<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tomas.duchek/?hl=en">Tomas Duchek</a></span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week’s featured type is one of my favorites, but their recent treatment has me somewhat perplexed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They’re really cool because they are commonly depicted as valuing the collective over the individual. In fact, they’re the emblem of the closest things to protagonists in the <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em> series, the Stark family, who are noteworthy for their close ties and strong familial bond.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They were also the mascot for one of the schools I used to teach and coach football at, which adds to the personal connection I have with them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you guessed it? It’s Wolves!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wolves are pack animals, which makes them perfect for a card game sold in packs. I kid, but Wolves are great for showing a different side to Golgari, a color pairing usually centered around the graveyard.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wolves got a lot of support in <em>The Hobbit</em>, but not all of it seems to fit with the literary or mechanical roles of Wolves.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Voja, Jaws of the Conclave"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wildsear, Scouring Maw"></div></div>
<h2><b>Wolf History</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wolves haven’t been around for a long time, but they have often been depicted as bonding with humanoid species. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anara, Wolvid Familiar" href="#" target="_blank">Anara, Wolvid Familiar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> protects its partner; <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tokka &amp; Rahzar, Terrible Twos" href="#" target="_blank">Tokka &amp; Rahzar, Terrible Twos</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tokka &amp; Rahzar, Unsupervised" href="#" target="_blank">Tokka &amp; Rahzar, Unsupervised</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are grouped together; <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ukkima, Stalking Shadow" href="#" target="_blank">Ukkima, Stalking Shadow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> partners with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cazur, Ruthless Stalker" href="#" target="_blank">Cazur, Ruthless Stalker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>; and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Voja, Jaws of the Conclave" href="#" target="_blank">Voja, Jaws of the Conclave</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> cares about Elves.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of the Wolves in <em>The Hobbit</em> even care about Armies, Orcs, and Goblins, furthering the humanoid pairing theme.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But most of the Wolves in <em>The Hobbit</em> are focused on a different theme: ferocious, or caring about creatures’ power being four or greater. I’m not saying Wolves aren’t ferocious, but it feels really weird for a pack animal to care about one member being big instead of sharing the wealth.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a result, this deck will be focused on the pack mentality. Wolves might not have the battalion ability of Soldiers, but they do have the ability to swarm the board.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The tough part will be trying to mesh the go-wide token theme from previous iterations with the ferocious theme of <em>The Hobbit</em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So how do we get these pieces to work together? And what does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> bring to the table?</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chief of the Wilds"></div></div>
<h2><b>What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Do?</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chief of the Wilds is a menacing 4/4, with its stats and combat ability not only proccing ferocious but also requiring teamwork to take down. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But it can do far more than that.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Every Wolf that enters, token or otherwise, grows our Chief with a pair of +1/+1 counters. The leader of the pack gets stronger and stronger the bigger the pack it commands, which is a nice way of meshing the go-wide and go-tall strategies.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Chief doesn’t just draw power from the pack, however. It also acts as a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Panharmonicon" href="#" target="_blank">Panharmonicon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for Wolves and Battles.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Admittedly, this deck will not go into Battles, however. It does bother me a little bit to not use all of a commander's abilities, but this is a Wolf deck first and a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck second, so it doesn’t have to be the epitome of a Chief deck, just a Wolf deck.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After all, the lone Wolf dies, but the pack remains.</span></p>
<h2><b>Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wolves serve a variety of roles in <em>Magic</em>, and we will be trying to use Wolves to do the jobs of our deck whenever possible. Our aim is to swarm the board, so we will be using Wolves that are low to the ground, share power or abilities, or make multiple bodies.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ferocious Pup"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pack Guardian"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ferocious Pup" href="#" target="_blank">Ferocious Pup</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pack Guardian" href="#" target="_blank">Pack Guardian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> both enter with a Wolf friend. Since the ability triggers as they enter, our commander can double the furry fury. And all these Wolves entering make it very big very quickly.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wolfir Avenger"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Briarpack Alpha"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to the pack aspect, Wolves are incredible hunters, which is shown mechanically via flash. Jumping into battle at instant speed enables Wolves to catch opponents by surprise, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Briarpack Alpha" href="#" target="_blank">Briarpack Alpha</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> also growing a packmate.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wolfwillow Haven"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Herald&#039;s Horn"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Swarming the board takes mana, and we need to ramp. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wolfwillow Haven" href="#" target="_blank">Wolfwillow Haven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wild Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Wild Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that can make a Wolf token, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Herald&#039;s Horn" href="#" target="_blank">Herald&#039;s Horn</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> reduces the cost of our Wolves and can help to find more. Both of these help us get more Wolves onto the board as quickly as we can.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bite Down"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Band Together"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to swarming the board, we need to keep other boards from getting out of hand. Thematically, it makes sense to use “bite” effects, which refer to fight effects that are one-sided.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bite Down" href="#" target="_blank">Bite Down</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Band Together" href="#" target="_blank">Band Together</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are perfectly thematic removal effects, showing Wolves chomping down with their rows of sharp fangs and working together to bring down opposing threats.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sarulf&#039;s Packmate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skalla Wolf"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Card draw and advantage aren’t a huge focus for us, as we want to end the game quickly and push as much damage out as quickly as possible. We do need some cards that dig, however, even if it’s just cantripping (drawing a card to replace the one that was just cast) like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sarulf&#039;s Packmate" href="#" target="_blank">Sarulf&#039;s Packmate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or an expensive mana sink like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skalla Wolf" href="#" target="_blank">Skalla Wolf</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mosswort Bridge"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Secret Tunnel"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mosswort Bridge" href="#" target="_blank">Mosswort Bridge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Secret Tunnel" href="#" target="_blank">Secret Tunnel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are both nonbasic lands that highlight our creatures working together. Mosswort cares about our total power, which can work with ferocious and large creatures or tokens and a wide board of small creatures. Secret Tunnel allows a couple of our Wolves to work together to find a way around opposing defenses, which is also how Robb Stark got around the Golden Tooth and won a key battle at Oxcross in <em>Game of Thrones</em>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how do we close the game out?</span></p>
<h2><b>How Does This <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Commander Deck Win?</b></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wargling"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hollowhenge Overlord"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is primarily a combat-oriented deck, looking to go wide with Wolves while also going tall with our commander. Since there isn’t a limit on how big the Chief can get, we can attempt to eliminate with commander damage anyone who we can’t swarm.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wargling" href="#" target="_blank">Wargling</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> works with both strategies, growing a creature and giving our Wolves trample so we can make blocking difficult, especially with our big commander. The Overlord goes more in the other direction, increasing our board exponentially, which also grows our commander to incredible size.</span></p>
<h2>The Deck List</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Chief of the Wilds Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Chief of the Wilds
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Ambush Wolf
*1 Anara, Wolvid Familiar
*1 Arctic Wolves
*1 Arlinn&#039;s Wolf
*1 Ascendant Packleader
*1 Bejeweled Warg
*1 Bounding Wolf
*1 Briarpack Alpha
*1 Bristlepack Sentry
*1 Cemetery Prowler
*1 Chief Warg&#039;s Company
*1 Duskwatch Hunter
*1 Fang of the Pack
*1 Ferocious Pup
*1 Flourishing Hunter
*1 Head of the Hunt
*1 Hollowhenge Overlord
*1 Master of the Wild Hunt
*1 Nighthowl Pursuer
*1 Nightpack Ambusher
*1 Nyxborn Wolf
*1 Pack Guardian
*1 Packsong Pup
*1 Rot Wolf
*1 Sarulf&#039;s Packmate
*1 Sarulf, Realm Eater
*1 Silverfur Partisan
*1 Skalla Wolf
*1 Somberwald Alpha
*1 Spectral Hunt-Caller
*1 Spirit of the Hunt
*1 Summon: Fenrir
*1 The Chief Warg
*1 Torgal, A Fine Hound
*1 Wargling
*1 Wicked Wolf
*1 Wilderland Scrounger
*1 Wolfir Avenger
*1 Wolfir Silverheart
*1 Wyluli Wolf
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Feed the Pack
*1 Howling Moon
*1 Howlpack Resurgence
*1 Mantle of the Wolf
*1 Raised by Wolves
*1 Wolfcaller&#039;s Howl
*1 Wolfwillow Haven
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Ambuscade
*1 Band Together
*1 Bite Down
*1 Predator&#039;s Howl
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Aggressive Instinct
*1 Assert Perfection
*1 Howl of the Night Pack
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Cloud Key
*1 Emerald Medallion
*1 Helm of Awakening
*1 Herald&#039;s Horn
*1 Rhonas&#039;s Monument
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Command Tower
*1 Deathcap Glade
*1 Evendo, Waking Haven
*20 Forest
*1 Mosswort Bridge
*1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Secret Tunnel
*10 Swamp
*1 Three Tree City
*1 Vernal Fen
*1 Woodland Cemetery
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div></span></p>
<h2><b>Conclusion</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wolves have a few different strategies, from tokens to ferocious and quite a lot in between.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How would you build Wolves? And who would you use to command them?</span></p>


wolf typal

Building Wolf Typal with Chief of the Wilds