Captain Howler wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also works in a deck built around Life Pay Engine, Pirates or Sharks.
Mana cost
Blue, Red ()
Power / toughness5 / 4
RarityRare
Ward—, Pay 2 life.
Whenever you discard one or more cards, target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn for each card discarded this way. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player this turn, you draw a card.
Picked for what they do in Captain Howler's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Captain Howler's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryURPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, R for red. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageDiscard PayoffRewards you for discarding instead of treating it as a loss. Discarding means putting a card from your hand into your graveyard; usually that is a cost you pay, and these cards make it the point of the deck. Anje Falkenrath, Waste Not, NecrogoyfOpen the Discard Payoff pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageSaboteurTriggers when a creature deals combat damage to a player, so the reward comes from connecting rather than from the damage itself. Evasion makes these far more reliable. Ragavan, Nimble PilfererOpen the Saboteur pageLife Pay EngineCards that let you pay life instead of mana, or pay life for an extra effect, treating your life total as something to spend.Open the Life Pay Engine pageDrawDraws you extra cards. More cards means more choices every turn, and in a 100-card deck it is the main way to find the pieces you need. Rhystic Study, SkullclampOpen the Draw pageGame ChangerCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets meanProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection page
Send Us Feedback
What works, what's confusing, what you wish the site did. We read every one.
Not signed in? That is fine. We only keep what you write.
Optional. We only use it to reply to you.
Can we use Google Analytics cookies?
They show us which pages help people. No ads.
Privacy Policy
Open the full glossary
