BlackLegendary Creature — Wraith NobleWitch-king, Bringer of Ruin
Mana value6Rank#7,532
The Commander
Flying
Whenever Witch-king attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature with the least power among creatures they control.
Guide
Gameplan
Witch-king is a mono-black evasive beater that grinds down boards by forcing each defending player to sacrifice their weakest creature whenever it attacks. You play a midrange-to-control game: ramp into the commander, protect it, swing every turn to strip blockers and chip life, then close with reanimation, drain, or a big finisher. The edict-on-attack synergizes with token swarms and ping effects that shrink opposing creatures into easy sacrifice fodder.
Strengths
- Repeatable, free creature removal every combat that ignores hexproof/indestructible/protection
- Flying evasion makes it hard to block and reliably gets the trigger online
- Mono-black gives access to the best tutors, reanimation, and drain in the format
- Punishes go-wide token decks and pillow-fort defenders by eating their chumps
- Forces sacrifice even when you can't kill the targeted creature in combat
Weaknesses
- The edict only hits the lowest-power creature, so it whiffs against players hoarding tokens or weenies you'd rather not let them keep
- Removal-light board states let opponents keep their key threats while sacrificing junk
- Single big threat strategy is vulnerable to spot removal and board wipes
- No built-in card advantage or protection on the commander itself
- Six mana means it can come down late against fast combo decks
Key Cards
- Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable and shroud so Witch-king connects every turn and dodges targeted removal.
- Bitterblossom — Floods the board with cheap fliers that also pressure opponents while Witch-king edicts away their best blockers.
- Liliana, Dreadhorde General — Adds a second repeatable sacrifice edict plus card draw, stacking forced sacrifices each turn.
- Reanimate — Cheats Witch-king or other bombs into play early and rebuys threats lost to wraths.
- Grave Pact — Turns every attack-trigger sacrifice into a multiplayer board-wide edict, accelerating the grind.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Protection, evasion help, and untapping lands turn each connect into explosive tempo.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana (Dark Ritual, Jet Medallion, Cabal Coffers + Urborg) to deploy and protect the commander ahead of curve, and lean into stacked sacrifice effects like Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, and Liliana, Dreadhorde General to multiply the forced edicts. Tighten the protection package (Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Whispersilk Cloak) so removal doesn't reset your engine, and include efficient tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to assemble drain or combo finishers consistently.
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
- ▸Repeated commander-damage and flying beats backed by the edict stripping defenders
- ▸Aristocrat drain via Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat as opponents bleed creatures
- ▸Reanimating a finisher like Sheoldred or Gray Merchant for a lethal swing or drain
- ▸Grinding everyone to topdecks with edicts plus Grave Pact, then closing with any threat
Archetypes
- Voltron — Equipment and auras make the flier unblockable and lethal while the edict clears would-be blockers.
- Aristocrats — Sacrifice payoffs like Grave Pact and Blood Artist convert the forced sacrifices into value and drain.
- Control — Mono-black removal, hand attack, and the repeatable edict let you dismantle boards and win on the back of one threat.
- Reanimator — Black's reanimation suite rebuys Witch-king and other fatties to keep pressure after wraths.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
