Chainer, Mono-Black Combo Master

Commander / EDH Combo Goodstuff Mono-Black Reanimator

ArrgokGnoll

Creature (29)

• 1x Abhorrent Overlord
• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gravebreaker Lamia
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Opposition AgentGC
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms

Land (34)

• 1x Blast Zone
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 21x Swamp
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sorcery (13)

• 1x Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Instant (4)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC

Commander (1)

Artifact (14)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Necropotence

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Maybeboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Magus of the Coffers
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Contamination
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Necromancy

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Chainer, Dementia Master is a powerful Mono-Black commander, possibly the most powerful when not including cEDH decks like Sidisi, Undead Vizier. Some even believe that he is playable in the cEDH format. Now this deck is not made for the most competitive level but, it should be able to hold it's own in most pods. This deck is designed to abuse the Enter the Battlefield Triggers of multiple powerful black and artifact creatures at instant speed using Chainer, Dementia Master's ability. This deck is packed full of life gain and sacrifice outlets to offset the downsides of our nightmare makeing machine. There are also multiple infinite combos in this deck, but if you do not enjoy those, you can choose to just win off of pure value, and your opponents best creatures. The best part of Chainer, Dementia Master is that his ability can be activated at instant speed, and you may hit any creature in any graveyard. With The Dementia Master the world is your oyster, and your opponents nightmare.

Big Mana

At its Core this deck is about good Black Cards, and the Best Black Cards cost Mana, so here is how you get a lot of it.

The Best Big Mana Cards

1.Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth #1 way to make a lot of Mana in Mono-Black I absolutely will not play Mono-Black without this,so you will always want cards to go get these pieces like Expedition Map. These cards can be expensive, but I promise it is worth it if you want to play a deck like this

2.Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx This card is worth playing because Black is all about devotion and many cards in this deck have two or three {B}. This card can frequently net you three or four extra mana and although it is a little win more it helps to close out a game.

3.Caged Sun,Crypt Ghast,Liliana of the Dark Realms,Nirkana Revenant,Soldevi Adnate Again this deck wants all the Mana so here are more cards that give you a bountiful Manapool. All of these have a time and place where they shine, so you should play these early and often to experience their power.

4.Deserted Temple I was lukewarm on this card until I played it a few times and now I am hooked. It comes in untapped and can make you Mana the turn it is played. It also makes the first and second Big Mana bullets even better. Activating Cabal Coffers or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx twice in one turn, yes please.

Important Exclusions!!!

The Altars in the deck ARE NOT for Big Mana outside of a few Combos

Ashnod's Altar & Phyrexian Altar these cards are a part of some combos in the deck, however they are not to produce large amounts of Mana. If you find yourself in the possession of an opponents creature that lets you take advantage I suggest you do, even if infinite Mana is not the main goal of this deck.

Crypt of Agadeem You may want to try this card if you do not believe, but it frequently disappoints. It comes in tapped and if your opponents are playing appropriately your graveyard will be hit frequently with hate, so rarely will you find value in this card. I learned this the hard way but I welcome you to try it and if you get value in your group I say feel free to keep it.

There are some other cards I have not tried that I will, but until then I will not speak on them but they include cards such as; Gauntlet of Power,Extraplanar Lens,Lake of the Dead

Combos

This deck includes a few infinite combos that you can use if you want. If you do not want to win that way you do not have to because the value from this deck will get you there, however I love combo so here we are.

Combo That Includes Chainer (Infinite)

1.Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Phyrexian Altar + Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat This is the major kill combo in the deck that uses Chainer, Dementia Master. You need to get Phyrexian Altar onto the battlefield and then you will proceed to make Mana to play or reanimate the other two creature pieces with our commander. With this alter you will make at least three {B} with every cycle and because at least three creatures will die in the cycle you will gain enough life to do these cycles forever. The magic rule of three is important for this combo, so any creature that brings at least two friends can be used for these cycles. There are many creatures that do this and some are even cheaper then these, however the creatures included in this deck are good without the combo so they are the ones that made the cut.

2.IMPORTANT NOTE ON Necropotence - We all know this card is great, however with Chainer, Dementia Master it is even more busted. The exile effect is not a replacement effect it is a triggered ability, which means you can pull a creature out of the yard that you discard at the end of turn before it is exiled. I know it sounds crazy but it is true, and I have won a few games off of the ability to draw 10 or 15 cards then discard a Gray Merchant of Asphodel and chain it back a few times on the end step. Your friends may hate you but you are playing MonoBlack so you get to do cooler stuff then they do.

Combo That Does Not Include Chainer (Infinite)

1.Abhorrent Overlord/Grave Titan/Wurmcoil Engine + Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat This combo substitutes our commander for an artifact and uses a different alter, but it achieves the same goal as the commander combo.

All of the combo pieces can be used for value so you do not need to use them this way, but if a game goes too long or you want to pull a win out of a bad situation these are always an option.

Combos That Include Chainer (Value)

1.Sacrifice Outlets

These are powerful in this deck because they allow you to move your creatures into the graveyard where you can bring them back for extra enter the battlefield triggers. They are also important so you can save your creatures from being exiled by Chainer, Dementia Master when he is removed, which he probably will be at least once.

2.Enter The Battlefield Triggers

Many creatures in this deck have powerful enter the battlefield triggers that can be abused to deal damage, gain life, create tokens, and control the board. It is important to cycle these creatures with Chainer, Dementia Master and a sacrifice outlet to get a lot of value and win the game. Most games will be won with one of these creatures entering the battlefield multiple times, and the creature of choice is Gray Merchant of Asphodel my MVZ (most valuable zombie).

3.Leave the Battlefield/Death Triggers

There are a few creatures that like to leave the battlefield too and they can also deal some real damage or create a sizable army to protect you from being killed by the others at your table. One of these cards was even banned in commander at one time so he is probably good. Again many a game will be won with the once banned Kokusho, the Evening Star. Other death triggers will help you control the board and have you draw cards, which will get you closer to your game wining Mana producers and creature finishers.

I LOVE MONO-BLACK and this is my all time favorite deck to play. I know that if you give it a try you will enjoy yourself even if you may not think this is your thing. As my pet deck I keep putting time into this deck, trying different cards and combos that seem fun. I will even change out cards to try and win with cards like Liliana's Contract to keep it fresh and new. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear and test with them, any reason to play this deck is a good one. {B}{B}{B}

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Goodstuff 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Mono-Black 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Reanimator 5 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.53
Tokens	Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Harpy 1/1 B, On an Adventure, Treasure, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	wpFurcraft Brews, Awesome Decks I've Seen, Decks I liked, BLACK DECKS, Good Ideas, deck concepts, Cool Decks