Witherbloom Witchcraft $50 Precon Upgrade | Lifegain | Combo | Willowdusk | C21
Commander 2021 preconstructed decks have been revealed which means it's time for another round of my precon upgrades! I'll go over how each preconstructed deck plays, why you should buy it, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, then use that information to recommend an optimal and impactful $50 upgrade.
Today we're covering the precon Withebloom Witchcraft, a Black/Green Lifegain deck. The precon can be divided into cards that either gain life, either through lifelink with cards like Loxodon Warhammer, sacrificing pests created by Blight Mound, or other lifegain sources like Gyome, Master Chef. The rest of the deck is fueled by this lifegain, recurring creatures from the graveyard with Veinwitch Coven, summoning massive Demons with Tivash, Gloom Summoner, and draining opponents with Sanguine Bond. It's all about gaining life and using that lifegain in various ways to win the game.
Our Commander
The face commander of the deck, Willowdusk, Essence Seer, does a great job representing what the precon is all about: using lifegain to fuel powerful abilities. Willowdusk can load up any other creature with tons of +1/+1 counters based on the most life you've either lost or gained this turn. The precon can gain or lose a ton of life in a single turn, gaining tons off cards like Healing Technique, especially when amplified by Alhammarret's Archive, and paying tons of life with cards like Greed. The unaltered precon is able to activate Willowdusk to put 10 or more +1/+1 counters on a creature in a single turn without too much issue, making Willowdusk an insanely efficient payoff to the deck, essentially turning every single creature into a huge, potentially game-winning threat.
This gives Willowdusk a lot of potential as a commander, so we're keeping it in the command zone for the upgraded version.
Alright, let's check out the decklist and see how well it accomplishes its goals:
Right out of the box, Witherbloom Witchcraft is incredibly focused on Lifegain: I count 30 cards that gain life and 29 cards that deal with lifegain, either directly by caring when you gain life or indirectly by requiring you to pay life to use them. There's actually very few cards here that don't adhere to the deck's main theme, making it one of the most focused precons ever printed. The only glaring issue I see with the deck at a glance is its mana curve: it's too top-heavy. We'll definitely want to bring down the mana curve a little in the upgrades section.
Now that we've glanced at the list as a whole, let's take a look at the deck's ratios.
Analyzing the Precon
As I often explain in my Budget Commander articles, every time I build a rough draft of a deck, I make sure I have a certain ratio of mana, interaction, card advantage, etc. This gives me a reference point to compare to the deck and see which areas may need improvement. My general ratio is:
- 50 mana; lands and ramp, usually a 37–13 split
- 10 card draw; cards that net you 2+ cards in hand
- 8 targeted removal; split between creature / artifact / enchantment removal and countermagic
- 3 board wipes; creature-light decks might want one more, creature-heavy decks might want one less
- 2 graveyard recursion
- 2 flexible tutors; higher budgets I recommend more tutors
- 1 graveyard hate; since you need to keep Graveyard decks honest
- 1 finisher; something that can win games the turn you cast it without too much setup
That's always my starting point, which is then tweaked to suit the individual deck's strategy and further tweaked with playtesting. I always find it immensely useful to figure out some quick ways to improve the deck in question.
Let's see what the rough ratios are for Lorehold Legacies and how it compares. I count:
- 53 mana; 40 lands and Leyline Prowler, Marshland Bloodcaster, Yedora, Grave Gardener (kinda), Ezzaroot Channeler, Rampant Growth, Cultivate, Nissa's Renewal, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Resilience, Pristine Talisman, Paradise Plume, Gift of Paradise
- 8 card draw; Bloodtracker, Sapling of Colfenor, Ob Nixilis Reignited, Damnable Pact, Ancient Craving, Well of Lost Dreams, Greed, Moldervine Reclamation
- 6 targeted removal; Noxious Gearhulk, Ob Nixilis Reignited, Pest Infestation, Feed the Swarm, Reckless Spite, Mortality Spear
- 4 board wipes; Gaze of Granite, Essence Pulse, Deadly Tempest, Taste of Death
- 4 graveyard recursion; Veinwitch Coven, Pulse of Murasa, Healing Technique, Revival Experiment, plus two cards that recur themselves (Silversmote Ghoul and Sproutback Trudge)
- 0 flexible tutors;
- 1 graveyard hate; Suffer the Past
- 3 finishers; Sanguine Bond, Blossoming Bogbeast, Defiant Bloodlord, but this deck is basically a pile of finishers
The ratios look pretty good at a glance. I'm happy to see a single piece of graveyard hate, even if the card itself isn't great. I think we could go down a board wipe and increase the amount of card draw and targeted removal by a little, but otherwise I really like what I see here.
Now that we have the ratios in mind, let's take a look at the individual cards, highlighting the strongest and weakest in each category.
40 Lands. This is a high amount of lands, but makes sense given the deck's very high mana curve: you want to be hitting your land drops consistently all the way up to turn 7 or so. This still isn't ideal, however, as a higher land count runs the risk of flooding out, especially without some cycling lands.
The lands themselves are very good, however. We have three lands that mana-fix while entering untapped, and I'm delighted to see Tainted Wood reprinted here. There's also some nice lifegain inclusions to fuel the deck like Sapseep Forest and Radiant Fountain.
13 Ramp. The ramp is a mix of good staples like Sol Ring and some thematic lifegain ramp like Ezzaroot Channeler. A lot of the ramp options are overcosted though, like Gift of Paradise, even factoring lifegain synergies. This category could benefit a lot from replacing the jankier thematic options with more efficient ones.
8 Card Draw. There's some thematic bangers here, most notably Bloodtracker, who works stunningly well with Willowdusk, Essence Seer to draw absurd amounts of cards. The only two subpar picks are Sapling of Colfenor, which has a low success rate with only 22 other creatures in the deck and no way to manipulate the top card of your library, and Moldervine Reclamation, which isn't a bad card itself but this deck doesn't sacrifice creatures often enough for it to shine.
6 Targeted Removal. Mortality Spear is a ridiculously efficient new staple in Golgari Lifegain. The other options are decent, we just need more of it.
4 Board Wipes. Essence Pulse is a cool new card, like a budget version of Toxic Deluge for Lifegain. I'd cut Deadly Tempest though.
4 Graveyard Recursion. The recursion is real good here. My favorite is Healing Technique, though even the weakest option, Pulse of Murasa, is decent lifegain.
0 Flexible Tutors. Tutors are super helpful for any Commander deck to help you find the right card for any situation, but I'm fine with them not showing up in precons. These are decks that are meant to pick up and play without being intimately aware of the deck's contents so tutors would only serve to confuse new pilots.
1 Graveyard Hate. Suffer the Past isn't a good card, but at least it's something. Is it so hard to add Bojuka Bog to every Black precon, WOTC?
3 Finishers. This precon has a bajillion ways to kill people through combat damage, especially with Willowdusk, Essence Seer turning anything into a game-winning threat. The best of these though is Blossoming Bogbeast as an overrun, and two non-combat finishers, Defiant Bloodlord and Sanguine Bond.
The Verdict. The precon is super focused, which is great. There's a lot of really powerful cards here, and even the weakest options are decent enough thanks to synergies. The mana curve is still too high though, and we could use a bit more targeted removal and card draw.
Upgrade Goals
I have some specific goals when upgrading the deck:
- Lower the deck's mana curve
- Add more lifegain
- Add more card draw
- Add more targeted removal
- Cut a board wipe
- Cut some lands
- Upgrade the weakest cards
The deck is already real good, so we're not going for a massive overhaul, just some easy swaps.
$50 Upgrade
Disclaimer: Card prices are volatile, especially during preview season. The prices listed here may be different at the time you read this article.
Here's how I'd swap in $50 worth of upgrades. If you want to upgrade on a smaller budget then just makes less swaps:
| Out | In | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Venser's Journal | Rushed Rebirth | Great flexible tutor. |
| Sun Droplet | Jarad's Orders |
Great flexible tutor. |
| Druidic Satchel | Final Parting |
Great flexible tutor. |
| Elixir of Immortality | Diabolic Tutor |
Solid flexible tutor. |
| Honor Troll | Staff of Domination |
Untap ability combos to make infinite mana + infinite activations. |
| Leyline Prowler | Marwyn, the Nurturer |
Combos with Willowdusk + Staff to go infinite at 5+ lifegain. |
| Nissa's Renewal | Viridian Joiner | Combos with Willowdusk + Staff to go infinite at 5+ lifegain. |
| Bloodthirsty Aerialist | Ancestral Statue |
Combos with Ezzaroot Channeler for infinite bounce / cast. |
|
Infinite lifegain w/ Statue combo. |
||
| Cheaper, win condition, infinite payoff. | ||
| Tivash, Gloom Summoner | Unspeakable Symbol |
Pay tons of life, pump with Willowdusk, 1-shot. |
| Trudge Garden | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord |
Sac outlet and finisher that can recur itself. |
| Ancient Craving | Bolas's Citadel |
Absurd card draw that fuels Willowdusk. |
| Sapling of Colfenor | Skullclamp |
The best card draw in a Sacrifice deck. |
| Ob Nixilis Reignited | Triskelion |
Removal and win con. |
| Taste of Death | Plaguecrafter |
Removal on a stick. |
| Deadly Tempest | Shriekmaw | Removal on a stick. |
| Pest Infestation | Reclamation Sage | Removal on a stick. |
| Feed the Swarm | Nature's Claim |
Staple removal. |
| Suffer the Past | Superior GY hate and finisher. | |
| Verdant Sun's Avatar | Disciple of Bolas |
Card draw + lifegain + sac outlet. |
| Gluttonous Troll | Disciple of Griselbrand |
Efficient sac outlet + lifegain. |
| Ageless Entity | Nether Traitor |
Sac fodder, haste + evasion makes it a great finisher w/ Willowdusk |
| Vampire Nighthawk | Reassembling Skeleton |
Recurring sac fodder. |
| Loxodon Warhammer | Midnight Reaper |
Lots of lifegain, damage fuels Willowdusk. |
| Epicure of Blood | Zulaport Cutthroat |
Tons of lifedrain, infinite finisher. |
| Cultivate | Devoted Druid |
Tons of ramp with Willowdusk. |
| Pulse of Murasa | Fertilid |
Tons of ramp with Willowdusk. |
| Talisman of Resilience | Accomplished Alchemist |
Tons of ramp with lifegain. |
| Pristine Talisman | Elvish Mystic |
Cheap, efficient ramp that can be later sacrificed for value. |
| Paradise Plume | Llanowar Elves | Cheap, efficient ramp that can be later sacrificed for value. |
| Gift of Paradise | Sakura-Tribe Elder |
Cheap, efficient ramp that sacrifices itself. |
| Temple of the False God | Gray Merchant of Asphodel |
Tons of lifedrain. |
| Study Hall | Sign in Blood |
Efficient card draw that fuels Willowdusk. |
| Golgari Rot Farm | Malakir Rebirth |
Efficient flexible protection. |
| Forest | Khalni Ambush |
Flexible efficient removal. |
Here's how the cuts look in lists.
Additions:
Cuts:
And here's the deck with the upgrades installed:
Four Down, One To Go!
I'll be back soon with the rest of the precon upgrades!
