Ghave's Infinite Life Drain

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Combo Infinite Combo Ramp Tokens

sam_j_l125

Land (38)

• 1x Blooming Marsh
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 2x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x High Market
• 1x Hissing Quagmire
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Murmuring Bosk
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 3x Plains
• 1x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 1x Stirring Wildwood
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Artifact (6)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

Creature (23)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fertilid
• 1x Geralf's Messenger
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Sigil Captain
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Twilight Drover
• 1x Utopia Mycon
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Hour of Reckoning
• 1x Rhonas's Last Stand
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Abzan Ascendancy
• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Fecundity
• 1x From Beyond
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Primal Vigor

Instant (9)

• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fatal Push
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

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After getting the Atraxa, Praetors' Voice premade EDH deck, I decided I wanted to make an EDH deck myself. I had played a few games of Commander with friends, but I just got so jealous that they had their own, personally made decks. So, I went home and made a deck out of lots of cards from the preconstructed Atraxa deck and made Anafenza, the Foremost EDH. I had that deck for a good while, but realized that it never really got the job done. It had lots of creatures, good spells, removal, but just not enough "umph" to win. So I took it apart and made a new one, this time with Ghave, Guru of Spores as the lead singer. This new deck wasn't so much focused around +1/+1 counters like the Anafenza deck, but more tokens, sacrificing creatures, and some +1/+1 counters. Over the months, I decided that I really likes playing the deck, and it was actually really good. Eventually, I ordered cards off TCGPlayer to make an infinite combo with Ghave, Geralf's Messenger, and Ashnod's Altar. I had seen the combo before, and decided it was time to try it out for myself.

Combo #1: Infinite Life Drain & Tokens

The combo itself is quite simple: have Ghave, Guru of Spores, Ashnod's Altar, and Geralf's Messenger on the table. From Ashnod's Altar, sacrifice Geralf's Messenger, adding two colorless mana to your mana pool. Undying triggers, bringing bacl the Messenger and causing our opponent to lose 2 life, as well as adding a +1/+1 counter to Geralf's Messenger. Using the two colorless mana, activate Ghave's ability to remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature (which will be Geralf's Messenger), then sacrificing it to Ashnod's Altar again. Since there aren't any counters on Geralf's Messenger, undying will trigger again, bringing it back and forcing our opponent to lose 2 life again. This happens infinite times, no matter how many opponents we have because once one person is dead we can move on to the other players. This also generates infinite 1/1 Saproling tokens from Ghave's ability.

Combo #2: Infinite 1/1 Tokens & Infinite/Infinite Ghave

This combo is very similar to the previous one, and it uses two of the same cards. The only change is switching Geralf's Messenger with Cathars' Crusade. This still confuses me sometimes, so I'm not the best person to ask about it, but basically it goes like this: Have the three cards on the battlefield, then pay one mana to remove a +1/+1 counter from Ghave (since he enters with 5 counters) and create a 1/1 Saproling. From the Saproling, Ghave will essentially get the +1/+1 counter back. Sacrifice the Saproling to Ashnod's Altar, creating two colorless mana. Using that mana you can infinitely repeat this process (and of course get more mana while doing so).

Eventually I will get Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion to use that combo as well. This deck will always be a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to share. Remember to +1 Upvote if you like the deck! Thanks!

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Splash colors	WBG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.19
Tokens	Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Plant 0/1 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Snake 5/4 G, Spirit 1/1 W, Zombie 2/2 B