Why Are There So Many Damn K'rrik-ets in My Swamp

Commander / EDH Combo Mono-Black

Menachi

Sorcery (20)

• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Blood Tribute
• 1x Consume Spirit
• 1x Cruel Bargain
• 1x Cruel Tutor
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Doomsday
• 1x Duress
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Imperial SealGC
• 1x Morality Shift
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Repay in Kind
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Temporal Extortion
• 1x Thoughtseize
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Instant (5)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Hatred
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Font of Agonies
• 1x Necropotence

Creature (18)

• 1x Balthor the Defiled
• 1x Blood Celebrant
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Dread Shade
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Walking Ballista

Land (36)

• 1x Bazaar of Baghdad
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Lake of the Dead
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 27x Swamp
• 1x Verdant Catacombs

Commander (1)

Artifact (15)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Defense Grid
• 1x Eternity Vessel
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Web
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Venser's Journal

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Filth
• 1x Maga, Traitor to Mortals
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk

Instant (2)

• 1x Crypt Incursion
• 1x Dash Hopes

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Baneful Omen
• 1x Greed
• 1x Wound Reflection

Artifact (2)

• 1x Profane Memento
• 1x Sword of the Paruns

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Bond of Agony
• 1x Brain Pry
• 1x Damnation

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Deck Introduction

This deck is a strange, life manipulation deck. It revolves around shutting down opponents counter spells and winning the game almost out of nowhere with several combos of your choice.

As soon as I saw this card, I knew I had to make a deck for it. So after hours upon hours of work and research for this deck, I present this to you.

Please take note that this is not the actual deck price. Foil cards increase the price durastically and the actual deck is valued somewhere between 1,000-2,000 USD

The Primer

Show Primer Show

Close - Up Review

Basic Explanations Show

This deck is organized in the standard way. I prefer this because it helps me sort through ideas and it's also easier for me to find what I need. "Basic Explanations" is exactly what it says it is, Basic Explanations of cards that you might find out of place or different from other decks. Also just basic card choices I use that might differ from others.

• Lands:
The only reason why I have fetch lands is because it not only helps me narrow down the lands in my deck, making it more likely to draw into something I need. But it also counts as a land drop for Eternity Vessel which means I have an active trigger whenever I need, since you can fetch lands on opponents turns.
• Strange Graveyard Mill Choices:
I added the combo Balthor the Defiled + Morality Shift that hasn't seen much play. The reason I like this combo is because not only does it get a ton of creatures onto the battlefield (Because this is Mono Black), but for the final creature, I can play Gray Merchant of Asphodel and drain the opponents for 30(ish) life each, then gain 90. This is a perfect setup if you want to use a card like Hatred , or for example, continue getting value with cards like Bolas's Citadel .
• Life Gain:
Some of the life-gain cards I've added are peculiar, but definitely work in this deck. One of my favorites is Eternity Vessel . There is no shortage of lands in this deck, and with it, you can cast some crazy combo's or get insane value by paying life and gain it all back by placing a land down or using a fetch. Another nice combo card is Venser's Journal . You can use it for it's usual effect, or you can set up a really nice combo card:Venser's Journal + Necropotence. It gives, not only insane value from the card draw, but on the beginning phase, you gain all that life, and usually some more back.
• Cards I might take out:
Even with all the testing, there were still a couple cards that just didn't see as much play for having a bit too much limitation. Consume Spirit , Rings of Brighthearth and Repay in Kind are a few. Consume spirit needs all black mana, which can be super hard to get value out of, even if you control a card:Nikvana Revenant or Crypt Ghast . Rings of Brighthearth can do wonders if you have the right cards, but otherwise it's completely useless. Even if you play it, it will probably get removed before you can use it. Repay in Kind can be a complete combo winner, especially if I add in Wound Reflection . The problem comes in it's mana cost. 5 colorless is a bit much for the deck if you don't have infinite colorless. Bazaar of Baghdad is another one I might take out. I had the card in there or a combo I was using before and the only reason I left it in there was because it was a decent filter. The downside is it's your 1 turn land drop.

Archetype: Quick set-up Combo Show

This deck is all about super fast set-ups. In actuality, K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth can come out t1, and I've done it a lot of times too. The trick is getting K'rrik out as fast as possible, because once he is out, everything becomes much cheaper which allows you to play out cards quicker than your opponents. As a combo deck, it can win with several different combos. The difficulty with the deck isnt with finding the cards, it's playing them without them getting countered, which leads us into our next our next two overviews

Strengths Show

This deck excels at making use of both your deck, and your graveyard. A couple of the combo's are actually graveyard oriented, so if you are up against a mill deck, or graveyard deck, you don't need to worry (too much). In addition to this, if you can get the cards out, it holds up pretty well against decks with counter-spells. You can repel them by using cards such as Mana Web or Defense Grid .

Weaknesses Show

This deck is weak against token decks or mass creature decks. There is only a bit of removal in the deck from cards like Hero's Downfall or Font of Agonies . Hero's Downfall is a quick removal for stuff like plainswalkers, and Font of Agonies can get out of hand quickly, especially if it's a turn 1 play. in Under 4 turns I've had over 40 counters, and it only takes and to activate and destroy a creature. This deck is also weak to mass removal spells like Damnation , where there isn't much coming back from that since there is 0 revival of those cards.

Combo's and Win-Cons Show

The Combo's are as follows - (Finisher combo's and Infinite Combo's)

• Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth
• Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Sensei's Divining Top
• Doomsday + Cruel Bargain + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Walking Ballista + Viscera Seer
• Blood Celebrant + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth (Optional Eternity Vessel
• Basalt Monolith + Exsanguinate + Rings of Brighthearth
• Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Torment of Hailfire
• Basalt Monolith + Mesmeric Orb (Then activate Balthor the Defiled from grave and end with Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• Balthor the Defiled + Morality Shift (End combo with Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Win-Cons but not infinite combo's - (Help win the deck with crazy value)

• Blood Celebrant + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Praetor's Grasp
• Repay in Kind
• Hatred (Optional Tainted Strike
• Dread Shade + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• Necropotence + Venser's Journal
• Liliana of the Dark Realms (+ Exsanguinate , Consume Spirit etc.)
• K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Vilis, Broker of Blood
• Bolas's Citadel + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• Blood Celebrant + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth (Optional Eternity Vessel

How The Deck Plays

As I mentioned before, this deck is all about speed. This setup allows us to tailor our needs to whatever card(s) would be good for us at that moment. Now let's get started and break this deck down into a couple of stages

Stage One: "Just Napping" Show

This stage is the first turn, or the setup stage. Usually this consists of placing a swamp and immediately ending, or playing a card:Soul Stone. A first turn K'rrik would mean having at least 1 Swamp , card:Soul Ring and Mana Crypt in your opening hand.

Stage Two: "I Woke up on the Wrong Side of the Swamp" Show

This stage is the stage you get K'rrik out, which can be anywhere from turn 2-4, but usually turn 3 is a consistent number. In this stage, things usually get a bit crazy. You'll almost always have a tutor card in your opening hand, or at least a way to get one. If you are playing against a deck with blue, it's safer to not go with the Doomsday combo (explained in the "Combo's" section). Usually I'd go for either a Mana Web if I want to play it safe, or a Morality Shift if I'm feeling a bit more spicy.

Stage Three: "I am Inevitable" Show

This is where you win usually turn 3-7, average around turn 4. In this stage, you combo off and win, but of course this can be delayed by several things. Win-Cons are as stated above under "Combo's".

Tutors: Show

Tutoring is one of the most important plays you can make in this deck. It can completely change a games outcome. You can choose a card you'd need in the situation, or any combo pieces you might need. I always try to have an opening hand with one of my tutors, preferably with a ramp card as well. Tutors are always a good and flexible card from beginning to late game. For example, if i had a lot of mana, or I've activated Liliana of the Dark Realms 's Emblem, I could use a Demonic Tutor to search out a card:Diabolic Revelations, and use that to search several cards for whatever you'd need.

Mulligans: Show

Don't be afraid to mulligan out your hand. Using the Mulligan option is a friend, and it completely helps out your chance of winning. I usually mulligan once or twice (Standard 1 free mulligan), and it's incredibly helpful, usually giving me several options that i didn't have before.Then again, if you have a decent hand, roll with it. It's better to have that than a trash hand. The things I really want is a "ramp" option like card:Soul Ring or Mana Crypt . They can help me get K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth out t2, or if together, turn 1.

Feedback

Please give me lots of feedback! I'd love to try to hash out card ideas and combo ideas with you all. Constructive Criticism is something I'd like to hear too! If you liked the deck, please up-vote and help my ideas get out :)

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Mono-Black 5 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Key combos	Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth Basalt Monolith + Mesmeric Orb Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Sensei's Divining Top Necropotence + Venser's Journal Balthor the Defiled + Morality Shift Basalt Monolith + Exsanguinate + Rings of Brighthearth Blood Celebrant + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Vilis, Broker of Blood Bolas's Citadel + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth Basalt Monolith + Rings of Brighthearth + Torment of Hailfire Blood Celebrant + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Praetor's Grasp Dread Shade + K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	22 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 7 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.41
Tokens	Demon 5/5 B, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Emblem Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Commander, Jacked