Legendary Creature — Elder Demon

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

Mana value4EDHREC#2,289

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The Commander

Flying

Ward—Pay 2 life.

Whenever an opponent loses life for the first time during each of their turns, put a +1/+1 counter on Valgavoth and draw a card.

Guide

Gameplan

Valgavoth is a cheap, evasive engine that turns incidental life loss on opponents' turns into card advantage and a growing flying threat. You want to force every opponent to lose life on each of their turns via pingers, group-slug enchantments, and symmetrical damage, drawing a fistful of cards and beating in for the kill. Curve out into a low-cost commander, deploy persistent damage sources, and grind the table down while refilling your hand.

Strengths

Cheap (4 MV) flier that snowballs into a real clock with +1/+1 counters
Ward—Pay 2 life plus the life-loss trigger punishes attempts to interact with him
Built-in card advantage engine that scales with the number of opponents
Rakdos has elite removal, recursion, and aggressive group-slug effects

Weaknesses

Trigger only fires on opponents' turns, so you need passive/repeatable damage rather than burst
Relies on the commander being in play; without him the slug engine has no payoff
Vulnerable to lifegain and damage-prevention effects that blank your triggers
BR lacks enchantment/artifact removal and clean board-wipe insurance for the table

Key Cards

Citadel of Pain — Punishes untapped lands on each opponent's upkeep, guaranteeing a draw and counter every turn cycle.
Underworld Dreams — Forces life loss whenever opponents draw, reliably triggering Valgavoth across the table.
Manabarbs — Every land an opponent taps deals damage, all but assuring a trigger on each of their turns.
Sulfuric Vortex — Cheap, recurring upkeep damage that also shuts off opposing lifegain to protect your engine.
Bolt Bend — Cheap protection that redirects targeted removal aimed at your commander.
Pestilence — Repeatable, sweeping life loss you can fire on opponents' turns to draw while clearing blockers.

Upgrade Path

Lean harder into passive, symmetrical damage (Citadel of Pain, Manabarbs, Sulfuric Vortex, Spiteful Visions) so triggers happen automatically rather than relying on your own actions. Add protection (Bolt Bend, Deflecting Swat, Lightning Greaves) and fast mana (Rakdos Signet, talismans, Jeska's Will) to deploy and shield the commander early. Top-end the deck with Anje Falkenrath-style card filtering or a reliable burn finisher (Torment of Hailfire) to convert the card advantage into a closing turn.

Core Cards

From 1 Mythicwyrm deck.

Win Conditions

▸Beating down with a snowballing evasive Valgavoth carrying counters and equipment
▸Group-slug enchantments draining the whole table to death over a few turn cycles
▸Out-carding opponents into a critical mass of burn and finishing with reach/double strike
▸Aristocrats drain loops backed by Valgavoth's card flow

Archetypes

Group Slug — Symmetric damage enchantments turn every opponent's turn into a card and a counter for Valgavoth.
Aristocrats — Sacrifice and drain effects can be timed to bleed opponents on their turns and grow the commander.
Aggro/Voltron — An evasive flier that grows itself can carry equipment and protection to close games fast.
Spellslinger Burn — Pingers and direct-damage outlets reliably trip the first-life-loss clause each turn.