Treebeard, Gracious HostTreebeard, Gracious Host | Art by Campbell White

Planting the Seeds

Hi, and welcome to Beyond the Multiverse, where we take all of those Universes Beyond cards, and make a deck out of the selection there.

However, I do wish to take a moment to address something that came up after the previous article was published.

Apparently, the folks at Wizards of the Coast decided to do away with the triangle stamps in favor of the regular oval that we're so used to seeing with in-universe cards. Personally, I don't agree with this decision, but I digress.

Without further ado, let's jump into our featured commander for this week.

The Ancient Tree

...Wait a minute. Why not Sam, Loyal AttendantSam, Loyal Attendant? There's two reasons for this: Firstly, it's much more likely that you'd be using him as a commander alongside Frodo, Adventurous HobbitFrodo, Adventurous Hobbit, giving you an extra color.

In addition, Treebeard is a win condition himself, having access to two coveted keywords for Voltron in trample and ward. That said, who is Treebeard anyway?

Treebeard was an Ent from The Lord of the Rings franchise, and is one of, if not the oldest being in the world of Middle-earth. He took in Merry and Pippin temporarily as they escaped from their Orcish captors. Through them, Treebeard eventually learned of Saruman's treachery, and his felling of trees. Consequently, he amassed the Ents to raze Isengard to the ground, ensuring that Saruman would remain locked in Orthanc.

A Gracious Feast

Looking at Treebeard's card, he has the aforementioned keywords. Moreover, he enters with two Food tokens. Additionally, this will be useful for his ability, which puts +1/+1 Counters on a Treefolk or Halfling whenever you gain life. I'm going to give you exactly one guess where we're putting those counters.

Treebeard himself, of course! His deck is a Voltron deck masquerading as a Lifegain deck. Thankfully, there was a precon from the same release that gives us a lot of the key tools we need. Moreover, this version of Treebeard came from that exact deck.

Therefore, it might come as no surprise to some that this deck might amount to a rehash of that precon, slashing a color or doing some other fixes to make sure it's different.

Unfortunately, this is a reality when dealing with commanders from precons. Consequently, it's why I avoid choosing the face cards of a given precon, because what I end up making would be essentially an upgraded version of the deck.

That being said, let us look at the card and see what Treebeard has to offer (though, I did have to cover it a little bit to justify running him over Sam).

Growing the Plant

While you can run the usual Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves, and company, I recommend leaning towards the lifegain side of things, so you can grow Treebeard to monstrous proportions. Soul's AttendantSoul's Attendant, Essence WardenEssence Warden, Prosperous InnkeeperProsperous Innkeeper, and Impassioned OratorImpassioned Orator all make sure that we gain lots of life, especially the former two. As a result, Treebeard gets a counter, making him massive depending on your opponents.

In addition, Tireless ProvisionerTireless Provisioner can either ramp us or give us Food tokens, depending on what we need.

Astrid PethAstrid Peth (11,114 decks) makes a Food token whenever she enters or attacks, and has the chance to get slightly bigger whenever you sacrifice one.

Above all, I mentioned Sam, Loyal AttendantSam, Loyal Attendant (16,966 decks; in the 99) at the beginning of the article, but he does wonders in the 99 here: Making us Food tokens and reducing their activation cost by one.

Pristine TalismanPristine Talisman ramps us and gains us life, so our commander grows, even only for a little bit.

Gilded GooseGilded Goose (100,919 decks) and Butterbur, Bree InnkeeperButterbur, Bree Innkeeper (6,245 decks; again in the 99) give a steady supply of Food tokens for us to use.

However, gaining one to three life? Amateur numbers.

The Deluge of Life

Furthermore, there are a few ways to gain boatloads of life. Firstly, Bighorner RancherBighorner Rancher (10,428 decks) either gives us a lot of mana after Treebeard gains a few counters, or can be sacrificed to gain at least five life, meaning five +1/+1 counters for Treebeard.

Lily Bowen, Raging GrandmaLily Bowen, Raging Grandma (8,631 decks) gets bigger until she hits at least 17 power, then you gain enough life to make Treebeard almost lethal in one swing.

However, I do need to note that you can't use Treebeard's ability to give Lily the +1/+1 Counters, since she's neither a Halfling or a Treefolk.

Lastly is Inscription of AbundanceInscription of Abundance (48,638 decks), which has a lot of uses. First, the two counters aren't going to matter much, but it'll help Treebeard gain a small boost.

Secondly, since Treebeard will be huge, the last mode ensures he'll take out almost anything, and live to tell about it. Most importantly is that second mode, which nets you life equal to the greatest power among creatures you have, be it Treebeard, or some other large creature you have. Consequently, that's a lot of +1/+1 Counters to put onto Treebeard.

Reap What You Sow

While our in-universe counterparts enjoy a much wider selection, it's not like we have nothing. Firstly, The GafferThe Gaffer (48,109 decks) draws us a card whenever we gain three or more life each turn.

Easily done with a Food token, but time it right. Secondly, Well of Lost DreamsWell of Lost Dreams (92,118 decks) draws us lots of cards when we gain life, but you do have to pay mana, so spend wisely.

Additionally, Gwaihir, Greatest of the EaglesGwaihir, Greatest of the Eagles (17,693 decks) nets us a decently sized creature token when we hit that magic three number.

Moreover, he and the tokens he makes can give Treebeard flying when he and one of the eagles attack. Flample, anyone? Assemble the EntmootAssemble the Entmoot (14,208 decks) can give us an army of Treefolk if we gain a critical mass of life, and give your creatures reach. However, since they come in tapped, this leaves you open to a board wipe, so be sure to protect them until your next turn.

Lastly, Sierra, Nuka's Biggest FanSierra, Nuka's Biggest Fan (4,775 decks) could build up to be the ultimate pump spell for Treebeard. With his Trample, he ensures that Sierra gets a quest counter (and a Food token).

Then, she triggers each time you sacrifice said token to build Treebeard up. Keep her around long enough, and she can not only make lots of Food, but can make Treebeard threaten lethal commander damage quickly.

The Tree that Gives Us Life

Under the Tree

Firstly, this list does use some Equipment, but they're mostly to protect Treebeard while he branches out to your opponent's life totals. Mithril CoatMithril Coat stand among the best of these, coming in at instant speed and auto-attaching itself to our commander.

Secondly, Caduceus, Staff of HermesCaduceus, Staff of Hermes (33,894 decks) gives Treebeard Lifelink, and buffs him when you have 30 or more life. Better still, the Equipment shields him from damage and grants indestructibility.

However, Treebeard will eat a lot of removal, and there's always the chance that he'll get too expensive to cast. Therefore, we can't let the deck roll belly up and die.

Displaced DinosaursDisplaced Dinosaurs (21,317 decks) is an alternate path to win if Treebeard gets too expensive to cast. With it in play, you get to turn your Food tokens into 7/7 Dinosaur-shaped nuggets that you can eat (not the cardboard please!) to gain some life.

Consequently, this would trigger your lifegain-related cards. Even having one of these around ensures you can cheaply cast The Great HengeThe Great Henge, so you can gain more life, ramp, and draw cards.

In addition, Farmer CottonFarmer Cotton (37,255 decks; in the 99) gives us Halflings and Food tokens depending on how much mana we use to cast him.

Speaking of Halflings, Banquet GuestsBanquet Guests (24,012 decks), with all of the Food tokens you'll be making, will get big enough to be a finisher on its own. If you have mana open, you'd be able to protect him using his ability.

Peregrin TookPeregrin Took (105,186 decks) acts akin to a Hardened ScalesHardened Scales (also in the decklist), making us an additional Food token each time we make tokens.

However, the activated ability is not ideal since you want to be gaining life. On the other hand, it's still a way to draw more cards, and would help if you end up making more Food tokens than you can handle.

Of Shade and Respite

In conclusion, this deck was a different take from the average Voltron list, putting Lifegain as a sub-theme that's critical to how the deck works. Treebeard himself, as of writing, comes in at 1,859 decks.

It's not shabby, but, it could be better. The Abzan precon from the Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth, Food and Fellowship, release gives you a good starting point, if you wish to pursue a list of your own.

Tune in next week as we look to the...wait, we know every card from the Spongebob Secret Lairs? Sweet, I'll do that instead! This will be an interesting deckbuilding challenge for sure, using every card in all three Secret Lairs.

The only thing I'll give away about it is that I'll be using two of each basic land, so we'll be using two of that particular lair.

Until next time, may you join the Last March of the EntsLast March of the Ents and raze your opponent's' life totals to the ground.

Owain Roberts

Owain has been playing on and off from around Invasion block to 2011, and has been playing since. He tends to gravitate towards Naya colors, though he's always on the lookout for interesting decks to explore. When he isn't slinging spells, he can be found looking after his pet dogs.