Commander Deck Tech - Henzie "Toolbox" Torre & Umori, the Collector (Companion)

In today's article in the series EDH Companion Deck Guide, we have the curious ooze, Umori, the Collector, together with one of the most iconic devils from New Capenna: Henzie "Toolbox" Torre. This is an extremely aggressive deck which has as its goal knocking down your opponents in the oldest and most honest way we know in Magic: the good old beatdown.

Umori, the Collector puts us under the condition of choosing only one type of non-land permanent to build our deck, and its ability can reduce cards of this type by 1.

The type we've chosen was Creature, so, we don't have Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Three Visits, Damnation, Reanimate, and nothing of that sort. We only have creatures and lands as simple as they can be.

That doesn't mean we won't have the necessary recursion to address some issues. In this build in particular, with Henzie "Toolbox" Torre and its Blitz ability, we can wreak a lot of havoc without ever losing our breath.

Blitz is a mechanic which came around in Streets of New Capenna, in 2022, alongside Riveteers, in the Jund color combination; . Originally, Blitz refers to an alternative cost which provides Haste for the creature, and sacrifices it at the end of the turn, granting it the text "When this creature dies, draw a card".

Creatures with this ability tend to have effects when they die or when they attack, so the sacrifice at the end of the turn and the Haste it gets make sense. With that in mind, let's head over to our commander, Henzie "Toolbox" Torre.

Henzie gives creatures with a mana value of 4 or more Blitz equal to its mana value, with the exception that the Blitz in question costs 1 generic mana less for each time your Commander has left the command zone.

Considering this situation, Henzie is one of the few commanders which, the more it dies, the better it gets, as the cost reduction will increase for 2, 3, 4 and so on and so forth. But it is important to remember it is good to have control over the situation, so you avoid cases in which he becomes uncastable, costing something like 15 mana or more.

In this list, we have 64 creatures and 35 lands. We'll explain it better down below, but to sum up: the deck wins primarily through direct combat damage. There are other recursions which deal direct damage to our opponents' life points, make them lose health and even make them lose through Poison counters. The deck works well without Henzie "Toolbox" Torre on board, but it works even better with it, as Blitz will be active.

Which means, the idea is to try and keep Henzie on board at all times, and when you can't, you should manage the number of times it dies, so you lower even more your creature's costs. Removing it from the command zone two to four times would be the "ideal scenario" to reduce costs. But, besides it, we have other discounters and the like to keep the deck alive, which we'll explain now.

Mana Base and Important Lands

This deck's mana base is simple and has several non-basic lands which are forests, so they can be searched through effects which search for non-basic forests, which corrects the deck's mana colors. Otherwise, we have a very common Jund Commander mana base: Command Tower, Blood Crypt, Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag, Woodland Cemetery, etc.

Lands to Consider

Both Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth are great lands to not worry so much when it's time to cast black and/or green spells. But Urborg has another role too: as Filth is in this deck, having Urborg on board and Filth in the graveyard makes your creatures unblockable, guaranteeing direct damage. Speaking of evasion, Kessig Wolf Run also helps with that with its ability to grant Trample.

It might not look like much, but Myriad Landscape and Blighted Woodland are lands which bring a lot of value for their ramp, as the deck is completely dependent on creatures. Lastly, we have High Market to boost card draws provided by Blitz or even to keep creatures in your graveyard answering spells such as Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares and similar.

Accelerators

Reductors

Just like Henzie "Toolbox" Torre and Umori, the Collector work as cost discounters, we also use Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma and Nylea, Keen-Eyed. It is preferable that all cards listed above aren't cast using Blitz and instead should be played at their usual mana cost, even more so in Nylea's case, which for 3 mana will only create two results: either a creature in hand, or a land in the graveyard.

Goreglaw, besides being a discounter, gives the evasion of Trample, in case the opponent you're trying to beatdown has blockers.

Ramp

Working alongside Blitz, we have Primeval Herald, Rampant Rejuvenator, Seedguide Ash and Solemn Simulacrum, guaranteeing the ramp provided by these cards as soon as they resolve and fulfill their role. An interesting way to go around the Companion's effect are Adventures: Beanstalk Giant works well and can still be cast by Blitz later.

Sakura-Tribe Elder is our Rampant Growth, and both Wood Elves and Seedguide Ash search the non-basic forests mentioned before. Another advantage to these ramps is that besides, obviously, ramping, they are an extra body on board for possible blocks.

Mana Dorks

We have some mana dorks to try and play Henzie on the second turn, such as Birds of Paradise, Elves of Deep Shadow, Llanowar Elves and Ignoble Hierarch.

With them, we have one of the stars in the deck, Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea. With her and Henzie on board, depending on how much your creatures' costs have been discounted, Gwenna is capable of providing many summons in the same turn, creating a very difficult turn for your opponents.

Despite not being precisely a mana dork, but instead a very important piece in the deck, Nikya of the Old Ways is another creature which most times will be played without Blitz. Literally doubling your mana increases even more the number of possible plays, so it is worth it to stress its importance in this section.

Removals

Dealing with Creatures

We have the deck's punctual creature removals, and most work with Henzie's Blitz: Duplicant, Kogla, the Titan Ape, Kogla and Yidaro, Necron Deathmark, Noxious Gearhulk, Ravenous Chupacabra and Shriekmaw.

"Global" removals are Massacre Girl, Deathbringer Regent and Primaris Eliminator, which also use Blitz. The only removal which doesn't work with Henzie, but it still stands out, is Murderous Rider, which also comes in as a way to go around Companion with Adventure.

Dealing with Artifacts, Enchantments and Similar

All cards listed here will work with Blitz, but I would like to give an honorable mention to Foundation Breaker, which can break an artifact or enchantment for just 1 mana, and Kogla and Yidaro, which is quite versatile, and can serve for many purposes. Among them, it is possible to remove a creature and an artifact and/or enchantment, besides drawing a card, in case you do.

Woodfall Primus and Terastodon can deal even with the most problematic permanents, such as planeswalkers, or even lands (Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Gond Gate and etc).

For more critical situations, Bane of Progress can hit all but you, in most cases. Acidic Slime also deals with the lands mentioned above, and lastly, Druid of Purification can remove many problems all at once.

Graveyard Interactions

Reanimate

The spotlight here goes to Artisan of Kozilek, which Reanimates as soon as it is cast, and Orcus, Prince of Undeath - in the right situation, Orcus can even finish the match. Junji, the Midnight Sky and Phyrexian Delver also have their value, usually played for less than 5 mana. Chainer, Nightmare Adept can both Reanimate what is discarded with its ability and also something which is good to target, which is, by the way, our next topic.

Despite not being a proper Reanimate ability, Feldon of the Third Path can, for instance, target Junji or Phyrexian Delver and return something from the graveyard. Because it is very useful, it was mentioned in this part in particular.

Reanimate Targets

All cards listed so far are valid to Reanimate given the situation and what the game needs, but some stand out, and I believe Etali, Primal Conqueror is the star of the deck. Abusing its ETB effect, having access to not only one more of your spells, but also one of each opponent, is one of the keys to trying to end the game. Not to mention, we can have a situation in which we transform it and become able to kill someone with Poison counters with the Etali, Primal Sickness side.

Its old version, Etali, Primal Storm, is also quite useful, and using it only once before it dies later seems a waste of its potential. For that reason, it comes in the list of possible Reanimate targets

Alongside these dinosaurs, we have Kokusho, the Evening Star, Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant, and mainly Balor.

Balor can wreak a lot of havoc against each of your opponents, sometimes even working twice with Blitz in the same turn. Kokusho provides life gain to keep you in the game, and works well with the aforementioned Feldon of the Third Path.

Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant is a creature which has more potential on the battlefield than used only once, as it can create many blockers, which is, by the way, a weak spot for this deck: you'll be tapped almost 100% of the time.

Recovering Creatures

As if Reanimating creatures weren't enough, recovering them to your hand, be it through an effect in their summon or just by simply returning them is also something included in this list, with Eternal Witness, Timeless Witness, Genesis and Greenwarden of Murasa.

Out of the 4 listed above, 3 work with Blitz, and more particularly Genesis needs to stay in the graveyard due to its ability. That allows you, when a global removal is cast, to play Henzie in the graveyard. But when making this decision, be very careful, because an opponent can Reanimate Henzie, and, in case that happens, it will really impact the game.

Card Draw and Sacrifices

Drawing Cards

If the card draw from Blitz isn't enough, we have even more recursions to do so: Beast Whisperer, Disciple of Bolas, Grim Haruspex and Samut, Vizier of Naktamun.

We use Reliquary Tower precisely because of these cards and Henzie - there will be situations in which your hand might always be full due to these resources added to Blitz. We'll give an honorable mention to Beast Whisperer and Samut, Vizier of Naktamun, as they are engines which work with an incredible synergy in the deck.

Sacrifice Sources

Besides High Market, we have just a few sacrifice sources, considering they aren't as necessary as you'd think, but the ones we have will generate us value in some way: Ayara, Widow of the Realm can recover health and deal great amounts of damage, Kethek, Crucible Goliath makes up for the death of a creature by providing you with access to another, and Ziatora, the Incinerator can help you accelerate with your Treasures and deal direct damage to whatever is a problem, or to opponents.

It's worth stressing that Ayara's transformed side, Ayara, Widow of the Realm, is also useful for the line we have in this deck, despite exiling the creature later on.

Important Cards and other Resources

Here we have the rest of the cards with multiple roles, be it being defense, disrupting opponents, or speeding up the game a little. For instance, Radagast the Brown and Silverback Elder have similar roles, and both do them well in this build.

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed will rarely disrupt you, as we only have 2 Adventures in the deck. Tree of Perdition can guarantee a death, leaving an opponent at 13. Treeshaker Chimera removes from the opponent more blockers for the other creatures.

Kardur, Doomscourge is defensive as it prevents you from being attacked until the next turn, setting up everything right so that, when it is your turn again, everyone is completely tapped and without blockers. Mindslicer is a very sad card for the opponents, but considering that, if they don't have any cards in hand, and there aren't any answers, it isn't too high a price to pay. Filth's interaction was mentioned before, but, to remind you, that would be Filth and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

This list is entirely different from the one we presented here - this is a very unusual typal deck, focusing on Umori, The Collector's type: Oozes. It is quite "off meta", per se, but it is still worth a look.

This deck is the essence of the expression "honest fight". It has combat damage, direct damage, health loss, but it is mostly focused on playing creatures which come down ready to hit your opponents hard.

Henzie's build is extremely wide, so this was just an example. It is possible to even create a typal deck with Dragons, Hydras, or even whatever your imagination can cook up, after all, there are infinite creatures to choose for this commander and Companion combination.

Would you use another commander with Umori? Would you use Henzie without a Companion? Would you change something in this list? Share your opinion!