Part of the fun of Commander is building wacky decks. Finding a challenge and building around it! To that end, I present one of my more recent creations. Phage the Untouchable is one of the most difficult Commanders in the game to play. Losing the game yourself is a pretty big drawback, but a fun one to work around! The deck itself is basically mono-black control, wiping the board as needed while ramping like crazy til we bring out the big bad boss lady herself.
Playing the Boss
There are 4 ways you can play out Phage: Command Beacon, which lets you bring her to your hand and play her normally.
Platinum Angel, which lets you ignore losing the game.
Torpor Orb, which keeps her lose the game trigger from happening.
Sundial of the Infinite, which you can use to end the turn with her ability on the stack, exiling it and thereby never letting it resolve.
Sundial of the Infinite itself is tricky, but very fun to work with, letting you ignore end of turn triggers like Whip of Erebos and Gruesome Encore. Just be sure to put those abilities on the stack before ending them, or else they'll trigger again during your opponents' turn!
Once she's out, Phage is like the best kind of Voltron commander the only buff she needs is unblockability, and haste if you can spare it! Extra damage? Psh. Only need to poke them. So long as it's for at least 1.
Crush, Kill, Destroy (Everything)
As a mono-black control deck, our main concern is keeping the board clear while we ramp into obscene levels of power. Plenty of single target and board-wiping kill spells keep the creatures at bay. Hero's Demise is just silly, and never a dead card in commander. Call the Bloodline is excellent for keeping our board full of blockers, letting us pitch unused Swamps, or creatures in preparation for recursion. Gives us some chumps to sacrifice at Westvale Abbey
too.
Life Enders
There are several ways to win the game with this deck. And while many of them do involve playing and swinging with an unblockable Phage the Untouchable, that is only one opponent at a time.
First of all, simple and fun is the mighty Ormendahl, Profane Prince
himself. An indestructible hasty flier is nothing sneeze at, and this monster will quickly be crushing foes, especially if equipped with a Lashwrithe!
Heck, late in the game anything equipped with Lashwrithe is a scary threat, especially with the amount of Swamp ramp we have in here. Between this and Liliana of the Dark Realms, I once swung with a 41/39 Ormendahl. Why? Why not!
Another traditionally powerful finisher is Exsanguinate. Again, with all the ramp we have, this can get to bonkers levels of powerful. Even if it doesn't kill, it will bring them low and you far beyond reach. The great Gray Merchant of Asphodel (Gary to his friends) is similar in effect, draining large amounts of life, but much more reusable than Exsanguinate by virtue of being a creature. Repeat visits from Gary leave most opponents very unhappy and very dead.
Speaking of recurring creatures, let's talk Chainer, Dementia Master. This guy is bonkers good and frankly deserves his own deck. In this though, he does WORK. Steal your opponent's creature after you've murdered them and they won't come back if Chainer dies. With this guy and a sacrifice outlet, repeatedly cast powerful creatures like Massacre Wurm and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. All at instant speed. Why aren't you already playing Chainer? Play Chainer.
And last but not least, the piece de resistance: Endless Whispers. Sure normally this is just a chaos card. Creatures die and other players get them. But then you remember this is a Phage deck. Sacrifice Phage to Viscera Seer, or any other sac outlet and let her hit the graveyard. I suppose you'll have to give her to someone, huh? Guess they'll have to deal with that lose the game trigger too, won't they? What a shame! Their loss then exiles her, letting you put her right back in the Command Zone, safe and sound. Enjoy!
