"If this deck gets any attention at all I'll add a real description. Until then, any and all suggestions are very much appreciated and I hope you enjoy."
-Me
OK so apparently a few people liked the deck so I'll uphold my end of the bargain.
Before I begin, if this deck isn't auto-sorted into custom categories I'd recommend switching it because I will reference the categories throughout this description.
While this deck has two commanders, it's really only about one;
Virtus the Veiled
. If you pilot this deck, there is nothing you want to do more than swing and connect with Virtus every turn. While
Gorm the Great
certainly helps, there are a lot of better effects (see Block Manipulation).
"But SenseiRamen, what if I don't draw those cards?"
Hopefully there's enough card draw (see Card Draw) that this never happens, but remember that
Gorm the Great
isn't completely useless. With plenty of removal (see Removal) you can whittle at your opponents creatures, or just wipe them out entirely (see Mass Kill).
Archfiend of Depravity
is a real over-performer as it forces your opponents to sacrifice all but two creatures, conveniently the number of creatures that must block Gorm.
"Alright alright, I get it. Virtus is had to block, but what's stopping me from killing him?"
First of all, Virtus is black, giving him protection from some removal options like
Doom Blade
and
Shriekmaw
. There are also a few cards in this deck to keep him (and Gorm) alive (see Protection) and if you don't draw those Virtus isn't all that expensive. If his cost really gets up there, I run a few reanimator type effects (see Recursion). Keep in mind that these effects are also very useful when cards like
Taunting Elf
die.
"Fine ok Virtus is gonna hit me but It's not the end of the world. I'm only losing half of my life..."
Well it very likely will be just that. The deck has several cards to just oppress your opponents life totals, making even one hit from
Virtus the Veiled
potentially lethal (see Life Drain). Not only can you just rapidly lower life totals, cards like
Wound Reflection
and
Archfiend of Despair
straight up kill your foes.
"But what about all of these other categories?"
Virtus Stuff: In a nutshell, the thought process behind these cards was "why take away 1/2 of an opponent's life total when I could get rid of 3/4." Double strike and
Helm of the Host
accomplish this, and
Strionic Resonator
can copy
Virtus the Veiled
's combat damage ability.
Gorm Stuff: So they have to block Gorm, you might as well take advantage of that.
Tower Above
can not only let
Virtus the Veiled
get a guaranteed hit but also adds wither to cripple your opponent's board.
Basilisk Collar
and card:boqw of nylea add deathtouch, allowing you to kill both creatures that block, and the latter also provides flying protection, graveyard recursion, life gain and can make Gorm bigger.
Vigor
not only keeps
Gorm the Great
alive, but can make him into a serious threat.
Tutors: I threw in the usual suspects, mainly just to hit the cards I mentioned earlier that end games (
Wound Reflection
and
Archfiend of Despair
). If you already have them, go ahead and just grab something like
Trailblazer's Boots
to make sure that you can use those cards.
Mana Ramp: Pretty much all decks have it, and there's nothing really unique I did in this deck.
Other: Four cards that just seemed to funny not to play.
Erebos, God of the Dead
strips all hope from your opponents, denying them the chance to ever come back with lots of lifegain. Oh and did I mention it can draw you cards.
Mindcrank
is here because mill is a way to remove your opponents' answers, and when you're hitting for around 20 life that's 20 potential answers they won't have access to.
Vraska the Unseen
can just win the game if you get a board to support her, and if not she just blows up a permanent or two.
Lands: (Almost) every deck has them, and similarly to Mana Ramp I didn't do anything special here. My budget isn't great so I don't have any of the great lands but I did my best.
Overall, I hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for taking a look at the deck. If you have suggestions, I'd love to see them so please feel free to comment.