Art by Greg Staples
Commander deckBR
The Lord of Pain
Punish opponents for casting spells and taking actions while preventing life gain. Use group slug effects and damage multipliers to quickly drain all opponents' life totals.
Asked for“The Lord of Pain”
Deck anatomy
What this list actually runs on: how cheaply it casts things, and whether it has enough ramp, card draw and interaction to keep up at the table. Each block is one card — hover for its name.
Mana curve · 59 nonland cards
The working parts
Counted from Scryfall’s community card tags, not from the builder’s own labels. A card that does two jobs counts twice, so these add up to more than the deck. The hatched band is a common rule of thumb, not a law — combo decks run leaner, battlecruiser decks heavier.
Colored mana symbols
Commander
1The Lord of Pain
3BRLegendary Creature — Human Assassin
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Thought Vessel
2Artifact
Provides mana acceleration and removes hand size limits.
Fellwar Stone
2Artifact
Cheap mana rock that usually produces red or black in Commander.
Liquimetal Torque
2Artifact
Two-mana rock with utility to turn targets into artifacts for destruction.
Mana Geyser
3RRSorcery
Generates massive amounts of red mana in multiplayer games to cast high-end threats.
Card Draw
9
Phyrexian Arena
1BBEnchantment
Provides a steady additional card every turn at the cost of minor life.
Black Market Connections
2BEnchantment
Versatile source of card draw, ramp, and board presence at the cost of life.
Sign in Blood
BBSorcery
Cheap card draw spell that can also target an opponent to finish them off.
Wheel of Misfortune
2RSorcery
Refills your hand while forcing opponents into damaging choices.
Morbid Opportunist
2BCreature — Human Rogue
Consistently draws cards off creature deaths across all turns.
Painful Truths
2BSorcery
Draws three cards for three mana in a two-color deck with flexibility.
Removal
10
Bedevil
BBRInstant
Flexible instant speed removal for artifacts, creatures, or planeswalkers.
Blasphemous Act
8RSorcery
Premier red board wipe costing as little as one red mana.
Vandalblast
RSorcery
Asymmetrical artifact wipe to destroy opponents' acceleration.
Rakdos Charm
BRInstant
Versatile modal spell for graveyard hate, artifact destruction, or creature punishment.
Threats/Wincons
22
Kaervek the Merciless
5BRLegendary Creature — Human Shaman
Deals heavy damage to targets whenever opponents cast spells.
Mogis, God of Slaughter
2BRLegendary Enchantment Creature — God
Persistent tax effect forcing sacrifice or dealing damage turn after turn.
Scab-Clan Berserker
1RRCreature — Human Berserker
Punishes noncreature spell casting heavily once renowned.
Harsh Mentor
1RCreature — Human Cleric
Deals damage whenever opponents activate non-mana abilities.
Descent into Avernus
2REnchantment
Accelerates game pace with escalating treasures and damage to everyone.
Sulfuric Vortex
1RREnchantment
Classic group slug enchantment that stops life gain and deals constant damage.
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
1RRRLegendary Creature — Dwarf Noble
Adds extra damage to all red sources you control.
Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
2RRLegendary Creature — Phyrexian Horror
Doubles noncombat damage dealt by your sources.
Fiery Emancipation
3RRREnchantment
Triples all damage dealt by your sources for massive lethal spikes.
City on Fire
5RRREnchantment
Convoke-able damage tripler to close out games rapidly.
Dictate of the Twin Gods
3RREnchantment
Flash damage doubler to surprise opponents during combat or high-damage spells.
Wound Reflection
5BEnchantment
Doubles life lost by opponents at the end of every turn.
Archfiend of Despair
6BBCreature — Demon
Prevents opponent life gain and doubles life lost each turn.
Sower of Discord
4BBCreature — Demon
Links two opponents together so damage dealt to one harms the other.
Neheb, the Eternal
3RRLegendary Creature — Zombie Minotaur Warrior
Converts damage dealt to opponents into massive red mana in postcombat.
Heartless Hidetsugu
3RRLegendary Creature — Ogre Shaman
Halves every player's life total in an instant.
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
2BRLegendary Creature — Demon
Grows and draws cards whenever an opponent loses exactly 1 life.
Syr Konrad, the Grim
3BBLegendary Creature — Human Knight
Deals damage whenever creatures enter or leave graveyards.
Price of Progress
1RInstant
Deals massive damage to players relying on greedy nonbasic mana bases.
Zo-Zu the Punisher
1RRLegendary Creature — Goblin Warrior
Punishes players heavily for playing lands.
Utility
8
Swiftfoot Boots
2Artifact — Equipment
Grants hexproof and haste to protect key legendary creatures.
Lightning Greaves
2Artifact — Equipment
Free equip cost shroud and haste for commander protection.
Deflecting Swat
2RInstant
Free protection spell to redirect targeted removal or spells back at opponents.
Tibalt's Trickery
1RInstant
Red counterspell to stop game-winning plays or board wipes.
Brash Taunter
4RCreature — Goblin
Indestructible blocker that reflects damage taken directly to opponents' faces.
Stuffy Doll
5Artifact Creature — Construct
Indestructible damage reflection tool aimed at a chosen player.
Mithril Coat
3Legendary Artifact — Equipment
Flash equipment to grant instant indestructible protection to your commander.
Darkness
BInstant
Black Fog spell to protect yourself against sudden lethal swings.
