Maybeboard


A serving of Marath, Will of the Wild in +1/+1 counters sauce, on a bed of + mana with a healthy side of tokens.

Nutrional Facts Show

Sleeves: Dragon Shield (Red Matte)
Deck Box: Ultra-Pro PRO 100+ (Green)


This deck ramps in order to cast Marath, Will of the Wild and make use of his +1/+1 counters tricks as much as possible. Marath is one of the few Commanders that WANTS to be cast again and again with higher and higher Commander Tax. The more you cast him from the Command Zone, the bigger he gets, and thus the more he can accomplish.

In between Marath-castings, play creatures like Forgotten Ancient or Kalonian Hydra and end up with +1/+1 counters everywhere. If you happen to get mana-flooded, then you can just generate tons of 1/1 tokens with Marath himself and you'll still end up with counters everywhere. Cards like Abzan Falconer and Crowned Ceratok squeeze extra value out of your counters. Meanwhile, cards like Hardened Scales and Cathars' Crusade give you extra counters.

I recommend that, unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise, you only ever make multiple 1/1 tokens with Marath. Having ten 1/1s is better then having one 10/10, imho. This is because in terms of blocking, you can block ten creatures instead of one, and if you have to you can multi-block to kill a creature or avoid trample damage. And in terms of attacking, ten individual chumps are harder to block than one big creature. AND, when you start putting counters on everything, it pays to have multiple creatures. If you have Marath and a 5/5 out and put counters on each creature you control, your damage-dealing-capacity only raised by 2 (more damage). If you have Marath and five 1/1s out and put a counter on everything, your damage-dealing-capacity rises by 6, and now ALL you chumps can eat other chumps without dying. Just do the math. =P

Ramping is the most important thing this deck does. You want to be able to activate Marath's abilities, and then recast him without any silly mana restrictions, so this deck tries to generate all the manas. The only infinite combo I put in this deck on purpose was that one famous one (Marath + Cathars' Crusade + Mana Echoes). Any other infinite combos you find in here are just happy accidents because that's not really my style.

All the nice little ~-drop rocks are here, such as the full signet package, as well as Gilded Lotus and Thran Dynamo because we're serious about this. This deck also takes advantage of Green's ability to rip lands out of your deck with cards like Cultivate and Ranger's Path. Finally, once your ramp really gets going, kick into Maximum Overdrive starring Emilio Estevez with cards like Zendikar Resurgent and Regal Behemoth. Other tricks like Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Growing Rites of Itlimoc   and Mana Echoes should keep you from ever lacking mana when you want it.

Marath can put +1/+1 counters on things, but this deck was built so you won't be using that ability very often. Instead, you'll be wanting to put more counters on Marath himself so that you can keep removing them and burning stuff or making tokens. To start, cards like Opal Palace and Hardened Scales will squeeze just a little bit more value out of Marath. Cards like Ajani Steadfast, Loyal Guardian and Cathars' Crusade put counters on everything. That's... pretty much it. Not a lot of cards here that will only put counters on a single creature at a time, besides Verdant Confluence, which has multiple uses to compensate.

Once Marath starts getting bigger, you'll probably want to take advantage of the fact that he's gigantic and can threaten wins through Commander-damage. In order to do this, a haste package is included--coincidentally this also gives Red something to do in this deck. Fires of Yavimaya, Fervor and Hammer of Purphoros give everything haste, while other things like Xenagos, God of Revels and Ring of Valkas give only one target haste, but that one thing will probably be a giant Marath or Primordial Hydra, so it'll be fine.

These "lord-effect" or anthem cards will give Marath, as well as most of your other creatures, an added boost just for existing (and having counters on them). Abzan Battle Priest is the lord of lifelink, Abzan Falconer gives everyone flying, Ainok Bond-Kin does the same for first strike, and Longshot Squad gives the reach around. What? There are several creatures that act as trample anthems, meanwhile Elite Scaleguard allows you to tap down potential blockers when you attack, and Rishkar, Peema Renegade turns everyone into mana dorks.

Every deck wants to draw extra cards, and this one is no exception. There are synergy-based cards that draw like Etched Oracle and Inspiring Call and some straight-forward stuff like Harmonize. There are cards that take advantage of this deck's ability to cast large creatures, such as Garruk, Primal Hunter and Momentous Fall. And of course, there are even cards that take advantage of this deck's ability to fill the battlefield full of creatures, like Shamanic Revelation and Ohran Frostfang. And of course, Skullclamp, because tokens.

Not a lot of removal in the 99 because Marath often can take care of removal himself. Ramp and +1/+1 counters help that out, as described above. Hour of Reckoning is included because sometimes you just have to wipe the board, and the Convoke should help. Beyond that it's all really just ways to give Marath deathtouch so that he can one-shot-kill your opponent's creatures.

I need to squeeze some enchantment and artifact removal in here as well, so suggestions in that regard would be helpful. =D

Nothing exceptional about this land base. Anything that you can balance well enough to consistently cast Marath on Turn 3 will do just fine. The only real notable cards here are Opal Palace and Oran-Rief, the Vastwood. The former can not only color-fix but can also put an extra counter on Marath. The latter can also be used to put extra counters on Marath, but in addition it can also put counters on each token Marath creates, as well as most of the creatures this deck will cast, like the hydras.

"Come not within the measure of Marath."
The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend;
I told Marath, Marath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, Marath did grow.

And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

"Now tell me... for what purpose did you choose to slaughter all of my people? Depending on your answer, I'll send you to join God! NO... You don't deserve to stand by God alongside my fallen brothers! YOUR ONLY SOLACE FROM MARATH SHALL BE DAMNATION!"
Scar, Ishvalan Warrior Monk

Suggestions

Updates Add

Comments

Attention! Complete Comment Tutorial! This annoying message will go away once you do!

Hi! Please consider becoming a supporter of TappedOut for $3/mo. Thanks!


Important! Formatting tipsComment Tutorialmarkdown syntax

Please login to comment

Date added 8 years
Last updated 6 months
Exclude colors UB
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

9 - 0 Mythic Rares

39 - 0 Rares

26 - 0 Uncommons

11 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.59
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Day, Elemental */* G, Emblem Ajani Steadfast, Enchantment Golem 3/3 C, Night, Monarch Emblem, Treasure, Wolf 2/2 G, Wurm 6/6 G
Folders EDH ideas, EDH (TOKEN), Gattison's EDH/Commander Decks, Samut, Cool ideas, Cool decks, bro, Commander Decks
Votes
Ignored suggestions
Shared with
Views