“I’m sorry. Should I pay you up front? Not terribly well-versed in mercenary relations, I’m afraid.”
Art:Chevill, Bane of Monsters
by Yongjae Choi
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Chevill, Bane of Monsters, is an interesting commander built around one of magic’s evergreen mechanics in deathtouch. The main advantage of nearly all of our creatures having deathtouch is combat. We also have the additional benefit of getting life and cards from the counters our commander gives opponents creatures. To my surprise, we have other cards to put bounty counters on creatures. We also have a lot of ways to target and take down opponent’s creatures. We also have all of the fun and strong removal that is present in any Golgari deck. This deck allows us to experience a real hunting adventure. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Chevill, Bane of Monsters Deathtouch !
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Why Chevill, Bane of Monsters?
We are fully built around Chevill, Bane of Monsters. Nearly every creature in our deck has deathtouch or, if not, has a payoff for death triggers. The bounty counters can be put on by a couple of other creatures in the deck, and we will never say no to more life or cards. Chevill is not a great attacker, but many other creatures help us whittle down our opponents and end the game.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
We have a ton of awesome creatures, so I will highlight some of my favorites in the deck. Deathcap Cultivator
is a really flavorful mana dork for the deck who helps us get mana, and once we get Delirium, he can also be a strong attacker. Leyline Prowler
is a little expensive for a mana dork but has all the keywords we want. Hooded Blightfang
is one of our biggest payoffs for having so many deathtouch creatures. Hooded Blightfang also makes us really strong against Planeswalkers as well. Halana, Kessig Ranger
may be a big mana investment to use their ability, but is a great way to target and remove opponent’s creatures. Ulvenwald Tracker
is a cheaper creature with a fight effect that can be really strong in removing creatures. Massacre Wurm
is crazy strong against many strategies but can be a great way to apply pressure to our opponents from all of the stuff we kill. Witch of the Moors
is an awesome card that synergizes really well with Chevill, Bane of Monsters.
Planeswalkers:
Vraska, Swarm's Eminence
, is a cool planeswalker that helps improve our deathtouch creatures. Since many opponents don’t want to block against us, we often get free buffs on our deathtouch creatures. Vraska only has one ability, and while it can be quite strong against some decks like superfriends, it’s mostly just a free deathtouch creature for us. Vraska is a great inclusion for only four mana and is absolutely an asset to the deck.
Instants:
Our instant package is where most of our single-target removal resides. We can use this as a complementary way to control the board with our huge number of deathtouch creatures. Abrupt Decay
and Beast Within
are my two favorite removal spells in the deck that allow us to take out key permanents/creatures early or late in the game. We also have cards like Bite Down
and Cosmic Hunger
, which are fight cards, but since we target one of the deathtouch creatures, we always win these fights. If a key creature dies in combat or to removal, we can use Infuse with Vitality
as a cheap way to get some life and bring it back. We also have Nature's Claim
and Putrefy
, which are great and cheap ways to take out artifacts and enchantments and in the case of putrefy creatures as well.
Sorceries:
We have Cultivate
and Kodama's Reach
, which are great ways to get ahead on mana. Speaking of getting ahead, we have Demonic Tutor
and Grim Tutor
, which I typically use to grab more payoffs for deathtouch in the instance, but in the instance and at the right able these naturally can be used to grab combo pieces. Reanimate
and Unearth
are strong and cheap pieces of recursion for the deck. If we fall behind and need to reset the game Toxic Deluge
is the perfect board wipe for our deck since we gain so much life.
Artifacts:
We, of course, have some artifacts like Sol Ring
, Arcane Signet
, and Talisman of Resilience
, which are all cheap pieces of fast mana that can help to accelerate our gameplay. Beyond that, we have a bunch of “hunting equipment.” in reality, we have a lot of cards that can “ping” down our opponent’s creatures. Some of these cards are combo pieces but can also be used normally. Pathway Arrows
is a very on flavor card and a great way to ping down an opponent’s creature. Same with Viridian Longbow
and Wolfhunter's Quiver
.
Enchantments:
We have a lot of really strong enchantments, with one of my favorites being Family's Favor
, which makes us an even bigger threat in combat since it can give us a card that turn and protection from removal on subsequent turns. Deathreap Ritual
is a bit expensive at four mana but can trigger reliably on almost every turn and can be a consistent card draw for us. Since we are a deck filled with deathtouch, we can use a card like Grim Feast
to gain a ton of life off of “winning” in combat and having the opponent’s creatures die. In my experience, the one life hit on our upkeep almost never matters.
Land Base:
We have a pretty efficient land base. Since they have come down in price in recent times, we are running both Verdant Catacombs
and Overgrown Tomb
, which make our land base a little quicker. We also have both Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
, which are the ultimate pieces of mana fixing for the deck. Mortuary Mire
is a great way to recur one of our creatures. We don’t play a ton of recursion, so this can be helpful. Hissing Quagmire
is a really cool card since it can animate into another deathtouch creature! Beyond that, we are mostly running Golgari dual lands and some basics. I tested this manabase for quite awhile and tested 33 and 34 land versions and found that 35 was superior.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Deathtouch on nearly every creature makes us tough to attack into
- We have a decent amount of single-target / spell-based removal in the deck
- There are a lot of death payoffs, like drawing cards and gaining life
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to creature hate
- Weak to decks that do not try to win through combat/creatures
- Weak to control decks/countermagic
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We do have some infinite combos and loops in the deck. While these combos don’t necessarily end the game, they can control the board completely and may not make many friends. We do have one combo that does end the game. We can control the board with our deck and continuously whittle down our opponents. We also have payoff cards like Massacre Wurm, which can slowly bleed our opponents. These combos are not the main focus of the deck but can be used to control the board fully. For this reason, I would not play this deck at a casual level table. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained:
Thornbite Staff
+ Viridian Longbow
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Viridian Longbow and Thornbite Staff attached to a creature with deathtouch. That creature does not have summoning sickness.
Steps:
- Activate the creature’s ability from Viridian Longbow by tapping it, dealing 1 damage to any target creature an opponent controls and destroying that target due to deathtouch.
- When that target dies, the creature’s ability from Thornbite Staff triggers, untapping itself.
- Repeat.
- You may also repeat this loop whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent’s control.
Results:
Destroy all creatures your opponents control. Destroy all creatures that enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control.
Thornbite Staff + Avatar of Woe
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. Thornbite Staff attached to Avatar of Woe. Avatar of Woe does not have summoning sickness.
Steps:
- Activate Avatar of Woe by tapping it, destroying target creature.
- The creature dies, triggering Avatar of Woe, untapping it.
- Repeat.
- You may also repeat this loop whenever a creature enters the battlefield.
Results:
Destroy any number of creatures. Destroy any number of creatures that enter the battlefield.
Bootleggers' Stash
+ Revel in Riches
Requires:
All permanents on the battlefield. You control at least ten in any combination of lands and/or Treasure tokens.
Steps:
- On the end step before your turn, activate all lands you control by tapping them, creating that many Treasure tokens.
- At the beginning of your upkeep, Revel in Riches triggers, causing you to win the game.
Results:
Win the game at the beginning of your next upkeep.
Conclusion:
Chevill, Bane of Monsters is an interesting build that is built heavily around one of magic’s oldest keywords. Using Chevill to gain life and cards positions us strongly against many decks and gives us a decent amount of card advantage. Since we are built around deathtouch, attacking and blocking is pretty strong for us since most opponents want to avoid engaging with us in combat entirely. This is a deck I had a lot of fun testing with. Thanks for reading to the end and for all your support!