Welcome back to the Epic Experiment! On our most recent podcast, Lux and I had a look at the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Commander decks. In the process, we decided that one of the decks seemed far better than the other and were urging listeners accordingly.
However, I have had the chance to sit and think about it. I need to walk back my previous statements because I am of the opinion today that both decks are excellent. Let’s have a look.
The Blue/Black Zombie Deck
Helmed by either Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver or Eloise, Nephalia Sleuth, this deck is basically a zombie tribal deck. There are a number of excellent reprints in the deck, like Rooftop Storm, Endless Ranks of the Dead, and Army of the Damned, giving this deck a very strong tribal feel. However, the real difference to my way of thinking hinges on how the two Commanders included the deck work, particularly in concert with each other.
Wilhelt says that whenever a zombie you control dies, if it didn’t have Decayed, create a 2/2 zombie with Decayed. I might like to stress here that ANY zombie you have that dies, you make a 2/2. This includes the regular old run of the mill 2/2 Zombie token, Zombie armies, and non-token creature cards. Furthermore, Wilhelt has a sacrifice trigger to help you draw a card. He just generates an absurd amount of value and rewards you for doing something your deck already wants to do by helping you sacrifice your creatures.
Eloise plays right along with Wilhelt because when sacrifice a zombie to Wilhelt, Eloise will Investigate. This means you will have access to a 2nd card. And, when Eloise sees you sacrifice a token, you can surveil 1, which is a great way to fill your graveyard.
These two synergize so nicely together that with only a few minor tweaks, you could have a nice, tidy, zombie deck. Let’s look at the upgrades I would include:
In:
- Plague Belcher
- Havengul Lich
- Shepherd of Rot
- Ashnod’s Altar
- Tattered Mummy
Out:
This deck looks like it will be good fun to play right out of the box. The reprint value seems pretty reasonable, and the brand new Commanders are engaging. I’m a big fan of this one and think players would be well served in adding this to their arsenal if they don’t already own a zombie tribal deck.
Green/White Coven Counters
I was really down on this particular deck and felt like it offered very little. I will say, after some second thought, I have changed my tune, but this deck requires a much more significant change. The nice thing is that there are a wide number of cards that just recently got printed meaning they haven’t had a chance to spike in value, so the deck is really affordable. The other piece of good news is that many of the original legendary creatures from this pre-con can be retained, but they just get moved into a more secondary role.
Which Commander?
This pre-con was supposed to be helmed by Leinore, Autumn Sovereign, or Kyler, Sigardian Emissary, and neither of these seemed to do the deck justice. The truth is, Leinore is quite low impact and while she may not be immediately targeted by your opponent, she takes a very long while for her to become a factor in the game. Kyler, conversely, is an immediate lightning rod because it is a self pumping anthem that will be targeted by your opponent. Frankly, they can’t let Kyler resolve because it will quickly spell their demise if he is allowed to pick up two or three counters. So, with both of these Commanders better suited to be in the 99, who should be the Commander?
I wanted to keep a Commander from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and fortunately we have some very viable options. Our options were Sigarda, Champion of Light or Katilda, Dawnhart Prime. In my opinion Sigarda is pretty dull. However, Katilda seems a lot more compelling. Katilda is a mere 2 mana, allows your humans to help you ramp and to cast some very explosive spells. If you just need a big ol’ mana sink, you can pour your mana into Katilda’s last ability and to pump up your team to close the deal.
The first 4 cards on this list were most certainly Katilda, Sigarda, Kyler, and Leinore. The next inclusion is Maja, Bretagard Protector because Maja’s ability makes human warrior tokens, which plays beautifully with the rest of the deck. The next couple of inclusions are also pretty easy in Saryth, the Viper’s Fang and Shalai, Voice of Plenty because they allow us to protect the board full of humans. The rest of the deck are humans that will quickly get out of control, build on each other, or grant additional abilities.
The non-creature suite is pretty simple with some ramp, a couple of catch all sweepers, and targeted removal. However, the real game breakers are the protection options in Wrap in Vigor , Make a Stand, and Unbreakable Formation, which are three of my favorite underplayed cards.
The game plan is very simple – start making dudes and don’t quit until you can over run the table. Use spells to protect your board state and maintain your board state.
Here, have a look at the deck right here!
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/vF67L4Zfpku1FuacT8r_zQ
As you can see, this new deck looks similar to the original pre-constructed deck, but with some sizable upgrades. However, we have still managed to keep the overall cost quite low and it still only clocks in at $75. So, for $75 bucks, you too can get in on this upgraded G/W humans deck and get down to the business of running your opponents right off the table!
If you like either of the deck suggestions made here today, including an upgraded and improved Humans list and a tweaked Zombie list, then you can check out our decks and much more each week on our podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere else you find better podcasts. Just look for the name The Epic Experiment Podcast! We’d love to have you join us!
Get all your board game news from The Bag of Loot! www.thebagofloot.com
Get all your board game needs from Three Kings Loot! www.threekingsloot.com
