Witherbloom is one of the more interesting Strixhaven Colleges for its internally conflicting beliefs, and these are fully represented in the Witherbloom Pestilence Commander pre-con. With five new Magic: The Gathering pre-con decks to choose from, this is the one to pick if you like the idea of balancing life gain and sacrifice mechanics.
Led by an awesome Dryad Druid named Dina, this green and black Commander deck tasks you with powering up creatures just to sacrifice them for the greater good. Here’s everything we know about the deck so far and some possible upgrades to consider.
Witherbloom Pestilence Deck List
As is the case with most of the Secrets of Strixhaven pre-cons, with the exception of Prismari Artistry, which was part of a leak, we know very little about the contents of the Witherbloom Pestilence deck right now. However, we will keep you updated once spoiler season hits full swing.
|
Card Name |
Card Type |
Cost |
|---|---|---|
|
Dina, Essence Brewer |
Legendary Creature |
1 Black, 1 Green + 1 Colorless |
|
Sol Ring |
Artifact |
2 Colorless |
|
Arcane Signet |
Artifact |
2 Colorless |
|
Talisman of Resilience |
Artifact |
2 Colorless |
Magic: The Gathering – Secrets Of Strixhaven Commander Deck Guide
The mystical colleges of Magic: The Gathering return in five new Commander decks, each with its own unique play style and stylish leader.
Commander Breakdown
Dina, Essence Brewer, is the Commander for the Witherbloom Pestilence pre-con, and their main ability lets you draw a card each time you sacrifice a creature, but only once per turn.
This means you can sacrifice creatures on your opponent’s turn to draw a card if you wish to do so.
On top of this, they also have an activated ability for two mana plus tapping Dina, Essence Brewer. This lets you sacrifice a creature and gain X life and put X +1/+1 counters on a target creature you control, where X is the value of the sacrificed creature’s power.
For example, if you sacrifice a 4/4 creature, you will gain four life and place four +1/+1 counters on another creature you control.
Deck Themes & Strategy
As we noted in the intro, Witherbloom is interesting for the contrasting beliefs within the college, something that is a result of the two deans, Valentin and Lisette, holding opposite beliefs about life and death. Lisette chooses to nurture and protect all life as sacred, while Valentine believes that death and decay are the natural fuel of nature.
This is reflected in the deck mechanics, where life gain is paired with sacrifice. As we already see with Dina, we can expect there will be new cards that pair both a sacrificial element with life gain.
Elsewhere, the deck is likely to be constructed of cards that focus on +1/+1 counters, graveyard interactions, and life drain.
This deck is most likely going to have us building up creatures to do big damage, but ultimately sacrificing them either to keep our life total high or to activate other abilities on the battlefield to harm our opponents.
Upgrades
While we can’t single out any cards for removal just yet, we’ll keep these upgrades updated once we know more about the final deck list. Some of our picks may also end up as reprints selected for the deck, in which case we’ll swap them once we have confirmation.
We’re expecting the full deck list in late-March or early-April.
Dina, Soul Steeper
It’s no accident that we’re seeing previous Strixhaven cards as great options for the new Commander decks, and Dina, Soul Steeper is another example of this.
This 1/3 legendary creature drains one life from each opponent any time you gain life.
You can also pay one mana to sacrifice another creature and add its power to the power of Dina, Soul Steeper, until the end of the turn.
Infuse With Vitality
This common instant spell actually fits quite nicely in with the themes of this deck, as it gives a creature deathtouch but also the text “When this creature dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner’s control.”
In the event that you want to take a low-power creature and sacrifice it in combat, using this spell ensures that your opponent’s creature will also die. You’ll trigger any abilities for a creature you control dying, but then it comes straight back onto the battlefield.
If that wasn’t enough, you also gain two life when using this spell.
Tend The Pests
Yet another Strixhaven card that would do great in this deck is Tend the Pests, which lets you sacrifice a creature and create X 1/1 black and green pest tokens, where X is the power of the creature you sacrificed.
When each of the 1/1 pest tokens dies, you also gain one life.
Diregraf Rebirth
This sorcery spell costs five mana, but you can lower the cost by one for each creature that has died during the turn it is cast.
You can use this spell to return a target creature from your graveyard back to the battlefield, and this spell also has flashback for a cost of seven mana.
Magic: The Gathering Secrets Of Strixhaven – Prismari Artistry Commander Deck Breakdown
We’re taking a closer look at the Prismari Artistry MTG Commander Deck to break down its themes and potential upgrades.
