I kinda got back into Magic: the Gathering around 2017, and have played the odd game since. So when Wizards published 40k Commander decks, I felt I had to get the Chaos one. Now that I have that, and the F1 this year is so mortally boring, I've decided to take the plunge and actually try playing Commander.
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The deck I've got started life as the Chaos 40k commander deck. I kept Abaddon as my commander, swapped out some cards I didn't like or that felt way too complicated, and tried to make the lands a bit more interesting.
Creature: (28)
Abaddon the Despoiler
Lord of Change
Be'lakor, the Dark Master
Bloodthirster
Keeper of Secrets
Mortarion, Daemon Primarch
Chaos Defiler
Great Unclean One
Helbrute
Heralds of Tzeentch
Knight Rampager
Lucius the Eternal
Magnus the Red
Noise Marine
Pink Horror
The Balrog, Flame of Udûn
Aspiring Champion
Bloodcrusher of Khorne
Chaos Terminator Lord
Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch
Dark Apostle
Plague Drone
Seeker of Slaanesh
Tzaangor Shaman
Venomcrawler
Herald of Slaanesh
Poxwalkers
Tallyman of Nurgle
Sorcery: (7)
Blasphemous Act
Decree of Pain
Let the Galaxy Burn
Blight Grenade
Deny Reality
Mandate of Abaddon
Pyroclasm
Instant: (12)
Blood for the Blood God!
Thunderous Wrath
Bituminous Blast
Kill! Maim! Burn!
Nurgle's Conscription
Chaos Warp
Ionize
Bile Blight
Reverberate
Snap
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Artifact: (9)
Chromatic Lantern
Commander's Sphere
Pristine Talisman
Sol Grail
Worn Powerstone
Talisman of Creativity
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Indulgence
Sol Ring
Enchantment: (4)
Warstorm Surge
The Ruinous Powers
The Lost and the Damned
Nurgle's Rot
Land: (40)
Barren Moor
Command Tower
Crumbling Necropolis
Desolate Lighthouse
Dismal Backwater
Exotic Orchard
Foreboding Ruins
Forgotten Cave
Island x6
Lonely Sandbar
Mountain x6
Path of Ancestry
Rogue's Passage
Snow-Covered Island
Snow-Covered Mountain
Snow-Covered Swamp
Sunken Hollow
Swamp x7
Swiftwater Cliffs
Tainted Isle
Temple of Malice
Temple of the False God
Wasteland
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I took this deck to my first ever Magic event, a Casual Commander day at our friendly local game store.
I included Rogue's Passage in the deck because it did great work for me in Magic: Duels on the XBox, and it paid off when I sent The Balrog, Flame of Udûn down it to knock out my last remaining opponent. I then got obliterated by an endless swarm of Daleks, and the third game I was in was at a level I barely understood. But I had a great time.
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The second time around, the young people were fairly astonished by my Sol Grail, and I again managed to win my first game!
I didn't really get much use out of Abaddon's ability to grant Cascade in my first event. I feel like the Ruinous Powers deck is trying to be at least two things at once: a Demon tribal deck and a spellslinger/Cascade deck, and it isn't that great at either. So I decided to go all in on the demons and make Be'lakor my commander. Again, I had good fun playing, and won one and lost one game.
In my third event, my Aspiring Champion got me a spectacular win. There were four of us and one other aggro deck, and everyone's life total was low. I had Be'lakor on the field sent my Aspiring Champion to attack another player through Rogue's Passage. Sacrificing him, I managed to draw Orcus, Prince of Undeath. The damage from Orcus showing up knocked out two players, and the damage from Be'lakor took out the third one. It was a lovely Nethack 40,000 moment.
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So, I've been to three Casual Commander events, and I've had a lot of fun. This is the deck list I've ended up with:
Be'lakor, the Dark Master
Artifact: (9)
Chromatic Lantern
Commander's Sphere
Pristine Talisman
Sol Grail
Whispersilk Cloak
Worn Powerstone
Arcane Signet
Thought Vessel
Sol Ring
Creature: (25)
Lord of Change
Bloodthirster
Keeper of Secrets
Mortarion, Daemon Primarch
Chaos Defiler
Great Unclean One
Heralds of Tzeentch
Lucius the Eternal
Magnus the Red
Noise Marine
Pink Horror
Renegade Demon
Sol'kanar the Swamp King
The Balrog, Flame of Udûn
Aspiring Champion
Bloodcrusher of Khorne
Chaos Terminator Lord
Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch
Orcus, Prince of Undeath
Plague Drone
Seeker of Slaanesh
Soulstinger
Venomcrawler
Baleful Ammit
Herald of Slaanesh
Enchantment: (5)
Warstorm Surge
Coastal Piracy
The Ruinous Powers
Phyrexian Arena
Nurgle's Rot
Instant: (12)
Blood for the Blood God!
Bituminous Blast
Kill! Maim! Burn!
Nurgle's Conscription
Chaos Warp
Ionize
Bile Blight
Boomerang
Snap
Brainstorm
Dark Ritual
Mystical Tutor
Sorcery: (8)
Blasphemous Act
Decree of Pain
Blight Grenade
Deny Reality
Mandate of Abaddon
Stronghold Discipline
Lash of the Balrog
Void Snare
Land: (40)
Barren Moor
Command Tower
Crumbling Necropolis
Desolate Lighthouse
Dismal Backwater
Foreboding Ruins
Forgotten Cave
Island ×6
Lonely Sandbar
Mortuary Mire
Mountain ×7
Path of Ancestry
Rogue's Passage
Snow-Covered Island
Snow-Covered Mountain
Snow-Covered Swamp
Sunken Hollow
Swamp ×6
Swiftwater Cliffs
Tainted Peak
Temple of Epiphany
Temple of Malice
Temple of the False God
Wasteland
