Shades and Soldiers

Commander / EDH

clockworkcactus

Creature (29)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Benalish Commander
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Captain of the Watch
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Darien, King of Kjeldor
• 1x Deathbringer Liege
• 1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Geist-Honored Monk
• 1x Glory
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Helldozer
• 1x Hero of Bladehold
• 1x Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
• 1x Mirror Entity
• 1x Necropolis Regent
• 1x Nezumi Graverobber  ^Flip
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Preacher
• 1x Royal Assassin
• 1x Skirsdag High Priest
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Twilight Drover
• 1x Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer
• 1x Withered Wretch

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

Land (37)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kjeldoran Outpost
• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 11x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 13x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Glorious Anthem
• 1x Intangible Virtue
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Leyline of Sanctity
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Mobilization

Artifact (10)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Deathrender
• 1x Druidic Satchel
• 1x Erratic Portal
• 1x Helm of Possession
• 1x Moonsilver Spear
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spear of Heliod
• 1x Strionic Resonator

Instant (5)

• 1x Condemn
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x White Sun's Zenith

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Martial Coup
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Unburial Rites
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Vindicate

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Creature (6)

• 1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1x Champion of Stray Souls
• 1x Kabira Vindicator
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch
• 1x Soltari Champion

Land (4)

• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Tower of the Magistrate
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Diabolic Servitude
• 1x Murder Investigation
• 1x True Conviction
• 1x Wound Reflection

Artifact (2)

• 1x Leonin Sun Standard
• 1x Tawnos's Coffin

Instant (3)

• 1x Debt of Loyalty
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

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Overview

This deck started out as a Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts token/sacrifice deck. I switched the commander to Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter when I realized that he worked as a sacrifice outlet, efficient spot removal (especially against Indestructible creatures) and an insanely good way to get a sucker punch win.

As good as it was, I didn't like playing it as much when it was sacrifice heavy. It ran cards like Grave Pact, Phyrexian Tower , Martyr's Bond and Butcher of Malakir. I decided to make it pretty much a pure token deck. I was thinking about switching colors to W/G or W/R/G, but Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter with token support and anthem effects is just too much fun.

Suggestion Restrictions

Before making suggestions, please keep the following things in mind:

1. This isn't a sacrifice-centric deck any longer and I don't want it to be. I don't mind having some sacrifice effects such as Diabolic Intent and, clearly, Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter. But most sacrifices should be going to Vish Kal.

2. I don't play infinite combos.

Core Strategy

1. Create tokens with Benalish Commander , Bloodline Keeper  , Keeper of the Watch, Darien, King of Kjeldor, Geist-Honored Monk, Grave Titan, Hero of Bladehold. Skirsdag High Priest , Twilight Drover , Luminarch Ascension, Mobilization, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Kjeldoran Outpost . Martial Coup, Druidic Satchel , Moonsilver Spear and White Sun's Zenith.

2. Pump tokens with Archangel of Thune, Bloodline Keeper  , Captain of the Watch, Deathbringer Liege , Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Hero of Bladehold, Mirror Entity, Necropolis Regent, Cathars' Crusade, Glorious Anthem, Intangible Virtue, Spear of Heliod, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and Caged Sun.

3. Swing with everything. Sacrifice anything that's going to die to Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter as necessary.

Strategy-Specific Utility

Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: Solid card that provides spot removal, as well as being pumpable to sacrifice to Vish Kal.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet: Reusable creature removal that also gets you tokens to feed to Vish Kal.

Nirkana Revenant : More mana ramp, can be pumped to make a Vish Kal attack lethal.

Preacher : Steals creatures to sacrifice to Vish Kal, or combine with other removal to steal a commander or potent board threat.

Leyline of Sanctity: My playgroup is heavy on the mill.

Vault of the Archangel: Makes 1/1 Soldiers much scarier, gets you to ludicrous amounts of life and fuels Archangel of Thune to get multiple triggers per turn.

Deathrender: Equip to a Soldier, sacrifice it to Vish Kal for three +1/+1 counters, play an Elesh Norn straight from your hand.

Erratic Portal: Occasionally lets you bounce opponent's creatures, but more often lets you bounce your own to abuse ETB effects. Also keeps Vish Kal's casting cost down by bouncing him to your hand instead of getting destroyed and having to cast him from the command zone.

Helm of Possession: Good for the same reasons as Preacher , better because it's targeted.

Maybeboard

This is mostly just cards that could have a place in the deck if another card isn't working out, or cards that are going to make their way into the deck as soon as I acquire them.

Wrap-Up

I'm a big fan of EDH decks heavy on interactions, which this one is to a degree. Although Vish Kal is a huge asset to it, you can definitely win without him, which is important late game because of his casting cost. It adapts well to most board states and, most importantly, is a lot of fun to play.

Date added	11 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 1 - 0 Commons
Cards	101
Avg. CMC	3.81
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Cat 2/2 W, Demon 5/5 B, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Saproling 1/1 G, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Vampire 1/1 B w/ Lifelink, Vampire 2/2 B, Vampire */* B, Zombie 2/2 B