I need help coming up with non-stompy win cons for Rhonas the Indomitable.

Commander Deck Help forum

Posted on March 16, 2023, 2:28 a.m. by StopShot

I want to build a Rhonas the Indomitable EDH deck, but I don't want it to win by being stompy/voltron. I'm not too familiar with piloting mono-green, so I wanted to ask if there are any noncombat-focused strategies in mono-green. (Is turbo-fog a thing for mono-green EDH?)

Why Rhonas the Indomitable? I want to build a mono-color EDH deck that has a bountiful selection of cheap & unconditional removal spells for artifacts, creatures and enchantments. Green already hits two of those well and since Rhonas has both indestructible and deathtouch spells like Pounce and Bite Down become a lot less fragile to disruption.

My preferred playstyle is to play passively, quietly building up value and not getting on my opponents' bad side, while at the same time I like having a hand full of removal to use whenever a situation absolutely calls for it. I already feel like I have this deck built in my head, it's just lacking a win condition that fits with how I want to play it.

legendofa says... #2

Rhonas the Indomitable's combat restriction and activated ability strongly support a stompy-style deck. I'm not trying to dissuade you from building the deck you want, but I do suggest at least considering other indestructible options like Anara, Wolvid Familiar + a partner, Nylea, Keen-Eyed, or Toski, Bearer of Secrets, each of which offers a different dynamic in addition to indestructibility. Neyith of the Dire Hunt can be played as mono-green if you want to lean into the fight angle, and Kogla, the Titan Ape is another potential commander there.

TurboFog can be built in mono-green. Aside from the Fog effects like Moment's Peace, Sunstone, and Tangle, cards like Arboria, Elephant Grass, Silent Arbiter, and Crawlspace restrict attacking options. Orbs of Warding and Witchbane Orb offer more protection. Heroic Intervention should be a given if you have access to one, and there's a good number of instants that grant single-target protection. You're going to want to draw heavily, so look at artifact-based draw, top-deck searching like Commune with the Gods or Vessel of Nascency, and Sylvan Library, Harmonize, and Greater Good.

Green's win conditions are heavily based around creatures and attacking, and that's only gotten more true in recent years. Helix Pinnacle works as an alternate win con for a slower game, and artifact combos are always applicable.

March 16, 2023 3:07 a.m.

I'll answer this from another angle. I build my Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma with as few non-basic lands as possible to have the ability to play Primal Order. The stronger decks get, the highe their usual number of non-basics will be, so Primal Order will punish these decks hard. This would even fit your passive playstyle. You could remove everything that's dangerouns to deal burn damage to your opponents.

March 16, 2023 4:49 a.m.

plakjekaas says... #4

Quietly building up value and not getting on your opponents' bad side is not something that mono green does well. Because mono green's value lies in boardstate, and board presence always scares the opponent.

Especially if your commander is indestructible with deathtouch, that screams out: "I'M GOING TO FIGHT WITH ALL YOUR CREATURES AND IT WILL COST ME NOTHING!" and the other players at the table will resent you for being unable to build a boardstate themselves.

Even if your plan is just doubling your mana with a "power matters"-theme, as my Rhonas deck had when I played it, and I literally had only one fight spell in the deck, my experience is that laying low is not green's strength. It's the most Timmy color. So be enormous, be dangerous, and own it. Someone looks at you funny? Send a Ghalta, Primal Hunger at their face, and Ram Through their commander for good measure!

If you want to play mono green, embrace the color's strength. Don't try to play it like blue/black, those are green's enemy colors for a reason.

March 16, 2023 6:02 a.m.

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