Gylwain, Casting Director

$0.33

Whenever Gylwain or another nontoken creature you control enters, you attach a Role token to it. Royal Role gives +1/+1 and ward {1}, Sorcerer Role gives +1/+1 and a scry 1 on each attack, and Monster Role gives +1/+1 and trample. Because every Role is an enchantment, the deck leans on enchantress payoffs. Ordinary creatures arrive bigger, harder to target or able to trample over blockers, and each one adds to your enchantment count.

In the recorded games, which were few, Ellivere of the Wild Court and Calix, Guided by Fate showed up as the main payoffs. Both reward enchanted creatures that connect, with card draw from Ellivere and copied enchantments from Calix. Beast Whisperer kept the hand full as creatures came down. Royal Role made key creatures annoying to remove, since opponents had to pay extra for each answer. The deck usually cast Gylwain early and attacked from the midgame onward. It plays as a steady value deck rather than a fast one, and it needs creatures to stick around long enough to deal combat damage.