Species Specialist

Creature — Human Warrior

As Species Specialist enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.

Whenever a creature of the chosen type dies (is put into the graveyard from the battlefield), you may draw a card.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

Crow_Umbra on Fight For Survival

8 months ago

Hi there, have you had a chance to play this deck irl at all yet? In terms of upgrades, is there any specific area you want to focus on first? Lastly, do you have a general budget in mind for upgrades?

The tricky thing with Mardu Humans is that there are a lot of great options available to these colors; especially Legendary humans. Some more general spitballing ideas that should be fairly budget friendly:

• Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge could maybe be a swap in over Captivating Crew. He has upside that helps your Legendary creatures, and can draw you some cards. Bonus points for being a creature that Alesha can recur.

• Plumb the Forbidden is a solid draw option in Aristocrats and token-focused decks. It's one of my favorite responses to board wipes in the decks that I run it in.

• Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon can be a solid option over maybe Perimeter Sergeant. She can balloon & spit out gnomes if left alone too long.

• Loran of the Third Path could be a potential swap out over Devout Chaplain. I think it depends on if you value an ETB removal source over one that is potentially repeatable, but needs more set up to pull off. Loran also opens up a more political draw option.

• Depending on your preference, but Morbid Opportunist, Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser, or Species Specialist could all be potential alternatives to Disciple of Bolas as draw options.

Hopefully these suggestions are helpful. Mardu Humans have so many great options available to different versions of the build archetype, that it can be hard to narrow down your options. Budget considerations can definitely help narrow down your options.

SufferFromEDHD on

1 year ago

Changeling Outcast solid rat.

Species Specialist serious card draw.

Crippling Fear/Kindred Dominance tribal destruction.

Haunting Voyage tribal reanimation.

Cover of Darkness tribal evasion.

Deserted Temple utility.

Vesuva utility/Inkmoth #2

Jet Medallion ramp.

Gate to Phyrexia artifact destruction in {B}

Contamination control.

king-saproling on Zellix's Insanity

1 year ago

Cool deck! You might like these: Phenax, God of Deception, Intruder Alarm, Captain N'ghathrod, Selhoff Occultist, Species Specialist, Phyrexian Altar, Murder of Crows, Liliana, Dreadhorde General, Teferi's Tutelage, Jace's Erasure

TheSurgeon on Verminous

1 year ago

Profet93- Thanks for the upvote and for asking!

Boardwipes are a problem for any deck that requires a board state. As there are few spells to truly combat boardwipes in mono black, this deck accepts that inevitability, and takes it a step further to exploit its own low toughness of the creatures, to squeeze as much benefit as we can from it.

Zulaport Cutthroat makes a nice aristocratic win, while Elixir gives another shot at a Thrumming Stone play, should a board wipe be limited to creatures. Both Grim Haruspex and Species Specialist allow for a hand refill should your board disappear, and the Elixir keeps your library full.

Ogre Slumlord replaces your nontoken rats with 1/1 rats, while also counting your opponents' dying critters, giving you ALL the rats, for a go-wide win.

Early game, hitting early and aggressively with 3/1 - 5/1 creatures puts you within win range around t6 with some form of modified evasion on a single creature (Rogue's Passage, Whispersilk Cloak, fear from Marrow-Gnawer, and either gravepact or Dictate of Erebos, or the zulaport cutthroat on the board.

Hope I could clear that up, if you have any more questions or suggestions, please feel free to comment further!

ldvatwa on You Gotta Pay The Troll Toll

1 year ago

Thank you, Optimator. This has been a labor of love. While I've had it for only 4 years, which still a bit less than my longest deck being Omnath, Locus of Mana at 7 years, this is for sure my favorite deck to pilot. I could play the deck all day if I could and not get sick of it. It felt only right for this to be the deck that I try foiling out. Now I just need Wizards to make a foil variant of Grismold, the Dreadsower, Species Specialist, and Witch's Clinic. Unless I'm not aware there's foils of those. In that case I've got some purchases to make lol.

Azoth2099 on Wilhelt, undead shenanigans

1 year ago

So here are my recs:

Apprentice Necromancer, Cryptic Gateway, Kindred Discovery, Coat of Arms, Vanquisher's Banner, Urza's Incubator, Pyre of Heroes, Species Specialist, Dark Ritual, Culling the Weak & Sacrifice

I'm iffy on Corpse Harvester but it could be decent, if not a bit slow.

SufferFromEDHD on Skeletons

1 year ago

Cool concept!

Black Market Connections ramp, card draw AND a skeleton token engine... Find a spot for this pronto.

Nameless Inversion might be useful.

Kindred Dominance definitely useful.

Species Specialist and Pact of the Serpent are solid tribal card draw.

Optimator on Goblin Shenanigans (The Secret of Kiki Jiki)

1 year ago

A bunch of card-draw cards you will want to note for any future shake-ups:

Moldervine Reclamation, Dark Prophecy, Species Specialist, Skullclamp, Village Rites, Deadly Dispute, Liliana, Dreadhorde General,

Collective Unconscious, Shamanic Revelation, Ohran Frostfang, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, Culling Dais

Colossal Majesty, Phyrexian Reclamation, Phyrexian Arena, Slate of Ancestry, Herald's Horn,

Greed, Erebos, God of the Dead,

Mask of Griselbrand, Fecundity, Guardian Project, Idol of Oblivion, Coveted Jewel, The Deck of Many Things

Painful Truths, Harmonize, Night's Whisper, Sign in Blood, Read the Bones, Reforge the Soul, Wheel of Misfortune,

Damnable Pact, Ambition's Cost, Ancient Craving, Syphon Mind, Minions' Murmurs, Necrologia,

Return of the Wildspeaker, Soul's Majesty, Rishkar's Expertise, Peer into the Abyss

I would skew toward permanents (for Kodama) and higher mana values (for Vial-Smasher)