High Roller: Going Wide With Ol' Buzzbark

Commander / EDH* Counters RG (Gruul) Tokens

Cheddarboyboodlebob

Creature (30)

• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Beetleback Chief
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Earl of Squirrel
• 1x Embermaw Hellion
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Joyride Rigger
• 1x Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1x Legion Warboss
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Oni of Wild Places
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Roaring Primadox
• 1x Rosheen Meanderer
• 1x Siege-Gang Commander
• 1x Stampeding Serow
• 1x Stampeding Wildebeests
• 1x Steamflogger Boss
• 1x Steamflogger of the Month
• 1x Steamflogger Service Rep
• 1x Steamflogger Temp
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Three-Headed Goblin
• 1x Willing Test Subject
• 1x Wrench-Rigger

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
• 1x Xenagos, the Reveler

Land (37)

• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 12x Forest
• 1x Game Trail
• 1x Gruul Turf
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Kher Keep
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 10x Mountain
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (10)

• 1x As Luck Would Have It
• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Chittering Doom
• 1x Cramped Bunker
• 1x Furnace of Rath
• 1x Gratuitous Violence
• 1x Mirror March
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x Stolen Strategy
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Instant (2)

• 1x Artifact Mutation
• 1x Comet Storm

Commander (1)

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Harvest Season
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Selfie Preservation
• 1x Shamanic Revelation
• 1x The Countdown Is at One

Artifact (8)

• 1x Entirely Normal Armchair
• 1x Erratic Portal
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Krark's Other Thumb
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Dungeons & Dragons

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Sideboard

Contraptions (16)

• 1x Bee-Bee Gun
• 1x Dispatch Dispensary
• 1x Dual Doomsuits
• 1x Duplication Device
• 1x Faerie Aerie
• 1x Gift Horse
• 1x Gnomeball Machine
• 1x Goblin Slingshot
• 1x Guest List
• 1x Hard Hat Area
• 1x Optical Optimizer
• 1x Rapid Prototyper
• 1x Record Store
• 1x Refibrillator
• 1x Sundering Fork
• 1x Widget Contraption

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A Warning Show

Before getting into the deck profile I want to make clear that there are a number of issues that come with playing this deck, especially with Buzzbark's ability. While chaotic and fun for some, rolling a large number of dice can be annoying to many players and carries a real risk of damaging cards. As a precaution, I will go over what I consider to be the proper etiquette for playing this deck respectfully.

1. Ask permission from your opponents before playing this deck. Even if your group or LGS allows silver bordered cards, don't surprise people with this. Explain what Ol' Buzzbark does and if anyone objects play a different deck or find a different game.

2. Use foam dice. You will dent cards otherwise. They may bounce like crazy, but they carry the least risk of damaging someone else's property.

3. Be prepared with proxies. Sometimes people may give the okay initially, but grow concerned when facing the literal gravity of 20 dice raining down on their foiled out sliver deck. Bring some basic lands and a sharpie and allow people to use them to switch out their precious cards before you unleash chaos. Offer them to everybody, every single time.

With all of that taken care of, let's talk about the deck!

Let's Roll

Ol' Buzzbark is a chaotic commander with the potential to swing an entire game with a single cast, or be the most expensive way to cast a vanilla 3/3. The primary strategy of this deck is to maximize the odds that he makes a big impact by swarming the battlefield with tokens. Casting him once won't be enough to win however, so we make use of creatures like Stampeding Wildebeests and Oni of Wild Places to reset him back to our hand and play him over and over again. This engine also lets us get repeated value out of our token generators like Avenger of Zendikar and Siege-Gang Commander . We also have a few Furnace of Rath effects to make the damaging side of his effect more deadly, since the average of 3.5 damage per die won't be enough to deal with our opponents big threats. The basic loop of make tokens, cast Buzzbark, and repeat is straight forward enough, but I would like to touch on a few additional strategies to help get the most out of your triggers.

Twisting Fate

Trying to control the randomness that is Buzzbark is a futile exercise, especially if you took my advice and are using foam dice. However, there is a discussion to be had about how to arrange your cards so as to get the most benefit from your dice. In most situations, it is best to arrange your cards in a rectangular pattern with the sides touching and as little overlap as possible. This is because a single die will affect all the creatures it touches, so by arranging them this way you increase the chances of doubling, or even quadrupling, each die without sacrificing surface area . If you are in a situation where you need just a few counters, such as when needing just a few more power to attack for game, then it is actually better to spread the cards apart so that the distance between them is just under the width of the die. While this setup makes it essentially impossible to double up, it maximizes the effective surface area of your board to give you the highest percentage of a hit possible. Finally, if you really need to pump your entire team, overlaying your cards in a tight row means that a hit will almost certainly buff a ton of creatures, but with the minimized surface area landing even a single die is unlikely.

When employing these tactics, avoid drawing attention to yourself. Do your best to make it appear as though your cards are arranged naturally, even if it means not arranging them optimally. The moment your table catches you trying to manipulate your positioning they will start doing it as well. You won't kill many creatures when your opponents arrange their board into a perfectly overlapped stack.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 4 Mythic Rares 39 - 7 Rares 21 - 5 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.65
Tokens	Construct X/X C, Copy Clone, 4/4 O Token Creature Dragon, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Faerie Spy 1/1 U, Gnome 1/1 C, Goblin 1/1 R, Kobolds of Kher Keep 0/1 R, Plant 0/1 G, Rogue 2/2 B, Saproling 1/1 G, Satyr 2/2 GR, Squirrel 1/1 G
Folders	Test