Thinking I went overboard with the switch-outs. Taking out Sadistic Sacrament until I feel I need the extra push. Also Bloodgift Demon aint comin back... Phyrexian Arena has that slot covered nice.

attempting a drop of the land count by 1 to include a mana rock. Seeing if Gilded Lotus is too much right now, but otherwise i'm open to other options for ramp... even Expedition Map could be fun.

Easy +1 here, that's the kind of stuff that EDH exists for. Keep it up, mate!

So... when I said "Bloodgift Demon aint comin back"... I definitely lied. cause he's back. took out the Grinning Demon and put Bloodgift Demon back in. I really liked Grinning Demon because he was (a) a 6/6 for 4cmc, and (b) the art is just so good. But I realized I can pay 1 more in the cmc and lose a bit of power and toughness to have another Phyrexian Arena and flying... It seems it was for personal reasons that I had the grinning demon in there, not logical ones.

Still think this commander should be Selenia, Dark Angel instead.

@Budgeteer: Selenia, Dark Angel may be a better choice... easier to cast, and I don't have very many flyers in the deck. Plus, paying the life for a hand bounce is not so bad for a Lich, and once you cast Lich I suppose it won't matter as much if you can't use it anymore... I have never known what to choose for a commander anyway since this deck was never based on it exactly. I thought Obzedat's ability could be used as a draw engine in the late game, but he's tougher to cast and I hardly ever end up using him after all.

I've taken out Myojin of Night's Reach in exchange for Resolute Archangel (something is wrong right now with TappedOut and m15 cards, its not showing up in the decklist). I am considering that Myojin may be too difficult to control hands at the moment, and am considering trading it out for something... I'm also testing Resolute Archangel as a "big draw" option for the deck... I like how the timing doesn't matter as much and you still get to draw at least 40 cards... cost though is still pretty high.

I'm thinking of taking out Second Sunrise , since it doesn't have as much utility (especially since Angel's Grace is gone) for me anymore other than recharging from a turn where things got blown up. Plus I have other means of getting things back...

Secondly, now that Myojin of Night's Reach is out, I'm considering replacing second sunrise with a hand control option that's easier to cast such as Liliana of the Veil , Necrogen Mists , or Cunning Lethemancer to control hands that may want to Krosan Grip my Lich or something.

As a separate thought, I was even thinking about Death Cloud for hand control as well... I may even replace Repay in Kind with Death Cloud since I can pretty much combo into the same effect with Skirge Familiar , and it could be an option before I play Lich by getting people to discard their hands.

A very inspired deck, thanks for all the wonderful descripton! +1!

I didn't realize it until today, that the combo with Bitter Ordeal doesn't work because a "permanent" is defined in the rules as "an object on the battlefield". (originally I thought it would work where I continually discard cards and draw cards and shuffle my graveyard back into my library repeat repeat until I cast Bitter Ordeal and exile my opponent's entire library) ...plus the rules for gravestorm explain this as well:

702.66a Gravestorm is a triggered ability that functions on the stack. Gravestorm means Whenyou cast this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each permanent that was put into agraveyard from the battlefield this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targetsfor any of the copies.

so for now it's being replaced with Sadistic Sacrament ... which is fine as it makes things simpler. considering finding room for Gerrard's Verdict though.

Lich's Mirror as an alternate back-up plan?

Also, let me just say that it's decks like these that I keep Cyclonic Rift around for. Shroud and indestructibility are meaningless to it.

If you're looking for alternate commanders, Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts would discourage people attacking you before you had your invulnerability combo set up, and provide you with extra permanents to sac. She'll be useless once the combo is there, but right no Selenia is useless as soon as you play Lich so...

That, or Obzedat, Ghost Council could be a personal Font of Mythos

Obzedat, Ghost Council has actually been the commander for the past year, and I'm trying out Selenia, Dark Angel only temporarily, since her ability does grant a bit of flexibility before Lich comes around, and that I don't have many fliers.

Cyclonic Rift is definately a threat, and can get around the combo well. This deck is not meant to be perfectly invulnerable, that would be no fun at all... The Lich has the heart of a gambler, and the evil is most gratifying when there is a risk...

My greatest responses to threats in hand like Cyclonic Rift or Krosan Grip or Tranquility or Back to Nature are hand control mechanics such as Thoughtsieze, Liliana of the Veil , and even Sadistic Sacrament to get those threats out of there. Another preventative would be Cataclysm if I had recovery measures set up. I am, of course, always open to suggestions on how to bring more safety from crazy spells like Cataclysm ...

Honestly? The only work around I can think of to keep mass removal from getting you is to change your commander and splash blue, but that's less of a facelift and more like open heart surgery. If you did try it I'd suggest Ertai, the Corrupted

In other news Glacial Chasm will make you immortal and only takes a land slot.

I'd also suggest including Tainted Sigil . With any of the ways you have here to pay life it's a, "tap, sac, draw your library."

yeah I had Tainted Sigil in there, but Children of Korlis is cheaper and I couldn't find room for both, especially since you only get the big draw on the turn you lose all your life to the Lich . Glacial Chasm is fun but doesn't work once Lich is out since you can't pay life you don't have. I actually have an Esper version of this deck called Lick my Lich... but I'm not as big of a fan of it. I'm not sure why, maybe I like the BW simplicity? also the risk of being boned by a board wipe is kind of exciting? Not sure. Anyway Ertai, the Corrupted is the esper comander for this deck for sure, right now I was trying a Zur the Enchanter for it but that's a little too easy to pull the win out.... Zur makes people mad cause he works so well... but as I said, I like the risk.

Brought back Obzedat, Ghost Council as the commander. Selenia, Dark Angel did not do enough for me! and turned out she never came out on the battlefield early enough and became a chore to recast after people kept shooting her down. Then she became next to useless after Lich came out.

Bitter Ordeal is back in, (instead of Sadistic Sacrament ) since it allows me to target multiple players. I found I'd rather remove 2 cards from each player rather than 3-15 from one.

Oh my GOSH! why didn't I know about Promise of Power ?!?! that is going STRAIGHT in there once I make room for it... perfect card for the deck; draw to find Lich , or, after drawing so much, I can make a powerhouse Demon from my gigantic hand size. A draw engine or a win-con!

It is very hard to take anything out of this deck for new cards at this point. I decided to swap Bloodgift Demon for Promise of Power for now, since they both kind of occupy a similar purpose, so it makes sense to me to swap them out in the same slot. As always, more testing is required.

This deck is simply awesome. I might even go and build it myself one day (I recently discovered that I love W/X decks... Trostani, Bruna, and Iroas being built in paper as we speak).

The flavor of the deck is magnificent. The killing potential is great. The fact that, once Lich is out, you can lose at a moment's notice (Krosan Grip , I cry). But that is all part of being a Lich. One day you're king of the world. The next day some "Dragonborn" comes in and wrecks your tomb. Such is life. Or unlife for that matter.

IustitiaRex: Thank you for understanding the madness. I see there is a little Lich in you too... we know that being king of everything is worth dying for!

I found a card this deck is missing: Convalescent Care

Once Lich is out you'll be drawing five cards a turn.

Convalescent Care used to be in here, but I ended up taking it out. I can't remember exactly what for, but I don't think the deck needs it to return right now.

...and by the way it would be 4 cards a turn not 5.

You gain 3 life and draw a card, the 3 life gets replaced by 3 cards, and then you draw 1 card during your draw step. 1 + 3 + 1 = 5.

Only 4 are additional, but it's still five cards.

Yes, you're right, I didn't count the card from the regular draw step.

I broke a tooth today and had to run into the dentist's office... maybe I'm still a bit woozy from the Novocaine.

Looking back, I think the slot Convalescent Care held was replaced by Ivory Tower or something... can't recall. I do remember that I had it out and I was drawing so many cards from other engines that it became redundant. I pretty much had my deck in my hand each turn and had to use Penance to keep my drawing in check, and it didn't matter if I had Convalescent Care or not. Just Ivory Tower , Ad Nauseam , Peace of Mind and Words of Worship give me so much as it is. Next time I play this deck, I'll assess whether or not it needs one more draw engine.

would you consider Athreos, God of Passage and maybe Whip of Erebos