Dina, Essence Brewer costs {1}{B}{G}. Whenever you sacrifice a creature she draws you a card, once each turn, and for {2}, a tap and another sacrificed creature she gains you X life and puts X +1/+1 counters on a creature, where X is the sacrificed creature's power. Every Pest you sacrifice is a card.
The precon already has the Pest makers and the engines, including Beledros Witherbloom, Pest Rescuer and Morbid Opportunist. Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the Dina decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in Dina decks than in decks that could play it. The precon is close to what players build, so this guide has five swaps.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Witherbloom Pestilence precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Missing sacrifice payoffs
Cauldron of Essence, Moseo, Jenova and Meren are the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out, and each turns creatures dying or being sacrificed into drain, recursion or counters.
A few cards that do not fit
Gyome, Master Chef is a Food maker that is not a card Dina decks usually play. Casualties of War costs six, and the deck already has Toxic Deluge and Final Act for sweeping the board.
A low curve that can afford better cheap cards
Only three nonland cards cost six or more, so the slots at two to four mana are where the upgrades go.
The 6 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.
Gyome, Master Chef is a 5/3 trampler for {2}{B}{G} that makes Food for each nontoken creature that entered this turn. It is not a card Dina decks usually play.
Cauldron of Essence costs {1}{B}{G}: whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life, and for {1}{B}{G}, a tap and a sacrificed creature you return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It drains for every death and recurs your best creature.
Gilded Goose is a 0/2 flier that makes Food and turns Food into mana. It is a mana creature that is played in about one Dina deck in six.
Moseo, Vein's New Dean is a 2/1 flier for {2}{B}. It creates a 1/1 Pest when it enters, and at your end step, if you gained life this turn, it returns a creature card with mana value up to the life you gained from your graveyard to the battlefield. Every Pest attack and every Dina activation brings back a creature.
Casualties of War costs {2}{B}{B}{G}{G} to destroy an artifact, a creature, an enchantment, a land and a planeswalker. It is a six-mana sorcery in a deck that already has other sweepers.
Jenova, Ancient Calamity is a 1/5 for {2}{B}{G}. At the beginning of combat on your turn she puts +1/+1 counters equal to her power on another creature, which becomes a Mutant, and when a Mutant you control dies during your turn you draw cards equal to its power. A creature that makes a sacrifice target into a card.
Witherbloom Command is a two-mana sorcery with four modes, and it is played in about one Dina deck in four.
Daemogoth Titan is an 11/10 for four hybrid mana ({B/G} four times). Whenever it attacks or blocks, you sacrifice a creature, which is a draw for Dina every turn. A huge body that feeds the sacrifice engine.
Trudge Garden makes a 4/4 Fungus Beast whenever you gain life and pay {2}. It is good if you gain life, and it is played in about one Dina deck in four.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth is a 3/4 for {2}{B}{G}. Whenever another creature you control dies she gives you an experience counter, and at your end step she returns a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield if its mana value is no more than your experience, or to your hand if not. Every sacrifice powers her recursion.
Springbloom Druid is a 1/1 for {2}{G} that sacrifices a land to fetch two basics. It is played in about one Dina deck in three.
Enduring Tenacity is a 4/3 enchantment creature for {2}{B}{B}. Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life, and when it dies it comes back as an enchantment. Dina's lifegain becomes drain, and it keeps working after it dies.
The full swap list
Cut
- Gyome, Master Chef
- Gilded Goose
- Casualties of War
- Witherbloom Command
- Trudge Garden
- Springbloom Druid
Add
- Cauldron of Essence
- Moseo, Vein's New Dean
- Jenova, Ancient Calamity
- Daemogoth Titan
- Meren of Clan Nel Toth
- Enduring Tenacity
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Beledros Witherbloom$1.36
Played in 77% of Dina decks. A flier that makes a Pest at every upkeep, which is a sacrifice for you and a body for the table. - Ophiomancer$1.13
Makes a 1/1 deathtouch Snake at every upkeep if you control none, which is a free sacrifice every turn. - Pest Rescuer$0.53
Makes a Pest at every upkeep if you control none, which is another free sacrifice. - Morbid Opportunist$0.21
Draws a card whenever creatures die, once each turn. - Toxic Deluge$5.04
Played in 78% of Dina decks. A flexible sweeper: pay only as much life as you need, and sacrifice your own creatures to Dina in response.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Savra, Queen of the Golgari$3.35
Makes each other player sacrifice a creature when you sacrifice a black creature, and gains you life for a green one. Strong, but it costs more than a budget upgrade should. - Professor Dellian Fel$4.94
A four-mana planeswalker that gains you life, draws a card or destroys a creature. - Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord$2.50
Gets +1/+1 for each creature card in your graveyard, so every sacrifice makes it bigger.
Witherbloom Pestilence is already close to what players build around Dina. Six swaps add drain, recursion and counters to every sacrifice and replace a few cards that do not fit. These six swaps cost about $21 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around Dina, Essence Brewer from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Witherbloom Pestilence precon?
Using data from 12,141 Dina decks, the highest-scoring additions are Cauldron of Essence (for Gyome, Master Chef), Moseo, Vein's New Dean (for Gilded Goose) and Jenova, Ancient Calamity (for Casualties of War). The full list has 6 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Witherbloom Pestilence?
All 6 swaps cost about $20.74 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Savra, Queen of the Golgari ($3.35), Professor Dellian Fel ($4.94) and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord ($2.50).
What should I cut from Witherbloom Pestilence?
The weakest cards for this commander are Gyome, Master Chef, Gilded Goose and Casualties of War. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Witherbloom Pestilence?
Keep Beledros Witherbloom, Ophiomancer, Pest Rescuer, Morbid Opportunist and Toxic Deluge. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Dina do?
Dina, Essence Brewer costs {1}{B}{G}. Whenever you sacrifice a creature she draws you a card, once each turn, and for {2}, a tap and another sacrificed creature she gains you X life and puts X +1/+1 counters on a creature, where X is the sacrificed creature's power. Every Pest you sacrifice is a card.
More Secrets of Strixhaven Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Dina, Essence Brewer decks (12,141 of them when this was written, 2026-10-27) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as Dina decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is moderate for most of these cards because they are played in many Golgari decks, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. A card the commander's decks do not usually play counts as 0 in the average score. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.