Commander Deck Guide: Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Throughout the years, I've considered Pirates in Magic: The Gathering real treasures. I've always wanted to build a deck around this type of creature, but, whenever I tried, something was missing. Some commanders were interesting, like Admiral Beckett Brass, but they never seemed fast enough. Others, like Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel and Breeches, Eager Pillager, had great interactions, but I wanted an aggressive, even somewhat chaotic, approach, and they couldn't give me that.

In today's article, we'll discuss one legendary Aetherdrift creature that finally quenched my thirst for a Pirate commander: Captain Howler, Sea Scourge, a colossal Shark Pirate who makes up for discarding cards with brutal buffs and card draw.

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge is a 5/4 legendary Shark Pirate that costs four mana and is blue and red. Its main effect triggers whenever its controller discards one or more cards. When that happens, its controller can give +2/+0 to a target creature for each card they discarded until the end of the turn. You can give this buff to Captain Howler itself or any other creature, so you can be quite versatile with it. For instance, you can buff unblockable creatures.

Furthermore, it draws a card whenever a creature that you buffed with its effect deals combat damage to a player. This mechanic encourages you to be aggressive, and attack and discard cards constantly so you can buff creatures across the board. This way, you'll draw a lot of cards whenever you attack.

The deck we'll explore today is perfect with looting and wheels, as well as other ways to discard cards so you can impact the game as much as possible. So, I decided to mix up this formula and try to make it more thematic without sacrificing all the discard effects and keeping the synergies this commander needs.

This is the deck we'll work with today:

Discard Engines

The heart of this deck is discarding cards, a mechanic that makes it more aggressive and creates a lot of value throughout the match. Its commander, Captain Howler, Sea Scourge, turns each card you discard into a +2/+0 buff, which is quite generous for any attacker, and also turns each damage you deal to your opponent with these buffed creatures into card draw.

This interaction means this deck will be quite fast, and you'll have a perfectly sculpted hand throughout the entire game. At the same time, you'll put pressure on your opponents with your buffed creatures.

To get the most out of this synergy, this list includes many ways to discard cards and keep this card draw engine going. Faithless Looting and Cathartic Reunion filter your hand quickly by letting you swap less useful cards for new options, all while activating Howler's effects.

Frantic Search plays a similar role, as it lets you discard and draw cards without losing a lot of time. After all, it untaps lands, so it's basically a free spell.

Tolarian Winds and Windfall give you an even bigger buff, as they replace your entire hand and activate your commander.

Besides buffing creatures and drawing cards, you will also be able to discard cards to set up explosive plays. Change of Fortune is a perfect example of that, as it discards your entire hand and draws that same number of cards. Combined with a big combat phase, it can easily fill your hand again. Gamble, in turn, turns uncertainty into advantage because, even if you end up discarding the card you get, it can still feed Howler's effect and set up future plays!

Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel interacts really well with this strategy, as it discards cards and lets you play them for free when it has enough chorus counters. You'll get these counters when this Pirate deals combat damage, and, as this entire deck wants to do that, this effect can give you a lot of cards. This, in turn, means you won't have to rely on your hand too much - you'll also be able to trigger it multiple times.

Discard Payoff

Discarding cards in this deck goes beyond simple card advantage. When you discard cards, you'll trigger extra effects with your permanents, like Glint-Horn Buccaneer, which turns each card you discard into direct damage, and, as such, is an alternative win condition. Inti, Seneschal of the Sun lets you exile and play extra cards from the top of your deck whenever you discard cards, so you'll be able to access even more resources with it.

Mary Read and Anne Bonny does two things in this deck: it both filters cards and creates resources. Its activated ability lets you draw and discard a card each turn, while its second effect creates a Treasure whenever you discard an Island, Pirate, or Vehicle, which this deck has lots of. This way, you're even more encouraged to discard cards, as you'll get even more resources if you do.

Marauding Mako gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you discard one or more cards, which means it will become a threat as the game goes on. As this deck already plays multiple ways to discard cards, this small Shark often grows exponentially and quickly becomes a problem on the board. Particularly if you play it with evasion, like Key to the City.

These synergies also make this deck quite comfortable throughout the match. At the beginning of the game, discarding cards helps you find lands and important pieces for your strategy, while, mid to late game, it is more like a pressure/card draw engine. As a result, you'll never run out of gas as long as you discard cards, and you'll always find new pieces to pressure your opponent and end the match with devastating attacks.

Pirates

This is not One Piece Card Game, but you'll play a formidable team of Pirates. The one that most stands out is Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, everyone's nightmare in Modern as well as one of the most explosive early game plays you have. It creates Treasures, ramps, and exiles cards from the top of your opponent's deck. It also gives you extra resources.

Similarly, Breeches, Brazen Plunderer will complement this entire strategy because it lets you play any enemy cards in the exile whenever one of your Pirates deals damage. So, you'll be able to create even more value from your attacks.

This deck also plays a set of Pirates that have synergy with other Pirates and make them even more powerful.

Corsair Captain grants +1/+1 to all other Pirates and creates a Treasure when it enters. It makes your entire strategy more aggressive and gives you more mana.

As for Breeches, Eager Pillager, it uses the Treasure mechanic to create a consistent amount of advantage whenever a Pirate attacks. This effect goes really well with the Treasures other cards in this deck create. Furthermore, it is an interesting piece because of its synergy with Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider and other cards whose effects trigger or activate when artifacts enter.

There's also Warkite Marauder, which turns an enemy blocker into a 0/1 creature with no abilities temporarily whenever it attacks, so it lets you break through solid defenses. Kitesail Larcenist is similar, as it turns enemy artifacts or creatures into Treasure tokens. This way, you will be able to remove problematic blockers or key pieces from your opponent.

Coercive Recruiter steals enemy creatures temporarily whenever a Pirate enters, and, as such, enables even more aggressive attacks. Merchant Raiders taps and disables enemy creatures by preventing them from untapping for as long as it is in play.

Finally, your biggest enabler is Double Down, which doubles all the value you create in a Pirates deck. Whenever you cast an outlaw spell, this card will copy it automatically. If it is a creature spell, the copy will be a token identical to the original, so it will essentially double your board presence.

Evasion

Considering Captain Howler, Sea Scourge lets you draw cards when you connect damage, you'll obviously have to rely on several creatures with evasion and ways to give this sort of effect to your other creatures. There are many flying creatures in this deck, like Malcolm, Keen Eyed Navigator and Kitesail Larcenist. Vehicles like Clamorous Ironclad and Boosted Sloop also bring Menace to the board and can get haste with the help of Fearless Swashbuckler, the Pirate Swordfish.

Cards like Storm Fleet Sprinter, which can become unblockable naturally, are great tools, as they make sure you'll deal damage by breaking through all enemy blockers. They also trigger your commander's card draw effect, and Breeches, Brazen Plunderer's effect, which gives you extra resources.

Key to the City's ability lets you discard a card to make a creature unblockable until the end of the turn. This has an incredibly powerful synergy with your commander, as discarding cards will not only trigger its ability and other effects in this deck, but also make a creature unblockable. This way, Howler's buffs will most likely result in damage and card draw.

Wonder gives your creatures evasion, as it gives all creatures you control flying as long as there's an Island in play. This will make this deck significantly more aggressive. This type of synergy is particularly relevant considering your commander's mechanic: as Wonder makes sure your creatures will be able to deal damage rather easily, it makes this strategy a lot more consistent. After all, it will make Captain Howler draw you even more cards, and let you put even more pressure on your opponents as the match goes on.

The deck we explored above uses the best cards possible for this strategy, and a finely tuned mana base for wars of attrition.

However, it could be cheaper. Here's a budget version:

Lately, I have written many articles for One Piece TCG, and, apparently, I can't escape Pirates, not even in MTG. Today's list was quite fun to build, and will be one of my favorites for a while. It is an explosive, powerful deck that can win many matches out of nowhere.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!