The Ulvenwald Horror is a work in progress deck centered around The Gitrog Monster and the Landfall mechanic. This deck is fun because it's different, works really well thematically with the plane of Innistrad, and is competitive at the same time! There's something cool about a deck that contains some of the biggest, baddest monsters in the Ulvenwald but at the same time can kill you with the very land itself. Enter the Ulvenwald at your own peril!
Let's talk strategy. There are two major win conditions that I've found in play testing this deck. Both are fairly obvious, but let's get into it anyway.
This is the type of combo I had in mind when I first saw The Gitrog Monster. It uses the extra land play per turn to your advantage and punishes your enemies, while also paying the cost of a 6/6 DeathTouch for every turn. However, this combo gets much more powerful when you add in Drownyard Temple. Basically, once you play The Gitrog Monster, every turn should look like this:
- Sacrifice Drownyard Temple to pay The Gitrog Monster's upkeep cost. Draw a card.
- Play two lands (if possible) triggering 2 Landfalls.
- Pay , return Drownyard Temple from your graveyard to play triggering another Landfall.
If you don't have a second land to play each turn you can always use Traverse the Ulvenwald to find another. The key here is to turn the rather steep cost of command of the The Gitrog Monster into an engine that punishes your opponent rather than harming you.
Soul Swallower is an incredibly powerful creature if you have Delerium. Sinister Concoction is something you can play on the first turn and forget but when the time is right is almost guaranteed to trigger Delerium while also removing an enemy creature. In play testing Sinister Concoction has allowed me to trigger Delerium every time I've activated it's ability. On the next turn Soul Swallower becomes a 6/6 and your opponent is quickly running out of time to deal with it. If you are also triggering Landfall with a Retreat to Kazandu to add additional counters Soul Swallower turns into an absolutely unstoppable monster very quickly!
General Utility
This deck has some overall general utility cards that help you get what you need into play. Obviously Traverse the Ulvenwald is huge at getting additional lands to play each turn or even finding The Gitrog Monster or a Soul Swallower if you haven't found one yet and triggered Delerium. To the Slaughter is around for crowd control and to disrupt your opponent's plans. Atarka's Command and Kolaghan's Command are there for general Instant speed utility and can burn the last few remaining life from your enemy if necesary. Between the two command cards you can remove opponent artifacts, gain life, ramp with extra lands, and return creatures from the grave. They cover most scenarios you would need a card for.
Sideboard
The sideboard is designed to let you stay in the game long enough for this deck to start punishing your opponent. If the game goes past turn 6 or 7 you will win the game, it's just that simple. Surviving that long against some difficult decks like Bant Humans can be a challenge. Clip Wings is there if your opponent is heavy on Archangel Avacyn. The extra Atarka's Command, Kolaghan's Command, and Languish can all help you survive an early game. Read the Bones is available if your opponent has heavy card advantage and you need to keep up.
