Introduction
What's this? A slower Wolves deck? More Green than Red? Nissa instead of Arlinn?!
Yep.
So I've played Werewolves in Standard ever since Shadows Over Innistrad brought the furry psychos back. I ran 'em a dozen different ways, but nothing seemed to work. ZadaFur always lost in a sideboarded match. Straight aggro still went slower than an average Humans deck. And Coco, despite its power, is just plain better in literally every other Coco deck than it is in Wolves.
So what did I decide? Well, if Wolves can't be as fast as Humans or as versatile as Spirits, and certainly can't be as toolbox-crazy as Bant, then why not make them something they do better than most of Standard: Bulky AF. And Eldritch Moon gave us just the tools for the job.
The Deck
Creatures
"'Where wolf'? There wolf. And there, castle."
Kessig Prowler
- Once upon a time, I thought a turn 1 Village Messenger
was the best start my deck could have. And then EMN happened. Prowler has all the early game threat the Messenger brought, but its best bonus is that I don't let out a groan when I draw him on turn 6 after getting Languished.
Lambholt Pacifist
- I'm pretty sure most other Standard decks running Green at the moment have said this already, but MAN I love me a good 3/3 body for 2 mana. Value city, folks. And all it takes for her to start swinging is a Howlpack Resurgence, a -2 from Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, the mere presence of any of the Wolfdrazi's flip sides, or Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
. Long story short she spends a lot of time sideways swinging for 4-6 damage, and just as much time sitting around blocking everything.
Duskwatch Recruiter
- A bear that looks for wolves and flips to put things on the table for less. Yep, he's powerful as heck, next...
Ulvenwald Captive
- A very underappreciated card. A 1/2 Defender for 2 who happens to tap for G is fine, nothing super amazing, but what he brings to this deck is fantastic. Play him turn 2, and turn 3 you're dropping a Pacifist (see: Value) as well as burning an opponent's creature with
Incendiary Flow
. And when he's done all the mana-generating you need, the look on someone's face when you Waxing Moon your unassuming little mana dork and trample it at them... priceless.
Geier Reach Bandit
- When you're able to roll an aggro strategy, a 3/2 Haster is a nasty "Hello" on turn 3. Any other day? Simply putting this girl on the board and letting her flip leads to so many opportunities. Kessig Prowler
becomes a 4/4 for G. Ulvenwald Captive
hits the battlefield as a 4/6 for just 2 mana. And don't even get me started on "Mr. I can hit the board and immediately eat Brisela without dying" Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
. When you're playing Werewolves and your Vildin Pack Alpha is flipped, you're a happy Werewolf player.
Spirit of the Hunt - God bless whatever nut on R&D designed this guy. Passing on Turn 3 or 4 to let your creatures flip, while also holding up a "Get out of Languish Free" card? Not to mention his ability to make most attacks and blocks into a one-sided fight. I currently only run 2 mainboard and 2 sideboard, but we'll see if this guy gets bumped up to full time...
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
- Okay, so this guy was underwhelming when they revealed him... but you know what? I am perfectly fine with playing him turn 4 or 5 and swinging a 7/7 Lambholt Pacifist
at my opponent. Add to that the incredible value of playing him into a Vildin-Pack Alpha
or hitting him with a Waxing Moon as a combat trick and... well, let's say that he's led to more than a few closeouts. Strongly considering bumping old Ulrich up to a 3-of.
Decimator of the Provinces - Ah, yes... the beloved Craterhoof Pig. I run this guy as a simple 1-of for the sake of having the option of dropping a Baconator on my opponents to overrun their boards, or even just as a last resort 7/7 when most of my board has gone. Great if you have a board full of Nissa's plants to turn into 2/3 Trampling azaleas. Or turning your wolves into (on average) a bunch of 5-7 power monsters. There's a big "maybe" on whether to make this a 2-fer.
Hermit of the Natterknolls
- A solid sideboard option when faced with a control deck, or even against Collected Company decks that wanna surprise you on your combat or end step. Plus that 3/5 body on his furry side becomes relevant pretty often; surviving hug fights with buffed Sylvan Advocates is no joke.
Shrill Howler
- I still have no clue what to make of this guy. His Den Protector blocking ability is fantastic against token decks (hence his sideboard presence), but anything with a toughness of 1 that takes three mana to cast is gonna be hard to justify. Still pending tests.
Ulvenwald Hydra
- Just recently added this to the sideboard. A ~5/~5 Reach for 6 seems like an okay answer to Gisela/Bruna/Avacyn/Linvala, but I can't be certain whether or not he'll help much. Pending tests.
Spells
Insert witty quote about wolves and magic here
Howlpack Resurgence - A +1/+1 Trample boost for all my Wolves? And I can FLASH IT?! Whether using it as a trick to blow out a combat, or passing a turn to let your classic Wolves transform and plopping this down on your opponent's turn, this card does work.
Moonlight Hunt - Most of the time, you're gonna be hitting for 7+ damage off this thing. By turn 3. AND it's an Instant, and as we've discussed, things that can be cast outside our turn are good things indeed.
Incendiary Flow
- 3 damage, 2 mana, Exiles so people don't get their silly graveyard stuff OR their Avacyn triggers. Literally the only thing that would make this spell better is if it were an Instant. I'm running 4 of this with 2 Hunts because Flow just tends to be more reliable, given that occasionally people have this bad habit of killing my wolves. I know, right? The nerve...
Waxing Moon - Well hello, definitely-inferior-to-
Moonmist
-but-still-playable-because-Standard. Nice to meet you. Jokes aside, it SHOULD be noted that despite its lack of ability to turn your whole board into ravenous furry death machines, Waxing Moon should not be overlooked because it IS able to turn your WolfDrazi into their tentacly Wolf'Mrakul forms. And we all know how fun that can get. Whether you're dropping it on your Prowler to swing in 4 damage on turn 2, or transforming Ulrich for a tasty bit of spot removal, Waxing Moon certainly has its uses. I might even bump it up to a 3-of (but cutting cards is harrrrrd).
Clip Wings
- "Each opponent sacrifices an Ormendahl." Or an Avacyn. Or, hell, this can hit Emrakul... either way, not a bad 2-of to bring in against people who like to throw big things with wings at you.
Evolutionary Leap - Fun fact: I've had this card in my sideboard for two months, have boarded it in for a dozen matches, and never drawn it. So I have NO CLUE if it actually does anything, yaaaaaay. (But seriously though this is a decent enough board-in for control decks and other types of things that like to remove your puppies.)
Kozilek's Return - A great way to bring a Tokens deck down a few pegs, or clear the way for your beefed-up wolves to trample through for the kill when the board's gotten a bit too cluttered. Plus you know there's that little voice in the back of your mind saying "Decimator can trigger the second abilityyyyy".
Planeswalker
Nope. No plural.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar - I love Arlinn Kord
, don't get me wrong. But somewhere along the line it occurred to me just how valuable the ability to flood the board with disposable vegetables can be, not to mention the added survivability her +1 counters can give to your wolves. And for that, Nissa replaced WolfWalker. I know, I'm sad too. Actually no I'm not... this card is amazing. Also on the list for getting another copy added to the deck.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. The fruit of three months of losing at Friday Night Magic. Thus far this latest EMN version of the deck has only seen one outing to FNM but it did manage to go 3-1 so not a bad start, IMO. I will be sure to post updates as I test the deck more, but in the meantime I'd appreciate any and all advice I can get.
