Witherbloom, the Balancer was revealed at PAX East on Thursday, and the obvious combo has already caused a big spike in Sprout Swarm.
Maybe you can find some in binders or leftover stores, but this has always been a card that didn’t need much help to be infinite.
Witherbloom as a Commander opens up some interesting avenues, and might unlock a lot of value. I love when a Commander does something new like this, so let’s go over some potential includes in a Witherbloom deck, for you to get as personal copies or maybe a stack as a spec.
Some of these were discussed in the ProTrader Discord, so thank you to the hive mind, and let me remind you, if you’re not on there already, you’re missing out on some big value-adds.
Let’s talk about the things the deck wants!
Mana Dorks – Lets you get Witherbloom out sooner and gives you creatures to have affinity with! This is where the deck should start, and while there’s no shortage of amazing ways to accelerate into the seven-drop, we prefer creature-based strategies in this particular deck.
Enduring Vitality – I’d go with the baby deer in the Showcase, without going all the way to the fracture foil.
Citanul Hierophants – A card that has been around a long time, turning everything into a mana dork has come a long way.
Jaheira, Friend of the Forest – I’m a huge fan of this card, and fully expect her to get a very good Secret Lair version sometime soon. If you’re going to make tokens (see below) then why not power them up?
Fanatic of Rhonas – Two mana to make four is a great deal! More of us should be playing this card. Don’t forget that if you Eternalize it, it taps for four.
Llanowar Tribe – The creature version of Basalt Monolith, minus the inherent tapping and the potential combos.
X Spells – You want to make good use of mana reduction, and X spells are high on that list. Anything that makes X tokens is going to be good, but let’s go over some big-time spells that will make the table sit up and be super jealous.
Awaken the Woods – this might be the most versatile spell in your deck, being good at ramping you and being good when you’re ramped and ready. Only special version so far is the FEA.
Dregs of Sorrow – A pet card of mine, it’s pretty amazing what a little reduction in cost can do for this card, making it a board wipe and a hand refill at the same time. I don’t promise it’s good all the time, but you get this off once and you’ll never take it out of the deck.
Exsanguinate – The classic, the undefeated, the starting point for ‘How am I going to win this game?’ and there’s even a sweet foil in the $6 range that I ought to go buy a few copies of.
Finale of Devastation & Finale of Sorrow – Yes, these work the way you want them to. Choose X=10 (or more, party on) and then apply your cost reductions, followed by you paying the leftover mana and your opponents groaning in disbelief at your amazingness. Devastation got a reprint in Commander Masters but that was 2023!
Gelatinous Genesis – A favorite of mine in my Zaxara deck, I love making lots of big tokens all at once. Big reductions in cost mean many many big creatures.
Torment of Hailfire – Another classic of the genre, we’ve even got a couple of pretty choices for the card, depending on how you feel about Comic Sans as a font.
Valgavoth’s Onslaught – In case you forgot how good this is after dying to it a bunch in Duskmourn limited games, this is really good at just about anything over X = 3.
Pest Infestation – You are never short of targets at the average Commander game, and this is going to give you more token creatures for the spell after this!
Big Swingy Spells – You’ve got a handful of creatures, your Commander in play, now it’s time for some big silly spells that cost you a whole lot less.
Death Mutation – The best Commander for this card that there ever was. I adore the idea of casting this for 3-4 mana, getting a stack more creatures, then firing off a big X spell.
Crush of Wurms – Yes, the cost reductions will get the flashback too. What’s not to love?
Army of the Damned – Similar to Crush, where the first one makes the second happen almost immediately if you needed it to. Everyone loves 26 Zombies!
In Garruk’s Wake – With enough mana, you can be pretty one-sided. Time to take advantage.
Plague Wind – Amazingly, this pair doesn’t see much play, but when you cast it for a lot less than nine mana, you’ll create a warm fuzzy feeling for yourself that no one else at the table will share.
Overwhelming Forces – Pretty rough that you have to pick an opponent for this, but then you draw a few cards. Or a lot, depending.
Rise of the Dark Realms – Another card I can never play often enough, with the right opponents, this might just end the game, especially if someone got a Terror of the Peaks killed at some point.
Worst Fears – I can see why this needs to be exiled after casting, but still, this leads to some wonderfully broken interactions. Use with glee!
