The Over/Under - Predicting the Popularity of Secrets of Strixhaven Commanders

Ranking Every Elder Dragon On a Tier List

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="http://www.rahnart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Rahn</a></em></p>
<p><em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em> previews are in full swing, and with it comes one of the most exciting <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/golgari" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golgari</a> (<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) commanders that cEDH has seen in quite a while.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is flying in to give all of our instants and sorceries (two of the most important card types in cEDH) one of the most broken forms of cost reduction <em>Magic</em> has ever printed. So let's get to deck building.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Witherbloom, the Balancer"></div></div>
<h2>What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Do?</h2>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-6" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Witherbloom, the Balancer is a legendary 5/5 Elder Dragon creature with flying, deathtouch, and affinity for creatures, meaning it costs <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> less to cast for each creature you control. Stats and costs aside, Witherbloom also grants all of your instant and sorcery spells affinity for creatures, extending that game-breaking cost reduction to a whole suite of spells that most definitely were not designed with it in mind.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, Witherbloom is a deck that basically builds itself. Run out as many cheap creatures as you can in order to play Witherbloom as quickly as possible, then follow that up in short order with the likes of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peer into the Abyss" href="#" target="_blank">Peer into the Abyss</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which, now cost-reduced thanks to affinity, probably cost somewhere in the ballpark of just one <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s worth of mana.</p>
<p>Now that's a cEDH-ready game plan to get behind.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<h3>Cheap Creatures</h3>
<p>At their core, this suite of creatures is designed for one primary job: to count towards the affinity for creatures cost reduction which serves as the foundation for the entire deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Memnite"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Llanowar Elves"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sylvan Safekeeper"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Memnite" href="#" target="_blank">Memnite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and other zero-drop creatures (such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shield Sphere" href="#" target="_blank">Shield Sphere</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ornithopter" href="#" target="_blank">Ornithopter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>) fill this role perfectly, at the cost of it being their only roll. Meanwhile, sink just one mana into the cost and suddenly you're working with the likes of <a href="https://edhrec.com/guides/edhrec-guide-to-mana-in-cedh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mana dorks</a> and utility creatures - cards that already abound in just about every green cEDH deck but take on a double life here thanks to the affinity theme.</p>
<h3>Mass Draw Spells</h3>
<p>So, once you've got your commander down and have covered the board in tiny creatures, what are you going to spend your mana on?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stinging Study"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Return of the Wildspeaker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Peer into the Abyss"></div></div>
<p>Well, without <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mystic Remora" href="#" target="_blank">Mystic Remora</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to lend a hand, the next best option is mass draw spells - all of which can be cost reduced to, at most, <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> (though the vast majority of these spells usually only cost <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> or <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> once all the affinity cost reduction has been accounted for).</p>
<p>That's the one-two punch this deck is built to optimize: empty your hand of creatures as quickly as possible, then fill it right back up again for as little mana as possible.</p>
<h3>Other Heavily-Generic (Costed) Instants and Sorceries</h3>
<p>Last but not least, the catch-all for every other painfully powerful spell that will end up casting egregiously little mana thanks to affinity.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Green Sun&#039;s Zenith"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tooth and Nail"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Torment of Hailfire"></div></div>
<p>Whether they're to-field tutors, mass life-loss spells, or even just a free <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beseech the Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Beseech the Queen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, these powerful spells are the game-enders that you'll be digging for off of the mass draw spells we just covered.</p>
<h2>How Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Win?</h2>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sprout Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Sprout Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sprout Swarm"></div></div>
<p>This first combo is effectively a one-card package that combos directly with Witherbloom itself: Sprout Swarm. With enough creatures on the board (four, including Witherbloom), it cost just <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to both cast Sprout Swarm and pay for the buyback cost, meaning that this instant will go straight back into your hand once it resolves.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Sprout Swarm has convoke, meaning that you can use the 1/1 green Saproling creature token it creates in order to pay for each successive cast of the Sprout Swarm, letting you cast the spell as many times as you want.</p>
<p>All this means that, with Witherbloom and three other creatures in play, Sprout Swarm is a free way to make infinite tapped 1/1 green Saprolings at instant speed. Couple this with either <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exsanguinate" href="#" target="_blank">Exsanguinate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Torment of Hailfire" href="#" target="_blank">Torment of Hailfire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and you can easily win the game by setting X to be arbitrarily large.</p>
<p>Alternatively, funnel that cost reduction into a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peer into the Abyss" href="#" target="_blank">Peer into the Abyss</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for just <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> more, and you'll be able to find any of a half dozen other ways to win, such as our next combo.</p>
<h3>Wither Chain</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Witherbloom Apprentice"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chain of Smog"></div></div>
<p>This combo is completely commander agnostic, providing a potent backup plan in case turboing out Witherbloom doesn't pan out. Here's how it works:</p>
<ul>
<li>Cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>.</li>
<li>With <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in play, cast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chain of Smog" href="#" target="_blank">Chain of Smog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, targeting yourself.</li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>'s <em>magecraft</em> trigger will go on the stack. Let this resolve (each opponent loses one life and you gain one life).</li>
<li>Go to resolve <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chain of Smog" href="#" target="_blank">Chain of Smog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, discarding two cards. Then, as part of Chain of Smog's effect, choose to copy it, targeting yourself. You'll get another <em>magecraft</em> trigger from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom Apprentice" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom Apprentice</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, since you copied a spell.</li>
<li>Rinse and repeat, infinitely targeting yourself with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chain of Smog" href="#" target="_blank">Chain of Smog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> copies, draining the table for lethal.
<ul>
<li>As an important rules note, you don't need to have any cards in hand in order to copy Chain of Smog, which is why this combo works.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> cEDH Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Witherbloom, the Balancer cEDH" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Witherbloom, the Balancer
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Allosaurus Shepherd
*1 Arbor Elf
*1 Badgermole Cub
*1 Birds of Paradise
*1 Blood Pet
*1 Deathrite Shaman
*1 Delighted Halfling
*1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
*1 Dryad Arbor
*1 Elves of Deep Shadow
*1 Elvish Mystic
*1 Elvish Reclaimer
*1 Elvish Spirit Guide
*1 Endurance
*1 Enduring Vitality
*1 Fyndhorn Elves
*1 Hoarding Broodlord
*1 Llanowar Elves
*1 Magus of the Candelabra
*1 Memnite
*1 Orcish Bowmasters
*1 Ornithopter
*1 Quirion Ranger
*1 Shield Sphere
*1 Six
*1 Sowing Mycospawn
*1 Springheart Nantuko
*1 Sylvan Safekeeper
*1 The Cabbage Merchant
*1 Witherbloom Apprentice
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Beseech the Queen
*1 Bridgeworks Battle // Tanglespan Bridgeworks
*1 Chain of Smog
*1 Chatterstorm
*1 Culling Ritual
*1 Demonic Tutor
*1 Diabolic Intent
*1 Exsanguinate
*1 Finale of Devastation
*1 Green Sun&#039;s Zenith
*1 Imperial Seal
*1 Lab Rats
*1 Nature&#039;s Rhythm
*1 Peer into the Abyss
*1 Reanimate
*1 Sylvan Scrying
*1 Tooth and Nail
*1 Torment of Hailfire
*1 Turntimber Symbiosis // Turntimber, Serpentine Wood
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Autumn&#039;s Veil
*1 Cabal Ritual
*1 Chord of Calling
*1 Crop Rotation
*1 Culling the Weak
*1 Dark Ritual
*1 Deadly Rollick
*1 Imp&#039;s Mischief
*1 Return of the Wildspeaker
*1 Sprout Swarm
*1 Stinging Study
*1 Szat&#039;s Will
*1 Vampiric Tutor
*1 Veil of Summer
*1 Worldly Tutor
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Candelabra of Tawnos
*1 Defense Grid
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Grim Monolith
*1 Mana Vault
*1 Mox Diamond
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Wishclaw Talisman
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Carpet of Flowers
*1 Earthcraft
*1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
*1 Survival of the Fittest
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Tomb
*1 Bayou
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Boseiju, Who Endures
*1 Cavern of Souls
*1 Command Tower
*1 Emergence Zone
*1 Forest
*1 Gaea&#039;s Cradle
*1 Gemstone Caverns
*1 Llanowar Wastes
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Nurturing Peatland
*1 Overgrown Tomb
*1 Phyrexian Tower
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Shifting Woodland
*1 Swamp
*1 Underground Mortuary
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Wrap Up</h2>
<p>Well folks, it's been a while since a new Golgari deck has had real legs - er, wings? - in cEDH, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Witherbloom, the Balancer" href="#" target="_blank">Witherbloom, the Balancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> looks like a card primed to make waves. There's nothing quite like a card that makes already good cards broken, brings with it a one-card combo, and can make itself cheaper just as a reward for casting cards its colors already want to cast (creatures in green).</p>
<p>Here's to hoping this one really takes off!</p>


best commanders secrets of strixhaven

The Over/Under - Predicting the Popularity of Secrets of Strixhaven Commanders

Ranking Every Elder Dragon On a Tier List

Building Witherbloom, the Balancer for cEDH