I can’t say I love Magic: The Gathering Commander Decks that aggressively impact other players’ boards. The idea of playing rounds and placing counters that power-limit creatures feels mean. You’re staring down a player’s 12/12 dinosaur, or their 8/8 turtle, and you’re putting a collar on them. But in the feelings of euphoria that MTG’s new Lorwyn Eclipsed Blight Curse Commander Deck delivers, I can’t help but be a bit smug and self-satisfied.
The Blight Curse Commander Deck is a well-designed, high synergy deck that really does allow you to curse your opponents, bringing advantage by wielding Blight mechanics (which place -1/-1 counters on creatures) and allowing compounding benefits like card draw and life gain.
MTG Blight Curse Commander Deck – quick links
Should you use Auntie Ool or The Reaper as your Commander?
As with all modern MTG Commander Decks, Blight Curse comes with two options for Commander. Here, they are Auntie Ool, Cursewretch, and The Reaper, King No More.
Aesthetically, they both suit the deck very well. They’re creepy and gothic, and they have long, spindly limbs. This is a deck themed around rot and curses, so having it led by a goblin warlock and/or scarecrow certainly makes sense.
Both Commanders are great options, although I do think Auntie Ool, Cursewretch has the advantage – despite my love for The Reaper, King No More.
Auntie Ool, Cursewretch lets you add -1/-1 tokens on the creatures of other players, as a Ward effect. In plainer terms, when players attempt to attack you, they must attach -1/-1 counters on their creatures as an additional cost. Whenever you (or another player) put -1/-1 counters on any creature (yours and those of other players), you get a benefit. If it’s your own creature, you get to draw a card. If it’s a creature an opponent controls, your opponent loses life.
I like Auntie Ool because she deals with counter placement of all kinds, including those of other players. As long as you’re watching for triggers, you can spend your turns draw cards and reducing the life of your opponents.
The Reaper, King No More is still powerful, but has lesser impact. When he enters, you may put a -1/-1 counter on each of up to two target creatures. Then, whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, if it has a -1/-1 counter on it, you can put that card onto your battlefield, and it’s now under your control. The concept here is to Blight other players as much as possible, then target their creatures (or hope they block) so you can build your armies.
The Reaper is certainly a powerful Commander if you wrap your head around your -1/-1 strategy, but I do think Auntie Ool’s card draw is the more compelling feature, as you might even be able to draw The Reaper, and other synergistic cards, by exploiting your Ward/Blight abilities.
Prepare to blight to your heart’s content
Once you’ve decided on your Commander, no matter which Commander you’ve picked you’ll find Blight Curse features quick, snappy and easily-understood strategy. The vast majority of cards here feature Blight mechanics, or compounding Blight mechanics that bounce off -1/-1 counter placement.
There’s also a good dose of ramp, with creatures (Devoted Druid, Ignoble Hierarch) that can tap for mana, and many artefacts that help you along the way.
There’s a good dose of Proliferate (Evolution Sage) too, letting you ramp up your counter placement for added impact. While the deck isn’t absolutely packed with giant creatures so you can place those -1/-1 counters more freely, many of the creatures present are buffed or gain additional effects by this counter placement.
You’ll need to think carefully about how you put your counters down – after all, you don’t want to accidentally kill your creatures if you Proliferate – but that degree of strategy makes this MTG deck more layered and compelling.
Victory must be well-earned, after all. So you’ll want to think deeply, and plan carefully.
What’s most dangerous about this deck, overall, is just how well you can stack your Blight counters, and how cards work together to enhance their impact.
Play the Puca’s Covenant Enchantment. Place -1/-1 counters on a bigger creature like Grave Titan, using a card like Incremental Blight. Then throw Grave Titan in front of an attack to block. It’s got Deathtouch, so an opposing creature will die alongside it. Because you have Puca’s Covenant out, you may return another target permanent card with 6 mana value (or less) from your graveyard to your hand.
Many of the cards in Blight Curse offer similar synergy. As long as you can put Blight counters on your creatures, you can do all sorts of things: raising the dead, drawing cards, dealing damage, gaining life. I particularly like that you can Blight into graveyard resurrection, bringing back your biggest creatures to defend you, while also taking advantage of any related Blight abilities.
Make hell for your MTG opponents
In addition to personal -1/-1 counter placement, which the deck seems tailored towards, there are also particular card synergies to be found in Blighting the creatures of your opponents. Certain creatures have Wither, which allows them to attack by placing -1/-1 counters, rather than causing damage. This works with cards that benefit from -1/-1 counters, but are agnostic to where they’re placed. Think strategically, and you can defeat or weaken enemy creatures, while still reaping the other benefits of Blight.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons doesn’t care where -1/-1 counters are placed. She creatures 1/1 Snake tokens with Deathtouch anyway. The Flourishing Defenses Enchatment is likewise agnostic. You can put counters anywhere, and create 1/1 Elf Warrior tokens.
Opponents will need to watch your counter placement closely as they’ll impact their creatures – and in the case of players generating or playing 1/1 creatures, you can actually defeat their armies before they’re allowed to grow. So, there are significant elements of control in this deck, as you push back opponent advancement.
Overall verdict
The mix of cards and how they deal with these counters makes the new MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed Blight Curse Commander Deck fairly layered, as you’ll need to adapt your strategy based on your card draw, and the order you can actually play your cards.
Sometimes, it’s best to sit and wait until you can create a cascading effect of Blight that gives you everything your heart desires. Sometimes, it’s best to plow forward and ramp as soon as possible.
I love the flexibility in this deck, and that it’s built around a core, easily understood focus, without being too simple. While the card curation here means you’re largely focusing on compounding -1/-1 counters on your own creatures, there’s plenty of room to adapt your strategy, for maximum chaos.
Blight Curse goes well beyond its cool, gothic aesthetic to be a well-designed deck packed with powerful synergy, that should cause maximum annoyance – and maximum pride – as you whittle your opponent’s health away. While there are always tweaks to be made, this is a powerful Commander Deck as standalone, and a great way to experience Lorwyn Eclipsed.
