Hello folks!

Did you see it get spoiled last week?

If not, here is Questing Beast. It's fun! It's punch-able. It's could be a strong leader of many a Commander deck.

It has a lot of things going for it out here in Commander land - let's take a look:

Four mana to cast as a Commander? Check. That gives it a quick-able appearance, and you can feasibly recast it a few times with the Commander tax as it dies.

A 4/4 dork with three powerful abilities? Check! All three work nicely together. The haste means that as long as you have the ability to cast it, your foes have to expect that'll be cast and swing with in quick order. The vigilance keeps it back to block, and the deathtouch means folks may not want to attack into it, so they'll look elsewhere for their punch-ery. Of course, it's also a pretty nifty-keen card outside of the triad of keyworded abilities.

It's hard to block. This may not be as pertinent, but it's there. There are certainly a number of commonly played creatures like Fog Bank, Mulldrifter, Solemn Simulacrum, or Brago, King Eternal that'll do nothing to stop your guy. They can't even step in front of it. And that has a lot of value to me.

The final ability is great, because you can threaten both a person and their 'walker. It can change how someone plays and push them out of their comfort zone.

Imagine it's the fourth turn. One of your foes went first, and he untaps, draws. He could cast that nice four-mana planeswalker, like Jace, the Mind Sculptor. But without a potential blocker? It's only going to go off once, and then your dork can be cast, swing at the person's face, deal four damage, and kill their Jace too. The only way it can survive for a round is the +2 fateseal, which is pretty weak in Commander, and then likely to see it be hit by a little 1/1 or something at the table and finished off. It's a wasted fourth turn. So now, they hold back their powerful early on-curve plays, and thus the cards are played later post-protection that'll stop a Questing Beast.

It reminds me a little of the power of Slash Panther. If you weren't paying attention to Vintage, then for around a year it was heavily played in Stax decks that could drop it as early as turn one off of a Mishra's Workshop. It was great against a Jace, TMS, which was a constant force, since it's haste meant it remained a threat from his -1 bounce-ery, and after they dropped Jace, you could swing and smash it immediately dead. Fun!

Questing Beast has that threatening aspect to it too.

But it also has something else going for it. Mad synergy with cards that have been printed in Green since Alpha.

Seriously:

Fog. When you cast a Fog, combat damage is prevented. However, if you are casting this with your Questing Beast on the battlefield? Your combat damage cannot be prevented, so you are going to be the only one with combat damage happening. While your foes are lost in the Fog, your people are setting up ambushes and using it as cover to prepare for the face-smashing of a lifetime.

That means every Fog you play will only prevent opponent's combat damage, while your damage goes through!

A lot.

Also, in addition to pure Fogs, your team cannot have combat damage be prevented with other various prevention effects like protection or something like the aforementioned Fog Bank. Your team will be un-Maze of Ith able.

Fog Machine decks do exist that emphasize card drawing and using those cards drawn as Fogs. You'll see Turbo Fog decks that draw a number of cards, with the intent to force foes to get milled for death while they Fog away threats over and over again. That has less value to me in Commander. I don't want to give away cards. There are lots of ways to win in Commander. Just because I draw a lot of cards and keep the Fogs flowing doesn't mean I'm winning. I'm only preventing combat damage after all.

Note that a lot of Fog Machine builds will emphasize trickery paths to victory. They are slow control builds that try to deck their foes, hide behind Underworld Dreams effects, and slip into Rogue's Passages and wear Whispersilk Cloaks to avoid any form of engagement when trying to attack. You don't have to worry about that.

You. Are. Green. You have never been about avoiding combat. You are going to embrace it once again.

I am not going to continue that theme now! Nope. We are going to draw cards Green's way; with creatures punching each other's faces.

I'll certainly be running a few permanent-based Fogs like Spike Weaver and Haze Frog that can swing while I run my Questing Beast out ahead to protect our field of battle.

Don't need a Fog? You can cycle and draw yourself another card all day long!

Need more than one Fog effect for your troubles? Sure thing! You can flashback or buyback some options too!

Want to gain some life while you Fog it up? Sure thing! Hey, when Fogging, you might as well get in some fun Fog-ery.

Want to lock some dorks down for a while? No problems! They can get last in the Tangled Clouds for more than a turn while folks take advantage of their now opened defenses to swing with impunity at them.

Want to cast a key Fog effect over and over again? Sure thing! Isochron Scepter has you covered. From the cool Tangle to the life gain of Respite and more, it'll work to heal your Fog wounds and help your Fogging needs.

Consider the power of, say, Ohran Frostfang in this build. You swing, and you have out a permanent Fog effect like Spike Weaver. If your foes blocks and tries to trade your guys, then you'll pop off a counter and Fog. Your deathtouch horde will kill every blocker who jumps in front - they can't even lean on damage prevention effects. Only something like indestructible will keep them alive. Therefore, the likely result is that your foes will likely allow the guys through, thus ensuring you can draw more cards from their damage.

I also tossed in a few new fun cards here and there as well to keep the wagon train a-movin'. Check out cards like Cavalier of Thorns and Keeper of Fables that'll add strong powerful on-curve bodies to your Quest.

I added a few spells that'll work with Isochron Scepter, and as this was just two mana, it works well here. It'll normally just be a Naturalize, but it's nice to have additional options right? Right!

And then I add in some utility cards, creatures with useful abilities that'll help out the team, a heaping helping of equipment, and call it a deck!

Here you are:

Fogging with Questing Beast | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Questing Beast

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Avenging Druid
• 1 Baru, Fist of Krosa
• 1 Beast Whisperer
• 1 Carnage Tyrant
• 1 Cavalier of Thorns
• 1 Cloudthresher
• 1 Duskwatch Recruiter
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Haze Frog
• 1 Hydra Omnivore
• 1 Jadelight Ranger
• 1 Keeper of Fables
• 1 Krosan Tusker
• 1 Nessian Game Warden
• 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 1 Ohran Frostfang
• 1 Ohran Viper
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Skalla Wolf
• 1 Spike Weaver
• 1 Spore Frog
• 1 Stonehoof Chieftain
• 1 Thornling
• 1 Tornado Elemental
• 1 Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 1 Vivien Reid

• Instants (12)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Blunt the Assault
• 1 Constant Mists
• 1 Haze of Pollen
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Lull
• 1 Moment's Peace
• 1 Respite
• 1 Return to Nature
• 1 Spore Cloud
• 1 Tangle

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Harmonize
• 1 Hunter's Prowess
• 1 Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1 Nissa's Triumph
• 1 Storm the Citadel

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 One with Nature
• 1 Snake Umbra
• 1 Song of the Dryads

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Akroma's Memorial
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Emerald Medallion
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Quietus Spike
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice

• Lands (36)
• 30 Forest
• 1 Desert of the Indomitable
• 1 Slippery Karst
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Yavimaya Hollow

Buy This Deck Export text format

And there we are! What did you think? Anything in here you'd want to add? Anything I missed? Are you looking forward to the Questing Beast as much as me? Have a good one!