Dominaria United spoiler season is here and things are definitely ramping up. I have heard the story behind the set and I will tell you things are very perilous in Dominaria. Things will not be the same after the set. But we are not here to talk about stories and lore but instead begin to work with the cards Wizards of the Coast will release in a few short weeks. Here is a first look at one of the most anticipated cards of the set.
Wizards will add another praetor to the ones we already have this time in Sheoldred, The Apocalypse. This card feels far better than the last Sheoldred spoiler (which turned out to be a fake card) as both abilities are mirror abilities of each other. One is helping you and one is hindering your opponents in a similar way. This time it is life manipulation through card draw. It is far less powerful than the creature manipulation from the New Phyrexia version of the character but this time we are paying four mana to get the ability You can see the card below.
Building Sheoldred: First Look
Sheoldred will probably be better in the 99 of a deck as she is a mono-black legendary and it can slide into many decks and be a payoff for card draw. However this is not what we are looking to do with Sheoldred. Instead we are looking to build with it. This makes the deck very restrictive as fewer cards can fit into a monoblack deck. That said, Sheoldred is a commander that can be built around one of several different archetypes Aristocrats, life gain and direct damage are a few. It also can be built around drawing cards, the lifeblood of EDH.
What we really want is card draw symmetry. We want everyone to draw cards. The card draw package Sheoldred asks for will grant everybody cards to maximize its efficiency. We want to punish our opponents for drawing cards so we want them to draw cards even when they don’t want to.
There is a downfall to this strategy as our opponents will be gaining significant resources that can help them win games. People play cards like Night’s Whisper and Sylvan Library all the time. They are willing to pay life to draw cards. Our opponents will happily take extra cards for two life a card. We need to limit those resources as much as we can and prevent our opponent from winning. Knowing we will be giving these resources we need to prepare to be the watchdog at the table. This can be more difficult to pull off as again our card pool is limited.
Two Schools of Thought
There are two ways to attack symmetrical card draw. First is to give them a couple extra cards and find other ways to cause life loss and win through the combination of the two. Direct damage spells like Torment of Hailfire or mechanics like extort or even an aristocrats subtheme can help a deck accomplish this end. Fate Unraveler and Underworld Dreams also inflict damage for drawing cards. In this school of thought, you want to create damage so quickly it puts our opponents on the ropes before they can properly use the resources they draw. Here Sheoldred is not exploring new ground as a commander as much as enhancing it.
The other way is to give as much card draw to our opponents as possible to create significant chunks of life loss and then manage the battlefield as much as possible. If we go this route, being in mono-black can cause some problems as our ways to deal with enchantments, instants and sorceries are quite limited. Keep in mind you are drawing the resources too. You are spending your additional resources to limit or negate the resources of your opponents for a zero sum gain. If there is a zero sum gain in card draw then the advantage comes in the form of the life loss through noncombat.
Which to Choose
Ideally, having a deck with lots of removal is the route to go. This sort of deck will want more mass removal cards than single target removal. As we do not want to one for one our opponents, but instead remove several threats per card to help keep things even while we passively drain their life. We will also need significant protection for our commander because Sheoldred needs to stay on the battlefield even when we wipe it. Finally, if we are causing damage in chunks opponents will want to remove it as well to stop the bleeding. Luckily Sheoldred is just four mana and even if she is removed she will still be recastable a time or two further in the game.
Carding your opponents
Wheel Effects are exceptional as they will draw cards but limit resources at the same time. Mass discard effects coupled with draw effects are ironically quite limited in black. Dark Deal is the only card that does this but Awaken the Erstwhile will discard all hands if things get out of control. But this affects you too and the card is a sorcery so it limits the shenanigans you can pull with the card like putting it on a stack where you are only drawing cards after the hand discard. Instead you will need a Greed effect or Phyrexian Arena in order to break symmetry of the discard effect.
Cards that will cause everybody to draw cards are Howling Mine, Otherworld Atlas, Temple Bell, Font of Mythos, Master of the Feast and Howling Golem. While it is not a group draw, Peer into the Abyss is unique in that it will take out an opponent for seven mana. With Sheolddred on the field he will cause enough damage to kill most players when they draw half their deck. Damnable Pact and Eldritch Pact can do the same but will cost more mana. Speaking of Drawing decks.
Draw your Entire Deck
With great risk comes great reward. This can happen when you draw your entire deck, Sheoldred is not in blue so there is no Thoracle win here. But with drawing your entire deck, oh the resources you will gain. If you can draw your deck, then you have a pathway to victory You just need to build your deck for it. I am here to tell you with Sheoldred there is a jank rare that will let you draw your deck. As of this writing it’s only 35 cents. It’s Lich’s Mastery. With this card every time you gain life you draw a card. With Sheoldred you gain life when you draw a card creating a never ending loop to draw your deck.
Normally you would deck yourself because you can not break the chain. Lich’s Mastery states “you can’t lose the game.” In fact you will only lose the game if Lich’s Mastery is removed from the battlefield and the card has hexproof! This means the card is only vulnerable to mass enchantment removal which is limited in Magic. When damage is dealt to you, you will have to discard cards and sacrifice permanents so the game is not over as an eventual win but with drawing your deck you should have a way to win the game in hand.
Building Around Lich’s Mastery
This version of the deck should contain all the black mana doublers and rituals you can include A deck like this can tutor at two or three mana for Lich’s Mastery Play Sheoldred on four and Lich’s Mastery at five mana. At that point in the game it doesn’t matter if you take some damage from players targeting you. You have enough cards in hand to discard to make it around the table. Then draw a card and your deck and generate a lot of mana and play the appropriate win condition in your deck. If the board seems a little perilous then wait a couple of turns until you can play the Mastery and draw a card.
Summing it up
Sheoldred has a powerful but vanilla effect that can make an effective commander. Being in mono black will allow for an inexpensive mana base and can encourage a good stuff, life gain, direct damage or control the board theme for a deck. It also can house a powerful combo that can draw your entire deck that can enable you to win the game. Below is a sample deck list that was thrown together to give an idea of what Sheoldred, The Apocalypse deck can look like It is by no means a finished or fine tuned deck although it will give you a starting point as to how to construct your own brew. you can see the deck broken down by packages here
First Look Deck
Goal: Control the board and win through commander card draw damage
Commander
- Sheoldred, The Apocalypse
Creatures
- Crypt Ghast
- Fleshbag Maurader
- K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
- Merciless Executioner
- Mikaeus the Unhallowed
- Nirkana Revenant
- Plaguecrafter
- Pontiff of Blight
- Rankle, Master of Pranks
- Ravenous Chupacabra
- Seizan, Perverter of Truth
- Sheoldred, Whispering One
- Vilis, Broker of Blood
Fleshbag Maurader
K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
Merciless Executioner
Mikaeus the Unhallowed
Nirkana Revenant
Plaugecrafter
Pontiff of Blight
Rankle, Master of Pranks
Ravenous Chupacabra
Seizan, Perverter of Truth
Sheoldred Whispering One
Vilis, Broker of Blood
Artifacts
- Aetherflux Reservoir
- Arcane Signet
- Bolas’ Citadel
- Bontu’s Monument
- Charcoal Diamond
- Contagion Clasp
- Expedition Map
- Font of Mythos
- Jet Medallion
- Lightning Greaves
- Mask of Avacyn
- Memory Jar
- Nevinyrral’s Disk
- Otherworld Atlas
- Perilous Vault
- Sol Ring
- Swiftfoot Boots
- Teferi’s Puzzle Box
- Temple Bell
- Whispersilk Cloak
Perilous Vault
Bolas’ Citadel
Bontu’s Monument
Charcoal DIamond
Contagion Clasp
Expedition Map
Font of Mythos
Jet Medallion
Lightning Greaves
Mask of Avacyn
Memory Jar
Neinyrral’s Disk
Otherworld Atlas
Perilous Vault
Sol Ring
Swiftfoot Boots
Teferi’s Puzzle Box
Temple Bell
Whispersilk CLoak
Planeswalkers
- Liliana of the Dark Realms
- Liliana, Dreadhorde General
- Sorin Markov
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Sorin Markov
Enchantments
- Black Market
- Black Market Connections
- Dictate of Erebos
- Grave Pact
- Greed
- Kaya’s Ghostform
- Phyrexian Reclaimation
- The Meathook Massacre
Black Market COnnections
Dictate of Erebos
Grave Pact
Greed
Kaya’s Ghostform
Phyrexian Reclaimation
The Meathook Massacre
Sorceries
- Crux of Fate
- Damnation
- Demonic Tutor
- Feed the Swarm
- Grim Tutor
- Night’s Whisper
- Peer Into the Abyss
- Read the Bones
- Sign in Blood
- Torment of Hailfire
- Toxic Deluge
- Victimize
Damnation
Demonic Tutor
Feed the Swarm
Grim Tutor
Night’s Whisper
Peer Into the Abyss
Read the Bones
Sign in BLood
Torment of Hailfire
Toxic Deluge
Victimize
Instants
- Dark Dabbling
- Deadly Dispute
- Go For the Throat
- Infernal Grasp
- Snuff Out
- Soul SHatter
- Vampiric Tutor
- Wail of the Nim
Deadly Dispute
Go For the Throat
Infernal Grasp
Snuff Out
Soul Shatter
Vampiric Tutor
Wail of the Nim
Lands
- Cabal Coffers
- Cabal Stronghold
- Geier Reach Sanitarium
- Karn’s Bastion
- Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
- Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- 25 Swamp
- Thespian Stage
- War Room
- Westvale Abbey
