The Commander
Binding Contract — If you would draw a card, exile the top card of your library face down instead.
: Draw seven cards.
: Return all cards exiled with Asmodeus to their owner's hand and you lose that much life.
Guide
Gameplan
Asmodeus is a mono-black card-advantage engine and combo enabler: he locks down your normal draws into exile, then refills your hand with : Draw seven, and to retrieve everything at a life cost. You weaponize the massive hand and life-loss into a fast combo or grindy black control finish, using rituals and life-as-resource payoffs.
Strengths
- Explosive, repeatable card advantage that few mono-black decks can match
- Cheap to recast (6 mana) and the abilities are mana-efficient once you ramp
- Fits the deep mono-black toolbox of tutors, ramp rocks, and recursion
- Synergizes perfectly with life-payment and life-loss payoffs
Weaknesses
- The 'exile instead of draw' clause shuts off most other card draw unless you have ways to access exile
- Returning exiled cards costs equal life, which can be lethal with a large pile
- No evasion, protection, or board impact — purely an engine that invites removal
- Color-locked to black, so no counterspells or efficient interaction outside removal
Key Cards
- Bolas's Citadel — Lets you cast off the top of your library, sidestepping Asmodeus's draw replacement while burning through your deck.
- Peer into the Abyss — A second mass-draw payoff that pairs with life-gain or a discard outlet for explosive turns.
- Aetherflux Reservoir — Turns the relentless card flow and life payments into a 50-life laser to one-shot the table.
- Underworld Dreams — Converts your huge draw-seven turns into symmetrical-but-you-control burn against opponents.
- Necropotence — Another exile-based card engine that meshes with Asmodeus's already exile-centric gameplay and life economy.
- Dark Ritual — Ritual mana powers out an early Asmodeus and immediately fuels the draw-seven.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Jet Medallion, Bubbling Muck) so you can cast Asmodeus and immediately draw seven, then deploy a payoff the same turn. Lean into exile-aware draw like Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence plus lifegain (Defiant Bloodlord, Sanguine Bond) to make the return ability non-lethal. Tighten the tutor package — Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Imperial Seal — to consistently assemble the Aetherflux Reservoir or storm kill.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Aetherflux Reservoir burst killing the table after chaining cheap spells
- ▸Underworld Dreams / Sheoldred punishing your own mass draws to drain opponents
- ▸Bolas's Citadel storm into an infinite or near-infinite payoff
- ▸Grinding the table out with relentless card advantage and a finisher creature
Archetypes
- Combo — Massive card flow plus life-as-resource finds and assembles loops like Aetherflux Reservoir or Bolas's Citadel storm turns.
- Control — Mono-black removal and recursion grind opponents out while Asmodeus refuels your hand indefinitely.
- Aristocrats — Life loss and a glut of cheap creatures feed sacrifice payoffs and Blood Artist-style drain.
- Reanimator — Filling your hand and exiling cards supports big reanimation targets paired with discard outlets and Animate Dead effects.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
