Phylactery lich: a Rule 0 commander deck
Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 9, 2023, 10:38 a.m. by SilencedDax
Hiiiiiii!!
I bring you the title's idea 'cause I talked with my playgroup to see if they would be fine with Phylactery Lich as a commander.
The advice I ask for is: What would you think it would be a great topic for this deck?
I have some ideas that I would like to shere with you:
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A lot of Black pips theme , try to find a cohesive deck between cards with a lot of them, at least and more, like Phyrexian Obliterator, Necropotence and so on... and then Gray Merchant of Asphodel
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Creature cards that have a special bond with an artifact, enchantment, creature or whatever to keep the Phylactery theme. This seems the most difficult to find!!!
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Cards that destroy everything except the Phylactery Lich and it's totem, to remark the flavour that it is no easy to kill.
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Some zombie synergies with our commander would be great, with out be a zombie deck, like Lord of the Undead or Call to the Grave.
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permanents that start as artifacts and then flip, thanks to ruusuv, like Treasure Map Flip, Mirror of the Forebears, or Mirage Mirror
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I dont want a Lich theme deck aroud the 3 Lich enchantments, even though it'd be really flavorfull, it's not the kind of game I enjoy the most. But some lich cards 'd be great like Lich's Mirror, Lich's Tomb and some lich creatures. And some card that do what liches does, like Drain Life, or Consume Spirit.
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I try to avoid Exsanguinate and Torment of Hailfire 'cause I seen them many times, as well as any open enden black tutor.
What do you think? any other idea or card?
I'll do a public deck with this ideas and the ideas you give me so it could be a deck made by everyone!
Thank you!
All the ideas that we have share until now:
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/phylactery-lich-on-command/?cb=1676304818
SilencedDax says... #3
Hi DreadKhan!
Than you for the ideas! I really like the ones you mentioned, seems great Vorthos targets for the Lich, a so much valuable object like the Crown it's perfect target haha Following the "empire" cycle you mentioned: Hand of Vecna, Eye of Vecna and The Book of Vile Darkness seem great and flavour objectives.
I like all the indestructible artifacts: Stuffy Doll, Creepy Doll, Darksteel Axe, Darksteel Citadel, Darksteel Forge, Darksteel Ingot, Darksteel Juggernaut, Darksteel Pendant, Darksteel Plate, Colossus of Akros, Darksteel Colossus, Darksteel Myr, Darksteel Relic, Kaldra Compleat, Shield of Kaldra, Necron Monolith, That Which Was Taken. I do not note the worse indestructible cards
The arficat lands as you say it would be great, at least I can be use the mono-black artifact lands (maybe there's only one).
If it was dimir or golgari I could use more liches but I can't, it's a pitty
Thank you for the ideas!
February 9, 2023 12:41 p.m.
A neat synergy I've seen a couple times is The Ozolith. You can move the phylactery counter onto the Lich itself, making it way harder to remove as artifact destruction no longer does the job. Each time the Lich dies as well, you can move the Phylactery counter to another creature, making your opponents have to kill more things every time you cast the Lich.
February 9, 2023 4:57 p.m.
The transforming doublefaced artifacts could work. Put a Phylactery counter on something like Treasure Map Flip or Thaumatic Compass Flip and transform them into more difficult to remove lands.
February 12, 2023 8:17 a.m.
Hope I'm not getting to carried away with this brainstorming, but here's what I thought up.
You could also use Nesting Grounds if you like the idea of putting your Phylactery Counter somewhere safer, but an Indestructible artifact is already pretty durable, and there are many of those kicking around.
If you end up using Proliferate for counters, you could look at Subterranean Hangar, it's a good 'land', but you almost want to run extra lands with it, it plays like a ramp source rather than a true land. Bottomless Vault also exists, but this is a much harder to use card that isn't as budget friendly. Both are good with Proliferate effects or big splashy effects, I gather you don't like Hailfire or Exsanguinate, but what about weirder stuff like one of the many big mana Wipe Plus cards that Black gets, stuff like Decree of Pain or Necromantic Selection, I think you can find others like Phyrexian Scriptures or even Damnation because it'll miss your Commander.
I feel Pestilence might be amazing, it's much better if you can give it Lifelink or Deathtouch, usually via a Counter that Nesting Grounds moved (Boot Nipper, Scavenged Brawler, Unbreakable Bond, Unexpected Fangs, Call of the Death-Dweller, Evolved Sleeper, or Void Beckoner, some of those seem solid actually), but even without either it's a great effect to clear out weenies, and your Commander keeps it around pretty consistently. Also very good with Pestilence is Exquisite Blood (paying B to gain 2 life and make 3 opponents each lose 1 sounds very playable), which combos with Sanguine Bond if you want a combo that has independently useful pieces. Blood and Pestilence and your Commander would be nuts with Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and I love how all of that is just stuff that you want to be doing anyway. Hangar and Vault are also useful with Pestilence.
I suspect you might want to look at some free sacrifice outlets to use incase your Commander is going to be stolen or hit by an Out of Time type effect in the event that you build around them more. Black has great outlets in addition to access to Altars. There is also Command Beacon to get Phylacter Lich back if people steal it.
February 12, 2023 10:12 a.m.
SilencedDax says... #7
Delphen7 I looooooooove that interaction, move the Phylactery lich it is pretty clever!! we can include too the Nesting Grounds to move it around if needed and we can make the bearer pf the lich's counter indestructible with That Which Was Taken
love it!
February 13, 2023 7:43 a.m.
SilencedDax says... #8
ruusuv that's pretty clever too!! I will include those too. I love when somebody have an idea that I wasn't even close to think about, thaaaanks!
February 13, 2023 7:45 a.m.
SilencedDax says... #9
DreadKhan love your ideas!
The Nesting Grounds it's amazing to keep it safe!
I never thought about proliferate, that could be great with moving the phylactery counters around, althoug I think you'll have to commmit the deck to it to get a great benefit, maybe with some kind of +1+1 voltron strategy or something similar. I 'll think more about it.
Decree of Pain, Necromantic Selection, those kind of wanky junky black cards it's what i really like, like Last Laugh and Withering Wisps. About Phyrexian Scriptures, Damnation and other boardwipes are great!
I've never thought of Pestilence+deathtouch/lifelink counter! It sounds amazing!! To clear the board it is great to, and your lich the only thing alive, I'll look for similar cards. I knew the Blood combo you said, It's great and works amazing with the cards you said! In my playgroup we try to avoid it any combo so I cannot put it in, but I love it. Great synergy too with those amazing lands!
Great those ideas to prevent the lich to be stolen!
In my playgroup we have too some budget restrictions to try to balance deck, I'll try to fit the expensive lands in it!
I have though that we can include some zombie interaction like Call to the Grave that seems amazing and full of flavour 'cause liches are trying to escape dead.
And some artifact mutation like Biotransference or Liquimetal Torque and the other one that do the same on some great indestructible creatures.
Another ideas: Assault Suit to avoid sacrifice the lich, and Conjurer's Closet to put more phylactery counters, and other blink cards
February 13, 2023 8:19 a.m.
SilencedDax says... #10
More ideas!
Zombie Trailblazer to be unblockable
Soul Separator it's an artifact and when the lich dies we could create 2 more and 2 more phylactery counters
Wand of Orcus if we take the zombie route
Unholy Grotto, Relentless Dead, Rot Hulk, Nim Deathmantle to return ti to the battle
DreadKhan says... #2
I had a lot of fun using Phylactery Lich in my Artifacts deck, there are some pretty good black Artifact synergies like Syndicate Trafficker and Cranial Plating (especially worn by Vault Skirge or another Lifelinker) that worked fine in casual play. I also used Throne of Empires, Crown of Empires, and Scepter of Empires, which felt like a fun thing to be doing on the side that involved artifacts. They are small for a Commander effect requiring 3 cards, but you can use untap effects to an extent. You can also throw in tutors, there are even Transmute cards for those MVs in Black. I felt like the deck had a nice Vorthos thing going on, the Lich was hiring the Trafficker to find the Empires pieces so it could take over the world kinda thing. I liked to use artifact lands to make my Phylactery, but it was a huge non-bo that Darksteel Citadel didn't make Black, and in mono-Black you lose access to the Indestructible duals, a bit unfortunate your Lich isn't in Grixis or something.
February 9, 2023 11:46 a.m.