Commander decklist: Gollum’s Desire

Welcome to the Commander decklist series, where I build Commander decks for each of Magic’s colour combinations. For my version of the challenge, I will restrict myself to cards already in my collection, and commanders which are outside the 5 most popular commanders for that colour combination on the website EDHrec.

Today’s deck is mono-black and our commander is Gollum, Obsessed Stalker.

The Deck

Click the image above to take you to the full decklist.

The Plan

The plan for this deck is to nip each of our opponents with Gollum, Obsessed Stalker. Once this is done, and each opponent only needs to have sufferent one damage, we can swing into gear. The next step is to gain life and plenty of it, and rely on Gollum’s triggered ability to finish off our opponents. Remember that while Gollum, Obsessed Stalker must be in play for this to happen, opponents can’t save themselves by killing Gollum after he deals damage to threm. Due to the way Gollum’s card is worded, the triggered ability will affect any opponent who has been dealt damage by a card with that name.

The Core

The core of this deck is made of of cards that allow us to gain life repeatedly, and for free. Two other cards make up the core; Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and Exsanguinate. These cards can end the game if you cast them with Gollum in play. In a example of a four-player game where each player has been dealt a single damane by Gollum and you cast Exsanguinate where x=5. Each opponent will lose 5 life when Exsanguinate resolves, and then a further 15 at the end of turn when Gollum’s ability triggers. Life loss from Gollum’s ability does not count as Commander damage but this is going to end the game quickly.

Options

The cost of this deck if you were to buy every card is $332 USD at the time of writing. You can reduce that cost by exchanging four of the most expensive cards – Damnation, Phyrexian Altar, Agadeem’s Awakening, and Jet Medallion – for other, cheaper cards. Adding in Languish, Loxodon Warhammer, a basic swamp, and Mind Stone will reduce the cost by over $60.

Summary and links

This deck is going to rate around a 5 on the Commander Power Scale. The deck has a plan, but unless you are fortunate with draws for cards like Gray Merchant, it’s going to take you a few turns to get there. If you’re feeling competitive, then adding tutors and more life swing cards will get you there.

Happy stalking!

Gollum, Obsessed Stalker on EDHrec