Eddie, Lord of LightEddie, Lord of Light | Art by Akirant

Whether you’ve been playing Magic for a long time, or you’re just getting into the game through the recent Iron Maiden Secret Lair, the reputation of Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the Mindrazer precedes himself. When I first started playing Commander in 2013, I fell in love with this Grixis () powerhouse.

It held such a special place in my heart that, when I returned to the game in 2019, I knew I had to build an updated deck for my collection, which is what I'm showing off today! This list contains some of the most powerful cards I’ve pulled over the years, which includes several Game Changers, placing it in the Bracket 4 Optimized tier; so, you know it's sure to pack a punch.

With all that being said, join me, Tyler ‘Spendsya’ Bucks, for a rare non-budget deck list around one of my favorite legends.

The Commander - Eddie, Lord of Light

If you’ve ever been up against a Nekusar deck, you know you’re going to be drawing a lot of cards, and probably not loving it as much as you normally would. Well, that’s the same goal with this list here. It’s packed with ways to fill up your opponent's hands, while ticking their life totals down in the process.

Since this is a personal deck of mine, you don't have to include every one of the cards we talk about today in your own 99; I don't want the price of these singles to put you off building this entirely. That’s especially true if you want to make room for the cards from the Secret Lair x Iron Maiden: Eddie Unchained drop, since a few of those reprints will do some real damage in this list.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the spells that’ll make your opponents run to the hills in no time.

Card Draw Punishment

• Scrawling CrawlerScrawling Crawler: One of the newest cards on this list, and also one of the strongest. This creature is basically Nekusar-lite, which makes the fact that it only cost three mana all the more impactful.
• Fate UnravelerFate Unraveler: An absolute classic from the old Theros days; getting this card out the turn before your commander is always a great one-two punch.
• Spiteful VisionsSpiteful Visions: While this enchantment might look harmless for your life total at first glance, be warned: it also deals damage to you for drawing cards. So, it's best to deploy this when you're ready to take out the rest of the table.

• Underworld DreamsUnderworld Dreams: Even though this spell is pip intensive (costing you ) it isn't as hard to cast in this deck, since we have an optimized mana base to work with.
• Phyrexian TyrannyPhyrexian Tyranny: Here's another example of a card that also affects you, but let's just hope you've lowered the rest of the table's life totals by the time you resolve this. Two damage per card could be enough to take out your foes by casting one mass-draw effect.
• Harmonic ProdigyHarmonic Prodigy: Now it might not look like it at first glance, but this little creature can close out games. Since both of the abilities on your Wizard commander are triggered abilities, that'll ensure everyone draws more cards and loses even more life than they're ready for.

Draw Your Foes to Death

• Winds of ChangeWinds of Change: While this doesn't make people draw a full seven cards like some other wheel effects do, you'll find that players tend to have a pretty full hand at all times during your games, making this deal a huge amount of damage for only a single mana.
• WindfallWindfall: Here's a card you've probably seen in casual games of Commander. Making everyone's hand the same size sounds friendly on paper; however, it could just end people's games if someone is sitting there with a huge grip they've been holding onto.
• Whispering MadnessWhispering Madness: This spell has helped me close out more matches than you might think. Since you can cipher it onto an evasive creature, it means you're poised to wheel the table turn after turn...

• Magus of the WheelMagus of the Wheel: While this deck is filled with more expensive cards than I'm used to, I still need to save my bucks somewhere. One of the ways I can do that is by not buying an actual Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune... This creature will do just fine for now, thanks.
• Jace's ArchivistJace's Archivist: Everything I brought up while speaking on the power of WindfallWindfall earlier applies here too. However, this time around, you can repeatably activate this effect whenever you have a blue mana open and this Vedalken's untapped.
• Nin, the Pain ArtistNin, the Pain Artist: With this card, we get to pair creature removal with player removal. Sniping another person's threat, and making them draw cards in the process, can set someone back on board and with their life total.

• Zenith ChroniclerZenith Chronicler: I adore playing cards like this in Commander. Since there are so many ways to punish people for drawing cards, you get to put this choice in the hands of the other players at the table: do they want to cast their spells, or protect everyone else's life totals?
• Fevered VisionsFevered Visions: While this enchantment doesn't ping people for each card they draw, it does add more cards to the table, while punishing them a little bit for the gluttony of their hands.
• Stormfist CrusaderStormfist Crusader: Since this Knight's only two mana to cast, you can get it down early and start drawing everyone cards just to get them on your good side. Once your commander is out, however, they'll start growing some malice towards their former stormfisted friend.

• ProsperityProsperity: If you want to stop messing around with incremental draw effects, you can always pay as much mana as possible into a spell like this to deliver the whole table a handful of pain.
• Minds AglowMinds Aglow: Now I know your opponents are probably tired of getting dealt damage for their card draw, however you never know if you could use some politics with another player as you cast this spell to help knock out a mutual enemy.
• Damnable PactDamnable Pact: Typically, you target yourself with this effect, but in this deck, it could ensure you take someone's life total all the way down to zero if you have enough mana.

Hand Filling Interaction

• EvacuationEvacuation: While this board sweeper is great in a lot of decks, when paired with this commander, it puts people in an extra sticky situation. When their hands are already overly filled, bouncing all their creatures can make for a rough discard step.
• Prismari CommandPrismari Command: Since you get to choose two modes with this instant, you can always pick a variation of these effects that best fits your needs. Plus, you could target another player with that draw and discard effect to deal them a little more damage out of nowhere.
• Arcane DenialArcane Denial: Here's a classic counterspell in our format that gets even better in this deck. Since you have so many card draw punishment effects in the list, they may just decline to draw those two cards on the next upkeep.

The Game Changers

All right, since I'm a budget builder at heart, I knew I needed to dedicate a whole section just to these powerhouses hidden in the 99. When I first put this deck back together, these we're not yet classified as Game Changers; however when they did meet that distinction, I knew just how warranted it was.

Sometimes, if you're going to have an evil deck, lean into it.

• Orcish BowmastersOrcish Bowmasters: I was lucky enough to pull a foil one of these out of a Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth booster pack and I knew exactly where it needed to go. In this deck, you can truly control the board with these nasty Archers.
• Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship: If this deck does its thing, you'll become the enemy at the table, so having a way to protect your game plan for free tends to come in handy because of that.

• Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach: As you play this list, you'll find that your graveyard is filled with a large number of nasty spells just waiting to be played again. Since that's the case, this enchantment can quickly turn into a win condition for the deck.
• Jeska's WillJeska's Will: Sure, filling up your opponent's hands can be risky, but why not take advantage of that? Getting access to a few more cards and making a large amount of mana could spell the end of the game for the rest of the table.

Eddie, Lord of Light Commander Decklist

In Closing

There you have it, by far the most expensive deck I’ve ever featured for EDHREC. If you'd like some good budget alternates for some of these cards, I have plenty of articles covering that topic. If you're looking for strong Grixis cards, you can check out the deck I made around Norman Osborn. If you want to save some bucks in the land base, I did an entire piece all about the best budget dual lands in Commander.

Finally, if you would like to hear more about my personal deck, and why it means so much to me, you can check out my YouTube channel The Pillow Fort. I did a whole video going over my updated Nekusar list, which was a deck 10 years in the making.

Read More: