Curiosity Killed The Cat [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Lifegain Vampires WB (Orzhov)

orcopollo

Creature (44)

• 1x Accursed Marauder
• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodthirsty Conqueror
• 1x Charismatic Conqueror
• 1x Corpse Knight
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1x Deathgreeter
• 1x Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 1x Elenda's Hierophant
• 1x Fleshtaker
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Karlov of the Ghost Council
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Marauding Blight-Priest
• 1x Marionette Apprentice
• 1x Priest of Fell Rites
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Roaming Throne
• 1x Selfless Savior
• 1x Selfless Spirit
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Spectrum Sentinel
• 1x Spirit of Malevolence
• 1x Starscape Cleric
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Teysa Karlov
• 1x Teysa, Orzhov Scion
• 1x Veinwitch Coven
• 1x Vengeful Bloodwitch
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Walking Atlas
• 1x Westfold Rider
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (33)

• 1x Agadeem, the Undercrypt  ^Flip
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Desolate Mire
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x High Market
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kabira Crossroads
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 3x Plains
• 1x Radiant Fountain
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Shadowy Backstreet
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Shineshadow Snarl
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x War Room

Commander (1)

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Ascend from Avernus
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Immortal Servitude
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Raise the Past
• 1x Storm of Souls
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Ajani's Welcome
• 1x Ashes of the Abhorrent
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x The Meathook Massacre

Artifact (5)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x The One Ring

Instant (4)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Force of Despair
• 1x Hatred
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

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Maybeboard

Creature (8)

• 1x Braids, Arisen Nightmare
• 1x Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher
• 1x Dawnbringer Cleric
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Hinterland Sanctifier
• 1x Miner's Guidewing
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Witch of the Moors

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Blight Mound
• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Polluted Bonds

Land (2)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Artifact (4)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Tarrian's Journal  ^Flip

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Damn
• 1x Single Combat

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Introduction

As you may have noticed if you browsed through my decks (which I recommend you do!), this one is a bit different from my usual play style. It is the only deck that has black in its colour identity, and it might be the only one in the foreseeable future too. This is because I normally don't play black. While very powerful as a colour, I usually don't like its mechanics.

BUT, I had to make an exception for Amalia Benavides Aguirre, a card which I literally fell in love with. She is just so versatile, powerful, and synergistic, and she combines a lot of the things I like in Magic. She is a low CMC commander, a running theme in many of my commander decks (Giada, Font of Hope, Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider, Hazezon, Shaper of Sand just to name a few), she cares about lifegain, which is my favourite mechanic in the whole game, she allows for explosive and very powerful turns, and she can get VERY big. Despite being in Orzhov, she really speaks to the Naya player in me. So, just for this once, I decided to pass to the dark side and fully embrace black mechanics.

The Deck

You know what they say: curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. This deck really wants to take advantage of Amalia's curiosity - her explore ability - to dig into the deck, putting creatures in the graveyard, until it finds a mass-reanimation spell to bring them back. The built-in boardwipe clears the board and leaves your opponents open to lethal commander damage, while also triggering LTB effects. In this way, Amalia works as a selective self-mill engine, as Voltron commander, and as an aristocrat/lifegain payoff, which really synergises with creatures entering and leaving the battlefield.

Wincons

The deck usually wins through one-shot commander damage, ping damage caused by ETB or LTB effects, or by infinite combos provided by Bloodthirsty Conqueror+Starscape Cleric, Bloodthirsty Conqueror+Marauding Blight-Priest, or Bloodthirsty Conqueror+Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose.

How to Play the Deck

The gameplan is straightforward:

1. Explore as much and as quickly as possible in order to put 18 counters on Amalia and blow the board. The quickest way to do this is through one of the infinite combos listed above, which will only go on until Amalia blows the board. To fetch the necessary pieces, I have included three tutors: Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Diabolic Intent. Otherwise, classic soul sister lifegain engines that trigger on ETB and LTB also help with that.

2. While exploring, put all nonland cards in the graveyard until you reach one of the six mass-reanimation spells in the deck. These are Agadeem's Awakening  , Ascend from Avernus, Immortal Servitude, Living Death, Raise the Past, and Storm of Souls. The ratio of creature to non-creature cards in the deck ensures that most of the milled cards will be creatures that you will be able to reanimate later.

3. Clear the board with Amalia's boardwipe once you reach power 20, allowing you in most cases to one-shot at least one opponent with commander damage.

4. Mass-reanimate you creatures, triggering ETB effects and/or restoring one of the infinite combos.

5. If necessary, mass-sacrifice or destroy your creatures again to trigger LTB effects and win through ping damage.

Conclusion

Amalia is a disgustingly powerful build, but also an extremely fun and flavourful one. Let me know what you think of my deck and I would love to read any suggestions. If you liked it, please leave an upvote!

Date added	2 weeks
Last updated	3 hours
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.43
Tokens	Companion Zone, Copy Clone, Morph 2/2 C, Servo 1/1 C, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Spirit 1/1 W, Starscape Cleric 1/1 B, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W