Hello awesome folks! I hope that you are having an great time today! What do you do when Commander gets a little samey? How do you break out of your malaise? I have a great suggestion for you! Hit the shuffle button on EDHREC.com and get a randomly chosen Commander to build your deck around! How does that sound?

Now I have a few provisos:

1. If I flip over an illegal option, I won't force myself to build around it.
2. If I flip over something I've already built around, I won't force myself to build another deck
3. If I flip over a heavily played Commander and I don't have a unique take on it, I'll hit it again!

So... who am I building around today? Let's find out!

Here's who I flipped:

Kemba again, but this time it's personal! But we already have a Commander deck on this site from Jay who called Kemba, so I am, instead, choosing another. Who now, brown cow?

We get Illuminor Szeras! This is a Mono-Black Commander from the Warhammer 40k Commander decks. This 3-drop 3/3 (on curve) taps to sacrifice another dork and make mana equal to its mana value. There are just 221 decks built around it, and it seems pretty Spike-y as a recursive sacrifice engine that makes a lot of mana but requires you tap it, so you have to wait a turn and only use once/turn.

Let's get started with my Szeras decks! The EDHREC.com lists are built around artifact matters things like affinity for artifacts to reduce cost for things like Myr Enforcer. That's not my take. I'll be doing some of the same cards here and there, but it'll be mostly different. I'll be leaning more on midrange Mono-Black control with all of the ramping needed, and bodies to sacrifice with ETB abilities like Ravenous Chupacabra and Liliana's Specter. Expect a bigger number of bodies here to sacrifice that aren't tokens.

Mana, Ramp and Lands

Let's start with my mana making! We have a few mana doublers here and there like the above pair! The idea here is to drop the Caged Sun, name Black, and give your Black creatures +1/+1 and your Black mana tappers an extra mana! Note that this will work for any Black-making land like Bojuka Bog, not just Swamps. The Lens drops on the 3rd turn and will exile, wants to imprint a Swamp, and then all Swamps tap for more mana. I tossed in Snow-Covered Swamps to exile so only that name double taps.

Check out these two Shades with the pump ability! The former costs four, rocks a 1/1 body, and on arrival to the battlefield it'll search out a Swamp and put it into your hand. I also have Liliana of the Dark Realms to fetch out Swamps here too. The latter Shade costs six, lets your Swamps tap for an extra , and then you get a 4/4 body.

Check out this pair! The Passage is a colorless tapping land that taps with four to make any dork you can target unblockable. This can work on any dork, even your foes', so play politics to kill a mutual enemy. Then you tap it to make your Commander into a Commander Damage kill or pump your Shades for a win con outta nowhere. The Fortress taps for , but arrives tapped so you take a turn off. Then you can tap it with a ton of mana to exile it and then mill yourself of four cards and then recur a dork from your graveyard to the battlefield. Nice recursion from your land slot...

...and if you like recursion in your land slots, check out this other pair! The first legendary one taps for , arrives untapped, and can be channeled for no more than four mana to mill three and Raise Dead a dork or planeswalker to your hand. The second legendary one taps for colorless, arrives untapped too, and taps with two to reload a dead dork onto the top of your library. It's a strong pair with Tomb Fortress, and you can reload a dead, sacrificed, or milled dork with the Stronghold to draw it. Or if you...

...discarded it with this legendary land as well! This also taps for colorless, taps with two to have everyone draw and discard and then you discard a dork you can reload with the Stronghold. That's card flow in your land zone! I also tossed in War Room. The Map drops on turn one before counters, sacrifices on turn two with 2 mana, and then searches your library for a land and puts it into your hand. We're running mana makers like Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth combo to make tons of mana or Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx with devotion to Black, so you have some great choices. You can also get War Room for cards, Stronghold for recursion, and more. I also tossed in Demonic Tutor.

Let's finish with this pair! The Barrens arrives untapped and taps for colorless. Then you can spend four to put two +1/+1 counters on this land, and, if you want, make it a dork. That's a mana sink and win con in one land. The dork is a 2-drop 1/2 with a tap ability. You can sacrifice an artifact critter or Black critter for equal to the cost. That's the same as your Commander, so that's a strong addition here since we already built this infrastructure. Ready to leave the land and mana and ramping behind?

Good Creatures to Sacrifice

Now let's turn to dorks I'd like to sacrifice! The Dragon Spirit is obvious. This costs six, flies and rocks a 5/5 body. You can tap your Commander or Adnate to sacrifice it and make 6 and then drain five life from each foe, scaled up, so that's 15 for you in a four player game and five life loss for them. That's a win con. I am also running Gray Merchant of Asphodel as a win con ETB with devotion to lack and then sac for five mana. The Avatar costs eight, usually drops for just two since by the midgame at least 10 creature cards are in all bins combined. Then you can sac it for eight mana anytime you want! You can tap it to destroy any dork, or swing with its solid 6/5 fear self, so you may not wanna sacrifice it until it's targeted for removal.

Check out this pair! The common costs seven, can be evoked for four and on arrival to the battlefield will Mind Rot a foe. Ideally, you wanna evoke this and then tap and sac for seven to make three mana when it's evoke is on the stack. The uncommon costs four for a 2/2 with Swampwalk. While in your graveyard and you control a Swamp, all of your dorks gain swampwalk. Giving them Swamps with Urborg will make your team unblockable. You'll want to sacrifice this as soon as possible to make this also a win-con.

Check out this pair from the same set! The 7-drop is a 7/5 with menace, lifelink, and then ward with life payment equal to its power. Evasion, a double life swing, and then a pretty nice size. You can prototype it for three mana to make a 3/3 to sacrifice for 7 mana later. The 8-drop is an on curve 8/8 with vigilance which lets you attack anyone that's open with your beater and then keep yourself from being attacked back. Then, when it dies, you net a massive eight colorless mana, plus the eight you gained from the sacrificing, so that's a lot of mana. I also tossed in Cathodion which plays into this but not Su-Chi since it costs around $100 for a copy. Ready to leave behind the sacrifices? I got you!

Synergies and Winning Conditions

Now let's turn to synergies and more win-cons like this pair. The Staff used to be banned in Commander (As was Kokusho). This 3-drop artifact has five abilities, one mana to untap it, and then two to gain a life, three to untap a dork, four to tap a dork, five to draw a card. This is a mana sink for all of your extra mana. I love this untapping your Adnate or Commander for another go of mana making. From drawing a few cards from your extra mana to gaining a ton of life when it drops after combat, this is very strong here.

Syr Konrad costs five, has a nice sized 5/4 body. Then when another dork enters a graveyard from anywhere your foes will each eat a damage. Then you can spend two mana to have everyone mill a card to net more damage. This can finish off someone with a low life or win, and I also tossed in Zulaport Cutthroat as a backup, but that's it. The main way to win is in the red zone with your beefy beaters or with a card you are about to see.

Check out this pair! Since we are losing lots of dorks, I loved the classic rare enchantment here that costs four, has three B for devotion, and then when your stuff dies, each of your foe's sacrifice a dork too. This was classic multiplayer author Anthony Alongi's most powerful card for multiplayer in the game ever in the early era. (I think it's in set also black color identity Volrath's Stronghold). I love this here so much I also tossed in the flashing Dictate of Erebos. The critter costs four, rocks an on curve 4/3 body. When one of your nontokens die? Make a 1/1 colorless token that can be sacrificed for mana. This is here to get more mana from your deaths, I also tossed in Treasure making Pitiless Plunderer, and another Eldrazi maker with Pawn of Ulamog.

Check out this pair! The Market is a classic Commander staple in decks like this. Whenever a dork dies, put a charge counter here. Note that this works for tokens dorks and your foes'. Then at your precombat phase, make a mana for each counter here. That is nasty mana making over time, and with your mana sinks and big stuff you can start swinging quickly. The Altar is a backup sacrifice in case you need more mana or have your stuff answered. You can sacrifice a dork for two colorless mana! I also tossed in Phyrexian Altar to sacrifice for a mana that's of one color, or Phyrexian Tower in my lands to tap for double mana.

Now let's turn to two pricier Mono-Black rares from Commander sets. The C'tan costs eight, rocks triple Black for devotion, rocks an on curve 8/8 flying body, and then when it ETBs, if you cast it, a foe loses half of their life and you gain it. Nasty! I also tossed in Exsanguinate as a win con for your mana ramping that plays into this. Then the sorcery costs six, and has casualty 2 to sacrifice a dork with a power of at least 2 to copy it. This will let you exile the top card of each opposing library. For this turn you can cast them for no mana, just life lost equal to their mana value. Nice card flow and we have some life gain here and there to break it.

Check out our final pair before we leave this section. The sorcery costs five. It forces everyone to swap their in-play stuff with their graveyard stuff. It acts as both mass removal and mass recursion in one card. You can set this up with your self-milling and sacrifices, and keep your opponents' graveyards clear with Bojuka Bog and Stonespeaker Crystal. It won't take long to win. Then the critter costs eight, also has triple Black in its cost, then rocks convoke to drop it early and then a 7/6 flyer body. You can Demonic Tutor when it enters the battlefield and put the card on it. Then you can cast it with convoke from exile. That's a 3rd Tutor effect in here.

Answers

Now let's turn to answers! The Necron costs five, rocks flash, and has a fine 5/3 body. Flash is great here since it's a Murder on arrival to the battlefield, just like Ravenous Chupacabra, but ideally, you'll do this when attacked, flash out, kill one attacker and trade for another for a two for one. I love it here as a flashable Murder on a Stick for just one more mana. I am also running several Chupacabras like Shriekmaw and the Noxious Gearhulk. Meteor Golem costs seven, rocks just a 3/3 body, and then on arrival to the battlefield can destroy any non-land permanent, so it's a Desert Twister on a stick. I love it loads here since it'll kill pretty much anything we need too, like artifacts or enchantments that Black cannot normally answer. After it's a solid seven mana sacrificing.

Now let's turn to this pair. In addition to Avatar of Woe, I am also running this legendary dork. This 6-drop 5/5 with flying and triple for devotion is a game winner with evasion, and a removal spell to tap and destroy any dork. And since I have the untapping of the Staff and the haste of Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots, this pair is very strong. Every deck, even one that goes wide like this, should run mass removal in case they are behind the 8 ball - enter this sorcery that costs just four. Every dork gets -1/-1 equal to your Swamp count, and like Living Death, this gets past indestructible and regeneration, but unlike exiling, it puts them into your graveyard for future recursion, so it plays well with our strategy.

Now let's turn from removal to answers to answers with this pair. The model spell land costs one, and lets you return a dying dork to the battlefield this turn but costs two life. The Malice costs one, and also lets an about-t-die dork return, and this time you'll give it a +1/+1 counter. This pair are great at bringing back something about to die to mass or targeted removal, combat, or one of your sacrifices to being them back. Imagine bringing back the Gray Merchant or Kokusho for just one mana to really push the battlefield in your direction.

Card Flow

Let's finish with card flow! The sorcery costs three, sacrifices an artifact or creature. Then you draw X where that was its casting cost. Nasty card flow with my expensive dorks here. Then the creature costs four, on arrival to the battlefield you sacrifice another dork: draw equal to its power, and gain that life. Then you can sacrifice things that have a beefier power like those dorks that are meant to be sacrificed like Kokusho or the Cave Guard. Nasty card flow and life gain.

Let's finish with this pair! The Wizard costs three for a 3/2. When your other things die you draw a card. I tossed in every one of these from Harvester of Souls to Dark Prophecy. Some of those will lose you life. Then the Pact costs double Black to start and then X. Someone draws X cards and loses X life. It's a mana sink here to draw a ton. You can also aim it at a player to kill them with damage or card draw. Then I am also running the casualty 3 option Cut of the Profits, which you can copy for another draw.

Ready for my random decklist?

Illuminating Darkness | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Illuminator Szeras

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Avatar of Woe
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Cathodion
• 1 Crypt Ghast
• 1 Disciple of Bolas
• 1 Filth
• 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1 Grim Haruspex
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Hoarding Broodlord
• 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1 Liliana's Shade
• 1 Liliana's Specter
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Midnight Reaper
• 1 Mournwhelk
• 1 Necron Deathmark
• 1 Nirkana Revenant
• 1 Noxious Gearhulk
• 1 Pawn of Ulamog
• 1 Phyrexian Fleshgorger
• 1 Pitiless Plunderer
• 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1 Shard of the Nightbringer
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 1 Sifter of Skulls
• 1 Soldevi Adnate
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Su-Chi Cave Guard
• 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1 Visara the Dreadful
• 1 Zulaport Cutthroat

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Liliana of the Dark Realms

• Instants (3)
• 1 Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
• 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
• 1 Undying Malice

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Cut of the Profits
• 1 Damnable Pact
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Exsanguinate
• 1 Living Death
• 1 Morbid Curiosity
• 1 Mutilate
• 1 Syphon Mind
• 1 Xander's Pact

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Black Market
• 1 Dark Prophecy
• 1 Dictate of Erebos
• 1 Grave Pact

• Artifacts (12)
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Caged Sun
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Extraplanar Lens
• 1 Gauntlet of Might
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Phyrexian Altar
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Domination
• 1 Stonespeaker Crystal
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (38)
• 24 Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Cabal Stronghold
• 1 Crawling Barrens
• 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Tomb Fortress
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 War Room

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There we go! I hope that you enjoyed this random deck challenge, and if so, checkout my Appendix below!!

Appendix - Random Commander Challenges

Did you enjoy today's deck and want to check out all the random chaos from the previous editions? Great! Here they are.

1. For my first challenge, I hit on Random Gatherer Gwendlyn di Corci from the set that introduced legendary permanents. I create a discard-matters deck around her.
2. I flip over one of the original Elder Dragon Legends that the format was initially named after - Arcades Sabboth. I decide to build around a non-Red and non-Black Dragon theme. Get ready!
3. The Random Fairy Strikes Again! This time it lands on Toshiro Umezawa, one of the major protagonists of the Kamigawa Block storyline. Check out my spell-based fun time deck!
4. My submission of the random button finds the vanilla The Lady of the Mountain. Inspired by one of the few Commander options legally printed as a common, I decide to create a Pauper EDH deck for you! Let me know what you think!
5. I hit the random button and got Kefnet the Mindful. I turned him into a budget build for fewer than $33 as part of my Budget Commander series. Enjoy!
6. Random Gatherer hits Nissa, Vastwood Seer for a fun, mono-Green Forests-matter deck! Check it out!
7. This time, we hit 1-drop Vanilla Isamaru, Hound of Konda. What do I do with him? How about Isamaru Ultron? Let's give our pet some pants.
8. Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle - This build wants to build a fun challenge around the historic recursions of Teshar's potential. You can check it out here.
9. I randomly uncover Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind from way back and build a fun damage-matters and card-drawing matters build for your consideration! Let me know what you think!
10. What happens when Gatherer give me Palladia-Mors, the Ruiner? I make one of the most fun EDH decks in this series, that's what! Check it out!
11. I flip over Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient that loves to fork artifact abilities. Want to check out this odd take on Mono-Red artifacts?
12. Gatherer gives me Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. I use it to build a fun power-matters synergetic build. Check it out!
13. I randomly hit Lady Zhurong, and I decide to build a Mono-Green deck around her and her husband Meng Huo, Barbarian King. Check it out!
14. I randomly open with Seasinger, and I decide to build around that rather than a legendary leader. Check out my Mono-Blue Merfolk deck!
15. I use the EDHREC Random Commander option and dial up Anya, Merciless Angel, which is the wrong colors as she feels more Rakdos to me. I lean into fun times around dropping everyone's life! Wanna check it out?
16. I use the Random Commander button and get Balthor the Defiled a Zombie Dwarf who brings back all dead Red and Black dorks over and over again. It's a fun build, check it out!
17. For my 17th challenge, I grabbed Kaervek the Merciless and built a creatureless deck around him with cards that punished the playing of dorks like Tainted Aether. We win with attacking lands and artifacts that dodge removal. Enjoy it here!
18. My 18th challenge arrived and with it the planeswalker Nahiri, the Lithomancer! You can check out this equipment loving mono-White deck here with cards that go wide and up and grab that equipment fun times!
19. My next brew was with Homura, Human Ascendant, a card that wants to be sacrificed to flip over and then pump your team, so I went wide with tokens for sacrificing and pumping purposes. You can find it here.
20. The 20th brew was an Esper brew around Chromium, the Mutable which I built around it's free discard and made an Esper colored discard matters brew with discard engines like Compulsion, looting like Teferi, Master of Time, madness like Circular Logic, and cycling like Decree of Justice with discard triggers like Archfiend of Ifnir. You can check it out here - (Random Commander #20: Chromium for the Win-ium | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)).
21. The 21st deck was built around Alrund, God of the Cosmos // Hakka, Whispering Raven. (Random Commander #21: Alrund, God of the Cosmos | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com)). I built around the top of library manipulation to get the best triggers from Alrund that we can! Then I added in synergies like no max hand size stuff. Check it out!