Demons are so hot right now, thanks to the upcoming release of New Capenna. There is no shortage of Demon fans in Commander, and plenty of examples of sweet Demon decks that have been built in homage to this powerful tribe. Most play Rakdos, the Showstopper as their commander, and I’ve picked up that Demons synergize a little more than most with Rakdos’ enter-the-battlefield ability.
Rather than just build around Demons, Devils and Imps, IPacifist has also included a fair bit of coin-flipping technology to have even more fun when the big six-mana 6/6 arrives at the party. You’ve still got the huge suite of terrifying Demons, of course, but a few other guests mean the chaos of coin flipping is even more entertaining than usual!
Demon Tribal by IPacifist
Commander
Creature (27)
Sorcery (10)
Instant (8)
Artifact (8)
Enchantment (8)
Land (38)
Firstly, the Demons. All the usual suspects are here, from Rune-Scarred Demon to Demon of Dark Schemes to Bloodgift Demon. No reason not to play ’em – although they are a little expensive, so it’s good to have options in the early game. Maddening Imp has weird, boomer-style goad, while Varragoth is just about as cheap as Demons come (not including Dream Devourer, notably absent from this list).
Demon decks don’t have any trouble at all making huge, swingy plays as the game goes on. They’re full of high-impact, expensive cards that offer outrageously powerful effects, some one-time, some ongoing, that force opponents to keep dealing with the threats they churn out. Some Demons will act as removal, some as card draw, and meanwhile they’re all hitting you for five or more in the air each turn.
But in the early turns, it’s much more about developing your mana with signets and other mana rocks, ramping up to all those huge six-or-more drops that will overtake the battlefield. And if they don’t, the big 6/6 half-the-time-it-works-every-time Rakdos, the Showstopper might help you get back in the game. That’s not to say, however, that we can’t give him a little help.
Krark’s Thumb can help to rig the coin tosses in our favor, and while we’re at it, let’s toss some more coins! Mirror March for extra, albeit temporary, Demons, Planar Chaos to “manage” the stack, and if all else fails and the Demons don’t come through for you, there’s always the option of winning the game with Chance Encounter. What’s that? Chance Encounter is too difficult to trigger? Okay then, what about Liliana’s Contract – you’ll hardly have difficulty pulling four Demons together in this list!
This deck, unusually for tribal lists, doesn’t go all-in on tribal synergies. Demons don’t need lords, I guess, and you’re not wasting time with things like Coat of Arms or Vanquisher’s Banner. There is Mirror of the Forebears and Kindred Dominance, but aside from that a lot of the tribal classics – Metallic Mimic and friends – are nowhere to be seen. I guess Demons are good enough on their own!
