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Masters of Evil

A black-red Villain swarm that connives for cards, flies over the top, and burns out whatever's left standing.

Standard · 2026-06-26

⚔ Evening Duel: faces Avengers Assemble — not played yet · the duel →

Key cards

Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord Unliving Legionnaire Unliving Legionnaire The Ruinous Wrecking Crew The Ruinous Wrecking Crew

$8.06 total value · €5.75 · prices as of 2026-07-15

Most expensive cards
  • Ares, God of War$0.36
  • Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord$0.25
  • The Ruinous Wrecking Crew$0.25
  • Blazing Crescendo$0.24
  • Madame Masque$0.22
  • Villainous Hideout$0.22
  • Yellowjacket, Heartless Marauder$0.21
  • Lightning Strike$0.19
  • Swordsman, Sharp Scoundrel$0.19
  • Visions of Villainy$0.19
60 cards 37 spells 23 lands avg CMC 2.89 B29R11

Mana curve

0
0
2
1
13
2
12
3
7
4
3
5
0
6
0
7+

mana value · lands excluded

Card types

  • Creature 24
  • Instant 12
  • Sorcery 1
  • Land 23

Colors

  • B 72% (29)
  • R 28% (11)

🎴 Goldfish (test draw) 🖨 Proxy sheet

Strategy

A black-red Villains aggro-midrange that drowns the board in cheap, value-laden bodies, draws extra cards through connive, and finishes with evasion plus reach. Every creature replaces itself or grows, so the deck keeps applying pressure even through trades, then closes with flyers and burn.

Roles

  • Threat: Unliving Legionnaire, Roxxon Brutes, The Ruinous Wrecking Crew, Yellowjacket, Ares
  • Card advantage (connive): Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord, Red Room Recruit, Madame Masque, Crimson Operative
  • Removal: Hour of Defeat, Widow's Bite, Cruel Alliance, HULK SMASH!
  • Reach / closers: Lightning Strike, Hire a Crew, Blazing Crescendo
  • Recursion: Project Deathlok Soldier, Unliving Legionnaire, Decoy Ploy, Ares
  • Lands: 12 Swamp, 9 Mountain, Hell's Kitchen, Villainous Hideout

Synergies & curve

The connive package keeps the gas flowing: Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord discounts Villains and connives them as they enter, while Roxxon Brutes and Madame Masque reward hitting your second card each turn. Unliving Legionnaire is the engine's backbone — an evasive flyer that buys itself back from the graveyard with counters attached. The curve is aggressive (most spells cost one-to-three), with The Ruinous Wrecking Crew as a scalable top-end and burn/Hire a Crew for the last few points.

Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord out, then drop Unliving Legionnaire — it connives on the way in, flies over, and rebuys itself later for two more counters: card advantage and a clock at once.

Weak spots

Runs out of gas against a stabilized, life-gaining board and has no way to deal with big indestructible blockers beyond chump-and-fly. Few answers to enchantments/auras, and the self-discard (connive, Misty-style loot) can ditch needed lands on a clunky draw.

Decklist (60 cards)

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