Domri in Oathbreaker

Posted on November 25, 2019

We have the right to dance over the bones of our rulers. Domri Rade understood that civilization was a sickness, and the Gruul were the cure. The other guilds deserve to have their fragile houses knocked down. They broke their promises. The Guildpact dictated that the Gruul Clans would tend to the wilds of Ravnica. The sprawl of Ravnica made that impossible by bricking over everything, even the horizons. The Gruul Clans were left with nothing. Nothing but the glee of destroying the city that wronged them.

A tangle of vegetation covers the ruins of an old section of Ravnica. Fires burn in the foreground and background.

Delight in crushing everything in the new multiplayer format Oathbreaker, where instead of a legendary creature in the command zone you play a Planeswalker and their signature spell. As long as your Planeswalker is on the battlefield you can cast their spell, taxed two more each time.

Our clan leader, Domri, was not treated well in War of the Spark: Ravnica. You can imagine he might have jumped at Bolas's offer to wreck the city, but really, true punks never sell out. The travesty of Forsaken gave more context to Domri's fate. Rather than an embarrassment, it has become a badge of honor for War of the Spark to assassinate your favorite character, and it's best to shun both novels as non-canon.

This leads us back to the Rubblebelt, where boar prints crisscross and broken bricks still tremble with rage. Gather your clan and fight. For the Reunion Turf! For the Cairn of Year's March! For the Oakchar! For dead chiefs, for living friends! For all we lost and will never get again!

Domri's Friends | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

Planeswalkers (1)
1 Domri Rade

Instants (1)
1 Lightning Bolt

Enchantments (1)
1 Leyline of Abundance

To those used to Commander, this deck may appear strange. Yes, the plan is just to cast creatures and attack. Yes, that is an effective strategy in Oathbreaker, where everyone starts at twenty life, and bashing opposing Planeswalkers with combat damage will often disrupt combos. Unlike other creature decks that fear Wrath of God, Domri, Chaos Bringer can simply call more friends. Having a signature spell that roughs up opposing creatures or Planeswalkers leaves even more room in the deck for hits off Domri's -3.

Burning-Tree Shaman deals a point whenever an opponent activates a Planeswalker, and Zhur-Taa Druid can also start crumbling life totals. These cards and your aggressive stance can make you a natural enemy at the table, even though other decks may be more powerful. Use good politics to diffuse aggression. Forge an alliance by giving tokens with Varchild's War Riders. Say you're just an honest creature deck. Focus your rage against a single opponent who is playing an obviously powerful deck. Let everyone know you don't ruin. You reveal civilization for what it is. A ruin.

And if players begin attacking you, you can rib them for picking on a scrawny kid. That's what Domri is, but in the Gruul Clans he proved himself. He showed them all that there's more than one way to be strong. You can be strong in your friendships. Strong in your heart. And strong in your rage.

To gain his guildmark, Domri Rade was buried alive. His clan mates dug him up to find him gone. He returned as a Planeswalker to lead them. Not even Ruric Thar, the Unbowed could best Domri's tusked friends, though the two-headed ogre is great in a format full of Planeswalkers and signature spells. For the Gruul, there is nothing so sacred and lovely as the boar. This deck features the lively Charging War Boar and the god of destruction himself, Ilharg, the Raze-Boar.

Domri's rise was seen by a sign by Nikya of the Old Ways of the coming of the End-Raze, when Ilharg would finish what the anarchs started: the annihilation of civilization. For the Gruul, an apocalypse would not be the set-up for a dreary Young-Adult novel but a time for celebration. A pity that Nikya of the Old Ways may be too much of a risk to play in this deck, as if Domri dies you would not be able to replay him. But if that's a risk you're willing to take, go for it. And if you would like your Gruul deck to be more flavor true to Ravnica, I've included a list of cards to substitute in below.

True Gruul | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

Every Oathbreaker deck needs a few cards to destroy problem permanents like Ensnaring Bridge. Dormi, Chaos Bringer can help you find your Manglehorn or Bane of Progress. Smash the possessions possessing you. This deck is free of artifice and affectation. It includes a laughably small number of non-creature spells in the fifty-eight, only three. Lightning Bolt is the best Magic card of all time and great at killing Planeswalkers, so it gets in. Our high creature count also makes the original Domri Rade ready to rock. And Leyline of Abundance doubles the power of your mana dorks. It even boosts the already scary output of Orcish Lumberjack, but he doesn't need help to power out your Planeswalker on turn two.

Domri Rade stands before a mammoth skull, subtly lit by a small lantern.

The other clans in Ravnica, they don't want to listen, so they'll hear their towers crashing down. With your simple creature deck, break their grand plans and make monuments of their failure. Then, when the dust settles and the horizons are wonderfully clear again, scream with primal glee. In the meantime, make your own beat with hammer blows and stomping boots. Level the playing field. Cities are built on a flimsy foundation. Civilization.

You can take Domri out of the Gruul Clans, but you can't take the Gruul out of Domri. On Ixalan he would get rowdy with the dinosaurs. He's the type to ride a t-rex through the gates of Jurassic Park and devour the nearest rich tourist. Dinosaurs can get angry too, and Domri's fight ability synergizes with dinosaur enrage. Domri would respect their fury. And instead of anything that happened in War of the Spark let's imagine them together, clawed monstrosities and yelling kid, charging off into the sunset.