Belly drum Willowdusk

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari)

reaperrdnk

Life drain (17)

• 1x Blood Celebrant
• 1x Deepwood Ghoul
• 1x Hand of Vecna
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Insatiable Souleater
• 1x Lashwrithe
• 1x Lord of the Forsaken
• 1x Lurking Evil
• 1x Marrow Bats
• 1x Mischievous Poltergeist
• 1x Nightmare Lash
• 1x Pestilent Souleater
• 1x Shadowcloak Vampire
• 1x Soul Channeling
• 1x Souldrinker
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Wall of Blood

Ramp (7)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Ornithopter of Paradise
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Sol Ring

Lands (35)

• 1x Command Tower
• 17x Forest
• 17x Swamp

Beater targets (16)

• 1x Almighty Brushwagg
• 1x Banehound
• 1x Blight Mamba
• 1x Daggerdrome Imp
• 1x Emerald Dragonfly
• 1x Flensermite
• 1x Gifted Aetherborn
• 1x Gingerbrute
• 1x Glistener Elf
• 1x Memnite
• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Valentin, Dean of the Vein  ^Flip
• 1x Vampire Cutthroat
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Vampire of the Dire Moon
• 1x Vault Skirge

Protection (7)

• 1x Autumn's Veil
• 1x Blossoming Defense
• 1x Mortal's Resolve
• 1x Ranger's Guile
• 1x Rush of Vitality
• 1x Sheltering Word
• 1x Snakeskin Veil

Breakthrough (2)

• 1x Overrun
• 1x Rancor

Commander (1)

Removal (10)

• 1x Dismember
• 1x Doom Blade
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Grasp of Darkness
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Naturalize
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Return to Nature
• 1x Ulcerate
• 1x Ultimate Price

Draw (5)

• 1x Live Fast
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sanguimancy
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Succumb to Temptation

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Willodusk is usually used as a lifegain deck to make big creatures, but this can take a while and lifegain spells just take up slots. I want to focus on the other, lesser used part of willowdusk, the life loss. With some key cards, you can make a huge creature as soon as turn 3 and start threatening lethal turn 4. The deck gets its name from a pokemon strategy of using a move called belly drum to pay half your life to maximize power. It can be a risky play but it will force your opponents to answer you right away or they will get overwhelmed with damage.

The strategy is to either ramp turn 1, or get a beater target into play. With ornithopter and memnite you can do both! Then turn 2 or 3 get willowdusk into play. After that play one of the life loss cards and you can drain yourself for any amount of life you want. I usually go for about 20 life to make my creatures a 2 hit KO. Cards like blood celebrant are great because it is both a life loss card and you can play it turn one so its easy to setup, or play it after willowdusk and pump up something else. Any of the life loss cards can be paid as many times as you want for desired effects, most have useful effects on top of the life loss.

With alot of the beater cards, they have lifelink. So when you dump 20+ life into a creature you will gain it right back as long as it connects with something, then you can play the lifegain game if you want and basically double its power each turn.

Heres an example of a play;

turn 1- forest, llanowar elves

turn 2- swamp, willowdusk

turn 3- swamp, blood celebrant, pay 20 life to activate blood celebrant 20 times, pay 1 for willowdusk and put 20 +1/+1 counters on llanowar elves, swing for 21 damage.

This is a fast start, but if this doesnt pan out, then your doing the same thing turn 4. Anyone who has a 20 power creature turn 4 is pretty scary.

This deck is a work in progress so if you have any suggestions to make it more efficient or maybe make it more consistant for turn 3 let me know!

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 6 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 35 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.25
Tokens	Pest 1/1 BG, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B