There are a lot of creatures that simply don’t have enough representation in MTG. Sure, we have loads of cool tribes to pick from, but what about the little guys?
We’re talking semi-literally here too, because we’re going to go all-in on some creepy-crawly, flappy, slithery tribal decks. Wait, no, just one deck. Sounds cool, right?
Meet your commander
Blex, Vexing Pest
Blex, Vexing Pest
Other Pests, Bats, Insects, Snakes, and Spiders you control get +1/+1.
When Blex dies, you gain 4 life.
is a three-mana green 3/2 that gives you four life when it dies. Also, it reads, “Other Pests, Bats, Insects, Snakes, and Spiders you control get +1/+1.” That’s not all though, it’s an MDFC
The other side of Blex is
Search for Blex
Search for Blex
Other Pests, Bats, Insects, Snakes, and Spiders you control get +1/+1.
When Blex dies, you gain 4 life.
, which is a four-mana black sorcery that reads, “Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put any number of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard. You lose 3 life for each card you put into your hand this way.” We’re probably not going to use this, but it’s nice that it’s there.
We’re clearly going to be focussing on the fact that we can make a mishmash tribal deck here though, so let’s talk about the best odd creatures for Blex.
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The best pests, bats, insects, snakes, and spiders for Blex
Let’s talk about Spiders first. There are three that we want specifically here, starting with
Arasta of the Endless Web
Arasta of the Endless Web
Reach
Whenever an opponent casts an instant or sorcery spell, create a 1/2 green Spider creature token with reach.
, who makes Spider tokens whenever an opponent casts an instant or sorcery. You’ve then got
Rotwidow Pack
Rotwidow Pack
Reach
{3}{B}{G}, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Create a 1/2 green Spider creature token with reach, then each opponent loses 1 life for each Spider you control.
which can make Spider tokens, and also has each opponent losing life equal to the number of Spiders you control. Finally, you’ve got
Ishkanah, Grafwidow
Ishkanah, Grafwidow
Reach
Delirium — When Ishkanah enters, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, create three 1/2 green Spider creature tokens with reach.
{6}{B}: Target opponent loses 1 life for each Spider you control.
, who also makes spiders, and can make a specific opponent lose life for each Spider you control.
Insects are incredibly potent.
Living Hive
Living Hive
Trample
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, create that many 1/1 green Insect creature tokens.
makes loads of Insect tokens, as does Scute Swarm, as does [tooltips]Giant Adephage. Then you’ve got
Hornet Queen
Hornet Queen
Flying, deathtouch
When this creature enters, create four 1/1 green Insect creature tokens with flying and deathtouch.
, who leads nicely into a subtheme of deathtouch you can lean into if you want to thanks to Snakes like
Hooded Blightfang
Hooded Blightfang
Deathtouch
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch attacks, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
Whenever a creature you control with deathtouch deals damage to a planeswalker, destroy that planeswalker.
.
Bats, on the other hand, are kind of rubbish, and we’re going to talk about pests in the next section.
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The best support cards for Blex
First up, obviously you should include
Maskwood Nexus
Maskwood Nexus
Creatures you control are every creature type. The same is true for creature spells you control and creature cards you own that aren't on the battlefield.
{3}, {T}: Create a 2/2 blue Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. (It is every creature type.)
if you’ve got any other tribal bits going on in this deck. Wielding multiple tribes at once is tricky otherwise, but laughably easy with this card in play. We also really like
Bolas’s Citadel
Bolas’s Citadel
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost.
{T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life.
here too, as you’re very likely going to be making a lot of tokens, which makes this basically a win condition on its own.
Onto Pests now.
Pest Infestation
Pest Infestation
Destroy up to X target artifacts and/or enchantments. Create twice X 1/1 black and green Pest creature tokens with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life."
creates Pest tokens that gain you life, but it also allows you to destroy a lot of artifacts and enchantments as you do so. It’s hard to overestimate this card, so make sure you include it in your list.
Finally, we’ve got
Blight Mound
Blight Mound
Attacking Pests you control get +1/+0 and have menace.
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life."
, a two-mana enchantment that reads, “Attacking Pests you control get +1/+0 and have menace. Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with “When this creature dies, you gain 1 life.”” Both of these effects are incredibly good, and while Pests aren’t the core focus of the deck, it’s still worth including, especially with
Maskwood Nexus
Maskwood Nexus
Creatures you control are every creature type. The same is true for creature spells you control and creature cards you own that aren't on the battlefield.
{3}, {T}: Create a 2/2 blue Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. (It is every creature type.)
.
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