Call of the Full Moon: Pioneer Gruul Werewolves

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Before We Start

Twelve years have passed since Innistrad made Werewolves a systematic tribe in 2011, and by Crimson Vow at the end of 2021 a considerable number of cards had accumulated. Even in Pioneer, with its smaller card pool, the format spans two Innistrad environments. Judging by the sets remaining in Standard, there is probably little chance of more support, so is there anything to the tribe in Pioneer? Let’s give it a try!

Assembled Alphas: Card Analysis

If we are talking about the most iconic Werewolf-tribe card in the Standard card pool, it has to be Tovolar, Dire Overlord.

Whenever a Wolf or Werewolf you control deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card, which is equivalent to the triggered ability of Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor. If the condition is met at your upkeep you can just turn the lights out, and in its Werewolf form it is also a walking Kessig Wolf Run, so as the tribe’s core card there is really nothing to criticize.
However, there aren’t currently enough quality low-cost Wolves and Werewolves in Standard, and it’s unlikely to draw cards when it enters on turn three, so the build needs to prioritize reinforcing the one-drop curve.

For one-mana creatures, besides Ascendant Packleader, which is still in Standard, the Shadows over Innistrad environment also offers Village Messenger and Kessig Prowler. Considering the one-mana slot is about eight creatures, the latter can neither be transformed by Tovolar nor, for some reason, has been implemented on MTGA, so I used Village Messenger to reinforce the one-drops.

Shadows over Innistrad also gave us quality tribal support cards, Moonlight Hunt and Howlpack Resurgence. The former is a tribal instant removal spell with a high ceiling, and the latter is an anthem that can be used as a combat trick, also giving the whole team trample, and it often catches your opponent off guard with a pump. M20 also produced a lord, Nightpack Ambusher, which besides being a flash team-wide buff is also a one-man army that automatically makes Wolf tokens, and back then in Standard it was very active as the main creature of flash decks.
The combined decklist is as follows:

Decklist

For the two-mana curve I used Kessig Naturalist, which has a lord function, and the powerful lone fighter Werewolf Pack Leader. The Naturalist’s mana-producing effect gets support from flash cards like Nightpack Ambusher and Howlpack Resurgence, taking the ambush effect up a level.

There is no particularly good choice for one-mana removal, so I filled it with Play with Fire, which can deal direct damage and comes with scry, and also added Volatile Arsonist as a haste finisher. The shapeshifting land Mutavault naturally has to be included too.

Howl of the Night Pack: Gameplay Demo

Because of the unique nature of Nightpack Ambusher, this Werewolf deck looks completely different at three mana and below versus four mana and up. The curve of three and below is the traditional cast-creatures-and-attack style, and from four mana up it enters board-suppression mode. If you can get ahead early and gain card advantage, that is naturally best, and the removal absorbed early also means Nightpack Ambusher has a higher survival rate. As shown in the video, in the early game I fell behind and in the midgame I drew lands in a row, holding up the front line almost entirely with Nightpack Ambusher and Mutavault, and then a later-drawn Tovolar refilled the card advantage and finally gave the trample push-through that decided the game.

Conclusion

From the original Innistrad checking both sides’ spells to the day/night system of Midnight Hunt, the flavor design has kept Werewolves on a contradictory path: on one hand it asks players to actively cast creatures and attack hard, and on the other it asks players not to cast spells, which leaves the Werewolf tribe’s aggression perpetually half-crippled. The newly born day/night system and the introduction of flash sources like Nightpack Ambusher and Arlinn, the Pack’s Hope ease this contradiction to a certain extent. This article builds on that to try to reconcile the two, offered as a reference for readers who love Werewolves.