Bringing a Gun to an Ink Fight - Killian Hatebears

Commander / EDH Death and Taxes Hatebears Stax WB (Orzhov)

Exit777

D&T Dudes (16)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Elite Spellbinder
• 1x Glowrider
• 1x Hushbringer
• 1x Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
• 1x Lodestone Golem
• 1x Misery's Shadow
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Palace Jailer
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Reidane, God of the Worthy  ^Flip
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Vryn Wingmare

$T4KS (10)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Damping Matrix
• 1x Damping Sphere
• 1x Meekstone
• 1x Sadistic Sacrament
• 1x Silence
• 1x Sphere of Resistance
• 1x Thorn of Amethyst
• 1x Tsabo's Web

Recursion (4)

• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Toshiro Umezawa
• 1x Unearth

Removal (16)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Curtains' Call
• 1x Damn
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Fateful Absence
• 1x Fell the Mighty
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Infernal Grasp
• 1x Lion Sash
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Portable Hole
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Slaughter
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End

Getting Cards (9)

• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Plunge into Darkness
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Wretched Confluence
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

TorTex Wincon (3)

• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Tortured Existence

Flicker (1)

• 1x Ephemerate

Commander (1)

Lands (32)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Detection Tower
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x New Benalia
• 10x Plains
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Vault of Champions

Ramp (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Jeweled Amulet
• 1x Knight of the White Orchid
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Springleaf Drum
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy

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Maybeboard

D&T (16)

• 1x Angel of Finality
• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Leonin Arbiter
• 1x Liesa, Shroud of Dusk
• 1x Liliana's Specter
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Magus of the Balance
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Sanctum Prelate
• 1x Spelltithe Enforcer
• 1x Tidehollow Sculler
• 1x Tithe Taker

Flicker (2)

• 1x Acrobatic Maneuver
• 1x Flickerwisp

Sac outlets (1)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar

Misc (13)

• 1x Aether Vial
• 1x Apostle's Blessing
• 1x Bygone Bishop
• 1x Cremate
• 1x Death Denied
• 1x Desecrated Tomb
• 1x Doomed Necromancer
• 1x Grip of Desolation
• 1x Gutterbones
• 1x Hatred
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Oubliette
• 1x Yawgmoth's Vile Offering

Stax (5)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Infernal Darkness
• 1x Kismet
• 1x Leyline of the Void

Alt Wincons (11)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Chain of Smog
• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Geralf's Messenger
• 1x Phyresis
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sedgemoor Witch
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator

Silver Bullets (6)

• 1x Break the Ice
• 1x Engineered Explosives
• 1x Hallowed Moonlight
• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Ratchet Bomb
• 1x Rug of Smothering

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~Grand Abolisher needs a reprint~

Building the deck

So Killian makes some stuff cheaper. Loading up on removal is kinda nice with him, auras similarly benefit from his cost reduction. Compared to most people building Killian I seem to have a slightly naughtier mind though, when I saw him I really wanted to make some kind of stax deck.

Putting aside for a moment that I probably won't be invited to any more birthday parties, playing stax is ridiculously expensive, like god damn have you seen those prices? I settled for a cheaper hatebears deck with some stax cards sprinkled in since I already own a lot of your typical death & taxes dorks (like Skyclave Apparition).

Gameplan

Killian seems like kind of a dick, so this deck plays like one too. Hatebears and some stax cards delay or outright stop opponents until we feel our superiority has been sufficiently made clear. Then we grind everyone down with our TortEx package. To use and abuse Killians cost reduction, we focus on taxing non-creature spells.

This works together with our subtheme of removal. While our opponents removal comes at a premium, we pay the normal price - and do it again if we find our sort-of kind-of hidden commander, Toshiro. So, what our hatebears and stax cards can't stop, we remove from the battlefield. Plus it's worth noting that Killian himself, Hushbringer and Kunoros can easily gain us a point of life or two and sustain us until the mid- or lategame.

I deliberately avoided an infinite combo win, instead going for slow and steady with Syr Konrad or Tormod. Phyrexian Reclamation can be used for this as well, its just far less efficient. Some of the combos I considered at first are listed as alt wincons if you're curious. I do expect that our hatebears will face some removal, so TortEx also pulls double duty as just regular recursion.

Finally, some flicker effects round out the deck to double up on ETB effects, protect important creatures from removal and give more value to Toshiro. To make better use of these effects, I tried to include a few staple effects via ETBs. Callous Bloodmage isn't as efficient as Sign in Blood but the potential for reusing creatures is high. There are some really nice ETB effects I ultimately cut but would love to include, especially those capable of destroying bigger targets than Skyclave Apparition, like Ravenous Chupacabra.

Note that there are nonbos in the deck: Hushbringer doesnt work well with his friends and Kunoros stops Priest of Fell Rites and Toshiro. If need be I plan to play around them with Village Rites or our removal, their effects are too important not to include imo.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 26 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.44
Tokens	Clue, Illusion X/X U, The Monarch, Treasure