, which sets every opponent's life to 0 while Lich keeps the pilot alive. Secondary lines include the Mikaeus + Yawgmoth + Kokusho infinite drain loop, Bolas's Citadel casting from the top, and Doctor Doom, Unrivaled's empty-library win. Attrition pieces like Tainted Aether and Braids, Cabal Minion slow the table while the engine spins.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ad Nauseam
  • 1 Alhammarret's Archive
  • 1 Altar of Dementia
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Angel of Suffering
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Barren Moor
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blast Zone
  • 1 Blinkmoth Nexus
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
  • 1 Braids, Cabal Minion
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Cabal Stronghold
  • 1 Chainer, Dementia Master
  • 1 Corpse Dance
  • 1 Cruel Bargain
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dance of the Dead
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dauthi Voidwalker
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Doctor Doom, Unrivaled
  • 1 Doomsday
  • 1 Emergence Zone
  • 1 Emeritus of Woe // Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Gate to Phyrexia
  • 1 Gemstone Caverns
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Imp's Mischief
  • 1 Imperial Seal
  • 1 Infernal Contract
  • 1 Inkmoth Nexus
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
  • 1 Lake of the Dead
  • 1 Lich
  • 1 Lich's Mastery
  • 1 Lifeline
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
  • 1 Moseo, Vein's New Dean
  • 1 Murderous Betrayal
  • 1 Necromancy
  • 1 Nefarious Lich
  • 1 No Mercy
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Nyx Lotus
  • 1 Out of the Tombs
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Platinum Angel
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Repay in Kind
  • 1 Rishadan Port
  • 1 Sacrifice
  • 1 Saw in Half
  • 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
  • 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
  • 1 Skirge Familiar
  • 1 Stunning Reversal
  • 15 Swamp
  • 1 Tainted Aether
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 The Golden Throne
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Urborg
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Urza's Cave
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Viscera Seer
  • 1 Volrath's Stronghold
  • 1 Winding Canyons
  • 1 Withering Boon
  • 1 Words of Waste
  • 1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
  • 1 Yawgmoth's Will
  • 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician