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Witch-king, Bringer of Ruin

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Witch-king, Bringer of Ruin

At a glance

  • Commander: Witch-king, Bringer of Ruin
  • Colors: Mono-Black
  • Archetype: Mono-black edict-lock control
  • Power tier: mid-high

Cards

Commander

Witch-king, Bringer of Ruin — , Legendary Creature — Wraith Noble, 5/4

Flying Whenever Witch-king attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature with the least power among creatures they control.

The printed text matches the scout’s paraphrase: a 5/4 flier that, every time he swings, forces the defending player to sacrifice their lowest-power creature. This is an untargeted, repeatable edict — it ignores hexproof, shroud, ward, and protection, and it chews through go-wide boards one chump at a time. commander_oracle_ok = true.

Two important nuances the build leans on:

  • The sacrifice hits the least-power creature, so opponents lose their mana dorks / tokens first and keep their bombs — that’s fine; our job is to strip the board so nothing can block a 5/4 flier, and to pair the commander with our own full-board edicts that make them choose among real threats.
  • He has flying, so he reliably connects and the edict actually fires each turn.

Gameplan

Mono-black attrition control. We are not a draw-go-into-wrath deck (black has no clean board wipes at common), so we win through inevitability: a relentless stream of forced sacrifices that empties every opponent’s board while we rebuy our own edict bodies, backed by a 5/4 evasive recurring edict (the commander) and a small drain/burn package to close.

Three phases:

  1. Early (T1–4): Ramp into a black rock, hold up cheap spot removal and edicts. Trade one-for-one or better; sac-for-value draw (Village Rites, Deadly Dispute) turns dying fodder and spent rocks into cards.
  2. Mid: Deploy Witch-king. Each attack is a free edict. Loop ETB-sacrifice creatures (Fleshbag Marauder, Slum Reaper, Demon’s Disciple, Accursed Marauder, Chain Devil) with cheap recursion (Tortured Existence, Grim Harvest, Raise Dead, Mortuary Mire) so the table faces a forced sacrifice almost every turn cycle.
  3. Late / win: Opponents run out of bodies. The 5/4 flier plus pseudo-wipes (Drown in Sorrow, Eyeblight Massacre, Crypt Rats) keeps boards empty, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel / Tithing Blade’s drain side / Crypt Rats convert the creature-starved table into a clock.

Key synergy lines

  • Edict on a stick + recursion grind. Tortured Existence (, discard a creature: return a creature) and Grim Harvest (with Recover) let you recast Fleshbag/Slum Reaper/Demon’s Disciple over and over. Every recast is “each player sacrifices.” Combined with Witch-king’s combat edict, opponents are losing 1–2 creatures per turn rotation and can never stabilize a board.
  • Sacrifice fodder is never wasted. Cabal Trainee, Festering Goblin, Shambling Ghast and tokens feed Village Rites / Deadly Dispute / Costly Plunder / Reckoner’s Bargain (draw 2 each) and the exploit creatures (Qarsi Sadist drain, Mindleech Ghoul discard, Vulturous Aven draw 2). Their deaths also fuel Tragic Slip’s morbid (-13/-13) and Witch-king’s value.
  • Reanimation closers. Dread Return and Rise Again bring back Gray Merchant (drain refire) or any edict body for an immediate ETB sacrifice. Cadaver Imp and Pit Keeper rebuy on a body.
  • Crypt Rats is repeatable inevitability: (black only): X damage to each creature and player — a board-wipe and a finisher in one card that you can recur with the graveyard package.

Role breakdown (with counts)

  • Lands — 36: 26 Swamp + Vault of Whispers; utility: Bojuka Bog (gy hate), Witch’s Cottage & Mortuary Mire (recur a creature — extra edict-body rebuy), Barren Moor & Polluted Mire (cycle when flooded), Escape Tunnel, Jund Panorama, Promising Vein, Evolving Wilds (fixing/thin).
  • Ramp — 10: Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, Charcoal Diamond, Leaden Myr, Mind Stone, Wayfarer’s Bauble, Everflowing Chalice, Bonder’s Ornament, Infernal Idol, Chromatic Star. (Mind Stone / Bonder’s / Infernal Idol / Chromatic Star double as late-game card flow.)
  • Card advantage — 11: Sign in Blood, Read the Bones, Night’s Whisper, Village Rites, Deadly Dispute, Costly Plunder, Reckoner’s Bargain, Dusk Legion Zealot, Phyrexian Rager, Crypt Lurker, Vulturous Aven.
  • Spot removal / edicts — 16: Diabolic Edict, Geth’s Verdict, Cruel Edict, Devour Flesh, Innocent Blood, Doom Blade, Go for the Throat, Cast Down, Murder, Vendetta, Disfigure, Tragic Slip, Bake into a Pie, Deadly Derision, Snuff Out, Hideous End. (Edicts ignore hexproof/protection — the same theme as the commander.)
  • Mass / pseudo-wipe — 4: Drown in Sorrow (-2/-2), Mephitic Vapors (-1/-1 + surveil), Eyeblight Massacre (-2/-2), Crypt Rats (repeatable X to all).
  • ETB-sacrifice creatures (edict engine) — 6: Fleshbag Marauder, Demon’s Disciple, Slum Reaper, Accursed Marauder, Chain Devil, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Rot-Tide Gargantua.
  • Recursion / reanimation — 8: Tortured Existence, Grim Harvest, Raise Dead, Disentomb, Cadaver Imp, Pit Keeper, Dread Return, Rise Again.
  • Inevitability / payoff & fodder — rest: Gray Merchant of Asphodel (drain finisher), Tithing Blade // Consuming Sepulcher (edict + recurring drain), exploit value (Qarsi Sadist, Mindleech Ghoul), Cabal Trainee / Festering Goblin / Shambling Ghast (cheap fodder + value on death).

Pilot notes

  • Don’t jam Witch-king into open removal. He’s a value engine, not a race piece. Deploy when you can protect the attack or when the board is already thinned so the edict matters.
  • Sequence edicts after combat / after they tap out. Full-board edicts (Fleshbag etc.) are best when an opponent is down to one key creature so they’re forced to give it up. Witch-king’s combat edict, by contrast, eats their smallest body — use it to clear chump blockers and mana dorks.
  • Hold a sac outlet’s worth of fodder. Keep a token or 1-drop around so Village Rites / Deadly Dispute are always live as instant-speed card draw and so you can dodge targeted removal by sacrificing in response.
  • Crypt Rats math: with a heavy black board and devotion, a few black mana wipes the table and pings faces; recur it with Raise Dead / Dread Return for repeat sweeps.
  • Gray Merchant wants devotion — cast it after rocks/permanents are down for a big drain, then reanimate it for a second hit.

Weaknesses

  • Token swarms / aristocrats can outpace single-target edicts; lean on the -X/-X sweepers and Crypt Rats here.
  • No counterspells at common in mono-black — we’re reactive on the battlefield, not the stack, so fast combo can race us. The plan is to strip their creatures and apply a flying clock before they assemble.
  • Graveyard hate hurts the recursion engine; Bojuka Bog is our only answer, so prioritize the commander + edicts as the backbone and treat recursion as gravy.
  • Big single threats survive the least-power edict; that’s what the 16 hard-removal/edict spells are for.

Decklist

⬇ Download as .txt — paste into Moxfield, Archidekt, or MTG Arena.

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