King Stranger, Make Me Strong! *PRIMER*

Commander / EDH Aggro Casual Midrange Multiplayer RG (Gruul)

NV_1980

Creature (39)

• 1x Ancient Copper Dragon
• 1x Anzrag, the Quake-Mole
• 1x Augur of Autumn
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Delighted Halfling
• 1x Dragonmaster Outcast
• 1x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
• 1x Elder Gargaroth
• 1x Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Grand Warlord Radha
• 1x Hellkite Charger
• 1x Karlach, Fury of Avernus
• 1x Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Moraug, Fury of Akoum
• 1x Neheb, the Eternal
• 1x Ohran Frostfang
• 1x Old Gnawbone
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Pathbreaker Ibex
• 1x Port Razer
• 1x Prowling Serpopard
• 1x Quartzwood Crasher
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Saryth, the Viper's Fang
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Silverback Elder
• 1x Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1x Vexing Shusher
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 6x Forest
• 1x Game Trail
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Relentless Assault
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x World at War

Commander (1)

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Aggravated Assault
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Fervor
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Mirri's Guile
• 1x Nature's Will
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Unnatural Growth

Artifact (7)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1x The Great Henge

Instant (2)

• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Domri Rade

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Welcome to King Stranger Makes Me Strong {R}{G}!

Hi there! Welcome to the primer of this Gruul, Aggro-Ultra-Attack deck; commanded by Xenagos, God of Revels; King Stranger himself. Throughout his hedonist life, this Satyr has displayed an utter disregard for life. It is there to be taken advantage of, to be desired and enjoyed for nothing but pure pleasure. Yet maybe also for the purpose of chasing one’s ambitions of absolute rule over a pantheon; or an entire plane perhaps. So prepare yourself for a fast, powerful, unstoppable tide of Gruul’s forces, supported by a deity that empowers his favored children to destroy all that opposes them. This deck is meant to be played casually. It’s not meant to be used in a competitive fashion, but of course anyone is welcome to try! Feel free to comment on anything you (dis)like throughout this primer; hope you will enjoy it!

Why Xenagos?

Because his boosting ability is really quite remarkable. Anything (big) that was just summoned gets the ability to attack immediately at double its power and toughness. What makes it even better is that it’s triggered at the start of every combat phase during the deck’s turn, meaning that if one can somehow convince forces to forms ranks more than once per turn, one can also use Xenagos to boost (one of them) more than once a turn. Being a Theros-God, means that by default he is also indestructible, which means he’s not easily removed. That saves a bit on recasting resources.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The following ten parameters have been used to determine the strength of the deck. For each, a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad) has been allocated; when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck (maximum score is 50 points).

• Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
• Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
• Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
• Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
• Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
• Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
• Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
• Interaction: indicates how much this deck can mess with opponents’ board states and turn-phases.
• Resilience: indicates whether the deck can prevent and take punches.
• Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.

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Mana: 5

This deck’s gameplan of multiple attacks per turn and summoning new creatures after each attack requires quite a bit of energy in order to function well. Thus it’s well equipped to handle that; featuring six dorks, four creatures that provide mana through triggering mechanisms, four mana rocks, two cards that cheapen creature casting and two cards that can be triggered to untap all lands.

Ramp: 3

Fetching lands quicker boosts energy-production. This deck features eight resources that either allow to top-deck lands, play additional lands per turn or allow to fetch lands from the library (some of the included cards feature multiple of these abilities).

Card Advantage: 5

Having copious amounts of mana at one’s disposal to cast creatures has no meaning unless one has lots of access to said creatures. To ensure that, the deck contains four direct-draw cards, six conditional-draw cards, two scry cards and several individual cards that allow to top-deck, tutor or even steal.

Overall speed: 3

In some senses, this deck is a bit like X-men’s Juggernaut. If it’s allowed to achieve momentum, it basically becomes unstoppable. Due to its relatively high average CMC of 3.56, this usually takes a few turns but since well over half the deck’s non-land cards are resources of some type, the amount of turns required is on average not more than four.

Combo: 2

Two types of infinite combos have been added to this deck: infinite mana and infinite attacks.

Army: 5

Quite a powerful army resides within the depths of this deck. Of its thirty-eight creatures, twenty have power 4 or better. Its attack-power is further strengthened through the distribution of deadly abilities (deathtouch is an important one) and through the application of significant power-boosts (six options in total). It should be noted that its army-strength is especially potent when it attacks, and a bit less so when it defends.

Commander: 5

Xenagos, God of Revels’s ability is truly quite scary when applied to certain creatures. Yet this isn’t necessarily a win-condition. Due to its massive resources and attack-potential, this deck is perfectly capable at fending for itself while Xenagos gazes on from his position in the command-zone.

Interaction: 2

Not much interaction going on here, other than the odd bit of destruction, non-combat damage, inhibition and theft.

Resilience: 1

Not really built with staying-power in mind, though I did include a few gems that either prevent my creature spells from being countered by some ambitious blue player(s), as well as a few cards that grant my creatures hexproof.

Spellpower: 3

Most important to this deck’s non-creature casting arsenal includes five spells that increase the amount of attacks one can execute per turn, along with four overall haste enablers, two massive untap-enablers and a very potent power/toughness enhancer.

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Total power score: 34

This is a solid, high-powered deck. It’s got plenty of resources available and only needs a few turns before it really starts to pick up pace. Its army strength is quite potent and its assault capabilities are just about second to none. It does lack a bit in the interaction- and resilience departments, but it makes up for it through its pure ferocity. Xenagos’ doubling power fits perfectly within this setting as he adds those shattering hammer blows to already powerful attacks.

General strategy

This deck has been setup in such a way that attacking yields energy through the generation of mana and/or treasure tokens AND hopefully also some additional draw. The produced energy will be used to quickly expand the army OR pump said energy into spell/abilities that fuel additional attacks towards the opposition again. The aim is to reach the ability to attack multiple times a turn by the time the mid-game starts and to vastly outpace opponents in term of available sources on the field asap.

Starting hand

At least three cards in the starting hand ought to be lands (or two lands and a cheap-to-cast rock like Arcane Signet or Sol Ring). It is recommended not to start a game without this hand (even if one has to mulligan down to three cards). The ideal hand would also contain some additional ramp and/or low-cost draw options.

Early game

Ideally, it’s recommended to begin games by casting either some dorks (Birds of Paradise, Bloom Tender, Delighted Halfling, Lotus Cobra, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, casting some ramp-spells (Augur of Autumn, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, Exploration, Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Three Visits) or rocks. In case none of these options are in hand during the first few turns, turn to filtering/draw options like Garruk's Uprising, Mirri's Guile, Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top. Of course, cheapen casting through Shadow in the Warp, this will be fine to cast in the early phase too.

Once some basic resources are available, start by summoning Xenagos, God of Revels. He can grant haste to whatever follows him onto the field (not to mention a substantial combat-stat bonus). However, if he’s still too expensive to summon at this stage, it’s possible to settle for other, cheaper haste enablers (like Fervor or Rhythm of the Wild) followed up (in order of priority) by some cheap combatants and/or utility creatures. Examples of these include Beast Whisperer, Managorger Hydra, Prowling Serpopard, Saryth, the Viper's Fang, Toski, Bearer of Secrets and Vexing Shusher.

Mid game

Once the first combats have been fought, it’s time to get on with summoning the core cards required to pull off wins: triggered mana sources and spells/creatures that grant additional combat phases. The goal is to create a vicious circle of generating mana by attacking and/or through the application of combat damage and then using that mana as fuel for the creation of new combat phases. The deck’s most potent mana sources for this are Ancient Copper Dragon, Grand Warlord Radha, Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient, Neheb, the Eternal and Old Gnawbone. The cards Nature's Will and Sword of Feast and Famine can also untap all lands upon a successful attack, which by this stage should grant enough potential energy to fuel a new attack.

Additional attacks can be granted through the use of permanents like Aggravated Assault, Combat Celebrant, Hellkite Charger, Karlach, Fury of Avernus, Moraug, Fury of Akoum and Port Razer or maybe through the use of non-permanents like Relentless Assault and World at War.

End game

While major battles are being fought, work on adding those finishing touches required to blow the opposition away completely. Doubling or enhancing creatures’ scores (again) through means like Pathbreaker Ibex, Unnatural Growth and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus will help in this regard. Domri Rade’s ultimate will also go a long way towards providing definitive combat-victory. Last but not least, Shaman of Forgotten Ways has a really dirty trick up its sleeves that can set opponents’ lives to 0 in an instant.

Combos and synergies

This deck contains a few interesting combos and synergies that are really fun to use.

Combos

• Aggravated Assault/Hellkite Charger + Ancient Copper Dragon/Grand Warlord Radha/Nature's Will/Neheb, the Eternal Old Gnawbone/Selvala, Heart of the Wilds/Sword of Feast and Famine: the mana sources can potentially generate enough energy to fuel Assault/Charger for infinite attacks (in lots of cases the mana-generation is such that a surplus is reached).

Synergies

• Augur of Autumn/Vizier of the Menagerie + Grand Warlord Radha/ Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient/Nature's Will/Neheb, the Eternal/Old Gnawbone/Selvala, Heart of the Wilds/Sword of Feast and Famine: Augur/Vizier extend one’s hand by one AND have a very high chance of providing more creatures to summon per turn (after every attack!) when aided by the mana-generation capabilities of these cards.
• Xenagos, God of Revels/Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus/Unnatural Growth + Pathbreaker Ibex: by itself, Ibex grants the army the power of an Overrun spell every combat. This power is increased substantially when one of the mentioned doublers is added to the mix and will often lead to an army that has instant-commander-kill strength.
• Saryth, the Viper's Fang + Toski, Bearer of Secrets: granting all the deck’s creatures deathtouch when they’re attacking makes it much more likely they’ll connect with opponents and grant additional draw.
• Shaman of Forgotten Ways + Fervor/Rhythm of the Wild/Xenagos, God of Revels + Prowling Serpopard/Vexing Shusher: there are plenty of conceivable scenarios in which opponents do not have creatures on the battlefield while this deck does. Casting an un-counterable Shaman and immediately activating his special ability (in cases when there’s enough available mana to do so) can be an insta-win no-one will see coming until it’s too late.

Card Choices

Lands

Reliable sources of mana, and some utility:

• Arid Mesa/Bloodstained Mire/Misty Rainforest/Scalding Tarn/Verdant Catacombs/Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills: filtering lands that aid at getting to the meat of the deck quicker.
• Bonders' Enclave: an excellent draw resource in a deck featuring mostly large creatures.
• Cinder Glade/card:Firelit Thicket/Game Trail/Rootbound Crag/Spire Garden/Stomping Ground/Temple of Abandon: lands that provide Gruul mana which, depending on circumstances, enter the battlefield tapped or untapped. The best MTG has to offer on this front has been incorporated, except for the original dual lands which are outside most players’ price-range.
• Command Tower/Mana Confluence/Reflecting Pool: the best mana-flexibility on offer!
• Hanweir Battlements  : an additional haste enabler.
• card:Kessig Wolfrun/Skarrg, the Rage Pits: trample enablers for the assault force.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: this deck features enough permanents to really make this worthwhile.
• Yavimaya Hollow: excellent utility land; capable of regenerating creatures.

Mana and Ramp

The cards used to accelerate mana-availability:

• Ancient Copper Dragon/Old Gnawbone: holy moly; these guys are really something else when it comes to generating treasure.
• Arcane Signet: cheap mana of any color, and it enters the battlefield untapped!
• Birds of Paradise/Bloom Tender/Delighted Halfling: the best multi-color mana dorks to begin games with.
• Dryad of the Ilysian Grove: more or less the creature-form of Exploration and Prismatic Omen combined.
• Exploration: such value for its CMC. Play this on turn one, and immediately follow up by putting down land number two.
• Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma: sixteen creatures in this deck can be summoned for less when this beast is around; not to mention provide them with some great combat bonuses.
• Grand Warlord Radha: attacking creature equals mana; so let’s send the army for oodles of it.
• Gruul Signet: a Gruul mana source for a Gruul deck.
• Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient: the perfect mana engine for post-combat creature summoning.
• Lotus Cobra: land-ETB just became energetic!
• Neheb, the Eternal: such mana potential in post-combat for summoning and casting spells/using abilities.
• Oracle of Mul Daya: another creature-form of Exploration with which one can also top-deck play lands.
• Rampant Growth/Three Visits: cheap mana-cost tutors for lands!
• Sakura-Tribe Elder: a nice ramper that can be an attacker in a pinch (or the other way around).
• Selvala, Heart of the Wilds: savage mana source and occasionally a convenient draw enabler.
• Shaman of Forgotten Ways: adds significant mana for creature casting along with a very nasty game-finishing ability under the right circumstances.
• Sol Ring: the most common EDH-card in existence.
• Xenagos, the Reveler: the more creatures one has, the more mana he generates. And he can bring out some more critters, in case there aren’t enough.

Card Advantage

What’s needed in order to draw, tutor or steal additional cards with:

• Augur of Autumn: she allows to top-deck three-fourths of the deck.
• Beast Whisperer: bit of a no-brainer in a deck featuring this many (non-token) creature spells.
• Etali, Primal Storm: imagine facing three opponents. Now imagine having this in a deck that can easily attack multiple times per turn. You’re in value-heaven!
• Garruk's Uprising: will be triggered by loads of creatures’ ETB-triggers within this deck.
• Mirri's Guile: incredibly powerful ‘sort-of-scrying’ card that helps to choose what card ought to be drawn this turn.
• Ohran Frostfang: such an amazing card; turns all the deck’s creatures into no-touchies-unless-you-have-a-deathwish and then proceeds to punish opponents for not sacrificing their creatures to block mine by granting draw.
• Scroll Rack: famous EDH card for increasing one’s (virtual-)hand-size.
• Sensei's Divining Top: perfect scrying card as well as a nice draw-enabler in a pinch.
• Toski, Bearer of Secrets: every attacker that successfully damages opponents allows a single draw. As games progress, that can quickly become pretty ridiculous.
• Vizier of the Menagerie: in a deck as heavy on resources as this one, the ability to top-deck cast creatures is not to be underestimated.
• Worldly Tutor: sometimes it helps to just search for that single creature that can tip the scales or make a win even more certain.

Assault and Combat Bonuses

See that horizon of teeth and claws over there? It’s heading towards you …

• Aggravated Assault/Hellkite Charger: in a deck that features multiple ways to generate mana by damaging creatures (or opponents), these make it easy to keep attacking until everyone is dead.
• Combat Celebrant: one celebrates combat best, by attacking!
• Etali, Primal Conqueror  : wreaks havoc with opposing libraries upon ETB, providing some much loved value. Then, when the time is right, it basically transforms into an incarnation of the apocalypse.
• Fervor/Rhythm of the Wild: more haste-enablers as back-up for Xenagos.
• Heroic Intervention: good luck damaging/wiping these creatures.
• Karlach, Fury of Avernus: only one attack per turn is so boring; why not have two?
• Managorger Hydra: becomes stronger than strong pretty fast within a multi-player meta.
• Moraug, Fury of Akoum: play a land during your pre-combat main-phase. Attack. Now untap all creatures and attack again. Now use one of the deck’s many possibilities to play a land in your post-combat main-phase. Untap all creatures and attack again!
• Nature's Will: attack blue players with this on the table and then watch them squirm when they can’t do anything to prevent your casts in the post-combat main-phase.
• Pathbreaker Ibex: by itself, it’s a repeatable Overrun. Include a stronger creature when attacking though, and it turns into a win-condition.
• Port Razer: in a meta featuring multiple players, this guy will allow attacking multiple times a turn (and every critter gets to untap each time, provided he damages someone).
• Quartzwood Crasher: as this deck features plenty of ways in which it can grant its occupants trample, this guy has the potential to create some truly stunning tokens.
• Relentless Assault/Seize the Day/World at War: even more combat!
• Saryth, the Viper's Fang: severely impedes the opponents’ choices in terms of blocking and targeting (untapped) stuff. The untap-ability can also come in very handy on occasion.
• Unnatural Growth/Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus: more doublers to support Xenagos and make creatures’ power/toughness scores even more ridiculous.

Utility and Removal

Bits and bobs that helps out our games while undoing yours:

• Domri Rade: starts as additional card-advantage or creature-control enabler and then ends up as provider of the ultimate combat-bonus abilities.
• Dragonmaster Outcast: bit of a small, vulnerable dragon generator, but can become very problematic when combined with Saryth, the Viper's Fang or Domri Rade’s ultimate.
• Elder Gargaroth: holy moly; a very powerful beast that allows draw, gain life or it drops one of its kids upon dealing damage.
• Silverback Elder: such great options to apply when casting a new creature; most important one being the removal option for opposing enchantments/artifacts.
• Sword of Feast and Famine: just another great way to make mana available after an attack; the forced discard is pretty nifty too.
• The Great Henge: mana and card-advantage for a seemingly hefty price; until you notice its caveat.
• Ulvenwald Tracker: helps to remove unwanted creatures by making them fight something of mine that’s powerful. Especially useful for commander-removal.
• Vexing Shusher: frustrating blue to the end of time!

Notable exceptions

Currently not in here, for reasons described below.

• Bloodthirster: it’s a savage combatant, but its major drawback is that it only untaps itself when damaging an opponent (instead of all creatures), making it less effective for repeated assaults on the enemy compared to alternatives.
• Deflecting Swat/Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots: nothing in this deck is so unique as to be completely indispensable, so the need to go out of one’s way to overly protect specific stuff is not really required.
• Ilharg, the Raze-Boar: currently not in the collection. Also not sure on all its up- and downsides in this deck.

Thank you for reading!

Appreciate the time you took to read this primer. Hopefully it was entertaining and useful to you. If so, feel free to leave a +1 and/or feedback of any kind in the comments below. Thanks again!

Date added	9 months
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	27 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 8 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.64
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Dinosaur Beast X/X G, Dragon 5/5 R, Emblem Domri Rade, Treasure