Spooky Season | Building Your Dwight o'Lantern Commander Deck

Yes, you can finally build your Commander deck around Dwight Schrute thanks to the 2025 Halloween Secret Lair. Creepy, creepy scarecrow man Reaper King is now Dwight o'Lantern and he is one of Magic: The Gathering’s more unique commanders. With access to all five colors and a powerful triggered ability that destroys any permanent when a Scarecrow enters the battlefield, this deck thrives on tribal synergy, blink effects, and clever recursion.

Want to dominate the board as the assistant to the regional manager? Here's how to build and pilot a Dwight o'Lantern deck across all phases of the game.

Early Game Strategy: Ramp and Setup

In the early turns, your goal is to establish a strong mana base and prepare for Dwight o'Lantern’s drop. Since the deck runs five colors, fixing is necessary to make sure you start on a solid footing.

• Prioritize mana rocks like Chromatic Lantern, Farseek, and Arcane Signet to smooth out your colors.

• Play low-cost Scarecrows such as Scuttlemutt and Heap Doll to start building board presence and set up future triggers.

• Use tutors or draw spells to find Dwight o'Lantern or key combo pieces.

  
  

Getting Dwight o'Lantern out early can be game-changing, especially if you follow up with a flurry of Scarecrows to start removing threats.

Mid Game Strategy: Blink, Recursion, and Board Control

Once your commander hits the battlefield, the deck shifts into control mode. Every Scarecrow becomes a targeted removal spell, and blink effects multiply your triggers, allowing you to effectively clear the board.

• Use cards like Ghostway, Ephemerate, and Flickerwisp to blink Scarecrows and retrigger Dwight o'Lantern’s ability.

• Leverage recursion tools like Scarecrone and Phyrexian Reclamation to bring back destroyed or sacrificed Scarecrows.

• Maintain pressure by removing key permanents and protecting your board with counterspells or hexproof effects.

  
  

This phase is all about value and tempo. You want to keep your opponents off balance while building toward your win conditions.

Late Game Strategy: Combo and Finishers

In the late game, Dwight o'Lantern decks often pivot to combo finishes or overwhelming board states.

• Assemble loops with Ashnod's Altar, Scarecrone, and blink spells to generate infinite triggers.

• Use Kindred Summons or Rise of the Dark Realms to flood the board with Scarecrows and other creatures.

• Finish with mass destruction or alternate win conditions like Door to Nothingness or Coalition Victory, which are easier to achieve in a five-color shell.

  
  

By this stage, your opponents will struggle to keep anything on the board or flip the table entirely. Your goal is to close out the game before they can recover.

Five Must-Include Cards

Here are five essential cards that elevate any Dwight o'Lantern deck:

Scarecrone

Scarecrone is the engine of the deck. It’s a Scarecrow itself, so it triggers Dwight o'Lantern’s destruction ability when it enters the battlefield. But more importantly, it offers repeatable recursion for other Scarecrows and card draw when you sacrifice one.

Scuttlemutt

Scuttlemutt is a three-mana Scarecrow that fixes mana and can change a creature’s color. That second ability is deceptively powerful in a five-color deck, especially with cards that care about color identity.

Kindred Summons

A tribal explosion. With Dwight o'Lantern on the field and a few Scarecrows already in play, Kindred Summons can flood your board with even more Scarecrows, each triggering a permanent destruction.

Ghostway

Ghostway is a blink spell that exiles all your creatures and returns them at end of turn. In a Dwight o'Lantern deck, this means every Scarecrow re-enters, retriggering the commander’s ability and dodging board wipes.

Maskwood Nexus

Maskwood Nexus turns every creature into a Scarecrow, instantly supercharging Dwight o'Lantern’s ability. It also creates Scarecrow tokens, giving you repeatable triggers and board presence.

These 5 cards offer consistency, synergy, and explosive potential across all phases of the game.

Is a Dwight o'lantern commander deck right for you?

Dwight o'Lantern (or Reaper King) offers one of the most flavorful decks in Commander. With access to all five colors, a built-in removal engine, and deep tribal synergy, this deck rewards players who love clever sequencing, blink combos, and a bit of pop culture flair.

You have your options too. Looping Scarecrows with Scarecrone, flooding the board with Kindred Summons, or turning every creature into a threat with Maskwood Nexus sets up a deck that thrives on layered interactions and explosive turns. It's a build that can pivot between control, combo, and tribal aggression depending on your meta and playstyle. For players who enjoy strategic depth wrapped in spooky charm, Dwight o'Lantern is a commander that delivers both spectacle and substance.

And as always, all cards here can be picked up from our friends at TCG Player!.