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Bast, Panther Goddess costs {2}{G}{W}, a 4/4 Selesnya Cat God with reach, trample, and indestructible. She cannot attack or block unless you control three or more creatures, and whenever you attack, a target attacking creature gets plus X and X, where X is the number of creatures you control. She is a Wakanda Forever alt, and read on her own she is a green-white go-wide deck that turns a full board into a single lethal swing. Her indestructible body makes her the safest target for her own buff, so a wide board plus Bast is a resilient, hard-to-block finisher.
Bast costs four mana and is a 4/4 that cannot be destroyed, has reach, and tramples. She can only fight if you have three or more creatures. On attack she makes one creature bigger by your creature count. She is a great target for her own boost because she cannot be destroyed.
The engine, wide equals damage
Bast reads your creature count and turns it into combat damage. The buff is plus X and X where X is the number of creatures you control, so every extra body raises the size of the swing. Point that buff at Bast herself and she gains her whole board as power on an indestructible trampler that cannot be chump-blocked away, since trample carries the surplus through. The three-creature clause is the price: Bast does nothing on an empty board, so the deck has to develop before it can threaten.
That makes Bast a payoff rather than an enabler. She cashes the board rather than filling it, so the ninety-nine carries the go-wide half and Bast supplies the finish. A token deck that floods the table hands her a plus ten swing by the midgame, and her reach, trample, and indestructible keep her attacking and blocking through the damage and destruction removal that answers most commanders, though exile, bounce, and sacrifice still take her off the board.
Bast turns your number of creatures into damage. More creatures means a bigger boost. Aim the boost at Bast, since she cannot be destroyed and tramples over blockers. The catch: she needs three creatures before she can attack at all, so build a board first.
The width lever
X is your creature count, so the whole build points at one number, how wide the board is when Bast swings. At three creatures, the floor to attack, the buff is plus three. At ten it is plus ten, and Bast becomes a 14/14 trampler that ends a player in two hits. At seventeen the buff alone makes her a 21/21, a single-swing commander-damage kill. The table shows the buff aimed at Bast, the most durable target.
| Creatures (X) | Buff | Bast buffed | Swings to 21 |
| 3 (the gate) | plus 3 | 7/7 | 3 |
| 5 | plus 5 | 9/9 | 3 |
| 7 | plus 7 | 11/11 | 2 |
| 10 | plus 10 | 14/14 | 2 |
Read the creature count as the damage dial. Each body is a point of buff, and because Bast tramples and cannot be destroyed, that buff turns into face damage rather than a trade. The construction takeaway is direct: token makers, cheap creatures, and anything that leaves two or more bodies behind are the engine, since the deck wins by the width of the board on the turn Bast connects. Anthem effects add to the same swing by raising the base of every attacker.
The more creatures you have, the bigger Bast's boost. At 7 creatures she becomes an 11/11 and wins in two hits; at 17 a single hit is 21 commander damage. So the whole deck is about filling the board with creatures and tokens.
The three-creature gate
Bast cannot attack or block below three creatures, which sets a real construction requirement. The deck needs enough cheap early creatures and token makers that three bodies are on the table by the time Bast lands, or she sits inert as a 4/4 that cannot even block. That argues for a low creature curve, a healthy count of one and two-drop creatures, and token makers that produce two or more at once so a single card clears the gate.
The gate also shapes the recovery plan. A board wipe drops you under three creatures and switches Bast off, even though she survives it herself. So the deck wants token producers that rebuild width quickly and a few resilient bodies, rather than one big threat that a wipe leaves stranded next to an inert goddess. Width is the payoff and the on-switch at once.
Bast needs three creatures to do anything, so run lots of cheap creatures and token makers, especially ones that make two at once. After a board wipe she turns off until you rebuild three creatures, so keep cards that refill the board fast.
The buff targets, Bast first
The attack trigger targets any attacking creature, and Bast herself is usually the best home for the buff. She is indestructible, so damage and destruction removal does not answer the boosted threat, though exile, bounce, and sacrifice still can, and she tramples, so blockers cannot eat the surplus. A trampling or double-striking attacker is the backup target when Bast is held back to block, and a creature with a combat-damage trigger turns the plus X and X into extra value. The one target to avoid is a fragile body with no evasion, since a chump block wastes a plus ten swing.
Usually put the boost on Bast, because she cannot be destroyed and tramples through blockers. A trampling or double-strike creature is a good backup. Do not boost a small creature with no evasion, since a blocker eats the whole thing.
Dead Draw Audit
Snail's method scores a card by how often it does its job and whether it earns its slot with the commander gone. Here are five cards through that lens, with the width lever deciding the close calls.
| Card | Primary job | Support in the 99 | Value without Bast | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A token maker that leaves two or more bodies | Clears the gate and raises X | Very high, every Bast swing | Good, a wide board on its own | core |
| A repeatable token engine | Rebuilds width after a wipe | High, the recovery plan | Good, ongoing value | core |
| A team-wide anthem | Adds base power to every attacker | High, scales with width | Good, buffs the team | supported |
| A cheap one-drop creature | Helps clear the three-creature gate early | Medium, matters most before turn four | Low, a small body alone | supported |
| A single big threat with no board | One body, no width | Low, does not raise X or clear the gate | Depends on its stats | situational |
The lone big threat drops to situational because it adds one to X and nothing to resilience, where a token maker adds several and helps clear the gate. The repeatable token engine climbs, since the deck's weakness is a wipe that switches Bast off, and a card that rebuilds three bodies turns her back on. Run every questioned card through job, support, solo value, and the width lever before it stays.
This grades each card by what it does and whether it helps Bast. Cards that make several creatures at once are best, because they clear her gate and boost her damage. One big creature with no board is weak, since it barely raises her boost and does not help after a wipe.
Beyond the Dead Draw Audit: the construction audit
The Dead Draw Audit scores single cards. This construction audit scores the whole ninety-nine on the width lever and its gate. The first rule is a floor on creatures and token makers, the second is a low enough curve that three bodies arrive before Bast, and the third is wipe recovery, since a board reset switches her off even though it cannot destroy her.
| Target | Count | Why |
| Creatures and token makers | 32-38 | Width is the payoff and the on-switch |
| Cards that leave two or more bodies | 10-14 | Clears the gate and rebuilds after a wipe |
| Early development cards | 12-16 | Three bodies before Bast: cheap creatures, mana dorks, token spells, artifact creatures, and body-making enchantments |
| Anthems and go-wide payoffs | 4-6 | Raises the base of every attacker |
| Interaction | 8-10 | Green-white removal and a reset of your own |
| Card advantage | 6-8 | Refills the hand so the board keeps rebuilding after a wipe |
| Protection for Bast and the board | 3-5 | Answers the exile, bounce, and sacrifice that indestructible does not stop |
| Lands (mana sources) | 36-38 | A clean Selesnya base |
| Ramp | 6-8 | Early acceleration to reach the gate and the payoff sooner |
Read the creature count and the multi-body count as one system. The creature count sets how big the buff is, and the multi-body count controls how fast you clear the three-creature gate and how well you recover from a wipe. A deck heavy on single bodies can still stall under the gate after a reset, so report two numbers when you tune the list, the total creature count and the count of cards that leave two or more bodies. The honest measure is the board width you can reach and rebuild, beyond the raw creature slots on paper.
Every revision should hold the width floor and the multi-body count first. A new creature should replace a weaker creature, and a token maker that leaves several bodies is worth more than a single large body of the same cost. Anthems help the same swing, so they support the plan, and a fragile single threat that does not clear the gate is the first cut. Bast shrugs off damage and destruction removal, so the deck spends fewer slots shielding the commander than a fragile one would, though it still wants a few answers to the exile, bounce, and sacrifice that get past indestructible.
Bast cashes the board rather than building it. Every creature is both her fuel and her on-switch.
To build Bast: run 32 to 38 creatures and token makers, with 10 to 14 cards that make two or more bodies at once, and a low curve so three creatures are down early. Anthems help too. Skip lone big threats that do not widen the board. Bast cannot be destroyed, so spend slots on creatures rather than on protecting her.
The shell, a Selesnya go-wide plan
Bast is a legal Wakanda Forever commander in green and white, and she wants a different ninety-nine from the other Wakanda faces. The T'Challa and Shuri plans count artifacts, and Storm stacks power on one commander. Bast counts creatures, so the shell is a green-white tokens and go-wide deck: token makers, cheap creatures, a few anthems, and the mana and removal the two colors give. The box's own token and monarch pieces fit her, since both reward a developed board.
The interaction and ramp carry over from any Selesnya go-wide list, so only the payoff changes. Fill the board, clear the three-creature gate early, and point the buff at the indestructible goddess, who shrugs off damage and destruction removal even when exile, bounce, or sacrifice can still answer her. Build toward the construction audit above, a deep creature count, a strong multi-body package for the gate and the wipe recovery, and enough anthems that the whole team hits harder on the turn Bast swings.
Bast wants a different deck from the other Wakanda commanders. T'Challa and Shuri want artifacts and Storm wants counters on herself. Bast wants lots of creatures and tokens. Use the box's token pieces, keep a low creature curve, and aim her boost at herself.