Thank you so much, super excited to test your creation out!!

Neat deck, I like the switcheroo sort of strategy. I'm not the most familiar with EDH, but I finally made a deck, and I run Mirror of Fate due to some of my cards exiling themselves, and my play group sending more cards to exile than graveyard. Might be something for you to consider, but I don't know if it would have enough value for your deck (I'm running it in an artifact recursion + self exile deck, so I get plenty of value).

I know my friends can be kind of wary of anything that may constitute infinite comboing, is there a lower power version of Crackdown Construct I can use when I play with them?

You have a few options. You can go with the less powerful Phage the Untouchable, Eater of Days or Phyrexian Obliterator. Another alternative could also be Virtus the Veiled or Ebonblade Reaper, which would be my preferred pick. However, even if you want to cut Crackdown Construct, please keep Ornithopter in because of its great utility regardless of the combo.

Thank you so much! That's incredibly helpful!

Hello there! The deck looks great and with a lot of tricks to master to be effective at the table, which is something I really like.

That said I'm a bit confused about some of the interactions tho: for example when you talk about the Wall of Blood + Banehound tech to get your life back with Lifelink how do you do it exactly? Because in my mind when you transform into the Wall in the damage step put on the stack 21 Wall triggers and then, on top of that, the ability to change into Banehound so you become a 22/22 Lazav/Banehound, but I don't know if I got it right.

Also in the Crackdown Construct + Ornithopter how should I stack all the effects?

Hey!

It's ok to be a little confused because those interactions are quite tricky, but you actually got them right.

At any time during combat, as long as you have priority, you can transform Lazav into Wall of Blood. You will do this after the declare attackers step once you have already attacked with the base 1/3 Lazav, because walls cannot attack. After the declare blockers step, you can activate the Wall's ability as many times as you like by paying life (generally, 20 is enough as Banehound is a 1 power creature). It's important to note that this +20/+20 buff will last until the end of turn, as Wall's rules text states. This means that you are then free to shift form as many times as you like without loosing your investment. Holding priority, you pay to turn Lazav into the Banehound. At the end of the day, you will have a 21/21 Lazav/Banehound with lifelink ready to deal lethal amount of damage during the combat damage step. This is just the base scenario, with Lazav not affected by summoning sickness and the opponent not having any blockers. If you have any specific need (e.g. you need to give Lazav haste or evasion), you can work with your commander's ability accordingly. If you need haste, pay to turn Lazav into the Banehound before the beginning of combat step, then do the rest (pay and 20 life for the Wall, then again for the Hound). If you need evasion, pay for Invisible Stalker before the declare blockers step, and so on and so forth.

The Construct + Ornithopter combo works exactly the same way, the only thing is that we have way more triggers to put on the stack (but it doesn't matter, as they are free in terms of mana). Pay to turn Lazav into Crackdown Construct. Then, pay to turn him into the Ornithopter. The Construct's ability will trigger, giving Lazav +1/+1 until the end of turn. In response, pay again for the Ornithopter and keep doing this as many times as you like. Once you have finished, Lazav will eventually become a 0/2 Ornithopter with flying but retaining all the buffs from its previous form until the end of turn.

This is a little convoluted because it requires some knowledge of how the combat phase works and how to use the stack, but I've tried my best to explain it in a -hopefully- comprehensive way.

Thanks a lot for the answer! It's really appreciated!

Hey!

I guess I'm in love with your primer and your deck :D I'm also a huge fan of the "new" Lazav and I've tried different builds from surveil, to pure combo and now I'm trying the more control build. In my opinion it is the most efficient build for my meta. Since I'm playing Lazav, the amount of graveyard hate is increasing, so I guess countermagic is key. Your decklist was a big inspiration for me. Thanks a lot!

Do you have any tips for piloting this kind of Lazav deck? Do you use politics to survive the early/midgame? Every time I play Lazav, I become target no.1 :(

What is your opinion about running Laboratory Maniac / Jace, Wielder of Mysteries as a second win con in case the voltron strategy doesn't work? I'm also running cards like Mirror-Mad Phantasm and Mesmeric Orb + Basalt Monolith for the self-mill strategy. Have you ever considered such "combo" win cons for your deck?

I've also noticed that you are running only a few mana rocks. Do you always have enough mana available to change Lazav to the creature you need?

Have you ever tried Perplex as a counterspell? This card looks pretty interesting and I'll playtest it as soon as my playgroup can meet again.

Do you have some advices for my build? I'm always up for improvements and tips :) http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/lazav-with-the-many-faces/

Hey there!

Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate!

The best tip I can ever give you is to play patiently. If you play Lazav on turn 2 and threaten a kill on turn 3/4, you will inevitably become target no. 1. People will team up against you because they don't know who you are going to knock out first, so they will start throwing all their removal spells at you. From that spot, it would be annoying for you to restart because Lazav would cost you two more mana and you would soon be behind. Instead, my advice is to do absolutely nothing for the first 5/6 turns of the game. Represent countermagic even when you have none, or simply loot a little bit without exposing yourself too much (that is, don't throw Phyrexian Dreadnought or its friends in the graveyard during the first few turns of the game for no reason). Don't even play your commander until the mid game. Simply wait for the game to develop as normal. Other players will ramp, draw some cards, and start doing what their decks want to do. At some point, one player will inevitably be ahead of the rest due to a better start, and that's when you are going to strike. The best way not to become the public enemy at the table is to let someone else do so. Once one of your opponents is too ahead, the other players will see him/her as the threat and start focussing on him/her. This is the moment when you can start playing your commander and develop your own gameplan. This is Dimir at its best: waiting in the shadows for the perfect moment to strike, when your opponents are slaughtering each other. This is by far the strategy that has given me the most success.

As for politics, I seldom propose to oneshot the most dangerous player if my opponents let me untap on my next turn. Sometimes it works, but they know very well that if I manage to untap they are dead a few moments later. As such, I don't rely on politics too much because it would be unrealistic for me to count on my opponents' loyalty.

As regards Laboratory Maniac and its kind, it is something I'm considering. Oftentimes I find myself needing an "I-win-the-game" emergency plan, because the voltron strategy is rather slow and fragile. There is, however, a risk that keeps me from going that route. Once you start winning with that combo, you will eventually realise how much easier it is to win a game like that. It's an insta-win, so you don't have to kill each player one at the time. My biggest fear is that the voltron plan would then become a secondary plan, and that it would eventually disappear in favour of more cards dedicated to the LabMan strategy. Finding the right balance between cards that support the voltron plan and others dedicated to the LabMan combo will be hard, but I'm thinking about it. However, if I were to include the Maniac, I would certainly go for a Demonic Consultation and Tainted Pact package instead of a self-mill strategy. It is way faster.

I've never had any mana issue with 5 mana rocks and 35 lands, as the average CMC of the deck is very low. Lazav's ability, however, is pretty mana-intensive, especially if we are forced to change form multiple times in response to something an opponent is doing. For this reason I can perfectly see you including more mana rocks, just to have more room in case something goes wrong. Mind Stone and Arcane Signet are obvious inclusions, but I can also see something more expensive like a Thran Dynamo work.

Perplex doesn't impress me too much. For a three-mana counterspell, I expect something extremely powerful to justify the 1-cost increase. And while the transmute ability is somewhat useful, there aren't too many good targets at three mana in our deck. The best ones would be Buried Alive and Intuition, but it would then become a tutor for a tutor. A bit too complex, in my opinion. And by the way, Commander 2020 gave us the best counterspell that we could have ever hoped for: Fierce Guardianship, which for us is even better than the almighty Force of Will.

I'll be checking your decklist and give some feedback as soon as I can.

Cheers!

Hey!

Thanks for your answer! Ok, I guess I'm far to aggressive with my play style and need to slow down. :) Yes, I think you are right with Perplex. The best card I could tutor with it is Laboratory Maniac.

Fierce Guardianship is really an incredible card! I was so happy when I saw the spoiler. What do you think about the black spell Deadly Rollick? I'm not sure if it is too expensive with a CMC of 4. The effect itself is still pretty good. But I'm very happy that they gave us a new card for Lazav! I'll definitively check the spoilers to see if there are more interesting cards we could us.

Deadly Rollick is on the same power level of Fierce Guardianship. Never mind the 4 CMC, as it will be 0 90% of the times. The exile effect is huge, especially in black where it is quite rare. It is definitely a card worth including, and it will probably replace Reality Shift or Price of Fame.

As far as the other new cards, I'm quite keen on Netherborn Altar. It's an awesome way of skipping the commander tax, which is extremely important for a deck so focused around its general.

I'll be updating the primer as soon as all the spoilers from Ikoria end. There won't be any drastic changes, but do expect a few upgrades!

First off, The deck has helped me make mine better, so thank you. My question is have you thought about Vampire of the Dire Moon? Might be a side/up grade to Banehound? Haste+ lifelink vs deathtouch+lifelink.

Happy to hear that!

The thing that makes Banehound so powerful in this deck is its combination of lifelink and haste. The first works really well with Crackdown Construct and Wall of Blood, while the latter is even more important because it allows us to immediately attack the turn Lazav comes into play. This means that he doesn’t need to survive a whole rotation at the table before he can swing.

As regards deathtouch, it’s not that useful for us. We are not willing to block with our commander, as our primary goal is to keep attacking.

Wow. I never thought I would be impressed by a Lazav deck. This is incredibly well constructed and so unique I feel excited! I wish I could +1 this more than once. This is a hell of a deck

I love this! I'm on a low budget, but happen to have a lot of these staples lying about. If you were forced into a lower power version of the deck, would 3 mana cards like Nyxathid or Phyrexian Soulgorger be an acceptable substitute for the almost $40 Dreadnaught?

Replacing the Dreadnought is impossible, as it's probably the single best card in the deck. No other creature can offer such a huge power for such a low cost. The thing that sets it apart from all the other options is the fact that it's the only creature that is able to represent a two-turn clock on its own. All the 7 to 10 power creatures instead represent a three-turn clock, which makes a huge difference in the long run. Something like a Nyxathid or Rotting Regisaur would be okayish, but they won't be anywhere near the power level of the Dreadnought. If you absolutely can't run it, then the best substitutes would be Nyxathid or Eater of Days (who has two relevant keywords). Phyrexian Soulgorger is awful because it represents the same clock as Nyxathid but forces you to invest more mana to transform Lazav during you upkeep, as you can't afford to let the cumulative upkeep trigger to resolve.

I do understand your hesitation regarding the Dreadnought, however. It has an absurdly high price tag, especially considering how narrow it is. It's not a card that you will put in every deck, like a Force of Will. Luckily, here in Europe it is more affordable. My suggestion would be trying some alternatives first, and then testing it using a proxy. You will feel the difference. Then, if you really love the deck, you can consider buying a copy. Of all the possible upgrades, the Dreadnought should be the priority. Intuition, Mana Crypt and Force of Will can all be replaced somewhat decently, while our 12/12 is one of its kind.

Hope this helps!

I’m playing a tournament with my friend in which each card has to be $10 or under. We are able to swing a few overpriced cards but not many.

Here are the ones I have to replace:

1x Force of Will 1x Mana Crypt 1x Mana Drain 1x Ancient Tomb 1x Cyclonic Rift 1x Damnation 1x Dark Confidant 1x Demonic Tutor 1x Fierce Guardship 1x Intuition 1x Toxic Deluge 1x Training Grounds 1x Vampiric Tutor 1x Mox Amber

Any help with replacements do I don’t ruin your deck and get smacked?

Also, I know one player is playing Meren, and the other is playing a token deck. Hopefully I can just take Meren out quick but if I only have one creature how can I block many creatures coming at me??

Providing budget alternatives is not that simple because the deck is balanced as is and changing any single card would alter its equilibrium. I will try my best, but do keep in mind that with the following changes you will need to play the deck a lot slower than before. Without free counterspells you will need to wait for when you can leave mana open, and so on and so forth. Hopefully, the fact that all the decks in the tournament follow the same budget restrictions can make up for this. Here are my budget changes:

Mana Crypt and Mox Amber: any two-mana rock, like Arcane Signet and Mind Stone.

Force of Will and Fierce Guardianship: a copy of Foil and Dispel. Depending on your specific meta, you could consider Mental Misstep.

Mana Drain: any two-mana counterspell. My choice would be Countersquall.

Ancient Tomb: a basic Island.

Cyclonic Rift: Echoing Truth. This can bounce a single permanent or an army of tokens, which seems particularly useful in your case.

Damnation and Toxic Deluge: your choice of Languish, Whelming Wave, Evacuation or AEtherize.

Dark Confidant: I once used Disciple of Deceit, which was suboptimal. Alternatively, Looter il-Kor or any draw spell.

Intuition, Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor: Diabolic Tutor, Forbidden Alchemy and Beseech the Queen are okayish.

Training Grounds: Heartstone is the closest comparison, but do keep in mind it works for your opponents as well.

These are all direct substitutions. I took the cards you mentioned and replaced them with their budget counterparts. If you think some of them aren't good enough (and in most cases they are not), then you can consider including something completely different instead. I'm thinking about cards like Propaganda, Torpor Orb, more removal, more card draw, more ramp. You have the privilege of knowing the decks you will be facing, so you can tweak the deck according to your matchups.

If you want to be prepared against a token deck, try shaving some single target removals or counterspells for a few extra board wipes. Just be extra careful against Meren because they tend to play a lot of Fleshbag Marauder-like effects, which is something this deck really struggles with. Make use of your haste enablers to kill your opponent during the very first turn you play Lazav, before he or she has the opportunity to play those cards.

I wish you good luck for your tournament, and let me know about your results!

Thank you very very much for the help! (I made a comment about replacing cards) You’re the bomb!

Do you have any other decks on here that are so good and thought out like this?!

Actually, I have 30-ish finished EDH decks here on TappedOut, but they're all private apart from this one. I haven't had the time to write another primer, and I don't know if I will. The thing is, the vast majority of my EDH decks are pretty "standard". I have a Meren deck, Nekusar, Prossh, Edgar Markov, and so on. And while I have tried to give my personal touch to each one of them, the lists are inevitably quite similar to those you can already find all around the internet. There are plenty of primers for those decks, so I don't think mine would add anything particularly new to the fray.

For Lazav, it was a completely different story. There wasn't any other primer at the time I decided to write one, plus I thought it would be something fresh and new compared to the other EDH decks we were accustomed to.

Who knows, maybe in the future I will take a few of my already existing decks and write something decent!

Hey! I was going to use your deck for the tournament this Tuesday but it just wasn’t working when I play tested it. I got targeted very fast but your deck inspired me to make my first ever deck!! Do you think you could check my page and give me some feedback so I don’t get smoked in the tournament lol

Which list did you playtest with? My own, or a budget version? Just curious to know if a budget version of this deck is any viable.

As regards targeted hate, unfortunately no deck can handle a 3vs1 from the very beginning. The trick is playing very slowly and harmlessly until the late game, so that your opponents will focus on each other.

I would love to give you some feedback, but I can't find your deck on your page. Could you send me the link to it (and make sure it's not set on private)?

I played with your deck and I substituted the budget cards that you suggested. The deck was just so powerful that it upset them and they wanted to get me out... Not much could be done unfortunately.

This is my deck list link (: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-scarab-god-zombie-tribal-mill-token/

Love this deck a lot, I'm currently trying to brew my own version of this (With the additons of some other combos) but I dont have anything like Phyrexian Dreadnought do you have a good alternative?