Sygg, Hand Ruiner

Commander / EDH* Casual Discard Multiplayer UB (Dimir)

vbfabled

Creature (19)

• 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 1x Asylum Visitor
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Big Game Hunter
• 1x Bone Miser
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Cunning Lethemancer
• 1x Fell Specter
• 1x Keeper of Keys
• 1x Loyal Subordinate
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Nezumi Shortfang  ^Flip
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Psychosis Crawler
• 1x Rackling
• 1x Scythe Specter
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Tinybones, Trinket Thief
• 1x Trophy Mage

Instant (9)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Drown in the Loch
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Undermine

Land (37)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Creeping Tar Pit
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 12x Island
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Artifact (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Barbed Wire
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Geth's Grimoire
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Paupers' Cage
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Wheel of Torture

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Awaken the Erstwhile
• 1x Dark Deal
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Delirium Skeins
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Welcome to the Fold

Commander (1)

Enchantment (13)

• 1x Breathstealer's Crypt
• 1x Creeping Dread
• 1x Liliana's Caress
• 1x Megrim
• 1x Mind Slash
• 1x Necrogen Mists
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Quest for the Nihil Stone
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Shrieking Affliction
• 1x Waste Not
• 1x Words of Waste

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage
• 1x Liliana Vess

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Introduction

So I was trolling for a new commander in Dimir, because it's a color combination I hadn't really used before. I didn't want to use a cliché or or overused general here, though, and wanted to find something slightly unique and innovative to use. Sygg, River Cutthroat caught my eye because one of my main decks is Ephara, God of the Polis who uses flash creatures to take advantage of her ability and effectively draw a card on every turn, including your opponents, and I wanted to find a way to do it with Sygg. Most builds I could find just loaded up on unblockable creatures to hit your opponents for the requisite 3 life on your turn, but it still felt like more could be done. So I set out to find cards that could cause life loss on your opponents' turns rather than your own, and came to a great conclusion.

Especially in the color combination, a ton of cards cause loss of life for having a small or empty hand. Rackling, Quest for the Nihil Stone, Paupers' Cage, and more. From here, a cruelly wonderful strategy started taking form. Empty your opponents hands using one-sided and symmetrical card draw, punish them for having no hand, then draw a ton of cards every cycle to refill your own hand and keep a massive resource advantage. Within a few turns, you have a full grip while your opponents top-deck for their lives.

Let's go into the strategy

Discard Engines

Part one is making sure we have some cards out that'll get those pesky answers and resources out of our opponents' hands ASAP.

-Cunning Lethemancer/Creeping Dread - There are several of these fairly straightforward effects in the deck, which is fine because even if you draw into a few of them, the effect gets better for our strategy the more you stack up. Have opponents making those hard discard decisions at least once a turn cycle and steadily empty those hands.

-Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage/Nezumi Shortfang   - In case you have an opponent trying to resist the madness by drawing extra cards, it's good to have a few of these targeted effects to pull them down specifically. These two additions also have some bonus effects that will help with other parts of our strategy later on.

-Painful Quandary - This card is pretty much always insane when it hits the board. With the commander out, you don't care which mode your opponents choose. Lose 5 life? Cool, I'll just draw on your end step! Discard a card? Alright, that gets you close to where I want you! It will make you a major target, though, so be sure you're in a dominant enough position before your opponents see it.

-Words of Waste - Thanks to user Crushfield for this amazing suggestion. This card takes advantage of the card draw your commander gives you and lets you forgo it to keep your opponents' hands emptier. It's a great utility to give you more options with your resources.

-Mindslicer - This guy has proven to be a weirdly effective deterrent for attackers in testing. Sure, it's a scary effect he has on him, but I'd expect people to just try to force it and get it over with when it doesn't benefit me as much Nevinyrral's Disk style. The best way to play this card is after you have some cards from the next section in play so that you're happy with it being a pseudo-Propaganda or actually get its death trigger.

Discard Punishment

Here's where stuff starts getting real. Your opponents' hands are shrinking fast, Sygg lies in wait, it's time to pop off. Any combination of these cards that adds up to your opponents losing 3 or more life on each of their turns is all you need, but if you pile more on top of it, you won't be upset about them dying faster.

-Rackling/Paupers' Cage/Shrieking Affliction - These kinds of cards are the bread and butter of the strategy. They hit your opponents on their turns, and it's easy to stack up enough to get the life loss up to and beyond 3 a turn. The best part is they come in every nonland permanent type so it keeps them harder to remove. Even if the red player Vandalblasts? You still have Shrieking Affliction. Someone pops a Nevinyrral's Disk? You've still got Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage. It keeps the engine going through whatever they can throw your way.

-Liliana's Caress/Fell Specter - These types of cards help ensure you're getting that sweet extra card on your turn, too. Most of the discard engines go off on your turn, so the immediate punishment these cards provide is just a little extra insurance. Plus, it pushes your opponents life totals down just that much quicker.

Discard Value

So, now your opponents have no resources to work with, they're getting punished for it, and in effect you're drawing cards. Now, how about we get some more value out of our enemies' misfortune?

-Asylum Visitor - Okay this card is basically just a bonus Sygg. Already drawing on everyone's end step? Draw on their upkeeps, too!

-Archfiend of Ifnir - This is starting to get cruel. No cards in the opponents' hands, no creatures on the opponents' boards. Make sure you're super dominant and able to use this card to its fullest before you drop it or everything is going to get thrown your way.

-Waste Not - Right, so obviously this had to be in here. This card becomes even more annoying than Rhystic Study's "Do you pay 1?" questions because every time you make your opponents discard, they have to read off the card type of every single one so you know the specific way you're gaining from their misfortune. It also is extremely absurd in combination with cards like Dark Deal and Awaken the Erstwhile to almost game-ending degrees.

So, that's the strategy. It's a little cruel and a lot of fun, but one thing's for sure; no one will want to play against it. Drop any recommendations and enjoy!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Discard 4 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 41 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 5 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.25
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, The Monarch, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	EDH, Mono Blue + Dimir Decks