This is a deck that I am tinkering with, I don't believe werewolves are going to be viable in standard without some rotation. But I will be discussing the cards in depth here!
1-cost cards
Neglected Heirloom
: Now people have mixed ideas about this card, and for good reason. Equipment is somewhat hit or miss in constructed, but I like this card. It costs 1-mana, and it costs one to equip, and it gives you something to do on your turns. You can equip this to one of your werewolves, and it will be slightly more powerful. So, if you are going to pass a turn to transform, make sure to equip this first! Ashmouth Blade
is the card that this transforms into +3/+3 and first strike! This card will not transform back, and remember that this card does not care how the creature transforms. If it goes from human to werewolf or werewolf to human, it will become the more powerful version.
2-cost cards
Duskwatch Recruiter
: An all around awesome card, it has a 3-mana creature based Anticipate, it's a 2/2 for 2 mana, and it turns into a 3/3 that reduces the cost of all creature spells by 1. Overall, it's a solid card that you can use to refill your hand. Remember, you can use the ability before it flips over into a werewolf!
Lambholt Pacifist
a 3/3 for 2 mana is pretty good, and the downside can be easily avoided by equipping an heirloom to it. This card slows down aggressive decks, and can act as a barrier to low cost cards. When it transforms it becomes a vanilla 4/4, which is fine.
Kessig Forgemaster
This card is one I like, you get a 2/1 for 2, which isn't great but it deals one damage whenever it blocks or is blocked by another creature. Assuming that creature doesn't have first strike, that means it can kill common 2/3 creatures like Sylvan Advocate and even card:Lambholdt Pacifist. Creatures that have one toughness die the most they are blocked or block this creature! When it transforms into a 3/2 werewolf, that turns into 2 damage when it is blocked or blocks. That means it can trade with a 5 toughness creature. Not to mention, if it is equipped with Ashmouth Blade
it is a 6/5 first strike that kills eight toughness creatures before they get a chance to hit back. Not bad, am I right?
Moonlight Hunt: This really should say destroy target creature if you control two or more werewolves, because often times you will be dealing five damage to a creature and that will be the end of it. However, you can wait to use this on your opponent's turn, so if you can transform your werewolves that is great! Then they will pretty much kill anything that this targets without having to take damage back!
Waxing Moon: This is a combat trick that has a lot of synergy with neglected heirloom, if you cast this on an equipped werewolf...then your opponent really has something to worry about. Suddenly, you have a something greater than a 5/5 with first strike.
3 cost cards:
Geier Reach Bandit
: This card is really cool, it comes in with haste, which will likely either trade for a creature or deal 3 damage to their face. It's not a bad card at all, and when it transforms it becomes a 4/3 that says whenever a werewolf enters the battlefield you may transform it! You should start dancing right about now, because that means your board will be harder to revert back to its weaker side.
Howlpack Resurgence: I really like the flavor of this card, it gives all your creatures trample and +1/+1! So it makes your guys tougher and makes them deal more damage than before! Oh, and it has flash, so you can flash this in on their turn! So, that is pretty awesome so you can leave your guys to flip on your turn and then buff them on their turn.
Exquisite Firecraft: This card deals 4 damage to a player or creature, this can help you clear the board a bit, or it will be the finishing touch and killing your opponent when your creatures couldn't finish the job.
Pack Guardian: I like this card, you should always hold onto a land, unless you need to play it, for this card's bonus. It's a 4/3 for GG2, which is fine, but if you discard a land then you get a 2/2 wolf token, which makes it a 6/5 for 4, which is a lot better. Furthermore, it has flash, so at the end of your opponent's turn you can get 6 power onto the field and that can make quite a bit of difference. Oh, and they benefit from Howlpack Resurgence! OwO
Arlinn Kord
I like this planeswalker, her +1 gives a creature +2/+2 vigilance and haste! So you can buff a creature you play late in the game, into a tougher creature that can attack and then be available to block. I however, prefer putting a 2/2 into the battlefield, and transforming her. The reason why is because I would rather have all my creatures get +1/+1 and trample, and I also want access to that -1 ability. That can win you games if they are low enough, and it can be that extra surprise of burst damage.
5-cost cards
Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
: I was on the fence about this guy for a while, but I think the fact that if you can waxing moon him when he comes into play, suddenly you have quite the powerhouse on the field, or rather if you can transform him the moment he hits the field that would be awesome. Giving +8/+8 to a single creature on one turn while fighting another one seems awfully good to me.
Strengths of this deck:
- Surprising burst damage!
- Lots of synergy between werewolf cards!
- Interaction with your opponent's board and you are able to buff your own creatures on your turn.
- Relatively aggressive, you can end games pretty quickly if your opponent isn't careful
Weaknesses:
Weak against removal: This is our worst nightmare, not keeping a creature in play is very bad, and there is quite a few ways to kill our creatures that are relatively cheap.
Board clear: See above....yeah...it's bad.
Tempo dependent: In order to transform, someone needs to not cast any spells, and that often means passing a turn without playing any spells. That is very unfortunate since we naturally want to advance our board state. This is why I've tried to include a few instants and flash cards to try and allow us to pass our turn without getting too far behind.
