Chains of the Cabal (primer)

Commander / EDH* Combo Mono-Black Suicide Black

Bababad

Creature (31)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Burning-Rune Demon
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Eradicator Valkyrie
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Maralen of the Mornsong
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Rankle, Master of Pranks
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Land (36)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Crypt of Agadeem
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 26x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Sorcery (9)

• 1x All is Dust
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Dead of Winter
• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Instant (5)

• 1x Baleful Mastery
• 1x Hellish Rebuke
• 1x Stinging Study
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Vraska's Contempt

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

Commander (1)

Artifact (10)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thaumatic Compass  ^Flip
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Ugin, the Ineffable

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Sideboard

Creature (9)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Massacre Girl
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood
• 1x Walking Ballista

Artifact (4)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Batterskull
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Mirage Mirror

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Illuminor Szeras
• 1x Necron Deathmark
• 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Artifact (2)

• 1x Pact Weapon
• 1x Sceptre of Eternal Glory

Instant (1)

• 1x Deadly Rollick

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Chainer, Chains of Cabal

This deck is black in its blackest form. I harvest what I want from other people’s yards or my own to drain their life away and kill my way to victory. This deck is focused on doubling my mana and playing big X spells for victory is I cannot steal a win out of a graveyard or get a lock with Karn, the Great Creator.

Why Chainer, Dementia Master?

1. Black is my favorite color in all of magic, especially EDH. I have tried many different mono black brews, such as Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Erebos, God of the Dead and even many Rakdos builds, including Mogis, God of Slaughter, The Scorpion God and Xantcha, Sleeper Agent. I really enjoyed the big plays I got from The Scorpion God and Xantcha, Sleeper Agent but felt I was lacking some nice control. Chainer, Dementia Master allows me to have those big plays with a mana dump in the zone.
2. Chainer, Dementia Master comes with built in recursion at instant speed from any graveyard. This makes the deck versatile and dependent on what other people are playing. Though, I can also use my own graveyard and win with my own stuff incase people are playing decks with little to no creatures.
3. I can use the downside of Chainer, Dementia Master exiling the things he recurs when he leaves the battlefield to exile creatures from opponents’ graveyards so they don’t have access to them.

The Breakdown

Creatures

Mana and Hand Fixing

• Burnished Hart and Solemn Simulacrum: Allow me to ramp early or late game and makes Cabal Coffers and Cabal Stronghold tap for more mana later down the line.
• Crypt Ghast and Nirkana Revenant: Doubles my mana allowing me to make bigger plays. Being on a creature means I can get them back with Chainer, Dementia Master. Crypt Ghast also allows me to drain everyone a little with the extra mana using his extort trigger while Nirkana Revenant has the potential to swing big if need be.
• Erebos, God of the Dead: Shuts down lifegain decks and allows me to draw cards if need be.
• Twilight Prophet: Gives me an extra card each turn and drains opponents of life while doing so.
• Villis, Broker of Blood: Allows me to draw cards every time I use Chainer, Dementia Master’s ability. Also prevents people from swinging on me since they usually do not want me to draw cards.
• Sidisi, Undead Vizier: Creature based tutor that also works as a sac outlet if I really need one.

Resource Denail

• Fleshbag Marauder:
• Merciless Executioner:
• Massacre Girl:
• Noxious Gearhulk:
• Plaguecrafter:
• Ravenous Chupacabra:
• Mindslicer:
• Liliana, Heretical Healer  :
• Gonti, Lord of Luxury:
• Phyrexian Obliterator:

Drain

• Blood Artist:
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel:
• Kokusho, the Evening Star:
• Massacre Wurm:

Tokens

• Grave Titan:
• Ophiomancer:

Sac Outlets and Recursion

• Yawgmoth, Thran Physician:
• Viscera Seer:
• Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed:
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed:
• Golgari Thug:

Care Package

Tutors and Draw

• Demonic Tutor:
• Diabolic Intent:
• Read the Bones:

Board Wipes and Removal

• Vraska's Contempt:
• Damnation:
• Dead of Winter:
• Toxic Deluge:
• Living Death:
• Sudden Spoiling:

Win Conditions

• Exsanguinate:
• Torment of Hailfire:
• Rise of the Dark Realms:
• Yawgmoth's Will:

Chants and Facts

Ramp and Hand Fixing

• Thaumatic Compass  :
• Sol Ring:
• Extraplanar Lens:
• Mirage Mirror:
• Rings of Brighthearth:
• Phyrexian Arena:
• Sensei's Divining Top:

Sac Outlets

• Altar of Dementia:
• Ashnod's Altar:
• Attrition:

Other Toys

• Aetherflux Reservoir:
• Whip of Erebos:
• Nevinyrral's Disk:
• Dictate of Erebos:
• Grave Pact:
• No Mercy:

Karn’s and Lilies

• Karn Liberated:

• Karn, the Great Creator:

  • Batterskull:
  • Bolas's Citadel:
  • Caged Sun:
  • Conjurer's Closet:
  • Ensnaring Bridge:
  • Gauntlet of Power:
  • Helm of the Host:
  • Meteor Golem:
  • Mycosynth Lattice:
  • Walking Ballista:

• Liliana, Dreadhorde General:

• Liliana of the Dark Realms:

Noteworthy Lands

Big Mana Lands

• Cabal Coffers and Cabal Stronghold: both have the potential to give me massive amount of lands depending on how many swamps I control. While Cabal Coffers gives me more when I have Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth out, Cabal Stronghold taps for mana on its own. I include both because my basic land count is high and having more mana is never a bad thing.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Another big mana producer, depending on board state. I prefer Cabal Coffers or Cabal Stronghold over it for the most part though.
• Thespian's Stage: Used as another copy of Cabal Coffers that I don’t need to have Cabal Coffers out in order to abuse. Can also copy other player’s good lands to abuse them.
• Crypt of Agadeem: Depending on how the game goes, this can produce me a lot of mana, still testing to see if it is worth the slot but it taps for black on its own so it isn’t a bad option.
• Deserted Temple: Allows me to untap Cabal Coffers or Cabal Stronghold in order to reactivate them to produce even more mana. If I have Rings of the Brighthearth out and enough swamps, this goes infinite.

Sac Outlet

• Phyrexian Tower: Allows me to abuse the stack, save my pieces from exile removal or get multiple ETBs in one turn with Chainer, Dementia Master.

Others

• Volrath's Stronghold: Allows me to replay creatures over and over without Chainer, Dementia Master and helps protect my pieces from graveyard exile or being stolen by other decks in my meta.
• Snow-Covered Swamp: These are in here to abuse with Extraplanar Lens to give me a lot of mana without helping enemies nearly as much.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Makes everything a swamp so Cabal Coffers taps for more or just allows an early Cabal Coffers to tap for any sort of mana.

Combos and Locks

Date added	6 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 5 Mythic Rares 49 - 7 Rares 10 - 2 Uncommons 3 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.94
Tokens	City's Blessing, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Snake 1/1 B, Spirit 2/2 C, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Current Commanders