Best Stompy Commander?

Commander (EDH) forum

Posted on Sept. 24, 2020, 11:50 a.m. by Sultai_Sir

I've been hankering for a big stompy commander to play, but I can't decide! So far the ones on my radar are Goreclaw, Surrak, or Grand Warlord Radha. Does anyone have any experience playing with these cards, or any other recommendations? Thanks!

September 24, 2020 12:23 p.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #3

Ashaya, Soul of the Wild does look fun, DragonSliver9001! What kind of build would you recommend?

September 24, 2020 12:44 p.m.

MagicMarc says... #4

If you want to be in , another possibility is Neyith of the Dire Hunt.

I have not built using her, (him?), yet. And there are other cards probably better for a stomp commander.

but when this card got spoiled I was intrigued by the fact that this card has what you need to help win with a stompy deck. It has card advantage when your creatures fight or get blocked, it can double a creature's power for 3 mana and it forces a block when you pump the creature.

It supports going wide or going big.

Just in case you are just kicking around ideas or for something more casual than cEDH.

September 24, 2020 12:46 p.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #5

Thanks, MagicMarc! That's a great recommendation. He is a great source of card advantage in the command zone, and can sometimes take out a creature or two. I'll look at some builds of him.

September 24, 2020 12:57 p.m.

shadow63 says... #6

September 24, 2020 1:15 p.m.

what kind of build? it'd be mono green so your options are already limited, especially since you've already narrowed it down to stompy. ramp and big creatures. but Ashaya, Soul of the Wild can also enable infinite combos.

September 24, 2020 1:31 p.m.

Ok, I guess I'm biased, but Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma is one hell of a fluffy mana rock.

You might also want to consider Zilortha, Strength Incarnate. Good'ol Godzilla is a very unusual and very interesting commander. If you're interested, there's a deck in my commander folder.

September 24, 2020 2:26 p.m.

smackjack says... #9

September 24, 2020 3:20 p.m.

TriusMalarky says... #10

Nikya of the Old Ways is probably the best for stompy. You can easily play her t3 without artifact ramp and potentially t2 if you set it up right. A few of the good artifact ramp like Sol Ring should be worth it.

You can easily be playing large eldrazi (Artisan of Kozilek, Breaker of Armies on turn 3-4 and you can be playing multiple a turn after a little more setup. Your opponents will be required to kill Nikya once you play it, because if you untap you can pull really far ahead really fast. You'll also be able to run a handful of cards that can set you up for a pseudo storm turn.

And it's cheap. Very few of the necessary cards are more than a couple bucks.

September 24, 2020 4:17 p.m.

Unlife says... #11

Animar, Soul of Elements. Drop small creatures with her out, then use all the counters to drop bigger and bigger things for cheap.

September 24, 2020 5:23 p.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #12

Thanks for the suggestions, Unlife and TriusMalarky! Animar looks great, I've never passed down a free Kozilek. And Nikya is also amazing! Turn 4 Terastodon or Ulamog's Crusher always means some good times. I'll check both of them out!

September 24, 2020 5:32 p.m.

Optimator says... #13

The best one is far and away Xenagos, God of Revels. Hands-down.

September 24, 2020 8:01 p.m.

Optimator says... #14

That said, raw power isn't always what you want or even necessarily more fun. For instance, the building decisions from Grand Warlord Radha's mana ability are really fun to play around with and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed's and Nikya of the Old Ways's restrictions make for fun playlines and deck-building.

Gishath, Sun's Avatar definitely qualifies as stompy. Mayael the Anima can be fun for the guessing game, Gahiji, Honored One has the politics angle. Atla Palani, Nest Tender is a house. Marisi, Breaker of the Coil is also great at building stompy, with the added political edge to make games more interactive.

Lots of excellent choices.

Oh, and another vote for Animar, Soul of Elements for raw power. Homeboy is a BEAST

September 24, 2020 8:42 p.m.

Speaking of free Eldrazi, Rakdos, Lord of Riots is worth considering as a non-Green option..

September 24, 2020 9:26 p.m.

Nightblad3 says... #16

Rakdos is a house, I have a Samut list that's a mix of superfriends and stompy that I love, but it needs some tuning. Animar is great, Gishath kinda forces you into dinosaur tribal but that's not much of a problem, and if you want to go pure jank you can go colorless eldrazi tribal. I'm not as big a fan of Mayael, Atla Palani, or Marisi. When it comes to color schemes, I'd go with Gruul or Naya unless you want to go pure jank, at which point Dimir Eldrazi, Rakdos nonsense, or colorless Eldrazi become options

September 24, 2020 10:41 p.m.

Lanzo493 says... #17

I definitely second what Metroid_Hybrid says about Xenagos, God of Revels being one of the strongest big stompy commanders. I'm a green player at heart, so I've always searched for a commander to satisfy my Timmy urge to curb-stomp people in a single combat step. Repeatedly if necessary. Xenagod was the only one that did it good enough for me (not even Atarka, World Render dragon tribal was enough).

Xenagos, God of Revels is strong because 1. He gives haste (that's HUGE), 2. He gives +X/+X, 3. Most of cards worth running in this deck have trample anyway. Nyxbloom Ancient , Blightsteel Colossus , Emrakul, the Promised End , Ghalta, Primal Hunger , Pathbreaker Ibex , and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger to name a few. As for Eldrazi, what more could you ask for than having haste on Kozilek, Butcher of Truth ? That's why I love this commander.

September 25, 2020 12:44 a.m.

Lanzo493 says... #18

I meant to say I second what Optimator said.

September 25, 2020 12:44 a.m.

0rc says... #19

There is but one....

Stangg

-0rc

September 25, 2020 12:54 p.m. Edited.

Sultai_Sir says... #20

Ooh, Stangg! Thanks, 0rc I've never heard of him! He looks like a piece of jank, but I'd be really interested in a decklist of him.

September 25, 2020 1:49 p.m.

0rc says... #21

Sultai_Sir, here you go then: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/stangg-casually-competitive/ this Stangg decklist wrecks opponents.

September 25, 2020 3:46 p.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #22

Thanks, 0rc! That decklist looks ridiculous, and I mean that in the best way possible.

September 25, 2020 4:58 p.m.

griffstick says... #23

Build Selvala, Explorer Returned good ol Selesnya stompy. Its perfect for ramping into big creatures all while keeping your hand full. And with cards like Nature's Chosen , Instill Energy and Thousand-Year Elixir you can really make some mana plus the added life gain

September 26, 2020 7:12 a.m.

griffstick says... #24

White also gives you some of magics biggest creatures. Creatures like Serra Avatar and Evra, Halcyon Witness

September 26, 2020 7:35 a.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #25

I've never considered Selvala a stompy commander, but that sounds like a great idea! Thanks!

September 26, 2020 10:02 a.m.

smackjack says... #26

Im building Phylath, World Sculptor. Lots of ramp, Avenger of Zendikar and so on :)

September 26, 2020 2:10 p.m.

MagicMarc says... #27

Those would great with Sprouting Phytohydra!

September 26, 2020 2:21 p.m.

MagicMarc says... #28

Do plants have a legendary creature yet? Or Is Phylath, World Sculptor the closest we can get?

September 26, 2020 2:30 p.m.

0rc says... #29

“Crush the enemy. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of the women.”

-Conan

September 27, 2020 3:52 a.m.

Nightblad3 says... #30

MagicMarc the only legendary plant we have is Morophon, the Boundless, and that's not really a plant. Phylath is the closest we have to an actual plant commander except for maybe Ashaya, Soul of the Wild

September 27, 2020 11:28 a.m.

Jaktipe says... #31

I play Goreclaw in my Radha deck. GW Radha generates a lot of mana and it feels like you get two turns instead of one when going through T4-7. This obviously helps you accelerate your board.

Totally Radhical

October 1, 2020 8:08 a.m.

Sultai_Sir says... #32

I used to run Radha. She was great!

October 1, 2020 8:15 a.m.

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