Sidisi Life Loss Combo

Commander / EDH Mono-Black

zekeoridan

Boardclear (11)

• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Crux of Fate
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Deathbringer Regent
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Dregs of Sorrow
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Life's Finale
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Mutilate
• 1x Reiver Demon

Land (37)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Stronghold
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 29x Swamp
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Enabler (6)

• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Defiant Bloodlord
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Wound Reflection

Blocker (2)

• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk

Ramp (11)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Magus of the Coffers
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Tutor (8)

• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Brainspoil
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Netherborn Phalanx
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Shred Memory

Draw (7)

• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Liliana's Contract
• 1x Necrologia
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Promise of Power
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Syphon Mind

Removal (2)

• 1x Dismember
• 1x Hero's Downfall

Commander (1)

Life Loss (10)

• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Fraying Omnipotence
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Pestilence
• 1x Repay in Kind
• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Temporal Extortion
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Tree of Perdition

Misc/Utility (5)

• 1x Darkness
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sudden Spoiling

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This was my first commander deck. Now, this deck is far from competitive, but it is very fun to pilot. It's very nail-biting hoping not to be targeted, knowing the best time to blow your boardclears, watching carefully to make sure the blue player doesn't counter your combo: it's especially interesting to fakeout those counters with one scary card before casting another scary card which will work even better in the situation. And that's the best way to describe this deck: SCARY. People see Sorin Markov or Tree of Perdition and they get scared: this deck isn't extremely powerful, it's very clunky, it's easy to counter it, it's quite fragile, but it is SCARY.

There are a large number of ways to OTK a single or all opponents from any life total. This is achieved through life loss effects enhanced by cards like Wound Reflection or Exquisite Blood . The combos and lines of play are relatively straightforward. Despite that, and despite the tutors, I never get tired of playing this deck: it is NOT the same thing every time. Although be careful: if you're too success with a straightforwards combo deck like this your playgroup may end up targeting you early every time you run it ;)

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I have the deck organised into a few categories. The deck's main goal is to get an Enabler and a Life Loss card to instakill or gain a huge life advantage over opponents. Grave Betrayal is the only exception, as it enables your litany of board clears instead of the life loss combos. Normally, however, you'll be using those board clears to survive combat damage: there's very, very few creatures in this deck, meaning if you don't have No Mercy out, you'll be a very tempting target for early swings. It's useful to use politics in these situations, like Scheming Symmetry , though funnily enough I often find all-out threats work most often: "I will clear your board if you swing it at me", "Whoever targets me is going to get targeted with Sorin Markov or Tree of Perdition ". The players who have been most successful against this deck don't care about the threats: they realize how clunky and slow my combos are, and they exploit that.

While trying to survive with your threatening aura, you're going to be building up some mana doublers: Cabal Coffers is the most powerful, so the only time you won't be fetching it with Expedition Map is when you already have it. The other mana doublers are more fragile, especially the creatures like Crypt Ghast , and Magus of the Coffers . Still, having enough mana to cast both Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood on the same turn will just win the game. Same with Wound Reflection and Fraying Omnipotence or just casting a big enough Exsanguinate or Torment of Hailfire . Having big black mana is absolutely vital to being able to use your super high CMC combo cards.

The Combos are all quite straightforward when you look at the list of enablers and life loss cards: obviously pair Wound Reflection / Archfiend of Despair / Exquisite Blood with your Fraying Omnipotence , Temporal Extortion , Sorin Markov , etc. Sanguine Bond / Defiant Bloodlord pair well with Exsanguinate , Gray Merchant of Asphodel , Kokusho, the Evening Star , and of course the already mentioned Sanguine Bond/Exquisite blood Combo works with either the enchantment or the vampire.

Which combo you're going to tutor for is usually decided by what piece you draw early: you'll usually get at least one combo piece before you're ready to cast a tutor or use Sidisi, Undead Vizier , who will usually just want to exploit himself. Rarely, you can exploit your Solemn Simulacrum or your Pilgrim's Eye . Just having Sidisi out helps a lot when people are looking at who's an easy target to attack, since he's such a beefy deathtouch creature, and people will likely know you'll be happy to block with him, since having him on the board has no relation to your wincon.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.43
Tokens	Demon X/X B, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Treasure