Overview

Swell the Host is a Simic deck of small creatures that become large ones. Ezuri, Claw of Progress gives you an experience counter whenever a creature with power 2 or less enters under your control, and at the beginning of combat on your turn it puts X +1/+1 counters on another target creature you control, where X is the number of experience counters you have. The more small creatures you play, the faster your best attacker grows.

The 99 cards are 33 creatures, 9 artifacts, 2 enchantments, 7 instants, 7 sorceries and 41 lands. Most of the creatures are small and give value, such as Elvish Visionary, Wistful Selkie, Mulldrifter, Eternal Witness, Coiling Oracle and Patagia Viper, and there are many Snakes, including Lorescale Coatl, Mystic Snake, Kaseto, Orochi Archmage, Ohran Viper and Skullwinder. Payoffs such as Prime Speaker Zegana, Overrun, Beastmaster Ascension and Novijen, Heart of Progress make the whole board better.

Key Cards

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Lorescale Coatl
Card Draw · Counters
A 2/2 for {1}{G}{U}. Whenever you draw a card, it gets a +1/+1 counter. In a deck with this much card draw, it grows every turn.
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Mystic Snake
Counterspell · Snake
A 2/2 for {1}{G}{U}{U}. It has flash, and when it enters it counters target spell. It is a counterspell and a body that also gives Ezuri an experience counter.
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Prime Speaker Zegana
Card Draw · Big Body
A 1/1 for {2}{G}{G}{U}{U}. It enters with X +1/+1 counters, where X is the greatest power among your other creatures, and when it enters you draw cards equal to its power. With a big creature already on the board, it draws a lot of cards.
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Day of the Dragons
Value · Dragons
An enchantment for {4}{U}{U}{U}. When it enters, it exiles all creatures you control and creates that many 5/5 red Dragon creature tokens with flying. When it leaves, you sacrifice the Dragons and return the exiled cards. It turns your small creatures into huge flyers and replays all their enter effects when it ends.

Playing the Deck

The early game is about mana and creatures that draw. Sol Ring, Rampant Growth, Kodama's Reach, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Simic Signet ramp you, Elvish Visionary, Wistful Selkie and Coiling Oracle replace themselves, and Experiment One and Lorescale Coatl start to grow. Ezuri, Claw of Progress begins collecting experience counters.

The middle of the game is about value and growth. Mulldrifter, Eternal Witness and Ninja of the Deep Hours draw cards, Caller of the Claw and Patagia Viper make tokens, Cold-Eyed Selkie draws on connecting, and Kaseto, Orochi Archmage makes a creature unblockable. Bident of Thassa draws cards when creatures connect.

The late game is about huge swings. Overrun, Beastmaster Ascension and Day of the Dragons power up an alpha strike, Ezuri's Predation makes a Beast to fight each opposing creature, Biomantic Mastery refills your hand, and Synthetic Destiny reveals creatures from your library. Caller of the Pack and Arbor Colossus are large threats.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: The deck has a high density of cards that replace themselves, so it rarely runs out of options, and it can grow one creature to a huge size. It also has plenty of interaction, including Mystic Snake, Rapid Hybridization, Snakeform, Krosan Grip, Desert Twister and Stingerfling Spider.

Weaknesses: Most of the creatures are small, so a sweeper hurts, and Ezuri needs to stay alive to keep its counters useful. The deck's best payoffs are expensive, and some, such as Bane of Progress, destroy your own artifacts and enchantments.

Want to improve it? See the Swell the Host upgrade guide: twelve swaps with the data behind each one.

Verdict
Swell the Host is a friendly and consistent deck with a straightforward plan. It is a good choice for players who like cheap creatures, a lot of card draw and a commander that makes one creature enormous.

Want to see what a fully optimised Ezuri, Claw of Progress build looks like? Try the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards are in the Swell the Host decklist?
The Swell the Host precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Ezuri, Claw of Progress. The full Swell the Host decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.

When was Swell the Host released?
Swell the Host was released on November 13, 2015 as part of Commander 2015.

Who is the commander of Swell the Host?
Swell the Host is led by Ezuri, Claw of Progress, a Simic (U/G) legendary creature.

How many creatures are in Swell the Host?
The 99 cards besides Ezuri, Claw of Progress include 33 creatures.

How many lands does Swell the Host have?
Swell the Host has 41 lands in the 99 cards besides Ezuri, Claw of Progress, including basic lands.

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Swell the Host precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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