Table of Contents
Do you know why [[Corpsejack Menace]] is so popular in Golgari? Because he’s a real fungi. And yes, he might just be shambling in later.
Witherbloom Pestilence is the Golgari deck from the Strixhaven: School of Mages Commander decks. As the name suggests, Witherbloom is the Golgari college of Strixhaven, focusing on nature magic and using both sides of the spectrum: either empowering nature or exploiting it. Their motto is “Get your hands dirty.”
This blog is going to give you some budget upgrades for the deck, aiming to power it up without exploiting your wallet. I’ve set myself a limit of £10 per card, or at least that’s the case at the time of writing.
Some of these upgrades can get hot and rise quickly as more players start looking for copies. So, if you like what you see, I’d suggest moving fast and picking them up.
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The Commanders
Golgari gets a new deck with Witherbloom Pestilence, and this one gives us [[Dina, Essence Brewer]].
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/1/dina-essence-brewer
Dina is an Aristocrats commander, an archetype that dates back to 2012 with [[Cartel Aristocrat]]. The idea is to sacrifice creatures for value. You usually pair this with lots of tokens, or creatures that leave bodies behind, allowing you to keep sacrificing more creatures.
Witherbloom Pestilence is a bit different, though. [[Dina, Essence Brewer]] only gives you benefits for the first creature dying each turn. She also wants you to have big creatures so you can pass their power around.
One idea that doesn’t quite have enough support is using the Modular mechanic. There are only 14 viable creatures with Modular, and most of them just aren’t very good, so it doesn’t really come together. Still, doubling the power as the Modular counters move, and then having Dina add additional counters, is a cute idea.
The alternative commander is [[Gorma, the Gullet]].
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/3/gorma-the-gullet
All of the alternative commanders in these decks are like pets or mascots, so with Witherbloom, it’s only fitting that Gorma is a pest too. While it’s great in the 99 of Witherbloom Pestilence, I wouldn’t want to run it as the commander without making some more serious changes. I just don’t think there are enough reliable ways to sacrifice creatures without [[Dina, Essence Brewer]] in the command zone.
If you want to jump straight into a high-power bracket, or even bracket 4, there are 10 creatures with Persist. Gorma, a Persist creature, a free reusable sacrifice outlet, and a payoff is infinite. The Persist creature will keep coming back, and the -1/-1 counter gets removed because Gorma puts +1/+1 counters on it. That lets you Persist again and create the loop.
With that, let’s get into the upgrades.
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Budget Upgrades
Upgrade 1
IN: Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler
https://scryfall.com/card/one/218/tyvar-jubilant-brawler
My first upgrade is a type of card I don’t usually get to include: a planeswalker. [[Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler]] fits really well here.
I mostly want Tyvar for the static ability and the +1. Giving [[Dina, Essence Brewer]] haste for her tap ability means you get immediate value from her. Then Tyvar’s +1 lets you untap Dina and do it all over again.
Even the last ability has utility. In my build, the deck has 16 creatures you can bring back, so it’s not unreasonable to hit one. Or you can just bring back one of your key creatures after it’s been killed. Getting a second go with [[Zulaport Cutthroat]] is always nice.
OUT: Cultivate
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/265/cultivate
Unfortunately, or fortunately, Wizards has gone back down to 37 lands, so I can’t do my usual trick of cutting a few basics. That means we have to look elsewhere, and [[Cultivate]] is my first cut.
While this is a perfectly fine bracket 2 card, I’m looking to push the deck a bit higher. The deck also has a reasonably low curve, with not much sitting above five mana. Cultivate also has the problem of costing three mana, so you’re often stuck choosing between casting Cultivate or casting your commander.
It’s also starting to get outclassed now, with plenty of two-mana options available, or four-mana options that put both lands straight onto the battlefield. [[Cultivate]] is one of the first ramp cards I’m looking to cut these days.
Upgrade 2
IN: Jenova, Ancient Calamity
https://scryfall.com/card/fin/228/jenova-ancient-calamity
Let’s go back a few sets for my next upgrade: [[Jenova, Ancient Calamity]]. This pairs really well with [[Dina, Essence Brewer]].
Dina’s activated ability puts counters onto another creature, which lets you power up Jenova. Jenova then powers up another creature, ready to be sacrificed to Dina, completing the circle.
OUT: Pest Rescuer
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/42/pest-rescuer
[[Pest Rescuer]] is a cute callback. It references [[Ophiomancer]], as both make a 1/1 if you don’t control a Pest or a Snake respectively. That’s where the similarities end, though.
Pest Rescuer lets you gain an additional life whenever you gain life, which works nicely with the Pests, but it doesn’t really help the main game plan. [[Ophiomancer]], on the other hand, creates deathtouch Snakes, which gives you a serious speed bump against anyone trying to attack you. It’s also far more likely that you won’t control a Snake than it is that you won’t control a Pest.
This is still a super fun card in [[Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second]], though. You would never get the Pest, so every turn you’d get a Cat or Dog token instead.
Upgrade 3
IN: Corpsejack Menace
https://scryfall.com/card/cm2/152/corpsejack-menace
I did say [[Corpsejack Menace]] would make an appearance in my list, and here it is.
This is one of the cheaper counter doublers. It’s a little harder to use because it’s in Golgari, but it fits here perfectly. [[Hardened Scales]] is nice, but it would only add one more counter, whereas [[Corpsejack Menace]] doubles them instead.
It’s similar to [[Doubling Season]], but it actually fits into my budget, and it’s a creature too. That means we can power it up and, if needed, sacrifice it as well.
OUT: Wight of the Reliquary
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/338/wight-of-the-reliquary
[[Wight of the Reliquary]] is a card I’d look to add back in once the deck gets more powered up. Right now, there just aren’t enough lands worth finding with it.
It is sweet that you can trade a token in for a land and use it as ramp, but the problem is what you’re actually ramping into. When the deck gets stronger and starts running better lands, that changes. Even something like [[Phyrexian Tower]] would be a useful pickup.
I want [[Wight of the Reliquary]] to be finding some really stupid lands before it feels truly worth it.
Upgrade 4/5
IN: Daemogoth Titan + Daemogoth Woe-Eater
Let’s go back to the original Strixhaven for my next two upgrades: [[Daemogoth Titan]] and [[Daemogoth Woe-Eater]].
https://scryfall.com/card/stx/174/daemogoth-titan
These are essentially just large bodies for us to sacrifice to [[Dina, Essence Brewer]]. I did consider [[Yargle and Multani]], but the mana cost is what put me off. If Dina had 3 power instead of 2, it would have been much more tempting, as you could sacrifice Yargle and suddenly have a 21-power commander ready to one-shot a player.
[[Daemogoth Titan]] has one of the best power-to-mana ratios around, being an 11/10 for only four mana. It does come with the downside of needing a sacrifice to attack or block, but with Dina we can just move all of those stats onto a different creature instead.
https://scryfall.com/card/stx/175/daemogoth-woe-eater
[[Daemogoth Woe-Eater]] is smaller, only being a 7/6 for four mana, but it actually gives you something back when it dies: “each opponent discards a card, you draw a card, and you gain 2 life.” So we replace itself, take a card from our opponents, and gain a little life along the way.
For both of these, you also have the backup option of putting the counters onto [[Dina, Essence Brewer]]. That gives you another route to lethal commander damage over a couple of turns.
They also pair nicely with the new Daemogoth already in the deck, [[Defiling Daemogoth]]. If you are gaining that much life, you are going to chunk everyone else down as well. That is another way to build the deck: play as many overstatted creatures as possible for the mana cost, then back them up with cards that make opponents lose life whenever you gain life.
The idea is to take huge chunks out of everyone’s life totals in massive increments. Unfortunately, a lot of those cards only drain for 1 rather than for the full amount of life you gain. Even so, I still think there are enough of them to make a viable deck. It just takes too many changes for me to use that version in this guide.
OUT: Mycoloth + Smothering Abomination
[[Mycoloth]] is a good card if you are going down the token route. It even works with [[Dina, Essence Brewer]], as you can stack the counters onto it. My issue is that it is slow. You only get the value at the beginning of your upkeep, which gives your opponents a full turn cycle to answer it before you get anything back. That is why I prefer the Daemogoths here.
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/276/mycoloth
One neat trick, though, is to use Dina just before your turn, as her ability isn’t limited to sorcery speed.
My other cut is [[Smothering Abomination]]. I’m looking at Witherbloom Pestilence as more of a big sacrifice deck, rather than a token sacrifice deck.
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/226/smothering-abomination
It is nice to get the extra draw whenever you sacrifice a creature, but my problem is the forced sacrifice. Unless you have truly disposable bodies, you end up feeding it creatures you would rather keep around.
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Upgrade 6/7
IN: Rise of the Witch-king + Victimize
https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/221/rise-of-the-witch-king
https://scryfall.com/card/tdc/198/victimize
So, we are sacrificing creatures, but what about bringing them back? That is where [[Rise of the Witch-king]] and [[Victimize]] come in.
[[Victimize]] lets you swap one creature on the battlefield for two in your graveyard. It doesn’t even need to be a real creature, either. It can just be one of the tokens this deck loves to make.
[[Rise of the Witch-king]] is similar, as you can also sacrifice a token. This one is more controlling, though, as it makes everyone sacrifice a creature. Rise also lets us bring back any permanent, not just a creature, which gives it a bit more flexibility.
Both of these also trigger [[Dina, Essence Brewer]]’s first ability, letting us draw a card as well. It’s just a little extra value on top.
OUT: Feral Appetite + Teacher's Pest
[[Feral Appetite]] is another Pest payoff, which is what I’m moving away from. If it gave the Pest deathtouch by default, I would keep it, especially as it can make the token at instant speed.
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/38/feral-appetite
The problem is that you only get the buff and keyword on attacking Pests. So, you need a reasonably sized army before [[Feral Appetite]] really has an impact, especially for a three-mana enchantment that does nothing on its own.
[[Teacher's Pest]] is a new take on the [[Reassembling Skeleton]] style of card, but again, it doesn’t do much on its own.
https://scryfall.com/card/sos/238/teachers-pest
Menace is nice if you want to stack the counters onto it, but as a base 1/1, you need a lot to make it worth it. That just isn’t where I’m taking the deck. I want cards that have more impact up front rather than ones that slowly grind out value over several turns.
With the way Magic is progressing, speed is becoming more important.
Upgrade 8
IN: Host of the Hereafter
https://scryfall.com/card/tdm/193/host-of-the-hereafter
[[Host of the Hereafter]] wasn’t a card I knew about before looking for upgrades for this deck, but it is definitely one I’m going to keep in mind for my other decks as well.
It does a slightly worse impression of [[The Ozolith]], but it’s still good, especially at this price point. Being able to preserve the counters and pass them onto the next creature means you can keep sacrificing ever larger threats, which is exactly what this deck wants to do.
OUT: Springbloom Druid
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/287/springbloom-druid
Similar to [[Cultivate]], [[Springbloom Druid]] feels a bit outdated now. It does have the benefit of being a creature, but it’s only a 1/1, so we aren’t really getting any value from [[Dina, Essence Brewer]] that we couldn’t get from almost any other creature.
You do come out a land ahead, but it is still a three-mana card, and we aren’t in a landfall deck that gets extra value from lands entering the battlefield either.
Upgrade 9/10
IN: Meren of Clan Nel Toth + Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist
https://scryfall.com/card/tdc/297/meren-of-clan-nel-toth
https://scryfall.com/card/eoe/127/xu-ifit-osteoharmonist
My last two upgrades are similar to my sixth and seventh. They are both reanimation pieces, but as we are more of a creature deck, why not use creatures for the job? That gives us [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]] and [[Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist]].
[[Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist]] is the weaker of the two in the current build, as it is really only good at bringing back sacrifice targets like the two Daemogoths I added earlier. It is more of a card I wanted to highlight as an option, though, as there are only so many repeatable reanimation effects to choose from. The new [[Grave Researcher]] also looks like a good fit, but I tend to stay away from very new cards in these guides, as prices can get a bit wild on release.
My last upgrade is [[Meren of Clan Nel Toth]], a card most people are used to seeing in the command zone of a graveyard deck. Here, we are putting her in the 99 instead. Meren is usually a commander because experience counters are tied to the player, not the creature, and until recently there was basically no way to interact with or remove them.
Even so, Meren will still build up experience counters over the course of a game. And even without many counters, she can still bring creatures back. They might return to your hand rather than straight to the battlefield at first, but that still gives you value. At worst, she becomes a repeatable [[Eternal Witness]] for creatures, which is still pretty good.
OUT: Yahenni, Undying Partisan + Viscera Seer
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/232/yahenni-undying-partisan
https://scryfall.com/card/soc/229/viscera-seer
My final two cuts are [[Yahenni, Undying Partisan]] and [[Viscera Seer]]. While this is an Aristocrats deck, I am looking to make it more reliant on [[Dina, Essence Brewer]], aiming to build up big stacks of counters rather than lean fully into mass sacrifice.
These are both good sacrifice outlets if that is the route you want to take. They are free and repeatable, which is obviously powerful, but they do not really give you value by themselves. You need another payoff in play to make them worth it.
There are some of those payoffs in the deck, like [[Zulaport Cutthroat]], but I am less interested in the classic mass-sacrifice Aristocrats plan here. I would rather focus on the one big sacrifice each turn approach instead.
[[Yahenni, Undying Partisan]] is the weaker outlet for me, as it only gives Yahenni indestructible. [[Viscera Seer]] at least lets you scry and dig towards a better card. Even so, I am cutting both because they do not really fit where I want to take the deck.
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Non-budget Upgrades
These cards were outside the budget for this article, but they fit the deck extremely well and are worth considering if you’re happy to spend a little more:
https://scryfall.com/card/dst/140/skullclamp
https://scryfall.com/card/tmt/177/the-ooze
https://scryfall.com/card/lci/212/the-skullspore-nexus
https://scryfall.com/card/eoe/210/terrasymbiosis
https://scryfall.com/card/otj/207/honest-rutstein
https://scryfall.com/card/mor/145/thornbite-staff
https://scryfall.com/card/rix/81/pitiless-plunderer
https://scryfall.com/card/m21/127/vito-thorn-of-the-dusk-rose
https://scryfall.com/card/blc/220/ghalta-primal-hunger
https://scryfall.com/card/c17/124/sanguine-bond
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Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, there aren’t many good ways to keep untapping [[Dina, Essence Brewer]] when a creature dies. The best one is out of my budget, but you’ll find it below if you check out my non-budget upgrade options.
As I mentioned earlier, another way to build Witherbloom Pestilence is around big chunk damage. Cards like [[Enduring Tenacity]], backed up by large creatures to sacrifice to Dina, let you buffer your life total, take a few hits, and then finish your opponents off in big swings.
Overall, Witherbloom Pestilence is a reasonable deck, although it suffers from the usual identity crisis. I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing, though. It depends on how you look at precons. They do function as decks out of the box, but unlike the old Challenger decks, I think these are designed to be upgraded. So having a few different directions built into the base list is actually useful.
At that point, it’s up to the player to decide how they want to take it. You can go big and beefy, like I said earlier, or swap to [[Gorma, the Gullet]] and lean more into the token-sacrifice plan.
To be fair to Wizards, it is hard to make an Aristocrats deck without it becoming super oppressive once you start adding cards like [[Grave Pact]]. Being in Golgari also gives the deck a nice spin on the strategy. You just need to add more repeatable sacrifice outlets if you want that to be your main plan.
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PS: All of the card prices were under budget at the time of writing, but the live price may have changed since then.
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