(Rendmaw, Creaking NestRendmaw, Creaking Nest | Art by Ryan Pancoast)

A Feast of Crows

Hello fellow brewer and welcome back to Brew For Your Buck, where we swap out the top 10 most expensive cards in a deck with 10 budget cards that add a unique twist. Duskmourn is officially here! We're going to jump straight into one of my favorite archetypes with a backup commander from the Death Toll precon:

People have already been brewing with my new favorite Scarecrow, so there's already some sweet tech in the average list (we'll get into that below). What I haven't seen much of is using Rendmaw as a commander for one of my favorite archetypes: Dagger Burn. If you're unfamiliar, the strategy (named for Dowsing DaggerDowsing Dagger I think?) involves intentionally giving your opponents creatures and then punishing them brutally for it.

I consider myself well-versed on the archetype, with my Piru, the VolatilePiru, the Volatile list often terrorizing the tables at my LGS. Piru's issue is that while she is the payoff (big Dragon go boom, Brian gain life), I have to do a lot of work giving everyone creatures before that happens. Rendmaw is obviously great for this plan, since it gives your opponents Bird tokens just for playing the game. Even better, the tokens are goaded so your opponents are forced to bash each other with them while you sit back, reap the benefits, and find your payoffs. Let's look at the top ten most expensive cards that make up this $280.43 average list and then add some sweet Dagger Burn tech.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne ($25.82)
               2. Overlord of the HauntwoodsOverlord of the Hauntwoods ($18.98)
               3. Coat of ArmsCoat of Arms ($15.70)
               4. BitterblossomBitterblossom ($11.97)
               5. Whip of ErebosWhip of Erebos ($10.93)
               6. Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention ($9.43)
               7. Overlord of the BalemurkOverlord of the Balemurk ($6.90)
               8. Primal VigorPrimal Vigor ($5.89)
               9. Dryad of the Ilysian GroveDryad of the Ilysian Grove ($5.71)
               10. BiotransferenceBiotransference ($5.01)

Total Value of Cuts: $116.34

Replacing the expensive lands leads to an additional $88.65 in savings, for a total of $204.99.

Additions

Bloody Burn

I thought the "Burn" part of Dagger Burn was going to be a bit difficult to achieve without red, but turns out I was way wrong. Blood SeekerBlood Seeker ($0.16) was my obvious first choice, as it's also in my Piru deck. It comes out early to start the burn and is easy to recur in Golgari (). Shockingly, Blood Seeker is the only card in Golgari that cares about opposing creatures entering the battlefield. So we'll compensate by doing something we know works in these colors: killing those creatures off.

Blood ArtistBlood Artist ($1.54) is the classic, if not exciting, choice to take advantage of creatures dying. Falkenrath NobleFalkenrath Noble ($0.45) also works since like Blood Artist, it crucially cares about any creature dying, not just your own. Finally, Poison-Tip ArcherPoison-Tip Archer ($0.54) is especially sweet since it will ping all of your opponents rather than just one of them. That 2/3 reach, deathtouch body makes it perfect to block incoming Birds when you only have one opponent left.

Murder of Crows and Myr and Zombies and Plants and...

As I said before, Rendmaw makes it easy to feed your opponents creatures, but it's always good to have some redundancy and ways to scale up the effect. Genesis ChamberGenesis Chamber ($1.78), also from my Piru list, makes it easy. You don't have to do any work! Just let your opponents spend mana on creatures and they'll bring a Myr friend waiting to die alongside them.

I love Curse of DisturbanceCurse of Disturbance ($0.90) here too, because you can give your opponents a big incentive for sending those goaded Birds in the direction you want them to go. I'd probably aim them at the opposing Aristocrats deck, Tokens deck, or whoever can make best use of the rectangles you're giving them. By the way, you'll get Zombies along the way too.

Finally, Grismold, the DreadsowerGrismold, the Dreadsower ($0.43) is our last addition, making Plant tokens for everyone and getting larger and larger as they die. He could even function as an alternate commander for this deck if you've liked my recent Mayhem articles.

Payoffs

Now let's get into the payoffs for giving everyone creatures. I want to highlight an AWESOME card that was in the average list: Pygmy KavuPygmy Kavu. This is exactly the type of thing we're trying to do with this strategy. We'll start with Essence WardenEssence Warden ($2.03). Yes, it's technically over the $2 threshold I generally apply to the BFYB additions but I'm making an exception in this case. It'll gain us life right from the outset and gets even better once Rendmaw comes down

ReapReap ($1.26) is another old card along the lines of Pygmy Kavu that should be an auto-include in Rendmaw lists. Especially with some of the self-mill already included in this deck, Reap can become a two mana draw-eight very quickly. And the eight cards you're drawing are face-up, so you can choose the best of them out of your graveyard.

Now for the big finisher: Ezuri's PredationEzuri's Predation ($0.72). Cast this and suddenly all the Birds, Zombies, Plants, Saprolings, and other small creatures are gone, and you're left with an army of 4/4s ready to stampede over any opponents that didn't die from Blood ArtistBlood Artist and friends. It's a wrath in a pinch too, though if you feel you need more of those effects, there are many wonderful options in black too.

Wrap Up & Savings

Let's see what we saved:

And boom! Nearly $200 saved just by removing ten cards. As usual I can't resist some honorable mentions: Virulent PlagueVirulent Plague is really funny in conjunction with a Blood ArtistBlood Artist effect, and in my research I also found Infernal GenesisInfernal Genesis, which is over $2, but might earn a spot in my Piru deck. Speaking of, I think red adds so much to the Dagger Burn archetype, so you could also consider throwing Rendmaw into the 99 of a Jund deck lead by Maarika, Brutal GladiatorMaarika, Brutal Gladiator to gain access to things like RepercussionRepercussion, Rakdos CharmRakdos Charm, Chain ReactionChain Reaction, and Varchild, Betrayer of KjeldorVarchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor (just to name a few).

So what do you think? Is this the first time you've heard of Dagger Burn? Do you have some sweet tech to share for the archetype? Want to see a Maarika list? Or perhaps another Duskmourn commander? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!

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Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.

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Brian Cain

Brian played Magic intermittently between 2003 and 2017 when he fully embraced his love for Commander. Finding ways to maximize the value of each piece of cardboard in the deck is one of his favorite things to explore, especially if it involves putting lands in the graveyard! Outside of Magic, Brian works as a consultant in the marine industry, turning his passion for boats and ships into a career.