Spinerock TyrantSpinerock Tyrant | Art by Cory Godbey

Hey, everyone! I'm continuing my series on mechanics that first appeared in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block. Last time, I covered the most played cards with changeling, a very popular mechanic with a ton of applications in Commander. Today, we're getting a little obscure with wither, a combat-focused mechanic that makes creatures deal damage in the form of -1/-1 counters. Join me as I ascend what I'd like to call Withering Heights until we get to the most played card in the format with this mechanic!

10. Juvenile GloomwidowJuvenile Gloomwidow - 3,914 decks

Sure, this double-pipped two-drop is only in about 4,000 decks, but when it does earn a slot in the 99 it works hard in Spider kindred decks led by Shelob, Child of UngoliantShelob, Child of Ungoliant and Ishkanah, GrafwidowIshkanah, Grafwidow. Wither is also one of the few -1/-1-counter-focused mechanics, so these creatures are worth considering in a deck like Hapatra, Vizier of PoisonsHapatra, Vizier of Poisons. If you want to do something off the beaten path, you can build a reach matters deck with Tadeas, Juniper AscendantTadeas, Juniper Ascendant (or Dhalsim) at the helm and run the Gloomwidow.

9. Lockjaw SnapperLockjaw Snapper - 4,116 decks

As we learned last week, Scarecrow creatures are very important to the Reaper KingReaper King, hence this clunky four-drop seeing play there as a way to destroy a permanent. Like Hapatra, The Scorpion GodThe Scorpion God and Nest of ScarabsNest of Scarabs do cool things with -1/-1 counters, and if you manage to finish the job with a bunch of creatures that already have debuffs with Snapper, then you've gone and assembled yourself a wombo-combo!

8. Stigma LasherStigma Lasher - 5,989 decks

It's Screaming NemesisScreaming Nemesis' older sibling! Preventing opponents from gaining life for the rest of the game can simply shut down certain strategies in the format, so Stigma LasherStigma Lasher is an interesting "hate bear" option in aggressive and/or burn-heavy mono-red decks like Zo-Zu the PunisherZo-Zu the Punisher, Subira, Tulzidi CaravannerSubira, Tulzidi Caravanner, and Ashling the PilgrimAshling the Pilgrim.

The Scorpion God also wants this because it gets you to critical mass of -1/-1 effects, which in turn makes the God a genuine card advantage engine. And remember, there exists an actual Bear commander in Duskana, the Rage MotherDuskana, the Rage Mother, which draws a card off Lasher and makes it more effective in combat and thus more likely to connect and turn life gain off!

7. Corrosive MentorCorrosive Mentor - 10,857 decks

We've all seen Whiplash, right? This mentor also improves the rest of your crew, but this time at the cost of running a dorky three-mana 1/3. How do we mitigate this? Well, you have to really want to get -1/-1 counters on your opponents' stuff. As we've seen, both The Scorpion God and Hapatra do. Wither is also pretty useful as a way to make 1/1 tokens actually matter in combat, so you can also run this in Xira, the Golden StingXira, the Golden Sting or Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive.

6. Village PillagersVillage Pillagers - 11,708 decks

The newest card on the list, Pillagers both calls back to wither's presence in the original Lorwyn set while also giving us a pretty potent spin on it. It reads like Goblin ChainwhirlerGoblin Chainwhirler and Soul-Scar MageSoul-Scar Mage had a baby while also netting you value wither without you killing a bunch of stuff with the ping trigger. Aside from starting the Scorpion God snowball, the 5/5 also benefits from copying effects like that offered by The Jolly Balloon ManThe Jolly Balloon Man. Getting two damage off and getting two Treasures per creature dying sounds like a great deal. Reanimating it with cards like Persist can also get the job done.

Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander also has Eventide's ShadowEventide's Shadow in it, which is a very cool alternate angle of attack when Pillagers doesn't manage to kill a bunch of stuff. Just turn the counters into cards!

5. Kulrath KnightKulrath Knight - 15,863 decks

Dealing damage in the form of -1/-1 counters just isn't that groundbreaking of an ability in Commander, unless you're ratcheting up certain synergies. Thanks to cards from the original visit to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor and trips to Amonkhet, another plane that mechanically plays around with -1/-1 counters rather than the more common +1/+1 buff, doing this is easy enough. Crumbling AshesCrumbling Ashes, Blowfly InfestationBlowfly Infestation, and Carnifex DemonCarnifex Demon are just three examples of payoffs and enablers for this archetype.

Enter Kulrath KnightKulrath Knight, who kicks off the upper half of this list with an ability that actually does something with wither without leaving its textbox. Of course, this simply cares about counters, period, so there are actually a lot of different ways for it to be handing out PacifismPacifisms like candy. Xira and Mathas, Fiend SeekerMathas, Fiend Seeker both put counters on creatures, so Scorpion God isn't lonely in that club.

4. Everlasting TormentEverlasting Torment - 16,477 decks

Super Soul-Scar Mage stapled to Screaming Nemesis dropped in the latest Commander set, and for just three mana and on a difficult-t0-remove card type! Everlasting Torment makes it trivial to put -1/-1 counters on things, enabling Scorpion God in such a comprehensive manner that it's basically been an auto-include in decks to the tune of 84%. The Commander set also gave us two legends that care about this counter in Jund colors (), so Scorpion God and Hapatra have company and you can run them in the same deck, complete with all the synergies they combine for.

The archetype doesn't seem to have gotten this huge a boost since Amonkhet, so those sinister negative counter enthusiasts are no doubt overjoyed by Dread TillerDread Tiller, Aberrant ReturnAberrant Return, Pillagers, and more.

3. Midnight BansheeMidnight Banshee - 23,832 decks

Before Carnifex Demon, Black Sun's ZenithBlack Sun's Zenith, and Archfiend of IfnirArchfiend of Ifnir, you could put counters on everything with Banshee and Soul SnuffersSoul Snuffers. Snuffers doesn't spare your own stuff and Banshee needs some work to be a micro-Plague WindPlague Wind, but that's okay because Scorpion God and Hapatra care more about volume than precision.

The more negative counters, the better, so Banshee is great, whether or not you have a bunch of black creatures on your side. The new legends are the same: Auntie Ool triggers for every creature that gets a counter. While it's pretty slow going to wait for your upkeep to get more triggers, it can be worth the wait. Likewise, The Reaper, King No More just wants stuff to die so he can pick the best thing to add to your side of the board. The biggest argument against Banshee is how long it takes to really sling some counters around, but these decks often care more about a critical mass of enablers than efficiency.

2. NecroskitterNecroskitter - 36,884 decks

This payoff really wants the -1/-1 counters to finish the job, so you can do what The Reaper does at a larger scale. I already mentioned Black Sun's Zenith, but Darkness DescendsDarkness Descends also gets the job done in a pinch. NecroskitterNecroskitter is also a great payoff for wither specifically, because the potent ability truly incentivizes you to brawl with a bunch of your dorky creatures so they you get the counter party started. High Perfect MorcantHigh Perfect Morcant also welcomes this non-Elf as a way to make the decision of which creature to blight onto harder: do you want to feed something to it as soon as possible or wait, but potentially at the cost of letting go of a bigger creature once proliferate or the Elfball does its thing?

1. Massacre Girl, Known KillerMassacre Girl, Known Killer - 68,889 decks, 6,725 as commander

She's the second most played -1/-1 theme commander next to Hapatra, which is pretty impressive given that Massacre Girl is mono-black. Of course, she's also a pretty easy inclusion in the other archetype heroes, while also being a great option in Assassin decks, like Ezio Auditore da FirenzeEzio Auditore da Firenze and Altaïr Ibn-La'AhadAltaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

She's the perfect example of a card that is an enabler and a payoff in one: she's a better Corrosive Mentor as a 4/4 with menace and she turns into a card advantage engine when creatures die from wither, sweepers like Darkness Descends, blight from Lorwyn Eclipsed, Toxrill, the Corrosive, and all the payoffs like Nest of Scarabs that she's backwards-compatible with. Fantastic creature.

We're Going to Need a Bigger GateWe're Going to Need a Bigger Gate

Wither or not this mechanic sees a lot of play in this format, -1/-1 counters is a thriving archetype that also got a shot in the arm from Lorwyn Eclipsed. Do you have a favorite wither card that didn't make the list? Maybe you've got a pet card that puts negative counters on stuff that's still in theme with this list. Let us know!