Ghave, Guru of Spores Commander

Commander / EDH

cmoney919

Land (38)

• 1x Brushland
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gavony Township
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Murmuring Bosk
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 3x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Sungrass Prairie
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Plenty
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vindicate

Creature (28)

• 1x Anafenza, the Foremost
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Corpsejack Menace
• 1x Crystalline Crawler
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Geralf's Messenger
• 1x Healer of the Pride
• 1x Juniper Order Ranger
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Karametra, God of Harvests
• 1x Korozda Guildmage
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Savra, Queen of the Golgari
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Siege Rhino
• 1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Young Wolf
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Abzan Ascendancy
• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Deathreap Ritual
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Primal Vigor
• 1x Privileged Position

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Abzan Charm
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Aura Mutation
• 1x Dromoka's Command
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fracturing Gust
• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Inspiring Call
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Putrefy

Artifact (9)

• 1x Animation Module
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Selesnya Signet
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Unity

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride

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The whole goal of this deck is to load the board with creatures and counters, going wide and tall for damage. Rather than focus on having Ghave, Guru of Spores grow, I'm instead favoring the idea of getting other big threats out for lethal damage. This deck also has some utility removal options for pesky threats opponents may bring.

Ghave offers a large amount of combinations with creature entering the battlefield effects. Wanting to maximize his utility, Juniper Order Ranger and Champion of Lambholt provide additional counters when creatures enter the battlefield. Adding a Primal Vigor or Parallel Lives to the battlefield allows for pure hilarity to ensue. Healer of the Pride provides life gain when saprolings or other creatures enter the battlefield. Karametra, God of Harvests can provide some much needed mana fixing for the tri-color balance. I can also utilize creatures to answer potential threats on the board through Aura Shards.

Ghave is all about giving and taking, sacrificing creatures provides additional benefits to my commander deck. Savra, Queen of the Golgari provides benefits such as life gain and forcing opponents to sacrifice creatures so long as a non mono-white creature is sacrificed. Yet, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest also greatly benefits Ghave, providing him an additional counter, while also providing counters for other creatures on the board. Korozda Guildmage can turn a large creature into many smaller ones, triggering even more "enter the battlefield" effects. Sacrificing a creature through Ashnod's alter can provide Ghave more fuel to move counters and sacrifice creatures, while also act as efficient mana ramp for larger spells.

Managing counters and distributing them efficiently will likely be the most difficult aspect of the deck. However, there are means to distribute counters placed on overwhelmingly large creatures with few abilities. Abzan Charm can distribute counters as well as provide other highly useful utility. Juniper Order Ranger will give creatures counters as they enter the battlefield while also provide one for himself. Abzan Ascendancy provides a counter for each creature I control. Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest provides counters to all creatures whenever one is sacrificed. In addition, Golgari Guildmage and Gavony Township can provide counters to additional creatures through the usage of mana.

Determining where most of the counters go will vary from board state to board state. Often, I will want to keep Ghave at around 6 to 8 counters to prevent death from damage removal sources. Certainly, this will vary based upon the entirety of the board state. Giving counters to other creatures holds greater benefits. When Bloodspore Thrinax is on the field, I will often distribute the counters to it, providing new saproling creatures a tasty boost of counters. I also plan to do the same effect with Mycoloth. Placing at least one counters on all creatures provides a lot of usefulness with Ivorytusk Fortress , especially for cards like Trostani, Seleysnya's Voice with activated abilities which cause the creature to tap.

Wanting to keep my board state intact, I want to limit threats my opponent may offer, while also protecting my botanical creations. Anguished Unmaking, Mortify, Putrefy, Aura Shards, Fracturing Gust, Utter End, Drain the Well , and Golgari Charm all provide effective removal. A last resort option (which also fits the flavor text of the card) is to utilize Duneblast, which will clear the board but keep a single creature intact. To preserve my board state, Privileged Position can shield my permanents from targeting spells. Dromoka's Command and Inspiring Call can also protect my creatures.

I'm still discovering interesting combos and deciphering how they work. I'll update later with any interesting combos I've discovered through playtesting. Please feel free to critique, I'm always open for suggestions.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 54 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.05
Tokens	Cat 2/2 W, Saproling 1/1 G, Servo 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 W
Folders	card lists