We are now on Day 3 of new Standard brews for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and it’s time to explore one of the new mechanics: Coven. We’ve looked at a few Delver of Secrets decks, and we’ve also looked at the main theme deck of the set, Werewolves. But today we’re going to look at Coven and see if we can build a deck that utilizes the new mechanic well.
Finding a Coven Pay Off
So our first step for building this deck is figuring out what “Coven” effects we want to play as a “pay off”. The effect we choose should be strong enough to warrant building out deck around it. In my opinion, the only pay off I’d recommend playing is Sigarda, Champion of Light.
Sigarda has a few things going for her. Being a Humans Anthem lines up nicely since some of the other cards that have Coven are humans. Additionally, her Coven ability lets us find Humans off the top of our library, which for a creature deck is a great ability. So let’s go with this, and look at the rest of the cards in the deck.
Getting to Coven
Our first goal is to try and get to Coven. Dawnhart Mentor is a new card that does help get 2 different powers on the board. Dawnhart itself is a great blocker, and has a solid Coven ability to help push some damage. Join the Dance is a great 2 mana token generator that let’s us go wide and gives us more options for manipulating creature power.
One creature that helps tie everything together is Luminarch Aspirant let’s us manipulate creature power when we attack and allow us to trigger coven easily. Similar to Aspirant is Contortionist Troupe. This creature scales great into the late game and can help us achieve Coven at any point.
One of the combat tricks that I think is rather good is Might of the Old Ways. This is a great combat trick that can trigger Coven and draw us a card. Now let’s look to the rest of the cards to fill out the deck.
READ MORE: 10 Best Historic Cards From Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Filling Out the Deck
The last of the creatures we want to fill out the deck are a all great. Saryth, the Viper’s Fang inherently gives our creatures protection with Hexproof, but also can give our creatures some power. Elite Spellbinder has been a power house creature that helps pull answers out of our opponent’s hand. Not to mention it’s also a flyer that can get in damage quickly.
Next is Werewolf Pack Leader. We should have Pack Tactics rolling a lot of the time, and we can manipulate it’s power at will to help trigger Coven. Lastly, Prosperous Innkeeper helps us get a few spells off and get some life as well. It’s not a Human, so it won’t benefit from out other cards as much, but it’s still a great 2 drop to have.
The Deck
Here’s what the deck is going to be. This is a very aggressive curve, getting a lot early pressure on the board, and keeping it. I’m sure that there’s a humans deck for Standard, but whether or not the way to go is with Coven remains to be seen.
READ MORE: Should Golos, Tireless Pilgrim Be Banned in MTG Arena Historic Brawl?
What do you think? Is Coven going to be a good mechanic for Standard? or Is it just a limited mechanic? Let us know in the comments!
Innistrad: Midnight Hunt is the first of two new Innistrad sets coming to Magic: the Gathering. It’s being released in tabletop on September 24th, 2021, and online on September 17th, 2021. Previews started on September 2nd, 2021. Be sure to check out our Preview Gallery to stay up to date with all the new previews. You can also preorder Innistrad: Midnight Hunt product here.
