Werewolves got some great new cards in Dark Ascension, including a new lord for the tribe in the form of Immerwolf. This little guy combines with Moonmist to permanently transform your Werewolves regardless of how many spells your opponent casts. In addition, Wolfbitten Captive is a great new 1-drop for the deck and it has a useful ability even before it transforms. Here's the deck I created to take advantage of these two cards:

"Werewolves"

• Creatures (27)
• 3 Villagers of Estwald
• 4 Daybreak Ranger
• 4 Gatstaf Shepherd
• 4 Immerwolf
• 4 Instigator Gang
• 4 Mayor of Avabruck
• 4 Wolfbitten Captive

• Spells (9)
• 2 Beast Within
• 4 Moonmist
• 3 Full Moon's Rise

• Lands (24)
• 12 Forest
• 6 Mountain
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Rootbound Crag

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Ancient Grudge
• 3 Hanweir Watchkeep
• 4 Corrosive Gale
• 2 Autumn's Veil
• 2 Beast Within
• 1 Full Moon's Rise

Buy This Deck

The Werewolves

Wolfbitten Captive is a great 1-drop here. Thanks to its pump ability, it can attack profitably even before it transforms. It also gives you something to do with your mana when you don't want to cast spells. When it does transform, it becomes even more dangerous, turning into a massive 6/6 beater with the investment of only a few mana.

Gatstaf Shepherd is a reasonable 2/2 for 2 on its Human side, and when it transforms, it not only gains intimidate, but it becomes slightly larger as well. With so many Spirit tokens in the format, being able to push some damage past a fleet of chump-blockers is even more valuable.

Mayor of Avabruck is the first lord for the deck, making all your creatures more effective even before you can transform them. Once it does transform, you can pump out 3/3 Wolf tokens until your opponent is overrun.

Daybreak Ranger is very good in the current environment, shooting down Insectile Aberrations, Drogskol Captains, and Spirit tokens. And that's on its Human side. Once it transforms, it can fight whatever you want it to, taking down anything from Avacyn's Pilgrim to Dungeon Geists.

Villagers of Estwald is a reasonable, if not particularly impressive, 2/3 for 3 on its Human side. Once it transforms, it becomes a massive 4/6—unkillable by anything short of a Titan. With the help of Mayor of Avabruck or Immerwolf, it can survive even that.

Immerwolf is pretty much the best card in the deck. It pumps all your Werewolves, and it makes them stay transformed permanently. Although it's only a 2/2, a Howlpack Alpha or another Immerwolf will make it much more effective in combat.

Instigator Gang brings up the rear, giving all your creatures a nice little power boost. Of course, when it transforms, that nice little power boost turns into an absolutely absurd power boost, and your opponent will most likely be dead on your next attack.

The Spells

Moonmist is a key card for the deck, making all your Werewolves transform immediately without having to wait for a turn with no spells. It can also be used defensively to blow your opponent out in combat.

Full Moon's Rise gives all your Werewolves a small power boost and trample to help against all the small creature in the format. Perhaps even more valuable is the ability to sacrifice it to protect your team from a sweeper like Day of Judgment or Slagstorm.

Beast Within is a great removal spell, helping take care of those pesky Titans. It can also be used to remove Swords, planeswalkers, or anything else that might be giving you trouble. Although the 3/3 it leaves behind might be a small annoyance, most of your Werewolves should be plenty big enough to take it down when transformed.

The Sideboard

Ancient Grudge is a valuable tool against Swords . . . as well as Tempered Steel decks. Since this deck already plays red and green, it's easy to get a lot of value out of this.

Hanweir Watchkeep is a great blocker against other aggressive decks, killing small creatures and making larger ones bounce right off. It buys you valuable time to stabilize and set up a lethal attack. When you do eventually transform it, a 5/5 is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Corrosive Gale is extremely effective at taking down those pesky flyers, and it won't affect your creatures at all. Between this and Daybreak Ranger, you should be well prepared for any Spirits that might come your way.

Autumn's Veil helps protect key spells like Immerwolf and Moonmist from countermagic. It can also stop a Doom Blade from killing your best creature once it's already on the field.

Extra copies of Beast Within and Full Moon's Rise help tune your deck against opponents with a lot of sweepers or dangerous permanents. Against some decks, you'll want as many copies of these cards as you can get.

Playtesting

Esper Spirits – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of two Forests, two Villagers of Estwald, two Moonmists, and an Instigator Gang. I started off with a Forest, and my opponent played a Seachrome Coast and a Ponder. He kept the three cards, then paid 2 life for a Gitaxian Probe and passed the turn. I drew Evolving Wilds, played it, and sacrificed it to find a Mountain. I passed the turn. My opponent played an Island and passed back. I drew Daybreak Ranger and cast Villagers of Estwald. It resolved, and I passed the turn. My opponent played Glacial Fortress and cast Lingering Souls for two Spirit tokens. He then ended his turn.

I drew Gatstaf Shepherd and swung for 2 with Villagers of Estwald. My opponent let it through, and I cast Daybreak Ranger before passing the turn. My opponent played an Island and swung back with his pair of Spirits. He then cast two Delver of Secrets and passed the turn. I drew Rootbound Crag, played it, and cast Instigator Gang. It resolved, and I attacked for 3 with my Villagers of Estwald. My opponent dropped to 13, and I passed the turn. My opponent played Moorland Haunt and cast another Lingering Souls before passing the turn. I shot down a Spirit with Daybreak Ranger at the end of his turn. On my turn, I drew Full Moon's Rise. I cast it, then cast Moonmist to transform everything. I attacked for 25 trampling damage, and my opponent conceded.

Sideboarding:

−2 Beast Within

−3 Villagers of Estwald

−1 Gatstaf Shepherd

+4 Corrosive Gale

+2 Autumn's Veil

Esper Spirits – Game 2

I kept a hand of two Rootbound Crags, a Mountain, Evolving Wilds, Gatstaf Shepherd, Mayor of Avabruck, and Full Moon's Rise. My opponent starting things off with a Ponder, choosing not to shuffle, and a Gitaxian Probe, dropping him to 18 and letting him look at my hand. He passed the turn. I drew a Forest, played Evolving Wilds, and sacrificed it to find another Forest. I ended my turn. My opponent put a Glacial Fortress into play tapped and passed the turn. I drew a Rootbound Crag, played it, and cast Gatstaf Shepherd. I passed the turn. My opponent played a Swamp, then cast Lingering Souls and passed the turn. I drew a Forest, played Rootbound Crag, and cast Mayor of Avabruck. I attacked with the 3/3 Shepherd, and my opponent blocked with a Spirit token. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast another Lingering Souls, making two more Spirits. He then ended his turn. I drew Immerwolf, played a land, and cast the Immerwolf. I then attacked with my 4/4 Gatstaf Shepherd, making my opponent chump-block with a Spirit again. I passed the turn. My opponent flashed back a Lingering Souls on his turn, bringing the Spirit count up to four before passing the turn. I drew yet another land, played it, and cast Full Moon's Rise. I then attacked with Immerwolf and Gatstaf Shepherd. My opponent cast Vapor Snag on my Immerwolf, then blocked the Gatstaf Shepherd with three Spirit tokens. I sacrificed Full Moon's Rise to regenerate the Shepherd, then cast Immerwolf again and passed the turn. My opponent paid mana for Gitaxian Probe, saw my hand of three lands, and flashed back the second Lingering Souls. He then passed the turn. I drew Moonmist, played a land, and cast the Moonmist, transforming both of my Werewolves. I then attacked with my 5/5 Gatstaf Howler, 4/4 Howlpack Alpha, and 3/3 Immerwolf. My opponent blocked Howlpack Alpha with a token and dropped to 10. I passed the turn and made a 4/4 Wolf token.

My opponent played an Island and cast Dungeon Geists, tapping down my Gatstaf Howler. He passed the turn. I drew another land and swung with the three untapped creatures. Immerwolf dropped my opponent to 7, and the others were blocked by Spirits. I made a Wolf token and passed the turn. My opponent played Moorland Haunt and cast two Phantasmal Images, both copying Dungeon Geists. One tapped down Immerwolf, and the other kept a Wolf token at bay. I drew another land and attacked with both creatures. My opponent was forced to double-block the Howlpack with the two Phantasmal Images, and I killed the one tapping down Immerwolf. My opponent took 4 from the Wolf, and I passed the turn. My opponent cast Gitaxian Probe and passed the turn. I drew Gatstaf Shepherd and attacked with Immerwolf and the Wolf token. My opponent cast Dismember on Immerwolf, then blocked and killed the token. I cast Gatstaf Shepherd and passed the turn.

My opponent played a Seachrome Coast and cast Snapcaster Mage, flashing back a Vapor Snag to kill the remaining Wolf token. He then passed the turn, and my Gatstaf Howler turned back into a Shepherd. I drew Corrosive Gale and cast it, killing both Dungeon Geists. I then passed the turn. My opponent played Snapcaster Mage, flashing back Dismember to kill one of my Gatstaf Shepherds. He then passed the turn. I drew Moonmist, cast it to transform my Shepherd back into Gatstaf Howler, and attacked with the 3/3 intimidate to take the game.

This deck is surprisingly powerful, and Moonmist will very often just steal games out of nowhere. The intimidate from Immerwolf and Gatstaf Howler and the trample from Wildblood Pack and Full Moon's Rise are excellent against token strategies, making it very difficult for your opponent to survive by playing hordes of chump-blockers. If you're looking for a fun tribal deck with a lot of surprise value, this is a great one to try.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.