Used this deck to get to Mythic Constructed in Arena, playing best-of-one Standard (as of July 2022). Ultimately this deck is able to function post-rotation.
Strategy
- Play some werewolves
- Make it night time
- Trample to victory!
This deck aims to get to night time as quickly as possible, and gives multiple ways to get there artificially (i.e. without the no-spells-for-a-turn step). Learning to play the deck also means learning when it's best to just hold back on casting something in order to flip to night, some of which depends on what your opponent is playing. However, in general, the more it's night, the better. Flipping to night unexpectedly really messes with the combat math for many opponents, and even when it doesn't it can often force sub-optimal casting by your opponent just to flip it back to daytime again.
Most of the creatures in here are good value in the day time and amazing value at night. The key point is that there are lots of buffs and you use trample to deliver lethal damage, sometimes unexpectedly. A combination of good card draw abilities and library diving means you end up seeing a lot of your deck and you rarely are waiting to top-deck a win.
Mulligans
Generally this deck does not want to keep two land hands, as it's rare you'll have more than 1-2 spells that you can cast with two lands. You are better off taking a mulligan to get three lands. The exception is when you have one of each color of mana, a Kessig Naturalist
and only one card of three or more mana. Consistently, the games I lost were most frequently caused by not following these guidelines. You've been warned!
Card functions
Trample / Trample granters
Creature Buffs:
Card draw / library diving
Night-time makers:
Mana assistance:
Lifegain:
Enchantment / Artifact hate:
Removal / Direct damage:
Hasty fellows
Key Cards - 4-of
This is the primary two drop of the deck. Playing this card on turn two is the preferred start. He kicks off the day/night countdown as early as possible, and gives you potentially four mana on turn 3 for those games when you have Howlpack Piper
or Arlinn, the Pack's Hope
in hand. Most often, the Naturalist eats a bullet as soon as he comes out, so just be prepared for that. Once he transforms, he buffs all your other critters. Having multiples in your hand and/or on the battlefield is totally fine, so always run the full four copies.
The best-of-one metagame is full of aggro decks running cards like Luminarch Aspirant, Champion of the Parish, Illuminator Virtuoso and any other number of creatures with one or two toughness that will get bigger over time. Being able to deal with these early is critical. They also make good finisher cards for when you've attacked into a larger monster and been blocked, or when your opponent is only on 2 or 3 life, as both cards are 'any target' not 'creature or planeswalker' and are the only direct removal in the deck. Having multiples in hand is again no issue, as they are so versatile. Slash is a Lightning Boltat night. I've tried running other removal spells, this has proven to be the best combo so far. Recommend the full four copies of each, otherwise other decks can overwhelm you before night time.
Key cards - 3-of
He buffs! He draws you cards, lots of cards! He makes it night! He grants trample at instant speed! The only reason this guy is not a four of is because he's legendary and having two in your opening hand isn't optimal, but given how fast he eats a removal spell, you'd probably be fine to run a fourth (replacing e.g. Cemetery Prowler), I just don't have one. He also has 3 toughness which helps in a metagame with lots of spells that do two damage.
This little wolf is both the least scary and most scary card in the deck. It keeps getting bigger more or less every turn (every other creature this deck can produce is either a Wolf or Werewolf) and when it finally dies you get a bunch of life back. Exile cards are annoying, but frankly every time somebody uses a removal spell on a Pup, I'm kind of glad - it means that some of the more dangerous cards are a little bit safer! Frankly, it amazes me that when presented with a choice of Reckless Stormseeker
, Tovolar, Dire Overlord
and the Pup, people will kill the pup! Many times you want to not block your opponent so that you have more cards to swing back with, so having the extra bit of life when this creature does end up dying can make the difference between losing on their turn or winning on your next.
This is another card that could potentially be a 4-of. It is aggro enough on its own (3/3 Haste in the day, or 5/4 with Haste and Trample at night), but really he wants to bring a buddy into the fight each turn. This bonus is particularly helpful to unlock the Hideaway card from Fight Rigging a turn or two early.
Technically I run two of these, but that's because I don't have a third and I like Cemetery Prowler as a one-of against decks with things like Tenacious Underdog or Arcane Bombardment. No real explanation needed, the Piper puts out creatures and flips it to night quickly because it doesn't count as spell casting. Once it flips to night, you get another creature in your hand (9 times out of 10).
All the rest of the cards kinda speak for themselves, and you can mix and match a bit to suit your collection. However, I'd recommend not cutting the Child of the Pack
. It seems like a bit of an awkward card, but having 5 toughness is really helpful in letting you get stabilized, stopping most of the aggro creatures in their tracks. It's also huge at night, and makes a great surprise to flash in with Arlinn or to easily trigger Fight Rigging. Likewise, I wouldn't remove the two Outland Liberator
because of how many decks are using enchantments and because having another couple of night-time-countdown-starting two drops is good for the deck.
Cards I have tried and removed
Not counting any cards that will be invalid post-rotation.
- Ascendant Packleader (not enough 4 drops to get real value from this card, the game is usually over before it's any bigger than 3/2)
- Howling Moon (not really great on its own, too slow for the deck in general - run it if you have one and don't have Fight Rigging)
- Burly Breaker
(actually a solid card, run one if you don't have Volatile Arsonist
)
- Hound Tamer
(again, a decent card that actually works with the deck, would run if you don't have enough of the other 3-drop critters)
- Tovolar's Huntmaster
(I lied, never tried this one because I don't have one. Seems like a reasonable replacement for the Avabruck Caretaker
at the top of the curve)
Good luck! Please leave a comment if you try out the deck :-)
