Commander legends:Battle for Baldurs gate spoiler season is still churning out some really fun commanders, once spoiler season is finished a set review will be on its way. But when I saw this commander, I knew I had to do a deck tech, it’s mana dork tribal, I sort of had too right? As ever the full deck list can be found on moxfield where I post all my deck lists. The deck list can be found here
The commander
Raggadragga, Goreguts boss is a 4/4 legendary human boar for 2, a red and a green. This commander is about as gruul as gruul can be. He reads: Each creature you control with a mana ability gets +2/+2. Whenever a creature you control with a mana ability attacks, untap it. Whenever you cast a spell, if at least seven mana was spent to cast it, untap target creature, it gets +7/+7 and trample until end of turn.
So we have a commander that cares about mana dorks in the rampiest colours. It also incentives big spells and attacking. So we have a bunch of Mana Dorks, we have a bunch of big creatures and X spells and we also have stuff that turns all our stuff in mana dorks too. We want to hit hard and fast so we want some haste enablers too. The game plan is all about hitting curve early and getting into big stompy spells really quickly. Let’s get into it.
Big Dork energy
Let’s talk mana dorks, this deck runs 20 of them. A mana dork is usually a 1/1 that taps for mana but in this deck we can make it so much more. Any creature with mana ability and there are some great cards we have access too.
If you haven’t come across the term mana ability before it is defined as an activated or triggered ability that doesn’t target and can add mana to your mana pool.
we have the usual 1 drops in llanowar elves, fyndhorn elves and birds of paradise. These are just great value and there isnt really much to say about them but we should make special mention of Zhur-taa Druid a 1/1 for a red and a green that taps for green but also pings each opponent for 1 when we do.
We also have access to big mana dorks like Grand warlord Radha, Neheb, the eternal and Neheb, Dreadhorde champion. These are beefier cards that want to attack, and they will benefit for Raggadragga’s anthem effect
Grand warlord Radha is a 3/4 legendary elf warrior with haste for 2 a red and a green. Radha adds red and or green in any combination equal to the amount of creatures attacking, which we don’t lose when phases end. This can help us get to our bigger spells in our second main phase. Also lets talk about how this scales With our commander out, she becomes a 5/6 with haste with pseudo vigilance. So you can swing out and have a relevant blocker for any crack back you might incur from your swing.
Neheb, the Eternal is a 4/6 (6/8 with our commander out) legendary zombie minotaur warrior for 3 and 2 red, it has Afflict 3, which means that if he is blocked the defending player still loses 3 life, and he generates a red mana in our post combat phase, for each 1 life our opponents have lost. Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion, is a 5/4 trampler for 2 and 2 red that lets us loot if we deal combat damage and add more red mana to our mana pool for each card discarded. Again with the pseudo vigilance effect from our commander these become really big blockers for our opponents turns.
Klothys, God of Destiny, is a 4/5 indestructible god, we do need to get to 7 green and or red pips on the board but that isn’t going to be difficult. It also has some built in graveyard hate which can be important so shouldn’t be overlooked. Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient works so well in this deck. It is a 4/4 legendary dragon with flying and haste for 5 and a red and a green. When it attacks we add X mana in any combination of colours equal to the total power of attacking creatures. That is at least 6 mana with out commander out, which means you’ve paid a single mana for a 6/6 flyer with haste and pseudo vigilance. And let’s not ignore the fact that it’s a 7 mana spell, bring this thing out you can pump another dork and give it trample so actually the mana your going to be generating is going to be at least 15 post combat.
One last mana dork to discuss is Selvala, heart of the Wilds. A 2/3 Elf scout for 1 and 2 green that we can tap it along with a green source to generate mana in any combination equal to the greatest power amongst creatures we control, we can also pretty reliably draw a card from her first ability which reads: whenever another creature enters the battlefield, it’s controller may draw a card if it’s power is greater then each other creature on the battlefield.
Maximum Dorks
Not only do we have a surplus of mana dorks in this deck we have a few ways to give the creatures with out mana abilities aana ability.
Cryptolith rites is an echantment for 1 and a green that gives all our creatures a tap ability to add a mana of any colour. Citanul heirophants is a druid for 3 and a green that gives all of our creatures a tap ability that adds green to our mana pool and lastly we have Ashaya, soul of the wild a */* elemental for 3 and 2 green. It’s power and toughness is equal to the number of lands we control, but that’s not all, it turns all our creatures into forests in addition to their other types, which means they all now have the same mana abilities as forests.
Big spells
So we have all this mana, what are going to spend it on? We have a bunch of expensive spells that usually wouldn’t be viable in a deck, but this deck really wants us to play spells that cost more then 7 mana to really take advantage of our dorks.
Architype of endurance is a 6/5 enchantment creature boar that costs 6 and 2 green that not only gives everything we have on the board hexproof but also removes hexproof from our opponents creatures and prevents them from getting it again.
A new card from streets of New Capenna, Titan of Industry, is a 7/7 element with trample and reach. It’s also a bit of a Swiss army knife, when it enters the battlefield we can choose two from; destroying an artifact or enchantment, having target player gaining 5 life, creating a 4/4 rhino token or putting a shield counter on a creature. This gives us removal and protection on a big body and of we need to create another creature or buff our life total then we can do that too.
One of my favourite magic characters got a new card in Commander legends.Kamahl,Heart of Krosa is a 5/5 legendary human druid for 6 and 2 green that pumps our guys at the beginning of combat by giving all our creatures +3/+3 and trample. If that wasn’t enough we can turn a land into a creature and because it’s a creature that’s also a land, it’s a creature with a mana ability that’s also going to get the benefits from our commander.
Not all of our big spells are big creatures, Turntimber Symbiosis is a sorcery that costs 4 and 3 green. It lets us look at the top seven cards of our library and put a creature card from among the seven directly on the battlefield, if it has a mana value 3 or less then it enters with 3 additional +3/+3 counters on it. This card is great because we can get the untap and pump effect from our commander, we get a creature and if need it in the early game it has a land on the back.
X marks the spot
We can really take advantage of spells that have X in their mana costs in this deck, it gives us versatility in the early game and a big old mana sink in the late game, which again, if put enough into, will trigger the pump effect of our commander.
First up, we have some creatures that can get out of hand quickly. Stonecoil serpant is a 0/0 snake with reach, trample and protection from multicoloured for X,it enters with +1/+1 counters equal to how much mana we spent to cast it. Apocalypse Hydra is a 0/0 hydra for X a red and a green, it enters with X +1/+1 counters on where X is the additional mana we spent to cast it and if X is 5 or greater it enters with an additional X +1/+1 counters. That’s not all, we can pay 1 and a red to remove a counter and deal 1 damage to any target. Steelbane Hydra is a 0/0 turtle hydra for X and 2 green, it enters with +1/+1 counters equal to X. We can also pay 2 and a green and remove a counter to destroy target artifact or enchantment.
Commune with lava is a sorcery that costs XX and red (we have to pay X twice for the effect so paying 2 gets us 1) that exiles the top X cards from the top of our library and we can play them until the end of our next turn. This can definitely help get us ahead of our opponents or even dig for answers if a board wipe comes our way. It’s an instant so we can also use it as a combat trick if we need to untap a creature as a blocker.
One of my favourite cards from Strixhaven is Crackle with Power, which is a sorcery that costs XXX and 2 red, it’s very expensive but is an absolute finisher, it deals 5 times X damage to each of up to X targets. If you can sink 15 mana into your dealing 15 damage up to 15 things and untapping and pumping a guy after for a big a swing
Gotta go fast
One of the things this deck benefits from, is being able to get ahead quicker then everyone else, and that includes card draw and damaging our opponents.
First up we have haste enablers in the form of 2 enchantments Rhythm of the wild and Fires of Yavimaya. Both cards cost 1 a red and a green.
Rhythm of the wild prevents our creatures from ever getting countered and gives them all Riot, a mechanic that lets you choose haste or a +1/+1 counter on a creature when it enters the battlefield. Fires of yavimaya is a straight haste enabler but we can sacrifice it to pump a guy should it ever get targeted by our opponents.
We are also running Anger in this deck, which we want in the graveyard because when it is and if we control a mountain, all our creatures get haste. This is really hard to interact with because once it’s in the graveyard our opponents will need to either remove it from the graveyard or remove all our mountains. Not an easy thing to do
A deck like this needs to see as many cards as possible and whilst we do have access to the looting effect from Neheb, Dreadhorde champion and card draw fromSelvala, heart of the Wilds. We will need to run some more to get things going.
Colossal majesty is an enchantment that costs 2 and a green that lets us draw an extra card on our upkeep if we have a creature with power 4 or greater, which we reliably have on the board. Beast Whisperer and Gaurdian project both draw us cards for playing creature spells. The great Henge is a legendary artifact that costs 7 and 2 green. It’s mana cost can be reduced by X colourless where X is the total power amongst creatures we control, so really this going to cost us 2 green more often then not. It tapps for 2 green and gains us 2 life when we tap it, but more importantly when we play a creature spell we draw a card and it enters with an additional +1/+1coubter on it
We also have a few flash enablers to really take advantage of the extra mana we can generate from our commander’s untap ability.
Yeva, Nature’s Herald, is a 4/4 elf shaman with flash for 2 and 2 green. It also gives all our green creatures flash too, it’s a little restrictive but still a great ability for just 4 mana. We have 2 planewalkers that also help us with this.
Vivien, Champion of the wild is a legendary planeswalker for 2 and a green which has the static ability; you may cast creatures as though they had flash. She also has a +1 ability that gives one of our creatures vigilance and reach. Her negative ability is -2 look at the top 3 cards and exile one face down, we can then cast the card whilst ever it is in exile and as long as it’s a creature.
From Innistrad midnight hunt we have, Arlinn, the packs hope/Arlinn, the moon’s fury, who is a legendary planeswalker for 2 a red and a green. She has 2 sides one which is daybound and another is night. The day/ night cycle cares about number of spells cast, if no spells are cast it becomes night and she transforms, if you cast 2 spells whilst it’s night, it becomes day and she transforms back. This can be relevant but isn’t that prevalent in this deck. Her front has a +1 ability that reads; until your next turn, you may cast creature spells as though they had flash and each creature enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter. Her negative on this side will probably never be used but it’s -3 create 2 2/2 wolf tokens. Her nightbound side has +2 add a red and a green to your mana pool and her second ability is 0, until end of turn Arlinn, the moon’s fury becomes a 5/5 werewolf with trample indestructible and haste. Don’t sleep on this side, her +1 is a mana ability and when she becomes a creature the card will still have the mana ability, so our commander will pump her further.
Hit em again and again
One of the things we should absolutely take advantage of is extra combat steps, with extra combat we can generate more mana from a lot of our creatures and generate more value.
Aggrivated Assualt is an enchantment for 2 and a red. We can tap 3 and 2 red to untap all our creatures and have an additional combat step. We’ve enough creatures out this becomes infinite combat steps pretty easily.
Hellkite charger is a 5/5 dragon for 4 and 2 red with flying and haste. When it attacks we can pay 5 and 2 red to untap all our creatures and get an additional combat step. Moraug, fury of Akoum, is a 6/6 legendary minotaur warrior for 4 and 2 red that gives us an additional combat step when we play a land. Be careful with this, if your going to use it’s landfall ability play the land AFTER combat. If you play a land in your pre combat main phase you will still get the extra cbat step but you won’t get the untap. That’s because you get the landfall combat before you get your usual combat step. He also pumps our guys a little more for each time they have attacked this turn.
We also run a combat celebrant in this deck. A 3/1 human warrior for 2 and a red. That lets us exert it on combat and gain an extra combat step. I like this card with cards like Cryptolith rites because it then has aana ability and we can then untap it. We can’t get unlimited combat steps but it does allow us to do it again next turn.
Ways to win
We are going to win in the only way gruul cares about; Damage and smashing face. There are some big creatures that can definitely get there like Craterhoof Behemoth and End-Raze Forerunners but I wanted to make special mention of a combo in this deck.
Shaman of Forgotten Ways a 2/3 human shaman for 2 and a green that taps two mana in any combination of colours, but it is it’s formidable ability I wanted to draw attention too. If you have total power 8 on the board you can pay 11 and tap it to make everyone’s life totals equal to the amount of creatures they control. You can reach the formidable threshold by simying having your commander out and having this out on the board. If you have enough power you can do this on your main phase take everyone in range and then attack with some of the bigger creatures out there. Absolutely brutal.
And there we have it, possibly the gruulest deck out there, what cards would you like to see in this deck? You can see all of my deck lists by visiting my moxfield here.