EDH Liliana, Heretical Healer: Best Discard Hands Down (EDH / Commander)

Update In progress: Refocused, New Cards from WAR.

Warning: This deck isn't necessarily fun for your opponents. Some players may enjoy the challenge of trying to beat you before their hand falls apart, but many will feel frustrated by the strategy. Consider whether you really want to do this to your friends, and maybe only build this if you have a few less infuriating decks you can play with. If the table targets you immediately every time you play the deck, well, you know what you did (and it may be worth considering a few slots for more protection/interference like swiftfoot boots or glacial chasm if so)

The strategy of this deck is:

(A) control your opponents progress by disrupting their hand with cards like Liliana, Defiant Necromancer (+1). I've split these into effects that get periodic value like Oppression, and mass discard effects like Myojin of Night's Reach. A few of these cards are wheel effects like Anvil of Bogardan or Dark Deal that trigger discard matters cards without actually reducing the number of cards in hand for opponents (this can be useful for part B because a top decking opponent typically will not be able to discard on your turn)

(B) Punish them further for discarding with effect like Lilliana's Caress. The best card in this suite is Waste Not for its consistent value, and it's often worth tutoring for as soon as possible. The only tricky thing about this part of the strategy (as mentioned above) is that if step A is going well your opponents may run out of cards to discard. For this reason the engine is split between cards that punish discarding and cards that punish the opponent for being empty handed. If possible you'll want to play the former first, possibly even saving the latter to dodge enchantment board wipes. With the right set of permanents on board a card like Dark Deal can win the game, and Torment of Hailfire becomes even more deadly than usual.

(C) Capitalize on the graveyards full of creatures with cards like Rise of the Dark Realms or Liliana's minus abilities. This can take place in the early/mid game by giving you fuel and options while your opponents are top decking with recursion cards like Phyrexian Reclamation, and in the late game it becomes a Win Condition with cards like Rise of the Dark Realms or the new Finale of Eternity. This both serves as a Plan B if the main strategy is disrupted, and a way to close out games with a big play.

Notes

• I run a copy of Mastermind's Acquisition which allows you to tutor for cards outside the game. The EDH official rule on wish cards is "ask your playgroup", which means in the absence of a consensus they do not function. If your playgroup allows them (and most will) they generally allow you to retrieve cards from a preselected sideboard (aka a Wishboard). I'm still experimenting with what cards should go into the wishboard for now, but it allows the deck to run a few more situational cards, and to put expensive "end the game" away until you're ready for them.
• Black excels at recycling/reanimating creatures but not other card types. For this reason utility cards that are also creatures have added value.
• Black also struggles to remove non creature permanents. This means you may be reliant on other players to interrupt combos. Enchantment based silver bullet cards like Spiritual Focus exist, and it may be worth adding expensive all purpose removal like meteor golem in your wish board or even main deck depending on your playgroup. I already run Oblivion Stone (Nev's Disk is a good budget alternative) in the main for emergencies but because we run a lot of enchantments using it can be a huge setback.