The Mothman Arises in Commander

Posted on March 19, 2024

Hello awesome folks! I hope your day is going super mega well. As you might know, I grew up in West Viriginia all my childhood, we moved around, and then I stayed in state for my BA and first Masters (MPA) at West Virginia University. Then I moved around from Ypsilanti, Michigan working at Eastern Michigan University in Residence Life for 6 years, London, Detroit at Wayne State for 3.5 years, Philadelphia suburb called King of Prussia for a year back to grad school, Fairfield, CT for 2.5 years at Fairfield College, 1 year in Mobile, AL at Spring Hill College and now at University of Maryland at Baltimore County for 6.5 years. My family moved to Point Pleasant, WV, where the home of the Mothman while I was away, but they have been there for ages now. There is a Mothman Statue in downtown and a Museum I've been too as well.

Because I am from and loved my home state of WV, I love Fallout 76 set there, even though many fans don't. Enter this new Universes Beyond set which is set in the Video Game world of Fallout. I see that we got ourselves a Commander eligible Mothman and he's the lead of a brand new pre-con Commander brew!

This four-mana 3/3 flying Phantom Monster will give everyone a rad counter it ETBS or swings too. Then its final trigger will put a +1/+1 counter here when one or more nonlands are milled, by anyone! Given how often that happens with mill with 60% of Commander decks at nonlands ideally, that should be loads, and note it's anyone, not just you. Also note that if multiple are milled in one go, you'll just trigger this once, but then more mills this turn will give you more options. Note that this is in the colors of Sultai, which loves self-milling and triggers as well, like Khan Leader from Tarkir Sidisi above.

You are clearly also playing into the brand-new rad counter space. Everyone collects them. After their draw step, this triggers and they mill equal to their Rad counter count, and then for each one that comes up nonlands, just like The Wise Mothman, you'll remove this counter and lose a life too. So, this gives you milling built in without any additions but at the cost of life loss too. Since Rad Counters were added in Fallout, I assume that they were all added into this deck already precon, so I won't be adding Rad Counter givers to the brew from elsewhere in the set, but triggers like Sidisi who is not in said brew!

Mana, Ramp, Lands

With a four-drop Commander, ideally we'll be running two cost ramps like Rampant Growth or Arcane Signet or the above spell. This ramps out any Forest to your battlefield from your library, including your duals/tris like the Triome or other Shock Lands. The dork costs three, for a 1/4 body with a landfall to give yourself a pair of rad counters, and then you can tap him to toss a land in any graveyard, not just yours, that was milled onto your battlefield tapped. Nasty here!

Now let's stick with Green dorks. Lumra, Bellow of the Woods costs six for a dork with size equal to your land count - quite high here! It has vigilance to swing with its big body and hold back and reach to block flyers that come. When it ETBs, you mill four, then return all lands from your graveyard tapped! Gyre Sage has a 1/2 body with evolve. It will tap for mana equal to the +1/+1 counter here, and that's a key place to send your Mothman counters to make a ton of mana or just evolve naturally. Kami of Whispered Hopes has a 1/1 size, when you put +1/+1 on anything, toss another, and then tap this for mana of one color equal to its power, minimum one.

Now let's turn to lands! The one just printed will ETB tapped if you gain two rad counters. Then you can tap it for colorless, and with 5 mana to draw a card but that cost is reduced by your rad counter count, minimum zero if you have five. The Bastion taps for Colorless too, ETBs untapped, you can tap it with four mana to proliferate to add rad and +1/+1 counters to folks! Love it loads.

Now let's go to Black-tapping lands. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire channels for no more than four to mill you three for your triggers and then you'll Raise Dead a dork or planeswalker from your graveyard. Tomb Fortress comes into play tapped and you can tap it with a pricey five mana, and exile it. Then you mill four for triggers, and Zombify a dork from your graveyard to the battlefield but only at sorcery speed. I am also running mill any target Nephalia Drownyard.

Let's finish with this land trio! The Simic mana maker just printed ETBs tapped with surveil to get one free card to your graveyard if you cannot use it, and it counts as both land types. The Dimir tapper also ETbs tapped, and then can be activated with four mana into a 4/4 deathtouch to swing and then trigger its attack to mill a player. The Sphere ETBs, untapped, taps for any color on the turn it arrives, then can be tapped with three to make a 1/1 Mite Artifact dork with toxic 1 that cannot block. This is here to add poison counters early and then proliferate a win. I am also running Inkmoth Nexus in that genre, but that's it, nothing else.

Milling and Rad Counter Stuff

Now let's turn to fun rad counter and milling stuff! Nuka-Nuke Launcher costs two to drop and three to equip and gives a strong +3 power and intimidate to swing past other colors so evasion. Then after you have attacked, (note this is not combat damage) that attacked player will net two rad counters for each spell they cast until their next turn. That could be loads of turns in multiplayer play. Vexing Radgull costs two mana for a 1/2 flyer with a combat damage trigger this turn instead of attacking. They get two rad counters if they don't have any, and if they do you proliferate, to give everyone rad counters and +1/+1 counters for your team too.

Now let's turn to mill stuff. The Adventure dork costs two to drop with a mill sorcery any target and then size equal to creatures in all graveyards on a two drop? That's a nasty little win-con beater. Then the sorcery costs a rough to cast three mana and mills all foes 14 and then you can cycle for two and replace it to have your foe's mill four that way.

Synergies and Win-Cons

Now let's turn to synergies and win-cons! Screeching Scorchbeast costs six for a hard to block 5/5 flying and menace. You need two reachers or flyers to block. You'll want to attack, because when you do, everyone gets 2 rad counters. Then when one or more nonlands are milled, make that many 2/2 Zombie Mutant tokens! Just once a turn, but that's nasty. Glowing One arrives as a deathtouching 2/2 dork to keep people from swinging your way. When this deals combat damage, a foe gets four counters. Then when your mills you care about happen, you gain that life! Note that's all players...

Now let's turn to Golgari stuff again. The enchantment costs five and then it doubles all of your newly played counters on folks (rad, poison) and on stuff (+1/+1) and then since I have all of these token makers and triggers like Sidisi and Mirrex it'll double those too! The sorcery costs a massive nine mana, but you'll win after it resolves since you gain control of all dorks in all graveyards. You can win so well with it!

Now let's turn to this trio of recursion in our deck! The Sultai colored one costs four for a 2/4 that ETBs and gives one player two rad counters again. When a dork is milled, you can tap this to recur it on your control and then as a 3/3 Mutant. The Dimir colored three-drop has a 1/4 size. In your turn, you may cast one spell that was milled this turn from your graveyard only. You can tap this for no mana to make everyone mill! Then the mono-black one drop has a 1/1 deathtouch to play keep away and then when it smashes face, you can cast something from their graveyard with any mana you have working. Nasty recursion!

Now let's turn to an enchantment duo. Vault 12: The Necropolis costs six, ETBs everyone gets 3 rad counters, nasty, and then next turn you make 2/2 dorks equal to the total rad count for all players! Then on Chapter III you grow all Zombies or Mutants by two permanently in the form of counters. Struggle for Project Purity ETBs with a choice of two - you'll want "Enclave." so when someone attacks you, they get twice the rad counters as attacking you.

The artifact costs just two, is an uncommon, and when your foes lose life they'll mill that many. That's nasty here with your loss of life from your Rad counters and the other stuff already baked in. Then the dork costs six mana for a fun 7/7 ward 2 beater with no evasion. When it's dealt damage, you gain three rad counters and put that many +1/+1 counters here too. Not many would want to run into that. Then you gain life from Rad counters instead of losing it.

Since we are decking us often as fast as our foes, I wanted to add in some decking win cons into my deck. Enter this critter! Laboratory Maniac is small but says if you would draw from an empty library, win instead of losing. The planeswalker Jace, Wielder of Mysteries is here too and costs a hard to cast 4, but has the same ability as a static, and can +1 to have someone mill two and draw one. Mister Gutsy costs two for a 1/1 that grows with +1/+1 counters as you cast Auras and Equipment, not that many here, just the one above, but you'll want to load it up with +1/+1 counters from The Mothman since when it dies it'll make that many Junk counters for card flow.

The former costs seven for a beefy 8/6 with trample and indestructible on your turn if you swung so you'll want to bring that heat. Then when it ETBs or swings, you proliferate twice, so this is a nasty attack and swing on a beefy dork like the Titan cycle such as Grave Titan. Double proliferate is nasty here! The latter costs five for a 5/4 on curve dork. Then you can spend two mana to have everyone mill a card for triggers, and then when a dork enters...any...graveyard from...anywhere...you shoot each foe for a damage. That's a nasty win con here outside of the red zone in addition to Rad counter life loss and milling deaths.

Answers

Now let's turn to answers! We'll start with answers to answers since we go wide with tokens and tall with +1/+1 counters and we'll need ways to stop sweepers and targeted removal. Mutational Advantage gives your stuff with counters hexproof, indestructible, and then all damage is prevented to them and you proliferate. Ripples of Potential proliferates, and then you can phase out any number of permanents that were proliferated this turn from planeswalkers to dorks. I am also running Heroic Intervention.

Now let's turn to removal. I prefer things like instant speed things that can target anything, like this Golgari colored four cost at instant speed in the same set that destroys any non-land and then you net a free proliferate. I also tossed in some counters like Mystic Snake or this five-cost Dimir spell. It counters anything, and then you can cast for free a spell from your graveyard of the cost of or less of what you countered of four key types. It was just printed in the Murders Commander precons.

Every deck needs mass removal, like this one. Nuclear Fallout gives double X in -X/-X for the turn, so you can kill big butts and small, and then you kill stuff you cannot target with hexproof or kill with indestructible. But it goes to your graveyard for recursion. Then you give all players X rad counters. Cyclonic Rift is seven to overload and bounces all opposing stuff that ain't lands, so you'll be safe and it's a Commander Classic! Love this pair loads!

Card Draw

Let's finish my deep dives with card draw! The Dimir colored X spell at instant speed will draw you X spells to serve as a nice mana sink, and then you get half that in rad counters. The Green spell three cost instant will draw a card for each dork with a +1/+1 counter on it you control, and then they'll get indestrucble for the turn, so it's interaction too.

Mirelurk Queen costs five for an okay sized 4/4 with vigilance. Then when it ETBs, you hand out two rad counters to a player, and then you have the mill trigger to draw and then toss a +1/+1 counter here, but just once per turn, but with all four players with rad counters, it could do it on all of their turns, so four card draws are nasty times. Danny Pink also synergizes with our counters.

Let's finish with another legendary permanent pair! The dork costs four for a 1/1 uncounterable, indestructible dork. It has to attack every turn, and when your dorks deal damage, you draw that card. Since we have so many dorks and tokens, that should be loads. I am also running Bident of Thassa and Ohran Frostfang. Then the planeswalker will usually cost six for an on-curve 6 loyalty. She's here for her 0 to draw, lose a life, and then proliferate. Then you can -2 her to take out a dork by turning it into a Treasure!

There we are! Let's look at my decklist!