Commander Deck Tech: Lier, Disciple of the Drowned
So far Innistrad Midnight Hunt (MID) is turning out to be a pretty exceptional set. I've been anxious to play the Tolovar, Dire Overlord Commander deck from 2 weeks back, but have not had the time. I did manage to get about 5 or 6 Innistrad Midnight Hunt drafts online and it was very fun! However, I know there are some more great cards in MID that could be used in the Commander format. Another Legendary Creature that caught my eye in the set is Lier, Disciple of the Drowned.
It seems pricey at 5 converted mana cost for a 3/4, but its abilities are pretty unique. First we have his ability to make all Spells uncounterable. Second, we have the ability that gives Flashback to all your Instants and Sorceries in your Graveyard. At first I wanted to make a pure Mill deck and give all the mill cards double the effect with Flashback. Say you cast a spell like Mind Sculpt, you would Mill an opponent for seven cards, and be able to flash it back to do it again immediately. Essentially you'd be double your potential with Mill cards that you Flashback in the Graveyard. However, after looking at more cards while building the deck, I decided to incorporate some mill cards within the deck, but not fully commit to Mill. This will add versatility by having multiple ways to win instead of just one. Remember, after your Commander is on the board all your Spells cannot be countered. We can also get added value by flashing back cards like Brainstorm, Opt, and even a few tutors.
While looking through cards I noticed one really strong interaction with Lier would be the inclusion of Storm combos. Storm combos can get more powerful when nothing can be countered. The deck probably has somewhere in the realm of twenty or more combos. Now, all of these combos are not instant win combos, but may also be just infinite mana combos. For instance, Dramatic Reversal imprinted on Isochron Scepter is an easy way to get infinite mana / infinite spells on the stack for Storm. If you have these two cards set up, and also have something like a Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Sol Ring + Mana Crypt, or any artifact that will produce more than two mana, you can use two of the mana to activate the Isochron Scepter, which would then cast the Dramatic Reversal. Say you used a Mana Vault to pay for this, you would have 1 colorless mana floating. The Dramatic Reversal would add one copy to the storm stack, and also untap your Mana Vault and your Isochron Scepter. You now have infinite colorless mana, and infinite amount of spells cast towards your Storm count. Play Brain Freeze or Mind's Desire and end the game. If you had Drowned Secrets in play you could also just Mill out any player any amount of times. I like how Drowned Secrets fits the theme and name of our Commander here.
Here is a list of some of our uncounterable combos:
Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake
Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron
Archaeomancer + Ghostly Flicker + Peregrine Drake
Archaeomancer + High Tide + Snap
Agent of Treachery + Deadeye Navigator + Peregrine Drake
Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Sensei's Divining Top
Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Mind's Desire
Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Brain Freeze
Dramatic Reversal + Twinning Staff
Aetherflux Reservoir + Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Codex Shredder + Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Isochron Scepter + Narset's Reversal + Time Warp / Temporal Mastery
There are several other combos within the deck, and maybe some I'm not even aware of. This deck will need heavy playtesting to know what to play and when. Tutoring and determining which cards to hold or Scry can also be fairly daunting. You can also change the deck out as you see fit to include other cards. There are a lot of other cards which also combo and have interactions with the deck. All in all I think the only major downfall of this deck is its ability to fizzle out. Maybe you get something going and have infinite mana, but just don't draw the next piece to the combo. Maybe we should cut out the counterspells all together and add four or five more combo pieces?
Overall I think this deck will be a fun one to pilot and learn. There are so many combos you won't know which one you'll run into until it's in your hand. With that being said, you are bound to make plenty of mistakes playing this deck. I would not consider this deck to be a casual deck at all. This is a very competitive deck with many complicated interactions. I would definitely consult your playgroup before playing this deck so as to not disturb the play group's mood. I'm anxious to see what other combos we can add to the deck, and how many weird ways we can win. This new Human Wizard from Innistrad Midnight Hunt is bound to make some moves!
Until Next Time!
