Xenagos
~Currently Disassembled~
Gruul lacks such subtlety, which is unfortunate because this deck is great. I mean, it smashes face and it does so with speed - but it doesn't really do much else. There isn't really a second plan. There is redundancy and ways to get you back into the game ... where you will continue to pummel your friends into submission.
So if that's what you're looking for, great! Build this. Crush. Smash. Rend your opponent's life totals from them as you trample over their tiny insignificant value creatures with massive pumped up beaters.
Just don't blame me if your friends don't want to play with you much afterwards. You've been warned.
I guess that's just Gruul for you.
/
COMMANDER OPTIONS
HIDE COMMANDER OPTIONS Xenagos, God of Revels Our commander of choice. Core colors for this style of monster deck. Xenagos is difficult to interact with at best, and the number of answers to an indestructible enchantment are by nature, going to be in limited supply. He grants haste and doubles power. It is straight forward and devestatingly good.
Samut, Voice of Dissent - I played Samut for a while before retiring the idea. Samut has the unfortunate position of having a foot in two worlds. She buffs all creatures which enter the battle field with Haste, similar to Xenagos. She also has double strike, an incredibly powerful keyword for a Voltron general. As a result of these split talents, she's pulled in a lot of directions. Ultimately I found the deck operated best as either a Voltron or a big Red Green monsters build, not as a mix of both. If you're just going Green Red Monsters or just going Voltron, I feel like there are better options for both.
Saskia the Unyielding - Another damage doubler general with haste. This one I still haven't been able to figure out. Instead of stacking the damage all against one player though, you've got the option of sharing the damage around the table. This gives you a lot more flexibility sure, but I'm not sure it's worth it. This might just be best as an infect build. The extra colors are the kicker. They open such a wide swath of various options to chose from, that it's quite difficult to determine what Saskia is best at and if she is better than the very straight forward Xenagos plan. Definitely still on the radar.
Arahbo, Roar of the World - the newest addition to this line up, Arahbo bears a striking resemblance to Xenagos. I have an Arahbo deck built and it works really well actually. Jury is still out on which commander is better overall. Xenagos lays out the smackdown certainly, but Eminence is inherently a super powerful ability even if you have to commit to Cat tribal to take advantage of it.
THE GAME PLAN
HIDE THE GAME PLAN Step 1 - Set Up
Ramp on turns 1 and 2. If you only have turn 3 ramp, you're in for a slow start.
Step 2 -
Cast Xenagos turn 3. If you invest in Mana Crypt and Mana Vault and drop a lot of the creature and spell ramp for other 2-drop artifact ramp you can even achieve turn 2 Xenagos. But, this is commander. It's a casual format. Also, I can't afford those cards right now.
Step 3 - ONE PUNNNCCHHH!
Cast a finisher, choose a target, and begin to lay waste. Note, once you choose someone to attack, try to stick with that person until they're gone. You are playing an aggro deck and you have to own that. Poking everyone at the table once is just a really good way to get them to all team up against you and ensure you're the first person eliminated.
Step 4
Target your pumped up creature with a creature power based draw or ramp effect and board the train to value town.
End Game
Try to hold back a number of creatures in reserve. You're best suited to having one threat out at a time along with whatever mana dorks and value creatures hit the board along the way. Don't let yourself get caught with no finishers in hand after a board wipe. Xenagos can only double one creature per turn so be patient and take one opponent out at a time until they're all KO'd.
RAMP/DRAW PACKAGE
HIDE RAMP/DRAW PACKAGE Normally, we try to shy away from creature based ramp as it is prone to removal and we have such a plethora of land based ramp in green. Here however, we only really need the ramp to be there long enough to get Xenagos out the first time so focusing on a higher than usual creature count allows us to take advantage of cards like Lurking Predators as well as keep up the pressure by attacking with our ramp in a pinch.
Ramp
Meet the Dorks
Elvish Mystic and Co. - 1 Mana dorks are great here. Play as many as you can fit into your deck.
Sylvan Caryatid and Co. 2 Mana dorks because there aren't enough 1 Mana dorks.
Somberwald Sage and Co. Turn 2 three mana ramp spells put us in line for a Turn 3 Xenagos.
Other Ramp Spells of Note
Farseek grabs our non-basic duals. This is decent.
Cultivate and Kodama's Reach Too good not to include
Traverse the Outlands Better than Explosive Vegetation or Boundless Realms in a Xenagos Deck.
Card Draw
Somehow we draw a truely ridiculous amount of cards.
Harmonize The origin of green card draw.
Soul's Majesty and co. These draw effects which are based on a creature's power are what makes the draw engine for a Xenagos deck. Who cares if you sacrificed the creature if it let you draw 10+ cards. An important point to note: anytime you know you're going to cast a draw spell of this nature, do not play a land until after the draw has been completed. You want to be able to play a Reliquary Tower if you draw into one. It's also worth noting that Momentous Fall is an instant, unlike most of its compatriots, which opens up a lot of new possibilities to be aware of when it's in your hand.
Yavimaya Elder basically card draw and mana fixing on a creature. Decent addition since we have a creature subtheme.
Lurking Predators A good reason to play a higher number of creatures.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary Another good reason to play a lot of creatures.
Vizier of the Menagerie testing still going on here.
Skullwinder Budget Eternal Witness. Eternal Witness might be the correct choice with Xenagos because she has the better power, but that's only minor advantage. The Skullwinder has deathtouch, which is a very nice bonus.
Drumhunter Doesn't fit our ramp strategy but has card draw built in to him as well so I'm giving him a try. We'll see how he works out.
Soul of the Harvest Card Draw on a big creature! Nice.
Birthing Pod We don't have the tools to go hunt it down. If you know of any good reliable ways of helping convert this into a more Pod focused deck, please let me know. The card is amazing and we have a gentle curve built in for this card to utilize as well.
BIG CREATURES/FINISHERS
HIDE BIG CREATURES/FINISHERS These are the goal targets for Xenagos's ability.
5CMC
Rapacious One 5 Mana Trampler with ramp. Perfect for what Xenagos wants to do. Gets you damage in, and helps you get to your bigger guys faster.
Deus of Calamity Great Pod target being right near the bottom of the curve, right after our mana dorks. Comes with his own targeted land removal too.
Malignus One-Punch One-Hit KO if you catch them with their pants down, and at only 5 mana too!
6CMC
The sweet spot
Hellkite Tyrant Flying/Trample is like the killer queen combination of keywords for a Xenagos deck creature. This one has all that and a ridiculously good upside.
Inferno Titan No trample but firebreathing is very good with Xenagos if you can get Nylea, God of the Hunt or another trample enabler on the field.
Hydra Omnivore Aim for the guy who can't block. Hydra will take care of the rest. Again, a creature too good to pass up due to a lack of evasion.
Woodland Bellower Not the best by himself but he always brings a friend.
Thunderfoot Baloth Xenagos is pretty much going to be on the field for the majority of your game time. That really kicks this guy into much more valuable territory, providing both a body himself and a backup for Nylea, God of the Hunt
7CMC
Dragonlord Atarka Flying + Trample + 8 Power. Fulfills all our needs.
Atarka, World Render Actually better than his older self in this deck.
Caller of the Pack Truly scary to sit across from in a Xenagos deck.
8CMC
Stonehoof Chieftain What a monster!
Akroma, Angel of Fury F (V15) - Firebreathing is just really good with Xenagos. Plus, this Akroma art is amazing and she comes with Flying and Trample.
Archetype of Endurance sub-par body. Excellent upside in the effect.
Terastodon Huge numbers but no evasion. But he does blow a lot of stuff up when he shows up. The versatility is worth it.
Beyond 8CMC
There isn't really a perfect progression from our good 8CMC creatures up through the 11CMC Worldspine Wurm. If you have an idea on what to include in those spots to improve the Pod interaction, please speak up.
Worldspine Wurm Largest Legal Creature we have access to.
TUTORS
HIDE TUTORS Where are the Tutors?
We really don't play Tutors in this deck. Not to say we can't. Green Sun's Zenith and Chord of Calling are both available to us but we don't really care what creature is out as long as it's big. With this in mind, drawing 10+ cards at a time is preferable to drawing 1 specific creature.
ENABLERS AND BUFFS
HIDE ENABLERS AND BUFFS ENABLERS AND BUFFS
Blood Mist You only need one of your creatures to get double-strike so this is pretty much perfect. Plus, LOVE the art.
Blade of Selves Not many Legendary fatties in our deck, so what's better than one gigantic dude? One for each of your opponents! Amazing card.
Mage Slayer - Basically grants double strike without being double strike, but the extra damage goes straight to the opponents face.
WRATHS, SWEEPERS, and BOARD WIPES
HIDE WRATHS, SWEEPERS, and BOARD WIPES We run light on the board wipes and Wrath of God Effects. I typically like to run 3-5 and we just barely squeeze in 3.
SWEEPERS
Chandra's Ignition - Possibly our deck's best wrath, as it can be used to outright kill opponents too. Brilliant card. Great synergy with the deck.
Blasphemous Act The classic red board wipe. It's always been great.
Bane of Progress Typically, we like our big creatures to have trample, but in this case Bane trades in our favorite key word for a board wipe. I guess that works.
TARGETED REMOVAL
HIDE TARGETED REMOVAL Targeted Removal is essential in just about any deck. It's kind of like eating your vegetables. It may not look appetizing on the plate but you've got to include enough in the deck to make a proper meal.
TARGETED REMOVAL
Acidic Slime Removal that also falls in line with the creature sub-theme of the deck.
Beast Within Destroys target Permanent. Green's flagship piece of targeted removal.
Chaos Warp Red's flagship all-purpose piece of targeted removal.
Decimate Perhaps the strongest Gruul colored piece of targeted removal.
Hull Breach Solid 2-for-1.
Krosan Grip Dat Split Second. Can't overstate how important that ALWAYS ends up being.
Pit Fight Instant speed creature based removal. Fits our theme.
Ulvenwald Tracker Repeatable removal. Falls in with our creature sub-theme.
BUDGET
HIDE BUDGET BUDGET CUTS
I'm on a budget so I don't have all the upgrades I want to make. Let's discuss upgrades I want to make. If you think of any more, please comment below!
Greater Good - So good! Permanent version of our favorite card draw theme of cards in this deck.
Balefire Dragon Super good effect with Xenagos.
Kessig Wolf Run I just need to buckle down and get one. It's not all that expensive.
Scourge of the Throne Great synergy with Xenagos. Extra combat phases allows Xenagos to trigger multiple times.
Savage Beating I think this is the best extra combat phases sorcery out there. Some versions of this deck run a whole Multiple combat phases subtheme and I'm not really into that. If you're going to run just one blow out card though, this is the one.
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