WarmongerWarmonger | Illustrated by Heather Hudson

People really seemed to enjoy my last article about my friend's Color Hack deck. In that article I also mentioned his other "Monger" deck, and I got enough people asking for the deck list from that one passing mention that I figured I should just show off the silliness of his deck that was about two years in the making.

But What Actually Is a “Monger”?

While not an official term, "monger" is how my playgroup and I refer to any cards like WarmongerWarmonger. In short, any card that has an ability opponents can activate. Obviously you have the aforementioned Warmonger as well as SquallmongerSquallmonger, WishmongerWishmonger, SailmongerSailmonger and ScandalmongerScandalmonger. These are the true mongers that all others are based on.

But this is a very loose term and will include cards like Xantcha, Sleeper AgentXantcha, Sleeper Agent since it has an ability its controller's opponents can activate, or even Feral HydraFeral Hydra, Fan FavoriteFan Favorite o& CapricopianCapricopian would also count.

The deck plays a long control-style game plan, controlling the tempo of the game through powerful removal spells and giving opportunities for players to use their mana on your card's abilities instead of progressing their own boards. This allows the pilot of this deck to drag out the game until they have access to powerful Game Changers like Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse, giving them the resources to keep control of the board and people's hands with the mongers' abilities allowing them to drag out the game until they get one of the classic control finishers in the format.

The deck can also play a bit of a resource denial game, ripping cards from opponents' hands with ScandalmongerScandalmonger, fueling its own hand with Runic ArmasaurRunic Armasaur, and dealing chip damage with Flamescroll CelebrantFlamescroll Celebrant before closing the game out with a well placed Brash TaunterBrash Taunter + Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act, or attacking with a board created from Wizened MentorWizened Mentor.

The Non-Monger Mongers

While the official mongers are what the deck was initially based around (basically Fin had a promo WarmongerWarmonger with two set symbols and wanted to play it somewhere) there are way more cards that play like mongers but that are not from that initial cycle.

The newest is Oft-Nabbed GoatOft-Nabbed Goat (which isn't in the deck, but when else am I going to get to talk about it?). While not a monger, it has an ability any player can use and that fits our very loose definition.

This fits into the same category as Feral HydraFeral Hydra and the other creatures that players are able to sink mana into. The benefit of the Goat over the Hydras and Fan FavoriteFan Favorite is that people want to draw cards; turning mana into one or two extra damage on another player is fine but ultimately much less impactful. Once the Goat dies its owner draws cards and other players lose life, making this probably the best new monger as it offers both card advantage and, if you're able to recur it, a way to win the game.

Other than the Goat there are a bunch of other cards that work in a similar way. The deck runs a small enchantment package with a range of monger-esque abilities. Endbringer's RevelEndbringer's Revel allows players to pay mana to Raise DeadRaise Dead (on maybe a certain Goat mentioned earlier), while ExcavationExcavation and Land's EdgeLand's Edge give players a way to utilize any land they don't need by turning them into cards or free damage.

One of the most common quotes you'll hear in a game with this deck is "You can sacrifice your lands to draw cards, by the way," which of course no one does, until they flood out and suddenly getting to redraw becomes incredibly useful.

The deck also runs some cards that work well with the mongers. FlumphFlumph and Ludevic, Necro-AlchemistLudevic, Necro-Alchemist make activating SquallmongerSquallmonger and WarmongerWarmonger significantly more enticing, while having Belbe, Corrupted ObserverBelbe, Corrupted Observer in play makes activating a Warmonger feel like the best mana investment ever.

Why Kenrith? He’s Not a Monger!

We talked a lot about this deck's commander when Fin was building it. As an aggro player, I was partial to Karona, False GodKarona, False God. The idea of a five-color deck that plays all of the Slicer, Hired MuscleSlicer, Hired Muscle style cards and allows your opponents to spend their turns killing them with WarmongerWarmonger was pretty funny to me.

In the end Fin landed on Kenrith, the Returned KingKenrith, the Returned King. Firstly, Kenrith does so many different things that it allows the deck to lack in some areas while still being able to focus on the monger strategy.

The other thing that Kenrith allows is a real focus on politics and deal making. What Kenrith lets you do is say things like "If you activate my WarmongerWarmonger twice you can kill that Stoneforge MysticStoneforge Mystic and I'll let you draw a card with Kenrith." Of course political decks like this are hard to play, will change the dynamics of games, and will get varying mileage based on who you are playing with, but the idea of using Kenrith as a bargaining chip makes him a powerful commander to lead this deck.

So, How Does the Deck Actually Win?

The deck has a few routes to victory, most of which rely on a handful of the less egregious Game Changers.

As I mentioned above, the main plan going into a game with this deck is to focus on a long, political game. The win conditions have to match this, so Fin has chosen a handful of ways to win that rely on these longer games.

Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse + WarmongerWarmonger/SquallmongerSquallmonger

Seedborn Muse is the obvious powerhouse here. Allowing extra activations per turn cycle is super important as it turns the deck into a machine gun that can mow down players and creatures alike. Squallmonger is significantly better here since it doesn't hit itself, unlike the Warmonger which can only activate twice without dying.

You can also combine SailmongerSailmonger with Squallmonger to pick off key targets.

Coalition VictoryCoalition Victory or Approach of the Second SunApproach of the Second Sun

The classic control win conditions. Survive, draw them, win the game. Approach of the Second Sun is less good in this deck than some of the decks out there that draw a lot more cards, but with Ludevic and Runic Armasaur the deck does have quite a lot of draw power, even if it is a bit situational.

Coalition Victory, recently unbanned and amazing in pretty much every five-color deck, on the other hand is much better. However, unlike most decks that run it, this doesn't have any creatures that are all five colors. The dream here is to play all five of the original mongers and then land Coalition Victory - very unlikely, but a dream nonetheless.

This deck hasn't been updated in a while (which is why the Oft-Nabbed GoatOft-Nabbed Goat isn't in here) but I'd add the recently unbanned BiorhythmBiorhythm for the ability to use WarmongerWarmonger to clear the board to allow for Biorhythm to win the game. Alternatively you can lower the life total of everyone in play and use the mongers to clear up anyone low enough.

Brash TaunterBrash Taunter

Last but not least, Brash TaunterBrash Taunter. One of my all-time favorite cards and one that my playgroup seems to jam into every red deck. Alongside WarmongerWarmonger, this provides a lot of chip damage, and in a world where Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act is the eighth most popular card in the format, it can win games out of nowhere.

The "Monger" Commander Deck List

This is another deck that my friend brewed from scratch. Shockingly there isn't a lot of deck data on the mongers - wild, I know. He's well known in our playgroup for making wild off-the-wall decks, and plays, but this and Aragorn were the two that really stood out to me. Other than that he just has a Dong Zhou, the TyrantDong Zhou, the Tyrant deck, but "Play commander target big creature" is something even I can't write a whole article about.

Let me know what you thought. This deck is hilarious, but sadly I've only been able to play against it a couple of times as our playgroup has not met up in a while. But here's hoping I can get some more reps in with and against some cool decks soon!