Yawgmoth in my meta
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 11, 2019, 6:28 p.m. by marco-piatti
Hi guys,
I was planning to build a yawgmoth deck within a 150-200$ budget ( i already own the commander and some black commander staples like Damnation and Phyrexian Arena ). Since i'm not very experienced in this format i would like to ask you if yawgmoth decks (on a budget) suffer against decks whose strategy is based on big creatures or ramp decks. Because they are the most used in my LGS and i would like to avoid to be quite disadvantaged against most of the decks i would play against before building it.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #3
It's tougher on a budget, since some of the best answers to big creatures in that style of deck are Grave Pact , and Dictate of Erebos , but it's manageable. If you can't fit those into the budget, Butcher of Malakir and Attrition are less expensive and can help, and since you'll be able to keep up on cards pretty easily with Yawgmoth's draw ability, you can afford to run a few targeted removal spells like Hero's Downfall , Murder , Murderous Cut , Ultimate Price , Doom Blade , Vraska's Contempt , Victim of Night etc, all of which can answer problematic creatures when needed.
November 11, 2019 7:08 p.m.
marco-piatti says... #4
Thanks for your advices. Would you recommend to play more boardwipes or more target removals?
November 11, 2019 7:20 p.m.
multimedia says... #5
I think Yawgmoth is a good choice against big creature/ramp decks.
Having Damnation is a good start to beating these types of decks. Dead of Winter with Snow-Covered Swamp and Crux of Fate are underrated board wipes in Commander. Yawgmoth's -1/-1 ability can kill little creatures and then make your opponents sacrifice big creatures ( Plaguecrafter , Fleshbag Marauder , Dictate of Erebos ). Ravenous Chupacabra and Shriekmaw can really ruin an opponent who ramps into a big creature to then have it killed. Since Ravenous and Shriekmaw are creatures that makes reanimation and recursion good with them. Ob Nixilis Reignited is another way to kill big creatures which is nice with proliferate from Yawgmoth.
With black you can go completely over the top of ramp decks with reanimation ( Buried Alive , Animate Dead , Victimize ). Use it on flying creatures such as Vilis, Broker of Blood and Rune-Scarred Demon . You can play cards that create tokens ( Nest of Scarabs , Dreadhorde Invasion , Pawn of Ulamog ) which can be good blockers against big creatures who don't have trample or flying.
November 11, 2019 7:42 p.m.
marco-piatti says... #6
multimedia thanks for your advice. Unfortunately quite often the creatures i would face have trample or flying but in that case i can use target removals to destroy them i guess..
November 12, 2019 4:07 a.m.
marco-piatti says... #7
TypicalTimmy thanks for your advices.. To block ramp other than Contamination in mono black what could be usefull?
November 12, 2019 5:16 a.m.
marco-piatti says... #8
TypicalTimmy thanks and what would you recomend as graveyard recursion? Phyrexian Reclamation would be fine?
November 12, 2019 9:17 a.m.
multimedia says... #9
Font of Agonies can be a repeatable source of removal for creatures. Yawgmouth can fuel it two ways each time you pay life and when you proliferate. Font has great interaction with Vilis, Broker of Blood . With these two cards it can be difficult for opponents to keep a creature on the battlefield.
November 12, 2019 3:12 p.m. Edited.
As others have said, you should be in good shape. Mono Black can be very easy to run on budget, excellent at creature removal, and can find ways to out tempo ramp decks.
Victim of Night , Doom Blade , Go for the Throat , and Murder are all fantastic removal on a budget.
I wouldn't worry about blocking ramp as much as I would focus on creating it in your own way. Along the lines Dark Ritual or Artifacts. Cabal Stronghold is the budget alternative to Cabal Coffers . Crypt Ghast might be slightly out of budget, but does the job of Nirkana Revenant somewhat cheaper. I'm a huge fan of Life's Finale , which is criminally underplayed and pretty budget, especially in a meta that isn't in their own graveyards too much. It's always good to have a boardwipe or 2 on deck, but I find mono black can get quite a lot done with spot removal, and that is far easier on a budget. You already have Damnation when you need it. Black Sun's Zenith is also an option because you can proliferate the counters later. Lashwrithe and/or Nightmare Lash are good and not expensive. Disciple of the Vault is again criminally underplayed if you want to go that route. Get yourself some cheap tutors cause thats Black's go to. Diabolic Tutor , Scheming Symmetry , Beseech the Queen are the best budget options. Card draw is a must, and you get Sign in Blood , Read the Bones , and a host of other cheap draw spells to go along with you Phyrexian Arena .
And I hate to be that guy, but infect is pretty budget, on theme, and works wonders even if you just splash it as a win con. Tainted Strike Plague Myr Ichor Rats . You can then use your Commander to pay and discard a card a few times to win.
Black has a ton of options even on a budget. Just depends which way you want to go.
November 12, 2019 3:26 p.m.
marco-piatti says... #11
Thanks everyone for your advices. You all have been most helpful
November 12, 2019 3:43 p.m.
Black Plague, On The Rocks: Yawgmoth EDH [PRIMER] is the deck you wanna look at. Don't need all the fancy $ cards, just the basic shell and overall concepts should be enough. I play against this every week and it is DEADLY!
x12721 says... #2
You are in the single best color for removing creatures, so I wouldn't worry about that. Your commander also allows you to kill things as well, so big creatures should not ever be a problem for you. As for ramp decks, there are a few ways to combat that, most of which is that you inherently have the tutors to get whatever you need, when you need it. One of the best cards is Contamination . While a bit on the pricey side, it both hampers ramp and ruins nonblack decks.
November 11, 2019 7:05 p.m.