"There's Gold in Them Cards!"

     The annual Gold Rush tournament is this weekend and it behooves me to come up with a spicy werewolf brew for that particular event.  I aim to test the list below and tweak it right until the first round starts.  Here's hoping I'll strike gold with this:

     Creatures: 28
     Wolfbitten Captive - 4
     Scorned Villager - 4
     Mayor of Avabruck - 4
     Daybreak Ranger - 4
     Lambholt Elder - 2
     Immerwolf - 3
     Huntmaster of the Fells - 4
     Instigator Gang - 3

     Spells: 9
     Full Moon's Rise - 4
     Garruk Relentless - 1
     Increasing Savagery - 2
     Revenge of the Hunted - 2

     Lands: 23
     Forest - 11
     Mountain - 7
     Kessig Wolf Run - 2
     Rootbound Crag - 4

     Sideboard: 15
     Zealous Conscripts - 3
     Wolfir Silverheart - 3
     Garruk Relentless - 1
     Moonmist - 4
     Sundering Growth - 2
     Grafdigger's Cage - 2

     The idea behind this incarnation of werewolves is to play as many members of the tribe onto the battlefield, protect them with Full Moon's Rise, and then go for the alpha strike.  Naturally, a lot of damage will be incurred against other attack-based strategies but the pack can win in one massive assault so it doesn't matter if we win at one life or at twenty.  Revenge of the Hunted and Increasing Savagery are just some of the spells designed to support this strategy of swinging for lethal at the opportune time.

     Due to the proliferation of zombies and humans, I've returned Immerwolf so as to prevent the werewolves from reverting to their weaker form.  This usually happens when the opponent has cheap undead creatures to cast or two copies of Rancor in hand.  Lambholt Elder can also provide defense against Loxodon Smiters once it transforms into Silverpelt Werewolf and is terrific against red decks with its 4/5 stats.

     In the sideboard, Wolfir Silverheart can come in when the need to go over the top of smaller creatures is called for.  Zealous Conscript can steal planeswalkers about to go ultimate as well as potential blockers that might stymie the aforementioned alpha strike.  Another copy of Garruk Relentless is there for decks with Terminus and Sever the Bloodline while providing direct damage if necessary against other beatdown decks.  Moonmist is there to negate faster decks and buy enough time for the deck to implement its plan.  Sundering Growth answers Detention Sphere and possibly Runechanter's Pike.  Grafdigger's Cage is there to shut down reanimation strategies like Frites.

     The list is still pretty raw and I'll be testing the hell out of it beginning tomorrow.  It looks fun and has plenty of room for improvement.  I'd welcome any ideas and suggestions from my dear readers, if you have any.

     Thanks for reading peeps. :-)