Fractions 101 w/ Professor Virtus

Commander / EDH* BG (Golgari)

SenseiRamen

Land (36)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 7x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Hissing Quagmire
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Jungle Hollow
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Pendelhaven
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Underworld Dreams
• 1x Wound Reflection

Instant (5)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Vraska the Unseen

Creature (18)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Indulgent Tormentor
• 1x Korozda Guildmage
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Siege Behemoth
• 1x Taunting Elf
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Yavimaya Elder

Artifact (16)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Blood Clock
• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Grappling Hook
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mindcrank
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Sword of Body and Mind
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x Trailblazer's Boots

Commanders (2)

Sorcery (16)

• 1x Ambition's Cost
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Damnable Pact
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Jarad's Orders
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Necromantic Selection
• 1x Profane Command
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Tower Above
• 1x Vigor Mortis

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"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.

Top Ranked	Achieved #45 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.31
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Player Killer, Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Human 2/2 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders	Decks to look at, Commander, Soon TM