Removing One Toughness Dorks with Maha in Commander

Posted on August 6, 2024

Hello awesome folks! I have a real life Golgari colored deck around dropping your foe's toughness to one, and then killing them, from Tempest legendary dork Vhati il-Dal. You can find it here (Real-Life Commander -- Extremely Vhati | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com))! It's fun in the sun! There was a mono-Black legendary dork just printed in Bloomburrrow - that removes green for ramp, but makes all of your opposing dork's one toughness instead. Let's look at it:

Here we go! It's this five-drop 6/5 flying with trample, doubly evasive. It's harder to answer with ward discarded a card so you'll always be up a card when someone tries to target it with fun stuff for the win-tough.

Ready for our new take on Vhati?

Ramp, Mana, Rocks, Lands

Most of my mana rocks are obvious, and I am not running stuff like Caged Sun or Nirkana Revenant to push one color mana making here, even though I am mono-Black. I am running the five-drop above artifact that taps for four Black, and then only to cast mono-colored stuff, and then taps with three Black mana to draw two. Then the enchantment is here to turn creature deaths into charges here for Black mana in my precombat phase to make it in masse over and over again. Love this with the depths of my leader and the subordinates.

Since I am in mono-Black, I am running both Cabal Coffers, Cabal Stronghold, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, so I need to find them to make that mana. Enter the duo of Expedition Map and Urza's Cave. The common artifact costs one, sacs with two, and tutors for any land to my hand. The uncommon land taps for colorless, taps and sacs with three this time to fetch out any land tapped to the battlefield!

Now let's turn to Deserts that kill one toughness stuff. The classic Desert from the first expansion set will tap to ting an attacker, so no one will swing your way. Then the Black mana tapping Ifnir Deadlands will tap at sorcery speed with four mana to toss two +1/+1 counters onto something of your foes to kill it outright.

One-Toughness Removal

Now let's turn to one toughness killers like this Black pair. The Zombie costs four, ETBs and loads three -1/-1 counters on a critter. At the time a lot of folks talked about how this might be a cross between Flametongue Kavu and Nekrataal. It did get some casual play, but that's long since been around. It's awesome here as a comeback. The Vampire costs five for an on-curve 4/4 evasive flyer with an activated mana sink ability. You can spend double Black to start, X mana and then reduce one dork by X toughness and pump her with +X size as a win con.

Now let's turn to recursive spells! Evincar's Justice costs four with a buyback of 3, another mana sink, this time to deal two damage to everything from players to dorks! Love it loads here as a win con if the battlefield was answered by a foe's Wrath of God. Darkblast costs one, recurs with dredge, and then gives a targeted dork -1/-1 that turn to finish it off!

Now let's turn to this pair! The landfall uncommon is on a 4/3 body with a five-drop. It turns landfalls into Darkblasts for the turn to kill your foe's stuff. The rare legendary costs four for a 3/2 with the ability to shrivel other dorks, yours too, -1/-1 until answered. I am also running the two enchantments versions of this too.

Now let's turn to another pair. Gloomdrifter asks do you have threshold? Great! Then you'll Infest just the non-Black stuff, so not yours, no worries here. It used to get loads of play at the kitchen table, but not as much these days, give it a renaissance! We also have two dorks that were printed with ETB effects to shrink just your foe's stuff by -1/-1 when they enter, both are here. The other is Night Clubber, which comes with blitz allowing you to keep the card flow coming.

Let's finish with this pair! My Vhati deck doesn't have Triskelion and Grim Poppet because I didn't own extras, but I do here. Welcome to the club! I also have mana sink and win con XX artifact above for your Coffers and winning. It's the uber foe, dork, and planeswalker kill! The planeswalker costs three for an on-curve three loyalty with a +1 to -2/-1 a dork, that's why she's here. She can also -2 her to mill two cards to your graveyard and raise a dork to your hand for card flow.

Synergies and Winning Conditions

Now let's turn to synergies and win-cons, we'll start with the latter! The enchantment will turn opposing deaths to Treasure for ramping, and when we have ten, we'll win that game. This is my only Treasure maker though, so it's harder to pull off and thus nicer. The sorcery costs nine, mana sinkable, and then returns all dead stuff from everyone to your battlefield with the ability to win pretty fast. Love this win con pair loads!

Since my opposing stuff is dying, I tossed in Syr Konrad, the Grim to turn their deaths into pings on foes. This will also work on my stuff or milled or discarded dorks too, and you can activate him for two mana to have everyone mill a card. Mana sink. Liliana of the Dark Realms can +1 to search out a Swamp for my hand like ramp, and then -3 to kill a dork with her -X/-X equal to your Swamp count or a smaller Maha-made dork, or pump your Commander into a kill with that trample and flying.

The rare costs six for a smaller 3/3 flyer, and then will pump your Black stuff by +1/+1 and then drop the opposing stuff by that too, so he's here to help out your team survive and kill non-Black stuff too! The common instant costs three with an entwine of just one to ping everything for one or to save your team with regeneration. It's awesome possum here!

Thornbite Staff costs two, equips with four, gives the dork the ability to tap with two mana to ping anything for one damage, and then when something dies the dork will untap, so this is a mana sink way to clear out your foe's stuff one dork dead for each two mana invested. The recently printed dork Gisa, Glorious Resurrector costs four on an on-curve 4/4 body and then when your foe's stuff dies you'll exile it and make decayed Zombie copies on your side of the battlefield! Nasty good way to push the battlefield your way!

Answers and Card Draw

Now let's turn to answers and card draw. Since this deck is built around killing one toughness dorks, my removal slate is minor. I do have the modal land above to cast a one-cost instant to bring back a key card here about to die to your stuff or others, tapped, but you'll pay two life for it. Then in card draw, the first card I added was the Standard-legal Assassin above that costs four for a 4/4 menace that gives your stuff wither. When your foe's stuff dies, if it was with a smaller than one toughness you'll draw that card! She's great here!

Phyrexian Arena adds to our devotion for Gray Merchant and Nykthos, and in our upkeep we'll swap a card with a life. Ancient Craving costs four to draw three and then lose three. I am also running Ambition's Cost.

Final slate of card draw here. I feel like the five-cost sorcery is mostly forgotten today, but five life lost for five cards draw for five mana is nasty good, and then you can entwine it for four to make a beater equal to your hand size with Flying a bit of a win con. The artifact costs six, draws you a free card in your upkeep and then taps for no mana to ping any target for damage. Love it loads here too!

Decklist time!