>Introduction

No really, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is just all around better for a Jund deck. He replaced Lord Windgrace as the Jund lands commander and replaced every Jund sacrifice commander, including Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire. Having a really powerful source of card draw on a commander makes him really easy to play. He's even in this deck as a source of card advantage.

Regardless, I like Vaevictis. Having him as the commander makes the deck way more interactive. You can get rid of everyone's best permanent every turn. Because your opponent's have lots of lands, instants, and sorceries, it's unlikely they will flip into something amazing, so it's pretty low-risk. The downside is that people do not like their permanents getting removed, so you best believe that Vaevictis will be a magnet for removal.

To make things more difficult, this is a Primal Surge build. That means there are no instants and sorceries besides Primal Surge, so when you cast Primal Surge, the whole deck comes out. But the downside to having no instants/sorceries means that the deck is very predictable. Your opponents will know if you have interaction or not, which means you can't do bluffing either.

This is a challenging deck, but a lot of fun if you like proactive removal control rather than reactive control.

>Intro to Primal Surge

Because this deck revolves around Primal Surge it's important to understand the rulings.

• You will stop flipping when you choose to, when you reveal an instant or sorcery, or if you reveal an aura with no legal targets. That last one is relevant as Kaya's Ghostform has to be a creature or planeswalker you control. There are also a number of auras that enchant creatures, so if there are no creatures on the battlefield, you likely won't win.
• Primal Surge only checks the front face of a card. So Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands won't stop the flipping.
• "If putting any of those permanent cards onto the battlefield causes abilities to trigger, those abilities will wait to go on the stack until Primal Surge has finished resolving. Starting with the active player, each player puts their abilities on the stack in any order." So you don't resolve anything between flips.

If you're a blue deck you can just use Thassa's Oracle to win. Other colours need to get more creative with their game-ending play. This deck has a few combos, but they don't win the game immediately like with Thassa's Oracle.

>Tricks with Vaevictis

First off, this ability is not like Chaos Warp. I need to get that out of the way right now.

Because Vaevictis causes the permanents to be sacrificed you can take advantage of sacrifice triggers with things like Mayhem Devil and Deathreap Ritual. But the second key difference is that the library is not shuffled before the reveal. This means you can use top-deck manipulation to give yourself a good card on top before attacking with Vaevictis. Sensei's Divining Top, Mirri's Guile, and Sylvan Library are all good for this. You can manipulate Colossification to the top and one-shot a player.

The other thing to remember with Vaevictis is that the player only reveals the top card if they sacrificed their permanent to Vaevictis. So let's say you target someone's Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines and in response they sacrifice her to Viscera Seer. That player would not reveal the top card and put it on the battlefield. The same is true if in response they give it some kind of protection, or if the target can't be sacrificed (through something like Assault Suit or Sigarda, Host of Herons).

Vaevictis' ability also gets around indestructible, but not hexproof or shroud. It's why this deck uses Arcane Lighthouse and Shadowspear. This ability can also target any permanent, including lands. If you're evil like me you can use this to keep someone off of a colour. Just keep in mind that if they do flip into something it will probably be better than the Boros Garrison you just removed.

>Weaknesses

Oh boy, where to begin! First off, no instants or sorceries. That means no Deflecting Swat, Veil of Summer, Rishkar's Expertise, Nature's Claim, Abrade, and countless other staples that would definitely help this deck. Because of this the deck is very predictable; your opponents can see if you have a response. Unless you're holding a Boseiju, Who Endures or Guardian Augmenter, your opponents will know what to expect. It's very difficult to bait and bluff with this deck. It's also very hard to stop combos, as you instead have to use your removal to prevent the opponent from building into a combo, instead of dealing with the combo when it appears. While there are things like Seal of Primordium and Ulvenwald Tracker that can remove something instant-speed, your opponent sees them coming and will bait you into using them before going for their combo. Or simply removing them.

Second, I've built this deck to revolve around Vaevictis and he's a huge glutton for removal. It's very difficult to keep him alive. To make matters worse, I really focused this deck on getting Vaevictis out as soon as possible, which is why I chose mana dorks over the more resilient types of ramp (artifacts and lands). But this means that a board wipe will not only remove Vaevictis, but most of the mana of this deck. I've often wondered if a more resilient build would fare better, and I encourage someone to try it out.

Third, this deck has no pillowfort and only one source of lifegain. If you can't keep the aggro decks down they will deal way more damage to you, taking you out of the game. I have tried to slot in Silent Arbiter and Crawlspace in the past, but found it difficult.

Writing all of this out, the deck is a huge glass cannon. I have no idea how this deck has won any games.

>Gameplan

>Starting Hands

Your first priority is getting Vaevictis onto the battlefield. This deck has a lot of mana ramp so it's not unusual to get a turn 3 Vaevictis. So keep a hand with at least 1 piece of ramp. Anything less and you should mulligan the hand unless you have some good top-deck manipulation or early card draw (Humble Defector) that can get you some ramp. The other thing to keep an eye out for in a starting hand is sacrifice fodder. This can be simple stuff like Loyal Apprentice which will guarantee a thopter for you to target, or something like Sarkhan Vol where you can gain control of an opponent's creature and sacrifice that. While you can sacrifice your own mana dorks with Vaevictis, it's not ideal.

>Setup

Turn 1: You should play mana ramp. There are ~10 ramp spells that can be played turn 1 in this deck. If you can't do mana ramp, Mirri's Guile or Sensei's Divining Top make good turn 1 plays.
Turn 2: Play more mana ramp. This deck can pretty consistently get a turn 4 Vaevictis, often turn 3. If you're out of ramp, instead play a fodder spell, haste enabler, or some card advantage.
Turn 3-4: Vaevictis comes out during this time, and will attack the same turn (if there's a haste enabler) or the following turn. You should pretty much always target your opponents' best permanents and your worst. The odds of them flipping into something that's better is low, while the odds of you flipping into something better is high.
Turn 5+: Your next priority is protecting Vaevictis. Players don't really like their strongest permanent being removed every turn, so they will want to remove Vaevictis. There are a lot of cards that give him some form of hexproof, so playing one of those next is priority. After that, card advantage. This deck is really good at mana ramp but not so good at finding cards to spend that mana on. Anything that can draw you cards is valuable, and you'll need them if you have any hope of building into a combo.

>Using Vaevictis

We've pretty much covered everything there is with Vaevictis, except the political aspect. Remember, people won't want their strongest permanent removed each turn, so that gives you something to bargain with. This deck has absolutely no pillowfort, so making a deal with someone to not attack you is a good plan. The problem? Because this deck is entirely sorcery-speed, you don't really have any sort of collateral. If someone decides to break a deal there's not much you can do about it.

>Winning the Game

>Voltron

First, the most basic way of winning is combat damage. This is incredibly slow. Vaevictis has flying, and there are enough buffs (Ignoble Hierarch, Shadowspear, Runes of the Deus) to help him kill someone through commander damage. The problem is that for each opponent it will take approximately 3 attacks to kill them, so 9 turns to end the game. In that time, someone will either remove Vaevictis or find a way to win themselves. Other aggro decks will be able to out-pace this deck in damage, so they will likely take you out before you take them out. However, there is a Colossification in this deck, which allows you to one-shot players. Unless that card shows up on top of the library, you're going to want to win in another way.

>Kiki-Jiki combos

The classic. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos with Coercive Recruiter to create infinite Coercive Recruiters with haste (as a side effect you also gain control of all creatures your opponents control). You win. I'm not using Combat Celebrant anymore, but that's also an option to combo with Kiki-Jiki.

>Aggravated Assault

This thing gives you infinite combats with either Savage Ventmaw or enough mana dorks to meet the 5 mana cost. A very simple combo, and just aggravated assault on its own is useful.

>Shaman of Forgotten Ways

Biorhythm may be banned, but this guy ain't. There are two kinds of players when they see you play this card. The first kind sees it and knows that your unlikely to hit the 11 mana so it's probably just for ramp. The second kind freaks the hell out and wants to kill it on sight. Obviously the first group are the more rational people, but it is still possible to use this effect in the very late game. It can also be done at instant-speed while you're attacking someone with Vaevictis. Just make sure that you won't die from the remaining players. This is the least reliable win condition, but it's still an option.

>Primal Surge

The centre piece of this deck. Cast this, and you will dump your whole deck onto the battlefield. This means anything that says "draw a card" will trigger. There are two fixes for this. If Abundance is on the battlefield all those draws are replaced, so you don't lose. Otherwise there are 5 cards drawn immediately (Coveted Jewel, Ground Seal, Korvold), 2 on end step (Aid from the Cowl, Deathreap Ritual) and one on the upkeep of the next turn (Colossal Majesty). If you're casting this before combat you just need to leave behind 5 cards, as you're about to win with the Kiki-Jiki or Aggravated Assault combo. If you're casting this after combat and Aggravated Assault is not available, leave behind 8 cards. Then use Seal of Primordium or Korvold, Fae-Cursed King to remove Ugin's Nexus and take an extra turn and win on that turn's combat instead.

>Single-Card Discussion

>Mana Ramp

Do I need to go over each individual mana rock and mana dork? Do I really need to justify each one? No? Okay good. Because Vaevictis costs 6 mana I want to use the more efficient ramp spells to get him out sooner. I'll instead go over some of the more interesting ramp spells.

Awakening Zone: Also acts as sacrifice fodder for when Vaevictis attacks.
Curse of Opulence: Very good mana ramp. Always stick this on the player who is least likely to attack.
Noble's Purse: On its own this card can get a turn 4 Vaevictis. Each of the treasures can also act as fodder. And when it can no longer produce treasures, it can be sacrificed to Vaevictis.
Sanctum Weaver: There is a decent number of enchantments in this deck. Sanctum Weaver frequently taps for two or more mana.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways and Somberwald Sage: It's pretty easy to get these guys out turn 2, which then gives a turn 3 Vaevictis.

Notable Exclusions

Bloom Tender: Believe me, I want another on of these for this deck. I'm using Ilysian Caryatid for now, but if I do get a Bloom Tender I'll make the switch.
Descent Into Avernus: Good fodder and good ramp. I've been meaning to test it out and see how it does. With a mana dork turn 1 this should give a turn 3 Vaevictis, with sac fodder on turn 4. The only part I have to worry about is giving everyone these treasures.
Dockside Extortionist: ... I forgot to add a Dockside Extortionist.
Gilded Lotus: It just costs too much mana upfront. It doesn't help get Vaevictis out faster than any other ramp spell.
Goldspan Dragon: Same problem as Gilded Lotus. Credit where it's due, this also gives fodder.
Jeweled Lotus: If I could get my hands on another copy of this card I'd consider it. It could get me a fast Vaevictis, potentially turn 2.
Revel in Riches: It's unlikely I'd be able to win with this card, and while it's good late-game ramp, I don't need a lot of ramp in the late game.
Tinder Wall: Not terrible, but I choose to go with more traditional mana dorks that can be used more than once.
Treasure Vault: I tried it, and hated it. It was rare that I'd want to use its ability to get treasure, as spending effectively 7 mana for three treasures one-time is not worthwhile. And after that, it's a land that only gives colourless in a three-colour deck. An easy cut.

>Card Advantage

Abundance: As mentioned earlier, it's useful when Primal Surge is cast. It's also just a generally good card for helping with draws. Also, if you have this and Sylvan Library you can get three cards and you don't have to pay the 8 life. Neat!
Aid from the Cowl: Something of yours is getting removed every turn and you're almost guaranteed to reveal a permanent off the top. This is just a free card every turn.
Bolas's Citadel: An absolute powerhouse. If you have the choice to either play Vaevictis or the citadel, choose the citadel. You'll get a crazy amount of card advantage off if this card.
Bonder's Enclave & War Room: Card draw on these lands is... not the greatest. You don't always have access to good card draw, so these are good enough at times. I've considered cutting them because this deck has a lot of colourless lands for a three-colour deck.
Colossal Majesty: An extra card every turn. Nice.
Coveted Jewel: By letting people take this from you, you get three extra cards each turn. Don't bother trying to prevent your opponents from having it.
Deathreap Ritual: Something is dying on each of your turns. Between yourself and three other players, it's practically a guarantee. Keep in mind that unlike Aid from the Cowl, this card checks each turn, including your opponents' turns.
Garruk, Primal Hunter: He's mostly used for drawing 6 cards, but also doubles as providing fodder.
Grasping Shadows: the newest card I'm trying out. It takes a long time to get going but the additional lifegain is also useful. So far, I don't like it. 4 mana is a lot for something that still requires some set-up.
Humble Defector: This is a tricky card to use, but if you're good at politics it'll be two extra cards each turn. Here's the trick: you make your opponent promise to give this card back to you. If they don't, then you never give it to them ever again. Even in future games.
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King: Just use Korvold, he's better. Snarkiness aside, he does provide very good card advantage. In the event that Vaevictis is removed Korvold makes for a decent backup commander.
Mirri's Guile: This card is very useful at only one mana. You can set up your draw and what card Vaevictis will flip into.
Sylvan Library: Not only is this extra card draw, being able to rearrange the cards so Vaevictis flips into something good is also a decisive advantage.

Notable Exclusions

Brass's Tunnel-Grinder: Another card that will give you card advantage, but you have to invest a few turns first. At least this card also gives some form of instant gratification.
Chimil, the Inner Sun: I really want to use this. Giving protection from counterspells and an extra spell each turn is nice. But damn 6 mana is a lot.
Enchantresses: There are a lot of enchantments in this deck, but not enough to justify Argothian Enchantress and similar cards.
Etali, Primal Storm: Another interesting card that just costs too much to be consistently useful. Etali has the added problem of needing to attack to be useful.
Mosswood Dreadknight // Dread Whispers: Now this is an interesting card. It gives a little bit of card advantage and then can be sacrificed to Vaevictis. I want to try and slot it in to test it out.
Riveteers Ascendancy: I don't really sacrifice my creatures that I spent mana for. I'm much more inclined to sacrifice a token, so I won't get a lot of value from Riveteers Ascendancy.
Sensei's Divining Top: Believe it or not, Sensei's Divining Top is less powerful than Mirri's Guile and Sylvan library in this deck. Because this deck has no instants there is very little benefit to rearranging the top three cards at instant-speed. Mirri's Guile and Sylvan Library do the same thing for this deck, without demanding additional mana. That said, if you can fit Sensei's Top, do it. It's still good top-deck manipulation.
Solemn Simulacrum: No.
Tergrid, God of Fright: This card would be sweet in Vaevictis. I really want to find a way to fit her in.
Up the Beanstalk: I have a fair number of spells that cost 5 or more, but I don't always cast them. I'm not sure if Up the Beanstalk would draw me enough cards to justify the slot.
Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire: I am going to find a way to slot this in. I want so badly to put Colossification on top and one-shot a person.
Wishclaw Talisman: I've considered it, but if I use it, it will have to be my next target with Vaevictis. Letting an opponent use this is a bad idea.

>Interaction

Because of the "no instants/sorceries" restriction, I had to get creative with the interaction package. While a lot of this is instant-speed removal, it's not subtle. Your opponents will see it coming.

Arcane Lighthouse: Hexproof and shroud do prevent Vaevictis' ability. Show them who's boss.
Boseiju, Who Endures: The only piece of instant-speed interaction that your opponents won't see coming. This card was a godsend for this deck.
Ground Seal: Grave hate baby! Something we need more people to play in this format.
Mayhem Devil: Try to not forget these triggers, like I often do. There are a lot of things that get sacrificed with this deck (at least 4 per turn) so the damage adds up.
Scavenging Ooze: More grave-hate! This one's at instant-speed.
Seal of Doom: Instant-speed creature removal.
Seal of Primordium: Instant-speed artifact/enchantment removal.
Shadowspear: Being able to remove hexproof helps Vaevictis a lot. The +1/+1 buff means that Vaevictis can take a player out in three attacks instead of four. And the lifelink on top is just a nice benefit.
Ulvenwald Tracker: Instant-speed creature removal. As a 6/6, Vaevictis wins most fights.
Winter Orb: So I know this card isn't very popular, but it does work well in this deck. With all of the non-land ramp in this deck, I can mitigate its effects on me. And Vaevictis can always get rid of it if it annoys the table.

Notable Exclusions

Bonds of Mortality: Was in the deck. I removed it because it didn't really do anything if there was no hexproof to remove.
Dirge Bat: six mana to destroy something at instant-speed is a lot.
Jarl of the Forsaken: If it didn't have the "that was dealt damage this turn" clause, I would consider it. This deck could use some better instant-speed removal.
Karn, the Great Creator: There are a lot of mana rocks being used these days. This dude trips them up. Swapped him out as he was hard to protect.
Latulla's Orders: Additional removal is alright, but not being instant-speed is annoying.
Portal to Phyrexia: 9 mana! While it can end the game, it's a big ask.
Scavenger Grounds: Instant-speed grave-hate is good stuff, but I was running a few too many colourless lands, so something had to be cut.

>Haste Enablers

Bloodlust Inciter: Simple haste enabler. He can also immediately be used as the first sacrifice for Vaevictis. I'm still trying to fit its twin Goblin Motivator back into this deck.
Carnelian Orb of Dragonkind: I'm trying this out. I do not like that it's 3 mana for ramp but I do like that it also grants haste. Time will tell if it's any good.
Generator Servant: I absolutely love this card. I stand by that you should use this card in any red deck where your commander benefits from haste.
Hall of the Bandit Lord: The only land in this deck that enters tapped. Haste is a good enough upside that it's worthwhile.

Notable Exclusions

Anger: Would you believe me if I said it was hard to get this in the graveyard before Vaevictis comes out?
Ashling's Perogative: Pretty good at two mana, but I'm going to exhaust the one mana options first.
Crashing Drawbridge: See Ashling's Perogative.
Mass Hysteria: Giving all creatures haste has bitten me in the back before. Considering that this deck has little protection against a go-wide strategy, I'd rather they not have haste.
Need for Speed: It's just one land you have to give up, don't worry about it. You can then use Need for Speed as the first sacrifice. It's not a bad card, but there are other haste enablers.

>Protection

Aspect of Mongoose: Gives "hexproof" and also recurs itself.
Guardian Augmenter: Instant-speed protection that your opponents won't see coming. The buff is also nice.
Kaya's Ghostform: Vaevictis is a magnet for removal. This enchantment is enough for people to not even try.
Lightning Greaves: Shroud and haste. Awsome.
Plaza of Heroes: Can tap for any colour (with a few conditions), doesn't enter tapped, and provides good protection, without taking a non-land slot. Love it.
Possibility Storm: It might seem weird for me to call this protection, but if your opponent casts a removal spell, it'll flip into something else. It helps. Plus it's fun to cast a mana dork and see what I'll get instead.
Rhythm of the Wild: Weirdly enough Vaevictis is more commonly removed than countered. It's still nice to have this, as it also doubles as a haste enabler.
Swiftfoot Boots: It sucks that you have to pay one extra mana for haste, but this is still good.
Sylvan Safekeeper: Sacrificing a land to save Vaevictis is a good trade.
Wandering Archaic: If an opponent casts a removal spell, you can copy it and remove one of their things. It makes them hesitate to play removal on your things. Oh also, you will never play the Explore the Vastlands side.
Whispersilk Cloak: This is probably the worst protection spell of the bunch. It's good enough for now.

Notable Exclusions

City of Solitude: If ever Vaevictis getting countered becomes a problem, this will go in the deck.
Crawlspace: I've considered this several times as a way to mitigate the life loss from aggro strategies. Out for now.
Prowling Serpopard: See City of Solitude.
Silent Arbiter: A good option, as Vaevictis is often the only creature attacking, and this guy can be the blocker. If go-wide aggro is a problem in your meta, I highly suggest this card.
Vexing Shusher: Good counterspell deterrent if you leave the mana open. So far I don't need to worry too much about counterspells, strangely enough.

>Combo

I already explained why I'm using these combos in the "Winning the game" section. Instead I'll just go over the combos I'm not using.

Notable Exclusions

Defense of the Heart: Less experienced players trigger the Defense of the Heart intentionally. More experienced players make sure they have removal in hand first. Because this deck has no instant-speed protection, I can't rely on hoping that someone will trigger it with no removal.
Rionya, Fire Dancer + Combat Celebrant: Added redundancy to the Kiki-Jiki combos. So far the Aggravated Assault combo is working as an alternate combo with additional utility.

>Fodder

If you've been reading this primer from start to finish you'll have noticed that I've already mentioned quite a few cards that provide fodder for Vaevictis. All of those cards had a different primary function. The following cards are used almost exclusively for providing fodder.

Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge: This guy will never attack, don't worry about it. His real purpose is to create treasure tokens after Vaevictis removes a bunch of creatures. I didn't include him under ramp because he's not any good in the early game.
Garruk, Cursed Huntsman: He's expensive, so I've considered taking him out. But being able to provide fodder and be used as removal has kept him in. Also, the wolves occasionally give loyalty to Garruk, Primal Hunter and this emblem is really easy to pull off.
Grismold, the Dreadsower: The token every turn is good, but you also have to remember that tokens are readily sacrificed by other players, either as blockers or for some other value. Grismold can get very big, very fast.
Guild Artisan: Extra treasures when Vaevictis attacks. Keep in mind that you need to pick targets for Vaevictis on attack before any attack triggers resolve, so you can't pick the treasures you're about to create.
Loyal Apprentice: One token every turn. For two mana, I'll take it.
Ramunap Excavator: Now you can replay any land you sacrifice to Vaevictis. Even better, if you've used a fetchland you can replay that every turn.
Sarkhan Vol: Steal an opponent's creature and then sacrifice it. Yeah it's mean but it gets results. Sarkhan also doubles as a haste enabler.
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance: If you don't end up playing this as a land, the tokens are decent if you have nothing else to spend that mana on.
Treasure Nabber: Unfortunately, your opponents become wary of their artifacts while this guy is out. While he does give fodder and mana ramp, it's not as much as you think. Still, that also means that your opponents won't be using their mana rocks, so that's a nice benefit too.

Notable Exclusions

Crucible of Worlds: As soon as I get this card Ramunap Excavator is coming out.
Mahadi, Emporium Master: Not terrible at three mana, but most of the other fodder options don't require Vaevictis to work. I may swap out Guild Artisan for this guy.
Pain Distributor: Not so sure how I feel about giving everyone a treasure. Still, it's only one. I've been wanting to try it out.
The Reaver Cleaver: Tempting, as I'd get 7 mana with Vaevictis. The up-front cost of 6 is a lot though, more than any other fodder piece. And it doesn't give the fodder for Vaevictis immediately.
Tireless Provisioner: Decent fodder. I may try it in the future.

>Other

Colossification: This card causes surprise knockouts. You attack someone and it ends up being to top card. So they take 26 commander damage... and lose. You can also use top-deck manipulation to ensure that it will be the top card.
Forbidden Orchard: This can be an interesting political card at times. In exchange for a favour, you can promise to give them a spirit that you'll remove with Vaevictis, instead of removing one of their good cards.
Runes of the Deus: Another card that surprise kills people. Not as good as Colossification, but still fun.

Notable Exclusions

Basilisk Collar: Deathtouch isn't really needed for Vaevictis and lifelink on its own provides little benefit.
Embercleave: Similar to Runes of the Deus. I was waiting for this card to drop in price so I should probably get one soon.
Eternal Thirst: Giving a buff to Vaevictis isn't super relevant, as he's unlikely to win with combat damage anyway.
Haunted Crossroads: I'm not playing a lot of powerful creatures, so I'll rarely have a target for Haunted Crossroads.
Lantern of Insight: I've considered it so I know if someone is about to flip into something really good, but so far that hasn't been a problem.
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest: If I was playing more of a go-wide strategy I'd use Mazirek. As it stands, he's too much mana.
Strionic Resonator: I used this for a bit but found it was weird to use. Paying for it each turn kinda sucked. I've been meaning to try it again now that the deck has gone through some significant changes.