Ghalta strikes again

Commander / EDH* Mono-Green

vehementshred

Removal (18)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Back to Nature
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Bite Down
• 1x Broken Bond
• 1x Bushwhack
• 1x Conclave Naturalists
• 1x Infectious Bite
• 1x Inscription of Abundance
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Khalni Ambush  ^Flip
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1x Master's Rebuke
• 1x Ram Through
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Tranquil Grove
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker

Land (37)

• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 29x Forest
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Mutavault
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Ramp (12)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Beastcaller Savant
• 1x Boreal Druid
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Golden Hind
• 1x Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea
• 1x Leaf Gilder
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Llanowar Tribe
• 1x Paradise Druid
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Sol Ring

Card Draw (10)

• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Llanowar Visionary
• 1x Masked Admirers
• 1x Owlbear
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1x Werewolf Pack Leader

Other (9)

• 1x Elder Gargaroth
• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Kura, the Boundless Sky
• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x Ulvenwald Oddity  ^Flip
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Commander (1)

Synergy (11)

• 1x Esika's Chariot
• 1x Gigantosaurus
• 1x God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1x Grothama, All-Devouring
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Rhonas the Indomitable
• 1x Steel Leaf Champion
• 1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller
• 1x Tangleweave Armor
• 1x Thunderhawk Gunship
• 1x Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig

Wincon (2)

• 1x Berserk
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes

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Sideboard

Other (5)

• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Skyshroud Ambush
• 1x Tyrranax Rex
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

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Maybeboard

Card draw (9)

• 1x Abzan Beastmaster
• 1x Battle Mammoth
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Clockwork Servant
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Sarulf's Packmate
• 1x Voice of Many

Fight (8)

• 1x Blizzard Brawl
• 1x Foe-Razer Regent
• 1x Pounce
• 1x Prey Upon
• 1x Prizefight
• 1x Somberwald Stag
• 1x Tail Swipe
• 1x Territorial Allosaurus

Other (6)

• 1x Aberrant
• 1x Bladegriff Prototype
• 1x Cityscape Leveler
• 1x Druid of Purification
• 1x Runadi, Behemoth Caller
• 1x Silverback Elder

Synergy (1)

• 1x Old One Eye

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I've played Ghalta for around two years, generally in the same pod. The first thing to note is that it will eat a lot of removal, but if you get it down early enough, you can steal games. To the latter point, I wouldn't recommend splitting up damage - you'll be lucky to get two swings in, so try to take someone out. I would be vocal about your intentions with whatever group you're playing with when taking this approach. Expect salt. It goes without saying, but if you take someone out of the game early and they have to watch a long match play out, they won't be happy. Swinging for commander lethal with one or two swings can make this toxic if your pod doesn't run ample removal.

I split up the list into categories to better emphasize function. Ghalta is essentially an "affinity for power" commander, so you could consider most of the creatures synergy spells, which has made brewing tedious at times.

Ramp is generally geared for getting Ghalta out early. Mana dorks are better suited for this job, and I've tried to pick the ones that are most efficient for mana cost.

I've leaned into card draw more the longer I've played Ghalta. My experience has commonly been met with board wipes, removal, or running out of gas. Creatures synergize with Ghalta, and there are some decent ETB ones that not only help replace themselves, but also boost your power count. I plan on adding more cards to this category. I don't remember a time when I felt bad about playing something like an Owlbear versus some other hyper efficient cmc creature that strictly focuses on our commander. I'm sure other lists get away with this and likely do fine, but I believe the added draw rounds out the deck better.

Removal is another category where we find synergy. Green doesn't have a lot of tools for this, but the upside of our commander is that the creatures with ETB removal effects become marginally better. Dedicate some slots to those creatures, and maybe add some sorcery/instant speed removal based on your playgroups.

Synergy is a straightforward category. Cheap, creature spells with high power is what we want here, or things that will allow us to "rebuild" quickly should we lose Ghalta, our board state, or both. I think this category is the biggest trap for first time brewers (myself included). There are a plethora of fringe cards that make getting Ghalta down early a breeze, but that Memnite or Lupine Prototype aren't going to do much for us mid-late game.

We don't need many wincon cards for this deck. Ghalta is our wincon, and our high creature count helps with the lifting if the first plan doesn't work. Berserk and Triumph of the Hordes are degenerate, and as I pointed out earlier, we're playing Ghalta. You should be running these.

The remainder (the "other category) of our deck I believe should be the flex slots. Elder Gargaroth and Hornet Queen can push us to the finish line or bring us back from being against the ropes. Worldly Tutor and Prowling Serpopard help the deck play more consistently.

In closing, I don't think this is the most powerful or efficient list, but it plays consistently and this most recent revision wins games. I plan on trimming some of the high CMC cards and swapping out a few cards for the new Jumpstart and Phyrexia sets, and then calling this done for a while. This description was meant for anyone trying to save some time brewing...to this end I hope I've either swayed you to think similarly or turned you off of my rationale completely, maybe steering you towards something better.

Date added	2 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 2 Mythic Rares 32 - 2 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.30
Tokens	Astartes Warrior 2/2 W, Beast 3/3 G, 2/2 G Token Creature Cat, Copy Clone, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Spirit */* G, Wurm 6/6 G
Folders	Random