Use creatures that replace themselves and sensible trades to enable morbid, then gain cards and board size while preserving enough bodies to keep blocking.
Use creatures that replace themselves and sensible trades to enable morbid, then gain cards and board size while preserving enough bodies to keep blocking.
Commit when repeated useful cards and enough support make a complete deck in these colors.
Four checks while you draft
Can I affect the board before the payoff?
A one-mana creature leaves a flying Insect when it dies. It can trade or pay a sacrifice cost without leaving an empty board, but exile and bounce do not create the replacement token.
Do my actual cards enable this plan?
Trade or sacrifice Infestation Sage to Hungry Ghoul before the end step. That death leaves an Insect and enables Wardens of the Cycle or upgrades a later Tragic Banshee entry.
Can I stop their strongest play and finish a stalled game?
Use creatures that replace themselves and sensible trades to enable morbid, then gain cards and board size while preserving enough bodies to keep blocking.
Choose the missing job before another reward that needs it.
The key card is present but its support is thin.
Prioritize useful support such as Infestation Sage or Hungry Ghoul.
Trade or sacrifice Infestation Sage to Hungry Ghoul before the end step. That death leaves an Insect and enables Wardens of the Cycle or upgrades a later Tragic Banshee entry.
Your deck enables the plan but is losing the early turns.
Take a castable early creature or efficient answer before another expensive payoff.
Wardens needs a creature death before the end step begins. A sacrifice after the end step started cannot retroactively create the missed trigger, and each sacrifice pays only one cost.
The support is missing
Favor independently useful creatures and interaction if the narrow support does not arrive.
Repeated useful cards are clues, not proof that the colors are open.
Wardens needs a creature death before the end step begins. A sacrifice after the end step started cannot retroactively create the missed trigger, and each sacrifice pays only one cost.
Avoid unnecessary trades that switch on morbid, and exile a key creature when your removal offers that option. Attack before repeated end-step draws let the opponent replace every traded card.
Vampire Nighthawk58.2% GIH · 3,425 instances
Tragic Banshee57.8% GIH · 4,010 instances
Bake into a Pie57.7% GIH · 9,374 instances
Mild-Mannered Librarian57.6% GIH · 3,891 instances
Felling Blow57.5% GIH · 3,910 instances
Stab57.3% GIH · 9,218 instances17Lands ↗ · Nov 12–Dec 15, 2024 · at least 100 card-in-hand instances in this pair’s no-splash decks. Choose the job your deck needs first.
Bloodthirsty Conqueror 3BBThe 5/5 flying deathtouch body converts every opposing life-loss event into life for you, including damage from your other creatures. That can reverse a race, but it does not stop removal or an attack that deals lethal damage before its life-gain trigger resolves.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General 4BBChoose between adding a blocker and making each player sacrifice two creatures. Your sacrificed creatures, including tokens, draw cards through her death trigger; expendable bodies improve the exchange, while an opponent with many small bodies can protect a larger threat.
Spinner of Souls 2GA three-mana 4/3 with reach pressures or blocks while replacing your other nontoken creatures that die with creature cards from the library. It does not reward its own death or dying tokens, and the replacements go to hand rather than directly onto the battlefield.
Sylvan Scavenging 1GGCast before your end step and choose the mode that develops the board. A counter can help a creature reach four power for future Raccoons; the token mode checks for a four-power creature as it resolves, so opposing removal can deny that token.
Sire of Seven Deaths 7Seven mana buys a resilient attacker and blocker: vigilance keeps it available, first strike and trample punish blocks, and lifelink can reverse races. Ward asks an opponent to pay seven life to target it; it is a cost they may pay, and untargeted removal still works normally.17Lands Premier Draft ↗ · Nov 12–Dec 15, 2024 · 100-instance minimum
Infestation SageA one-mana creature leaves a flying Insect when it dies. It can trade or pay a sacrifice cost without leaving an empty board, but exile and bounce do not create the replacement token.
Hungry GhoulA two-drop can convert another creature into a counter for one mana at instant speed. Sacrifice an expendable body or one already threatened, rather than shrinking your board without a reason.
Cackling ProwlerWard makes targeted answers more expensive, and a creature death before your end step adds a counter. A sacrifice after the end step has begun is too late to create that turn's morbid trigger.
Arbiter of WoeExamples apply the printed rules; judge the board, costs and timing.
| One-pick | Sealed |
|---|---|
| With one pick at a time, fill the missing early play, answer or support card before adding another narrow payoff. The plan must work without drawing its key card. | Compare complete builds from the cards you opened. Keep the castable curve and interaction even if the draft theme is only partly supported. |
