Hello everyone and thank you for clicking on the link, whether it be out of boredom or with brilliant insight, it is much appreciated.
This is my first commander deck and my goal is to make the most out of Chainer, Dementia Master, after reading through some of the other competitive forums and looking at the list of mono black commanders that have actually broke through, this seems like quite the daunting challenge.
However Chainer has the built in ability to reuse creatures with enter the battlefield abilities to hopefully gain enough card advantage to best your opponents, this reusable engine seems like it could have an enormous amount of potential behind it. The challenge is finding the correct assortment of cards to get the maximum amount of value out of Chainer as well as the deck, so without further ado the deck and then a few random thoughts on why I put a few of the things in there.
First, one of the things that many may be scratching their heads about is the Salvaging Station engine that was added to the deck, the one costed artifacts give the deck a few extra tools that can be back breaking when reused. From repeated removal in the form of Executioner's Capsule to finding a utility land from Expedition Map it seemed like it could help gain enough of an advantage over the course of the game.
Second, all of the utility lands themselves. Since this is a mono colored deck I felt like adding these would help with the ability to be reused. Being able to tap a Maze of Ith each turn isn't completely removing the problem from the game, but it is buying me time to find an answer for said problem.
Problems that I have seen so far:
Going against other mono black decks or decks that utilize a lot of black creatures.
A good chunk of our targeted removal has that nasty clause of saying "nonblack creature", this has been somewhat troublesome when attempting to take out the biggest problem on the other side of the field when it seems to have protection from our removal.
Card draw:
In the commander deck Griselbrand, he has all the card drawn needed strapped to his body, once cast you can pay the copious amounts of life that you have and reap the rewards. Chainer doesn't have that luxury, so this is where trying to find the right amount of card drawing spells comes into play. I understand the importance of finding the right answer but in black there are plenty of spells that can find said answer, at the cost of more life than we may have to spare.
As stated earlier this is the first draft of the deck and I plan on tuning Chainer till it seems he can not get any better, when time permits I will be testing this deck at my local card shop because they recently announced they would be holding French tournaments. So when I have the information I will report back on any other flaws that have come up with the deck, if anyone has any ideas of ways to make this more efficient or streamlined please let me know. Deck building is not a strength of mine and any help to achieving this goal is most appreciative, so with that in mind thank you everyone who has clicked on this link.
Lol no worries good sir, after taking a quick look and figuring out what Zedruu the Greathearted actually does, there might be some better alternatives if you're willing to make a few changes to your deck.
As others have said Zedruu will be drawing a lot of cards and that could make it difficult to optimally use, plus giving it to someone else will then set the pace of attacking. If you add some more flyers to your repertoire you could add something like Moat or Teferi's Moat to your deck, making it so you can still swing into the red with them out. But I'm still trying to learn the best way to build decks so still spitballing, hope it helps.
I feel like Ensnaring Bridge is a great defensive card as long as you build around it to make the most of the slot, such as having a bunch of utility creatures that can swing in under the bridge.
Another thing would be having spells or some other form of damage/life loss to whittle the opponents down. I'm not sure what your deck is playing but an idea that I've seen was someone hiding behind the bridge while looping Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Food for thought.
Hello MTGSalvation,
I am glad to finally join the forums and add my two cents on things, though sadly this is coming from someone who isn't the best at deck building so take it with a grain of salt.
Over the years I have gone back and forth from casual games to the competitive aspect and sadly it hasn't held the same enjoyment, whether it is the time of running around or the fact that life has it's own things to be taken care of I'm not sure. However my friend has recently introduced me to Commander and it seems to be a truly intriguing format that I would love to learn more of to make the most of the game.
The games that I have seen/participated in have been truly enjoyable and it also seems like there is a near infinite amount of possibilities in the way that you can go about building each deck so it seems like it will be quite the challenge to say the least.
So as stated before I'm glad to help others with anything that I've learned over the years and would be more than happy to learn anything that people are willing to share.
(P.S) I'm also terrible at trying to introduce myself to things like this so if this seems a bit random I've had the hardest time trying to figure out what to say.
This is my first commander deck and my goal is to make the most out of Chainer, Dementia Master, after reading through some of the other competitive forums and looking at the list of mono black commanders that have actually broke through, this seems like quite the daunting challenge.
However Chainer has the built in ability to reuse creatures with enter the battlefield abilities to hopefully gain enough card advantage to best your opponents, this reusable engine seems like it could have an enormous amount of potential behind it. The challenge is finding the correct assortment of cards to get the maximum amount of value out of Chainer as well as the deck, so without further ado the deck and then a few random thoughts on why I put a few of the things in there.
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Vesuva
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Maze of Ith
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Darksteel Citadel
15 Swamp
1 Brain Maggot
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Rotting Rats
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Myr Retriever
1 Dark Confidant
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Bone Shredder
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Lifebane Zombie
1 Garza's Assassin
1 Metalworker
1 Mindslicer
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Slum Reaper
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Shriekmaw
1 Shadowborn Demon
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lotus Bloom
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Expedition Map
1 Necrogen Spellbomb
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Pithing Needle
1 Skullclamp
1 Meekstone
1 Dark Ritual
1 Reanimate
1 Entomb
1 Mind Stone
1 Animate Dead
1 Sign in Blood
1 Night's Whisper
1 Scroll Rack
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Smallpox
1 Malicious Affliction
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Cruel Bargain
1 Infernal Contract
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Pox
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Damnation
1 Nether Void
1 The Abyss
1 Smokestack
1 Null Brooch
First, one of the things that many may be scratching their heads about is the Salvaging Station engine that was added to the deck, the one costed artifacts give the deck a few extra tools that can be back breaking when reused. From repeated removal in the form of Executioner's Capsule to finding a utility land from Expedition Map it seemed like it could help gain enough of an advantage over the course of the game.
Second, all of the utility lands themselves. Since this is a mono colored deck I felt like adding these would help with the ability to be reused. Being able to tap a Maze of Ith each turn isn't completely removing the problem from the game, but it is buying me time to find an answer for said problem.
Problems that I have seen so far:
Going against other mono black decks or decks that utilize a lot of black creatures.
A good chunk of our targeted removal has that nasty clause of saying "nonblack creature", this has been somewhat troublesome when attempting to take out the biggest problem on the other side of the field when it seems to have protection from our removal.
Card draw:
In the commander deck Griselbrand, he has all the card drawn needed strapped to his body, once cast you can pay the copious amounts of life that you have and reap the rewards. Chainer doesn't have that luxury, so this is where trying to find the right amount of card drawing spells comes into play. I understand the importance of finding the right answer but in black there are plenty of spells that can find said answer, at the cost of more life than we may have to spare.
As stated earlier this is the first draft of the deck and I plan on tuning Chainer till it seems he can not get any better, when time permits I will be testing this deck at my local card shop because they recently announced they would be holding French tournaments. So when I have the information I will report back on any other flaws that have come up with the deck, if anyone has any ideas of ways to make this more efficient or streamlined please let me know. Deck building is not a strength of mine and any help to achieving this goal is most appreciative, so with that in mind thank you everyone who has clicked on this link.
As others have said Zedruu will be drawing a lot of cards and that could make it difficult to optimally use, plus giving it to someone else will then set the pace of attacking. If you add some more flyers to your repertoire you could add something like Moat or Teferi's Moat to your deck, making it so you can still swing into the red with them out. But I'm still trying to learn the best way to build decks so still spitballing, hope it helps.
Another thing would be having spells or some other form of damage/life loss to whittle the opponents down. I'm not sure what your deck is playing but an idea that I've seen was someone hiding behind the bridge while looping Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Food for thought.
I am glad to finally join the forums and add my two cents on things, though sadly this is coming from someone who isn't the best at deck building so take it with a grain of salt.
Over the years I have gone back and forth from casual games to the competitive aspect and sadly it hasn't held the same enjoyment, whether it is the time of running around or the fact that life has it's own things to be taken care of I'm not sure. However my friend has recently introduced me to Commander and it seems to be a truly intriguing format that I would love to learn more of to make the most of the game.
The games that I have seen/participated in have been truly enjoyable and it also seems like there is a near infinite amount of possibilities in the way that you can go about building each deck so it seems like it will be quite the challenge to say the least.
So as stated before I'm glad to help others with anything that I've learned over the years and would be more than happy to learn anything that people are willing to share.
(P.S) I'm also terrible at trying to introduce myself to things like this so if this seems a bit random I've had the hardest time trying to figure out what to say.