> Deck Description

The deck is centered around casting Ramses, Assassin Lord and being able to do combat damage with it, kill an opponent with commander damage and win the game. We run a lot of cards to be able to do so.

In general, this is the high-level strategy:

• Win the game through Tainted Pact/Demonic Consultation + Thassa's Oracle.
• Win the game killing an opponent with an Assassin.

You will ever only cast your commander when you know you can protect it and have your combo pieces in place.

> Gameplan

> Early Game

Depending on the mulligans, turn order and pod composition we should already have a feeling if we’re able to try and win early. If we think we can, we want to wait for the right opportunity to seize a window to go for it. If there is no real chance, we will just keep on grinding value and wait for the right time. We can choose at this stage if we want to win with the ThOracle line or with the Assassination line.

> Mid Game

If we did not win already we should have generated some form of card advantage engine with cards like Rhystic Study or Mystic Remora. If our opponents are keeping up interaction, we will keep on generating value and collecting the right spells for the right moment. Here we should focus on setting up our creatures with an all creature type card like Arcane Adaptation or Maskwood Nexus and collect the other combo pieces.

> Late Game

One of the biggest qualities of Ramses, is the capability to comeback and stay in the Midgame after an early win attempt got stopped by our opponents. We will be able to try again at some point in the midgame. In my opinion it is important to go for it at this stage of the game, because our winning chances in the Late Game aren’t usually very high vs. certain stax lists or dedicated Late Game decks. Just like any other proactive list that runs blue, we either want a carefully timed overloaded Cyclonic Rift to free ourselves from a staxed late game board state or accumulate enough protection to try and win again at the right moment.

> Winning

How to win? Assassinate! The main wincon of this list is to kill an opponent with an Assassin and our commander in the battlefield. Hatred + unblockable card, is our best card for doing this in any way, either with commander damage of with enough life to kill an opponent.

> Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation

Tutor these two cards, cast Thassa's Oracle, let it resolve, when its trigger is in the stack, cast Demonic Consultation, exile your hole library and win the game.

> Thassa's Oracle + Tainted Pact

The same as above.

> Ramses, Assasin Lord + Hatred + Aqueous Form / Artful Dodge / Distortion Strike / Infiltrate (+ Tainted Strike)

With your commander on the battlefield and enough resources to protect him, make it unblockable with any of the cards listed above, go to combat, and before damage cast Hatred, there are forms of making enough mana to do so.
Alternatively, if you have a low life you can also cast Tainted Strike and kill an opponent with infect.

> Ramses, Assasin Lord + Hatred / Tainted Strike + any creature + Arcane Adaptation / Maskwood Nexus

Attack with your every creature type creatures and cast a hatred or a tainted strike for enough to kill an opponent (usually with the lowest life total) to win the game.

> Words of Wisdom

• Cavern of Souls
  o Name Wizards.
   This will make Dark Confidant, Snapcaster Mage, Spellseeker, and Thassa's Oracle uncounterable.
  o Name Humans.
   This will make Dark Confidant, Opposition Agent, Notion Thief, Snapcaster Mage, and Spellseeker uncounterable.
• Windfall
  o Synergy with Narset, Parter of Veils to empty your opponents’ hands and refresh your own.
  o Synergy with Notion Thief to draw you a lot of cards.
• Life as a Resource
  o There are 27 cards in this deck that use life as a resource to gain advantage:
   8 Fetch Lands
   Ad Nauseam
   Ancient Tomb
   Cephalid Coliseum
   City of Brass
   Dark Confidant
   Force of Will
   Gitaxian Probe
   Imperial Seal
   Lim-Dûl's Vault
   Mana Confluence
   Mana Crypt
   Mental Misstep
   Necropotence
   Spire of Industry
   Talisman of Dominance
   Toxic Deluge
   Underground River
   Vampiric Tutor
   Watery Grave