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Kaervek Group Hugging Slug

Commander / EDH* BR (Rakdos) Group Hug Group Slug Theme/Gimmick

WindGraceBeckoning

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Slug (13)

Ramp (8)

Other (7)

Accelerators (1)

Hug (12)

Protection (10)

Removal (6)

Commander (1)

Commander: Kaervek the Merciless

Land (35)

Engine (4)

Politics (3)

Maybeboard

Other (11)

Kaervek is a strange commander. He wants to punish people, but the punishment is dependent on spells being played. This provides a conundrum for traditional Group Slug theme. Punishing people to the point that they can't cast spells is counter to Kaervek's modus operandi. Alternatively, playing at a table with a Group Hug deck is exactly what Kaervek needs. If everyone has spells to cast, then Kaervek will trigger. So how do you fix this problem? Combine the strategies into a Rakdos themed Group Hugging Slug! Basically, help everyone out...for a cost.

Hug Plan: The main way we are going to help our friends is through card draw! Whether it be wheels or Howling Golem , we just want to give out some spells to be in our friends' hands to provide Kaervek with triggers. The most flavorful of these effects by far is Molten Psyche since it can also deal damage at the same time.

Slug Plan: This half of the strategy is more focused on punishing the players for using the cards we provide them. It's also better expressed in terms of specific cards and combos. Kaervek the Merciless is fairly self explanatory. Once he's out, he'll throw damage around the moment an opponent casts a spell. Mayhem Devil is our way of dealing with Aristocrat strategies or general sacrifice effects. In the event that no one uses a sac effect, we have Mogis, God of Slaughter to ensure at least some sacrifices happen. Harsh Mentor + Immolation Shaman ensure activated abilities don't go unnoticed. The damage is minimal, but there are ways to increase it. Since lands don't trigger Kaervek, we need a way to deal damage with them. Manabarbs + War's Toll is the easiest combo to do just that since they either tap the rest of their lands for mana or lose out on the mana. Win-Win either way. While not a direct combo, Leyline of Combustion and Scab-Clan Berserker punish players for targeting us non-creature spells. Roiling Vortex simply gives out a small increment of damage each turn...more on it later.

Protections: Since Kaervek makes our side of the board and immediate target, we're gonna need a way to protect him when he hits the board. It's not an easy to do considering our colors, but there are options. The easiest method is to simply give him hexproof or shroud: Swiftfoot Boots or Whispersilk Cloak . If Kaervek doesn't have evasion, we can alternatively just counter or redirect spells. Bolt Bend is best example of these sorts of effects. If the spell is blue, we can even hard counter it with Red Elemental Blast instead. We can also abuse Kaervek's ability to, effectively, regenerate him using Scythe of the Wretched .

But what if we want to protect ourselves from attacks? For that, we can use Everlasting Torment + Kulrath Knight . It's a bit slow, but it's at least something. As a bonus, we slow down counter decks.

Engines: Lastly, there are three engines that more than facilitate this deck's strategy.

1) Wild Evocation and Omen Machine are precisely the kind of Group Hug cards that Kaervek loves. It provides him with free triggers! On top of that, Roiling Vortex gets a free trigger each turn!

3) Possibility Storm and Knowledge Pool cause what's better than 2-for-1 Kaervek triggers?!

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