Legendary Enchantment Creature — Horror

Arvinox, the Mind Flail

Mana value7EDHREC#4,722

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The Commander

Arvinox isn't a creature unless you control three or more permanents you don't own.

At the beginning of your end step, exile the bottom card of each opponent's library face down. For as long as those cards remain exiled, you may look at them, you may cast permanent spells from among them, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast those spells.

Guide

Gameplan

Arvinox is a mono-black value engine: every end step you exile the bottom card of each opponent's library and can cast any permanent spell you find using mana of any color, effectively turning your opponents' decks into your own. Spend the early game ramping and grinding, then convert that stolen card advantage into board presence and inevitability. As a bonus you can switch it on as a beater by reanimating or stealing opponents' permanents so you control three or more things you don't own.

Strengths

Relentless, un-targeted card advantage that scales with the number of opponents and ignores color restrictions.
Cheats on mana since stolen permanents can be cast with mana of any color, splashing bombs from every deck at the table.
Effectively immune to creature removal most of the time since it usually isn't a creature.
Slowly mills opponents, providing an alternate decking win and fueling your own reanimation.
Mono-black gives access to the best tutors, ramp, and reanimation in the format.

Weaknesses

Seven mana for an engine that does nothing the turn it lands and offers no immediate board impact.
As a non-creature most of the time, it can't block or attack and dodges your own equipment/aura voltron plans.
Enchantment removal and exile (e.g. Farewell, Disenchant) cleanly answer it and it's hard to protect.
Card quality from opponents is random—you may exile lands or off-color spells you can't easily use.
Slow clock; can fall behind fast combo or aggressive decks before the engine pays off.

Key Cards

Reanimate — Cheaply pulls an opponent's creature onto your side, both gaining a body and counting as a permanent you don't own to flip Arvinox on.
Sepulchral Primordial — Reanimates multiple creatures from opponents' graveyards, instantly granting permanents you don't own and a big board.
Geth, Lord of the Vault — Repeatedly steals cards from opponents' graveyards, feeding the you-don't-own-it condition while milling them further.
Crux of Fate — A flexible board wipe that can spare your stolen creatures while resetting aggressive opponents.
Bolas's Citadel — Lets you dump cards off the top while the Arvinox engine plays from the bottom of everyone else's libraries, maximizing total card flow.
Cabal Coffers — With Urborg it generates the massive mana needed to recast Arvinox and cast multiple stolen permanents each turn.

Upgrade Path

Lean harder into reanimation and theft so Arvinox is reliably a creature when you want it—add Animate Dead, Necromancy, Beacon of Unrest, and Sheoldred, Whispering One. Boost mana with Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, and Bubbling Muck to recast Arvinox and cast multiple stolen permanents per turn, and add tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) plus protection like Imp's Mischief. For a faster ceiling, include reanimation combos and a Bolas's Citadel/aristocrat package to close before the slow engine gets answered.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Grind out overwhelming card and board advantage from stolen permanents and beat down.
▸Reanimate or steal large threats and attack for the kill.
▸Mill all opponents out over a long game while your engine keeps running.
▸Assemble a black mana/combo finish like Bolas's Citadel plus a payoff for incremental life loss.

Archetypes

Theft / Steal — Arvinox literally lets you cast opponents' permanent spells, and stealing their stuff turns it into a creature.
Reanimator — Black reanimation grabs opponents' creatures from graveyards, both empowering your board and enabling the don't-own-it clause.
Mill — Exiling the bottom card each turn whittles libraries down, supporting a decking-out finish.
Value Midrange — The free permanent advantage each end step naturally builds card and board superiority over a long game.