Beast Within

Instant

Destroy target permanent. Its controller creates a 3/3 green Beast creature token.

Tokens

• Beast 3/3 G

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

rckclimber777 on Build a Deck with Me …

7 hours ago

First a quick introduction. I've been playing magic off and on for years. When this site first started out, I was super active and then I stopped playing. I recently got back into it and plunged deep into the Commander format. I love building decks around interesting concepts and often trying to break cards.

My slightly ambitious goal is to create a series of threads that show my thought process as I build a commander deck. I figure it will serve two purposes: First, it will aid newer players who have some precon decks and perhaps are looking to upgrade them or they see a commander and want to build it, but aren't sure how. The second is purely self-motivated in that more experienced players can fine tune my own logic and make suggestions for my own improvement.

So with that, the first commander deck I'm going to build here is Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds. This is a card that begs to be broken and creates for interesting and powerful decks. There are also several different lines you can choose to go with. You can make it go infinite if you like degeneracy or don't like the people in your playgroup, or you can decide to go the way of building lots of tokens quickly and then turning them sideways and swinging. (Spoiler alert we are going infinite)

So first things first, we need to think about what the commander actually does and what it is going to need to do that effectively. First, it allows all nontoken creatures to tap and create tokens that I control that entered the battlefield this turn. So a couple things to point out: First is that it is tokens not creature tokens specifically, so treasures, clues, food, etc. are fair game. Secondly, it doesn't have to be my turn that the tokens came in, you can activate the ability at instant speed if you create a token on your opponent's turn. Now Ghired also is only 3 mana in Naya colors with Haste which means he's going to come down early in the game, so we'll want some other creatures out there when he comes down to start building up tokens right away.

With his abilities in mind, there are a couple things that we want to think about: Cards that create tokens, cards that double tokens, cards that untap things, and cards that do interesting things when they're tapped, example Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero, who comes down early as well, and when she is tapped I gain life and draw a card. We will obviously need to consider interaction, ramp, and card draw, but those are secondary in my thoughts. Every deck needs those, but what items you add often depends on what your deck is trying to do. In this case, we want to make tokens, tap creatures, make more tokens.

Token Generators

So a couple really good token generators here to start would be things that keep making them rather than one offs. In my playtesting Oltec Matterweaver is hard to beat. It comes in early (turn 2 if you can get a sol ring). When you cast a creature spell you can copy a target artifact or bring out a 1/1 gnome. Turn 1 you play a plains and a sol ring. Turn 2 you bring this out, turn 3 you bring out Ghired, creating a copy of sol ring, tap your Oltec Matterweaver and create another sol ring. You now have 3 sol rings on the field on turn 3... You are now the archenemy, congrats?

Some other standouts are Emmara, Soul of the Accord who when tapped creates a 1/1 soldier with lifelink. So tapping will actually create two tokens. Thousand Moons Smithy  ^Flip is another beast of a card. It comes down turn 4, Ghired is already out along with any other low cost creatures. Let's say you have a Birds of Paradise and Ghired when this comes down and maybe a mana rock. You create a 5/5 Gnome (2 creatures, 2 artifacts, and the gnome itself). Now you tap the bird and Ghired and create two more Gnomes. You now have 3 7/7s, on turn 4...

Honorable mentions here are things like Smothering Tithe who will create treasures each opponent's turn, tap a creature and create another. Rain of Riches, create some treasures, copy them cast something and get cascade.

Also, populate is a thing, I like Growing Ranks and Nesting Dovehawk for that.

Doublers

Ok, so doublers is a pretty easy topic, there are quite a few out there, they are expensive and honestly for this deck you don't need much. I chose a couple that I particularly like for this and by like I mean I own them and didn't have to go out and spend $50-60. Examples are Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation  ^Flip, Mondrak, Glory Dominus, Primal Vigor (careful as this one applies to everyone not just you).

Untapping Abilities

Untapping abilites can make it even worse as time goes on. If you have a Seedborn Muse you untap each upkeep so they draw a card, Smothering Tithe creates a treasure, during their end step you tap your creatures creating more treasures. Untap on the next opponent's untap step, rinse and repeat.

This is also where infinite combos begin to happen. Sunstrike Legionnaire untaps everytime a creature enters the battlefield. Make a creature token, tap sunstrike legionnaire, create another creature token, sunstrike legionnaire untaps, rinse and repeat, gg. Midnight Guard works too for one more mana. Other options include making copies of your own creatures that untap creatures when they enter the battlefield like Hyrax Tower Scout, Zealous Conscripts, Sparring Mummy. Mix that with notable salty cards like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Molten Duplication, Splinter Twin, Jaxis, the Troublemaker and you're off to infinite again. (Jaxis uses his ability targeting sparring mummy, sparring mummy comes in untaps him, now Jaxis just taps to make a copy of the sparring mummy token (from Ghired) which has haste, it comes in untaps Jaxis, rinse and repeat, swing with a legion of sparring mummies)

Cards that do cool things when tapped aren't super plentiful, but the two I've mentioned already are great for this deck. (Wylie and Emmara).

Interaction, ramp, card draw

Now for the ramp, interaction, and card draw. Ramp is fairly straightforward, since we have the Oltec Matterweaver, I opted to put in some signets, but left some other stones out. Normally when I'm in green I go heavy on green ramp. I opted for cheap ramp spells like Rampant Growth, Farseek, Three Visits and Birds of Paradise (could maybe use more mana dorks since having a body later will help in producing larger tokens).

Interaction is super important in this one. Board wipes are coming, targeted removal is coming, so need to prepare, but we also need to be flexible in taking out our opponents. So to save us from board wipes, we have Heroic Intervention, the ubiquitous and hopefully soon to be reprinted (one can dream) Teferi's Protection, Boros Charm, and Smuggler's Surprise (which is heroic intervention in disguise).

Getting rid of threats is crucial, so Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares are useful, but not as useful as Beast Within, Generous Gift, and Stroke of Midnight. These obviously target more than just creatures, but also produce tokens. There are situations where a well-timed beast within on your own treasure token to create a 3/3 beast that you can copy a bunch of times is the right play. That make it not just removal, but also a token generator.

Finally, we come to card draw. Since we are producing tokens (hopefully most turns) we can include things like Bennie Bracks, Zoologist and Idol of Oblivion. I also like Welcoming Vampire for this deck. It is creature heavy so Guardian Project is great, so is Beast Whisperer and Garruk's Uprising. Esper Sentinel is always good. We already have Wylie from earlier. Getting card draw is vital to the survival of any deck and particularly this one as we need to be producing tokens regularly and you need cards to produce them. I chose to run about 11 card draw engines in the deck to ensure I'm drawing regularly.

Lands... I mean... make sure you have dual lands in the deck and triomes if you can. One noteworthy utility land is Grove of the Guardian which can have a nice payoff when you create an 8/8 with a few creatures out along with Ghired.

I'll post the deck that I built from this thought process on my page in case you want to see the final product. And if you made it this far thanks for joining me on this, I hope it was helpful. Feel free to comment on how you would do it differently or cards that should have been mentioned. Also feel free to mention commanders you want to see built. I have a couple in mind to start but want to see suggestions as well.

Last_Laugh on All Will Be One

1 week ago

I'd personally suggest cutting:

Viral Drake for Danny Pink

Guildpact Informant for Mutational Advantage

Lux Cannon for Beast Within

Atomize for Generous Gift or Stroke of Midnight

Juniper Order Ranger for Anduril, Narsil Reforged

Fuel for the Cause for Felidar Retreat

Tamiyo, Field Researcher for Marcus, Mutant Mayor

Otherworld Atlas for Breena, the Demagogue (make em earn the group huggy card draw)

Also consider Wave Goodbye and Ripples of Potential if you own them or they're in your budget.

Last_Laugh on Kalonian Hydra or Bristly Bill?

1 week ago

I'd personally suggest cutting:

Viral Drake for Danny Pink

Guildpact Informant for Mutational Advantage

Lux Cannon for Beast Within

Atomize for Generous Gift or Stroke of Midnight

Juniper Order Ranger for Anduril, Narsil Reforged

Fuel for the Cause for Felidar Retreat

Tamiyo, Field Researcher for Marcus, Mutant Mayor

Otherworld Atlas for Breena, the Demagogue (make em earn the group huggy card draw)

Also consider Wave Goodbye and Ripples of Potential if you own them or they're in your budget.

*copied and pasted onto your deck

outofnothing0 on Non-Alchoholic Patron

2 weeks ago

@Profet93:

-Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth actually has anti-synergy for this deck as it untaps ALL of my opponent's lands when I activate my commander's ability. If someone else plays one I try to destroy it with Beast Within or Acidic Slime as soon as possible.

-Deserted Temple is a maybe right now as I can already do that with green creatures like Voyaging Satyr and Saryth, the Viper's Fang which i can then untap to do it again which is insane...

Thanks for the suggestions!

RufusTheGrufus on Mono Green Stompy

3 weeks ago

Profet93, thank you for taking the time to check out the list and offer your suggestions!

I'm going to try my best to articulate my opinions of said suggestions:

-Rishkar's Expertise: I do enjoy this card quite a bit, and did originally have it in the list. It eventually got cut because the floor was too low for a 6 mana card; and I opted for a similar effect in Return of the Wildspeaker because it's one mana cheaper and has extra utility since it can help push through alpha strikes. I do feel like this deck could benefit from a bit more card advantage though.

-Pir's Whim: I actually completely forgot this card exists, I think this is a perfect swap suggestion, thank you!

-Traverse the Outlands: I totally get why you're suggesting this card, I think I personally just tend to shy away from more conditional ramp, removal, and card advantage; since typically if I'm desperately needing one of those effects I don't want to have to rely on satisfying an extra condition in order to achieve it. I think otherwise Traverse the Outlands could totally find a home in this kind of deck.

-Collector Ouphe, Manglehorn, Reclamation Sage: Collector Ouphe and Manglehorn are definitely great cards to include in this deck. My main hesitation with including them is because this decklist was made with the intent of having it be a bit more casual and less "feel bad" for when my playgroup wants to play with lower powered/more casually oriented decks. I love the idea of including them though and am adding them to the Maybeboard for further consideration! In terms of Reclamation Sage, it was in the decklist initially but ultimately got cut over more flexible pieces such as Krosan Grip, Beast Within and Return to Nature as I typically feel the need to have some options for instant speed removal; and I have a few pieces of creature-based artifact/enchantment removal that can target multiple things.

-Nissa's Pilgrimage: This is just an objectively better card than Cultivate in a mono-green deck, thank you!

-Yavimaya Hollow: Intriguing card, I'm definitely interested in testing it out!

-Turntimber, Serpentine Wood  ^Flip: I generally have an aversion to these flip lands. I totally get the arguments for playing them, I've just never felt inclined to play a majority of them. I'd be willing to give this one a shot in the list though to see if it exceeds my expectations; especially since it's so on-theme!

-Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma: I completely forgot about this guy, I'm interested in testing him out and am swapping him in over Giant Adephage; which was really just in the deck as a 'fun' pet card anyways.

-Shaman of Forgotten Ways, Somberwald Sage: I don't know how I forgot about Shaman of Forgotten Ways. Thank you for such a great suggestion, I slotted it in instead of Llanowar Tribe for now. Somberwald Sage I'm less sure of including at this point in time. I'll put it in the Maybeboard and keep thinking on it.

-Siege Behemoth: An interesting suggestion, I'm not sure if I'll find a home for it in the deck just yet but I'm adding it to the Maybeboard to consider!

-Berserk: This would be an incredibly fun include, I just need to find something to cut. It'll have to live in the Maybeboard for now.

-Life's Legacy, Greater Good: Since I'm truly a Golgari player at heart, and love playing around with sacrifice and my graveyard, these cards were definitely in consideration when I initially built this deck. I eventually opted for just Momentous Fall and not Life's Legacy because Momentous Fall can be cast at instant speed which allows it to be used in response to removal to help with rebuilding. If I had more synergy with sacrificing creatures baked into the deck, and/or more ways to utilize my own graveyard, I would definitely be including Greater Good. I'm adding them to the Maybeboard for now, especially since Greater Good may just be too much card advantage to turn down.

Thank you again for such considerate suggestions and for taking the time to look over the list!

Crow_Umbra on Terrenos de Don Windgrace [Retired]

1 month ago

Thank you for the suggestion Necramus, Jokulhaups is definitely a spicy one. I was a bit apprehensive to include MLD in the deck, mostly because my main playgroup doesn't really have much Land Destruction beyond stuff like Beast Within/Generous Gift. Ironically, that's also why I thought a Lands deck could potentially carve a niche in our meta, since there currently aren't many responses to it.

Mortlocke on A Pimp Named Sliver Overlord

1 month ago

Yes, I'm aware that Zur the Enchanter gets around counter magic through his ability, but in my opinion that seems like an unnecessarily convoluted way to try and solve a problem. Slivers have access to all colors - why not just run your own counter magic? Or control/stax pieces like Conqueror's Flail?

I'm not trying to be a contrarion here but this - "In turn 3 u cast vampiric tutor searching for enchanment, turn 4 cast Zur, turn 5 attack zur and draw second enchanment to loop combo." Doesn't make alotta sense. On turn 4 you'd have the enchantment you intend to put into play in hand. Zur won't be able to target said Enchantment when he eventually attacks on turn 5. I'm not sure what you're trying to say here without you at least naming all the cards you intend to use for the implied combo.

So your analysis of 4 CMC slivers boils down to "their power / toughness is low, so therefore they are bad". Sure, if they were vanilla creatures sure I'd agree with you. BUT - reading the card explains the card. Say you have Magma Sliver and 3 other smaller slivers in play. With one attack you could deal 15 damage to a player. If another one of those slivers was Shifting Sliver, then that damage is unblockable. So you say that slivers are likely to be targeted for removal? Well if your opponents aren't brain dead then they absolutely should be targeting any of the previously mentioned. But again Slivers are in all 5 colors, so say it with me now: Run. Interaction. It stops your mass removal, or if you really wanna flex, run a commander staple like Teferi's Protection.

"Next things is what u do if some one play "Ghostly prison", "Moat" or "The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale" + "Winter Orb" or "Winter Orb" + "Static Orb" ?"

Harmonic Sliver. As for The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale - Beast Within. Ill repeat myself just the once - Interaction. As for my face, well...if you want we can play some games on Spelltable. Doubt you'd show. Also doubt you own any of the expensive cards you like to try to flex with.

But I digress, DoctorMunchiesPHD tell me more about your Intruder Alarm + Telekinetic Sliver combo. This is your page after all.

DatShepTho on The Walls are closing in!!!

2 months ago

Two of my favourite Arcades Defenders support I recommend: Brave the Sands Hold the Gates

Defenders I recommend: Wall of Blossoms Wall of Omens Vine Trellis Sylvan Caryatid

You've got pretty much all of the good defenders, but I think the deck lacks a bit of ramp and the spot removal could be more efficient. Just the typical your Swords to Plowshares, Pongify and Beast Within style cards, maybe Darksteel Mutation if you're feeling mean.