MTG Warhammer 40k EDH Deck: The Ruinous Powers

The Magic: the Gathering / Warhammer 40k commander decks continue to hold interest of players of both games. The Ruinous Powers deck focuses on the Chaos faction, full of Chaos Marines and various Daemons from beyond the Warp.

Using the default commander, Abaddon the Despoiler, the deck seeks to gain card advantage and generate value by giving spells Cascade. While it only works on your turn, it can affect many cards in your hand, depending on how much damage you do to opponents each turn. As it has good stats and trample, the commander can be a source of damage for this effect.

Using Be’lakor, the Dark Master turns the deck into demon tribal, turning demons in play into card draw, as well as making demons entering play deal direct damage. This pairs well with cards like Pink Horror, which will put two demon creature tokens into play when it dies. Herald of Slaanesh is another great card for the demon subtheme, making demon creatures cheaper to cast and giving them haste.

Venomcrawler gets a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature dies, making it a good candidate for sacrifice focused decks. Plague Drone punishes decks that rely on life gain, such as Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose. The Chaos Terminator Lord gives another creature double strike each turn, giving tactical flexibility.

The daemon lords are powerful in the miniatures game, and that power translates to Magic. Lord of Change draws 3 cards when it enters the battlefield, making it a a target for blink effects. Great Unclean One makes your opponents lose life each turn with the potential to put tokens into play. Keeper of Secrets turns every spell cast from anywhere other than your hand into a burn spell. Finally, Bloodthirster untaps and adds a new combat phase any time it deals combat damage to an opponent.

The deck include 3 Talismans of the deck’s colors, helping to make up for the lackluster lands. Past in Flames gives instant and sorcery card in your graveyard flashback, which can be an unpleasant surprise for your opponents. Finally, Warstorm Surge is similar to Impact Tremors, and could see use alongside that card.

The Ruinous Powers can be altered in a number of ways to fit several play styles. Likewise, there are several cards that can find a ready home in many existing decks. This would make a fine addition to any player’s collection.