Ramses, First of the al-Ḥaššāšīn

Commander / EDH Assassin Control Counterspell UB (Dimir) Voltron

Ardees

Instant (28)

• 1x An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cut Down
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Hatred
• 1x Heartless Act
• 1x Infernal Grasp
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Miscast
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Negate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Tyrant's Scorn
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Peer into the Abyss
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Solve the Equation
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Windfall

Land (31)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 3x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Urza's Saga
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Watery Grave

Creature (8)

• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Etrata, the Silencer
• 1x Ghostly Pilferer
• 1x Mari, the Killing Quill
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1x Spellskite

Commander (1)

Artifact (18)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Vorpal Sword
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sword Coast Sailor

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Maybeboard

Instant (17)

• 1x Ad Nauseam
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Force of Despair
• 1x Imp's Mischief
• 1x Impulse
• 1x March of Swirling Mist
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Siphon Insight
• 1x Slaughter Pact
• 1x Slip Out the Back
• 1x Snuff Out
• 1x Stifle
• 1x Submerge
• 1x Suspend
• 1x Tale's End
• 1x Unsubstantiate

Creature (8)

• 1x Malevolent Hermit  ^Flip
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Royal Assassin
• 1x Thieving Skydiver
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood
• 1x Virtus the Veiled

Land (2)

• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Gemstone Caverns

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Heartless Summoning

Artifact (6)

• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Moonsilver Key
• 1x Relic of Progenitus
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Profane Tutor
• 1x Ritual of Soot

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“Why butcher an army when you can slash a single throat for the same result?”

Philosophy

You want to play this deck if:

• You want to challenge yourself as a player in piloting a difficult deck
• You don't want to play infinite combos
• You don't want to win a game with thassa oracle + Demonic Consultation
• You like tempo and control decks

Strategy

The deck has three finishers, each gravitating around Ramses, First of the al-Ḥaššāšīn's trigger. Each is detailed in the next section.

Expect a lot of hate. Any card stating 'win' or 'lose' the game immediately gets players' attention. You don't want to have Ramses out if you can't defend it, of you if you don't have the winning pieces yet.

You can attempt to finish the game quickly via keeping a mana-strong opening hand that also allows you to tutor for Hatred. Chances are high that players will be able to disrupt this right away. The best way to go about this deck is, therefore, to control the pace of the game and be careful about the timing. Let the players wear each other out before initiating your win conditions.

The deck runs multiple counterspells to help you protect key pieces and your commander.

An excellent way to earn game-winning advantage is by exploiting the synergy between Notion Thief and Windfall. This will essentially remove your opponents' hands while filling yours with a substantial amount of cards.

Finishers

Death by Hatred

• Have Ramses, Assassin Lord on the battlefield without summoning sickness and Hatred in your hand. You need 5 mana (minium 2 black) available for this finisher.
• Proceed to combat; attack a player who can't block or is likely not going to block.
• After no blockers are declared, cast Hatred by paying X life, where X is the amount of damage required to kill an opponent via commander damage (generally 17 life points + 4 from Ramses base strength).
• Even if the player shows unsportsmanlike conduct and concedes before damage (or even before blockers are declared), Ramses, Assassin Lord's trigger still goes on the stack since he attacked. As of rule 104.3a, "A player can concede the game at any time. A player who concedes leaves the game immediately. That player loses the game." As the player loses the game, and ability resolves, you win the game.

Death by Sword

• Have Ramses, Assassin Lord on the battlefield without summoning sickness and Vorpal Sword equipped to him. You need 8 mana (3 black minimum) for this finisher
• Proceed to combat. If no blockers are assigned, activate Vorpal Sword and deal damage to your opponent.
• Vorpal Sword triggers, and the player loses the game. Ramses, Assassin Lord triggers, and you win the game.

Death by Silence

• Have Mari, the Killing Quill and/or Etrata, the Silencer exile at least 3 creatures throughout the game.
• Have Ramses, Assassin Lord and Etrata, the Silencer on the battlefield, the latter without summoning sickness. An opponent must control at least one non-token creature for the finisher to work.
• Attack an opponent with Etrata, the Silencer. She triggers, and target player loses the game. Ramses, Assassin Lord triggers, and you win the game.

Death by Apocalypse

• Have Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Ramses on the battlefield, and Peer into the Abyss in hand.
• Attack a player with any assassin. It doesn't matter if you're blocked, you only need to have attacked with an assassin a player for the turn, and ensure Ramses is still on the battlefield.
• After the attack phase, cast Peer into the Abyss targeting the player you attacked. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse will kill that player, then Ramses' trigger will go on the stack and make you win the game.

Top Ranked	Achieved #40 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #31 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Counterspell 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.06
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Construct 0/0 C, Treasure
Folders	Ramses, Assassin Lord, Saved