Friday 4 May 2012

Innistrad Tribal Block Constructed: The Wolves

Today we look at the werewolves of Innistrad and what a block constructed deck built around them might look like. I wasn't particularly looking forward to this one as the transform mechanic for the werewolves in this set is unreliable to say the least.

They transform to and from their human state based on the number of spells played by any player on the turn before. I probably don't need to tell you why this is bad but for the sake of any newer players reading I will. Basically, anything that allows your opponent(s) to decide what happens to your cards is generally a bad thing. Cards like Browbeat for example seem good at first glance, 3cc for three cards is a pretty good deal, as is 3cc for five damage, but your opponent will always choose the lesser of two evils to minimize your advantage. So, like Browbeat, Dash Hopes, and many other cards, our werewolves are very difficult to rely on but despite all this we're going to build a deck around them anyway. So lets get into it.

Thankfully there are a few cards that we can turn to to mitigate the issue I just talked about and they will be our first cards to make the cut whatever happens. They are Immerwolf and Moonmist. Immerwolf isn't exactly a werewolf but for the sake of making the deck at least playable I chose to dilute the theme just this once.

Now, the deck needs a wincon, something to propel it to victory and I think Kessig Wolf Run is what we're looking for. It ensures that even if our werewolves revert back to their weak human state they can still pose a threat. Now, after deciding that the Wolf Run is our wincon there are two things we'll need: ramp and decent creatures to target. The ramp in the Innistrad block does leave much to be desired and unless I overlooked a card or two, the best I could find was Mulch and Caravan Vigil. Oh, and we also have Moonscarred Werewolf.

As for creatures to target with our Wolf Run we are slightly more fortunate in this area as we have Terror of Kruin Pass and Ironfang. Ironfang may seem a little lackluster but if you noticed, Wolf Run doesn't boost the toughness of our creatures so First Strike is actually pretty relevant. Some other great werewolves we can add are Merciless Predator and Ravager of the Fells. Ravager is pretty much "good stuff" as far as werewolves go since he rewards you no matter which form he transforms into.

At this point, we only have space for a couple more cards so I think we'll add Full Moon's Rise and the rest of our manabase and we're done. Our list looks something like this**:

Creature: 22
3 x Huntmaster/Ravager of the Fells
4 x Immerwolf
4 x Kruin Outlaw/Terror of Kruin Pass
4 x Reckless Waif/Merciless Predator
4 x Scorned Villager/Moonscarred Werewolf
3 x Village Ironsmith/Ironfang

Enchantment: 3
3 x Full Moon's Rise

Instant: 4
4 x Moonmist

Sorcery: 8
4 x Caravan Vigil
4 x Mulch

+ 23 Land  

One thing that worries me with this list (other than the inherent problem with werewolves to start with) is that something feels wrong with the creaturebase, I mean, all the cards have a justified role in the deck but its just so many four-ofs that it feels wrong (to reiterate) though it feels like it has more four-ofs than I really need. I dunno, maybe its just me.

Some playtesting should reveal any issues to be sorted out anyway. So take this list with a grain of salt I guess.

Anyway, this covers our look at the Werewolf tribe and next up is G/W Humans to complete our look at the tribes of Innistrad.

If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment. =)

**Edit - I just realized that Wolfir Silverheart would really be phenomenal in this list and I'm not sure how I forgot about him. The question is though, should I dilute the theme any further? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated! 

Thank you for reading, 'till next time.

No comments:

Post a Comment