Henzie “Toolbox” Torre Commander Deck Guide

Last updated on March 22, 2024

Henzie “Toolbox” Torre | Illustration by Johannes Voss

The Streets of New Capenna commander precons didn’t really stand out to me all that much when they came out. In truth, now that there are Commander precons every few months as opposed to once a year, they’ve become a lot less exciting than they used to be. That said, I can admit when I was wrong, and I was definitely wrong to overlook Henzie “Toolbox” Torre.

Henzie “Toolbox” Torre has an interesting ability that can make for some fun builds. Like a lot of my favorite commanders, Henzie changes how you look at certain cards, allowing for some unique uses. I think this commander is also good for newer players who may need to learn to treat their creatures a bit less preciously.

This deck specifically is built to try and hit hard and fast with some big creatures. I decided to go with a pod build, which can be a lot of fun and works well with Henzie’s ability to get creatures on the field for cheaper. If this type of deck isn’t your speed, I’ll also go over some other ways to build a Henzie deck if you’re interested.

The Deck

Archon of Cruelty | Illustration by Andrew Mar

One important thing with a pod deck is to pay attention to the mana value of your creatures. While a lot of decks can jump around on the curve, a pod deck wants to ensure they have at least one creature of each mana value going up to your highest mana value card. Otherwise, you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot when trying to use Birthing Pod or similar effects if you hit a gap in mana values.

Because Henzie “Toolbox” Torre gives your creatures blitz, this deck also includes some other methods to benefit from sacrificing them like Phyrexian Altar. If your creatures are going to die at the end of the turn anyway, you might as well get some extra utility out of them.

Alternatively, you also have Sundial of the Infinite to keep your blitz creatures out indefinitely and cards like Reanimate to bring them back after they die. This way your best creatures don’t have to be one and done.

The Commander

Henzie “Toolbox” Torre’s ability gives you the option to blitz out higher cost creatures for less than their original mana value. This ability compounds each time it’s cast, meaning you can get some pretty steep discounts later in the game.

While losing the creature at the end of the turn may seem like a big downside, it can actually make certain creatures a lot more consistent. Creatures like Etali, Primal Storm are often removed before you even benefit from their attack triggers, since you have to wait a whole turn if it doesn’t have haste. By blitzing it out, you can attack with it right away and get at least one trigger from it.

You can also use these creatures as resources in other ways before they’re sacrificed, giving you options you wouldn’t have had if they were just sitting in your hand.

Pod Effects

The main idea behind a pod deck is to sacrifice existing creatures to get one of a higher mana value. This strategy takes its name from Birthing Pod. For example Eldritch Evolution has a similar effect, but a slightly more flexible version of it.

Industrial Advancement isn’t as sure of a thing, but you can still luck into a good trade up with it. Alternatively, if you use a card like Volrath's Stronghold to put a specific creature on top of your deck, you can ensure this card works in your favor.

Riveteers Ascendancy pairs very nicely with blitz abilities. While it won’t give you a positive trade like other pod effects, it makes sure you still get a creature on the board after you’ve sacrificed one of your others. Similarly, Kethek, Crucible Goliath allows you to sacrifice a blitz creature that would die anyway and still get another creature out of it.

High Mana Creatures

When a good chunk of your strategy revolves around cheating out big creatures, you want to make sure you have some good options of what to get.

Etali, Primal Storm, Giant Adephage, and Old Gnawbone all benefit greatly from having haste, as they’ll often be removed before you get to pay off their abilities. Giant Adephage is especially nice because if you manage to make a copy, it won’t have to be sacrificed like the original.

Protean Hulk is another high mana creature that synergizes well with blitz or pod effects since its death trigger can be very powerful. This is especially true if you can then use one of the new creatures with Birthing Pod and trade back up.

Avoiding the Blitz

Pod effects are just one of the ways to get your big creatures out for cheap. Another is to find ways around blitz triggers. This way, you still get the benefit of Henzie “Toolbox” Torre’s discount without the downside.

One way to do this is to use Sundial of the Infinite to end the turn. This wipes any blitz triggers off the stack and allow you to keep your creatures.

Another way around this is to give your creatures undying with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed or persist with Cauldron of Souls. Alternatively, you have one-time effects like Malakir Rebirth that can save your blitz creatures. These cards have double use in this deck, since you can also target creatures with them before using a pod effect, allowing you to keep both creatures instead of making a trade.

Reanimation

It’s always likely that some of your best creatures are going to end up in the graveyard, and that’s especially true in a deck like this where you’ll be sacrificing a lot of them. Luckily cards like Reanimate can help to bring them back.

Cards like Breach the Multiverse and Rise of the Dark Realms can take things a step further and give you several creatures from multiple graveyards. These can be huge plays especially later in the game.

The Mana Base

Making sure you have all your colors early on is important for this deck, because you’ll want to cast Henzie “Toolbox” Torre quickly.

Dual lands like Undergrowth Stadium and Luxury Suite that come in untapped are always good options for quick mana fixing. You also have fetch lands like Bloodstained Mire which can grab any lands with basic types like Blood Crypt or Ziatora's Proving Ground.

Command Tower and Mana Confluence are also very helpful for getting any of the colors you need and are good options because they can tap right away.

Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is a handy bit of fixing for any deck with green in it. While there’s a chance that you’ll help out your opponents, I think it’s still enough of a benefit to run it.

As far as utility lands go, Boseiju, Who Endures is a very affordable bit of removal that’s hard to prevent since it’s an activated ability, not a spell. Volrath's Stronghold is extra helpful in this deck. It can help you get creatures back that you were forced to sacrifice or can help set up a specific creature to hit with a pod effect.

Because a pod deck needs to make sure it has a decent number of creatures, this deck also includes a lot of modal double faced lands. This allows you to have a good mix of spells and creatures without having to sacrifice the number of total lands.

The Strategy

Like any pod deck, your strategy revolves around sacrificing creatures in exchange for stronger ones. This can be done using Birthing Pod or similar effects from cards like Industrial Advancement.

This deck specifically gets a bit of an edge thanks to Henzie “Toolbox” Torre who can help you cheat your way up the mana curve. If you can blitz out a higher cost card at a nice discount, you can then sacrifice it for a pod effect giving you a more powerful creature than you’d normally get for the mana you spent.

You can also give your creatures effects like persist or undying thanks to Cauldron of Souls or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. These cards or cards like Malakir Rebirth allow you to sacrifice creatures for a pod effect and then keep both. Alternatively, they can help you keep your discounted creatures that you blitz out while also allowing you to draw a card when it initially dies.

Combos and Interactions

This deck does include an infinite combo that has the potential of winning you the game.

If you have Mikaeus, the Unhallowed on the field, you can use a Walking Ballista with one counter on it to destroy itself. Undying then brings the Walking Ballista back with a new counter. You can repeat this an infinite number of times. As long as you have a death trigger like Bastion of Remembrance or The Meathook Massacre that deals damage, you can use this to win the game.

Rule 0 Violations Check

Some players don’t like playing against combo decks, even when the combo is as preventable as the one in this deck. It’s worth just letting your playgroup know that you’re running this in your deck and see what their thoughts are on it. It might be worth having an extra card on hand that you can swap in for Walking Ballista.

I’d keep Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in the deck regardless because giving your blitz creatures undying is very helpful even when it isn’t being used for a combo.

Budget Options

When looking for expensive cards to cut from this deck, I’d start with The Great Henge. This card is still about $50 despite recent reprints, and while it can be helpful for this deck’s combo, it can just as easily shut down Mikaeus, the Unhallowed from protecting your blitz creatures.

Mana Confluence is another pretty expensive card. You can trade it out for a cheaper pain land like Karplusan Forest or you could use a less consistent multicolor land like Exotic Orchard.

Boseiju, Who Endures is another pretty expensive card and one you don’t need too badly in this deck. While it’s very powerful, if you aren’t trying to be super competitive it can easily just be replaced by a Forest and save you about $50.

Other Builds

Another common way to build a Henzie “Toolbox” Torre deck is by making a more standard aristocrats deck. Instead of focusing as much on pod effects, you’ll be looking for sacrifice abilities like Victimize or Braids, Arisen Nightmare.

Death triggers are another good addition to any aristocrats deck, so cards like Atsushi, the Blazing Sky can be good options. You may also want Drivnod, Carnage Dominus to help double up your death triggers.

Commanding Conclusion

Ilharg, the Raze-Boar | Illustration by Filip Burburan

I think big creature cards can be some of the most fun to play with in Magic. A deck like this one that lets you cheat them out can therefore be a good time, since you get to mess around with a lot of interesting abilities. Henzie “Toolbox” Torre is far from the only commander that lets you do this, but I think its ability is a pretty unique one and one that is fun to build around.

Are there any other pod abilities you would add to this deck? What other builds would you like to test with Henzie? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.com/Draftsim.

Thank you for reading and see you next time!