Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter

Commander / EDH Midrange Voltron WB (Orzhov)

joshuaknust

Creature (41)

• 1x Archon of Justice
• 1x Ashen Rider
• 1x Bloodghast
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Dusk Legion Zealot
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Flesh Carver
• 1x Gold Myr
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Hallowed Spiritkeeper
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kor Cartographer
• 1x Krav, the Unredeemed
• 1x Leaden Myr
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Ogre Slumlord
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Overseer of the Damned
• 1x Phyrexian Rager
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Ravos, Soultender *f-etch*
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Ruin Raider
• 1x Scrapheap Scrounger
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Land (37)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Forsaken Sanctuary
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Orzhov Guildgate
• 3x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Salt Flats
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 1x Strip Mine
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip
• 1x Windbrisk Heights
• 1x Windswept Heath

Instant (3)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Artifact (11)

• 1x Blade of the Bloodchief
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Whip of Erebos
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Pact

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Have always loved Vish Kal. Wanted to make a deck around him.

The deck is very mana-hungry, which is why there is a lot of acceleration in the deck. The general is expensive, as are some of the other important cards. The Myr cards (Gold Myr, Leaden Myr), Pilgrim's Eye, and Kor Cartographer probably seem underwhelming, but they are necessary for ramping mana and hitting land drops. They also provide some sacrifice fuel if needed.

The deck is also very card-hungry, hence the inclusion of cards like Dark Confidant and Ruin Raider. The life-loss can stack-up, but you tend to gain life back in big chunks with Disciple of Bolas, Twilight Prophet, and Vish Kal himself.

Cards like Ogre Slumlord, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and Overseer of the Damned have a really cool interaction with Vish Kal in that you can machine-gun down your opponents' small creatures. [Kill one of their creatures, get a token. Sacrifice the token to put counters on Vish Kal. Remove the counters to kill one of their small creatures, and get a token, which starts the process again.] This only works for non-token creatures, but is still a great interaction, especially when paired with a Grave Pact effect.

While not the primary win condition, sometimes you can get Vish Kal big enough to one-shot an opponent with general damage. This actually happens quite often, and the haste-granting equipment (Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves) are important for this plan. It doesn't take that much to get Vish Kal up to 21+ power. Grave Titan and Wurmcoil Engine provide 10-power and 12-power to sacrifice respectively, and you don't need many more creatures laying around to get up to 21-power from Vish Kal's base 5-power.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.83
Tokens	City's Blessing, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Horror */* B, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Morph 2/2 C, Rat 1/1 B, Snake 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, Thopter 1/1 C, Vampire 1/1 W, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B