In EDH, one of the most popular archetypes is Sacrifice. Players love go-wide creature decks and generating tons of value, and Sacrifice decks seamlessly combine both themes. Unfortunately, in more competitive environments, Aristocrats-style decks have had their fair share of struggles up to this point.
Now, with the release of MTG x TMNT, Super Shredder is bringing more attention to the Sacrifice strategy in Duel Commander. This mythic is the most expensive card in the set for a reason, and it’s beginning to extend its competitive reach even further.
An Aggressive Slant
At its core, this mono-black shell is looking to get on board fast and put the opponent under the gun right out of the gates. With a whopping 26 creatures that cost one or two mana to cast in the 99, curving out with this deck is easy. Super Shredder bolsters this gameplan perfectly due to its sheer efficiency and ability to grow out of control.
The key to maximizing Super Shredder, of course, is to incorporate low-cost ways to make permanents leave the battlefield. Fetchlands and removal spells get the party started, and recursive elements keep things going. Cheap creatures like Bloodsoaked Champion, Gravecrawler, and Bloodghast, are designed to come back from the graveyard with ease. Not only does this make combat a nuisance for the opponent, but it also opens the door for Carrion Feeder and other sacrifice outlets to repeatedly grow Super Shredder. Eventually, your Commander can threaten lethal singlehandedly, and your opponent can’t even chump block it due to Menace.
In the event your opponent has lots of removal to keep Super Shredder in check, the life drain abilities of Marionette Apprentice and Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER help you cross the finish line. Moonshadow and Stalactite Stalker can also attack for large sums of damage, adding extra redundancy to this strategy.
Many Avenues to Victory
Interestingly, as aggressive as this deck is, it’s far from one-dimensional. With a vast array of recursive threats that naturally excel against spot removal, you are well-equipped to win grindy games. Dark Confidant and Caustic Bronco can draw extra cards, while Urza’s Saga and Lord Skitter, Sewer King can go long by making tokens. Saga can even find Skullclamp, arguably the best card in your entire deck.
By pairing these tools with card advantage machines such as Skullclamp and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, you can pull super far ahead on resources. Demonic Tutor and Demonic Consultation provide reliable access to these value engines, too, so running out of gas should never be an issue.
Notably, these tutors can also find a variety of hate pieces to strengthen specific matchups. Winter Moon, for example, can demolish five-color midrange strategies by itself. Night Clubber lines up exceptionally well versus the numerous one-toughness creatures in Cloud, Midgar Mercenary decks, including Mother of Runes. Throw in Contamination as a one-card win condition versus Lier, Disciple of the Drowned combo shells and beyond, and this deck’s versatile approach becomes clear.
Unique and Powerful
Overall, this deck’s ability to win games on multiple axes is one of its biggest strengths. The fact that Super Shredder applies huge amounts of pressure gives it an edge compared to Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and other Mono-Black Sacrifice Commanders. With explosive, synergistic elements like Phyrexian Tower and Lake of the Dead in the mix, this deck is much better suited to race Lumra, Bellow of the Woods decks. Shredder also fights over the Monarchy against Aragorn, King of Gondor more effectively.
At the same time, though, this Mono-Black Sacrifice build isn’t as vulnerable to Pyrokinesis and Fury as some other aggro decks. Having access to discard spells like Thoughtseize and Grief is also a huge boon that traditional red and white aggro decks lack.
This isn’t to say that Super Shredder shells are foolproof. In fact, this deck’s matchup against Mono-Red Aggro is quite dicey. Many of your recursive threats don’t block, making it tough to keep pace. Without any counterspells or strong sources of life gain, burn spells are also a big liability.
Nonetheless, Duel Commander is super diverse, and it’s hard to feel advantaged over every archetype. This deck may ultimately be new, but there still seems to be a lot going in its favor. Given the lack of assertive mono-black strategies in the format, it’s nice to see this unique deck showcase its competitive merit. Super Shredder is a heck of a card, so don’t be surprised if it pops up more and more.
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