First, I have never played Tiny Leaders and I doubt I’ll ever play it enough to have any real expertise in the format, but on the other hand, I do understand quite a bit about the game, so I can at least brew, even if I don’t really know the meta. This is my first attempt at a deck.
Hapatra is my choice of a commander (or leader) here.
As Mark Rosewater explained in his column today, designing with -1/-1 counters is much more difficult than designing with +1/+1 counters, which means that there just isn’t as many cards that use them, but there’s clearly enough for a deck.
There’s also a bunch of Infect cards that would work here nicely, but I left them out. The problem with the previous list ist that in the context of the format, these are quite expensive. Most of them cost three, so we’ll probably have to cut some of them.
Now, I don’t know if having manadumps is a good idea in this format, but I doubt it, so I’ll cut the [scryfall]Fevered Convulsions[/scryfall]. Same with [scryfall]Torture[/scryfall], even though it feels like something I’d want. [scryfall]Cartouche of Ambition[/scryfall] is also probably a bit too much. I can’t probably trigger [scryfall]Woodlurker Mimic[/scryfall] as often as I’d like, so that’s out as well. I’m not quite sure about splendid agony, but I’ll leave it in. That leaves us with 24 cards + Hapatra. Since I probably want to play 19 lands, that leaves me with room for six cards, which isn’t much.
I would like some card draw here, but I doubt that would be very good in the format, so I’ll just put in a [scryfall]Whispersilk Cloak[/scryfall] and five different cheap removal spells.
I wouldn’t mind fitting in a couple of Liliana’s, but there just isn’t room right now.
[deck]
[commander]
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
[/commander]
[creatures]
Corrosive Mentor
Devoted Druid
Dusk Urchin
Juvenile Gloomwidow
Necroskitter
Quillspike
Rendclaw Trow
Serrated Biskelion
Plague Belcher
Baleful Ammit
Festering Mummy
Channeler Initiate
Defiant Greatmaw
Exemplar of Strength
Ornery Kudu
[/creatures]
[spells]
Black Sun’s Zenith
Blowfly Infestation
Contagion Clasp
Crumbling Ashes
Fume Spitter
Grim Affliction
Nest of Scarabs
Splendid Agony
Stinging Shot
Disfigure
Fatal Push
Smother
Go for the Throat
Bile Blight
Whispersilk Cloak
[/spells]
[lands]
Blooming Marsh
Command Tower
Evolving Wilds
Terramorphic Expanse
Gilt-Leaf Palace
Golgari Rot-Farm
Hissing Quagmire
Jungle Hollow
Llanowar Wastes
Overgrown Tomb
Reflecting Pool
Temple of Malady
Twilight Mire
Verdant Catacombs
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Swamp
1 Forest
[/lands]
[/deck]
The mana is pretty awkward, especially if the format is as fast as I imagine it to be, but many of the black cards require double black, so we need quite a few black sources.
I’d leave out the taplands. They were too damn slow when we tested Tiny Leaders about a week ago. 19 lands is also a bit extensive, since you are running only one X spell. Cutting a few lands and Whispersilk Cloak (you are trying to get rid of the opponents creatures anyway and there is no Commander damage) allows you to add a couple of spells to protect Hapatra from removal – I’m maybe something like Wrap in Vigor and Heroic Intervention etc.
Whispersilk Cloak is there to enable Hapatra.
I think 19 lands is a bit borderline, but I wouldn’t want to go down. Especially, since the average CMC is probably pretty high for the format.
I thought about adding some one mana hexproof instants, but I didn’t feel its that important. Again, I haven’t really played the format ever, but I feel that I won’t have mana open in the early turns anyhow, so those spells would probably just rot in my hand, unless I can cycle them or something.