“The haunted woods singin’ oh harvest moon.”
Art:Drogskol Captain
by Cristi Balanescu
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Drogskol Captain is here and ready to fly everywhere and hit our opponents for a ton of chip damage. I have been having a blast with this deck and enjoy being in a midrange shell. We can counter and protect our commander while stopping opponents as needed; one of the big benefits of having Drogskol Captain as our commander is that nearly every creature in our deck has hexproof, which makes us quite strong against single-target removal, which allows us to be well-positioned against a variety of opponents. I am very excited to showcase this one today; without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Drogskol Captain Spirits!
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Why Drogskol Captain?
Drogskol Captain is a very important card in our deck and is something we always cast as soon as we possibly can; being able to protect and buff nearly every creature in our deck is extremely strong; we also greatly benefit from Drogskol’s ability because many of our creatures are naturally evasive and being able to buff up and hit for more and more damage is always good. Drogskol Captain sadly is a bit of a removal magnet from our opponents and is one of the few creatures that don’t have hexproof; we have some strong cards like Turn Aside
and Your Temple Is Under Attack
which are both great ways to protect our commander from removal.
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!
Creatures:
Angelic Page
is a strong and evasive creature that helps our creatures be a little better in combat. Whether we use it offensively or defensively, it is quite strong. Apothecary Geist
is a strong card for the deck because they are decently stat-ed, and they almost always gain us life, which is quite strong against a variety of different strategies within the deck. Fogwalker
is a strong spirit who locks down an opponent’s creature, and since it has skulk, it can be quite hard for some decks to block. Kami of False Hope
is one of my favorite creature cards in the deck; with our commander out, they are a one-mana 2/2 that can Fog
on-demand; this is extremely strong and having this option behind hexproof is great. Kami of the Painted Road
is a little expensive, but being able to get protection from multiple colors within a turn is absolutely possible, and being able to freely attack with a decently big spirit is pretty nice. Teller of Tales
is another decently expensive spirit, but being able to tap down an opponent’s board or untap some of our best creatures is extremely strong. Soulsworn Jury
is one of the best blockers for the deck, and having a Essence Scatter
on a stick is always nice.
Instants:
Generous Gift
and Crib Swap
are two very strong pieces of removal; while both of them give opponents creatures, we almost always select something that is way more valuable than the tokens we give them, combined with being cheap these cards are both very strong and super worth it to run within the deck. Essence Scatter, Counterspell
, and Arcane Denial
are all great counterspells for the deck that allow us to protect our creatures and board as well as stop opponents if they begin to get out of hand. Turn Aside is the best counterspell we have. If our opponents are trying to target our commander, and for one-blue, we can certainly surprise our opponents. I like Geist Snatch
for the deck; not only is it flavorful, but creating a spirit off of it is awesome, and while it is a little expensive, I think it is well worth it for the deck.
Sorceries:
Distant Melody
and Ribbons of the Reikai
are two of the best sources of mass card draw within the deck, while these are only very strong if we have a huge board, we are still able to get a ton of value even if we only have three or four creatures. Another pair I like a lot is Silverflame Ritual
and Inspiring Roar
are great ways to buff up our entire board and maximize our damage output. Rousing of Souls
is a strong token producer for the deck and allows us to see what our opponents have on top. This information can be quite valuable. Spectral Reserves
is another strong token producer for the deck, and against more aggressive or creature-based strategies, the life gain can be nice. Both of these token producers, as well as the cards in our deck, allow us to cast cards like Triplicate Spirits
very easily, and being able to get more and more creatures is always great.
Artifacts:
We mostly have mana rocks, with one of my favorites being Azorius Locket
, which gives us a strong source of mana and some supplemental card draw, which is always nice. All of the mana rocks we have pretty much served the same purpose of both mana-fixing, and We also have Greatsword of Tyr
, which is arguably the best equipment in the format and is great on any of our creatures. Wedding Invitation
is a great source of card draw for the deck and allows us to hit unblocked, which can be great if opponents are low on health.
Enchantments:
We have some very strong defensive enchantments like Fall from Favor
and Oblivion Ring
, which are great enchantments that allow us to lockdown our opponents and take away some of their best permanents on the board. Lawmage's Binding
is another strong defensive enchantment that is absolutely perfect for commanders or pretty much anything with a strong activated ability. Being able to lock this down for only three mana is quite strong. Supernatural Rescue
is a great card, and since we almost always have spirits, it always has flash and allows us to help a creature and get an opponent to block with a high-value creature. Vessel of Ephemera
is a great way to create more spirits, and our commander spending three to make two 2/2s is a great rate.
Land Base:
We have a pretty typical two-color landbase, and I think it gets the job done for the deck and is a strong and effective landbase. We have some cycling lands as well as The Surgical Bay
and The Fair Basilica
which are all great sources of draw. We arent the fastest landbase as most of our non-basics enter tapped, but since we are running a majority of basics, we can almost always have some slow first couple turns, and then it’s all smooth sailing from there. I think this landbase works very well for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Besides our commander, we are quite strong against decks that run a ton of single-target removal.
- We have quite a bit of supplemental card draw in the deck, which allows us to keep on casting, and because of the low overall cost of the deck, we can consistently refill our hand.
- We have quite a few ways to lock down our opponent’s creatures, and depending on the deck, their commander is a great start as well.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Generally weak to creature hate.
- Our commander is a huge part of our deck, and also the only card that is bad against single-target removal, and our commander is a huge removal magnet.
- We are quite weak to most-creature-based strategies because our cards are not great at blocking.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We are a combat deck through and through,we are greatly helped by our commander because they provide a buff and hexproof to almost every creature in our deck, while they don’t protect themselves we have a ton of cheap ways to protect them. We are also greatly helped because our creatures while small are naturally evasive and can easily hit in for a little bit of damage consistently.
Conclusion:
Drogskol Captain is back from the depths of Dark Ascension draft and coming to a Pauper EDH table near you, this deck is a ton of fun and also super flavorful, it allows us to pack an efficient and strong midrange deck with a ton of benefits against any deck that focuses on single-target removal. My playgroup and I have been having a ton of fun with this one, and it’s already getting added to our weekly for fun play rotation. If you have built Drogskol Captain, I’d love to check out your list! Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support.