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Welcome to Hallownest (Hollow Knight-themed EDH)

Commander / EDH GWUB

PhyrexianWombat

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Eternal Kingdom (38)

Bugs of Hallownest (29)

Knight of the Void (8)

Commander (1)

Commander: Atraxa, Praetors' Voice

History of Hallownest (18)

RADIANCE (6)

Higher beings, these words are for you alone.

Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator.

Step across this threshold and obey our laws.

Bear witness to the last and only civilisation, the eternal Kingdom. Hallownest

My finally (more or less) completed tribute to Hollow Knight, one of the greatest games in recent history! I had this idea after the artwork on the card Caustic Caterpillar reminded me of an enemy encountered early on in the story of Hollow Knight, the False Knight. image

At this point, I just kind of started finding other flavorful cards. Some of them surprised me! I wasn't expecting to find cards as fitting as Lifeblood or Stag Beetle when I started, but for the most part, it really came together!

Of course, there's still a lot more I'd like to do, and suggestions are appreciated! Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!

Warning: There will be some spoilers farther down! I recommend you go play Hollow Knight if you haven't. It's a fantastic game!

Radiance

"Remember... Light..."

Atraxa, Praetors' Voice: After weighing a lot of options for potential commanders, I decided on Atraxa, representing the source of the Infection herself, the Radiance! I believe Atraxa has the right feel for the Forgotten Light, slowly building up an infection of her own with abilities that fit the Radiance rather perfectly, I think. She also gives us access to most colors that we need, so I'm very happy with this commander!

Bathe in Light: I absolutely had to include this... Not only is the name fitting, but it straight up says "Radiance" in the text! A few other cards have this keyword too, but I believe Bathe in Light to be the most flavorful as well as powerful.

Radiant Destiny: Representing Hallownest's fall to the Infection. It's even got an orange glow in the art!

Radiant Purge: This one's perfect! The name is great, and it looks exactly like Radiance's beam attacks in her fight.

Cleansing Nova: Not as pitch perfect as the last, but reminiscent enough of Radiance to be included. It does resemble her blade attack.

Corrupted Conscience: The Infection taking hold of an opponent's creature, ready to spread! One of my favorite inclusions in terms of flavor. The art even shows a bright glow inside of the target, much like many of Hallownest's creatures develop once infected.

Necromantic Selection: The Infection claims the dead as well as the living. No one is truly safe as long as they remain in Hallownest.

The Knight

"No cost too great.

No mind to think.

No will to break.

No voice to cry suffering.

Born of God and Void.

You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams.

You are the Vessel.

You are the Hollow Knight."

Kathril, Aspect Warper: The Knight, the Ghost of Hallownest. Definitely one of the trickier characters to assign a card to. In fact, I considered the possibility that the player themselves are the Knight, but eventually settled on Kathril. I like that it has a lot of versatility in its abilities, much like the items and powerups Knight gains over the course of the game.

Nantuko Shade: "Each of us leaves an imprint of something when we die. A stain on the world. I don't know how much longer this kingdom can bear the weight of so many past lives..." Pretty much an auto-include. Insect Shade! It's perfect!

Painful Truths: The Knight learned of its true past in the Abyss, but a harsh memory accompanied it.

Lifecrafter's Bestiary: The Hunter's Journal, full of information on the creatures of Hallownest... And how to slay them.

Expedition Map: The map of Hallownest provided by Cornifer, and used by the Knight throughout its travels.

Thaumatic Compass  /Wayfarer's Bauble: The Wayward Compass. Using two artifacts to represent the same object might be a bit of a cheat, but both fit too well. They both have fitting names and help you to find new lands! The Spires of Orazca is debatable in terms of flavor, but you don't have to flip the Thaumatic Compass   either... And if you do, you could simply see Spires of Orazca as any of Hallownest's many secret areas.

Ambition's Cost: This artwork reminded me of the Knight claiming the Shade Cloak from a statue in the Abyss. complete with some black tendrils.

Hornet

Hallownest might have seen better days, but it's far from abandoned! Some of the bugs the Knight may encounter in its travels. Some friends... And some deadly foes!

Nantuko Elder: Elderbug, the first friendly face seen by a newcomer to Hallownest.

Goldenglow Moth: The Moth Seer, last of her tribe.

Ironshell Beetle: The Nailsmith, ready to provide an upgrade.

Citadel Castellan: Zote the Mighty, a knight of great renown! Begone, lest he draw his nail. Honestly, this card doesn't fit all that much... but I loved the pun. Time to subject opponents to an Eternal Ordeal.

Stag Beetle: The Last Stag, still serving his duty faithfully.

Nantuko Cultivator: A warrior of the Mantis Tribe.

Giant Adephage: A Mantis Lord! More will join the battle if given the chance! Probably flavorful to stop at 3 though if given the chance. Maybe 4 for the Traitor Lord.

Quarry Beetle: The Dung Defender, a former great knight of the Pale King.

Nantuko Husk: An infected Husk of a former Hallownest citizen.

Nessian Hornbeetle: A Husk Hornhead, another frequently encountered enemy.

Caustic Caterpillar: The maggot who became the False Knight. He's just a 1/1 here though, so perhaps he doesn't have his armor.

Living Hive: A Gruz Mother, prepared to unleash its spawn. This one's a bit weird as Gruz Mother is certainly not a 6/6... Perhaps this is multiple Gruz Mothers. I'd also say it could be Flukemarm, except for the fact that Flukemarm would likely have defender, as it's stationary.

Plague Stinger: An Infected Vengefly, much more dangerous than its living self.

Swarm of Bloodflies: A Vengefly King. More of its brood will show up in the right circumstances!

Crystalline Crawler: A Crawler of Crystal Peak. It contains a strange light...

Fungal Behemoth: A Shrumal Ogre of the Fungal Wastes.

Phantom Nantuko: One of the Warrior Dreams, fallen warriors of Hallownest's past. Could fit as most of them really but it's up for interpretation.

Fertilid: The Massive Moss Charger lurking in the depths of Greenpath! Very deadly to foes who stand perfectly still.

Crash of Rhino Beetles: The Watcher Knights, standing guard over the dreamer Lurien and the Watcher's Spire.

Umori, the Collector: The Collector, being of void and thief of grubs! One of my favorite inclusions.

Fretwork Colony: A swarm of bugs from Deepnest. Close between this and Endless Cockroaches, but I liked the synergy of the Colony better.

Vorapede: A Garpede, one of Deepnest's strongest creatures, with nearly impenetrable armor.

Grimdancer: I was fooling with some ideas a while ago, and thought I couldn't possibly find a better Nosk than Distended Mindbender. Then I saw Grimdancer. That's Nosk! That's literally a realistic Nosk staring ominously back at you. It's amazing.

Sporeweb Weaver: The last of the Weaver tribe remaining in Hallownest. A rather mysterious type.

Hornet Queen: The Hive Queen, Vespa. Yeah, I know it's got "Hornet in her name... But using a flying creature to represent Hornet felt too strange. Plus, she's really closer to a spider than an actual hornet anyway.

Renata, Called to the Hunt: Hornet. The most difficult character in the deck to find a card for. But I figured I had to since she's pretty much a secondary protagonist. After a LOT of deliberation, I figured Renata was the closest to what I wanted. Hornet's more or less a demigod, after all. Still, hoping for a more fitting replacement someday.

Phyrexian Swarmlord: The Broken Vessel, preparing to summon hordes of flying Infected Balloons. Okay, maybe this is a bit shaky. I really wanted to use this card, and felt its abilities were close enough to how Broken Vessel (and especially Lost Kin) attacks.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch: The stranger known as Godseeker. This is also an inclusion I can't justify too much... I kinda just felt they had a similar vibe. I wanted to represent Godhome in some way, and felt like it was worth including since it has massive synergy with the commander. Which is fitting on its own, I think! Godseeker has a... rather high opinion of the Radiance, after all, so it makes sense that they'd have some synergy.

Phyrexian Crusader: The fallen Pure Vessel, the Hollow Knight itself! This was admittedly another tough decision to make. Although I do like it for the most part. The Hollow Knight would absolutely have Infect, and the art kinda has the right look too. If only it was an insect... And was larger than 2/2. Ah well, it's been weakened by the Infection. I imagine its true form would have much larger stats.

Pale King Hunter's Insight and Hunter's Edge: The knowledge gained from the enigmatic Hunter.

Phyrexian Arena: The brutal trials of the Colosseum of Fools, and the rewards they provide.

Farseek,Far Wanderings, and Path of Discovery all represent the Knight's exploration throughout Hallownest to discover new areas.

Map the Wastes: Cornifer's quest to chart Hallownest.

Coalition Relic: One of the relics of Hallownest's past. Collected by the relic seeker, Lemm.

Nature's Lore: The Lore Tablets found throughout Hallownest, I'd say it particularly fits the ones in Greenpath.

Kodama's Reach serves as the White Lady's creation of the Queen's Gardens, and Rampant Growth represents its invasion by both the natural elements as well as the Traitor Lord and his tribe.

Mana Bloom: A Dream Tree, visible to those with the Dream Nail and containing knowledge of Hallownest.

Crystallization: The process that overtook the Crystal Guardian, as well as other residents of Crystal Peak. Another of my favorite inclusions!

Anguished Unmaking: I thought this could represent a few things in the game really, but what comes to mind personally is the Hollow Knight's attempts at self-destruction throughout its battle.

Deathsprout: The death of Isma and creation of Isma's grove.

Swords to Plowshares: Sheo's decision to quit the path of the blade and become a painter.

The Hive: Another of my favorite inclusions! The Hive is such a cool area, and I'm glad to find such a pitch-perfect representation of it!

Lifeblood: Lifeblood! Need I say more?

Greenpath

Path of Ancestry: Travelers preparing to enter Hallownest will likely enter through the anciant King's Pass, which I thought this represented pretty well!

Scoured Barrens: Venturing outside will reveal a bleak landscape.

Plains: With a tall peak in the distance.

Gavony Township: At which point they'll come to a fading town known as Dirtmouth.

Swamp: Though it's usually quiet, a group of strange performers have set up their tents there.

Temple of Silence: Not far below are caverns housing an abandoned temple...

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Which contains an ominous secret... Someone or something is trapped in a strange Black Egg, and their ominous presence reaches far.

Corrupted Crossroads: Corrupting the crossroads nearby with a strange infection. (okay there's zero synergy for this in the deck, but that flavor is so sweet...)

Forest:The overgrown location of Greenpath lies to the west, though the Infection's begun to reach it, it's still a beautiful place.

Forest (My favorite one, it has a green path!)

Forest

Forest

Forsaken Sanctuary: Deep within Greenpath is a sanctuary of stone, and haunted by those long gone...

Blooming Marsh: And many toxic waterways flow through the region.

Temple Garden: Farther west are the Queen's Gardens.

Razorverge Thicket/Foul Orchard: They're dangerous, with sharp vegetation growing from many surfaces, and a vicious tribe that accepted the Infection and claimed the Queen's Gardens as their home.

Woodland Cemetery: A lone grave of a fallen member of this tribe can be found in the depths.

Fortified Village: Most of the Mantis Tribe resisted the Infection though, and reside in their armored home in the depths of the Fungal Wastes. (note, this Forest is the Fungal Wastes, but I have yet to acquire one. It'll be in here before long though!)

Swamp: Guarded by the Mantis Tribe lies the entrance to Deepnest, Hallownest's foulest den of dark creatures.

River of Tears: And on the other side of the Fungal Wastes, at the source of a toxic river, stands what was once the center of the fallen kingdom.

Island: The City of Tears.

Island

Command Tower: At the heart of this city, the Watcher's Spire stands tall.

Arcane Sanctum: And the remaining bugs of the Soul Sanctum continue their grim experiments.

Watery Grave: The Royal Waterways underneath the city still hold all manner of foul creatures.

Concealed Courtyard But below even that, sits the Ancient Basin, and the courtyard where a mighty palace once stood.

Hallowed Fountain Most of this white palace has mysteriously vanished, but a large fountain still remains.

Darkslick Shores: And further below still, a dark ocean rests at the bottom of a massive abyss.

Plains: To the east of the City of Tears is the ashen and mysterious Kingdom's Edge.

Grand Coliseum: Where warriors test their skill in a deadly arena.

Plains

Indatha Triome: Far north is the Crystal Peak, where crystals containing a strange energy are harvested by miners, most of whom continue their work even after the Infection strikes.

Swamp

Godless Shrine: At the very top of the peak, a shrine to a forgotten deity stands forlorn at Hallownest's Crown.

Nesting Grounds: And the dead are buried in a location below, though their spirits may remain. (Honestly, the name sounds like Resting Grounds, but it could easily be the Stag Nest as well.)

Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse: Hallownest is a large kingdom! Lots of exploration is necessary to find everything you can!

(Choices I excluded due to not finding the right card) Grimm: I just couldn't find a card that I liked enough as Grimm. Most likely a vampire like Necropolis Regent or the double-faced Bloodline Keeper   would be the best choices, but at the moment I'm unsure. Maybe I'll find the right card for him sometime.

The Dreamers: A way to represent them might be nice, but I'm not too bothered by this one. After all, they're far from being active in Hallownest anymore, trapped in their eternal sleep. Besides, I have a few cards associated with them, Lurien at least.

The Wyrm/Pale King: Now this is a bigger one. I wasn't sure what could properly represent such an enigmatic character, so I figured it was best to leave him out as well. He's gone by the time the events of the game start anyway. Perhaps though I could find something to represent the Wyrm's remains. I did consider Worldspine Wurm but it's a little bit too... Alive. I guess technically I do have this Plains.

White Lady: This is an inclusion I really wanted, but again, I just couldn't find something that worked quite right. I feel it's likely that a proper card exists, though!

Unn: Seemingly lore-relevant, though we know practically nothing about this creature. I'm fine not having a card to represent them, though it wouldn't hurt either.

Mister Mushroom: Definitely would have been fun to include this weirdo somehow. Ghave, Guru of Spores might have worked, but he felt a bit more active than I'd expect from the guy.

(Ones I excluded for other reasons) The Abyss: I'd ABSOLUTELY include this, if only it didn't command a price tag large enough to buy a palace's worth of buzzsaws. Reserved list strikes again...

Exploration: Similarly, a rather high price keeps me away, but to a MUCH lesser extent. I expect to see this one in here at some point.

Cartographer: Okay this is a pretty perfect Cornifer. But it doesn't have a whole lot of synergy, and Cornifer's not exactly one to join a battle anyway. I'd still like to include it at some point though. Cornifer deserves the love.

Guard Gomazoa: This one was SUPER tempting as Uumuu, the jellyfish-like boss encountered in the Teacher's Archives, but it ended up getting cut. I feel like it'll likely end up in the deck at some point though. Speaking of the Teacher's Archives, Breeding Pool is perfect for it, but I still gotta get one. It'll 100% be in here though.

Lord of the Void: Okay, the Void Entity/Shade Lord is a character that I find really interesting, but I feel like it's not as well known as some other aspects of the game, so I decided against it. I still think this is a pretty cool representation though!

Door of Destinies: The door in King's Pass... Sheesh, why didn't I find room for this? So many cards I wanted to use, but sadly only so many spots to use them.

Arachnogenesis: The spider enemies in Deepnest. Definitely one that I'd like to acquire and include at some point.

Luminous Broodmoth: Honestly, it looks a lot like the Radiance, and it's a sweet card. But I already had Atraxa, so I couldn't find a specific slot for it. Maybe sometime I will though!

Clockwork Beetle: A fun option for the mechanical void creations in the White Palace, but I decided against it due to them never appearing (alive at least) outside of a dream.

Crystal Vein: I kind of just forgot this card existed. I'll probably get it in here sometime haha.

Swarmyard: A bit expensive, but very worth an inclusion when I can get one. It's definitely got a Deepnest vibe to it.

Relic Seeker: A rather perfect Lemm, but I figured Lemm might be another character not recognizable enough to prioritize.

Fungal Sprouting: Another that I didn't really have a reason not to include, it just happened to get cut. A shame too, since Fungal Wastes got a bit underrepresented. Maybe I can find room for it.

Docent of Perfection  : I actually really like this creature as Soul Master/Soul Tyrant. One of my most likely inclusions to the main deck from here.

Verdant Catacombs: A better option for the Traitor's Child's Grave than Woodland Cemetery but far more expensive.

Seal of Cleansing: The seal placed on the Black Egg. This is one of the first that I'd like to make room for as well.

Killer Bees: I really wanted to include this... It's got so much Hive Knight energy. But the mana cost is tricky, and it has flying which is a bit strange for him.

Nimbus Wings: The Mothwing Cloak. Another that I just forgot existed for a while, but it's really perfect.

Blightbeetle/Broodhatch Nantuko/Endless Cockroaches/Nantuko Vigilante/Bane of the Living: Some stand-ins for random enemies that didn't quite make it either.

Deadly Grub: I just figured that Grub Mimics were a pretty uncommon enemy. I also feel like more grub stuff should be in here in general... Maybe Metamorphosis?

I had to cut a LOT of stuff that I wanted to include and it's a bit sad, but also, I'm so happy with how well this project worked out!

Well there it is! My most thematic deck by far. Hope there's more fans of Hollow Knight out there who like it too!

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