Working with Werewolves

Some of you may not remember Teen Wolf with Micheal J. Fox. 

Everything Werewolf is Innistrad (right now). Sure other werewolves exist in the Magic multiverse Greater Werewolf from Homelands and Lesser Werewolf from Legends. They didn't transform, and really, they were not exciting at all. Now, however, the moon is rising and the infected humans are one the rise. Given that domesticated dogs are descendants of wolves, the werewolf is both his own “best friend” and his own “master.” I am sure it is confusing to be a werewolf. Nonetheless, what can Werewolves do in standard? I have seen a few Werewolf decks (and even put one together) on MTGO. I think the tribe will need some help from the other expansions to be a contender, but it can be fun to play and can get out of hand if the moon rises at the right time.

So what should you look for in the Werewolf build? Well, for now werewolves are red or green. It seems to me that aggressive or slightly more controlling aggressive are the current options.

Creatures

Let's start with Red

Reckless Waif (R) 1/1 [3/2]

Village Ironsmith (1R) 1/1 First Strike [3/1] First Strike

Hanwier Watchkeep (2R) 1/5 Defender [5/5] Attacks each turn

Kruin Outlaw (1RR) 2/2 First Strike [3/3] Double Strike Your werewolves require at least two blockers

Instigator Gang (3R) 2/3 Your attackers get +1/+0 [5/5] Trample Your attackers get +3/+0

Tormented Pariah (3R) 3/2 [6/4]

Six werewolves with only two plain vanilla creatures, Reckless Waif and Tormented Pariah, but a 3/2 one drop is not typical vanilla. On to green.

Gatstaf Shepherd (1G) 2/2 [3/3] Intimidate

Mayor of Avabruck (1G) 1/1 Human Lord [3/3] Werewolf and wolf lord, Put a 2/2 wolf token at the beginning of your end step

Daybreak Ranger (2G) 2/2 Tap-2 damage to flier [4/4] R+Tap- fight target creature

Villagers of Estwlad (2G) 2/3 [4/6]

Ulvenwlad Mystics (2GG) 3/3 [5/5] G: Regenerate

Grizzled Outcasts (4G) 4/4 [7/7]

Like red, green also gets six werewolves with half of them plain vanilla creatures, but that is not really any surprise. Green gets the lord with Mayor of Avabruck and some utility with Daybreak Ranger. The Ulvenwald Mystics are the werewolf troll, when transformed. Nothing with reach yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't follow in the other sets to snag one of the vampires out of the air.

Enablers

Moonmist [instant] (1G) Transform all humans. Prevent all combat damage except from werewolves and wolves.

Full Moon's Rise [enchantment] (1G) Werewolves get +1/+0 and Trample. Sacrifice it: Regenerate all your werewolves

There is definitely a start for a werewolves deck, but there are not many specific enablers to take control or punch through. Thankfully, however, with Mayor of Avabruck and Instigator Gang, some of the werewolves themselves offer enabling abilities.

How do these creatures stack up on the mana curve?

1 Reckless Waif (R)

2 Village Ironsmith (1R)

2 Gatstaf Shepherd (1G)

2 Mayor of Avabruck (1G)

3 Hanwier Watchkeep (2R)

Just a sample picture, don't freak out

3 Daybreak Ranger (2G)

3 Villagers of Estwlad (2G)

3 Kruin Outlaw (1RR)

4 Instigator Gang (3R)

4 Tormented Pariah (3R) 

4 Ulvenwlad Mystics (2GG)

5 Grizzled Outcasts (4G)

Nothing over five and a normal looking distribution. Given the benefits of the higher CMC creatures, the build for werewolves is the lower end of the curve. Grizzled Outcasts just doesn't seem worth it given the additional mana, but if you want a big vanilla creature, it is definitely undercosted after transformation, and with Full Moon's Rise, a 8/7 trample will have to be dealt with quickly or else it soon will be a GG. Kruin Outlaw and Ulvenwlad Mystics both have more difficult mana requirements so they are a bit more difficult in a multicolor, but not unreasonable either way. Kruin Outlaw is preferred in most situations because the CMC is one less and a 2/2 First Strike and 3/3 Double Strike is usually better to regeneration, but not always.

About Transformation

In my experience online, transforming and keeping the werewolves transformed is not as easy as one might think. With Think Twice and Forbidden Alchemy floating around, spells are being cast more often and many times at the end of your turn. So we need an alternate way to transform. If you sit out each of your turns only to have your opponent cast an instant to prevent transformation on your end step, you will quickly lose tempo and you won't benefit from your build. So I have played aggressive and waited for a Moonmist to flip me into fatties, rather than sitting back and trying to let the transformation process take place on its own. (Sometimes nature requires a little prodding.)

Let's kick this around a little and see what direction we want to man and his own best friend. Make some suggestions, tell me about your ideas. Next time I will look at a two color aggressive deck and how each mono-color works out. Think about how we can put together a more controlling deck with the werewolf theme.  Se you next time.

Wade