When the new Tolsimir was spoiled I was eager to build something with him, as my first venture into building EDH decks did center around wolves and werewolves. At the time I couldn't make it work well enough due to card density and my own experience with the format. But now it looks like an interesting time to try it again and see what we can do.
Much like Tolsimir and Voja are indicating themselves, Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves wants to be more a Wolf/Elf hybrid deck than a true Wolf tribal one. As the ramp provided by the Elves give the opportunity to kick Wolfbriar Elemental multiple times or sink a lot of mana into Wren’s Run Packmaster, while also providing enough sources to Champion the Packmaster.
When it comes to tribal decks I generally don’t like the idea of running Changelings to fill out slots, though in this deck they become more essential due to their multiple creature types. While both Wolf and Elf are the most important ones, they also enable me to run Turntimber Ranger without having to dilute the deck with unnecessary Ally creatures and help to get additional triggers with Wolf-Skull Shaman, making it a potential inclusion as well. I ended up taking out Howl of the Night Pack since it actually wants ramp based spells instead of mana dorks.
Mirage Mirror and Mirrorpool have been added to double up on key creatures for a bit. Since I’ll be running some of these I also ended up adding Eldrazi Displacer to get more ETB triggers going, though I might switch to Conjurer’s Closet if it proves to be less viable. Cloudstone Curio could be a future upgrade here as well.
The other maybe notable inclusions are Eerie Interlude and Scapegoat, which do have a slight defensive purpose and can help to get some more ETB triggers going as well. But they notably do target multiple creatures and actually give a potential nice synergy with Silverfur Partisan.
All of this put together resulted in me making the following list/deck:
As mentioned, Eldrazi Displacer is currently occupying my test slot for the deck, since I still have to see if it can perform well enough in this shell. Other then that Doubling Season is a card that potentially could get replaced, it does the welcome job of doubling our tokens but the other part of the card is not really that relevant, making me wonder if it’s worth keeping it in.
The new Arlinn is a card I considered as well, but in the end I felt the 6 CMC was a bit too high for what she brings to the table.
Nightshade Peddler can be useful to make the token have deathtouch and killing the creature it fights.
I initially brough From Beyond in as a replacement for the considered Growing Ranks but it was even slower, that said I can see cutting it and giving tokens deathtouch will be useful I ended up replacing it with Bow of Nylea. Not too fond of the Peddler since it only gives one creature deathtouch and if it sticks around after a fight you don't have the benefit of the deathtouch as much. So I feel Bow might be the better option here.
I've decided to actually take out Howl of the Night Pack since having enough forests is a restriction as you mentioned. Furthermore, the CMC can make it a card sitting in your hand for quite a while early on.
So have gone back and forth over some of the cards for a few days now, as well as did some goldfishing to see where tweaks could be made. Taking out Howl of the Night Pack has definitely allowed me to narrow down the things the deck wants to do and pretty much used that to implement a few other changes as well.
First of all, Chord of Calling and the new Finale of Devastation will help bring the deck some more consistency. So made space for those two by removing Sword of the Animist and Bow of Nylea. Bow I simply misread (neglected to notice the attacking part) and doesn't do what I want it to do, while the ramp of Sword is nice with the aforementioned Howl of the Night Pack gone digging for forests is less of a priority, of which this is a fragile option at most.
Since I'm not heavy on the +1/+1 counters in this build I took Metallic Mimic out of my list, not to mention it becomes a wolf after the fight trigger might happen. Lightning Greaves was added instead, giving the deck some more protective measures as well as minor haste enabler.
The deck does play heavy on ETB triggers, so am considering adding Cloudstone Curio but still need to find a card to cut for that.
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When it comes to tribal decks I generally don’t like the idea of running Changelings to fill out slots, though in this deck they become more essential due to their multiple creature types. While both Wolf and Elf are the most important ones, they also enable me to run Turntimber Ranger without having to dilute the deck with unnecessary Ally creatures and help to get additional triggers with Wolf-Skull Shaman, making it a potential inclusion as well. I ended up taking out Howl of the Night Pack since it actually wants ramp based spells instead of mana dorks.
Mirage Mirror and Mirrorpool have been added to double up on key creatures for a bit. Since I’ll be running some of these I also ended up adding Eldrazi Displacer to get more ETB triggers going, though I might switch to Conjurer’s Closet if it proves to be less viable. Cloudstone Curio could be a future upgrade here as well.
The other maybe notable inclusions are Eerie Interlude and Scapegoat, which do have a slight defensive purpose and can help to get some more ETB triggers going as well. But they notably do target multiple creatures and actually give a potential nice synergy with Silverfur Partisan.
All of this put together resulted in me making the following list/deck:
1x Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
Creature (34)
1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Avian Changeling
1x Beastcaller Savant
1x Boreal Druid
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Changeling Titan
1x Eldrazi Displacer
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Eternal Witness
1x Harabaz Druid
1x Karametra, God of Harvests
1x Kessig Cagebreakers
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Master of the Wild Hunt
1x Mirror Entity
1x Priest of Titania
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Runic Armasaur
1x Silverfur Partisan
1x Thunderfoot Baloth
1x Tolsimir Wolfblood
1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
1x Turntimber Ranger
1x Watchwolf
1x Wirewood Symbiote
1x Witchstalker
1x Wolf-Skull Shaman
1x Wolfbriar Elemental
1x Woodland Changeling
1x Wren's Run Packmaster
1x Young Wolf
1x Chord of Calling
1x Crop Rotation
1x Eerie Interlude
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Noxious Revival
1x Path to Exile
1x Scapegoat
1x Swords to Plowshares
Sorcery (4)
1x Austere Command
1x Eldritch Evolution
1x Finale of Devastation
1x Regrowth
Enchantment (10)
1x Anointed Procession
1x Aura Shards
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Doubling Season
1x Elemental Bond
1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1x Marshal's Anthem
1x Mirari's Wake
1x Parallel Lives
1x Sylvan Library
Artifact (6)
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mirage Mirror
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Unity
1x Thornbite Staff
1x Brushland
1x Canopy Vista
1x Command Tower
17x Forest
1x Gavony Township
1x Krosan Verge
1x Mirrorpool
1x Mosswort Bridge
1x Naya Panorama
5x Plains
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Riftstone Portal
1x Scattered Groves
1x Scavenger Grounds
1x Temple Garden
1x Wooded Bastion
The new Arlinn is a card I considered as well, but in the end I felt the 6 CMC was a bit too high for what she brings to the table.
1 Elvish Harbinger
1 Thunderfoot Baloth
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Chord of Calling
1 Finale of Devastation
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Wood Elves
1 From Beyond
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Metallic Mimic
You have some strategy elements i also considered.
Care to join me and brew along and share experiences when the set releases?
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/808138-brew-tolsimir-friend-to-wolves-selesnya-elves-and
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Howl of the Night Pack, to have a good value, I think you should use less white and Plains, and use more creatures that searches for lands (Sakura-Tribe Elder, Sylvan Ranger, Farhaven Elf, Yavimaya Granger, Yavimaya Dryad). For this, I would cut Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Marshal's Anthem, Talisman of Unity, Mirage Mirror.
Nightshade Peddler can be useful to make the token have deathtouch and killing the creature it fights.
Hightower | Vial/Thrasios | Mogis | Grenzo | Endrek |
Tatyova|Sisay|Zurgo|Breya|Chisei|Marchesa|Olivia|KaradorPauper | Pauper |
Legacy|4fun|4fun|Modern|Frontier|StandardI've decided to actually take out Howl of the Night Pack since having enough forests is a restriction as you mentioned. Furthermore, the CMC can make it a card sitting in your hand for quite a while early on.
First of all, Chord of Calling and the new Finale of Devastation will help bring the deck some more consistency. So made space for those two by removing Sword of the Animist and Bow of Nylea. Bow I simply misread (neglected to notice the attacking part) and doesn't do what I want it to do, while the ramp of Sword is nice with the aforementioned Howl of the Night Pack gone digging for forests is less of a priority, of which this is a fragile option at most.
Since I'm not heavy on the +1/+1 counters in this build I took Metallic Mimic out of my list, not to mention it becomes a wolf after the fight trigger might happen. Lightning Greaves was added instead, giving the deck some more protective measures as well as minor haste enabler.
The deck does play heavy on ETB triggers, so am considering adding Cloudstone Curio but still need to find a card to cut for that.