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Ferocious Wolves

How we'd draft and play Ferocious Wolves.
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Ferocious Wolves is the second-best of the heavily drafted decks at 56.9% over 57,277 games, behind only Goblin Army at 57.6% over 85,459 games. Its cheap creatures are good on their own (Desolation Prowler, Nasty Little Rabbit, Mirkwood Pathmaker), and black brings the , Crude Bent Blade and Bilbo's Deadly Slice above all. Aim to have a 4-power creature on the battlefield by turn 3 or 4 and attack.

Deck win rate 56.9% +0.7 vs average 57,277 games

Compared with the set average (56.2%). Win rates from 17Lands.

How a game goes

Keep a creature with 4 or more power on the battlefield so Nasty Little Rabbit, Nighthowl Pursuer and Ravening Warg get their bonus.

  1. Early turns

    Turns 1–3: play cheap creatures that stay useful. Start with Nasty Little Rabbit or Nighthowl Pursuer on turn 1. On turn 2, play Desolation Prowler, Bejeweled Warg, Ravening Warg or Attercop, and on turn 3 Mirkwood Pathmaker or Chief Warg's Company. Attack while their board is small, and hold Quarrel until one of your creatures can kill something with it.

  2. Middle turns

    Turns 4–6: get a creature with 4+ power onto the battlefield and keep it there. Pathmaker on four lands does it, and so do Ordinary Bear, Large Bear (with , on turn 5) and Gollum, Silent Slinker. Now is on, so Pursuer attacks as a 3/3 , Rabbit grows every combat and Ravening Warg gains you life. Spend black on the blockers that stop your attacks and on their best creature.

  3. Late game

    Turn 7+: Mirkwood Pathmaker grows with every land, and Large Bear's pushes damage past the small creatures they throw in front of it. Turn spare creatures into cards with Tom, Bert, and William or get your best dead creature back with Gathering of Darkness. Don't attack your big creature into a blocker. Kill the blocker with a spell first.

Ferocious

is a bonus that is on while you control a creature with power 4 or greater. Any creature counts: Mirkwood Pathmaker on four lands, a Desolation Prowler after you pay 2 life to pump it, or the ferocious creature itself once it has grown. The big creature does not have to attack.

Each card checks at its own time:

  • Nasty Little Rabbit checks at the beginning of combat on your turn, before you choose attackers (and it grows even if you then don't attack).
  • Nighthowl Pursuer, Ravening Warg, Wargling and Wilderland Scrounger check when they attack.
  • The Chief Warg checks whenever you attack with any creatures.
Text box of Nasty Little Rabbit
The Rabbit's ability opens with the word ferocious. The words after it say when the Rabbit checks, at the beginning of combat on your turn.

So switch it on before combat: play your land first (Pathmaker grows), pay Prowler's 2 life in your main phase, equip Crude Bent Blade. Example: turn 1 Rabbit, turn 2 Prowler. On turn 3, in your main phase, pay 2 life, and Prowler is a 4/4 until end of turn. At the beginning of combat the Rabbit sees a 4-power creature and gets a +1/+1 counter , and it keeps that counter forever.

Only six cards say ferocious. The deck's best cards by the data (Beorn the Fierce, Gollum, Riddle Master, Chief Warg's Company, Desolation Prowler, Head of the Hunt, Rhovanion Rampager) are good without it. Ferocious keeps the 1- and (Rabbit, Pursuer, Ravening Warg, Wargling) useful later in the game. A smaller second theme is the Wolf creature type. Chief Warg's Company can attack only while you control two other Wolves, and Bejeweled Warg's counter goes on a Wolf.

Opponent 20 life
You 20 life

Key cards

How to tell it's open

Black is contested because Goblin Army is the most-drafted deck in the set (57.6% over 85,459 games), so read the green half. Green does poorly in its other decks (Elf Landfall, Beasts and Burn, Patchwork Midrange), so fewer drafters take it and it comes late. If Nasty Little Rabbit or Mirkwood Pathmaker (usually taken around pick 4) is still there at pick 7 or later, or Quarrel (around pick 6) is still there at pick 9, green is open. Ordinary Bear and Wargling come late in every draft, so they are not a signal. A late Desolation Prowler (usually taken around pick 3) means black is open too.

Common mistakes

  • Treating The Chief Warg as the deck's best card because it is the gold (black and green) uncommon . In the data it wins 54.2% here, well below the deck's own average. Take Nasty Little Rabbit, Desolation Prowler, Mirkwood Pathmaker and before it.

  • Pumping Desolation Prowler too late. checks before or as you attack, so pay the 2 life in your main phase if you want the ferocious bonus. Pay after blockers only when winning that one fight is all you want.

  • Leaving one big creature alone against a black opponent. Crude Bent Blade and other ' a creature' effects let you choose what to sacrifice, so keep a cheap creature or Wolf next to your best one.

  • Too few creatures. needs both a 4-power creature and creatures to reward. Aim for 15 or more creatures and count your 4-power sources (such as Pathmaker, Prowler, Ordinary Bear, Large Bear, Head of the Hunt, Mirkwood Nurturer and Gollum, Silent Slinker).

  • Taking flashy green rares that lose. Radagast of Rhosgobel and Gigantic Big Bear are usually taken around pick 3, but they win only 54.2% and 52.2% in this deck, and 52.6% and 51.5% across all decks.

  • Casting a second Gollum, Silent Slinker while the first is on the battlefield. It is , so you keep only one. Cast the second copy's Meager Meal side instead and keep the creature waiting in .

Better or worse in this deck