Update: 5/26/2018
In: Jaya's Immolating Inferno, Memory Jar, Throne of the High City
Out: Illicit Auction, Stuffy Doll, Shivan Gorge
So these substitutions are all pretty common sense. Illicit Auction is a pet card of mine that I love, and I do think is good in this deck, but it's time has come. Stuffy Doll is also good in the deck but is too high on the curve for a deck that wants to win turn four. Throne of the High City might never be relevant but Shivan Gorge was NEEEEEVER relevant so let's see how that switch goes!
Update: 3/14/2018
Mox Diamond replaced Fire Diamond and that's not even the spiciest change that this deck has gone through in the past week.
Check out this video of my new basics!!! https://twitter.com/ABullett/status/973352964298559489
My deck is no longer tournament legal. :D
Update: 2/13/2018
I got a Mana Crypt! So Mana Vault came out and Mana Crypt went in.
Oh! And after seeing that Heartless Hidetsugu is one of the most played cards in Neheb decks on EDHREC I wanted to throw this out there. Heartless Hidetsugu is a bad card for this deck. It is the most win-more card ever in a burn deck. Neheb can easily rack up 20-30 mana. If you couldn't win with 25 mana in your mana pool, what make you think you're gonna know what to do with the 100 Hidetsugu is gonna give you?
If you're playing a burn deck and running damage doublers, Heartless Hidetsugu is an even worse include. At that point you only care about if your opponents are at odd or even life totals. With a damage doubler, Hidetsugu will kill them, and you, at an even life total. So it can be a fine strategy, if you're able to control your opponents' life totals. The key word there is control. If that's your cup of tea go for it. I prefer coffee, and my Neheb deck is a burn deck.
Big update: 1/1/2018
Since my last update this deck has become pretty fine-tuned. (I've renamed it with a more direct Billy Joel reference.) This is a burn deck first and foremost. As the deck has evolved more and more creatures were removed in favor of spells that gained back the mana spent to cast them.
Now a common game-ending turn (hopefully turn five to seven) will happen as follows: On your first main you cast Chandra's Ignition on Neheb with a sword equipped, then cast Cave-In for free, then with 24 mana on your second main you cast Knollspine Dragon and hopefully draw an X-spell and copy it three times with Increasing Vengeance for the win.
List of stuff you won't see on EDHREC.
(Disclaimer: These notes could be meta-dependent, something good to remember when reading anyone's opinion about Commander.)
- Cave-In: THIS IS A FREE, SIX MANA RITUAL IF NEHEB IS IN PLAY! This card is in FIVE Neheb decks on EDHREC! This should be in every Neheb deck! More often than not you're going to have something like Knollspine Dragon or Wheel of Fortune to make up for the lost card. I've never, ever regretted pitching a card to play this one for free.
- The early turn Earthquake: There is so much redundancy with your X-spells that you shouldn't be stingy with them. If you're finding other folks are setting up faster than you are, drop Earthquake the turn before playing Neheb. This is less relevant if others aren't playing cheap creatures, but if they are, the early Earthquake is devastating.
- Volatile Rig: This is in very few Neheb decks on EDHREC. This has always put in some work for me. Either they don't block, and you get back the four mana you spent to cast it. Or they do block, and you potentially get 16 mana in the ol' mana pool. It's great.
- Neheb dislikes your other creatures: Some Neheb decks spend a lot of resources protecting their own creatures from their own spells. This deck spends some resources protecting Neheb but treats other creatures with less care. You don't want to play any card that isn't going to give you more mana than you put into it. We play equipment that will protect Neheb but also help him deal damage, gaining you back the resources you spent to play them. With the same thought in mind we only play creatures that will have some desirable ETB effect (Knollspine Dragon or Fanatic of Mogis) or creatures that we will hopefully get some value out of before they die (Firebrand Archer or Thermo-Alchemist) so it doesn’t feel like too much of a loss when (not if) we end up killing them.
- Past in Flames and damage-doublers: Fork effects are always preferable to enchantments because of Past in Flames. That's why the early turn Earthquake is so good. That's why Furnace of Rath and Heartless Hidetsugu are so bad. If you've ever played burn you know how razor-thin the margin between winning and losing is. Past in Flames gives that last burst you need to win and if your graveyard is full of stuff it can’t use you'll feel very, very, bad. (It also loves Increasing Vengeance because it can cheat the flashback cost. I think. Please let me know if I'm wrong.)
List of random notes about the most recent changes.
- Ali from Cairo: Last August I bought this when I was drunk for $80. It was a bad decision. I could've bought an OG dual for that amount of money but in my inebriated state of mind I really wanted an Ali from Cairo for my Neheb deck. ANYWAY one week later #MTGFailnance speculators bought this out and it doubled in price. The universe shouldn't reward my bad decisions but I ended up trading it to a friend because I don't need a $160 Ali from Cairo.
- Illicit Auction: A lot of “fun” cards ended up being cut but this survived. Opponents usually just let me have the creature. Often I just wish they took the damage and let me have the mana. So there's certainly better choices for this mana cost but Illicit Auction takes the game in a fun direction.
- Stuffy Doll: I put this in the deck after someone cast Fractured Identity on someone else's Stuffy Doll. So I was sitting there with a Stuffy Doll I didn't even cast and it was winning me the game. It's higher up on the mana curve than I'd like, but dang, it puts in some work.
- Mana Vault: This is essentially a ritual and should come out in favor of a proper ritual. Or maybe something else entirely.
- Aggravated Assault: This deck isn't really about attacking. If I ran more creatures this card would be a win-con. But I don't, so it's not. I've played it in this deck and when it works it allows me to take out one player but usually at least one other will have what it takes to stop the combo. (Something as simple as first strike can turn the combo off.) So, anyway, Aggravated Assault came out.
- Wheel of Fate: This came out of the deck a long time ago. Four turns is an eternity in Commander and especially for this deck. If you can't afford Wheel of Fortune look for other replacements before turning to Wheel of Fate. It is not a suitable replacement.
Update: 8/13/17
The information below is a little dated because a whole lotta changes were made! I got some cool upgrades including Wheel of Fortune, Darksteel Plate, Ali from Cairo (Which Ali? Ali from Cairo. Ohhh THAT Ali, okay.), Firestorm, Gemstone Array, and a foil Cave-In for fun.
The goal of the deck has shifted away from combat. The priorities are to play Neheb, protect Neheb, cast mana-efficient group damage first main, and copy some craziness second main. I recently won with x12 damage Lightning Bolt copied x4 times. It was amazing.
EternalBrewmaster's Neheb deck (
This is What Glory Looks Like: a Savage Beating) offered a lotta great advice and inspiration. If for some reason you ended up here without seeing that deck first definitely go check it out.
Burn! It's pretty straight-forward but Neheb functions in a strange way that isn't immediately obvious. He really discourages instants. Unspent mana on your first main is just wasted potential on your second main. He doesn't care about doing stuff on opponents' turns. It's now or never with Neheb. Smoke 'em while you got 'em.
Here's a rundown of noteworthy/fun stuff in the deck.
Repercussion:
This card is amazing in this deck. It makes Earthquake pull double-duty. Have you ever killed your opponents with a Blasphemous Act? I have, because of Repercussion, and it was awesome. Just make sure you don't kill yourself with it. I haven't yet but am confident I'll be too tired/stupid/inebriated and will do so by accident someday.
Illicit Auction:
It's pretty obvious that Pyromancer's Goggles is a win conditioned when used with a damage spell, but those spells have a high chance of getting countered or having their effect circumvented in some way. If you copy Illicit Auction people will probably let it resolve. They'll love an opportunity to steal an opponent's win condition. They get their big creature and you get a ton of mana to throw back in their face on your second main.
Stranglehold:
Hate cards are tricky with this deck. We aren't playing a lot of instants (which makes us weaker) and we can't do much without our commander out (which also makes us weaker.) Is a hate card like Blood Moon worth making yourself a target? Probably not. People are more likely to ignore you if you're spending that three mana on something like Citadel of Pain instead. Harsh Mentor is good for this too. It allows people to play the way they want for a small price. Stranglehold is meta-dependent and might make you more of a target depending on the playgroup. (Also, if you've ever been victimized by Expropriate, as I have, you might want it around.)
Tweaks and Changes:
There are certain cards I want in here that I just don't own, like Wheel of Fortune or Darksteel Plate. I'll acquire them over time. I'm happy with the amount of creatures in the deck but those will likely shift as well depending on how useful they are. I've been going back and forth on cards like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Basalt Monolith. I haven't actually played with Fiery Gambit yet. It's another card that'll make people laugh and make you less of a target. Especially if you whiff. Despite the hilarious/fun ceiling on this card my goal is to stop at two. I'll report back how it goes.
This deck is a ton of fun for my opponents and me. Who doesn't love a quick game? It's certainly going to be one of my forever-decks and I'm looking forward to playing it for a long, long, time.
