The Werewolves of Innistrad have always held a special place in my MTG collection, as they were the subject of my first attempt at a modern brew. I love the constant threat of transformation and how it can keep an opponent off balance throughout the game, leaving an opening for a single strike that ends it all. And let's all admit, the art and flavor are beyond amazing. Before Shadows Over Innistrad, the deck itself was fun and something I liked to take to the Monday night Modern tournaments at my LGS, keeping games casual but allowing for explosiveness if my opponent tripped up. A solid tier 3 deck, it was something I felt I could play at any point with anyone and have a good time, not to mention that look of wonder when I summoned and transformed the seldom played Lichans. With the new tribal recruits and spells on hand,I'm ready to take this deck to a solid tier 2 level.
The Creatures
Here we run 8 one-drops in an attempt to get our game plan and damage in early, so Village Messenger
does some serious early game work. Alongside the traditional one-drops in Reckless Waif
and Wolfbitten Captive
, we have plenty of chance at a solid turn one presence. Moving up to the 2-drop slot, Mayor of Avabruck
acts as a great low costed lord with a plus side in its transformed trigger. Sharing the slot is a pair of Gatstaf Shepherd
and the new Hinterland Logger; intimidate and trample put the early pressure on and can often punch through for those precious last points of damage. The 3-drop spot is where a lot of magic happens, with the lord Immerwolf ensuring our transformed warriors won't be going back to puny human form anytime soon and giving a nice little boost to boot. Hanweir Watchkeep
can stop small creatures in their tracks long enough to see the terrifying 5/5 attacker waiting on the other side of a timely transformation. The SOI addition of Geier Reach Bandit gives our deck some much needed reach in later turns where we are hoping to top deck our way back into the game (admittedly, this isn't a position we want to find ourselves in, but if we do, this definitely gives us hope where previously this deck would fall on its face). Our 4-drop spot is where we look to simply take the game away from our opponent and replace with a face full of Lichenthope based aggression. Huntmaster of the Fells is the traditional choice here, and it's still great at what it does, combining game-saving life total swings with oft-needed bodies in the form of 2/2 wolf companions. Joining this all star is the much anticipated tribal plainswalker we were all waiting for, the multi-functional Arlinn Kord. This card is a straight up G in this deck, and is a happy replacement for Domri Rade, even at one more mana.
Non-Creature Spells
With such a high reliance on creatures, there is no room for fat when it comes to spells, so we keep it tight with the essential Moonmist, but making room for last block's Atarka's Command can often put us over the top, while Lightning Bolt plays the role of both removal and direct damage in a pinch. A couple copies of Full Moon's Rise give all our werefolk trample and the ability to survive damage based removal, Rancor ensures some extra punch, and Collected Company helps us dig up our werewolves, having them come into play transformed if you happen to have a Vilden-Pack Alpha out. Sideboard
Grafdigger's Cage Keeps graveyard and library searching based strategies at bay, While Naturalize can pick off those pesky artifacts and/or enchantments. Feed the Clan can help you survive long enough to get your board presence established against Burn, and Anger of the Gods can hose small creature based decks like Goblins and Elves. We cap off the board with big removal in Dismember and shutting off Infect and Bogles with a pair of stonewalling Spellskite.
ManaThe mana base is currently not ideal, but a budget option that still gets the job done. Eventually Stomping Ground and Wooded Foothills should find their way into the deck.
Final NotesWhile I feel this deck is quite the improvement on my previous list, I will continue to work on getting ideal numbers and combinations down, while exploring alternatives where necessary, and would appreciate any help along the way. Let me know what you think, I look forward to the feedback.
