The Witherbloom Pestilence Commander deck contains the following:

• 1 Ready-to-play 100-card Commander deck
• 1 Traditional foil face commander with borderless art
• 1 Traditional foil featured commander with borderless art
• 98 Non-foil cards, including 10 new-to-Magic cards
• 10 Double-sided tokens
• 1 Reference card
• 1 Deck box

Dina, Essence BrewerDina, Essence Brewer

Dina's back, and she's still steepin'.

This time around, her herbal concoctions take the form of hitting the four biggest pillars of a green/black legend: sacrificing creatures, drawing cards, gaining life, and adding +1/+1 counters to things. Yes, Dina does all four.

Dina's one of those commanders that one might refer to as a one-card engine, with two abilities that feed into each other.

First, whenever Dina sees you sacrifice a creature, you draw a card. It can only happen once per turn, sure, but it doesn't say it can only happen on your turn. So in a perfect world, Dina can draw you four cards per turn cycle.

But how might you sacrifice these creatures? Dina's got that covered too, at least once. For , Dina sacrifices another creature and you gain X life and put X +1/+1 counters onto a target creature you control. As long as you've got the creatures to feed into Dina's ability, you won't need much else. Dina even allows you to put those counters onto Dina herself, should you need to.

For only three mana, Dina is an exceptionally powerful value engine, and will likely be the de jour black/green legend of choice for the foreseeable future.

Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet

Alongside Dina comes Gorma, the Gullet, a 1/1 Pest Frog with lifelink for three mana.

Gorma also likes seeing creatures die, and whenever another creature you control kicks the bucket, Gorma gets a +1/+1 counter. Note that it doesn't say "nontoken." That condition precedes the other ability.

Gorma also says that nontoken creatures you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter for each creature that died under your control this turn. That might seem underwhelming, but it can add up quick, especially if you're sacrificing things left, right, and center as Witherbloom Pestilence is wont to do.

Gorma will take a lot more effort to build around than Dina, and that's a good thing. But in the context of this preconstructed deck, Gorma's clearly a role player in the 99 when Dina's around.

Defiling DaemogothDefiling Daemogoth

We're starting off the 10 new cards in Witherbloom Pestilence with a bang, and that bang comes in the form of Defiling Daemogoth, a 5/4 Demon with menace for five mana.

This Demon wants you to gain life, and provides a bit of help in that regard by allowing you to gain one life whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player. That likely won't add up to a ton of life each combat step, but Witherbloom Pestilence also doesn't need much help in gaining life.

The real power of Defiling Daemogoth is the second ability. At the beginning of your end step, each opponent loses life equal to the amount you gained on your turn. It's kind of a repeatable Midnight SnackMidnight Snack, and it'll add up quickly. The only thing holding it back is that the life gain has to happen on your turn to trigger - a minor quibble.

Eccentric PestfinderEccentric Pestfinder

The first prepared creature of Witherbloom Pestilence is really into bugs, and that comes through in its prepared spell, Turn Stones. Eccentric Pestfinder is a trampling 5/5 Troll Druid for four mana, which by itself doesn't move the needle in 2026.

But when you staple Turn Stones onto it, things change. Turn Stones, a two-mana sorcery, provides you with a 1/1 Pest token for each opponent. These Pests are black and green and when they die, you gain 1 life. To prepare Eccentric Pestfinder, you simply must gain life. That's it. If you did that during your turn, then Eccentric Pathfinder becomes prepared at the end of it.

So that's three 1/1 token creatures each turn. For just one black mana and one green mana. Tokens that, when they die, gain you life.

Merchant of VenomMerchant of Venom

Everyone loves a good Cat Warlock, even one that's a 1/1 for four mana, albeit with menace.

Merchant of Venom shares a font with a well-loved variety of creature also occupied by things like Fleshbag MarauderFleshbag Marauder, PlaguecrafterPlaguecrafter, Slum ReaperSlum Reaper and more. They're always iterating on that idea, and Merchant of Venom might be the best one yet (not named SheoldredSheoldred).

Assuming you're not casting this when you have no other creatures, it's not really a 1/1, it's a 5/5, which makes the stat line much more palatable. And whenever a player sacrifices anything, Merchant of Venom gets bigger. Any player. Sacrificing any permanent. Fetchland? Eldrazi Scions? Expedition Map? Doesn't matter.

If you've played a deck with Mazirek, Kraul Death PriestMazirek, Kraul Death Priest (also in this precon), you know exactly how good this can be.

Any deck playing black will want to look at Merchant of Venom.

Pest RescuerPest Rescuer

What if instead of sacrificing Pest tokens, you just wore them as a hat? This is the question asked by Pest Rescuer.

Taking a cue from classic Commander creature OphiomancerOphiomancer (which is also in this deck with new art), Pest Rescuer says that at the beginning of each upkeep, if you don't have a Pest creature token, create one. Notice that it specifically says "Pest creature token," so if you have Gorma in play, it'll still trigger.

As if that weren't good enough, Pest Rescuer also adds an additional one life to any that you gain.

There's a reason why Ophiomancer, which has been around since 2013, has been so long-lived, and that's because it's really, really good. Are Pests better than deathtouch Snakes, though? Who cares.

Ribtruss RoasterRibtruss Roaster

While Pest Rescuer saves Pests, Ribtruss Roaster eats them. And then makes more. The logistics aren't important.

A 3/3 Troll Druid, Ribtruss Roaster has devour 1, which means that as it enters, you can sacrifice as many creatures as you want. For each one, Ribtruss Roaster gets a +1/+1 counter.

You want to be stockpiling +1/+1 counters onto Ribtruss Roaster, because at the beginning of your end step, you get a Pest refund. For each +1/+1 counter on the Roaster, you create a new Pest token. At the end of every one of your turns.

The thing about Witherbloom Pestilence, though, is that there are plenty of ways to add +1/+1 counters to your creatures. Dina does it pretty well herself. So Ribtruss Roaster doesn't even need to devour anything to get going.

Stensian SanguinistStensian Sanguinist

ExsanguinateExsanguinate is so popular in Commander, why not just attach it to a 2/2 Vampire Cleric?

Whenever you attack, Stensian Sanguinist gives a temporary boon of deathtouch to one of your creatures. To prepare the Vampire, you just need to deal combat damage with the creature you gave deathtouch to. Not too difficult, especially if you're picking a creature that already has evasion.

The reward for that successful preparation is you get to cast Exsanguinate, a card that famously ends Commander games, or at least puts them out of reach for opponents.

One caveat though: it's clear that in the context of Witherbloom Pestilence, the Sanguinist's Exsanguinate is meant more to be cast where X equals one or two, not 20. If you can go ham with it, go for it, but don't be afraid to cast a mini version to trigger all the "if you gained life this turn" abilities in the deck.

Feral AppetiteFeral Appetite

With Dina at the helm, you want to be sacrificing creatures regularly, and that's what Pests are for. However, by themselves Pests don't do a whole lot. But what if they also had deathtouch?

That's the question Feral Appetite answers, in addition to providing a slight buff to your Pests' power. It's a very similar question to the one answered by Blight MoundBlight Mound, which is also in this deck.

The real value of this three-mana enchantment, though, is the activated ability.

For two mana, you can exile a card from a graveyard. If it's a creature, create a Pest. And you can pick from anyone's graveyard, not just your own.

We've come a long way since Night SoilNight Soil.

Immoral BargainImmoral Bargain

Witherbloom Pestilence also provides two new sorceries, with the first one being Immoral Bargain.

For three mana, you can sacrifice X creatures to destroy X target nonland permanents. So simple, it's surprising that this card hadn't existed before. At least, it hasn't been this efficient before, as seen in comparison to something like Eliminate the CompetitionEliminate the Competition.

As long as you've got the creatures to spare, Immoral Bargain can be very powerful, but likely the majority of times it gets cast will see X equal two or three at most. Still good, but inherently card disadvantage.

Ominous HarvestOminous Harvest

Witherbloom Pestilence's other new sorcery is Ominous Harvest, which sees the return of gravestorm.

It's only the third time gravestorm has appeared on a card, with the other two being Bitter OrdealBitter Ordeal and Follow the BodiesFollow the Bodies.

Ominous Harvest draws a card and pings for one life for every instance of a permanent being put into the graveyard from play this turn. That's any permanent going to any graveyard, which is exceptionally powerful, if your timing's right. Like, say, right after a big Immoral Bargain.

If the gravestorm gets too crazy, Ominous Harvest does allow you to target any player, not just yourself. If the loss of life would be too great, just treat Ominous Harvest like a game-ending killshot.

Turbulent FenTurbulent Fen

As with all five Secrets of Strixhaven decks, Witherbloom Pestilence has its own color-relevant "Turbulent" land, with Turbulent Fen.

It's got basic land types, which is always nice to see on a new land, and the condition for entering untapped - if opponents have eight or more lands collectively - isn't hard to achieve. With no ramp, that'll happen on turn three if you didn't go first or second in the game, or turn four if you did.

As far as dual lands go, they aren't immediate must-haves, but they're still pretty good. And interestingly, they get better as the quality of opponents' decks increases.

Witherbloom Pestilence carries forth the time-honored strategy seen in many black/green decks, in that none of your creatures are worth as much alive as they dead. Or, to be specific, dying. 

Sacrificing creatures is the fuel that powers the engine, and everything else - gaining life, dealing damage, drawing cards, and eking out value - is centered on that principle.

We've seen how Dina drives that bus, and a lot of the times it'll be Dina's ability that you'll look to as option one, but the deck also has plenty of other ways to convert a living creature to a dead one for value. And one of those ways is the other Dina:

• Dina, Soul SteeperDina, Soul Steeper
• MycolothMycoloth
• Priest of Forgotten GodsPriest of Forgotten Gods
• Ribtruss RoasterRibtruss Roaster
• Smothering AbominationSmothering Abomination
• Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot
• Viscera SeerViscera Seer
• Wight of the ReliquaryWight of the Reliquary
• Woe StriderWoe Strider
• Yahenni, Undying PartisanYahenni, Undying Partisan

These are all the creatures that allow the opportunity to sacrifice other creatures. There are other ways in the deck as well, from sorceries like Immoral BargainImmoral Bargain and Deadly BrewDeadly Brew to a land, High MarketHigh Market.

There are creatures that sacrifice others, but there are also a handful of creatures that want to be sacrificed:

• BloodghastBloodghast
• Haywire MiteHaywire Mite
• Nether TraitorNether Traitor
• Teacher's PestTeacher's Pest

And yes, there are 39 creatures in the 99 of Witherbloom Pestilence, but with how important it is that we always have something to sacrifice, 39 isn't as large a number as it may seem. That's why it's so valuable we've got a number of ways to create creature tokens as fodder, be they Pests or otherwise:

• Beledros WitherbloomBeledros Witherbloom
• Creakwood LiegeCreakwood Liege
• Eccentric PestfinderEccentric Pestfinder
• Jadar, Ghoulcaller of NephaliaJadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
• OphiomancerOphiomancer
• Pawn of UlamogPawn of Ulamog
• Pest RescuerPest Rescuer
• Tendershoot DryadTendershoot Dryad
• Awakening ZoneAwakening Zone
• Blight MoundBlight Mound

Sure, we can create and destroy life, which is what Witherbloom's all about, but to what end? What's the point of all this coming and going? How does Witherbloom Pestilence...win?

• Blossoming BogbeastBlossoming Bogbeast
• Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet
• Defiling DaemogothDefiling Daemogoth

There's not a lot of "I win now" cards, but that's not how a deck like this operates. Witherbloom Pestilence is about incremental advantage, building a machine that turns dying creatures into card draw, power amplification, and board control.

A winning turn isn't necessarily an alpha strike, but the thousandth cut.

There aren't any combos built into the 99+1 of Witherbloom Pestilence, as we can see via Commander Spellbook's handy "Find My Combos" tool.

But format veterans will probably spot at a glance a number of cards that are in the deck that tend to be involved in infinite combos. If we want to lean into that, it won't take much effort to compile a few combos, starting by adding Mikaeus, the UnhallowedMikaeus, the Unhallowed.

We can see that Mikaeus joins forces with Viscera SeerViscera Seer to create an infinite loop - if we also add a persist creature to the mix as well. Big Mike and Viscera Seer aren't critical, either - the same effect can be achieved with things like Ivy Lane DenizenIvy Lane Denizen or The Great HengeThe Great Henge in the Mike spot, or Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot or Yahenni, Undying PartisanYahenni, Undying Partisan in the Seer spot.

Maybe that's too busy, and you'd rather have something less complicated. We've already got Mazirek, Kraul Death PriestMazirek, Kraul Death Priest, why not just add a Basking BroodscaleBasking Broodscale to the deck?

Maybe there's a reason why Basking Broodscale isn't in this deck by default.

Witherbloom Pestilence, like its Secrets of Strixhaven preconstructed deck cousins, has an ample selection of lands - in this case, 37 of them. Like most precons, the majority of them are here simply to make mana in the colors you want them to be, when you need them.

But there are still a few utility lands that found their way in:

• Grim BackwoodsGrim Backwoods
• High MarketHigh Market
• Titan's GraveTitan's Grave
• Witherbloom CampusWitherbloom Campus

It's pretty obvious why these lands are included, as they either help with the sacrificing strategy or provide some added card filtering.

As for mana rocks, well...that's not what this deck is about, to put it plainly.

• Arcane SignetArcane Signet
• Sol RingSol Ring

That's it. But there are a number of creature-based ramp options, like Elvish MysticElvish Mystic, Gilded GooseGilded Goose, Sakura-Tribe ElderSakura-Tribe Elder or Springbloom DruidSpringbloom Druid.

The MSRP of Witherbloom Pestilence, as with all Secrets of Strixhaven preconstructed decks, is $49.99.

Compared to the other preconstructed decks from Secrets of Strixhaven, Witherbloom Pestilence isn't at the same level in terms of reprint value. All together, with the 12 new cards included, the singles value of the deck is sitting around $185. If we remove those new cards, then we're looking at a meager $55.

That's pretty low, especially compared to the decks representing the other schools of Strixhaven.

The top five reprints by value are:

• Gyome, Master ChefGyome, Master Chef
• Nether TraitorNether Traitor
• Ohran FrostfangOhran Frostfang
• Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge
• Blossoming BogbeastBlossoming Bogbeast

The drop-off there is noticeable, and beyond Blossoming Bogbeast there aren't too many worth more than a buck or two.

Witherbloom Pestilence is a finely crafted preconstructed deck, with nearly every card carefully selected to create a great sacrifice-themed deck straight out of the box. That strategy might not be for everyone - it can take a bit of clerical work to ensure you don't miss anything - but those who like it really like it.

The financial value of the reprints leave a lot to be desired, especially compared to the other Secrets of Strixhaven decks, and that holds back the score a bit.

Overall, Witherbloom Pestilence gets a B.

Looking to upgrade your Witherbloom Pestilence precon? Check out our Upgrade Guide here.