I Am Negan (Primer)

Commander / EDH Combo Control Primer RBW (Mardu)

OmegaAura113

Lands (31)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Great Furnace
• 5x Mountain
• 3x Plains
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 6x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Vault of Whispers

What's Mine is Mine (8)

• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Thrill of Possibility
• 1x Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire
• 1x Wild Guess

It's *My* World (5)

• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Helm of Obedience
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Revel in Riches

Get Out of My Face (16)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Cataclysm *list*
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Kaya's Guile
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Make an Example
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Mire in Misery
• 1x Oblation
• 1x Tibalt's Trickery
• 1x Tragic Arrogance
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Vona's Hunger
• 1x Winds of Abandon

What's Yours is Also Mine (9)

• 1x Alms Collector
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Cunning Rhetoric
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Gisa, Glorious Resurrector
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Share the Spoils
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Underworld Breach

Treasure Suppoprt (7)

• 1x Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
• 1x Goldspan Dragon
• 1x Grim Hireling
• 1x Monologue Tax
• 1x Professional Face-Breaker
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Xorn

Commander (1)

Ramp (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Don't Blink (7)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Kaya, Ghost Assassin
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Teleportation Circle

Let's Work Together (5)

• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Dark Deal
• 1x Keen Duelist
• 1x Wheel of Misfortune
• 1x Winds of Change

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THANK YOU FOR MAKING US THE #1 DECK ON TAPPEDOUT!!! 10/08-09/2020

"Who are you?"

'Oh, you BETTER be joking!'

The Walking Dead x MTG. Who would've seen this coming before the September Announcement Day? TWD has been one of my favorite shows on TV, and even though it has its ups and downs like any long story, its popularity in America can't be denied. Although these Secret Lairs are causing somewhat of an uproar due to their limited print run and relatively high price, it has to be observed that they are legal in Eternal formats, unlike any Un- cards or silver bordered Transformers/Ponies/etc. For the sake of that, to anybody who might have harder feelings about this product, take just a short time to - hesitantly or not - embrace what Wotc's giving us, and brew up a mean, punishing deck, fitting for one of TWD's foremost villains.

In the spirit of Negan, he comes as a 5-drop Mardu general (RBW2) with a specialty in punishing opponents. Although his body is somewhat meek at 4/3, his most abusable quality is his first ability: "Whenever Negan, The Coldblooded ETB's, you and an opponent both choose a creature the opponent controls secretly. You then reveal them, and they sacrifice those creatures." This is a subtly strong ability, as it can get around shroud, hexproof, and indestructible...it's a choose effect, not a target. It's very similar in function to Diabolic Edict, but more fun. This is likewise synchronous with his second ability, which allows you to create a Treasure token per creature they sacrifice. While this is flavorful for his actions on the show, it's also a very good method of mana ramping in Mardu, which struggles a bit with producing mana consistently (blame the Boros part in EDH, lol). However, once Negan comes down, he can make the game a complicated one for opponents, especially if anyone wants to be particularly aggressive...

We Peeing Our Pants Yet?

Let's establish the game plan with Negan - Cruel Control, as cruel as possible. Of course, just like in the show though, we need resources to get to this point - and that starts with the manabase. As standard for a three-color deck, we want to have as many efficient dual colored lands as possible - for us, this includes the three shocklands in our colors, in addition to the three Pain Lands, and the three Temples. The fetchlalnds and filter lands are also viable candidates, though because of their price, we're going to be placing them to the side for the time being. To disrupt our opponents, other options we can add to the deck (which aren't included in this list) are the main land-destruction lands: Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Strip Mine, and Wasteland, each which will effectively be able to target and eliminate things like Maze of Ith or Glacial Chasm. Similarly, utility through Rogue's Passage and Vault of the Archangel will let our attackers go through with little resistance, if we chose to add them.. Command Beacon and Sanctum of Eternity will allow us to salvage Negan if he ever dies or gets targeted by an effect on our turn, letting him see play sooner than otherwise - the former which we do have in the list. Finally, the last prominent inclusion that one could run if they want to is Throne of the High City, because this is a deck that wants to reign on top - no matter what the cost. What better mechanic to symbolize this that Monarch?

In the same isle as the manabase is our mana rocks and ramp, which all function the same: power ourselves ahead of the opposition. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, and Chromatic Lantern are all some of the best ways to accomplish this, with one of them fixing our lands to multiple colors, and one of them literally taking colors from our opponents - how flavorful. In addition, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Hierarchy, and Talisman of Conviction all complete a cycle that represents The Saviors under Negan very well - they seek to indulge themselves in stolen resources, they have a set hierarchy of subservience, and truly believe their way of life is the optimal one in the apocalypse (that's certainly not to say it is, but might feel as such). Land Tax and Smothering Tithe too, are such a great cards to add in for any white-entwined EDH deck, and are both big flavor-power plays here. Remember, everyone needs to share, at least a little bit... To round out the mana rocks, we'll include the three signets: Boros Signet, Rakdos Signet and Orzhov Signet, which might not be the most flavorful, but provide us with solid sources of mana to further our plots.

It's About To Be Pee-Pee Pants City Here REAL Soon!

With that all set up, it's time to get down to business. Before Negan comes out, we'll need to establish some setup on the field and make our presence known - but, of course, we don't want to be the threat of the table. After all, we're playing the role of The Saviors. We're the "good" guys. To accomplish this, we're going to take a control approach with a dabble of pillowfort theme thrown in, in order to secure our own longevity for the mid to late game.

We'll begin with some key pieces to establish our own boardstate; with access to black, this becomes as easy as 1, 2, tutor. Demonic Tutor and Diabolic Intent might not be the most flavorful cards, but they sure do enable some great plays at any point of the game. They, along with Vampiric Tutor would also be included here, if they weren;t all staple cards over 40$+...bleh. In their places, we have Share the Spoils which is both on flavor for the deck and Negan himself; , it helps opponents to help ourselves, and spices up the game moreso than it normally would drive on. After all, we're here to make friends first and foremost. In a similar way, red, also gives us some good access to looting effects, although they're a little riskier due to the discard aspect. However, it shouldn't deter us from running Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice and Thrill of Possibility. They're all great, cheap looting effects that are able to power us through junk cards in the early game, and into potential gas for later. The same can be said of Gamble, because everyone needs to take a little risk now and then. Of course, since we do want to be a little naughty, why not add in Winds of Change and Dark Deal for maximum hand disruption? There's nothing better than keeping a mountain + Winds on T1, playing first, and hearing everyone groan as their ideal opening hands are forcibly shuffled away...don't worry, we're just saving them from frustration and salt in the future. We're helping! Where does this leave white? As it's our main source of ramp besides artifacts, white's biggest contribution to card advantage is through Esper Sentinel, which is one of the best tax-draw effects - bonus points that it's in white. Another card that could be included to protect against aggressive opponents is Mangara, the Diplomat, which will punish opponents who want to attack us too greedily - I initiallty had it in the deck, but much of the time it was caught in the crossfire of opponent's board wipes and our own sac effects, so was usually a detriment of 4 mana. That doesn't leave it as too bad of a choice if there's room, though - everything's based around your own playgroups!

A recent all-star that synergizes very well with Negan and the treasure support in the deck (Monologue Tax, Goldspan Dragon, Smothering Tithe, Xorn, Grim Hireling, Gadrak, and Negan himself) is proffessional face-breaker. Turning excess treasures into card advantage later in the game, in addition to being an outlet for treasure creation itself, really helps the deck when it starts to run out of gas later in the game.

Yeah. You're Gonna Regret Crossing Me In A Few Minutes...

While we're building our mana and value, we're going to need to take out opponent's assets, especially when they try and get the nerve to challenge us. We can begin by offering our opponents a say in what gets removed - and there's no better card to do this than Council's Judgment. After all, we're all united against a common threat in the apocalypse, regardless of what that might be. If we can't all agree on something, perhaps a Merciless Eviction is in order to start fresh. Or, why not offer a Generous Gift? I'm sure opponents will love to receive one. On a more serious note, creature wipes are one of our specialties, with Winds of Abandon and Toxic Deluge being the best options. However, to synergize with Negan's ability the best, Tragic Arrogance and Make an Example both work quite well with ensuring we get the most out of our opponent's casualties - although Vona's Hunger is truly an all star. As this is, like the manabase, the most straightforward section, there isn't too much explanation required - go out there, and start cracking some skulls...literally.

In Case You Haven't Caught On, I Just Slid It Down your Throat, And You THANKED Me for it.

We've made it to the end...it's time to close out the game. There are a pair of fairly simple ways to do this, which is what we (hopefully) drew into or tutored for earlier in the game: The first being the old reliable Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace mill combo. Although this isn't the most fun way, it's still on flavor, as it's forcing obedience out of the most unruly opponent you can target. The second is using Felidar Guardian + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker , the former which might have already been cast and targeted Negan for a flicker effect earlier. As this might disarm opponents at first, seeing all our other flicker spells, they won't expected Kiki to enter and go infinite out of nowhere. The final way is to use Negan's own ability of Treasure making to our advantage, alongside Revel in Riches. Throw Negan down, blink once, and board wipe, and you can easily make enough treasures to win the game the next time Revel's ability checks the board. You need only beware of artifact wipes in the meantime. Yes, all these combos are susceptible to interruption, but that's also why it isn't a high power, competitive deck - after all, this is an unexpected, janky crossover Commander, and the deck operates in a very similar way.

Today Was A Damn Productive Day!

Regardless of your stance on these Secret Lairs, I hope you enjoyed reading through this primer, and seeing the deck I was able to come up with for the leader of the Saviors. I was very eager to put this together the moment I saw his card, so I'll definitely be building a deck irl based off this list (or any future optimized ones), and will make updates for how it operates in the future. For the time being, I put any additional cards that I found potentially useful in the Sideboard, all being valid substitutions for any cards within the deck. Of course, any and all suggestions for improving the deck are very much welcome, as I'd want this to be the most flavorful and best variant of the deck out there. Thank you for your time everyone! +1 if you enjoy it, I very much appreciate it!!!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Felidar Guardian + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker Helm of Obedience + Rest in Peace
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Spirit 1/1 WB, Treasure
Folders	EDH, EDH - Control, EDH, Negan, agony, stuff i want to do, Saved