Hello awesome folks! I hope that your day is going as awesomely as you are! I love the Ape and Monkey tribes. I already built a Five Color Ape deck around Morophon, the Boundless here - Morophon's Rise of the Apes | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com).

And now that Jumpstart (2022) has given us an actual proper Ape and Mokey tribal leader for the Command Zone, I am quite the happy little primate.

Let me show you who we are building around:

This is Kibo. Our Monkey Noble is a 2/2 for three mana with three abilities. The first is that he can tap and give everyone a Banana, which is an artifact token that doesn't need mana to crack, and is a super Food that gives two life and a mana. Then he has two triggered abilities. The first is to give a +1/+1 counter to all Apes and Monkeys you control when an opposing artifact dies. Then the second is when Kibo swings, to force the attacked player to sacrifice an artifact. So, you are giving away things to everyone, which pump your primate team, and then pushing them to sacrifice with your attack trigger. Nice little trio that plays well together. This mythic rare is also pretty expensive on the secondary market and is a popular option for Commander as well with already 367 decks registered over at EDHREC.com. That's a nice built-up canon already.

Note that the EDHREC basic decklist is just Ape/Monkey tribal, but we are in a color (Red) that synergizes with the second ability, so I am leaning into those mechanics that don't show up in the EDHREC list.

Let's do a deep dive into some cards, and then turn to the decklist proper.

Apes and Monkeys That Are Cool

Let's start with fun Apes and Monkeys! The Gibbon was just printed in Jumpstart (2022) as well as Kibo whom I am building around and having some fun with. This four-drop X/4 with reach has power equal to your biggest mana value dork, so that will count himself, so he'll be a 4/4 minimum with the ability to scale up over time. The Chieftain can spend five mana and give any dork +2/+2 and trample for the turn, which is a nice mana sink later and a nice boost of power and trample is really strong with the growing size of your army over time.

Simian Sling is a one-drop 1/1 Monkey that is also equipment that can attach for two to pump up a key dork. Then when it swings and is blocked, it shoots the defender for a damage. It's very strong here, and you'll see another reason it's here next. Plus, a one-drop that comes down before Kibo can get pumped pretty quickly. Gorilla Titan is a five-drop 4/4 with trample, and then gets pumped if there are no cards in the graveyard. It's fine as-is since the 4/4 with counters and trample can really push a table around. I am also running the delving Hooting Mandrills in case you want to exile your graveyard and pump it up big time out of nowhere.

Synergies and Win-Cons

Now let's turn to synergies and win-cons. Jolene is a four-drop 2/2 that is not an Ape or a Monkey but is key here. What if your foes don't control any artifacts to trigger Kibo and your pumping? Whenever anyone attacks your foes, they'll make a Treasure. That way they can get artifacts just by doing things naturally. You'll net Treasures this way too, but just one per combat. You can also get two Treasures from her second ability from any Treasure making you might be doing. Then you can sacrifice five Treasures to pump her by +5/+5 counters which synergizes with your deck, but I think we can find better things to do with them enter the Trader.

The two-drop Goblin can tap to give away any artifact, land, or dork you control. Therefore, you can tap it to give away Jolene's Treasure to then trigger Kibo when he swings at the person who now has an artifact. That's also why I am running the Sling, and artifact shapeshifters like Universal Automaton to break in case of emergency. I also have tossed in Harmless Offering as another way to give an artifact to someone for the triggering.

Check out this pair. On arrival to the battlefield, the Horse will enter under a foe's control, and is an 0/4 artifact defender. Then it will give all foes a nice 1/1 Soldier each upkeep of the controller so you can build up an army and then force them to sacrifice it and get a trigger if you need. The Coating is awesome since it's a two-drop that taps to give any thing artifact status for the turn, so you can just tap it to give a foe a key artifact then attack with Kibo and force them to trigger it all day long. I also am running the mana rock Liquimetal Torque that can do the same thing in mana rock form.

Thran Forge is a three-drop (two to activate) artifact that pumps a dork with a power and becomes an artifact. That way you can give your foe's multiple artifacts over time by use of mana, as well as just pumping your stuff into a creature kill or as a combat trick. Realmwalker is a three-drop 2/3 with changeling so it's both an Ape and a Monkey. On arrival to the battlefield, you choose a creature type and then cast that type from the top of your library, so choose Ape.

Check out this pair of game winners. Grunn is a six-drop 5/5 and when he swings alone, he becomes a 10/10. If you pumped up his power and toughness with counters from Kibo, that could easily be an 8/8 attacking into a 16/16. If you kicked it, that's a base 20/20 at least, which is pretty game winning. Then the Cage is a five-drop artifact. Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under anyone's control, crack the Cage and make that many 2/2 Monkey tokens under your control equal to the mana count in said cracking. All of them will get encountered by Kibo.

The Nexus will turn all my stuff into Apes and Monkeys as needed by giving them changeling. That's very strong for pumping my Soldier tokens from the Horse or the support stuff. Then you can tap this and three mana and make a 2/2 changeling dork. It's very strong here. The Rhythm is a three-drop Gruul enchantment that keeps your dorks from getting countered and also gives your non-tokens riot. That will usually give them haste for free swings or taps on arrival, but it could be just a +1/+1 counter instead in case you aren't attacking with them now. Haste here is very important, and I am also running Fires of Yavimaya as well to give the entire team haste including tokens.

The Mauler is a three-drop 2/2 changeling to be both tribes. As your foes cast spells of any sort then toss a counter of the +1/+1 persuasion onto this guy, which builds up over time and adds to my counter and beater maker infrastructure quite ably since it will also grow as a tribal boost from Kibo. The Colossus is a four-drop 4/4 with the key word changeling. It can block anything Black that comes its way without taking damage and can swing into any Black defender without getting blocked. Also note that cool instant ability to double like Grunn when it attacks and this can be done as many times as you have mana for a massive dork, and remember this also gains Kibo counters, with multiple doubling possibilities. Nasty pair.

Card Flow

Now let's turn to some card flow options besides the obvious Harmonize or Hunter's Prowess. The Revel is amazing here. It's an uncommon enchantment that will draw a card whenever a foe's artifact dies. Consider how strong that is in the Commander modern metagame against multiple players. Treasures? Powerstones? Clues? Food? Bananas? That's just strong normally, and when your Kibo swings, then draw a card in addition to the pumps. Nasty. People will sacrifice their Treasures when this is on the stack. The Primal Hunter version of Garruk costs five mana and only has a smaller 3 loyalty. But he can +1 to make a powerful 3/3 Beast token that can be an Ape in this deck. Then you can -3 him to draw equal to the highest power on your side of the battlefield. Nasty card flow duo.

Check out this pair of flavorful and powerful card flow. The Monkey is a one drop 2/1 that is very pricey on the secondary market as it dominates Modern. But we are on theme here. When it punches a foe's face, you make a Treasure to give away or use, two with Jolene. Then you exile the top card of your foe's library and can cast it this turn, so there is your card flow over time. It also has dash to swing out of nowhere, but you'll want to keep it down to grow it over time. The Instant is a three-cost card that draws you a card for each +1/+1 countered dork you control. That's very likely to refill your hand in this brew. Then you can give them indestructible, so it's an answer to mass removal or targeted removal or just a combat trick. I am also running Heroic Intervention to save your stuff. Nice group.

Answers

Now let's turn to answers, in addition to the obvious Beast Within. Let's start with Primitive Justice and Silverback Elder.

The Justice is Shatter that you can pay two Green or two Red mana in addition as much as you want to destroy as many artifacts as you have mana. This is great and can get you multiple triggers for Kibo and your tribe. You can also net some life here. The Ape can be a bit harder on your mana, but features a nice 5/7 body with a creature cast trigger. Nice here as you can trigger Kibo over and over again or hit enchantments that really need to go. You can also gain four life or ramp a land from the top five cards of your library. Any works in various circumstances, but it's here for that removal.

Check out the one-drop that has been referred to as "Mox Monkey" and has made many a Vintage deck. This has an activated cost that starts with one mana and then double X, where X is the about to be destroyed non-creature artifact's mana value. So that's one to destroy a Treasure, Clue, Banana, etc. that your foe controls, three for their Sol Ring, or Skullclamp, five for their Lightning Greaves, and so forth. It can be used on arrival to the battlefield and multiple times a turn. The Baboons are a four-drop 2/2 that can destroy any non-basics on arrival to the battlefield like your foe's key Academy Ruins, Volrath's Stronghold, High Market, or other key cards in their deck that they hide in their harder to interact with land base. Well now you have an answer right here.

Since we really benefit from the removal of artifacts from our opposing battlefield, I tossed in the overloading sorcery. For one mana destroy one opposing artifact for one trigger of Kibo. For five mana, destroy all opposing of your foes and get countless Kibo triggers. That'll be a giant team with those counters. I think you might win that game. Kogla is a six-mana 7/6 Ape. On arrival to the battlefield, you fight an opposing dork, so you'll likely kill it. I like Kogla killing an opposing Commander, but there are tons of killable things in multiplayer games. Then when it swings, you can destroy an artifact or enchantment that person controls, so he is a backup Kibo in case you need the bumping. Also note that he can return a changeling or anything with the Nexus to give himself indestructible for the turn. That's a cool combo with ETB abilities of your Apes like Ravenous Baboons.

Ramp, Rocks, Lands

Now let's turn to mana, rocks, and lands. The Eye is a flying, three-drop, colorless artifact dork of 1/1 size that fetches a basic land on arrival and puts it into your hand. This is here to be given away to a foe after you got the land, and then sacrificed or destroyed for a Commander Trigger. I also am running Solemn Simulacrum which ramps you too, and in this case your foes probably won't mind the death trigger since they'll get a card from it. The sorcery is a one cost with two options, you can Lay of the Land and get any basic to your hand or Prey Upon and fight, either way works for us.

Bucknard's Everfull Purse is a two-drop artifact that can be tapped for a mana and make you 1d4 Treasures before being given away to the next person to your right. Also note that those Treasures can be given away. And they are likely to toss the die and make the Treasures as well. Don't forget this synergy with Jolene. Marching Duodrone is a 2/2 for two-mana artifact dork. When it swings, everyone makes a Treasure token, again giving the good stuff to all for the cracking for Kibo's fun times. Drop this turn 2, drop Kibo turn three, attack and give everyone a Treasure token, and then you can attack with Kibo on turn four a player with a Treasure to pump your four drop you just cast, (or a five-drop like Gorilla Titan if you sacrificed your Treasure.)

Now let's turn to lands. The Village is an uncommon that can turn into a trampling 3/3 Ape for two mana. Activate this and give it your counters from Kibo to turn it into a game winner since you'll keep the +1/+1 counters even when it's just a land. I also tossed in Mutavault that has both tribes, and can be pumped, but lacks trample to break through. Since we have a Commander that wants to attack to do its thing, I tossed in Rogue's Passage for you to give unblockable to Commander, or perhaps Grunn or Ragavan that also have combat benefits. I also tossed in Access Tunnel for smaller stuff like an early Commander or Ragavan.

Check out this pair that taps for Green. The legendary one doesn't arrive tapped so there is no tempo loss here. It's being run for that channel for no more than two mana to destroy a non-basic land, artifact or enchantment that your foe controls, so it's another Shatter and Kibo trigger in your mana base. The Thicket can cycle for two, and arrives tapped, and taps for both of your colors. It's also both land types, so it's fetchable with stuff like Three Visits. I am also running all of dual lands that aren't named "Taiga" here for that purpose.

These two colorless lands arrive untapped, tap for colorless, and can be sacrificed. The Vault is an artifact land that can be tapped for double X, sacrificed, and make X Treasures. That's a lot, and you can give them away with the Trader or just use them yourself for the mana making. I also am running Powerstone-maker Hall of Tagsin for ramping or giving away. The Grounds is four to sacrifice and exiles all graveyards at instant speed. That is a great answer to any opposing graveyard abuse, and you can use it to grow Gorilla Titan at instant speed. Love it here.

Ready for the decklist?

Kibo's Monkeys | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Kibo, Uktabi Prince

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Akroan Horse
• 1 Ancient Silverback
• 1 Bazaar Trader
• 1 Bloodline Pretender
• 1 Chameleon Colossus
• 1 Ferocious Tigorilla
• 1 Gorilla Chieftain
• 1 Gorilla Shaman
• 1 Gorilla Titan
• 1 Grunn, the Lonely King
• 1 Hooting Mandrills
• 1 Jolene, the Plunder Queen
• 1 Kird Chieftain
• 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1 Marching Duodrone
• 1 Masked Vandal
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
• 1 Ravenous Baboons
• 1 Realmwalker
• 1 Silverback Elder
• 1 Silverback Shaman
• 1 Simian Grunts
• 1 Simian Sling
• 1 Simian Simulacrum
• 1 Simian Spirit Guide
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Taurean Mauler
• 1 Towering Gibbon
• 1 Uktabi Orangutan
• 1 Universal Automaton
• 1 Yavimaya Steelcrusher

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

• Instants (4)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Inspiring Call
• 1 Return of the Wildspeaker

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Bushwhack
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Harmless Offering
• 1 Harmonize
• 1 Hunter's Prowess
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Primitive Justice
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Three Visits
• 1 Vandalblast

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Fires of Yavimaya
• 1 Rhythm of the Wild
• 1 Viridian Revel

• Artifacts (7)
• 1 Bucknard's Everfull Purse
• 1 Liquimetal Coating
• 1 Liquimetal Torque
• 1 Maskwood Nexus
• 1 Monkey Cage
• 1 Pendant of Prosperity
• 1 Thran Forge

• Lands (39)
• 8 Forest
• 6 Mountain
• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Blighted Woodland
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Game Trail
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Hall of Tagsin
• 1 Highland Forest
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Mutavault
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Rockfall Vale
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Sheltered Thicket
• 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Treasure Vault
• 1 Treetop Village
• 1 War Room
• 1 Wooded Ridgeline

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Other cards you could add include the massive price tag Cavern of Souls when I already tossed in Ragavan, the flavorful Tooth and Nail, another big price tag in Doubling Season, Tree Monkey to block flyers, Zodiac Monkey to get unblockage with Forestwalk, Summit Apes, Kindred Summons, Primal Rage, Herald's Horn, Steely Resolve, Obelisk of Urd, Riptide Replicator, Appetite for the Unnatural, Gargantuan Gorilla, Wily Bandar to get a big and potentially indestructible dork, Metallic Mimic, or loads more! I hope you enjoyed my take on Kibo. What did I miss or what do you like here? Just let me know!