Official Ob Nixilis Deck-Building Contest - Voting!

To make the ultimate Ob Nixilis deck, we need to understand the skills of Nixilis.

PlaneWalker Ability
Dark Pact: Lose 1 Life and Draw 2 Cards
This is a really good ability for 3 loyalty point.
It complements with Nix's ultimate to speed off the killing of the opponent.
It also comes in handy when you need to draw additional cards to deal with the board's situation.

Torment: Lose 3 life and destroy target creature
For 9 loyalty point as a creature removal skill, don't rely on it.
Based on my experience, I would advise this to be a last resort move.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good skill. But 9 loyalty points doesn't come that quick.
And of course, its weakness is hex proof creatures.

Forbidden Knowledge
If you have played one, you would know. It creates a support gem that can quickly finish off the opponent in a few turns.

Mana Gain
We can't talk about deck building without looking at mana gain profile of the planewalker.
Black +3; Blue and Red +1;
My opinion is Nix is a little bit weak on the mana gain as compared to other planewalkers such as Nahiri, Sorim, Kiora, Liliana2, Jace2, Arlin etc.

Taking mana gain and skill of Nix into consideration, we need to be very careful not to use too many high mana costing cards.
The colors of the cards we are open to is Black, Half-Black and Colorless.

Brainstorm Ideas
Whenever we form a deck, we need to consider the method we want to win with.
If we cannot determine this, we won't have a good direction building the deck.
Personally, I feel that Nix is not meant for rush victories. This is due to his mana gain potential.
However, to make up for the lack of speed, he is given 119 lives to make up for it.
I play a Nix and my strategy usually involves getting him to reach 18 loyalty points to bring out the Forbidden Knowledge support gem.
When this can be done successfully, victory is assured. I have never lost so far after getting Forbidden Knowledge out.
So, the strategy I will be introducing is to hold up and control the opponent until you can bring out the support gem.
The downside to this strategy is a simple support removal, if you are that unlucky.
Therefore, while we aim to win with this strategy, we need a backup plan in case this fails.
If you're able to hold up and control the opponent this long, usually you will have creature board dominance.
Backup plan - Standard creature beatdown

We only have 10 cards to choose.
We can have up to 8 spells, creatures or supports.

Deck-Building Card List (5 Spells, 3 Creatures, 2 Supports)
#1 - Behold The Beyond (Spell) [15]
This card is important. It refreshes your hand if it's real bad. It can instant fill your creature removal and hand removal spells.
When forbidden knowledge is activated, this card is a 48 damage dealing card.

#2 - To The Slaughter (Spell) [5]
Absolutely important creature removal spell for 5 mana cost. If you happen to be in delirium state, that's a bonus.

#3 - Trangress The Mind (Spell) [3]
For this game, discarding the first card of your opponent beats any removal spell.
If it's an incoming heavy cost card , discarding it away is the best possible move for just 3 mana cost.

#4 - Infinite Obliteration (Spell) [6]
Why another discard spell? This is 6 mana cost for 1st and last card of opponent's hand. Totally worth it.

#5 - Oath of Lilianna (Support) [11]
Why this? A creature removal for 11 cost and 1 2/2 zombie every turn is killing 2 birds with one stone.

#6 - Prized Amalgam (Creature) [10]
Your best ground blocker. Together with Oath of Lilianna, it's a wall that will fix itself even when broken.
You don't actually cast this card if possible. Discard it with Behold the Beyond and get a zombie in, or through Gisa and Geralf.

#7 - Shrine of Forsaken God (Support) [5]
3 Mana per turn. While it breaks rather easily due to 3 shields, it is sufficient as it only cost 5.
This is to ensure that you can still cast spells when you meet void generating opponents or board gems manipulating opponents.

#8 - Gisa and Geralf (Creature) [14]
14 cost for 8/8 and is able to bring a zombie from graveyard into play every turn. Mana efficient and strong.
It can also brings out copies of Prized Amalgam.

#9 - Noosegraf Mob (Creature) [9]
Why this creature? It's 9 cost for 6/6. A spell cause it to -1/-1 and brings in a 2/2 zombie.
You want another way to bring in a zombie to get back destroyed Prized Amalgam.

#10 - Eliminate the Competition (Spell) [1]
This card is a double-edged sword. It has the potential to clear up your opponent creatures even if they are hexproof.
Usually, you will have 2/2 zombie and Prized Amalgam so you will be losing 10 lives.
Use it if you only have to (killing 2-3 creatures or hexproof creatures).
Another use of this card is to let it be a discard fodder. If you know you're getting discarded soon, it's only 1 mana.
So fill it up and put it as your first card. You can shield against Liliana1.

Analysis
With 3 creature removal cards, 1 creature removal ability, and prized amalgam combo wall, creatures are unlikely to be a threat to Nix.
This deck's weakness would be support removal. My answer to support would be to let them be.
Black deck is never good at support removal.
I can add in Anguish Unmaking or Mockery of Nature but they are just not going to turn the tide if your opponent has a lot of supports.
Especially in this age of Kaladesh where Servors are everywhere, how can I be sure that I will destroy the correct support?
Supports are annoying but are unlikely to be instantly lethal.
Many of the Planewalker's level ability supports are lethal but if you let that happen, it's either bad luck or your fault since they use the first and second when they have a chance.

Let's talk about the biggest threat in MTGPQ. The most frequently encountered threats are quick and powerful creatures.
Koth/Nahiri - Haste fatties such as Olivia, Phoenix, Decimator
Kiora/Jace2/Nissa/Garruk - Hexproof creatures are a threat such as Gaea's Revenge, Sphnix, Rattle chain, etc.
Liliana2 - Endless zombies such as prized amalgam with graf harvest, oath of liliana etc.

The top 10 most annoying support card not in any specific order:
1) Authority of the Consuls (This one is wicked, a good counter against Oath of Lilianna)
2) Hixus, Prison Warden (Everybody knows this one)
3) Suppression Bond (This one is not any less annoying)
4) Claustrophobia (More expensive version of Suppression Bond)
5) Thopter's Spy Network (This card is a killer. 4/4 flying every turn. Nix will run out of kill spells)
6) Sigil of the Empty Throne (Not as bad as the above. But a potential killer if your opponent can dish out support non-stop)
5) Sphnix's Tutelage (Mana Disruption against already slow Nix is going to be troublesome)
6) Prism Array (Haven't forgotten about this one. This can be bad if your opponent can break free from an empty hand and draw cards)
7) Jace's Sanctum (Another troublesome card that can nullify Shrine of Forsaken God)
8) Dynavolt Tower (Possibly dangerous but Nix is pretty tanky)
9) Metallurgic Summonings (Slower than Thopter's Spy Network but can be dangerous if your opponent centers his gameplay around this card)
10) Oath of Lilianna (Opponent uses the same strategy to bring out endless zombies; Can be a pain to deal with)

What about spells?
This deck needs to be careful against discard and mana disruption.
If you are playing against Lilianna1, you know she's going to discard your card when her 1st skill is up. Plan for it.
For the other discard spells, there's really nothing much you can do about those. Discards are that powerful. Period.
Mana disruption comes from mana draining, or adding cost to your cards or even altering gem boards to slow your mana gain.
Magic The Gathering is all about mana.
Mana prowess is the key to access your arsenal of cards and if you meet one that can control that well, it's going to be annoying.
But thankfully, those decks will still need a way to kill you and usually it's via creatures.
This deck has a good number of creature removals so it is not going down so easily.

Play Strategy & Tips:
1) Get creature removal spell ready but don't use them blindly on creatures unless you have plenty of spares.
Prioritize it on threatening mythics and rares, fatties and flying creeps. Leave the ground creeps to Prized Amalgam.
2) Get Shrine of Forsaken God out as soon as possible. This will boost your mana and make things faster.
3) Our main objective is to cast out Forbidden Knowledge but don't place all your bet on it.
Throw out Noosegraf Mob, Gisa and Geralf if you can. They may get you the win before Forbidden Knowledge is activated.
4) Try to avoid casting Prized Amalgam directly unless the situation is really bad.
For example, your opponent may get lucky and cast a Gaea's Revenge or Olivia on the first turn and you only have Prized Amalgam and Eliminate the Competition at the beginning.
5) Time your discard spells wisely. Throw out your opponent's hand before they play.
However, if you know the card is a big one, let them waste their mana on it before dealing the blow.
This comes with a bit of experience and luck.
You need to be able to read and feel the board arrangement. If you can see possible big cascades, play it safe and discard their hand earlier.
6) Monitor your loyalty points. If you are only 2 to 3 points away from Forbidden Knowledge, you may want to save up Behold the Beyond until then.
7) Don't be afraid to use Dark Pact if your hand sucks. Paying 1 life is worth it.
8) Torment is a last resort skill to use. It will drain off 9 points and that's halfway backwards towards Forbidden Knowledge.
But if you need to wipe off some threat, do it before the situation goes bad to worse.

Disclaimer:
I have never played the above deck.
I didn't have these cards that I have been yearning for - To the Slaughter, Infinite Obliteration & Behold the Beyond.
I would have played the above if I had these cards.

What I am playing now is the below:
1) Trangress The Mind
2) Grip of Desolation
3) Oath of Lilianna
4) Graf Harvest
5) Prized Amalgam
6) Eternal Scourge
7) Creeping Dread
8) Noosegraf Mob
9) Gisa and Geralf
10) Shrine of Forsaken God

I have taken the above for many runs in Gold Tier events. Not so much for Quick Battle (Not a quick battle person).
I find the above pretty solid but could be better if I had better control of opponent's hand and creature board.
You might be wondering why Eternal Scourge? I use it with Creeping Dread to lock down my opponent so they only have 1 card to play per turn.
If it's a big card, it's never going to make it.
But Behold the Beyond and Infinite Obliteration seem more useful than Eternal Scourge and Creeping Dread.
Which is why I didn't submit my current decklist and submitted my dream decklist instead.

Feel free to comment if you feel that my dream decklist can be improved further.
I welcome any constructive feedback to point out any other missing flaw that was left out.
Thank you for reading through my post.

Supports 3:
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods (mana gain)
Tamiyo's Journal (card draw)
Alhammarret's Archive (card draw and life gain enhancer)

Spells 7:
Aligned Hedron Network (anti hex-proof defense)
Grip of Desolation (destroy creature)
To the Slaughter (destroy creature)
Transgress the Mind (discard)
Tidy Conclusion (destroy creature and life gain)
Lost Legacy (discard hand and card draw for opponent)
Behold the Beyond (new hand card draw and mana gain)

The objective of this deck is to quickly get 18 loyalty points to use Ob's 3rd and Ultimate ability. The decks incorporate cards that make the biggest threat of the enemy, the big creatures, easy to remove by including 3 destroy spells, one of which gains me life if I have supports on the gemfield.

With zero creatures of my own, I can use Aligned Hedron Network (AHN) freely to disable the whole battlefield as needed. It also disables hex-proofed creatures. Except for hex-proofed creatures which must be destroyed when disabled on the same turn by single target spells, a great way to use AHN is to disable all the creatures, wait a turn to see if the AI reinforces the creatures further, then remove them with the creature removal spells on the next turn. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak.
Keeping creatures disabled also prevents any "Enter the Field" effects from triggering. A disabled Startled Awake gives no mana bonus to the AI, no matter how many of them enters the field to reinforce their disabled counterpart.

Transgress the Mind is a cheap and easy way to remove an expensive enemy card that is charging up before it can be cast. An extra bonus is it changes one enemy gem color to a void gem.

I use Shrine of the Forsaken Gods because it guarantees 3 mana each turn. With the most expensive spell Behold the Beyond at 15mana but returning 36 mana spread evenly over 6 cards, and the rest of my cards costing between 3 to 12 mana, I seldom have difficulty with mana in my matches.

Tamiyo's Journal is a low cost and efficient way to draw extra cards fast, and saves up your loyalty for Ob's 3rd ability instead of using his 1st ability. It also gives extra damage once Ob's 3rd is in play.

Alhammarret's Archive is impressive, doubling the number of cards you can draw from your draw phase, Ob's 1st ability and Tamiyo's Journal, which ensures I have a full hand every turn. It also potentially enables Tidy Conclusion to give back a maximum of 10 life points per casting. (3 supports + 1 clue + Ob's 3rd Ability Support) x2

The 3 Single Creature Removal Spells I choose are the 2 cheapest ones at 5 mana each, and one that has potential to give back life points, Tidy Conclusion.

Grip of Desolation is an effective and fast to cast removal spell at 5 mana. It has the bonus to change 2 enemy gem colors to void gems

To the Slaughter is similarly effective and fast at 5 mana, with the bonus of causing an extra 10 points of damage for Delirium Black. The Delirium effect often triggers for me, because I actively match black gems if it is the best move, and the AI also targets my black gems for matching many times during the game.

I use the 10 mana, Tidy Conclusion over cheaper Destroy creature Spells like Unlicensed Disintegration (9mana) or Unholy Hunger (8mana) because of its easy way to give back life points; I get 1 life point for every support gem I own on the gemfield, double if I have Alhammarret's Archive in play.

At 119 life points, Ob has among the highest life points in the game. Life gain spells or supports are not really needed most of the time. Still, it is good to have one for those exceptional cases or long matches.

Behold the Beyond is an almost must-include card in any eligible deck. I see no reason not to use it; for 15 mana, it replaces your hand with 6 fresh cards and fill each card with a maximum of 6 mana.

Finally, We come to my new favourite card Lost Legacy. It is absolutely fantastic when Ob's 3rd ability is in play. You discard the enemy's whole hand, and draw a new hand for it. At 8 points of damage per card, that's 48 points of damage per Lost Legacy cast. That's close to 50% of most planeswalkers' total life points. And unlike Behold the Beyond, you can precharge and cast more than 1 on your turn easily. It's one of the faster ways to take down huge Event bosses like Noxious Gear Hulks in Fateful Showdown.

Lost Legacy also works as a secondary discard spell if needed.

I left out Anguished Unmaking in my newest deck for Ob because, by not playing with any creatures in my decks, I seldom have a need to actively remove enemy supports like Hixus or Suppression Bonds from the field. Also, with the proliferation of Fabricate support gems in the latest decks, I seldom target the right support for removal.

The biggest danger is the enemy removing my 3rd Ability Support through spells like Demolish or Grand Aurora, or changing the whole gemfield to one color and matching off all the gems like Seasons Past.

I usually try to keep at least 1 Lost Legacy or Behold the Beyond fully charged in hand before triggering the 3rd Ability Support onto the gemfield. Then I cast the spell on the same turn after the Support enters the field.

Have fun trying it out.

Hello all! I'm Aderyn in the game and I'm sharing my Idealized Ob Nixilis build with you today. I also want to share a few options so it can be achieved even without some of the most rare cards.

The Deck

Creatures:

Olivia, Mobilized for War (Mythic*)
Defiant Bloodlord (Rare)

Spells:

Behold the Beyond (Mythic*)
From Under the Floorboards (Rare)
Grip of Desolation (Uncommon)
To the Slaughter (Rare)
Transgress the Mind (Uncommon)
Anguished Unmaking (Rare)

Supports:

Drownyard Temple (Rare)
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods (Rare)

(Sideboard: Bloodbond Vampire; Campaign of Vengeance; Brain in a jar; Unholy hunger)

Notes about sideboard:
* denotes a mythic. These should be replaced with "sideboard" cards if needed. Bloodbond Vampire ONLY replaces Olivia in which case Campaign of Vengeance is strongly recommended.
Behold the Beyond is wonderful if you have it, but replaced without much difficulty with Campaign for synergies.
Anguished Unmakingis only really needed when facing decks that can field a hexproof threat like Rattlechains or Gaea's Revenge or a key support deck such as Hixis or Thopter Spy Network. Otherwise it falls into the handy but probably unneeded category.
Brain is a useful replacement for any missing non-creature piece.
Unholy Hunger only replaces a missing kill spell or is a stopgap filler.

Overview:

On Loyalty and Playstyle:
Many people focus on Ob's Ultimate. While this is indeed great, I prefer to treat it as a fallback or a bonus and have more ways to win. The centerpiece of the deck is actually invisible: Ob's first loyalty ability.

Ob's first loyalty ability allows us to immediately draw two additional cards at the cost of only a single point of life (at high level), and it is very easy to charge at only three loyalty points. This should be available to use often on turn two or three, then almost every turn thereafter since it's so inexpensive.

The first ability plus Ob's generous starting life total makes even the worst initial draw luck easy to overcome. The build's side focus of lifegain additionally makes stabilization from momentary bad luck a relatively simple matter. Ob's second ability can fill in as required in emergencies, but will often be unneeded with the other kills spells in deck.

Dig early and often to set up rapidly and have a kill spell in hand, then later if the hand is relatively full the first loyalty should only be used as needed to find key needed pieces or refill the hand.

Ob's third loyalty is a great option to have but not a central focus of the build. We enable it somewhat with the inclusion of Behold the Beyond. It really comes into play if one finds they are facing a deck that features a draw strategy on the opponent side (such as a Sphinx's Tutelage deck). So don't ignore it totally depending on context, but it is merely the backup plan in this particular build.

Ob's amazing draw ability makes extra draw occupying card slots completely superfluous in many cases. One possible caveat being Alhammarret's Archive which gives additional lifegain. I do not recommend it in my build mainly because there tends to be a lot of lifegain already making it strictly unneeded. As always, context is king, so by all means take advantage of that if you find it works better for you in a given situation than my recommendations.

The draw from the first loyalty ability allows us to also use only three creatures and avoid any potential slot competition, or "unusable" cards in hand. As such, we want to focus on just three creatures.

The Creatures:
These three creatures are Olivia, Defiant Bloodlord, and the zombie tokens from From Under the Floorboards.

Olivia - She really does not need detailed explanation. Her abilities are a central synergy (but not absolutely required) in the build. The granting of haste, stat bonus, flying, and lifelink all obviously advantage us. By abusing Ob's first loyalty ability, discarding cards is never an issue. We will take advantage of her discard functionality in charging Floorboards, and for casting drownyard from the graveyard. Granting lifelink makes Bloodlord shine granting free extra damage as well as granting us overall survivability.

Bloodlord - A wonderful card in a deck that can grant lifelink with Olivia. And brutal when paired with Campaign of Vengence. He will also trigger direct damage to the opponent off any Floorboards cast.

From Under the Floorboards - Already one of the most mana efficient "creatures" in the game this spell has even more upsides in this deck. Madness means it charges off any discard triggered by Olivia or Behold the Beyond. Lifegain on cast means it can trigger Bloodlord. The fact it's a triple summon means you can get a 15/15 haste, flying lifelink token when paired with Olivia (as well as immediately charging any additional floorboards in hand).

Ramp Supports:
The combination of Temple and Shrine supports overcomes Ob's only possible weakness in mana gains by granting a "free" 6 mana every turn. Drownyard is castable from the graveyard by making a landfall, so it plays well with Olivia and Behold in the deck as you'll still be able to take advantage of it even if it's discarded.

Control cards:
Kill off any creature with Grip or Slaughter. Two kill spells with Ob's first draw ability makes them quite easy to hold in hand. Additionally, Ob's second loyalty ability can be used in emergencies to fill in any possible gaps.
Destroy any key support or hexproof creature with Anguished Unmaking.

In most cases, the opponent's board is kept squeaky clean by these cards.

Transgress the Mind is an excellent tempo play. If the opponent is charging an expensive card it's your cue to trash it right out of their hand, wasting their time and likely destroying a threat before it even appears.

Behold the Beyond is an ideal card that I personally don't own. In this case, it's a major ramp card, takes advantage of our discard synergies in Floorboards and Drownyard as well as instantly charging a number of our other cards when drawn. Further, if you do build up to the ultimate loyalty ability anyway it provides a big hit on the opponent. I personally run Campaign of Vengeance in this slot not having this ideal spell.

(Honorable mention to first replacement Campaign of Vengeance - This card in addition to Olivia provides additional stability to the deck by erasing the downsides of using Ob's first two abilities on it's own. It also plays very well with Defiant Bloodlord by triggering free direct damage every turn: up to 18 direct additional damage to the opponent every time you attack. If using Bloodbond Vampire in place of Olivia it will also rapidly cause the vampire to swell even before the attack occurs each turn)

Conclusion

So this is my deck build for Ob. My variant with Campaign in place of the missing Behold the Beyond has made it such that I have not lost a match with it since this build coalesced months ago with few changes. The minor lifegain theme means I can stabilize after any bad event with ease and will often end a match at or near full health.

Thanks!

InexorOble

Cards:
1 Creature
Olivia, Mobilized for War

6 Spells
Behold the Beyond
Anguished Unmaking
Grip of Desolation
Ruinous Path
Infinite Obliteration
Transgress the Mind

3 Supports
Corrupted Grafstone
Sunken Hollow
Oath of Liliana

Introduction:
Ob will never be the ultimate quick-kill planeswalker; however, when played correctly, he can assure victory against just about any opponent. As others have said, Ob's true power lies in his 3rd Ability - Forbidden Knowledge, therefore every card in the deck above serves to help us reach it.

On the other hand, while any deck which has a single win condition can be devastatingly effective, a deck with multiple ways to reach zero opponent health will ultimately prove to be more versatile, so more consistent, so more powerful in the long run. That's why this deck can also win through the more traditional route of 3 (potentially very powerful) creatures, despite ostensibly having but one creature.

The final important consideration was that, the longer a game goes on, the more opportunities your opponent will have to usurp your victory. As a result, this deck endeavours to straddle that finest of lines of balancing long-game utter domination within the shortest possible time.

Card choices:
First off, mana. Ob's relatively lacklustre mana gains of +1 , +1 and +3 are at odds with playing for the long game, and since without sufficient mana it is impossible to cast the right cards, improving his mana is of paramount importance. Enter: Corrupted Grafstone and Sunken Hollow. These two supports will convert gems to Ob's primary colour which will ensure that he (usually) gains at least 6 mana per gem match. This synergises well with the low cost cards kill cards in Ob's deck. Equally as importantly, these two provide one of the only way to accelerate loyalty gains, allowing us to shorten the long game with Ob and win that much faster.
Note: Sunken Hollow was chosen over Smouldering Marsh because Koth is one of the few opponents who can overcome Ob's eventual domination with his explosive speed.

Second, cards. Luckily, Ob has one of the best inbuilt card draw abilities: Dark Pact, which costs only 3 loyalty & 1 life to draw 2 cards and can help us search for whatever card we need if a dire situation arises. We usually do not need to rely on this skill because we have so many answers to so many threats (see below).

Third, with a healthy mana gain foundation and card draw, we need to focus on defending ourselves until we can cast Forbidden Knowledge. In this deck, there are no less than 7 (SEVEN!) ways of doing that. They can be broken down into two categories: discard spells and kill spells.

The best defence is a good offense, and the best offense is to stop your opponent every being able to cast anything. To this end:

Discard spell 1:

Transgress the Mind costs only 3 mana but will almost always trade up by making your opponent cast their higher-costed, more valuable card. Its cost is low enough that any match will allow Ob to cast it, allowing you to remove on demand that worrying card into which your opponent is pumping a whole lot of mana. Add to it the 1 Ingest and we are inching our way to an upper hand on the board state, too.

Discard spell 2: Infinite Obliteration is a 6 mana card which will discard the opponent's first card (usually filled with mana) and also their last card. A 2-for-1 exchange is the definition of card advantage, and card advantage over any sufficiently long period will win us many a game.

The only way to lose in MTGPQ is through the opponent reducing your life point total to zero, and the most efficient way of doing that is through strong creatures. In the current meta, there are quite a number of extremely potent creatures which, if left unanswered for even a turn or two, can spell quick disaster for any aspiring Ob, so dealing with them immediately is of utmost importance. To this end:

Kill spell 0: Ob's second ability: Torment. We'll likely never need to cast this ability, having as much removal as we do, but in a sticky situation being able to wipe out an opposing creature for 9 loyalty and 3 life is a good price to pay. Kill spell 1:

Grip of Desolation is an excellently costed card (5 mana) which Ob can cast with one single on-colour match. In addition to this property, it was chosen because of its accompanying Ingest, which will hinder our opponent, especially the aforementioned Koth.

Kill spell 2: Ruinous Path is similarly great value. In addition, though, with its Awaken cost fulfilled, it can summon 6 1/1 Swamp creature tokens (more on this later).

Kill spell 3: Anguished Unmaking has a relatively higher mana cost of 12 but is worth it for two reasons: a) it will kill hexproof enemies for which Ob otherwise has no answers, and b) it will simultaneously destroy an opposing support. Because some games will go longer, it is important to be prepared against such potentially crippling enemy supports as Starfield of Nyx, Thopter Spy Network, Harness the Storm, Sphinx's Tutelage or the rare Demonic Pact.

Kill spell 4: Oath of Liliana is a kill support which also happens to summon 1 2/2 zombie every turn. This second effect is particular great with...

The "only" creature in the deck: Olivia, Mobilized for War. Olivia enters as a base 8/8 creature who grants +3/+3, haste, flying and lifelink to any creature that enters on our side (herself included), granted we have a card to discard per creature. This means that the very same turn she enters is a 22 life swing in our favour. Remember that Ruinous Path whose Awaken cost we easily filled from all our mana-converting supports? With a full hand, it becomes a 21/21 lifelink haste creature (that's a 42 point lifeswing)! That Oath of Liliana we cast earlier? We're now getting a 5/5 flying hasted lifelinking zombie every turn. With Olivia in the deck, winning through creatures becomes not just a secondary, alternative win condition, but it can be THE win condition we choose to go for, depending on what cards we are dealt. In addition, if our opponent came out strong early and has demolished our life total, Olivia & friends will get us right back to full health in no time.

So far that makes 9 cards; only 1 slot left. Since we have have solid mana gain, card draw, creatures, kill and discard spells, there's little else left that the deck needs, except more of everything it already has. One card gives us this, and much more: Behold the Beyond (BtB). For a 15 mana investment, this spell will draw us 6 fresh new cards and fill each with 6 mana. This will autocast 5 out of 10 of our cards, of which 2 are kill spells and 2 are discard spells. In this deck, a single casting of BtB can exterminate our opponent's creatures and decimate their hand in one fell swoop such that they have no way to retaliate. While being an excellent source of both card draw and ramp, BtB can also be our finisher. With Forbidden Knowledge out, a single casting will deal 48 damage to our opponent, which, by the time you cast it, is likely enough to destroy the enemy with the damage we've already done with all our creatures.

Flavour:
This version of Ob best represents who Ob is as a character in the Multiverse; an individual driven to ultimate power, willing to pay any price, forgo all humanity and ready to utterly destroy everyone and everything in his path. When you play this deck, you will truly know what it is like to be a black planeswalker: to have utter control over life and death.

I hope you enjoyed my guide; I sure had lots of fun writing it. Thank you very much for reading!

Cheers,
jetnoctis

So, of course, the normal way to win with Ob Nix is to just wait for the 3rd power to activate.
Well, with this deck, half of the time, I do not even get to using his 3rd power because the Zombies come into play and beat down my opponent.
I have used this successfully in QB and it's pretty fast there too, and very simple to play.

Powers: (at 60th level)
Dark Pact (3) - Lose 1 life and draw 2 cards.
Torment (9) - Lose 3 life and destroy target creature.
Forbidden Knowledge (18) - Create a support gem with"Whenever any player draws a card, deal 8 damage to your opponent."

Creatures:
Prized Amalgam (10) - This Zombie is a staunch defender. This creature will return from the graveyard with either Graf Harvest or Oath of Liliana in play or on the casting of From Under the Floorboards or Diregraf Colossus. This makes it a great annoyance to your opponent as well as giving you a constant source of creatures.

Diregraf Colossus (10) - This creature is a defender and grows very quickly in this deck. It has great synergy with all of the other Zombies.

Spells:
Behold the Beyond (15) - Cast it early or cast it late. It's a staple card for black and this deck. If I draw this card in the first few cards I will prioritize it over everything else. If you are casting this spell, put Prized Amalgam after it so it gets discarded. No reason to pay for it. Also, From Under the Floorboards with it's madness will be free if you put it after this spell, so that is free zombies.

Grip of Desolation (5) &
To the Slaughter (5) - Both of these spells are cheap kill spells and can take care of a number of enemies. They are also free after Behold the Beyond if you happen to draw one.

Anguished Unmaking (12) - This spell accomplishes 2 things. It both destroys the enemies first creature and removes a support. Use it well as it does cost 6 life. As it does only affect the first creature, and isn't a targeted spell, it does ignore Hexproof.

From Under the Floorboards (7, Madness) - This spell summons 3 Zombies and gains 3 life. This spell has great synergy with both of your creatures. It grows your Diregraf Colossus by 6/6 and also will bring back the Prized Amalgam from the Graveyard.

Supports:
Corrupted Grafstone (7) - This support will help with both the mana gain in this deck to fuel your spells, but almost more importantly, every match that it help creates is another Loyalty towards your 3rd power.

Oath of Liliana (11) - In addition to killing an enemy creature, this support will summon a Zombie every turn. These Zombies will help bring back the Prized Amalgam and grow the Diregraf Colossus.

Graf Harvest (11) - This support will do two things for this deck. It gives all of your Zombies Menace so they will not be blocked when they attack. More importantly, if any of your creatures are killed, it will cause a Zombie to be summoned, and this will bring back any Prized Amalgams that may be in your graveyard.

So, the general idea of this deck is two-fold. First, you can start by attacking your opponent with your creatures and Zombies. These creatures also work as blockers for any ground thumping creatures.
If the enemy is still on their feet when it is time for you to use Forbidden Knowledge, then you can accelerate their demise with your 3rd power.

The first priorities for this deck, depending on what cards you have in your hand. I prioritize getting out a single Corrupted Grafstone and then Behold the Beyond. If either of those are in your starting hand, I would cast those first.
After that, start setting up your Zombies. Any of them would do to be honest. Cast them early and often. Usually the Colossus would be first as he will grow when you cast the other Zombies. The Prized Amalgam is also a priority, but remember, because of his power, he can come back from the graveyard, so put him out there to block or keep him in your hand when you are casting Behold the Beyond.

Keep your Destruct cards in hand and available to take care of the serious threats. They come in many forms, so no need for me to tell you all of them. Any minor enemies you might skip killing right away as Ob Nix has a lot of health and can weather minor creatures easily enough.

Once your 3rd power is available cast it as that will help end the match. If you are facing an enemy with a lot of support destruction, you may wish to hold onto the 3rd power until you can charge up a Behold the Beyond and cast them back-to-back. This is an instant 48 damage to them. After your 3rd power is in play. Use your 1st power every turn you can to draw 2 cards and deal 16 more damage to your opponent.


Substitutions:
I realize that everyone doesn't have every card, so lets look at the options.

Creatures:
Fleshbag Marauder (10),
Relentless Dead (14),
Olivia, Mobilized for War (20)
Noosegraf Mob (9)
Any of these creatures would work in this deck and still keep the general theme of the deck intact.
The Fleshbag and Noosegraf would be a good replacement for the Diregraf Colossus. Relentless Dead for the Prized Amalgam. And well, Olivia would work well instead of the Diregraf or From Under the Floorboards, or other cards in this deck.

Spells:
More creature destruction spells are always appreciated. These include:
Languish (12), Scour from Existence (12), Ruthless Disposal (10), Tidy Conclusion (10), Unlicensed Disintegration (9), Unholy Hunger (8), Bone Splinters (5), Ruinous Path (5), Eliminate the Competition (1)
Any of these spells would work depending on what secondary effects you want and what cards you actually own.

Supports: I would recommend looking at the following:
Tamiyo's Journal (5) - more card draw to support his 3rd power.
Midnight Oil (11) - yet more card draw and mana that Ob Nix an always use.
Underhanded Designs (7) - This steals a small amount of life from your opponent and heals you when you cast supports (including this one) as well as removing an enemy creature if it's destroyed.
Orbs of Warding (14) - This prevents 2 damage from any source. This DOES include your own 1st & 2nd powers.
Shadows of the Past (14) - Setting 4 traps that do 4 damage and heal 4 life.
Demonic Pact (21) - This support does a few things for you. Discards cards from your opponent's hand. Draws extra cards for you and causes damage to the opponent's creatures. With 3 shields, it is decent, but you will want to protect it as you will lose cards in hand and 30 life if it gets destroyed.
Blightcaster (6) - to give a small decrease (-2/-2) to your opponent's creatures, for your turn only.

There are also a ton of options for mana gain. I would recommend those that convert gems over those that just give mana because of the bonus loyalty that the extra matches will provide.

Thank you for reading my post.

Ob Nixilis slides back the boulder to his cave and steps through, "Honey I'm home."

Olivia enters the living room wearing her battle apron and smiles at him. "Oh Nixy I'm so happy you're home!" she says.

"What a long day Olive, felt like it would never end."

Talking as she puffs up the pillow on the couch, "Sit your little bum on the couch Nixy and tell me about it while I mix you a nice cup of black mana coco"

"Ok ok, but quickly, I want to watch the highlights from this afternoon's the Kor entangler championship match."

"Of course sweety, whatever you'd like." Ob Nixilis sits his massive frame down on the couch as Olivia heads to the kitchen.

"So I get to the office today and get assigned to assist one of the new guys. First thing I tell him is it's all about loyalty. You gotta max out the loyalty for my ultimate, you know what I mean Olive."

Stirring his black mana coco, "Of course sweetums".

"So we get to the arena and he starts going through my set list and all of a sudden he starts to panic because he doesn't see any creature summon in there".

Olivia looks at him with understanding eyes, "Oh, it was one of those days".

"So I tell him trust me, you don't need a single creature. Of course he starts with 'well what about Olivia, I hear she's the best, you need her to win' etc. and I have to go through the whole you don't need Olivia in this deck to win speech."

"Oh honey", bringing him his black mana coco, "don't be jealous just because all the players want me. You know I have eyes and fangs only for you. And, you're the one who doesn't want to summon me! You can't blame me if I'm the best in the game."

"I know Olive, I know, it's just exhausting to always get asked where's Olivia why don't you want to summon her blah blah blah."

Rubbing his wings, "Well I bet you showed him honey."

"You bet, but it sure was a long one...got paired against Saheeli and her annoyances. So the match starts well enough, we summon up a Corrupted Grafstone and a Drownyard Temple to keep the mana rolling."

"No Shrine of the Forsaken Gods?" She asks.

"Didn't have it with me today but it would be a great alternative" he replies, "So his opponent starts the creature rush with a couple of angry red guys. We quickly put those down with a To The Slaughter and a Grip of Desolation. Nothing like inexpensive removal! Then all of a sudden doesn't he make me use my first loyalty ability to draw cards!? And this after I told him many times already you have to save the loyalty until you can use my ultimate, don't use the first two skills unless it's an emergency! So now this match is gonna go extra long since we need to start from the beginning. To make matters worse, the other guy summons up a Rattlechains!"

"Oh hexproof is just the worst!" exclaims Olivia

"It really is Olive, it really is. On top of it, I didn't have Anguished Unmaking with me. But I tell him, I have high life points, we can just take the hits while we charge up the ultimate"

"How's your coco honey?", Olivia asks softly.

"It's good Olive, a little hot though. I might have burned my tongue. A couple uneventful turns go by. We Transgress the Mind the card he was charging. Then we drop a Tamiyo's Journal.

Olivia interrupts, "Oh Nixy that reminds me, we're having dinner with Tamiyo and her new boyfriend in two weeks."

Sipping his black mana coco, "Sounds good, I can thank her for the journal she bought me for my spark day. Back to the match, Rattlechains gets in again and my player starts with 'well if we had Olivia...' talk. I have to calm him down and explain to him the ultimate is almost charged, hopefully we draw a win condition soon. Finally, the next turn we draw Behold the Beyond!"

Olivia, breathing a sigh of relief, "I was starting to wonder when one of those would show up Nixy!"

"Me too Olive, me too. I explain to him, prioritize Behold the Beyond when you draw it and he get's it charged over the next couple turns. My ultimate is still a couple turns away...thanks to his wasting loyalty points at the start of the match...so we go ahead and let loose the Behold the Beyond. It draws into a couple removal spells, a Whispers of Emrakul, a Read the Bones and TWO Lost Legacy. We use a removal spell on one of his red critters and the Whispers and Read the Bones auto-cast themselves as they're charged up."

Olivia, still rubbing his wings, exclaims "Sounds like we're getting near the end Nixy!"

"We sure are sweetheart. But get this Olive, next turn doesn't he cascade into DOUBLE Rattlechains?! I was really starting to sweat until I realized we'd be ready to cast my ultimate next turn. Saheeli's turn goes by, I take a huge hit from Rattlechains and then it's on us and we spot a black match-5! We hit that to charge up Lost Legacy and my ultimate. Drop the ultimate and hit another black match for a second Lost Legacy and off they go. 48 damage + 48 damage right at her! The match was over shortly afterward on my draws!

"I'm so proud of you snookums!" she says as she gives his big head a squeeze. "But you know, if you had summoned me you wouldn't have been so stressed," she teases.

"Don't start too Olive!" he says looking at her fondly.

Decklist summary:

1- Behold the Beyond - BtB and Lost Legacy together with your ultimate are the main win conditions. You don't need both and can get by just using Read the Bones and other draw spells, but these are the true killers.
2- Lost Legacy - Up for debate whether this is better than BtB. I'm starting to like it more as you can charge up 2-3 of these while you wait for your ultimate and then unleash them all in the same turn.
3- To the Slaughter - Efficient removal is good. Ruinous Path or any other cheap kill spell will do as a substitute.
4- Grip of Desolation - See above.
5- Transgress the Mind - One of the best discard spells and I personally like it more than Infinite Obliteration. But I would play both if I had them.
6- Corrupted Grafstone - Two mana rocks is perfect for Ob Nix and this one is great as it can give you cascades that help get up your loyalty.
7- Drownyard Temple - Mana rock number two. Shrine of the Forsaken Gods is arguably better but I like that this returns itself.
8- Tamiyo's Journal - Helps you find answers and serves as a (slow) win condition.
9- Whisper's of Emrakul - This is a flex spot. When I'm not playing Ob Nix in an event this spot and the spot below go to Whispers and Read the Bones as they're good filler. If I'm using him in an event then this and the below will house whatever cards the event needs (e.g. two vampires for the summon 2 vampires or horror objective).
10-Read the Bones - This is a flex spot; see above.

So I will do a indepth deck analysis along with appropriate songs to listen to as you are watch your opponents cower in fear for your incredible power and song selection.

Creatures-3

Gisa and Geralf (We are Number One Remix but by the Living Tombstone (Lazytown) )- They make such a wonderful team. They are number one because they are the first ones you want to cast. Since this is not a creature heavy deck, you can fill the grave with monsters fast, which leads us to our next creature...

Prized Amalgam (Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Ashley)- Your favorite blocker. With Gisa and Geralf, he will always come back, and will only get more dangerous as the match goes on. Like Rick, he will never give you up, and (with Gisa and Geralf) never turn around and desert you. While he may not be mighty, our next creature helps...

Decimator of Provinces (War Pigs by Black Sabbath)- Here we go. With Dark Petition, you may be lucky and cast this beauty for half price. All your monsters set their phasers to kill, and start to exterminate or your opponent's creatures. Prized Amalgam will most likely lead to charge, and most likely will die first. Fear not! He will be back. This is our primary creature threat and should only be cast when you already have friends on the field, because he rallies the troops and has social anxiety




Spells- 6

Behold the Beyond (Hallelujah Chorus by the Royal Choral Society)- That it is the sound of a full hand, most likely some kill spells, and potentially 48 damage with some Forbidden Knowledge. This is the win condition, glue, and best card in the deck. 11/10 would cast again.

To the Slaughter (Sugar by Maroon 5)- Who does not want sugar? All the opponent's monsters have probably never had anything sweet in their life. Being the generous person you are, why not oblige? Also there is a chance to add on 10 damage to sweeten the deal.

Ruinous Path (Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson )- When they do not deserve sweets, they get this. You can choose a simple kill spell, or hit them with a smooth 6/6 land token. Its almost criminal to run this, because you get both to remove their monster, and potentially make your own.

Dark Petition (You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban )- I could not resist that one. The timing of this card is important. Wait until after Gisa and Geralf have raised Prized Amalgam back. If you do that, you will either get another copy of Gisa and Geralf, or if you are lucky, you will get a Decimator of Provinces. This card also allows for comebacks after a board wipe. No matter what creature gets revived, you are paying less.

Anguished Unmaking (No by Meghan Trainor )- Got a monster problem? Just say no. Got a support problem? Just say no. They need to let it go. What do Hexproof, Hixus, and annoying supports/monsters have in common? This gets rid of them. You can say no whatever is threatening you. Anything that the other two spells can't deal with, you got this.

Lost Legacy (Shake it Off by Taylor Swift )- Help your opponent in the groove by shaking all their cards off! We are to generous though, because they will refill their hand. When the beat is Forbidden Knowledge, that is a costly 48 damage to groove. Definitely save this before your solo.

Supports- 1

Tamiyo's Journal (Wintergatan by the Marble Machine )- Sometimes words are not needed. This journal helps you to chill and draw into your other cards. Nothing beats the satisfaction of knowing every turn you will be drawing two cards like a machine. Many times you may have the trouble of having too many. Once your Forbidden Knowledge kicks in, 16 damage a turn will quickly end any match.

While you are in your musical shenanigans and orchestrating victory, here are some things to take note of in preparing your magnum opus:

Don't be trigger happy on Behold- Many times you can wait it out depending on the opponent. If it is a very aggressive one like Koth or Nahri, you might want to cash this in fast.

Set up the field before Decimator hits the board- Decimator just by himself is a 12 hasted wrecking ball. Now if you have 2 creatures on the field before he hits, the whole board becomes a lawnmower.

Wait to cast Dark Petition- If you cast this immediately after Gisa and Geralf, you have a chance of raising a Prized Amalgam, which would be summoned for free next turn. If you wait, you have a chance of either another Gisa and Geralf for more grave setup, or a lovely Decimator of Provinces.

Always try to have two slots in the hand available- Once you have Journal running, try to have two slots so it can fill your hand next turn. This is especially important once Forbidden Knowledge is in play to get the full 16 damage per turn.


And finally, once you have warmed up and feel ready for your final solo (Forbidden Knowledge) Crank up that volume to max and play the best rendition of I am so Happy to Finally be Back Home (also known as Trolo) and proceed to watch your opponent lose their will to compete with every behold the Beyond and Lost Legacy cast, eventually resulting in their surrender to your musical prowess. Enjoy Friends! This can easily handle any other player or boss with style!

In this guide, I’m going to present a deck that doesn’t use ANY Rare or Mythic cards. I would argue (passionately!) that there isn’t a deck out there that couldn't benefit from having Olivia, Mobilized for War in it. I just haven’t actually drawn her from the free daily booster packs yet. And, odds are, I never will.

For those of you who are new to the game, or don’t have time on weekends to complete events, or just refuse to spend money on mobile apps, this is the guide for you.

A quick word on Ob Nixils:
In my opinion, every Ob Nixilis deck should be creature free - if for no other reason than he can get away with it.

That unique quirk means that Ob is perhaps the only Planeswalker who can consistently win games with a Common/Uncommon exclusive deck. Black has sufficient creature kill and card draw of that level to hold off your rival and bring the game to a swift conclusion. Even better, being creature free makes Ob Nixilis the perfect counter for all the most annoying decks you run into on the battlefield – from creature bounce and mana denial, to disable and destroy. Even better, Ob Nixilis can effortlessly blow through all those “Summon 2 or less creature” and “Lose 2 or fewer creatures” event objectives.

I love Ob Nixilis.

Strategy:
Ob Nixilis wins games one way – by getting to his 18 Loyalty cost 3rd level Planeswalker ability "Forbidden Knowledge" - then drawing cards like a madman. All other strategies are folly.

Forget about making matches for mana – you'll want to make matches for Loyalty.
Loyalty is gained at a rate of +1 for every Planeswalker gem you match, + 1 for every additional mana gem match. That gives O.N. a weird gem matching hierarchy. You’re going to be looking for Planeswalker gem matches, and if you don’t see those, any multiple gem match combo – regardless of color. Give me a Green match that cascades into a White match over a straight up Black match any day. The former results in four mana and two Loyalty, vs six mana and one Loyalty. In other words, if I can make this choice every round I’m going to get to my 3rd level ability twice as fast.

This brings us to Supports. Without the Rare cards of Corrupted Grafstone, Drownyard Temple or Forsaken Shrine, we have to turn elsewhere for mana ramp. I would recommend pairing Shivan Reef with Highland Lake…both cards that generate Blue/Red gems. Yes, that targets Ob Nixilis’ second best mana colors over Black, but by focusing on just two colors we’re more likely to flood the board with cascades and multiple-match opportunities. And, because the mana costs of our Commons and Uncommons are so low, our deck still plays quickly. The addition of Magnifying Glass gives us a tiny bit of Mana, and also gives us another possible card draw via Investigate.

Remember, it’s all about racing to that all important 18 Loyalty, then cashing in on your first tier Planeswalker card draw ability, bolstered by your card draw spells. You might be tempted to start playing against your opponent like you’re normal Planeswalker at some point - practice restraint! You are not a normal Planeswalker. You are a unique killing machine. Save your kill spells for any big beasts that come out, ignore the little guys that only chip away at you, and match for Loyalty as much as possible.

The Ob Nixils Deck - For The Rest Of Us
Creatures:
None. Hah.

Spells:
Kill Spells
Grip of Desolation (Uncommon)
Unlicensed Disintegration (Uncommon)

Card Removal Spells
Transgress the Mind (Uncommon)
Whispers of Emrakul (Uncommon)

Card Draw Spells
Live Fast (Common)
Prophetic Prism (Uncommon)
Read the Bones (Common)

Supports:
Highland Lake (Uncommon)
Shivan Reef (Common)
Magnifying Glass (Uncommon)

Sideboard:
If you're lucky enough to possess some Rare or even Mythic Black cards, by all means substitute them in. The opportunities to improve this deck are too numerous to elaborate on here – but you’ll want to focus on increased card draw first. If you can substitute in Lost Legacy or even a Behold the Beyond for Live Fast, you’ll finish games in much better shape, and Tamiyo's Journal is a great replacement for Magnifying Glass.

However, if you only have one Rare to add to this deck, I would controversially suggest Orbs of Warding. This oft overlooked Support comes into play with 6 shields, and reduces all damage you take by 2. The minor effect is that it softens the blows of any creatures your opponent plays. The more significant effect for Ob Nixilis is that you can now play your first tier Planeswalker ability and Read the Bones without taking any damage. (And, I might note, it also freezes Startled Awake out on the field. Very satisfying.)


Thanks for reading - and good luck against all those whales out there, you mighty minnows!