commander · Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls
Endless Punishment (DSC).
A Rakdos group-slug deck led by Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls — punish opponents for drawing cards and losing life, grow Valgavoth into a massive threat, and win through damage triggers that compound with every opponent action.
The Commanders
Endless Punishment is a Rakdos group-slug deck from Duskmourn: House of Horror. The strategy is to make existing — breathing, drawing cards, losing life — cost opponents something every single turn. Valgavoth grows larger as opponents take damage and draws you cards when they pay life, which means the deck generates advantage passively just by being in play. Against most fair pods, Valgavoth reaches lethal proportions faster than opponents can manage.
Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls is a damage-scaling threat that gets counters from opponents taking damage outside of combat. Every burn spell, every group-slug effect, every Blood Artist trigger feeds Valgavoth's growth. He also draws you a card when an opponent pays life — and with multiple opponents doing that every turn, the card advantage is real. A 10/10 Valgavoth swinging for commander damage requires opponents to commit significant removal.
Key Cards
Kaervek the Merciless
The most oppressive threat in the deck. Whenever an opponent casts a spell, Kaervek deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to any target. In Commander where opponents cast expensive spells, Kaervek deals five, six, seven damage to any creature or player with every opposing cast. Combined with Valgavoth's growth trigger, each spell cast against you feeds Valgavoth while burning down the board. Most pods can't play spells into Kaervek and will dedicate immediate removal to him.
Syr Konrad, the Grim
Damage on a loop. Syr Konrad pings each opponent whenever a creature dies, leaves a graveyard, or enters a graveyard. In Commander, between board wipes, combat, and sacrifice effects, creatures leave and enter graveyards constantly — Syr Konrad turns that background noise into 1-2 damage per event per opponent. In a four-player game, a single Damnation with Syr Konrad in play deals 10+ damage to each opponent from the death triggers alone.
Mogis, God of Slaughter
An indestructible enchantment that makes opponents choose their poison every upkeep. Mogis deals 2 damage to each opponent unless they sacrifice a creature. Against token-light opponents, they take 2 per turn. Against token-heavy opponents, they lose their best creatures. Mogis is difficult to remove, provides a constant clock, and is nearly impossible to interact with at instant speed. He enables Valgavoth's growth every single turn he's in play.
Massacre Wurm
Six mana for a board wipe and massive life drain. When Massacre Wurm enters, creatures opponents control get -2/-2 until end of turn — killing most tokens and small creatures outright. Every creature that dies from this deals 2 damage to that creature's controller. A board with ten small creatures becomes a 20-damage swing to one opponent, 20 counters on Valgavoth, and a clear path for your attackers. This is one of the deck's most immediate game-ending threats.
Blasphemous Act
The deck's most efficient board wipe. Blasphemous Act costs one mana with a crowded board — and with Syr Konrad, Mayhem Devil, and Blood Artist in play, it's also a massive damage burst to every opponent. Wiping a board of thirty creatures in a Commander game with Syr Konrad out deals 30 damage to each opponent from Konrad alone. This is the deck's primary way to end games: let the board get crowded, sweep it, and watch the damage triggers stack.
How to Play
Spend the early turns building mana rocks and getting Valgavoth into play on turn three or four. Then deploy damage-ping enchantments and creatures — Mogis, Syr Konrad, Kaervek — that make sitting at the table costly for opponents. You don't need to attack; the passive damage from these permanents does the work.
The deck wins two ways. Against creature-heavy pods, save Blasphemous Act for a crowded board and let the Syr Konrad and Blood Artist triggers finish the game in one turn. Against control pods with fewer creatures, Valgavoth grows to a lethal threat through repeated non-combat damage and closes with commander damage. The deck requires patience — set up the engine over four to six turns, then close in one explosive turn where the ping triggers overwhelm everyone simultaneously.