vincilios: I'd prefer Blood Artist tbh, but it's just to fragile :(

So you got yer Grave Pact and yer Dictate of Erebos, but what about
Butcher of Malakir ?

Sure he's a bit more mana-expensive, but Grave Pact is probably the strongest effect in the deck, so why not 3 of them for extra "well this isn't fun anymore".

Also Butcher can hit em for flying AND you can sac him to Yahenni in a pinch. Plus, he's cheap! Monetarily speaking.

th@Puppr: He just eats my board wipes too easily shrug And 7 mana is a LOT. For that much mana, I could just play Sheoldred, Whispering One instead.

Dark Ritual is awesome, let's you get a turn 1 Yahenni. Also Forbidden Orchard could be fun in that you can forcefeed your opponents creatures to sacrifice if they don't have any. And you seem to have enough ways to plow through tokens.

I know you already have a lot of sac but have you considered Ashnod's Altar for mana ramp and an additional sac outlet to trigger Grave Pact or do you feed them all to Yahenni? Also +1 for Forbidden Orchard.

I was going to make a Ghoulcaller Gisa zombie tribal but this might replace my mono-black deck slot, +1!

WillySmasher: Thanks for the comment and upvote! :) I'll definitely consider Ashnod's Altar, it's just getting pretty hard to find cuts for the deck haha.

I actually used to be running Forbidden Orchard in here, but I had to move my last copy to my Animar, Soul of Elements deck for mana-fixing reasons. Still, I need to get another copy for this deck :)

Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize let you rip things from people's hands if it's control you're seeking.

I see you're running Helm of Obedience and not TOO much recursion... I might add in Leyline of the Void to hose zombies and other recursion decks, and it also combos with Helm of Obedience to instantly mill a library.

Temporal Extortion always makes people consider 20 life... or give black control another turn.

Sudden Spoiling for pesky creature abilities maybe?

+1

Burgdawg: I'll pass on the discard, I think - Thoughtseize could be good, but it doesn't synergize well with the rest of the deck.

I'm not running Helm of Obedience, I'm running Helm of Possession ;)

I have a copy of Temporal Extortion right here, I'm just not sure if it fits here. Thoughts? If you think it's worth including, what would you cut?

Thanks for the comment and +1! :)

Oh yea, I musta been tired when I made that comment, this helm, that helm...I'd only play Temporal Extortion if you like the flavor. If your plan is to win via commander damage there's no upside to someone paying life. Early game it's always good because it cost someone 20ish life to counter, and if they don't you get extra set up. Late game no one will likely give you another attack.

How can i make this deck for duel commander?

Cenzino: I'm sorry, I missed your comment! As far as I'm aware, the only thing on this list banned in Duel Commander is Sol Ring. I'd just cut Sol Ring (maybe for Contamination?) and it's legal.

However, this deck has a pretty high mana curve for Duel Commander. I'd cut at least some of the high-mana cards for other, cheaper options. No use having something in hand if you can't play it before you die.

Pack Rat

So if I'm on a budget what cards should I cut and what options do I have for replacing them. What cards are essential for this deck?

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder could be fun to create a bunch of stuff to sacrifice.