But then how do you create tokens off of Kalitas to sacrifice? I’m sorry I’m just having a hard time understanding
OK, so you have a creature in play, let's say a 2/2 Zombie token, with Yawgmoth, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Grave Pact.
You sacrifice the 2/2 Zombie token (to Yawgmoth), and now opponents have to sacrifice a creature due to the Grave Pact. The opponents creatures going to graveyard will trigger Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, creating some more 2/2 tokens. You can then sacrifice these new 2/2 tokens to make opponents sacrifice more creatures, creating a loop, that means you can wipe the opponents board clear of creatures if you like.
Just in case you're unsure, tokens still trigger "dies" effects as even though the are not real cards, as they still hit the graveyard before disappearing.
I think I follow! Sorry about that, thank you for taking the time to explain it to me. I was getting caught up on the replacement exile effect of Kalitas for some reason.
So then, a follow up question - is it worth running Kalitas if it means exiling creatures instead of letting them hit the opponents yards' to be brought back from a Liliana ult that returns all creatures in all yards to the field under your control? Or is the creature "loss" negligible in the long run of the game plan?
I'm really excited to have found this post, I have nearly all of the cards for this deck already, minus one or two Liliana's (Last Hope, I think?) and I'm sure a few others. I found a card called Dusk Urchins that might be worth running as it can draw cards from Yawgmoth pretty well, I just don't know how to link it. I just made this account to post on this thread so please forgive my temporary ignorance!
I think I follow! Sorry about that, thank you for taking the time to explain it to me. I was getting caught up on the replacement exile effect of Kalitas for some reason.
So then, a follow up question - is it worth running Kalitas if it means exiling creatures instead of letting them hit the opponents yards' to be brought back from a Liliana ult that returns all creatures in all yards to the field under your control? Or is the creature "loss" negligible in the long run of the game plan?
I'm really excited to have found this post, I have nearly all of the cards for this deck already, minus one or two Liliana's (Last Hope, I think?) and I'm sure a few others. I found a card called Dusk Urchins that might be worth running as it can draw cards from Yawgmoth pretty well, I just don't know how to link it. I just made this account to post on this thread so please forgive my temporary ignorance!
I love it when people pick up my lists and ask questions, so no problem at all.
Yes the graveyard removal from Kalitas is negligible for Liliana ult.
This deck is quite hard to play, it does require knowledge and practice to get the most out of potential interactions. There are some nuances for sure.
I'm not sure what your experience is, but I've been playing Magic for 25 years, so I just have a lot of knowledge when it comes to how things work.
Unfortunately I haven't written up how to sequence your game, that requires some time to create for a thread like this. I'll start working on that in the next day or two, so hopefully some strategy stuff will become a bit more clearer Plus I needed the game time and various card testing before being able to write up that sort of thing, which I now feel comfortable with.
If you don't already know MTGSalvation is becoming retired on July 9 next month. But a new website is planned, and I'll carry over all my primers, so don't worry about new information on the decks.
Dusk Urchins seems fine, probably would not run it personally, as you're normally using the -1/-1 counters to try and kill off opponents creatures. There are usually enough dorky mana creatures to pick off, before you look to doing your own creatures.
I've added a section "Playing the Deck" to help with sequencing and planning your game. It's not super comprehensive, it's sort of a first draft, but hopefully there is some more insight on what you are hoping to accomplish. I will flesh out sections more over time.
I've been working on a Yawgmoth build of my own, and this deck is tons of fun. I took a bit of inspiration from the list in the main post here, but only went so far due to availability (I don't have too much invested in MTGO to test these as much).
Here's my list and my thoughts on it, at the moment:
So, first things first: I'm missing a chunk of the potential ramp for the deck. I need to pick up Crypt Ghast, Nirkana Revenant, Jet Medallion, Gauntlet of Power and Bubbling Muck. Chances that I'll ever pick up a Mana Crypt or Grim Monolith are extremely low given it's current price range. However, I've still been able to ramp pretty well with what I *do* have, so I'm excited to acquire what I can. I had been tempted to get a Chrome Mox with some store credit but it was either that or Liliana, the Last Hope and Liliana was a much more important inclusion.
Crypt of Agadeem is about to be replaced with something else because the deck needs to ramp up ASAP and it's worse than a Swamp for most of the game I've had it.
I won a game with a Torment of Hailfire for 30 just off of the land ramp when I wasn't drawing into anything else. I'm pretty confident in leaving this and Exsanguinate in my build finishers to build towards if Yawgmoth is hated off of the table too much to stay on the Proliferate plan. The problem with this game wasn't Yawgmoth being targeted, though. It was actually that I had no card draw outside of Yawgmoth and only ever drew into Bloodghast that game for recurrable draw. I think there's a weakness in trying to depend too heavily on Yawgmoth sticking or for sac fodder to use him and not having any other draw. There's so much mana ramp potential here, but if the sac fodder doesn't come, the deck feels like it falls flat, especially when you want to hold a good chunk of your deck for a big turn (PWers).
Phyrexian Scriptures was surprisingly good. I originally added it for flavor reasons (the same is true of Avatar of Woe; it's a pet card because I have a PT one signed by rk post and casting it for BB with Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder out is SO good). In my last game last night I had quite a play:
I had used Command the Dreadhorde and stolen Garruk, Primal Hunter, Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Veteran Explorer. Then I cast my Horobi, Death's Wail and used -3 on Garruk to draw 5 cards and get 5 Niv-Mizzet triggers. I blew up a few targets (Liliana, Heretical Healer, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, a 21/21 Consuming Abberation, the Veteran Explorer to ramp up Cabal Stronghold some more and something else). Well, at the end of turn the Grixis player cast Thrilling Encore and got it alllll back, and then some.
I had a ton of mana because of Cabal Stronghold and some heavy land ramp earlier. So I cast Yawgmoth. Wasn't countered, so I should be good. Cast Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Yes, yes. It resolved. Cast Phyrexian Scriptures and put the +1/+1 counter on Yawgmoth and turned him into an Artifact creature. Finally cast Grey Merchant of Asphodel to offset the life loss from Command the Dreadhorde last turn. Mostly, I needed a sac target so I could sacrifice him to Yawgmoth to Proliferate the Phyrexian Scriptures to Chapter II and wipe the board other than Yawgmoth. I did so, destroyed everything but Yawgmoth, got 14 Zombies from Kalitas and was on my merry way. It was gorious.
I'm feeling the same about Archfiend of Ifnir in it being too slow. I've had it in my hand multiple times but never really wanted to cast it over anything else. I'm still giving it some more time, though.
I've been pretty happy with Call to the Grave in the games where I get my recurrable sac fodder and it's kept the board clear early on and let me play some of my Planeswalkers and start ticking them up without having to hold them in my hand for a while. Keep in mind since I'm still missing key ramp cards and probably won't have access to Grim Monolith/Mana Crypt, as I had mentioned earlier.
I thought Illusionist's Bracers may be too slow, but the couple times I've had it on Yawgmoth it was incredible.
With the sudden availability of snow lands, I'm trying Dead of Winter in place of Toxic Deluge. While it's true that you're still winning until the last point of life is gone, I've found that I go through it at a dangerous rate, especially with some of the Spellslinger decks in my various play groups. I haven't run into anything this hasn't been able to kill, yet. The appeal of Toxic Deluge is having a flexible answer for 2B, but so far this has done just as well!
Psychosis Crawler is another decent alternate win con that won me a game, and I was pretty happy to see it. It gave me a place to put my -1/-1 counters for Nest of Scarabs to get that combo started and is a win condition once you have the Yawgmoth's Bargain combo set up with Nest.
Anyway, that's about it for my testing with the deck so far. I know my build is quite different at the moment, though I aim for a similar path once I can acquire the appropriate cards
I've been working on a Yawgmoth build of my own, and this deck is tons of fun. I took a bit of inspiration from the list in the main post here, but only went so far due to availability (I don't have too much invested in MTGO to test these as much).
Yeah he is a ton of fun, interactive, but once you get an engine very powerful and scary for your opponents as well.
It is true that the card draw is completely reliant on Yawgmoth remaining in play AND you need an outlet.
But I am running more tutors than you, and often I will go for Reassembling Skeleton or Ophiomancer as my creature sacrifice engine.
So I've never really had a problem with card draw over the game.
Also I think that people don't know how good Yawgmoth is until you've already gotten value off him, which enablers you to accelerate more mana out to recast him once opponents remove him. So maybe in the future when he becomes a bit more of a marked target, I'll find that I'm left a little wanting for more card draw.
I noticed you don't play any of the big one spell token makers like Josu Vess, Lich Knight, From Under the Floorboards, Army of the Damned, and I absolutely swear by them.
I didn't have them in my first play testing, then just kept adding more of them because they prove to be such good top decks if you've been pegged back, and then they are also good if you're ahead as finishers.
Play Army of the Damned to give it a try at least.
I never thought about Illusionist's Bracers, but I can see that being like a two-barrel shotgun, blasting everything.
Phyrexian Scriptures does have a big reward being able to keep probably your Yawgmoth while destroying everything else. Not that it's matters that much, but it does exile graveyards, and I do win with Liliana Vess ultimate during grindy games often enough.
I have wanted to have more life gain in the deck, often I'll be on single digits during a lot of games, and Gary (Grey Merchant of Asphodel) is a pretty fine option. I've never run him in a deck before, but then again I've never played mono-black, so maybe it's time.
Interestingly I have actually removed Cabal Stronghold from the deck as I just never got that much more out of it, and found it more of a liability in fact not being a swamp. But it's good to hear that you got good use out of it.
I've decided to try Isolated Watchtower instead, purely experimental.
I have to say your colorless lands won't work for you once you get the mana doublers like Crypt Ghast, etc. Swamps are just so important for this plan.
First of really enjoy your content, very well structure and it definitely seems like you put in a lot of time and effort into creating your articles.
I am in a small playgroup where we all really only have 1 or 2 decks and I am kind of tired of having a deck that wins the same way everytime, that's what got my attention to your build on Yawgmoth, with the capability of "winning" or getting a head and having some super fun turns with the different planeswalker ultimates.
I was wondering whether, as with you Zacama article you have a budget build for Yawgmoth (around the 160 $ mark) and if you don't already consider it, a 75% build?
First of really enjoy your content, very well structure and it definitely seems like you put in a lot of time and effort into creating your articles.
I am in a small playgroup where we all really only have 1 or 2 decks and I am kind of tired of having a deck that wins the same way everytime, that's what got my attention to your build on Yawgmoth, with the capability of "winning" or getting a head and having some super fun turns with the different planeswalker ultimates.
I was wondering whether, as with you Zacama article you have a budget build for Yawgmoth (around the 160 $ mark) and if you don't already consider it, a 75% build?
Kind regards
Hi, thanks for taking the time to read some of my content, and yes I do put a lot of effort into them, it forces me to really evaluate my decks in a more analytical way, as well as get more eyes on tuning them.
I haven't thought about a budget build, and too be honest it's going to be hard as some of the "signature" cards, like the planeswalkers and graveyard recursion creatures are very expensive.
But the thing is that the planeswalker element isn't the true engine behind what actually get's you to a position of winning, it's Yawgmoth -1/-1 and draw.
As far as the graveyard recursion creatures, Bloodghast is fine, but not worth the price tag for a budget build.
But Gravecrawler and Nether Traitor are really really good in the deck. Ophiomancer is definitely worth the money as well.
So this is my thoughts on what to cut and what to remove and add..
Unfortunately I can only get it down to around $285 for a build that I don't think is too compromised. This build is more focused on the creature killing and draw aspect, rather than the planeswalkers.
Now this is about $232 worth of cards. So you could look to pick some number of them to get your budget.
But obviously this is tough as they represent some of the core aspects of your deck.
Can you get away from the Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth package? Maybe. There isn't so much need for a massive proliferate turn with only two planeswalkers to ultimate. Sure the deck isn't going to be able to have nearly explosive turns without this..but $60 for two lands in a $160 build is asking a bit much. Without the Coffer you can cut Mirage Mirror as well, even though it's a great card standalone in multiplayer.
Obviously I swear by Gravecrawler and Nether Traitor as solid cards for the Yawgmoth engine, but the most important of them imo is the Reassembling Skeleton. So as long as devote a tutor effect to perhaps getting this, you might be able to get away with this. The problem is when somebody figures out how to remove it from the game, by exiling your graveyard, or exiling it while in play. So the other cards are just great backups.
The Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos really are key cards. They'll win you the game more often than not. You could look at Butcher of Malakir as a replacement for one of them, but the cost difference realistically is the difference between actually getting them online in time to do what you want or being too late.
Thank you for the detailed run down and swift reply! This definitely helps.
I actually have a few of the cards you mentioned which are expensive, Urborg, Entomb, Marsh Flats, Vesuva and I can probably get some of the others through mates.
I don't necessarily want to win by planeswalkers, I just want to have a lot of different ways to win. Running down my opponent with a horde of Zombies seems like a blast aswell, or winning through a massive Gray Merchant of Asphodel also seems fun in a game, I just don't want it to be like that every game.
When it comes down to it all I just think I want to have one deck, where I can say to myself, this game i want to overwhelm my opponents with a giant horde of Zombie and the next I want to combo a one-shot in direct damage etc.. A hard task for a commander deck, but I have a Zur cycling deck, which is just the same everytime. One plan straight a head, get the combo pieces and go of.
This deck is the closest I've seen to fulfill this mission of mine, since it can do a lot of cool stuff and having a lot of fun games, without seeming like the same sunset every night.
My mate told me that it would be easier to have a lot of different decks so I could just swap when I wanted to go aggro e.g. or into my Zacam deck when I wanted to play combo, sadly I just don't have the resource to make several decks.
Again thank you so much for putting the time into your reply
I played my first games with Yawgmoth last night and it was a blast! I am running a slightly budget deck, I luckily already had some of the more expensive black cards like Coffers, Urborg, couple Lilianas, and both Ugins. I don't have Dreadhorde General, the Pact effects, or the more expensive recurring creatures like Bloodghast or Nether Traitor. I will prob try to add them going forward when I can, but as is, Yawgmoth just has crazy power with even a 50-60% deck. The budget version has power, you mainly just need time. Once you get an engine going, there's not a lot that will stop you from going off. I did find that I was winning with Geralf's Messenger and a token maker more often than I thought. There was one game where I split the kill with one person dying to Messenger (I didn't have any life gain, I had just enough life to chain it for one opp) and then had just enough creatures left to sac to Flesh-Eater Imp and one shot the other opp with Infect. I will be making some updates and changes soon, I think I'm running one too many lands, and will prob add another cheap card draw like Read the Bones. I'll try to add my list later for viewing, I'm at the office and don't have it will me.
Thank you for the detailed run down and swift reply! This definitely helps.
I actually have a few of the cards you mentioned which are expensive, Urborg, Entomb, Marsh Flats, Vesuva and I can probably get some of the others through mates.
I don't necessarily want to win by planeswalkers, I just want to have a lot of different ways to win. Running down my opponent with a horde of Zombies seems like a blast aswell, or winning through a massive Gray Merchant of Asphodel also seems fun in a game, I just don't want it to be like that every game.
When it comes down to it all I just think I want to have one deck, where I can say to myself, this game i want to overwhelm my opponents with a giant horde of Zombie and the next I want to combo a one-shot in direct damage etc.. A hard task for a commander deck, but I have a Zur cycling deck, which is just the same everytime. One plan straight a head, get the combo pieces and go of.
This deck is the closest I've seen to fulfill this mission of mine, since it can do a lot of cool stuff and having a lot of fun games, without seeming like the same sunset every night.
My mate told me that it would be easier to have a lot of different decks so I could just swap when I wanted to go aggro e.g. or into my Zacam deck when I wanted to play combo, sadly I just don't have the resource to make several decks.
Again thank you so much for putting the time into your reply
Yeah I've made plenty of linear decks in my day and really they have a very short shelf life unfortunately. Any deck is going to become somewhat repetitive after a time, but I have to say that Yawgmoth has been a blast, and it should fit what you're after with multiple different ways to win.
It has infinite's, beatdown, and planeswalker ultimate's.
I messed you up a bit with my post, I left out Mikaeus, the Unhallowed $19.01, Liliana of the Dark Realms $10.00, Sorin Markov $14.99, as part of the expensive card list (I added them now). So just be aware that these are further cards to look to purchase as I think they are well worth it in the end.
I have to admit as far as spicy plays Sorin Markov taking control of players turns has been one of the more satisfying in game plays, as you get to do all sorts of different things. In the future look to add him to keep your game play fresh.
As additional different win conditions you could look at big spell slingers cards like Torment of Hailfire and Exsanguinate, which Kalzam is running (posted list in thread above). Realistically you'll need the Cabal Coffers for this, so again just something to budget for in the future.
I played my first games with Yawgmoth last night and it was a blast! I am running a slightly budget deck, I luckily already had some of the more expensive black cards like Coffers, Urborg, couple Lilianas, and both Ugins. I don't have Dreadhorde General, the Pact effects, or the more expensive recurring creatures like Bloodghast or Nether Traitor. I will prob try to add them going forward when I can, but as is, Yawgmoth just has crazy power with even a 50-60% deck. The budget version has power, you mainly just need time. Once you get an engine going, there's not a lot that will stop you from going off. I did find that I was winning with Geralf's Messenger and a token maker more often than I thought. There was one game where I split the kill with one person dying to Messenger (I didn't have any life gain, I had just enough life to chain it for one opp) and then had just enough creatures left to sac to Flesh-Eater Imp and one shot the other opp with Infect. I will be making some updates and changes soon, I think I'm running one too many lands, and will prob add another cheap card draw like Read the Bones. I'll try to add my list later for viewing, I'm at the office and don't have it will me.
Yes the undying elements really is a powerful tool, and I've done exactly the same thing killing an opponent who was dominating, by using Geralf's Messenger to get in the last 12 life by just sacrificing 6 of my creatures over the course of two turns. Fair play, but effective.
Don't worry about getting Bloodghast, it's the most expensive option, as you'll want fetch-lands to make it more effective, which again are expensive, and honestly it's not the better ones of the graveyard recursion. I have found Nether Traitor to be pretty great however.
The pact effects are game winning cards, so try and save up for at least one of them.
Would love to see your list, post it when you get time.
I was checking my Twitter feed earlier and saw MTGStocks reporting that Words of Waste was starting to rise in price, and it immediately clicked that it had to be because of Yawgmoth. I ordered one to try out because I think it could be a potentially great card against control decks. What do y'all think about this? It reminded me of another card - Graveborn Muse that I used to run alongside Words of Waste way back in the Onslaught Standard days. Tempted to try it as well with how it can scale with a lot of the cards in the deck.
I was checking my Twitter feed earlier and saw MTGStocks reporting that Words of Waste was starting to rise in price, and it immediately clicked that it had to be because of Yawgmoth. I ordered one to try out because I think it could be a potentially great card against control decks. What do y'all think about this? It reminded me of another card - Graveborn Muse that I used to run alongside Words of Waste way back in the Onslaught Standard days. Tempted to try it as well with how it can scale with a lot of the cards in the deck.
I don't know if it's got anything to do with Yawgmoth. I don't even think it's that good combined, you really want to synergies with additional rewards for discard.
However something that's been of interest to me is Awaken the Erstwhile. What happened is that an opponent actually played it, and was like like immediately back into the game as I could just sac to draw cards again. I actually think this is the real deal, like one card can just destroy opponents sitting on cards.
I think that Words of Waste is quite a bit slower, because you'd need to be sacrificing realistically 5 creatures to get most cards out of hands, and you actually lose out on that draw which is a tough call to make.
I know I am running some underpowered cards, but things like Chainer, Rite of Belzenlok, and Tendrils are pet cards that do serve some function to the deck. I'm def open to suggestions and upgrades. I do have the Pact effects available, I can swap them from other decks, but for my meta, I don't need them much for now.
Had some fun games last night, I did have a play were I discarded big Ugin to proliferate some poison counters, then brought him back with Yawgmoth's Vile Offering while destroying an Arcades, the Strategist and then wiping out some low cost enchantments with Ugin's middle ability. The best play came when a Mizzix deck Twincast a kicked Rite of Replication on my Ichor Rats to draw the game. Sadly, the Rite got countered and we died to a wave of tokens from a Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis deck the following turn. This was fine since we were all in a close arms race; the Arcades deck before me had an infinite mana and draw combo if he untapped, and I would have proliferated the remaining poison counters on my turn.
Sorry for the delay, finally had a chance to write down the deck list on here:
I know I am running some underpowered cards, but things like Chainer, Rite of Belzenlok, and Tendrils are pet cards that do serve some function to the deck. I'm def open to suggestions and upgrades. I do have the Pact effects available, I can swap them from other decks, but for my meta, I don't need them much for now.
Had some fun games last night, I did have a play were I discarded big Ugin to proliferate some poison counters, then brought him back with Yawgmoth's Vile Offering while destroying an Arcades, the Strategist and then wiping out some low cost enchantments with Ugin's middle ability. The best play came when a Mizzix deck Twincast a kicked Rite of Replication on my Ichor Rats to draw the game. Sadly, the Rite got countered and we died to a wave of tokens from a Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis deck the following turn. This was fine since we were all in a close arms race; the Arcades deck before me had an infinite mana and draw combo if he untapped, and I would have proliferated the remaining poison counters on my turn.
Looks all good to me. I mean you are running on some differing axis than me, like poison so just interested to see how that all pans out. I know it is popular way to go.
You also have a lot more guaranteed fuel for Yawgmoth, with things like Weaponcraft Enthusiast, Sengir Autocrat. I have no middle ground cards, there either graveyard recursion or big massive spells.
I do think that you'l find Font of Agonies, Blowfly Infestation, Crumbling Ashes are too slow and not even necessary in the deck.
I cannot express how much you want your mana sources to be black mana (not colorless), so Everflowing Chalice will be less than average. Even Astral Cornucopia I found to be pretty bad, as you're not using the proliferate until game winning time.
So on that note a Coalition Relic or Chromatic Lantern will serve you better in the long run.
Sorry for the delay, finally had a chance to write down the deck list on here:
I know I am running some underpowered cards, but things like Chainer, Rite of Belzenlok, and Tendrils are pet cards that do serve some function to the deck. I'm def open to suggestions and upgrades. I do have the Pact effects available, I can swap them from other decks, but for my meta, I don't need them much for now.
Had some fun games last night, I did have a play were I discarded big Ugin to proliferate some poison counters, then brought him back with Yawgmoth's Vile Offering while destroying an Arcades, the Strategist and then wiping out some low cost enchantments with Ugin's middle ability. The best play came when a Mizzix deck Twincast a kicked Rite of Replication on my Ichor Rats to draw the game. Sadly, the Rite got countered and we died to a wave of tokens from a Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis deck the following turn. This was fine since we were all in a close arms race; the Arcades deck before me had an infinite mana and draw combo if he untapped, and I would have proliferated the remaining poison counters on my turn.
Looks all good to me. I mean you are running on some differing axis than me, like poison so just interested to see how that all pans out. I know it is popular way to go.
You also have a lot more guaranteed fuel for Yawgmoth, with things like Weaponcraft Enthusiast, Sengir Autocrat. I have no middle ground cards, there either graveyard recursion or big massive spells.
I do think that you'l find Font of Agonies, Blowfly Infestation, Crumbling Ashes are too slow and not even necessary in the deck.
I cannot express how much you want your mana sources to be black mana (not colorless), so Everflowing Chalice will be less than average. Even Astral Cornucopia I found to be pretty bad, as you're not using the proliferate until game winning time.
So on that note a Coalition Relic or Chromatic Lantern will serve you better in the long run.
Thanks for the reply! As of now, I haven't drawn Ogre Slumlord, but it is in mainly to help fuel Undying synergy. The Harvester did some work the couple games I played it. It's a net gain of one life per Yawgmoth activation and it gained me a ton of life when an opp finally played a board wipe that he had waffled on bc he knew I'd gain enough life to stay the threat. And Mausoleum Secrets has been fun, instant searching has helped so I can untap with an answer or find one in response. I also used it to EoT get Ichor Rats to begin the poison countdown. I don't run the typical tutors bc my meta has agreed to slower/fewer tutors for better games. I will be getting a Final Parting, though, for the recursion I have.
I haven't drawn Crumbling Ashes or Bloatfly Infestation yet, but I do want to try them at least once since I've seen them do good work in my friend's Hapatra deck. If I don't like them, I will def replace them with the pact effects. Font I do like bc I has helped win a game where I needed to sac creatures to something besides Yawgmoth and used the Font to clear away the opposing creatures instead.
I do want to use the Proliferate ability more often, so I think I'm going to combine the Infect and Planeswalker lines with Yawgmoth's removal/draw ability as a board control. I will look into getting a Liliana Vess and save for a Dreadhorde General lol. I am also planning on getting a Nirkana Revenant and Caged Sun soon too for the mana doubling. And I do like the Josu Vess and From Under the Floorboards in your list and will def include those since I'm going bigger with my mana.
Also, regarding Awaken the Erstwhile, I do think that can work as we can use Yawgmoth to recover faster than our opps. There's a Malfegor discard deck a friend just built and Awaken always benefits him even with everyone getting tokens. We won't care if they get tokens bc we'll turn ours into new cards while they are top decking. I'll try play testing it in my next game nights and see if it pays off like this.
Question: why did you not consider Ob Nixilis Reignited for this? His ultimate gives you an emblem that hurts people when you draw. Yawgmoth likes to draw. Seems decent enough.
Question: why did you not consider Ob Nixilis Reignited for this? His ultimate gives you an emblem that hurts people when you draw. Yawgmoth likes to draw. Seems decent enough.
Yeah, just not quite good enough. The first two abilities, draw and kill are what Yawgmoth does anyway in spades. And then the emblem is just a bit slow, only targeting one person. It definitely puts that person under a clock. But yeah just the sum of it's parts didn't inspire me to play him.
In a similar manner Liliana of the Veil ultimate only targeting one playing makes it hard to justify.
They are close, but just needed to be a little less narrow on their ultimates for me personally.
So literally 4 of the primer committee members are building Yawgmoth. This just goes to show that while Urza was on the side of good, he was lacking in panache and had an infinitely more punchable face
I just picked Yawg up yesterday and put together an ad hoc list. Definitely closer to Kelzam’s in terms of build, purely because I don’t currently own a lot of mono black walkers. This is sort of the perfect deck for the latest Lili though, so I may introduce that element - for now though it’s very much a list centered around Yawg’s draw power. I’ll get a few play tests in and then probably bring my list online for critique.
Just a thought, not sure if it’s something we could go all in on, but there’s at least a couple of stax elements that do counters - Smokestack and Tangle Wire in particular. Has anyone tossed up running this sort of stuff?
So literally 4 of the primer committee members are building Yawgmoth. This just goes to show that while Urza was on the side of good, he was lacking in panache and had an infinitely more punchable face
I just picked Yawg up yesterday and put together an ad hoc list. Definitely closer to Kelzam’s in terms of build, purely because I don’t currently own a lot of mono black walkers. This is sort of the perfect deck for the latest Lili though, so I may introduce that element - for now though it’s very much a list centered around Yawg’s draw power. I’ll get a few play tests in and then probably bring my list online for critique.
Just a thought, not sure if it’s something we could go all in on, but there’s at least a couple of stax elements that do counters - Smokestack and Tangle Wire in particular. Has anyone tossed up running this sort of stuff?
I think you could definitely make a more competitive version with Smokestack and Tangle Wire, with Null Rod as well.
Also it must be noted that you don't really have any ETB effects, everything is dies triggers, so a Torpor Orb can easily be played.
I think the only two cards are Geralf's Messenger and Josu Vess, Lich Knight, so replacing Josu with Torpor Orb can be done in more competitive metas.
As far as Sphere effects like Trinisphere and Sphere of Resistance, you'd be fine I think. You get to spend a lot of your mana on graveyard recursion creatures, which is not effected by these types of cards, so I think they could be options if you headed that way.
You sacrifice the 2/2 Zombie token (to Yawgmoth), and now opponents have to sacrifice a creature due to the Grave Pact. The opponents creatures going to graveyard will trigger Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, creating some more 2/2 tokens. You can then sacrifice these new 2/2 tokens to make opponents sacrifice more creatures, creating a loop, that means you can wipe the opponents board clear of creatures if you like.
Just in case you're unsure, tokens still trigger "dies" effects as even though the are not real cards, as they still hit the graveyard before disappearing.
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Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
So then, a follow up question - is it worth running Kalitas if it means exiling creatures instead of letting them hit the opponents yards' to be brought back from a Liliana ult that returns all creatures in all yards to the field under your control? Or is the creature "loss" negligible in the long run of the game plan?
I'm really excited to have found this post, I have nearly all of the cards for this deck already, minus one or two Liliana's (Last Hope, I think?) and I'm sure a few others. I found a card called Dusk Urchins that might be worth running as it can draw cards from Yawgmoth pretty well, I just don't know how to link it. I just made this account to post on this thread so please forgive my temporary ignorance!
Yes the graveyard removal from Kalitas is negligible for Liliana ult.
This deck is quite hard to play, it does require knowledge and practice to get the most out of potential interactions. There are some nuances for sure.
I'm not sure what your experience is, but I've been playing Magic for 25 years, so I just have a lot of knowledge when it comes to how things work.
Unfortunately I haven't written up how to sequence your game, that requires some time to create for a thread like this. I'll start working on that in the next day or two, so hopefully some strategy stuff will become a bit more clearer Plus I needed the game time and various card testing before being able to write up that sort of thing, which I now feel comfortable with.
If you don't already know MTGSalvation is becoming retired on July 9 next month. But a new website is planned, and I'll carry over all my primers, so don't worry about new information on the decks.
Dusk Urchins seems fine, probably would not run it personally, as you're normally using the -1/-1 counters to try and kill off opponents creatures. There are usually enough dorky mana creatures to pick off, before you look to doing your own creatures.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Here's my list and my thoughts on it, at the moment:
1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Planeswalker
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Karn Liberated
1 Sorin Markov
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Karn, the Great Creator
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Enchantment
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Nest of Scarabs
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Crumbling Ashes
1 Call to the Grave
1 Necromancy
1 Bitterblossom
1 Bridge from Below
1 Dreadhorde Invasion
Creature
1 Pitiless Plunderer
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Archfiend of Ifnir
1 Sifter of Skulls
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Burnished Hart
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Bloodghast
1 Necroskitter
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Horobi, Death's Wail
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Mindcrank
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Thought Vessel
1 Sol Ring
1 Mind Stone
1 Illusionist's Bracers
1 Caged Sun
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Mana Vault
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Lightning Greaves
Land
1 Field of Ruin
1 Buried Ruin
1 Maze of Ith
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vesuva
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cabal Stronghold
1 Emergence Zone
1 Karn's Bastion
22 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Barren Moor
1 Decree of Pain
1 Torment of Hailfire
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Dark Deal
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Exsanguinate
1 Final Parting
1 Command the Dreadhorde
1 Dead of Winter
Instant
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Dark Ritual
1 Liliana's Triumph
Anyway, that's about it for my testing with the deck so far. I know my build is quite different at the moment, though I aim for a similar path once I can acquire the appropriate cards
(Also known as Xenphire)
It is true that the card draw is completely reliant on Yawgmoth remaining in play AND you need an outlet.
But I am running more tutors than you, and often I will go for Reassembling Skeleton or Ophiomancer as my creature sacrifice engine.
So I've never really had a problem with card draw over the game.
Also I think that people don't know how good Yawgmoth is until you've already gotten value off him, which enablers you to accelerate more mana out to recast him once opponents remove him. So maybe in the future when he becomes a bit more of a marked target, I'll find that I'm left a little wanting for more card draw.
I noticed you don't play any of the big one spell token makers like Josu Vess, Lich Knight, From Under the Floorboards, Army of the Damned, and I absolutely swear by them.
I didn't have them in my first play testing, then just kept adding more of them because they prove to be such good top decks if you've been pegged back, and then they are also good if you're ahead as finishers.
Play Army of the Damned to give it a try at least.
I never thought about Illusionist's Bracers, but I can see that being like a two-barrel shotgun, blasting everything.
Phyrexian Scriptures does have a big reward being able to keep probably your Yawgmoth while destroying everything else. Not that it's matters that much, but it does exile graveyards, and I do win with Liliana Vess ultimate during grindy games often enough.
I have wanted to have more life gain in the deck, often I'll be on single digits during a lot of games, and Gary (Grey Merchant of Asphodel) is a pretty fine option. I've never run him in a deck before, but then again I've never played mono-black, so maybe it's time.
Interestingly I have actually removed Cabal Stronghold from the deck as I just never got that much more out of it, and found it more of a liability in fact not being a swamp. But it's good to hear that you got good use out of it.
I've decided to try Isolated Watchtower instead, purely experimental.
I have to say your colorless lands won't work for you once you get the mana doublers like Crypt Ghast, etc. Swamps are just so important for this plan.
Let us know how other games go
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Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
First of really enjoy your content, very well structure and it definitely seems like you put in a lot of time and effort into creating your articles.
I am in a small playgroup where we all really only have 1 or 2 decks and I am kind of tired of having a deck that wins the same way everytime, that's what got my attention to your build on Yawgmoth, with the capability of "winning" or getting a head and having some super fun turns with the different planeswalker ultimates.
I was wondering whether, as with you Zacama article you have a budget build for Yawgmoth (around the 160 $ mark) and if you don't already consider it, a 75% build?
Kind regards
I haven't thought about a budget build, and too be honest it's going to be hard as some of the "signature" cards, like the planeswalkers and graveyard recursion creatures are very expensive.
But the thing is that the planeswalker element isn't the true engine behind what actually get's you to a position of winning, it's Yawgmoth -1/-1 and draw.
SO if you still want to win via planeswalkers, then maybe just get Liliana, Dreadhorde General and Liliana Vess. These are are the best for actually finishing win conditions.
Then instead of the other planeswalkers you could play a variety of tutor effects so that you have more access to them;
Buried Alive, Final Parting, Dark Petition, Diabolic Tutor.
As far as the graveyard recursion creatures, Bloodghast is fine, but not worth the price tag for a budget build.
But Gravecrawler and Nether Traitor are really really good in the deck. Ophiomancer is definitely worth the money as well.
So this is my thoughts on what to cut and what to remove and add..
Unfortunately I can only get it down to around $285 for a build that I don't think is too compromised. This build is more focused on the creature killing and draw aspect, rather than the planeswalkers.
But to look at this further let's identify the cards that are still expensive;
Gravecrawler $17.76
Nether Traitor $17.49
Ophiomancer $10.63
Liliana, Dreadhorde General $20.9
Diabolic Intent $9.75
Entomb $7.84
Oblivion Stone $7.80
Caged Sun $8.99
Grave Pact $14.87
Dictate of Erebos $10.94
Cabal Coffers $43.89
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth $15.62
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed $19.01
Liliana of the Dark Realms $10.00
Sorin Markov $14.99
Now this is about $232 worth of cards. So you could look to pick some number of them to get your budget.
But obviously this is tough as they represent some of the core aspects of your deck.
Can you get away from the Cabal Coffers + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth package? Maybe. There isn't so much need for a massive proliferate turn with only two planeswalkers to ultimate. Sure the deck isn't going to be able to have nearly explosive turns without this..but $60 for two lands in a $160 build is asking a bit much. Without the Coffer you can cut Mirage Mirror as well, even though it's a great card standalone in multiplayer.
Obviously I swear by Gravecrawler and Nether Traitor as solid cards for the Yawgmoth engine, but the most important of them imo is the Reassembling Skeleton. So as long as devote a tutor effect to perhaps getting this, you might be able to get away with this. The problem is when somebody figures out how to remove it from the game, by exiling your graveyard, or exiling it while in play. So the other cards are just great backups.
The Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos really are key cards. They'll win you the game more often than not. You could look at Butcher of Malakir as a replacement for one of them, but the cost difference realistically is the difference between actually getting them online in time to do what you want or being too late.
Diabolic Intent and Entomb are further tutors, and I've already cut Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor. But you could cut these for some other random cards.
The Oblivion Stone and Nevinyrral's Disk are included due to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon not being in the deck due to price, but having been the catch-all for problematic enchantments (or other).
There are other cheaper options for mono-black; Meteor Golem, Spine of Ish Sah, Unstable Obelisk, Universal Solvent.
The cards I would like you to keep are Ophiomancer, Liliana, Dreadhorde General, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos. They really are powerful with Yawgmoth.
Random other cards you can play are; Archfiend of Ifnir, Deathgreeter, Sightless Ghoul, Bolas's Citadel, Pitiless Plunderer, Grim Haruspex, Weaponcraft Enthusiast.
All these are fine additions.
Hope this helps.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
I actually have a few of the cards you mentioned which are expensive, Urborg, Entomb, Marsh Flats, Vesuva and I can probably get some of the others through mates.
I don't necessarily want to win by planeswalkers, I just want to have a lot of different ways to win. Running down my opponent with a horde of Zombies seems like a blast aswell, or winning through a massive Gray Merchant of Asphodel also seems fun in a game, I just don't want it to be like that every game.
When it comes down to it all I just think I want to have one deck, where I can say to myself, this game i want to overwhelm my opponents with a giant horde of Zombie and the next I want to combo a one-shot in direct damage etc.. A hard task for a commander deck, but I have a Zur cycling deck, which is just the same everytime. One plan straight a head, get the combo pieces and go of.
This deck is the closest I've seen to fulfill this mission of mine, since it can do a lot of cool stuff and having a lot of fun games, without seeming like the same sunset every night.
My mate told me that it would be easier to have a lot of different decks so I could just swap when I wanted to go aggro e.g. or into my Zacam deck when I wanted to play combo, sadly I just don't have the resource to make several decks.
Again thank you so much for putting the time into your reply
It has infinite's, beatdown, and planeswalker ultimate's.
I messed you up a bit with my post, I left out Mikaeus, the Unhallowed $19.01, Liliana of the Dark Realms $10.00, Sorin Markov $14.99, as part of the expensive card list (I added them now). So just be aware that these are further cards to look to purchase as I think they are well worth it in the end.
I have to admit as far as spicy plays Sorin Markov taking control of players turns has been one of the more satisfying in game plays, as you get to do all sorts of different things. In the future look to add him to keep your game play fresh.
As additional different win conditions you could look at big spell slingers cards like Torment of Hailfire and Exsanguinate, which Kalzam is running (posted list in thread above). Realistically you'll need the Cabal Coffers for this, so again just something to budget for in the future.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Don't worry about getting Bloodghast, it's the most expensive option, as you'll want fetch-lands to make it more effective, which again are expensive, and honestly it's not the better ones of the graveyard recursion. I have found Nether Traitor to be pretty great however.
The pact effects are game winning cards, so try and save up for at least one of them.
Would love to see your list, post it when you get time.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
(Also known as Xenphire)
However something that's been of interest to me is Awaken the Erstwhile. What happened is that an opponent actually played it, and was like like immediately back into the game as I could just sac to draw cards again. I actually think this is the real deal, like one card can just destroy opponents sitting on cards.
I think that Words of Waste is quite a bit slower, because you'd need to be sacrificing realistically 5 creatures to get most cards out of hands, and you actually lose out on that draw which is a tough call to make.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Planeswalker
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Enchantment
1 Animate Dead
1 Blowfly Infestation
1 Crumbling Ashes
1 Dreadhorde Invasion
1 Font of Agonies
1 Glistening Oil
1 Nest of Scarabs
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Rite of Belzenlok
1 Whip of Erebos
Creature
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Deathgreeter
1 Blood Artist
1 Butcher Ghoul
1 Plague Myr
1 Priest of Forgotten Gods
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dross Harvester
1 Geralf’s Messenger
1 Ichor Rats
1 Midnight Reaper
1 Weaponcraft Enthusiast
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Flesh-Eater Imp
1 Pitiless Plunderer
1 Sengir Autocrat
1 Smothering Abomination
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Vindictive Vampire
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Ogre Slumlord
1 Phyrexia Delver
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Astral Cornucopia
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Expedition Map
1 Sol Ring
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Genesis Chamber
1 Illusionist's Bracers
1 Ashnod’s Altar
1 Worn Powerstone
Sorcery
1 Bubbling Muck
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
1 Night’s Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Mutilate
1 Dark Petition
1 Yawgmoth’s Vile Offering
Instant
1 Tainted Strike
1 Dark Ritual
1 Mausoleum Secrets
1 Tendrils of Corruption
Land
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cabal Stronghold
1 Mortuary Mire
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Rogue’s Passage
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Thespian’s Stage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
27 Swamp
I know I am running some underpowered cards, but things like Chainer, Rite of Belzenlok, and Tendrils are pet cards that do serve some function to the deck. I'm def open to suggestions and upgrades. I do have the Pact effects available, I can swap them from other decks, but for my meta, I don't need them much for now.
Had some fun games last night, I did have a play were I discarded big Ugin to proliferate some poison counters, then brought him back with Yawgmoth's Vile Offering while destroying an Arcades, the Strategist and then wiping out some low cost enchantments with Ugin's middle ability. The best play came when a Mizzix deck Twincast a kicked Rite of Replication on my Ichor Rats to draw the game. Sadly, the Rite got countered and we died to a wave of tokens from a Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis deck the following turn. This was fine since we were all in a close arms race; the Arcades deck before me had an infinite mana and draw combo if he untapped, and I would have proliferated the remaining poison counters on my turn.
You also have a lot more guaranteed fuel for Yawgmoth, with things like Weaponcraft Enthusiast, Sengir Autocrat. I have no middle ground cards, there either graveyard recursion or big massive spells.
I'm definitely keen to hear how some cards do for you; Ogre Slumlord, Dross Harvester, Mausoleum Secrets.
I do think that you'l find Font of Agonies, Blowfly Infestation, Crumbling Ashes are too slow and not even necessary in the deck.
I cannot express how much you want your mana sources to be black mana (not colorless), so Everflowing Chalice will be less than average. Even Astral Cornucopia I found to be pretty bad, as you're not using the proliferate until game winning time.
So on that note a Coalition Relic or Chromatic Lantern will serve you better in the long run.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Thanks for the reply! As of now, I haven't drawn Ogre Slumlord, but it is in mainly to help fuel Undying synergy. The Harvester did some work the couple games I played it. It's a net gain of one life per Yawgmoth activation and it gained me a ton of life when an opp finally played a board wipe that he had waffled on bc he knew I'd gain enough life to stay the threat. And Mausoleum Secrets has been fun, instant searching has helped so I can untap with an answer or find one in response. I also used it to EoT get Ichor Rats to begin the poison countdown. I don't run the typical tutors bc my meta has agreed to slower/fewer tutors for better games. I will be getting a Final Parting, though, for the recursion I have.
I haven't drawn Crumbling Ashes or Bloatfly Infestation yet, but I do want to try them at least once since I've seen them do good work in my friend's Hapatra deck. If I don't like them, I will def replace them with the pact effects. Font I do like bc I has helped win a game where I needed to sac creatures to something besides Yawgmoth and used the Font to clear away the opposing creatures instead.
I do want to use the Proliferate ability more often, so I think I'm going to combine the Infect and Planeswalker lines with Yawgmoth's removal/draw ability as a board control. I will look into getting a Liliana Vess and save for a Dreadhorde General lol. I am also planning on getting a Nirkana Revenant and Caged Sun soon too for the mana doubling. And I do like the Josu Vess and From Under the Floorboards in your list and will def include those since I'm going bigger with my mana.
Also, regarding Awaken the Erstwhile, I do think that can work as we can use Yawgmoth to recover faster than our opps. There's a Malfegor discard deck a friend just built and Awaken always benefits him even with everyone getting tokens. We won't care if they get tokens bc we'll turn ours into new cards while they are top decking. I'll try play testing it in my next game nights and see if it pays off like this.
In a similar manner Liliana of the Veil ultimate only targeting one playing makes it hard to justify.
They are close, but just needed to be a little less narrow on their ultimates for me personally.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
I just picked Yawg up yesterday and put together an ad hoc list. Definitely closer to Kelzam’s in terms of build, purely because I don’t currently own a lot of mono black walkers. This is sort of the perfect deck for the latest Lili though, so I may introduce that element - for now though it’s very much a list centered around Yawg’s draw power. I’ll get a few play tests in and then probably bring my list online for critique.
Just a thought, not sure if it’s something we could go all in on, but there’s at least a couple of stax elements that do counters - Smokestack and Tangle Wire in particular. Has anyone tossed up running this sort of stuff?
I think you could definitely make a more competitive version with Smokestack and Tangle Wire, with Null Rod as well.
Also it must be noted that you don't really have any ETB effects, everything is dies triggers, so a Torpor Orb can easily be played.
I think the only two cards are Geralf's Messenger and Josu Vess, Lich Knight, so replacing Josu with Torpor Orb can be done in more competitive metas.
As far as Sphere effects like Trinisphere and Sphere of Resistance, you'd be fine I think. You get to spend a lot of your mana on graveyard recursion creatures, which is not effected by these types of cards, so I think they could be options if you headed that way.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith