Looking to upgrade your Witherbloom Pestilence Commander precon? We're here to give you some upgrade ideas for both budget and non-budget cards, as well as recommendations for cards from the precon that you should cut.

If you're looking for an analysis on what's in the deck and how to play it, check out the Precon Guide here.


The Witherbloom Pestilence Deck List

1. The Precon



Commander (1)

Creatures (39)

Sorceries (11)

Enchantments (5)

Instants (5)

Artifacts (2)

Lands (37)

Dina, Essence Brewer


Cards To Add

1. Budget Cards To Add

Excalibur IIExcalibur II

Excalibur II

This Equipment is perfect for Dina. The deck gains life all the time, and Excalibur will get a charge counter every time it does, whether it's equipped or not. Then once it's loaded up with counters, equip it to any creature for Dina to sacrifice for huge benefits.

Ravenous SquirrelRavenous Squirrel

Ravenous Squirrel

This rodent comes down early and can grow over the long game, with some repeatable card draw thrown in.

Bogwater LumaretBogwater Lumaret

Bogwater Lumaret

We want to gain life as frequently as possible, and this Spirit Frog does exactly that.

Gyre SageGyre Sage

Gyre Sage

An excellent ramp source for us to put +1/+1 counters on.

Illusionist's BracersIllusionist's Bracers

Illusionist's Bracers

This is somewhat interchangeable with Rings of BrighthearthRings of Brighthearth, but Bracers is a bit more mana efficient. It's also a cheaper card to buy.

Evolution WitnessEvolution Witness

Evolution Witness

A repeatable source of recursion for bringing back creatures to sacrifice. Or other important cards we want to have again.

Managorger HydraManagorger Hydra

Managorger Hydra

It just gets bigger and bigger, until it eventually becomes a serious combat threat - or a juicy target for Dina to sacrifice.

Forgotten AncientForgotten Ancient

Forgotten Ancient

Similar to Managorger Hydra, except this one gives out its counters to other creatures that might want them more.

Jenova, Ancient CalamityJenova, Ancient Calamity

Jenova, Ancient Calamity

The more counters we put on Jenova, the more counters she'll put on other creatures, leading to a serious amount of cards drawn when we sacrifice them.

Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats

Mirkwood Bats

There's a lot of token making in this deck, so we may as well use them to speed up the game.

Savra, Queen of the GolgariSavra, Queen of the Golgari

Savra, Queen of the Golgari

Pests are a large part of the token output of this deck. They also happen to be both black and green, meaning we get both of Savra's effects when we sacrifice them.

South Wind AvatarSouth Wind Avatar

South Wind Avatar

Here's a new one from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Dina will give us life equal to the power of the creatures she sacrifices, so we might as well get life from their toughness too. Not to mention that nice bit of life drain when we gain life.

Ageless EntityAgeless Entity

Ageless Entity

The important part of the ability here is "that many." Most effects will only give a single counter whenever we gain life, no matter how much we gain, but this Elemental gets them for each point of life gained.

This means it's another creature that'll get huge just from playing the deck.

Sengir, the Dark BaronSengir, the Dark Baron

Sengir, the Dark Baron

Speaking of getting huge, Sengir here just loves when other creatures die. And it's any creatures, not just ours. And since he has flying, he's also a really significant combat threat.

Jumbo CactuarJumbo Cactuar

Jumbo Cactuar

Easily the most fun, and funniest, card we could add here. Go to combat and declare Jumbo Cactuar as an attacker, making its power 10,000. Then sacrifice him with Dina, which will gain us ten thousand life and ten thousand +1/+1 counters on another creature.

I'm not adding it here, but if you throw a Walking BallistaWalking Ballista into this, you'll be able to end the game on the spot.

2. Nonbudget Cards To Add

Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention

Heroic Intervention

The precon was seriously lacking in protection spells, so we'll throw in the best one in these colors.

Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain

Ayara, First of Locthwain

A fantastic card for all of the black creatures we'll be making, including the Pest tokens. With some incidental card draw thrown in.

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER

Possibly the best Aristocrats card printed in the last five years, Sephiroth is going to do some amazing things with Dina.

Doubling SeasonDoubling Season

Doubling Season

The deck makes lots of tokens and lots of counters. So Doubling Season is a no-brainer, even if it is boring.

Sanguine BondSanguine Bond, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk RoseVito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Enduring TenacityEnduring Tenacity

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
Sanguine Bond
Enduring Tenacity

Draining life from opponents whenever we gain life is going to make the game end much more swiftly.

Exquisite BloodExquisite Blood

Exquisite Blood

This enchantment combos with any of the three cards mentioned above to end the game immediately. Keep in mind if you add this and the above cards to the deck you're automatically moved into Bracket 4 territory. If that's not where you want to be, then skip this one.

Polluted BondsPolluted Bonds

Polluted Bonds

Draining life from our opponents for doing normal game actions ensures our ever-increasing life total.

Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse

Seedborn Muse

Why activate Dina just once per turn rotation when we can do it four times?

Liliana, Dreadhorde GeneralLiliana, Dreadhorde General

Liliana, Dreadhorde General

One of the best Aristocrats planeswalkers out there. The repeatable card draw and token making are exactly what we want. Don't expect opponents to let us get to nine loyalty for that ultimate, though.

Vein RipperVein Ripper

Vein Ripper

Lots of creatures die in Commander games. Why not profit off of that?

VigorVigor

Vigor

Protect our creatures in combat (or against Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act) while also making them bigger sacrifice targets for Dina? Yes please.

The Skullspore NexusThe Skullspore Nexus

The Skullspore Nexus

Easily castable for just , Skullspore Nexus ensures that we have big creatures to sacrifice or attack with.

Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir

Aetherflux Reservoir

With all this life gain happening, we may as well throw in the death laser. It's particularly lethal if we can pull of the Jumbo CactuarJumbo Cactuar move mentioned earlier.


Cards To Cut from the Precon

1. Cards To Cut

Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet

Gorma, the Gullet

Cutting the backup commander from a precon always feels bad. Gorma isn't even a bad commander, or a bad card. It's just not great for this deck.

Gilded GooseGilded Goose and Gyome, Master ChefGyome, Master Chef

Gilded Goose
Gyome, Master Chef

You're either a Food deck or you aren't. This deck is not, so these two cards don't make any sense to include.

Jadar, Ghoulcaller of NephaliaJadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia

Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia

Getting potentially one 2/2 on each of our turns doesn't do enough for this deck. We have more efficient and powerful token makers.

OphiomancerOphiomancer

Ophiomancer

This is out for the same reasons as Jadar.

Nether TraitorNether Traitor

Nether Traitor

This card is only good if we dump a bunch of counters on it. We'd rather spend our mana making a lot of small creatures than bringing this guy back repeatedly.

BloodghastBloodghast

Bloodghast

Similar to Nether Traitor, it's nice that it can keep coming back, but not significant enough when it's on the battlefield.

Teacher's PestTeacher's Pest

Teacher's Pest

This is slightly better than Nether Traitor, since it gains life, but only slightly.

Night's WhisperNight's Whisper

Night's Whisper

It's more important for us to include repeatable card draw than this single-use small burst.

Stensian SanguinistStensian Sanguinist

Stensian Sanguinist

ExsanguinateExsanguinate is certainly not a bad card for this deck. The problem is that Stensian Sanguinist relies on combat to get prepared, and this really isn't a combat deck.

Witherbloom CharmWitherbloom Charm and Witherbloom CommandWitherbloom Command

Witherbloom Charm
Witherbloom Command

Modal spells can be fantastic inclusions in Commander for their flexibility. Unfortunately, neither of these is terribly good.

Trudge GardenTrudge Garden

Trudge Garden

What happens if we don't have the extra to spend? Then this card does absolutely nothing. Will a couple of 4/4s in a game be nice to have? Sure. But we're relying too much on having open mana.

Ohran FrostfangOhran Frostfang

Ohran Frostfang

This isn't a combat deck, so we shouldn't base our card draw off of combat.

Casualties of WarCasualties of War

Casualties of War

The deck has enough removal, and this one's a bit too expensive.