Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer] (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer]

Commander / EDH Dark Depths Horror Mill Primer Theme/Gimmick UB (Dimir) Vorthos

UltimateRoxas40

Land (34)

Planeswalker (3)

Creature (27)

Artifact (8)

Commander (1)

Sorcery (11)

Instant (10)

Enchantment (6)

Maybeboard

Creature (7)

Sorcery (2)

Instant (5)

Land (2)

Artifact (4)

Enchantment (2)

“I have looked upon all the universe has to hold of horror, and even the skies of spring and flowers of summer must ever afterward be poison to me.”

― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

This was originally my Lazav, Eldritch Mastermind *Retired*, a Lovecraftian take on Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. It was the first commander deck that I build from scratch rather than modifying a precon. I originally had a standard/kitchen table Dimir Mill deck that I played for a while during the Return to Ravnica Block, but once I discovered the EDH format, I quickly switched it over.

However, after years of playing, it never really did what I wanted. It was fun and thematic, but it rarely won, and the deck heavily relied upon what our opponents were playing. Then, Captain N'ghathrod was introduced, and he instantly became the primary commander for this deck. He fits thematically with one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, 'The Shadow over Innsmouth', which was obviously used as inspiration for the Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon sets (which, coincidentally, is what brought me back to MtG for good!).

Now I have a definite plan to win besides 'Mill out our opponents and hope they have good stuff in their deck I can copy with Lazav, Dimir Mastermind'. I can unleash my horrors upon my opponents, steal their most precious or powerful creatures and artifacts, and Mill them into Madness!

I've been a huge fan of Lovecraft and his weird fiction for a long time, so this deck pays homage to his work, with a heavier emphasis on the works of his Cthulhu Mythos. While this is not meant to be a super competitive deck, it was designed to mill our opponents, steal pieces from their decks, unleash horrors unto the world, summon the Old Ones and other Outer Gods, and cause general madness to everyone in a fun Vorthos/Lore-inspired way.

Our Commander

Captain N'ghathrod - Captain on deck! He gives all our horrors the ability to mill our opponents for however much damage they are dealt, which is helped by the Menace that he gives to all our horrors, including himself. Then, at the beginning of our end step, he can steal cards out of an opponent's graveyard.

Three important things to note:

Captain N'ghathrod can only take Creatures and Artifacts.
He can only take cards that were put there during our current turn. This restriction makes us not use other Milling cards that hit on other players' turns, since we wouldn't be able to take advantage of them with Captain N'ghathrod's ability.
He can only take cards that were put in the graveyard from the Library (ie. Milling, Consuming Aberration). Discard effects don't count toward his ability.

Milling out our opponents and driving them to madness

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”

Altar of the Brood - Our altar to worship the Old Ones! A great early drop, whenever another permanent comes into play under our control, each opponent Mills 1 card. A great way to start taking choice cards from our opponent's graveyards with Captain N'ghathrod's end-of-turn ability. Shout out to Willen for reminding me about this card and its lore/flavor.
Consuming Aberration - This monstrous Horror can become massive if left unchecked, and also makes our opponents reveal cards from their library until their next land whenever we cast a spell. And that triggers for each opponent too, so a single spell could increase its power dramatically. And especially potent if Captain N'ghathrod is on the field giving it Menace. IMPORTANT NOTE: This type of effect is not technically Mill, so while it will trigger Captain N'ghathrod, it won't trigger something like Zellix, Sanity Flayer that specifically care about the Mill keyword.
Court of Cunning - At its worst, this enchantment mills any number of players for two cards on our upkeep, which is similar to other enchantments like Curse of the Bloody Tome or Memory Erosion, both of which I've had in this deck before. At its best, we are milling at least 30 cards a turn with a four-player group. This gives Captain N'ghathrod plenty of options to steal during our turn. Plus, Monarch is a fun mechanic for a large group, and once/if the Monarch is taken from us, we can let someone else be the target of attacks while we sit back and Mill everyone out.
Drown in Dreams - Can either draw us X cards or Mill 2x the X value. If Captain N'ghathrod is on deck, we can use both modes. If we have enough mana and our Captain out, using both modes at once can secure a win if we have enough mana.
Duskmantle Guildmage - This cultist wizard has two activated abilities. The first is the more important one, as we can weaponize the milling process and drain life equal to the number of cards milled, like with Traumatize. The second ability is a little pricey for such a low effect, but if you've got available mana, you can ruin someone's Sylvan Library, Brainstorm, or Vampiric Tutor play.
Extract from Darkness - Each player Mills 2 cards, then we take a creature from a graveyard and put it on the battlefield under our control. It doesn't have to be a creature that was put there by this effect, and we can hit something in our graveyard too.
Fractured Sanity - for , each opponent Mills 14 cards, or we can cycle it and each opponent Mills four cards.
Imperious Mindbreaker - This creature Soulbonds to another creature, and gives both itself and that creature a 'Mill on attack' trigger equal to its Toughness. If we've got a beefy creature in play like Captain N'ghathrod or Emrakul, the Promised End, we can mill a lot of cards quickly, and that's even before combat damage.
Jace, Memory Adept - His +1 Mills 1 card from target player and we draw a card. More importantly, his 0 Mills 10 cards, turning him into a repeatable Glimpse the Unthinkable.
Jace, the Perfected Mind - His -2 ability makes target player Mill three cards, then draws us either one card or three cards if a graveyard has more than 20 cards in it. His -X makes target player Mill three times X cards.
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries - Slightly cheaper than Jace, Memory Adept and has a slightly more impactful +1 too, Milling two cards rather than one, but since he doesn't have a 0, he can dedicate himself to constantly Milling two and drawing a card. Plus he carries a surprise win-con if our opponents aren't expecting us to suddenly Mill ourself out.
Maddening Cacophony - Each opponent Mills 8 cards, but with a kicker cost of , each opponent mills half their library. Definitely worth it to hold onto until we have enough mana to kick this spell.
Nemesis of Reason - This nightmarish creature mills 10 cards on the attack trigger, it doesn't have to connect to get the effect. Similar to and can stack with Imperious Mindbreaker for a ton of cards milled.
Nephalia Drownyard - A bit expensive, but for 3 mana, we can Mill an opponent 3 cards.
Phenax, God of Deception - A more defensive milling creature, all we need to do is wait until just before our turn, then tap all our remaining untapped creatures and mill out a lot of cards, and many of our creatures have a high Toughness. And since it's Indestructible and sometimes not a creature, Phenax, God of Deception can get around a lot of removals.
Restless Reef - For (effectively five mana since we can't use this land for mana), we can turn this land into a 4/4 Shark with Deathtouch and whenever it attacks, target player Mills four cards. It doesn't even have to be the same player we are attacking. We can spread the love a little.
Roaming Throne - Depending on the creature type we choose when this creature ETBs, we can double up on our triggered abilities (When, Whenever, At). Since we are almost always going to choose Horrors, there are a lot of triggers we can abuse. We can double up both of Captain N'ghathrod's triggers, milling twice and stealing two cards, or put two slime counters on all of our opponent's creatures with Toxrill, the Corrosive. Lots of fun possibilities.
Ruin Crab - A nice drop, good turn one or two play to start getting cards into our opponents' graveyards. Obviously, we want Captain N'ghathrod on the field to be able and take advantage of anything that enters our opponent's graveyards, but it could provide good targets for Animate Dead or Reanimate.
Startled Awake - Target opponent Mills 13, but can come back as a 1/1 Skulk to cast the spell again potentially.
Traumatize - Target opponent mills half their library.
Zellix, Sanity Flayer - For , target player mills three cards. But the really important part is whenever a player mills one or more creatures, we create a 1/1 Horror Token. I wish that it was a Token for each creature milled, but that might be too much. If we pair it with a mill spell that hits everyone, we can make multiple 1/1 Horror Tokens.

Mill Payoffs and Synergies

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear.”

Animate Dead - Steal a creature from any graveyard.
Breach the Multiverse - This has a high CMC, but has a massive impact. Each player Mills 10 cards, then we can take a creature or planeswalker from each graveyard and put it onto the battlefield under our control.
Bruvac the Grandiloquent - The Doubling Season of Milling. Double the number of cards milled. If he is in play, Traumatize will kill a player, and a kicked Maddening Cacophony can win you the game (baring any opponents with Laboratory Maniac or Thassa's Oracle).
Consuming Aberration - Can become a massive beater that continues to grow if left unchecked.
Drown in the Loch - This flexible counter or kill spell is dependent on the number of cards in the respective graveyard.
Fraying Sanity - While this card doesn't mill anyone directly, it does count the number of cards they put in the graveyard, then mills that player accordingly. This works with them cracking Fetchlands, discarding, and milling effects.
Grimoire of the Dead - Fairly mana intensive and best used in the late game, but if we've been filling up our opponent's graveyards, we could potentially overwhelm or outvalue the rest of the table.
Guiltfeeder - While lots of EDH decks have Black and Artifact creatures, Guiltfeeder can fairly easily slip past our opponent's defenses and drain their life if there are cards in their graveyards.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - Whenever a creature is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind can become a copy of that creature. He maintains his name and his legendary status, and can repeat this process whenever another creature enters an opponent's graveyard. And he's got built-in Hexproof, which is a nice bit of defense against the various removal effects.
Reanimate - Steal a creature from any graveyard.
The Haunt of Hightower - Another potentially large beater, but this one has both Flying and Lifelink. We might be needing the extra life to stay alive long enough to win the game, and the forced Discard is nice too.
Wrexial, the Risen Deep - If an opponent has a Swamp or Island in play or an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is on the table, this Kraken can hit any opponent unblocked and cast an Instant or Sorcery for free from their graveyard. I really wish this was also a Horror.

Horrors

“In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulu waits dreaming”

Milling our opponents out is one way to kill our opponents. Dragging them into the unknown by our horde of Horrors is another!

Aboleth Spawn - This horror copies ETBs, and has Flash, so we can surprise an opponent and enjoy their effects.
Ancient Cellarspawn - This Enchantment creature makes our Demons, Horrors, and/or Nightmares cost less to cast. Plus, we can cause some small life loss through the difference between the spells mana value and the amount of mana used to cast it.
Consuming Aberration - Grows stronger for each card in our opponent's graveyard.
Endless Evil - Enchants a creature we control, and on our Upkeep, we create a 1/1 Token copy of said creature, and if the enchanted creature dies, we can return Endless Evil to our hand. We can create copies of some of our non-Legendary creatures for extra value, like Nemesis of Reason, Sludge Monster, or Guiltfeeder.
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - Gives us card draw if we connect with an opponent, but we can also bounce the creature back to our hand if it's blocked and might die from the exchange.
Grell Philosopher - Can turn all our Horrors into Sol Rings! Pairs well with the 1/1 Horrors from Zellix, Sanity Flayer.
Hullbreaker Horror - One of our big finishers. Can turn our spells into pseudo-Counter Spells or bounce a creature back to its owner's hand.
Hunted Horror - A cheap, yet strong Horror that can come out very early on. Also provides a chance to play politics by giving an opponent some 3/3 Centaurs with Protection from Black.
Mind Flayer, the Shadow - Another big finisher. Steals us cards to play at the end of turn, and once we have three stolen permanents on our field, it turns into a 9/9 beater. And since it doesn't care how those stolen permanents got to our side, it could easily be cast and immediately be online as a 9/9 monstrous threat.
Mutated Cultist - A small Horror, but a secondary piece of our Dark Depths combo, allowing our cultist to draw out an Eldritch horror.
Nemesis of Reason - On the attack trigger, the defending opponent Mills 10 cards.
Nighthowler - For , we can Bestow this power boost to one of our creatures, and once/if that enchanted creature dies, then this becomes another threat.
Psionic Ritual - For , we can Exile an Instant or Sorcery out of any graveyard, copy it, and cast it for free, then Exile Psionic Ritual. However, we can Replicate it by tapping any number of untapped Horrors, and copying Psionic Ritual that many times, choosing new targets each time. Go grab any number of ramp or kill spells in the graveyards.
Silent Hallcreeper - A small unblockable Horror creature with huge potential. It can grow stronger, draw us a card, and become a copy of another one of our creatures. While there is flexibility in the order in which we choose its abilities, once we turn it into another one of our creatures, it loses the unblockability and any of the other 'growth' abilities it hadn't used yet.
Sludge Monster - On ETB or attack, we can put a slime counter on up to one other creature, and if it's a non-Horror creature, we turn it into a 2/2 with no abilities. A good way to remove a commander or other indestructible threat.
Thing in the Ice - A cheap Defender for a few turns until we've cast four Instant or Sorcery spells, then it transforms, and bounces all non-Horror creatures back to their owner's hands. Cheaper than a Cyclonic Rift.
Toxrill, the Corrosive - Our last major finisher, and quite a Toxic one too (No relation to Phyrexia)! Weakens our opponent's boards, creates 1/1 Slugs, and can draw cards off those tokens too.
Uchuulon - Power and Toughness are equal to the number of Crabs, Oozes, and Horrors we control. And at the beginning of our end step, we can exile a creature from an opponent's graveyard and create a Token copy of it.
Zellix, Sanity Flayer - Whenever a player Mills a creature, we create a 1/1 Horror Token.

Combos, Synergies, and Wincons

“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Grimoire of the Dead - If utilized in the late game, we could unleash the dead and overwhelm and outvalue the rest of the table.

“It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.”

Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage - Quickly create a 20/20 Indestructible Flying Avatar creature token called Marit Lage

A Classic combo. Have both lands in play. Normally, you'd need to activate Dark Depths ten times for mana each time to remove all ten Ice Counters to summon Marit Lage. However, we can activate Thespian's Stage's second ability to become a copy of Dark Depths but with no Ice Counters on it. The legend rule will happen due to state-based actions, causing us to sacrifice the original Dark Depths. Then the copy of Dark Depths's trigger will occur, causing us to sacrifice it and create a 20/20 Marit Lage legendary creature token.

Pieces of this combo can be tutored for with Expedition Map, Tolaria West, as well as our other tutors.

An alternate version of this combo is Dark Depths + Mutated Cultist - With Dark Depths in play, we can then cast Mutated Cultist to immediately pull all the counters off of Dark Depths to summon Marit Lage.

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth's dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.”

Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Another Classic combo. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth turns all of our existing lands into Swamps, then for , , we can generate amount of , where is the number of Swamps we have. A good way to accelerate our mana if we want to cast a big hitter like Emrakul, the Promised End, Mind Flayer, the Shadow, or Toxrill, the Corrosive earlier than we are supposed to.

Pieces of this combo can be tutored for with Expedition Map, Tolaria West, as well as our other tutors.

″The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order.”

Mutated Cultist + Thing in the Ice - Quickly remove ice counters and flip into a powerful Horror and pseudo-Cyclonic Rift.

With Thing in the Ice on the field, we can play Mutated Cultistto instantly remove all the Ice counters. This doesn't immediately flip it like Dark Depths, we still need to cast an instant or sorcery to activate the transformation.

"Some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new Dark Age."

Traumatize/Maddening Cacophony(KICKED) + Fraying Sanity - Player enchanted with Fraying Sanity mills their entire library.

Traumatize + Bruvac the Grandiloquent - Target opponent mills their entire library.

Maddening Cacophony(KICKED) + Bruvac the Grandiloquent - Each opponent mills their entire library.

“They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky.

Traumatize/KICKED Maddening Cacophony + Duskmantle Guildmage - Activate Duskmantle Guildmage's first ability for , then cast either spell and potentially deal enough damage to knock everyone out.

"Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time."

Jace, Wielder of Mysteries + Traumatize/Fraying Sanity/Drown in Dreams - Surprise your opponents by Milling yourself out and winning with Jace, Wielder of Mysteries's static ability.

″This was that cult, and the prisoners said it had always existed and always would exist, hidden in distant wastes and dark places all over the world until the time when the great priest Cthulhu, from his dark house in the mighty city of R’lyeh under the waters, should rise and bring the earth again beneath his sway.”

Mindcrank + Duskmantle Guildmage - Activate Duskmantle Guildmage's first ability for , then pay for each opponent you want to mill out (or some other card that can mill multiple people). They will take X damage, X being the number of cards Milled. Mindcrank will see that damage loss, then make them Mill X card, X being the life lost. This will continuously loop until our opponents have decked themselves.

“Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.”

Hullbreaker Horror + Sol Ring + Altar of the Brood - Our one Infinite Combo. If Hullbreaker Horror is on the field, and Sol Ring is on the field and Altar of the Brood is in hand, we can Mill out the entire table.

With Hullbreaker Horror's on the field, we can tap Sol Ring for , then cast Altar of the Brood for and bounce Sol Ring back to our hand. With the remaining for , recast Sol Ring, which will re-trigger Hullbreaker Horror to bounce Altar of the Brood back to our hand, then repeat ad nauseam.

"It lumbered slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeezed Its gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of that poison city of madness."

Toxrill, the Corrosive + Sludge Monster - Put a Slime counter on each creature we don't control at the end of each turn, then all non-Horror creatures all get a base Power/Toughness of 2/2 and lose all abilities. On the first End step, each non-Horror creature our opponents control effectively becomes a 1/1 creature with no abilities, then they should die on the next end step when Toxrill, the Corrosive puts another Slime counter on their creatures.

Lovecraft Stories, Themes, and their Noodlely Counterparts:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

As I said above, this deck pays homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. While the most well-known part of his work is the Great Old One Cthulhu from H.P. Lovecraft's short story 'The Call of Cthulhu' (1928), there are many more stories that he wrote that encompass weird fiction or cosmic horror.

I'm not going to write extensive comparisons or story summaries, just major characters and the general flow of the story as represented by cards. If you're interested, I'd highly recommend reading his literature.

Important Lovecraftian characters or tropes

Lovecraftian Protagonists

Many Lovecraftian protagonists are seekers of truth or accidentally stumble upon something they shouldn't have, and often lose their minds. In this deck, Jace takes the role of a Lovecraftian protagonist. He usually begins the stories as Jace, Memory Adept, a young, naive man eager to increase his knowledge of the cosmos.

If he survives his adventure and comes out (relatively) unscathed, he becomes Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, one who is able to face the cosmic horrors.
However, if he instead succumbs to madness, he is reborn as Jace, the Perfected Mind, a slave to his madness and the Great Old Ones.

Bruvac the Grandiloquent - The wise old man or scholar, like Professor Armitage from 'The Dunwich Horror' or Professor Angell from 'The Call of Cthulhu', this character has an extensive knowledge of the world, numerous contacts of like-minded fellows, and has, invariably, read the Necronomicon (see below), regardless of their field of study, whether it be literature, architecture, or geology.
Emrakul, the Promised End - Discussed more below, but there could be no other creature to best represent the Great Old One Cthulhu. A monstrous god that has been sleeping/sealed/trapped for vigintillion (10^63) years in the sunken corpse-city of R’lyeh, but can psychically communicate through dreams and visions, and has numerous bloodthirsty and murderous cults devoted to it.
Grimoire of the Dead - Perhaps even more famous than Cthulhu, this book represents the Necronomicon, a rare book discussing the secrets and arcana of the Lovecraftian Mythos Pantheon of Outer, Elder, and Old Gods. Written by the 'Mad Arab' Abdul Alhazred in CE 700 before he was "seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses", the book and all original copies were thought destroyed, although a few copies were translated into Greek, and then into Latin. Now, roughly five copies exist today, held in prestigious university libraries across the world.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - My take on Nyarlathotep, God of a Thousand Forms. An Outer God and shapeshifter who prefers to live among mankind, causing madness and chaos wherever he wanders. A pseudo-liaison between the Eldritch beings and the humans and cultists.

The Shadow over Innsmouth

“Where does madness leave off and reality begin?” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow over Innsmouth

Our unnamed narrator tells the tale of his side trip to shadow-blighted Innsmouth, and the horrible stories and truths he discovers there.

Our unnamed narrator is an eager student on an antiquarian tour of the New England area when he first hears of the old and reviled Massachusetts town of Innsmouth. Once a prosperous fishing hamlet and cardNephalia Drownyard (SLD) f:|shipping port, it has now become a decrepit town that most people avoid.
The Esoteric Order of Dagon (Duskmantle Guildmage), the primary religious order that Captain Obed Marsh founded after visiting a mysterious island in the South Seas. Captain Obed Marsh would travel out to Devil's Reef established the covenant with the Deep Ones to bring prosperity to Innsmouth. They have a pseudo-Masonic Temple structure, requiring multiple levels of Oaths and secret ceremonies for all who join them. The primary objects of worship and devotion are Father Dagon and Mother Hydra.
The fate of poor old Zadok Allen, the aged resident who told too much to our narrator as he was investigating the town and the Esoteric Order of Dagon and led the townsfolk to try and capture our narrator before his eventual escape.
The revelation and eventual fate of the narrator, once he researches and confirms his true connection with the town of Innsmouth and the Deep Ones underwater city of Y'ha-nthlei.

The Call of Cthulhu

“In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Arguably H.P. Lovecraft's most famous short story. It is split into three separate stories from different time periods, all revolving around a fanatical and dangerous cult worshipping a mysterious entity known as 'Cthulhu'. These three stories had been combined and prefaced by Francis Thurston, our narrator, that they should never be read lest the reader is silenced by the cult.

The Horror in Clay

Francis Thurston's great uncle Professor Angell meets with an artist who has developed strange, eldritch dreams and nightmares about a sunken, Cyclopean city, and the terrifying entity found within. In a fit of madness, the artist creates a Bas-relief sculpture of what he could understand and gives it to the Professor.

The Tale of Inspector Legrasse

Professor Angell recalls an account from an Inspector from Louisiana, who had a terrifying encounter with the cultists in the swamps of New Orleans.

Swamps of Louisiana - Bojuka Bog, Choked Estuary, Fetid Pools, Polluted Delta
Mad Cultists - Duskmantle Guildmage
Confiscated Idols of Cthulhu - Arcane Signet
The white polypous thing that no man has ever seen or survived - Consuming Aberration

The Madness from the Sea

Francis Thurston recovers an account of a Norwegian sailor who, while at sea with his crew, was attacked by another group of cultists, and somehow ended up on a mysterious island city that appeared to have risen from the sea floor, and discover the horrible truth within.

Story from Gustaf Johansen, second mate of the Emma - Expedition Map
The Nightmare Corpse City of R'lyeh - Restless Reef, Tainted Isle, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Drowned Catacomb
The Tomb/House with the non-Euclidean geometry - Ancient Tomb
The Great Priest Cthulhu - Emrakul, the Promised End, Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Dark Depths
Learning the Eldritch Truth - Fractured Sanity, Traumatize

At the Mountains of Madness

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness

William Dyer, a geologist and previous explorer of the Antarctic region - Bruvac the Grandiloquent)
Miskatonic University - Tolaria West)
The expedition to Antarctica to research and take samples from a mountain range larger than the Himalayas - Expedition Map
The scientific team discovering the 'Fossil' of an unknown organism eventually labeled one of the 'Elder Things' - Rhystic Study, Thing in the Ice , Grell Philosopher, Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar
Discovery of the slaughtered scientists and missing team members - Infernal Grasp
Discovery of the ruins of a massive Cyclopean City that pre-dates all of human history - Ghost Quarter
The Shoggoth, a proto-life slime slave-creation of The Elder Thing - Consuming Aberration, Dark Depths
The fate of Danforth, who glanced behind the escaping plane and saw the true, lurking evil beyond the Mountains of Madness and never recovers - Nemesis of Reason, Fractured Sanity, Traumatize

Herbert West–Reanimator

“Damn it, it wasn’t quite fresh enough!” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Herbert West—Reanimator

The heartwarming story of two misfits who constantly try to bring back corpses with science, a little bit of weird magic, and a lot of graverobbing.

Herbert West - Imperious Mindbreaker
Experimenting on human bodies - Animate Dead, Reanimate, Mindcrank, Shizo, Death's Storehouse
The reanimated dead - Feed the Swarm

The Dunwich Horror

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth." ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror

Old Whateley - Duskmantle Guildmage, Imperious Mindbreaker
Wilbur Whateley - Nemesis of Reason, Hunted Horror
Wilbur Whateley's Twin Brother - Consuming Aberration
Miskatonic University - Tolaria West
Henry Armitage - Bruvac the Grandiloquent
The Necronomicon - Grimoire of the Dead
Studying the Necronomicon - Rhystic Study, Demonic Tutor
Yog-Sothoth - Emrakul, the Promised End, Dark Depths

Previously Used Lovecraftian/Mill cards

These are some of the cards I've had in previous versions of this deck.

Other Lovecraftian Cards Not in this Deck

There are plenty of amazing cards that have great Lovecraftian flavor, but unfortunately don't work well with the plan of the deck.

This is by no means a complete account of Lovecraftian relationships between the deck and his Cthulhu Mythos, but it should give the viewer a better understanding of why some cards were selected. There are many more cards in Magic the Gathering that would represent elements of H.P. Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos, but not all of them can fit into a single EDH Deck or cover the different mechanics within the game.

If you are a fellow Lovecraftian enthusiast and/or have any suggestions on cards that fit within a story or general Lovecraftian theme, I'd love to hear them. Blue/Black seems like the best color combination for Lovecraft's works, but if you have other ideas I'd love to hear them. And if you'd like to learn more about the life and works of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as other Wierd or Gothic Fiction and Horror Stories, I'd highly recommend 'The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (hppodcraft)'. Great stuff, super informative. Now rebranded as 'Strange Studies of Strange Stories'

Obligatory note: While the works of H.P. Lovecraft are an important addition to the genre of horror and weird fiction, the man himself was not the best. A notorious racist and bigot, many of his works have negative portrayals of non-Anglo-Saxton races (The infamous name of the narrator's cat in 'Rats in the Walls' should tell you enough). If that proves to be a deal-breaker in an attempt to learn more about H.P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu Mythos, or other Weird Fiction from the early 1900's, that is entirely your prerogative and right should you choose not to learn more.

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Revision 25 See all

(1 week ago)

+1	Ancient Cellarspawn	main
+1	Gloomlake Verge	main
-1	Island	main
+1	Overlord of the Balemurk	maybe
+1	Overlord of the Floodpits	maybe
+1	Silent Hallcreeper	main
+1	The Mindskinner	maybe

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 1 year ago
Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	26 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.41
Tokens	Centaur 3/3 G w/ Pro Black, Copy Clone, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Horror, Manifest 2/2 C, Marit Lage, Slug 1-1 B, Monarch Emblem
Folders	decks, Inspiration, interesting ideas, new decks, My Deck Creations, Random Stuff, Untested, Decks to Test, a, possiblities
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