Tovolar, Savior of the Howlpack [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Aggro Casual RG (Gruul) Theme/Gimmick Transform Werewolf Wolf

Santiago1011

Combat (28)

• 1x Arlinn Kord  ^Flip
• 1x Avabruck Caretaker  ^Flip
• 1x Beastmaster Ascension
• 1x Breakneck Rider  ^Flip
• 1x Full Moon's Rise
• 1x Geier Reach Bandit  ^Flip
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Hound Tamer  ^Flip
• 1x Howlpack Resurgence
• 1x Ill-Tempered Loner  ^Flip
• 1x Instigator Gang  ^Flip
• 1x Kessig Naturalist  ^Flip
• 1x Kruin Outlaw  ^Flip
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip
• 1x Moonmist
• 1x Nightpack Ambusher
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1x Reckless Stormseeker  ^Flip
• 1x Relentless Assault
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Shared Animosity
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes
• 1x Unnatural Growth
• 1x Village Watch  ^Flip
• 1x Waxing Moon

Wolf Tokens (5)

• 1x Hollowhenge Overlord
• 1x Howling Moon
• 1x Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip
• 1x Silverfur Partisan
• 1x Tovolar's Huntmaster  ^Flip

Land (36)

• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 12x Forest
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 6x Mountain
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rockfall Vale
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Ramp (10)

• 1x Cemetery Prowler
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Scorned Villager  ^Flip
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Three Visits

Commander (1)

 ^Flip

Interaction (11)

• 1x Afflicted Deserter  ^Flip
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Daybreak Ranger  ^Flip
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Hull Breach
• 1x Outland Liberator  ^Flip
• 1x Vandalblast

Mysteries of the Moon (9)

• 1x Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Hermit of the Natterknolls  ^Flip
• 1x Howlpack Piper  ^Flip
• 1x Mondronen Shaman  ^Flip
• 1x Shamanic Revelation
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x The Celestus
• 1x The Great Henge

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Maybeboard

Other (4)

• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Natural Order
• 1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Forced Night (2)

• 1x Into the Night
• 1x Unnatural Moonrise

Includes? (2)

• 1x Child of the Pack  ^Flip
• 1x Cult of the Waxing Moon

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{R}{G} Tovolar, Dire Overlord {G}{R}

FINALLY we get a werewolf commander that actually cares about werewolves! Ulrich of the Krallenhorde   is, to put it lightly, terrible for werewolf tribal. He wasn't even good enough to make this list. This deck's goal is get several werewolves out and swing for lethal. Hopefully your werewolves will empower each other, but there are several backups if they don't.

When adressing werewolves, I will only talk about the transformed side unless the front side has something noteworthy. After all, our goal is to transform the pack with Tovolar.

The Commander

Tovolar, Dire Overlord   is quite the werewolf. One of his most unique and powerful abilities is the built in tribal Coastal Piracy. Building this deck, I seriously underrated it, and was worried about my lack of draw spells. After my first game, that worry no longer existed; I'm confident in saying that this ability probably nets you about 8 cards per game on average.

The other ability on his front is the forced transformation of all old and new werewolves when you control at least 3 werewolves and/or wolves. This is what makes the deck function. The problem werewolves had in the past was not being able to control transformation, and almost never seeing the werewolf side of the cards. This is the whole reason to run this commander. It. Is. Amazing. Something to keep in mind, while Tovolar's ability to make it night WILL make future daybound werewolves you play enter transformed, old werewolves will still enter on their human side (unless you have Vildin-Pack Alpha).

On his transformed side, Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge   keeps his Coastal Piracy which is awesome, but loses the forced transformation and instead gives a Kessig Wolf Run, minus the {T}. This is really good if you are being chumped by small creatures, as this lets you get your draw triggers. Notably, you can pay {0} for {X}, so it only needs {R}{G} to give trample to target creature.

Last but certainly not least, Tovolar only costs {1}{G}{R} to cast! This is super cheap considering all of the things he can do! He is also 3/3 on the front, and 4/4 on the back. There is seriously nothing I can criticize about this guy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Day and Night work differently depending on which werewolf it's interacting with. The new werewolves will automatically go to the corresponding side when they enter play, while old werewolves will not. There are several cards that work differently depending on the werewolf, so I'll address that once we reach that card.

Combat

Combat is a pretty general term, but most of the cards I included here are specifically about enhancing our werewolves either through keywords, p/t, or both. Trample is the most important thing in this section because we go tall, not wide. Typically you'll have 6/7 creatures max so you need those creatures to get through blockers

Arlinn Kord   the +1 is pretty good, but we really care about using her 0 to flip to Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon  . EbtM has an amazing +1 that gives an anthem and trample to all creatures we control, even non-werewolves (of which there are a couple). I ignore her -1 to be honest. Finally, her ult -6 gives you an emblem that gives creatures you control haste and a tap ability that is essentially a nonlethal Fling. I've gotten her ult off only a single time, but it turned a lost game into a won one. I again, underestimated the power of this ability.

Avabruck Caretaker  // Hollowhenge Huntmaster   this is one of the super powerful cards in the deck, where even two turns in play can change the tide of the game. She gives a permanent +2/+2 buff to your creatures in the form of +1/+1 counters each one of your combats. She also grants all other permanents you control hexproof. Shalai, Voice of Plenty who?

Beastmaster Ascension is a simple, staple combat enchantment. Combined total of 7 attackers to turn it on and get a permanent +5/+5 to your creatures. Usually takes 2 turns with this deck unfortunately.

Breakneck Rider  // Neck Breaker   is one of our trample enablers, while also giving a nice +1/+0 to attacking creatures

Full Moon's Rise similar effect as many others, with the bonus of a one use regen for werewolves

Geier Reach Bandit  // Vildin-Pack Alpha the unique effect of letting our old werewolves transform when they etb (this does not work with new werewolves as they are day/nightbound)

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma a fun little bear that gives +1/+1 and trample to everyone that attacks with it. Added bonus of cost reduction; though it doesn't hit a ton of our creatures when casting, transformed every werewolf should have base power 4 or be buffed to at least 4

Hound Tamer  // Untamed Pup   gives our wolves and werewolves trample. Plain and simple

Howlpack Resurgence straightforward tribal anthem with trample. Has flash for combat shenanigans, like if the defender wants to use 1/1s against ur big bois

Ill-Tempered Loner  // Howlpack Avenger   is a nice piece of insurance against defenders. You can either use the damage to ping creatures or hit face. A notable synergy is with Blasphemous Act. Need I say more?

Immerwolf Wolf and werewolf lord, while also preventing both old and new werewolves from transforming

Instigator Gang  // Wildblood Pack   its stellar power buff makes up for its lack of trample enabling

Kessig Naturalist  // Lord of the Ulvenwald   unique werewolf lord that gives a {R} or {G} on attack that doesnt drain until your eot

Kruin Outlaw  // Terror of Kruin Pass give all of our werewolves (notably NOT wolves) menace

Lightning Greaves self explanatory

Mayor of Avabruck  // Howlpack Alpha the front actually helps our humans when the sun rises, then he helps werewolves and makes wolves when night falls

Moonmist a Fog that only helps wolves and werewolves; the transformation only works for old werewolves

Nightpack Ambusher wolf and werewolf lord. Makes a wolf token on the slight chance we don't cast a spell

Overwhelming Stampede the pump spell. Can't go wrong with it

Pathbreaker Ibex is just Overwhelming Stampede on a stick

Rhythm of the Wild can give haste or a +1/+1 counter. Counterspell protection too

Shared Animosity another staple in combat oriented decks that can vastly increase the power of attackers

Swiftfoot Boots self explanatory

Thunderfoot Baloth with Tovolar out, it's a constant +2/+2 and trample which helps for blocking

Triumph of the Hordes good for alpha striking someone, not amazing for killing the table in my experience. Still good trample and creature reduction.

Unnatural Growth Probably my favorite card out of all of these, even lacking trample. Both the art and the effect are fantastic. Not only does it double p/t at the start of combat, but it does it EACH combat too.

Village Watch  // Village Reavers   gives our wolves and werewolves haste

Waxing Moon another trample enabler, again the transofrmation only works on old werewolves

Wolf Tokens

These cards help make 2/2 Wolf tokens, which are enhanced by many cards from the previous section

Cult of the Waxing Moonwhile not being a wolf or werewolf itself, it can make quite a few wolves. Chances are the other players will be turning it to day at some point before your next turn, so that lets you keep getting flip triggers when combined with Tovolar

Hollowhenge Overlord copies the number of creatures we have, but all of the copies are 2/2 wolf tokens. It has flash if you want to sneak it in on the end step before your turn

Howling Moon while this does give a target +2/+2, its much better ability is getting a wolf whenever someone casts their second spell for turn

Huntmaster of the Fells  // Ravager of the Fells   the OG werewolf, Huntmaster is pretty good at making werewolves and the life gain is nice, while Ravager is good for pinging down small creatures

Silverfur Partisan a bit of insurance for any stray spells that get pointed at our creatures

Tovolar's Huntmaster  // Tovolar's Packleader   the new Huntmaster is even better at making wolves, though you need the werewolf side for the attack trigger

Mysteries of the Moon

This section is dedicated to the cards that didn't really fit into any of the other sections, or they do so much that they could fit into multiple sections.

Arlinn, the Pack's Hope  // Arlinn, the Moon's Fury   daybound gives creatures flash and +1/+1 counters on etb for +1, while -3 makes two 2/2 wolf tokens. Nightbound gives {R}{G} on her +2 while her 0 turns her into a 5/5 werewolf with lots of keywords

Duskwatch Recruiter  // Krallenhorde Howler   one of the only werewolves where i might actually want it to stay human; the front lets you scry 3 and put a creature card to hand, while the back reduces creature spells by {1}

Hermit of the Natterknolls  // Lone Wolf of the Natterknolls is some nice interaction deterrent for your opponents on your turn

Howlpack Piper  // Wildsong Howler   front side lets us airdrop our werewolves into play repeatedly at sorcery speed while the backside you can scry 6 and put a creature card to hand on transformation

Shamanic Revelation staple in a creature heavy deck, pretty straightforward. You'll usually be able to gain life for each of your creatures

Sylvan Library another green staple that lets us pull what we need from the top 3 of our library

The Celestus a mana rock, a forced day/night switch for {3}{T}, and a lifegain of 1 and a looting effect whenever day or night changes to the other. Very noice

The Great Henge I set the cmc of this card to {5} because chances are we'll have at least a 4/X in play. Mana rock, lifegain, +1/+1 counters, and card draw on creature etb. So much value

Zendikar Resurgent double mana and card draw on creature spells yes please

Now onto the stuff that actually lets the deck play.

Ramp

The above-average cmc of this deck is offset by it's ability to ramp (thank you green). A lot of the simple ramp doesn't have an explanation because it's just ramp.

Cemetery Prowler a neat little dog that can give up to {1} cost reduction for every card type in the game. The two most important types I've found have been creatures and sorceries

Cultivate duh

Farseek duh

Herald's Horn cost reduction for werewolves, and lets you skim some cards off the top of your library hopefully

Kodama's Reach duh

Nature's Lore duh

Nissa's Pilgrimage duh

Rampant Growth duh

Scorned Villager  // Moonscarred Werewolf   of course I had to add at least one werewolf dork, right?

Sol Ring duh

Three Visits duh

Interaction

This section contains all the spells whose purpose is to interact with opponents, usually by destroying their stuff

Afflicted Deserter  // Werewolf Ransacker   artifact destruction on transformation and bolts it's owner

Beast Within good for getting rid of that pesky artifact or enchantment. I would try to save it for something more valuable than a creature but it'd work for that too

Blasphemous Act I set the cmc for this card at {2} because lets be honest, 4 players should have at least 7 creatures between them by the time you want to boardwipe

Decimate I try to force this card into every {R}{G} deck, its so fun to 4-for-1, also rare gruul creature destruction

Heroic Intervention You're best get-out-of-jail-free card, sadly doesn't stop bounce

Hull Breach I do love me my 2-for-1's, especially arts and enchants

Nature's Claim cheap single target removal for the cost of healing an opponent. No biggie, we're a combat deck

Outland Liberator  // Frenzied Trapbreaker   destroys an artifact or enchantment defending player controls on attack, plus a sac ability in case of boardwipes

Vandalblast I set the cmc to {5}, because I usually want to overload it

If you liked this deck, please consider leaving an Upvote and any feedback or suggestions you have!

Change History

December 2021

12/26/2021-12/27/2021

Primer written

Thoughts and Help

I'm thinking about removing Herald's Horn for another piece of value, not sure what yet

Also need to drop Immerwolf, it's actually a nonbo with Tovolar since it doesn't allow tovolar to transform our new werewolves and chances are none of our opponents will be casting zero spells

Date added	2 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.31
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Day, Emblem Arlinn Kord, Night, Wolf 2/2 G
Folders	IRL Decks, [Casual Decks], decks, Z. Other People's Cool Decks