Suicidal Tendencies (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

Suicidal Tendencies

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Infinite Combo Primer Storm UB (Dimir)

HSSkogan

Instant (30)

Sorcery (11)

Land (26)

Creature (13)

Commander (1)

Artifact (18)

Enchantment (1)

1x Mystic Remora

Maybeboard

Sorcery (6)

Artifact (3)

Creature (1)

1x Baral, Chief of Compliance

Instant (3)

We've moved to Moxfield, please come check out our new primer and updated deck list:

Intro:

Taking FARM to a nauseatingly low, this deck rocks possibly the lowest average CMC in cEDH to push through some of the deepest Naus digs while maintaining high win consistancy post Naus.

In short this list is Hybrid Naus/DD meets Consult Scepter in a layered combo build designed for pure speed.

What Lazav Brings to the Table:

First lets just look at him as a Card

A generally inconspicuious card, Lazav in and of himelf propally looks pretty casual to those unfamiliar with his lines of play.

however, lets look at what Lazav has going for him:

": Lazav, the Multifarious becomes a copy of target creature card in your graveyard with converted mana cost X, except its name is Lazav, the Multifarious, it's legendary in addition to its other types, and it has this ability."

The import thing here is that copying an costed creature this way will kill Lazav due to state based actions, and that any creature that can sacrifice itself can also let Lazav sacrifice himself.

This alone doesn't do much, but when paired with Lazav's other line of text we begin to piece together a special synergy.

"When Lazav, the Multifarious enters the battlefield, surveil 1."

This leaves us with the task of finding a way to abuse these two lnes of text. The main thought here is that if we could repeatedly cast Lazav with an costed creature or self sacing creature in the yard we can begin to mill out our library to setup a win.

What this really means is that Lazav is an infinite mana outlet in the command zone.

But what's the pay off? the pay off is this: Laboratory Maniac and similar cards thrive from an empty library, infact they win the game off of it.

So let's break this down: Lazav is functionally an infinite mana outlet for Dramatic Scepter combo turning him into a third Demonic Consultation / Tainted Pact effect. Lazav abuses low costed creatures in a way the encourages a low average CMC which feeds into strengthening an Ad Nauseam strategy alllowing us to play arguably one of the most powerful cards in Magic more effeciently than other decks in the format. If that wasn't enough, Lazav being in the CZ also allows Doomsday to be a Scepter outlet. Having these existing strategies overlap with each other in such a way puts Lazav in a place where these multiple strategies can layer through each other in a way that allows increased consitency post Naus while pivoting from one strategy to the next with easy in response to the table.

Game Plan

Simply put our game plan is to resolve Ad Nauseam as early as possible to find one of the following combos:

Combos

Dramatic Scepter

Lazav doesn't present himself as an infinite mana outlet at frist glance, however this shape shifting monster has more to him than meets the eye:

Once we have achieved our Scepter combo we have a single step betwen us and a win, we simply need a sac outlet, however we avoid traditional sac outlets by running a set of creatures that once in our Graveyard become sac outlets for our commander.

X Costed Creatures:

Once in the Graveyard both of these creatures cost 0 mana to copy and will instantly kill Lazav due to state based effects, thus allowing us to send him back to the command zone to be recast, this loop will allow us to then use his EBT Surveil trigger to mill ourselves until we have no cards left in library, we then can copy Spectral Sailor and activate to put a draw on the stack, then in response we copy Laboratory Maniac to win the game. Additioanlly either card in hand can either be cast with infinite mana to win con or be cast for 0 mana to send them straight to the yard.

1 Drop Creatures:

these creatures are a recent addition to the deck replacing previous vanila X costed creatures, they do however function exactly the same for our combo turn with the exception of Hapless Researcher allowing us to filter our hand throught the process by discarding things we need in the yard while fillinf our hand with counterspells to ensure we win, and Thoughtpicker Witch since it actually functions as its own win con by allowing us to completly exile our opponant's decks as opposed to relying on a Laboratory Maniac win. (It should be noted that Carrion Feeder works as well and allowes Lazav to become a copy of Walking Ballista or Hangarback Walker while theyre still in the yard without dying to state based effects, this then lets us use their abilities as a direct mana outlet to win the game. Feeder was not included due to having little to no value outside of the combo turn, however it can easily added in for this optional line of play).

A + B Scepter Lines:

With a cantrip in hand (add //symbol:up):

With a creature on the battlefield:

With a creature and a cantrip (add //symbol:up):

With two cantrips in hand (add 2x //symbol:up):

Doomsday

First off, the Doomsday Primer is a great resource and a highly recomended read for anyone seeking to attempt to pilot a DD deck. Here is the link to it: The EDH Doomsday Primer: by AlwaysSleepy & reversemermaid

Piles:

Without Open Land Drop:

1. Scour/Unearth (Needs Reworked)

Cracker:

Brainstorm

Pile:

2. Rites Pile

Cracker:

Village Rites

Pile:

3. Optional Cracker

symbol:up

Cracker: Any Cantrip

Pile:

4. Late Game

Cracker: Lazav, the Multifarious

Pile:

With Open Land Drop:

1. Protected Village

Cracker:

Village Rites

Pile:

2. Protected Optional

symbol:up

Cracker: Any Cantrip

Pile:

3. Protected Late Game

Cracker: Lazav, the Multifarious

Pile:

Doomsday as a Scepter Outlet:

In the event of landing Dramatic Scepter without an outlet we can use DD as our outlet with a highly variable pile.

infinite mana into:

Cracker:

Lazav, the Multifarious

Pile:

Consult

The simplest of A + B combos, all we need is one of the following cobinations of cards in hand.

A + B Consult Lines:

With a cantrip in hand (add //symbol:up):

With a creature on the battlefield:

With a creature and a cantrip (add //symbol:up):

With two cantrips in hand (add 2x //symbol:up):

Is this Deck for You

I suppose this is where I'm supposed to sell you on running my list, so let's give this a go.

Let's start out with why I play this deck: I've alway been that UBx player in my playgroup, the guy pushing for power creep, the one wanting to see all out madness on the stack, fast mana into an early game win with an all out counter war. I want speed, I want answers in hand, and I want to be able to pivot off of a win attempt into a plan B, plan C, or in a hail mary effort plan D.

So why should you play this deck?:

You enjoy speed
You like how it feels to resolve an Ad Nauseam for a 40+ card dig
You enjoy and are comfortable with storm sequencing
You have a Farm or MIdranged meta that you'd like to be able to out pace/slide under
You're comfortable being an early game threat
You're comfortable letting your first one or two win attempts be failures just so you can pivot into the next one
You're willing to accept that killing yourself is a very real possibility and you're not scared to take the risks necessary to achieve your goals

Why you should go find another list:

You like to play control
You want to grind out value and wait to combo until the absolute last second
You're not a risk taker
You play against a Stax meta where Rule of Law effects are very common (this deck can function through/answer most stax decently well, and even has lines that can win through Rule of Law, however its very difficult and unlikely)
You like having a life total and card in your library

Single Card Discussion

What We Run

It is not an infrequent thing to be questioned on why certain cards see play, especially certain cards that generally lack value in most other builds. So this is where I would like to establish the lines of thought that went into card choices for this list.

First off let's dicuss card catagories:

Support Cards:

These are cards that while not providing direct advancement towards our win individually, they enable us to run other cards more efficiently while providing other incrimental value.

Combo

This is a fairly straight forward set of cards, these are the cards that either together or in combination with Lazav provide an infinit combo or alternative win condition for us.

Tutors

These re the cards that allow us to find our combos and answers effeciently and consitently.

Draw

Cards we utilize to gain advantage by filling our hand and digging further into our deck to find our win, these are the cards that take our speed and turn it intomore cards so we can achieve our goals.

Ramp

A specialized set of cards designed to give us extra Mana starting as early as turn one to power out early game wins.

Intereaction

From counters to removal this is where we find our answer to threats and what we need to protect our own game plan.

Recursion

A simple package, but absolutely necessary. These cards allow us to either bring back combos or answers from the Graveyard as well as open up new lines of play by routing our lines through our Graveyard to access wins without the necessary cards in hand.

Packages

Support

This breaks down into two sections, the first is cards that both offer support and have a secondary function, the second is cards that purely support our game plan. These cards offer themselves up as sacable targets for the following cards Village Rites, Culling the Weak, and Diabolic Intent. Additionally their low costs allow us to maintain a low curve for our Ad Nauseam digs.

Extra Vlaue:

Hapless Researcher - both sacable, and self-sacable this card allows us to filter our hand early game or become an outlet for Lazav on the combo turn
Hope of Ghirapur - Perhaps one of them most powerfull effects available, the ability to completely stop an opponant from comboing off for a turn or be unable to interact with our win makes this card worth the slot on all fronts.
Thoughtpicker Witch - not only an extra sac outlet, but in and of itself a win con or in a pinch tech against top deck tutors.

Pure Support:

I'll cover this all under one note, big butts for blocking swings, specificaly teched for TymnaX matchups, the power of a blocker cannot be overlooked when our game plan wants as much life as possible for Ad Naus turns and blocking a swing is equivolant to stopping a draw against Tymna. Ornithopter Phyrexian Walker * Shield Sphere

Combo

This breaks bown into three sections, Sac Outlets, Consult, and Scepter, though each layers into the others.

Sac Outlets:

Hangarback Walker - one of the few costed creatures to actually have a usable ability stapled to it, this doubles and outlet for Scepter for an infinite army.
Walking Ballista - a quintesential Scepter outlet stapled onto a sac outlet.
Hapless Researcher - layered into DD piles, and a hand filter for combo turns, at worst a cantrip.
Hope of Ghirapur - protection stapled to a combo piece, what more could you ask for in a card.
Thoughtpicker Witch - again, combo, a second combo, a DD pile, all in it puts in work. Though likely your frst look for a cuttable creature, this alternative win con should not be taken lightly.

Consult:

This doesn't really need explaination for the most part, this package is the core of any deck seeking to win through a Lab Man effect. Doomsday Demonic Consultation Tainted Pact Thassa's Oracle Laboratory Maniac Spectral Sailor - an infinite mana outlet, and special tech for cantripping on a combo turn through a Rule of Law.

Scepter:

You know the drill Dramatic Reversal - combo and a ritual all in one. Isochron Scepter Sensei's Divining Top - an outlet stapled onto a cantrip. Spectral Sailor - outlet.

Tutors

Of course the obvious package of direct tutors, but some indirect tutors and some unconventional routs.

Direct Tutors:

Inventors' Fair - finds Scepter as well as sac outlets, not a perfect land or tutor, but highly functional and flexible.
Imperial Seal
Mystical Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Intent - abuses our low costed creature base to add an extra direct tutor.
Muddle the Mixture - direct tutor for Isochron Scepter, Dramatic Reversal, Tainted Pact, and Thassa's Oracle

Indirect Tutors:

Lim-Dul's Vault - equivocally a top deck tutor, or just great setup for your winning turn, finds multiple answers all at once
Plunge into Darkness - code name Scary Impules, at any scale this is a scary but amazing card that can clear its way through your deck quickly.

Unconventional Tutors:

Some of the weirdest and scariest tutors in the game, these tutors are designed to win you the game, but in a pinch they can do things like find you protection or answeres. Demonic Consultation Tainted Pact * Doomsday

Odd Tutor Out:

Expedition Map - finds important lands for our game plan, but easily the most cuttable tutor, consider it a flex slot.

Draw

Card Advantage is one of the most import aspacts of breaking parity with the table and positioning yourself for the win, this advatage comes in a few forms as follows:

Targeting Draw:

Cephalid Coliseum - unconventional for drawing, but still usable, additionally negates the need for a cantrip with Laboratory Maniac and can be used to force an opponant to draw in response to their Thassa's Oracle trigger and thus lose the game.

Cantrips:

Low costed quick draws to enable Doomsday piles, Lab Man wins, and just help get things into our hand. Brainstorm - best of the best, three deep for is just as good as it gets. Gitaxian Probe - free is free is free Opt Ponder Preordain Hapless Researcher - look how often this guy shows up here, must be a decent card, huh? Sensei's Divining Top - so much more than just a cantrip, Village Rites - two for one, DD chracker if I ever saw one Mishra's Bauble - zero cost all draw, just fills the curve we want while always replacing itself, free info never hurts. Urza's Bauble - ^^^ dito? * Conjurer's Bauble - the value of putting Lab Man or Oracle on the bottom of your library is just so good, and I guees it also draws.

Stax?:

Mystic Remora - powerful for draw, or maybe just time walks the table.

Outlet Draw:

Spectral Sailor - minor value, but can win us the game in two ways.
Sensei's Divining Top - read above.

Hand Sculptors:

Scroll Rack - nearly doubles your naus, or just gets things into hand in a pinch.
Timetwister - hand refils, and GY hate, it is what it is.

Naus:

So powerful it gets its own catagory. * Ad Nauseam - the star of the show, and usually an average of 40 cards in hand for five mana

Ramp

Speed is the name of the game, and these are how we get it, low costs and added mana, these cards power us through early turns to get ahead of the table

Rituals:

Mana possitive cards designed for quick bursts of speed. Lotus Petal Culling the Weak - abuses our screatures for burst.s of mana and setting up combos. Dark Ritual - makes DD mana Mana Vault Rain of Filth - easily a second Dark Ritual. Songs of the Damned - probably the weakest ritual and close to a flex slot, but increadly powerful post Naus to power out a win. Dramatic Reversal - combos and untaps, just so good. Cabal Ritual - Ad Naus off of , I'll take it. Grim Monolith Mana Drain - a counter spell that can pay for Naus cost, don't be afraid to counter an uncounterable spell just for the mana.

Mana Possitive Rocks:

Mana possitive and untaps each turn, like a repeatable ritual Chrome Mox Mana Crypt Mox Amber - the worst of the best, only online with Lazav out, basicaly plays like a rock outside of the combo turn Mox Diamond Mox Opal Sol Ring

Mana Possitive Lands:

Ancient Tomb - Sol RIng as a land, starting out up a mana is always worth it
Gemstone Caverns - kind of a band card, unless you open with it, then it's a powerhouse
Phyrexian Tower - abuses our sacable creatures to ramp us a little extra

Mana Fixers:

Sadly not mana possitive, but the ability to make sure we're hitting out colors is necessary Talisman of Dominance Arcane Signet * Copy Artifact - a hard card to place in this break down, easily a great rock at to either brake even on a Sol RIng or Mana Crypt copy or act as a ritual when copying a Mana Vault or Grim Monolith even just as a third drop rock this card is flexible and powerful in its own rite.

Interaction

Vital to any game plan, protection and intervention.

One Drop Counters:

the key to countering other counters Dispel Flusterstorm - possibly the strongest counter on a combo turn Miscast Spell Pierce * Swan Song

Two Drop Counters:

Generally we avoid inter action at this cost, however versatility is work it Mana Drain - counter and ritual all in one Muddle the Mixture - counter and tutor all in one

Free Counters:

FREE, FREE, FREE, an absolute must Pact of Negation - don't spite pact, that's not what this is for Mental Misstep - maybe more for hitting one drop counters than anything, but it hits some important pieces Force of Negation Force of Will - god I hate hitting this one off of Naus, but free and completely unrestricted comes at a cost

Removal:

Cyclonic Rift - low hit on Naus, but you always need a board wipe for emergencies
Stern Dismissal
Slaughter Pact
Chain of Vapor - if you know your politics this can set you up for the win

Protection:

Hope of Ghirapur - I feel like we've covered this already

Recursion

Recursion:

Academy Ruins - gets Scepter back
Conjurer's Bauble - mainly for Lab Man, but can save a combo creature in a pinch
Mission Briefing - Snappy but feeds itself, double pips sucks, but we can handle it
Snapcaster Mage - doubles as a body to block or sac for value
Yawgmoth's Will - the ultimate back door, recurs everything

What Doesn't Make the Cut

These are cards that either were in deck or were considered that just didn't have what it takes to stay in the final list.

Bad -ish- Cards:

Thought Scour - Was part of a DD pile that just doesn't work, could be worth a look if a new pile is found
Blood Pet - an auxilary sac outlet for lazav, just minimal value
Cryptic Trilobite - yet again, just worse sac outlet than what we have, noteable as a mana storage option and can act as a rock with Scepter combo
Endless One - just plane vanilla
Stonecoil Serpent - again, just outclassed
Ugin's Conjurant - couldnt hack it
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries - great card, high costed, we just don't need a third option for the slot and this one was the weakest here
Shifting Wall - last pick in the line up
Benthic Biomancer - an interesting synergy with Lazav, just just kind of woese than Spectral Sailor for the slot
Mausoleum Secrets - just too narrow as a tutor, and hard to get online early game
Memnite - just can't fit in the slots we have andwas the worst blocker
Dimir Signet - to get started just isn't great, and with how tight we are on costed rocks this one wasn't worth the slot
Phyrexian Marauder - you get the idea on these types of cards
Windfall - three CMC just doesn't have enough slots, and without notion thief this is just subpar for the list
Reflecting Pool - turn one this is just an awkawrd land, and I wanted to minimize lands that can't be our opener
Tormod's Crypt - just slow
Helm of Awakening - gets us in trouble more often than it helps
Codex Shredder - good, but at to get something back it kind if scrapes the bottom of the barral for these effects
Lion's Eye Diamond - DD pile that left the deck, we don't need it anymore
Nihil Spellbomb - too slow
Tolaria West - decent tutor for a few good cards, just slow as a land and narrow as a tutor

Potential Flex Adds:

Fatal Push - fairly reliable removal, but not easy to fit in deck
Unearth / Reanimate - DD piles and recuring a Thassa's Oracle or Lab man can be nice
Emergence Zone - instant speed is awesome, but colorless lands are tight, could easily be sloted in if you want instant speed again
Serum Visions - worst of our 1 drop cantrips, was cut for Village Rites
Narset's Reversal - bad counter spell, but if you're in a Naus heavy meat then you need to find a slot for it
Intuition - good, not the best, was cut for Doomsday
Flood of Recollection - just the worst of the 3 cards for recuring stuff
Entomb - pretty sweet, usually unecessary, but completely usable
Hurkyl's Recall - can be good, kind isnt always, meta call
Extirpate - full on meta call, great against cards that win throught the yard
Tale's End / Trickbind / Stifle - Sushi hulk tech, still good, but less necessary, meta call
Ghostly Pilferer - ~~new tech for testing, just so much value off of this guy, and being able to discard a creature to start a combo for less mana is definitely relevant.~~ kind of slow for the deck, kind of cool, but more of a midranged card IMO.

Flex Slots / Meta Tech

Every deck has a core, and rarely -if ever- does that core reach 100 cards, as such there is always a little wiggle room for flex slots that allow a player to tech against their specific meta. Here is where I would like to offer up my suggestions for flex slots and how to approach them.

Flex Slots:

Dispel / Spell Pierce / Miscast - I maintain a certain number of counter spells to help protect combos and stop others, however when it comes down to it your meta may not require as many as I run, in this situation I recomend cutting one or two of these ones to open up slots.
Expedition Map - though a strong effect, its applications are somewhat limited and that leaves it as our most cuttable tutor, especially if you are not running things like Inventors' Fair or Phyrexian Tower.
Phyrexian Tower - though a decent ritual, it is not always needed and could be cut for another rainbow land or just a Snow-Covered Swamp.
Inventors' Fair - though a good tutor, its also a costly effect and doesn't produce colored mana, could be swapped for a rainbow if needed.
Thoughtpicker Witch - a powerful card, but nonetheless its effect could be replaced with another self sacing creature like Carrion Feeder to change to a Walking Ballista line or even just a Blood Pet as a pseudo dork effect if you feel those are more appropriate for your meta.
Mishra's Bauble / Urza's Bauble - though great cantrips, these cards could be slotted out for Slight of Hand or Serum Visions if needed, though you'd be sacrificing curve those spells can dig deeper if you're struggling to do so against your meta.
Songs of the Damned - usually our weakest ritual for powering out Ad Naus, this spell could be slotted out for another rock or interaction to suite your meta.

Meta Calls:

Live Game Play

youtube:uYNJbiglODc youtube:NsHvzTU6TmM youtube:v8b8ro28x9U

Changelog

+1 Happless Researcher

-1 Endless One

+1 Thoughtpicker Witch

-1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

+1 Miscast

-1 Narset's Reversal

+1 Talisman of Dominance

-1 Copy Artifact

+1 Doomsday

-1 Intuition

05/06/2020: Previous CMC 1.30

+1 Cryptic Trilobite

-1 Shifting Wall

+1 Scroll Rack

-1 Trickbind

+1 Copy Artifact

-1 Tale's End

+1 Spectral Sailor

-1 Benthic Biomancer

01/21/2020: Previous CMC 1.28

+1 Tale's End

-1 Flood of Recollection

+1 Unearth

-1 Entomb

+1 Thassa's Oracle

-1 Hurkyl's Recall

+1 Trickbind

-1 Extirpate

10/28/2019: Previous CMC 1.30

+1 Benthic Biomancer

-1 Mausoleum Secrets

09/16/2019:

+1 Extirpate

-1 Dispel

+1 Mox Amber

-1 Memnite

+1 Arcane Signet

-1 Dimir Signet

+1 Stonecoil Serpent

-1 Phyrexian Marauder

08/05/2019:

+1 Force of Negation

-1 Windfall

+1 Morphic Pool

-1 Reflecting Pool

05/26/2019: Previous CMC 1.26

+1 Flood of Recollection

-1 Stifle

+1 Windfall

-1 Sunken Hollow

05/20/2019: Previous CMC 1.24

+1 Intuition

-1 Helm of Awakening

05/19/2019: Previous CMC 1.21

+1 Serum Visions

-1 Codex Shredder

+1 Narset's Reversal

-1 Muddle the Mixture

+1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

-1 Doomsday

+1 Songs of the Damned

-1 Visions of Beyond

+1 Mausoleum Secrets

-1 Predict

+1 Ugin's Conjurant

-1 Lion's Eye Diamond

+1 Plunge into Darkness

-1 Nihil Spellbomb

+1 Muddle the Mixture

-1 Tolaria West

+1 Snapcaster Mage

-1 Talisman of Dominance

+1 Gemstone Caverns

-1 Snow-Covered Swamp

Credits & Pertinent Links

Credit to:

simondiamond2012 as the progenitor of the OG Lazav Ad Naus/ DD list: Schizophrenia

Jack_Robinson_acid for working on the addition of Consultant line.

Our Discord Sever:

Group Primer:

Doc Brown Group Primer

1.21 Version used in The Spike Feeders episode:

1.21 Lazav Suicidal Tendencies

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Casual

94% Competitive

Top Ranked	Achieved #15 position overall 5 years ago Achieved #7 position in Commander / EDH 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Storm 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH UB (Dimir) 5 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.24
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Dimir, Saved, neat decks, Commander, Pilot, Follow, Cool Stuff, Not mine, cEDH, Tacos
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