http://www.gatheringmagic.com/markwischkaemper-122614-26-decks-in-a-year-episode-9-gruul/

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.
Force of NatureWhen Ruric Thar, the Unbowed was spoiled as the champion of the Gruul guild for our Return to Ravnica, I knew I had to build a deck around him with the obvious route of nothing but creatures. And I knew I wanted it to beat face. I wanted to speed the game up, force players into the red zone, and make anyone messing around with shenanigans to pay for it with each spell he or she cast. So I built an all-creature deck: forty-one lands and fifty-eight creatures including Ruric Thar. As is my custom with theme decks, I have one off-theme card, but I assure you, it’s worth taking the 6 points of damage.
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!)
Raging RavineIn terms of lands, we’re not worried about going fast, just fixing, so we have a plethora of inexpensive fetches like Jund Panorama and Naya Panorama alongside a suite of dual lands. The cycling lands, as always, are good plays early and cards later. Terrain Generator lets us use excess mana to put some extra lands on the field. Treetop Village and Raging Ravine both let us attack after a board wipe, and Skarrg, the Rage Pits and Kessig Wolf Run will help in the red zone. Mosswort Bridge is never a card we’re sad to see, as reaching the requisite 10 power is obnoxiously easy, and it pretty often gives us something amazing. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood will often give a permanent pump to one of our many creatures. Finally, Encroaching Wastes and Rogue’s Passage give us a bit of utility.
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.
Bloodfire ColossusAll the threats come with abilities attached, so they’re all kind of two-for-ones. Terastodon is threatening all by itself (9/9 seems pretty good for 8 mana), but when it blows up three opposing Swords, it’s even better (or Doubling Season. I really hate that card). Garruk’s Horde, Rubblehulk, Polis Crusher, and Bloodfire Colossus all are big enough to be presences on the field. Vastwood Hydra helps out our other dudes when it dies, and Genesis Hydra comes with another thing. Honestly, though, what I’ve found is that Ruric Thar normally just gets there. He’s attacking all the time anyway, and the creatures around him are just there to keep other players honest . . .
. . . 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.
Xenagos, God of RevelsThere are a lot of really fun cards in the deck, also. Our favorite Satyr-come-Planeswalker-come-corpse Xenagos, God of Revels makes an appearance, and it is spectacular—when a Terastodon is an 18/18 attacking the turn it comes into play, it’s bad for opponents. It’s often live, and a 6/5 indestructible creature is nothing to shake a stick at. We have dudes who give haste, which is a good thing—Generator Servant and Lightning Mauler give haste to one guy, while Anger and Cyclops of Eternal Fury give it to them all. The pair of Archetypes is amazing, especially the Archetype of Aggression—when all your guys have trample, life becomes a lot more difficult for defending players. We have most of the bloodrush creatures here, and frankly, we’re going to want to use bloodrush more often than cast them.
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.
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.
Oracle of Mul DayaThis version of the deck is slightly different than the one in my box—I had to change a few cards because of price. I was lucky enough to open an Oracle of Mul Daya way back and a Courser of Kruphix recently; both are all-stars in the deck. Fauna Shaman makes the deck more consistent and gives you more access to answers when you need them. And Avenger of Zendikar is just brutal, especially off a Primal Surge. I also run Ancient Ziggurat, which is great in the deck, but far from necessary. Other things to consider are Craterhoof Behemoth, Nylea, God of the Hunt, Scourge of the Throne, and Genesis. Yeva, Nature’s Herald could do good work, and Dragon Broodmother will strike fear in your opponents’ hearts.
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