Auntie Ool, CursewretchAuntie Ool, Cursewretch | Art by Daniel Zrom

Auntie Ool, CursewretchAuntie Ool, Cursewretch is simultaneously incredibly exciting and incredibly disappointing to me. I've been waiting for a -1/-1 commander for years, in colors where I can play both Hapatra, Vizier of PoisonsHapatra, Vizier of Poisons and The Scorpion GodThe Scorpion God, and now we've finally gotten that!

The main reason I'm so hyped about this commander is because it means I get to play the coolest cards I know all in one deck. I mean, I always could've played any ol' Jund commander, but this one's actually good. It draws a card for every -1/-1 counter we put on our own creatures? That's huge! I guess for an archetype where you're actually debuffing your own creatures, it oughta have a good payoff, but this might be too good, honestly.

But I'm also pretty disappointed about it, for a few reasons. The first is entirely selfish: Because Auntie Ool is the face card of a precon, this archetype is no longer hipster and I don't look as cool. Devastating, I know. The second reason is that there's no white in Auntie Ool's color identity. It's only a minor loss, but white has some really fun (and new) cards that fit great in a -1/-1 counter theme, like Grind // DustGrind // Dust, Reaping WillowReaping Willow, or Slumbering WalkerSlumbering Walker. It's only a few cards, but I do miss them greatly.

Finally, the last reason is that the precon decklist is just ok. It includes Kulrath KnightKulrath Knight and Liliana, Death WielderLiliana, Death Wielder, but not Contagion EngineContagion Engine? That's quite the miss. Luckily, we can actually do something about this. Let me show you what I think the ideal Auntie Ool, CursewretchAuntie Ool, Cursewretch deck looks like.

Counting Down

For starters, it has to be acknowledged that Auntie Ool incentivizes us to put counters on our own creatures way more than putting them on our opponents' creatures. Ninety percent of the time, I'd rather draw a card than have one opponent lose a life. Yes, putting a counter on an opponent's creature is beneficial while putting it on our own is detrimental, but the way we're building this deck, -1/-1 counters on our creatures are gonna be an upside.

Because of this, we're gonna focus almost exclusively on our own creatures. Plus, we dodge the incredible ire for toxic -1/-1 counter decks that Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive created a few years ago, which could genuinely get us targeted.

Now let's get into the specifics. Generally in these decks, there are the cards that add counters, and then there are the payoffs. Let's focus on getting those counters first.

Many creatures, like Channeler InitiateChanneler Initiate, Devoted DruidDevoted Druid, Witherscale WurmWitherscale Wurm, and Phyrexian HydraPhyrexian Hydra can add a ton of counters to themselves, at once or slowly.

Some others, like Grim PoppetGrim Poppet or the very underrated Serrated BiskelionSerrated Biskelion, spread -1/-1 counters around with ease. Then, we can proliferate the heck out of all that. Evolution SageEvolution Sage, Thirsting RootsThirsting Roots, Planewide CelebrationPlanewide Celebration, and of course, Contagion ClaspContagion Clasp/EngineEngine, will multiply our counters by a lot.

Then, if we've got even a few creatures on the board, Auntie Ool's will draw us that many cards. We've got a very potent engine here with just the basics.

But there are even more payoffs than Auntie Ool. Nest of ScarabsNest of Scarabs, Hapatra, Vizier of PoisonsHapatra, Vizier of Poisons, and Flourishing DefensesFlourishing Defenses have all shot up in price recently, entirely because of how good they are in this deck. Those two will produce a lot of tokens, and then we just have more bodies to put counters on.

The numbers would be exponential if it weren't for the fact that the counters immediately kill the tokens. But maybe we can do something about that...

Anyways, there's also Obelisk SpiderObelisk Spider, which drains our opponents, Wickersmith's ToolsWickersmith's Tools, which can quickly make an army, and Wickerbough ElderWickerbough Elder, a thematic means of dealing with artifacts and enchantments.

The Foil to the Plan

That's the main idea of the deck, just a bunch of enablers and payoffs. But I've got a secret weapon up my sleeve - one that might seem counterintuitive. I honestly think that the biggest boon to -1/-1 counter decks are actually +1/+1 counters. But why would that be? Aren't they basically opposites? Yes, and that's exactly why they're helpful.

See, when a creature has both a -1/-1 counter and a +1/+1 counter on it, they counteract and vanish, leaving the creature with neither. I imagine that Wizards of the Coast implemented this rule to simplify the game a bit, but this mechanic can be abused pretty easily by any creature that checks if it has a -1/-1 counter on it.

Consider the interaction between Grumgully, the GenerousGrumgully, the Generous and Murderous RedcapMurderous Redcap. When Murderous RedcapMurderous Redcap dies, it returns to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter, which would prevent it from coming back a second time. But if it enters with a +1/+1 counter from Grumgully, they'll cancel out, and Murderous RedcapMurderous Redcap can die again. And again. And again.

Now you've got an infinite blocker! Or with a sacrifice outlet, you can immediately win the game.

But +1/+1 counters are useful for things other than infinite combos. Devoted DruidDevoted Druid and Cinderhaze WretchCinderhaze Wretch, for instance, can greatly benefit from untapping once, or many extra times. Phyrexian HydraPhyrexian Hydra's whole gimmick is that it doesn't heal at the end of the turn. But we can "heal" it with some counters.

And if we're looking to win the game, proliferating +1/+1 counters is a whole lot better than proliferating their foil.

To take advantage of this mechanic, we're gonna include a ton of cards that cause our creatures to enter with a +1/+1 counter. Grumgully, the GenerousGrumgully, the Generous, Rhythm of the WildRhythm of the Wild, Tribute to the World TreeTribute to the World Tree, Master ChefMaster Chef, and a few others all do the same trick. We don't always want this effect, and we'll have to be careful with it, because it does suck if we can never use our Wickerbough ElderWickerbough Elder, but the majority of the time they can give our deck a crazy boost.

Not to mention the fact that they make Heartless SummoningHeartless Summoning really good.

And while the idea of cancelling out our -1/-1 counters does seem strange, it doesn't really affect our payoffs at all. Auntie Ool, CursewretchAuntie Ool, Cursewretch, Hapatra, Vizier of PoisonsHapatra, Vizier of Poisons, Flourishing DefensesFlourishing Defenses, and the others don't care that the -1/-1 counter goes away immediately, they'll just see that it was put on the creature, and trigger. Then, those tokens will enter with their own +1/+1 counters, and won't die immediately when we put -1/-1 counters on them.

Like I mentioned before, we can get exponential if we do that!

Auntie Ool, Cursewretch Commander Deck List

If you can't tell, I'm really really happy about this deck. It was something I'd put aside, assuming that the right commander was simply never going to be printed, but to my surprise, Wizards created (almost) exactly what I wanted.

As a bonus, I'll probably make a version of this deck that includes white, just to see what I'm missing out on. But as it is, I'm extremely satisfied with all the cool cards and neat interactions I get to mess with here. 2026 just started, but I think I already know what my favorite deck of the year is gonna be.