Gruul SMASH!

Faithful readers of this column know my favorite way to Magic is mono-black. But it wasn’t always that way. Way, way back in the day (think 1994), my very first deck was red and green: Llanowar Elves and Lightning Bolts for the early game, leading up to giant monsters such as my framed Force of Nature. It lived and breathed in the red zone. It really, really hated Counterspell. And goodness, was it fun.

And so, for the first time in this column, I present a deck I actually own in real life and play regularly. It’s a stack of spectacular plays, great combat, and game acceleration—the entire deck encourages people to play, attack, act—durdeling is punished.

We need to leverage our creatures to do extra work. No regular beatsticks here—everything needs to have an effect. We can’t mess around with regular creature-centric extras such as Mimic Vat and Nim Deathmantle. We have a bunch of guys who pull lands. Solemn Simulacrum makes a first entry into a deck in this column because Sad Robot is a paragon of value. Civic Wayfinder, Borderland Ranger, and Sylvan Ranger all pull lands to your hand, and Farhaven Elf, Ondu Giant, and a few others put that land directly onto the battlefield. You’re not going to ramp too hard, but you’ll hit your land drops, which is pretty important. Don’t forget to play tricks with creatures like Fertilid and Burnished Hart—activate their abilities in response to blocking, which is almost always worth it just to save some damage. I rarely think mana dorks—Llanowar Elves and their kin—are worth it in Commander. Too often, a board wipe sets you way back. However, it’s an option, and if you want to build the deck to be much faster, give them a try. (Then let me know how it goes in the comments!)

Draw is hard in this color combination even with instants and sorceries, so without them, our options are pretty limited. Elvish Visionary is the weakest choice, but it’s a cheap body that replaces itself. Garruk's Packleader and Drumhunter both shine, as we’ll rarely not have a creature of the necessary power—there have been games in which I’ve drawn ten cards off one of these. Citanul Woodreaders gives an extra two, and Masked Admirers is a card I want to run four of—it’s that good. Soul of the Harvest can be absurd. Bloodbraid Elf gives us a card, and the body it comes with makes it great value. Eternal Witness isn’t draw, but it recovers one of our guys for another go-around, which can be game-breaking.

. . . Which they do by answering all the things. Indrik Stomphowler and its little sister Reclamation Sage are real all-stars, and with Acidic Slime and Mold Shambler, they ensure artifacts and enchantments are unlikely to cause too much trouble. Bane of Progress is a real issue for decks relying on too many artifacts. Flametongue Kavu (FTK for short), Spitebellows, and Bloodfire Colossus all kill creatures pretty dead, with the Colossus acting almost as a Wrath effect. We can evoke Spitebellows without hitting ourselves for 6, too, because it’s still a creature spell. Silklash Spider does a good job of keeping the skies clear, which can be an issue for our deck—someone with an active Luminarch Ascension is going to be a problem for us. Of course, Polis Crusher can take care of that Ascension, too.

Wrecking Ogre on Ruric Thar comes really close to making a dead opponent. Combine it with Xenagos or Kessig Wolf Run to take it over the top. (Also, bloodrush isn’t a spell—it’s an effect that occurs on a discard, so it won’t trigger Ruric Thar’s ability!) Wolfir Silverheart is just quality, being an 8/8 for 5 all by itself and turning any random dude into a formidable threat. Huntmaster of the Fells was great in Limited and Constructed during Innistrad, and it’s no different here, throwing damage around and making dudes like crazy. Felhide Spiritbinder is too much fun to pass up. Copying just about anything of ours is already great, but it’s even more fun when someone has, say, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon. Copy that, target it with bloodrush, Xenagos, or Kessig Wolf Run, and make an opponent taste his or her own poison. Both modes on Brutalizer Exarch are good—search up a threat or an answer or get rid of a thing causing trouble. Don’t ignore Skarrg Guildmage—both abilities are pretty awesome, letting us up the number of attackers we have and give everything trample.

Finally, our off-theme card is a doozy: Primal Surge. It’s 10 mana, sure, but play it, and we literally turn what’s left of our library upside-down onto the table. We should have enough haste enablers to insure we can attack with everything that turn. No matter what, if that spell resolves, the game is over for us, either in spectacular victory or in an opportunity to grab a slice of pizza and watch the rest of the game.

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed ? Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (57)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Anger
• 1 Archetype of Aggression
• 1 Archetype of Endurance
• 1 Bane of Progress
• 1 Bloodbraid Elf
• 1 Bloodfire Colossus
• 1 Borderland Ranger
• 1 Brutalizer Exarch
• 1 Citanul Woodreaders
• 1 Civic Wayfinder
• 1 Cyclops of Eternal Fury
• 1 Drumhunter
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Farhaven Elf
• 1 Felhide Spiritbinder
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Flametongue Kavu
• 1 Garruk's Horde
• 1 Garruk's Packleader
• 1 Gatecreeper Vine
• 1 Generator Servant
• 1 Genesis Hydra
• 1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
• 1 Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1 Hellraiser Goblin
• 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
• 1 Indrik Stomphowler
• 1 Krosan Tusker
• 1 Lightning Mauler
• 1 Manic Vandal
• 1 Masked Admirers
• 1 Mold Shambler
• 1 Ondu Giant
• 1 Polis Crusher
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Rubblehulk
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Silklash Spider
• 1 Skarrg Goliath
• 1 Skarrg Guildmage
• 1 Soul of the Harvest
• 1 Spitebellows
• 1 Sylvan Ranger
• 1 Terastodon
• 1 Vastwood Hydra
• 1 Verduran Emissary
• 1 Viridian Emissary
• 1 Wolfir Silverheart
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Wrecking Ogre
• 1 Yavimaya Elder
• 1 Zhur-Taa Swine
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Xenagos, God of Revels

• Spells (1)
• 1 Primal Surge

• Lands (41)
• 5 Mountain
• 9 Forest
• 1 Encroaching Wastes
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Forgotten Cave
• 1 Gruul Guildgate
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Jund Panorama
• 1 Kazandu Refuge
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Khalni Garden
• 1 Mossfire Valley
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Naya Panorama
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Raging Ravine
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Shivan Oasis
• 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1 Slippery Karst
• 1 Smoldering Crater
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terrain Generator
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Treetop Village

Buy This Deck

There are a couple of really cool things about this deck. The first is that Ruric Thar himself is awesome to have out, but if he’s not out, the deck still works. Second, it kind of flies under the radar until things suddenly grow big and really threatening—everyone’s focusing on the player clearly building a combo, and suddenly, every spell he or she casts costs 6 life. Play Ruric Thar as soon as you can, and own your attacks—no rolling a die to decide. We’re beating face here, so let’s be honest about it.

There are also a couple of tweaks you could make to change the direction of the deck. If you care a little less about staying right on theme, you could add Avatar of Slaughter along with enchantments like War's Toll, which force attacks and really speed the game along. If you want to go a bit more all-in on this strategy and are worried less about answers, Ogre Battledriver over something like FTK would be reasonable.

I’d love it if anyone has a suggestion—on-theme, of course—which would help this deck push the game along even more. What creatures will make the table play fair Magic?

Play dudes, and crash in. Sounds like a great game. Bear in mind, however, that I do not condone or endorse flipping the table after a triumphant win.

Total cost: $75.00