It’s time for day 2 of new standard deck brews for Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Standard! Yesterday we looked at some
Delver of Secrets
Delver of Secrets
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card. If an instant or sorcery card is revealed this way, transform this creature.
decks for standard. Today’s deck archetype is one that I think will be a top tier strategy in the format: Werewolves.
Current Meta Cards
Since the archetype is pretty straight forward, we’re going to take a look at the cards that you’ll want to play and test. To start, looking at the existing cards we have in Standard right now, there’s 2 cards that are easy pickings for the deck.
Ranger Class
Ranger Class
(Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
When this Class enters, create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.
{1}{G}: Level 2
Whenever you attack, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature.
{3}{G}: Level 3
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast creature spells from the top of your library.
and
Werewolf Pack Leader
Werewolf Pack Leader
Pack tactics — Whenever this creature attacks, if you attacked with creatures with total power 6 or greater this combat, draw a card.
{3}{G}: Until end of turn, this creature has base power and toughness 5/3, gains trample, and isn't a Human.
are right in line with what we want to be doing. These are already staple in the mono green aggro deck, so with some additional support, they’ll be even better.
Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope / Arlinn, the Moon’s Fury
The first new card that we definitely want to look at is
Arlinn, The Pack’s Hope
Arlinn, The Pack’s Hope
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
+1: Until your next turn, you may cast creature spells as though they had flash, and each creature you control enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Create two 2/2 green Wolf creature tokens.
. This new Werewolf planeswalker that fits so well into this deck. She makes 2 Wolf creature tokens, and becomes an attacking wolf herself. Not to mention, this slots in on our curve very nicely since we don’t have many other good 4 drops.
Tovolar, Dire Overlord
The next new crucial piece for our deck is
Tovolar, Dire Overlord
Tovolar, Dire Overlord
Whenever a Wolf or Werewolf you control deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more Wolves and/or Werewolves, it becomes night. Then transform any number of Human Werewolves you control.
Daybound
. Giving us a draw when our creatures connect to our opponent is really big. The backside giving us a
Kessig Wolfrun
Kessig Wolfrun
{T}: Add {C}.
{X}{R}{G}, {T}: Target creature gets +X/+0 and gains trample until end of turn.
is incredibly powerful. Wolfrun was a staple effect back in original Innistrad, so it should be great here. Also since Tovolar is only 3 mana, he fits in the curve really really well.
READ MORE: 10 Best Modern Cards from MTG’s Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Primal Adversary
The last big player card in this deck is
Primal Adversary
Primal Adversary
Trample
When this creature enters, you may pay {1}{G} any number of times. When you pay this cost one or more times, put that many +1/+1 counters on this creature, then up to that many target lands you control become 3/3 Wolf creatures with haste that are still lands.
. This card acts as our closer to push for a wide board state. This card comes in cheap enough that we can get the “multikicker” a couple times after casting it. This also comes down on curve as a solid threat as well so it’s worth just casting.
READ MORE: 10 Best Historic Cards From Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
Other Cards
We need a few other cards to round out our deck, and so a couple cards that I’d want to test out are going to be
Reckless Stormseeker
Reckless Stormseeker
At the beginning of combat on your turn, target creature you control gets +1/+0 and gains haste until end of turn.
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
and
Kessig Naturalist
Kessig Naturalist
Whenever this creature attacks, add {R} or {G}. Until end of turn, you don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.
Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)
. Reckless lets us gives a creature haste for free on the front, and adds trample on the back. Naturalist gives us some extra mana to help us to cast more creatures or level up our Ranger Class if we need to.
READ MORE: When does Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Release?
After reviewing the options, here’s a sample list of how I’d build the deck.
The extra spell inclusions are some protection / removal options. We’re playing the snow basic package so we can use
Blizzard Brawl
Blizzard Brawl
Choose target creature you control and target creature you don't control. If you control three or more snow permanents, the creature you control gets +1/+0 and gains indestructible until end of turn. Then those creatures fight each other. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
. Obviously, this set is going to help the werewolves, but who knew that these cards would be so good! I don’t think that they reach the broken levels of Throne of Eldraine, but they are great. I’m very excited to look into the rest of the format and how these cards are going to impact multiple formats. Tomorrow we’ll be exploring the Coven decks to see what those look like.
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.