The Hunter's Lodge: Chevill, Bane of Monsters EDH

As barkeep, it's practically in the job description to humor the customers, but Chevill routinely put that to the test. Damn surly bloke was going off again. Another night, another tall tale. With each tankard consumed, the beasts felled by his steel grew a yard taller. Seeing as the brute had already drained half a keg at this point, the monsters in question were quite gargantuan. But no excess of drunken ramblings, truth-stretched as they may be, would dare cause a fellow patron to question him. Much of a blowhard as he was, Chevill could certainly hold his own in a bar fight. Must've picked up all those scars from somewhere. Each one had at least separate two stories associated with it. Plus the vast quantities of alcohol he bought must've accounted for at least ten percent of my profits, so I am apt to keep my mouth shut.

More than that, I'll even smile and nod as he launches into yet another boastful yarn about monster-killing. I imagine there's some morsel of truth to Chevill's stories, even with all the exaggeration. But it's hard to believe the self-appointed "Bane of Monsters" could've really slain so many. No one man could possibly harbor that much blood thirst, right?

Right?

Hmm, all the more reason to keep my mouth shut.

Bad-guy from Jumanji. You know the one.

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Commander 1 cards (1 distinct)

Main 99 cards (83 distinct)

Lands - 45

Commander 1 cards (1 distinct)

Main 99 cards (83 distinct)

Lands - 45

$€Tix

Commander 1 cards (1 distinct)

1 Chevill, Bane of Monsters

$2.91

Main 99 cards (83 distinct)

Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (27)
1 Bullwhip			$0.28€0.190.09
1 Kodama's Reach			$1.50€0.700.04
1 Cultivate			$0.70€0.340.04
1 Heart-Piercer Bow			$0.15€0.030.05
1 Swiftfoot Boots			$1.65€1.030.04
1 Life's Finale			$1.79€2.110.02
1 Casualties of War			$0.99€0.550.02
1 Viridian Longbow			$0.94€0.360.03
1 Assassin's Trophy			$3.95€3.040.13
1 Deathreap Ritual			0.04
1 Rise of the Dark Realms			$14.29€12.750.06
1 Golgari Signet			$0.90€0.440.04
1 Golgari Charm			$1.27€0.760.04
1 Talisman of Resilience			$0.90€0.440.03
1 Pernicious Deed			$5.25€5.826.50
1 Migration Path			$1.30
1 Heartseeker			$2.20€0.740.02
1 Oblivion Stone			$1.21€1.121.39
1 Windgrace's Judgment			$0.75€0.41
1 Thornbite Staff			$22.60€8.530.03
1 Dowsing Dagger // Lost Vale			$4.39€3.270.02
1 Scytheclaw			$0.41€0.30
1 Shadowspear			$22.93€18.360.47
1 Quietus Spike			$0.95€0.650.02
1 Extinction			$0.860.28
1 Nature's Lore			0.04
1 Unstable Obelisk			$0.25€0.14
Creature (26)
1 Visara the Dreadful			$1.33€0.670.02
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder			$1.45€0.74
1 Big Game Hunter			$0.49€0.220.03
1 Trophy Hunter			$0.25€0.070.04
1 Hunter of Eyeblights			$0.25€0.110.03
1 Bounty Hunter			$2.990.32
1 Poison-Tip Archer			$1.80€1.700.03
1 Polukranos, Unchained			$0.99€0.960.02
1 Deathless Knight			$0.20€0.090.03
1 Thorn Mammoth			$1.070.02
1 Murderous Rider			$0.980.02
1 Crashing Drawbridge			$0.50€0.240.03
1 Cavalier of Night			$4.20€4.380.02
1 Vhati il-Dal			0.02
1 Pharika, God of Affliction			$1.65€2.470.04
1 Skirsdag High Priest			$0.49€0.340.02
1 Reaper from the Abyss			$1.49€1.560.02
1 Master of the Wild Hunt			$3.82€1.490.06
1 Royal Assassin			$0.80€0.520.02
1 Acidic Slime			$0.25€0.160.03
1 Kogla, the Titan Ape			$3.15
1 Hunted Troll			$0.97€0.550.02
1 Blightspeaker			$0.22€0.020.05
1 Rathi Trapper			$0.24€0.070.03
1 Solemn Simulacrum			$1.00€0.690.02
1 Wood Elves			$0.48€0.160.03
Planeswalker (1)
1 Garruk, Cursed Huntsman			$2.45€2.080.02
Land (45)
1 Hissing Quagmire			$1.00€0.880.02
1 Grim Backwoods			$0.49€0.210.02
1 Forbidden Orchard			$10.32€3.870.02
1 Overgrown Tomb			$11.70€9.890.18
1 Nurturing Peatland			$6.90€6.122.71
1 Castle Locthwain			$4.31€3.594.62
1 Golgari Rot Farm			$0.40€0.220.04
1 Twilight Mire			$6.98€5.920.17
1 Verdant Catacombs			$16.98€14.922.34
1 Temple of Malady			$0.50€0.260.02
1 Bojuka Bog			$1.50€1.030.52
1 Barren Moor			$0.33€0.180.04
1 Tranquil Thicket			$0.28€0.180.04
1 Slippery Karst			$0.30€0.15
1 Desert of the Indomitable			$0.25€0.140.03
1 Desert of the Glorified			$0.23€0.130.03
1 Polluted Mire			$0.32€0.24
1 Spawning Pool			$0.49€0.210.03
1 Treetop Village			$0.52€0.390.03
1 Vesuva			$16.75€8.000.08
1 Arch of Orazca			$0.50€0.330.02
1 Command Tower			$0.680.01
1 Scavenger Grounds			$1.29€0.730.02
1 Throne of the High City			$1.00€0.50
1 Ancient Tomb			$98.75€62.3228.17
1 Strip Mine			2.28
1 Leechridden Swamp			$1.28€0.910.03
9 Swamp
9 Forest

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True to theme, an EDH deck led by Chevill, Bane of Monsters is appropriately focused on all things hunting. Your creatures, a fiendish band of fellow beast slayers, aren't the most physically imposing force out there. But they are especially proficient at killing bigger things, and with Chevill handing out Bounty counters like popcorn, you can expect to reap plenty of rewards.

Deck Breakdown:

Creatures - The Hunter's Lodge:

Your creatures pack a variety of ways to deal with opposing troops, which is good, as your main objective is to keep your opponents' boards clear as long as possible. Combat is not your army's strong suit. Though the deck does pack a fair degree of Deathtouch (Acidic Slime, Poison-Tip Archer, Hissing Quagmire, and Chevill, himself), their primarily role is to pick up an Equipment and start shooting. Folks can't attack you if you're killing all their creatures, after all.

Bounty Hunter,Big Game Hunter, Trophy Hunter, Hunter of Eyeblights (are we seeing a theme yet?), Murderous Rider, and Royal Assassin all serve to kill creatures on the other side of the table. You'll want to get Chevill out as soon as possible so you can begin building up life and card advantage. The lethality of your troops is likely to put a serious target on your head, but the fact that your team is filled with rattlesnakes helps mitigate the odds of the other players attacking you. That is, if they even have anything to attack you with. Chevill's lifegain isn't to be overlooked either, as it can provide you some serious longevity over time. 3 life per dead foe will add up quickly.

Though most are small, we do include a few beefier creatures in the 99. Thorn Mammoth, Visara the Dreadful, Cavalier of Night, and Polukranos, Unchained keep the death-dealing coming while bashing heavily into what should be clear boards. Reaper from the Abyss requires some assistance before it can begin eating opposing threats, but with all of the above action, that shouldn't be much of a stretch. Going wide rather than tall is Master of the Wild Hunt, who begins to assemble your own army as the turns go by. Kogla, the Titan Ape serves double-duty, able to both smash enemy creatures and save a good portion of your own, as many of your assassins (and commander!) are Human. I imagine Chevill wouldn't like being carried around by a giant ape, but if it were life and death, he'd swallow his pride and go with it.  

Playing support to this notorious flock of assassins are a handful of support creatures. Vhati il-Dal can make opposing creatures easier to pick off or shrink their power to protect us. With all the death going around, Poison-Tip Archer and Skirsdag High Priest are bound to put in a lot of work, enough to act as finishers if they stick around long enough. Deathless Knight can't outright kill things, but his synergy with the lifegain Chevill offers means he'll be a persistent hasty threat. Though low impact on its own, the Rebel-tutoring offered up by Blightspeaker gives you a useful mana sink that can grab either a "removal spell" in Big Game Hunter or tapper in Rathi Trapper. Don't underestimate tappers in EDH. In a format where dead commanders can simply be recast later, sometimes neutralizing a threat is better than outright murdering it. Though Chevill would likely never admit it.

Lastly, Hunted Troll may seem like an odd choice, but alongside Dowsing Dagger // Lost Vale, Pharika, God of Affliction, and Forbidden Orchard, it serves to provide fodder for your opponent when they currently don't have anything else to kill. Decks that are creature-light will need targets, after all. And if they aren't going to provide you with them, you might as well. I think we can spare giving our opponent a few plants, right?

Support Artifacts - Arms and Armaments:

No surprise our hunters are fans of firearms. As such, we run a suite of Equipment designed to play off their proclivities. Heart-Piercer Bow, Viridian Longbow, and Thornbite Staff are particular favorites of Chevill, as his Deathtouch makes each fire a lethal point of damage. Heartseeker is so violence-prone it'll even turn a humble Wood Elves into a cold-hearted killer! And though not an Equipment itself, Bullwhiphas the potential to force opponent's into sub-optimal attacks, serving as a valuable political tool alongside its mere ping.

Additional equipment includes a standard issue Swiftfoot Boots, Shadowspear to let our hunters get around pesky Hexproof, and perhaps most importantly: Scytheclaw and Quietus Spike. With many of our creatures being small, we'll need each hit to count, and both of these artifacts will handily slice any life total in two. No, they won't deal the finishing blow, but they'll get you close to it.

Lands and Ramp  - Hunting Grounds:

The green edge of our deck offers the usual ramp: Cultivate,Kodama's Reach, Migration Path, Nature's Lore, Wood Elves, and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Remember that the latter two cards are perfectly happy to pick up equipment if needed, and also make great sacrifice fuel for our Cavalier of Night. With green's inherent skill at ramp, and our average mana cost being fairly low at around 3.6, the only additional mana rocks are a Golgari Signet, Talisman of Resilience, and Unstable Obelisk. On the topic of the Obelisk: It may not be efficient, but it provides yet another removal source for late game. Break in case of emergency.

Landwise, we feature classics: Command Tower, Ancient Tomb, Scavenger Grounds, Bojuka Bog, Strip Mine, Vesuva, and assorted Golgari dual lands. Backing these up are lands that generate us card advantage like Castle Locthwain, Arch of Orazca, Nurturing Peatland, and Grim Backwoods. Being removal heavy is why the deck also runs Throne of the High City, as you're likely to be hanging onto that crown for a while. With all the card draw we're hoping to generate, I added all six on-color cycling lands to help draw us into gas. Just remember to hang onto an extra cycling desert to feed to Scavenger Grounds if you feel multiple activations will be needed. The trio of manlands is also included to provide additional hands for our high number of Equipment. Our wealth of removal means our Dowsing Dagger // Lost Vale is likely to flip, but only if someone can actually pick up the damn thing first.

Support Spells and Finishers -Get those antlers ready to hang over the fireplace:

Finally, with all this death and destruction of creatures going on, we'd be remiss to forget about other permanent types we're likely to run into. Windgrace's Judgment, Assassin's Trophy, the aforementioned Murderous Rider, and Garruk, Cursed Huntsman (another Hunter!) are all too happy to pick off creatures, but I'd recommend saving them for other kinds of problematic permanents. Or you could just kill everything with a Casualties of War.

If things get too out of hand, we also run mass removal in the forms of Pernicious Deed, Life's Finale, Extinction (this one's mainly for flavor, though it'll certainly ruin a tribal deck's day), and another nice mana sink in Oblivion Stone. I also like the flexibility Golgari Charm brings to the table. Sure, it'll only mass-remove smaller tokens, but being able to blow up enchantments or protect your own team from a board wipe is not to be ignored.

Things will be dying left and right, so it only seemed fitting to add in Deathreap Ritual for further profit. Gotta keep that card draw flowing so we can draw into even more removal! Pharika, God of Affliction also shines here, providing us with Deathtouch-happy snakes as we recycle our creatures to her. Hand that viper a bow and let him have some fun!

After you've had your fun and gone all "Oregon Trail" on every creature you come across, casting Rise of the Dark Realms is likely your best bet to bring things home. Head on back to the tavern, swig some more ale, and start up another story!

Hope you enjoy and have fun! Thanks for reading, and hope this flavor-full deck gives you some tall tales to regale (or irritate) your playgroup with.

-Tautog-