Too Bad You Wanted to Play Magic

Duel Commander Combo Competitive Control Cruel Control Mono-Black

NotaNetDeck

Beaters (3)

• 1x Abyssal Persecutor
• 1x Dark Depths
• 1x Grave Titan

Control (5)

• 1x Head Games
• 1x Karn Liberated
• 1x Liliana Vess
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Steel Hellkite

Counter Tutor (1)

• 1x Praetor's Grasp

Deterrence (5)

• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Silent Arbiter

Doublers (4)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Nirkana Revenant

Draw (4)

• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Coercive Portal
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Promise of Power

Failsafe (1)

• 1x Platinum Angel

Insurance (3)

• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Petrified Field
• 1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

Kevlar (4)

• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Guardian Beast
• 1x Lightning Greaves

Land Base (33)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x High Market
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Scrying Sheets
• 19x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Thawing Glaciers
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs

Lifegain (3)

• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Maralen Cantrip (1)

• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon

Maralen Cycling (7)

• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Rhystic Tutor
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Maralen Mind Spring (1)

• 1x Diabolic Revelation

Ramp (7)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Speed (2)

• 1x Vedalken Orrery
• 1x Winding Canyons

Spot Removal (3)

• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Silence the Believers

Sweepers (4)

• 1x Aether Snap
• 1x Damnation
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Mutilate

The Clock (1)

• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled

The Tumblers (4)

• 1x Anvil of Bogardan
• 1x Null Brooch
• 1x Teferi's Puzzle Box
• 1x Withering Boon

Utility (3)

• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Vampire Hexmage

Commander (1)

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Sideboard

Other (1)

• 1x Leyline of the Void

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Maybeboard

Other (20)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Graveborn Muse
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sorin Markov
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

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This was my first deck idea for EDH; despite that, it's still in the process of being built, improved, and in the case of a few cards, obtained.

Objective

What we're trying to do is lock our opponent out of the game by making their hand empty at virtually all times -- namely, through the interaction between Teferi's Puzzle Box and Maralen of the Mornsong. This is called deck lock, and is one of the most evil strategies known to humankind :)

How the Combo Works

Since both cards' triggers happen at the same time and are controlled by you, you control the order in which they resolve each time. On your opponent's draw step, stack the triggers so Maralen's resolves first, putting a card of their choice into their hand. Then Box's trigger will resolve, emptying their hand and attempting to redraw the same number of cards. However, since Maralen prevents draws from happening, they end up hellbent (cardless).

On your draw step, stack the triggers in the opposite order, so you lose your hand, which is replaced by a card of your choice, effectively always giving you one card to your opponent's zero -- unless your opponent responds to one of the triggers.

Soft Lock?

While a simple removal spell stops the aforementioned combo, consider Maralen of the Mornsong + Teferi's Puzzle Box + Null Brooch . Assuming they only have one removal spell (like they might after Maralen's trigger resolves and Box's is on the stack), this stops your opponent in their tracks. The icing is that you will be hellbent after a turn cycle of the general and Box being online, so countering a spell will cost you and your hand of 0 cards.

Very few individual cards are capable of disabling this: to my knowledge, only a few Split Second removal spells like Krosan Grip and creatures with flash like Venser, Shaper Savant. However, Beacon of Unrest and Withering Boon deal with these kinds of cards, respectively.

How to Play This Deck

There a few reasons this deck is not a traditional EDH deck. The foremost is that we don't actually want Maralen on the battlefield very often or for very long.

Maralen of the Mornsong is decidedly bad when you main phase her and she lives more than a turn. This is because your opponent gets a chance to set up their late-game plans before you've found your first card. The best way to avoid this is to find a way to give Maralen flash, which within color identity, restricts us to Vedalken Orrery and Winding Canyons.

The second reason this deck isn't traditional is that it requires a lot of setup. As with any lock, there are multiple tumblers to keep it in place. Maralen, Teferi's Puzzle Box, and Null Brooch are all essential to the lock. (A minor exception is that Box can be replaced by Anvil of Bogardan if the opponent is already hellbent). They must be drawn naturally or tutored for, by Maralen or otherwise, or the lock will be vulnerable. Because of this, Diabolic Revelation is gold, fetching any of the cards we need or ways to protect them.

The last reason this deck defies tradition is Maralen's following line of text: "Players can't draw cards." Granted, she won't be on the board very much -- a la first reason in this section -- so effects like Phyrexian Arena are a must. However, you can also use her to counter draw spells if you have the capabilities. Once she's on the battlefield, regular/natural drawing becomes tutoring, hence the category "Maralen cycling" -- if tutoring is drawing, tutors "cycle," Rune-Scarred Demon "cantrips," and the aforementioned Diabolic Revelation is a "Mind Spring."

Intrinsic Combos

By "intrinsic" here, I'm referring to combos the contained within the deck that can be used to win or lock down a board. Let's see what we've got to work with.

Sheoldred, Whispering One + Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed repeatable recursion of a black spell, like a tutor or removal.

Darksteel Plate + Guardian Beast + Nevinyrral's Disk blow up all enchantments, artifacts, and creatures every turn.

Dark Depths + Vampire Hexmage/ AEther Snap /Thespian's Stage: Marit Lage is coming to town.

Maze of Ith + Silent Arbiter basically a Blazing Archon.

Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth the OG way to ramp.

Extraplanar Lens + Snow-Covered Swamp fragile, but another great way to ramp.

Maralen of the Mornsong + Ob Nixilis, Unshackled pretty much gives your opponent a 3-turn clock.

Liliana of the Dark Realms + Scroll Rack a little like Scroll's combo with Land Tax. Also works with Maralen on the board.

What Happens with Damia?

One notable interaction Maralen has is with Damia, Sage of Stone. Once Damia is out, your opponent likely has/will have a full hand, and you have a general that shuts down theirs and only tutors for you, but Box only affects you as well. The solution is to tutor for Head Games (a card I admit I have a soft slot for) and fill the opponent's hand with trash, after which the game is yours if the Damia player can't kill their own general... lol.

All aspects of this deck are currently a WORK IN PROGRESS so it should see a lot of updates in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy the deck :) and check out my Dimir variant:

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Han Tutored First

Commander / EDH* NotaNetDeck

SCORE: 2 | 2 COMMENTS | 410 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

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Date added	9 years
Last updated	8 years
Key combos	Maralen of the Mornsong + Ob Nixilis, Unshackled Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth Extraplanar Lens + Snow-Covered Swamp Maze of Ith + Silent Arbiter Sheoldred, Whispering One + Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed Darksteel Plate + Guardian Beast + Nevinyrral's Disk Liliana of the Dark Realms + Scroll Rack
Legality	This deck is not Duel Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 46 - 1 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 2 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.11
Tokens	Demon */* B, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Marit Lage, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Deck Ideas