Nebuchadnezzar, Won with Nothing Episode 2

Commander / EDH Control Discard Humans Monarch Pillow Fort UB (Dimir) Will of the Council Wizards

Won_with_Nothing

Politics (17)

• 1x Bloodthirsty Blade
• 1x Coercive Portal
• 1x Court of Ambition
• 1x Court of Cunning
• 1x Coveted Jewel
• 1x Crown of Doom
• 1x Custodi Lich
• 1x Fall from Favor
• 1x Feast of Succession
• 1x Intellectual Offering
• 1x Liar's Pendulum
• 1x Manifold Insights
• 1x Marchesa's Decree
• 1x Plea for Power
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Temple Bell
• 1x Thorn of the Black Rose

Land (37)

• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 15x Island
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Throne of the High City
• 1x Underground River

Endgame (3)

• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Rite of Replication
• 1x Wound Reflection

Answers (16)

• 1x Aether Gale
• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x Baleful Mastery
• 1x Blink of an Eye
• 1x Consuming Tide
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Echoing Truth
• 1x Erratic Portal
• 1x Illusionist's Gambit
• 1x King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Negate
• 1x Phyrexian Ingester
• 1x River's Rebuke
• 1x Spell Pierce

Pillow Fort (10)

• 1x Carrion Wall
• 1x Dissipation Field
• 1x Forsaken Wastes
• 1x Hissing Miasma
• 1x Lethal Vapors
• 1x Living Wall
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Psychic Membrane
• 1x Revenge of Ravens
• 1x Wall of Bone

Commander (1)

Utility (16)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Dingus Staff
• 1x Glasses of Urza
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Psychic Possession
• 1x Puppet Strings
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Thunderstaff
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

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About the Deck

Meet Nebuchadnezzar, the subject of Episode 2 of my best worst commander series, Won with Nothing.

All the Nebuchadnezzar builds I've ever seen are discard or control, but I don't think he's a commander for either of those things. His ability is too expensive for consistent discard pressure and he doesn't do anything inherently for control, other than occasionally picking off a revealed card in an opponent's hand. Consider his ability further, however, and you realize that Nebuchadnezzar's power isn't in forcing an unsavory discard, but in threating one. This realization inspired me to go Nebuchadnezzar politics, which led to a hilariously fun and flavorful build that I'm excited to share with you all.

King of the Castle, King of the Castle

What is a king without his crown? Allow me to answer that question with another question: How many cards are there in blue black that will gingerly place a velvety crown on Nebuchadnezzar's dome? (Quick mathing, aaaand....) Thirteen! Thirteen cards in blue black will crown Nebuchadnezzar the monarch he rightfully is. We run eight of them.

• Court of Ambition
• Court of Cunning
• Custodi Lich
• Fall from Favor
• Feast of Succession
• Thorn of the Black Rose
• Marchesa's Decree
• Throne of the High City

It's worth remembering that being the monarch has its perks beyond prestige. When Nebuchadnezzar starts or ends his turn as the monarch, we get to trigger some powerful abilities and draw a card, respectively. Of course, you'll notice an ugly flash of greed in your opponents' eyes the moment you ascend the throne, so about that, dear reader, read on.

To the Pillowfort!

Opponents often become distracted and get confused about what they want. When they see that big, shiny, card-drawing crown on your wizened head, they may think they want to steal it. Our job is to remind them that attacking us is needlessly difficult and wouldn't they rather deal with the real threats? (i.e: another player who is likely way ahead of us).

To help redirect our opponents' attention, we run a helpful set of persuasive tools:

• Hissing Miasma
• Revenge of Ravens
• Dissipation Field
• Propaganda

And shiny baubles they can chase like cats after a tinfoil ball:

• Coveted Jewel
• Crown of Doom
• Bloodthirsty Blade

And if those don't work, we also have means to discourage too much creature buildup. Commander is lousy with token strategies, so it's worth being prepared to punish players who are slapping down dozens of goblins, squirrels, spirits, myr, or whatever the case may be every turn.

• Poisonbelly Ogre
• Lethal Vapors
• Echoing Truth

Lastly, we run Forsaken Wastes to help ensure the life loss we're passively inflicting isn't easily recovered.

Negotiating

"Everything is negotiable." ~ Nebuchadnezzar (maybe). I packed as many on-theme political cards as possible into this build, within certain limits. Though tempting, I ultimately avoided cards like Tyrant's Choice and Bite of the Black Rose because there simply aren't enough of those cards to go a full vote strategy, and their effects are fairly weak in commander. The space that would have gone to Tyrant's Choice, Bite of the Black Rose, Grudge Keeper, or Illusion of Choice, was better used on answers to protect our board state. I did, however, include a few of the stronger vote cards, such as Capital Punishment, Plea for Power, and Coercive Portal just to encourage discussion among players, which always leads to more fun.

You're a liar and a cheat!

One of my favorite includes in this deck by far is Liar's Pendulum. I initially thought this card was at best two mana for a 50/50 chance at card draw. Pretty terrible. After reading the discussion boards on gatherer, however, I saw that the real utility of this card isn't drawing, but making your opponents think they know your hand. As the example goes, if you name Counterspell, which we run, your opponent might guess that you have it or don't. If they guess you don't have it, and you actually do, you may choose NOT to reveal your hand. This will make your opponent think you don't have a counter spell, because what sane player would both run Liar's Pendulum AND neglect to draw a card off an incorrect guess? On the other hand, if your opponent guesses that you do have Counterspell and you actually don't, you may also neglect to reveal your hand. This will make your opponent think you do have a counter spell, and they will play accordingly.

The same goes for other answers that will affect how your opponents play, like Aetherspouts, Illusionist's Gambit, or Rite of Replication. Bottom line, Liar's Pendulum is ultra fun. Excellent flavor. On theme. If there were more effects like this, I would run them.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I'm quite pleased with how old Nebuchadnezzar turned out. His ability to put his thumb on the scale of any decision is endlessly entertaining: "I mean, if you don't do that, then I might target another player for a random discard," or "If you do this for me, I'll get rid of X card you don't like in that player's hand."

If you like Nebuchadnezzar and the way I build decks, you'll enjoy my new YouTube channel Won with Nothing. The channel is brand new. I'd love to have your support as a subscriber. But most importantly, I hope I give you some fun ideas for building and playing your next deck. Cheers.

Top Ranked	Achieved #66 position overall 2 years ago Achieved #53 position in Commander / EDH 2 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Wizards 2 years ago
Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.49
Tokens	Copy Clone, Gold, Monarch Emblem, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Commander/EDH, EDH