Stop Hitting Yourself!

Commander / EDH* Budget Group Slug Multiplayer Primer Ramp RG (Gruul)

djewell

Creature (49)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Archetype of Aggression
• 1x Archetype of Endurance
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Bearer of the Heavens
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Circle of Elders
• 1x Combat Celebrant
• 1x Deus of Calamity
• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Gruul Ragebeast
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Karametra's Acolyte
• 1x Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
• 1x Nessian Wilds Ravager
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Orcish Lumberjack
• 1x Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x Reckless Reveler
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Rubblebelt Raiders
• 1x Savage Ventmaw
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Silklash Spider
• 1x Skarrg Guildmage
• 1x Somberwald Sage
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Spellbreaker Behemoth
• 1x Stonehoof Chieftain
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Thicket Elemental
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Vexing Shusher
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Void Winnower
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Zhur-Taa Druid

Land (37)

• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Copperline Gorge
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 10x Forest
• 1x Game Trail
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 7x Mountain
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Warped Landscape

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nissa, Worldwaker

Commander (1)

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Abundance
• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x Possibility Storm
• 1x Snake Umbra

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Primal Surge
• 1x See the Unwritten
• 1x Shamanic Revelation

Artifact (3)

• 1x Kusari-Gama
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Pyxis of Pandemonium

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Maybeboard

Creature (15)

• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Champion of Rhonas
• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Gaea's Herald
• 1x Hamletback Goliath
• 1x Hellkite Tyrant
• 1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 1x Mold Shambler
• 1x Moldgraf Monstrosity
• 1x Paleoloth
• 1x Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Vigor

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Flameshadow Conjuring
• 1x Gruul War Chant
• 1x Quest for Renewal
• 1x Where Ancients Tread

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Domri Rade

Artifact (3)

• 1x Gate to the AEther
• 1x Omen Machine
• 1x Rhonas's Monument

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Let's face it... Ruric Thar, the Unbowed is a big bully. Or two big bullies.. I can't tell. And for as long as i've been able to get over the PTSD of Middle-School flashbacks, (triggered) I have wanted to make a deck out of this guy. The question becomes, though.. how do we build around an Ogre with an irrational hatred towards all things not creature in a way that we aren't just putting down nonsense creatures to avoid a punch to the face? Well, friends... In this description, i'd like to take you step by step in...

HOW TO TAME THE UNBOWED.

Overcoming Potential Problems

1) Please Don't Hit Me Show

No matter what anyone says, he doesn't hit you because he loves you. Everyone has their quirks, and this guy's is that he gets super violent when he sees glowing things or weapons which aren't attached to your body, apparently. That being said, If you wish to live with the guy, you have to make your desires and his desires one and the same! Creatures, people!

Does this mean we shouldn't have non creature permanents? I don't think so, we just have to be very selective. Instants I'm not too sold on though, as they seem to have the effect of you holding onto it until the perfect moment. The nice thing about the enchantments and sorceries I had picked out is that the majority can be used before Ruric Thar, the Unbowed even steps foot onto the battlefield. They aren't things that you want to hang onto. The only one which should probably be played after him is Snake Umbra Which with his ability added basically allows you to draw a card any time an opponant casts a non creature spell. One thing I want to add about the construction of this deck.. while you want to punish players for casting noncreature spells, you don't want to make it unreasonably painful. You do indeed WANT them to cast these spells still. Make it tempting enough that they whittle away at their life total and leave themselves weakened for your hard-hitters to charge in. Some combos will help you coax those spells out of their decks in case they are being timid, which I will go into a bit later.

2) Removal? Show

The answer to this question especially in commander is "yes." which means that we are going to need a lot of effects with "legs" or "effects we want which are attached to creatures." Creatures such as Terastodon, Acidic Slime and Reclamation Sage are excellent additions. I put in some Eldrazi with annihilator for good measure: Pathrazer of Ulamog, It That Betrays and Bane of Bala Ged. While you cannot choose the exiled permanents, you can bank on the idea that it's going to remove SOMETHING you don't want out there. That along with creature removal in the form of fighting (Gruul Ragebeast, Ulvenwald Tracker, Nessian Wilds Ravager) and even with effects such as the ones seen in Balefire Dragon and Kusari-Gama allow for good removal. Just make sure not to play Elvish Mystic after Gruul Ragebeast or you're in for a good whomping!

3) Protection? Show

Remember to always wear protection. With so many large creatures, you better believe you are a target. use things like Asceticism and Archetype of Endurance for on-the-battlefield protection.. and just in case you're against a blue deck.. Vexing Shusher and Prowling Serpopard help carry them safely onto the battlefield. Possibility Storm as well is protection in a way because it makes their acts less predictable. A counter spell or removal spell might end up being something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I want to talk more about this card later, though.

4) Can We Afford His Habits? Show

So, once I decided to put Possibility Storm into the deck, I then realized that the possibilities are indeed endless. Free Creatures are nice! You can cast an Orcish Lumberjack and potentially get out a Nessian Wilds Ravager... of course you could also get out a Genesis Hydra and then you're out of luck.. just choose not to cast the card at that point and put everything on the bottom of your library.. which only puts you out one mana this turn.. #worth. But that was just the beginning.. once I had a taste of the freeness.. I couldn't go back.

"For Freeeeee?"

Add cards such as Primal Surge(just please don't mill yourself to death), Pyxis of Pandemonium, See the Unwritten, Defense of the Heart, Thicket Elemental and Lurking Predators... you got yourself some relatively cheap and sometimes free creatures!That and the fact that Genesis Hydra has a fantastic BOGO offer that you simply cannot refuse!

Just in case, however, we are going to add a bunch of mana givers to ensure we can hard cast anything you get in your hand. Cards such as Circle of Elders, Karametra's Acolyte, Orcish Lumberjack, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and Somberwald Sage should allow for sufficient mana base to cast creatures from your hand as well.

Showcased Combos/Cards

ALL THE MANA! Karametra's Acolyte + Rubblebelt Raiders + Deus of Calamity I would put down Karametra's Acolyte down first, though for better mana ramp.

Ruric Thar, the Unbowed + Snake Umbra gives you crad draw whenever a player casts a noncreature spell.

Alternatively, another fancy combo is putting Snake Umbra on Zhur-Taa Druid for "When this creature taps for mana, add one green, deal one damage to each opponent and draw cards for each opponent dealt damage this way." ...i like that one a lot..

Possibility Storm + Ruric Thar, the Unbowed This card can have them double cast a nonland if they choose to cast the second card, double the damage output.

It That Betrays also gives you some fancy free stuff!

Pathbreaker Ibex,Primal Surgeand Shaman of Forgotten Ways are all game-enders.. make sure to cast the ability on Shaman of Forgotten Ways as an instant during combat, or you expose yourself to direct damage in response!

The other day, i got Primal Surge out on the battlefield and it was glorious! However, i've learned some things with this card that I think are worth mentioning.

1.) All our card draw is "MAY draw a card" with the exception of Combustible Gearhulk So we don't have to mill ourselves to death seeing as we only run 3 non permanants.. Primal Surge being one of those.

2.)Now.... IF we have Abundance on the battlefield, we CANNOT lose to mill (or lack of cards to draw) because abundance changes "draw card" to "reveal and put it into your hand" which is different than "draw".

This is the ruling from Wizards on losing to card draw when no cards are in the library.

104.3c If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in his or her library, he or she draws the remaining cards, and then loses the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

the following is from the rulings for the card in gatherer.wizards.com

7/15/2007   If your library is empty, Abundance can prevent you from losing the game for being unable to draw a card. If an effect or turn-based action would cause you to draw a card, you can replace that draw with Abundances replacement effect. (It doesnt matter that youd be unable to actually draw a card.) Since Abundances effect has you put a card into your hand instead of drawing a card, youll never be forced to draw a card with an empty library.

Pretty Neat, huh??

And That's about all I have for you. WE HAVE TAMED THE BEAST! IT NOW BOWS TO OUR WILL AND PLEASURE! Thank you for reviewing my deck, let me know if you have any ideas for additions or perhaps some things I should rethink! :)

Top Ranked	Achieved #43 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.56
Tokens	Elephant 3-3 G
Folders	Commander, edh, Maybe Builds, commander