After playing Stonebrow a few games, I figured out that the deck either got there and destroyed or sat back and did nothing. I figured I wanted reach, as well as a way to punish opponents who tried to counterattack me, and this is what I've come up with.
Stonebrow wasn't getting me there half the time - a Wrath effect would always happen, or something to completely cut me off offense. Most of these spells were noncreature, so the shift to Ruric Thar felt logical and natural.
How does one play this deck?
Generally, you plop dudes down and turn them sideways. There's the odd time you'll get to use either Birthing Pod or Domri Rade to start gaining advantage through tutoring or drawing cards.
Nuances of the Deck
-Domri Rade works fantastic with Oracle of Mul Daya and Garruk's Horde. Usually, if you aren't going straight-up for the emblem, try to fight creatures when you can't draw cards.
-Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Heartless Hidetsugu are both very important engines in the deck - try to get them active as fast as possible to grind your opponents into the dust.
-Try not to overcommit to the board without Ruric Thar out - back him up with Stoneshaker Shaman or Vexing Shusher. Once he's out, your opponents will be hard-pressed to do anything about your board state, and you can bash face with impunity.
M14 brings us some goodies. I didn't want to sift out CotC, but it's the worst noncreature spell by a rather large margin, so out it goes. Fare thee well.
I have been pondering a Primal surge/ruric thar deck for a bit now and it is nice to see another list to compare too. You may want to consider Radha, Heir to Keld as an addition to the creature manabase you have going.
Another consideration for the few non-creature elements would be Vedalken Orrery to let you pull big creatures out on peoples turns when they don't expect them or let you do a surge at the end of turn which is quite nice to have your creatures ready to attack.
Speaking of fast attacks, another great addition to the killing power of this deck would be Concordant crossroads. This would be to drop from the surge and not really before since it applies to all players, but having haste on all your creatures can let you win right then and there on the surge.
Note that with possibility storm, they get 2 cast triggers for each spell they play - so with your commander, that's double damage or 12 poison counters with the exoskeleton.
Note that with possibility storm, they get 2 cast triggers for each spell they play - so with your commander, that's double damage or 12 poison counters with the exoskeleton.
Can't they just choose not to cast the spell they Possibility Storm into though? It just says that they exile a card and may cast it...
Possibility Storm is a really cute option, but I have a vendetta against the card. I just really don't enjoy the experience of it.
I also do not want to be that guy playing Infect at the table.
I hear you on the Infect - I heard someone call it "The aggro players' combo" and that's a fair assessment, I feel - but so it Berserk in most circumstances.
I run Ruric with the hydras
well the new ones:
vastwood/kalonian
and savage born is just nuts
and we can't forget about primordial hydra
I should really get rid of the sorcery ramp and go for the creature ramp
I'm really loving this list. It's totally different from what I'm going to which is utter chaos but this list helped me pick a lot of creatures I'm using. THanks!
I recently put Possibility Storm in my build, and it's a surprisingly decent from of disruption. It's also really nice for trying to flip useless ramp dudes or mana dorks late-game into something else. Best thing I've gotten was flipping Diligent Farmhand into Spearbreaker Behemoth for just G. But since you have a vendetta against Storm, you probably still won't run it.
I love Ruric I don't think people have really started to realize some of his potential. In my build I run Huntmaster of the Fells and a Whispersilk Cloak to give my Ruric Unblockable and shroud...this makes him rediculous. I added a couple ramp spells to ramp to ruric some cards I'm thinking of playing around with are Mul Daya Channelers and Oracle of Mul Daya.
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
17 Forest
16 Mountain
Creatures:
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Zhur-Taa Ancient
1 Deus of Calamity
1 Heartless Hidetsugu
1 Fumiko the Lowblood
1 Zo-Zu the Punisher
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Orcish Settlers
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Detritivore
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Gyre Sage
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Anger
1 Somberwald Sage
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Gruul Ragebeast
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Molten Primordial
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Acidic Slime
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Terastodon
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Fierce Empath
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Garruk's Horde
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Thragtusk
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Wood Elves
1 Keldon Firebombers
1 Duplicant
1 Chaos Warp
1 Manabarbs
1 Mana Flare
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Domri Rade
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 War's Toll
1 Grand Melee
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Beast Within
1 Ruination
1 Price of Glory
1 Birthing Pod
1 Gruul Signet
1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Kodama's Reach
This is my chaos build right now. It's made for multiplayer EDH and aims to make everything go crazy. What do you think? A lot of the cards are based off your list with some from my own.
6 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
Creatures - 52
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Experiment One
1 Legion Loyalist
2 Gyre Sage
2 Kavu Predator
2 Strangleroot Geist
2 Vexing Shusher
2 Zhur-Taa Druid
3 Fierce Empath
3 Loaming Shaman
3 Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
3 Somberwald Sage
3 Stoneshaker Shaman
3 Vithian Renegades
3 Wilderness Elemental
3 Wood Elves
3 Yavimaya Elder
4 Anger
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Brawn
4 Fangren Firstborn
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Ogre Battledriver
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Polukranos, World Eater
5 Acidic Slime
5 Bellowing Tanglewurm
5 Deus of Calamity
5 Garruk's Packleader
5 Heartless Hidetsugu
5 Indrik Stomphowler
5 Thornling
5 Urabrask the Hidden
5 Zealous Conscripts
6 Bane of Progress
6 Dragon Broodmother
6 Dragonlair Spider
6 Homura, Human Ascendant
6 Hydra Omnivore
6 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
6 Rampaging Baloths
6 Soul of the Harvest
6 Terra Stomper
7 Balefire Dragon
7 Giant Adephage
7 Garruk's Horde
7 Gruul Ragebeast
7 Molten Primordial
7 Stalking Vengeance
7 Sylvan Primordial
8 Terastodon
8 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
3 Domri Rade
3 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Birthing Pod
6 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
6 Lurking Predators
6 Warstorm Surge
7 Akroma's Memorial
10 Primal Surge
Basic Lands - 22
14 Forest
8 Mountain
Nonbasic Lands - 16
0 Ancient Ziggurat
0 Dryad Arbor
0 Forgotten Cave
0 Kazandu Refuge
0 Kessig Wolf Run
0 Khalni Garden
0 Mossfire Valley
0 Mosswort Bridge
0 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
0 Raging Ravine
0 Rogue's Passage
0 Spinerock Knoll
0 Stomping Ground
0 Tectonic Edge
0 Teetering Peaks
0 Tranquil Thicket
So, why Ruric Thar, the Unbowed?
How does one play this deck?
Nuances of the Deck
-Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Heartless Hidetsugu are both very important engines in the deck - try to get them active as fast as possible to grind your opponents into the dust.
-Try not to overcommit to the board without Ruric Thar out - back him up with Stoneshaker Shaman or Vexing Shusher. Once he's out, your opponents will be hard-pressed to do anything about your board state, and you can bash face with impunity.
Changes Log
Ogre Battledriver
Garruk, Caller of Beasts
-Removed:
Hellraiser Goblin
Cream of the Crop
M14 brings us some goodies. I didn't want to sift out CotC, but it's the worst noncreature spell by a rather large margin, so out it goes. Fare thee well.
7/21/2013:
Scute Mob
-Removed:
Kird Ape
why didn't I do this a long time ago hurr durr
9/22/2013:
Birds of Paradise
Polukranos, World Eater
-Removed:
Scute Mob
Rubblebelt Raiders
10/18/2013:
Bane of Progress
-Removed:
Conjurer's Closet
LOVE ME
Another consideration for the few non-creature elements would be Vedalken Orrery to let you pull big creatures out on peoples turns when they don't expect them or let you do a surge at the end of turn which is quite nice to have your creatures ready to attack.
Speaking of fast attacks, another great addition to the killing power of this deck would be Concordant crossroads. This would be to drop from the surge and not really before since it applies to all players, but having haste on all your creatures can let you win right then and there on the surge.
You cannot outrun the beast within.
I run Possibility Storm, Grafted Exoskeleton and Godo in my list.
Note that with possibility storm, they get 2 cast triggers for each spell they play - so with your commander, that's double damage or 12 poison counters with the exoskeleton.
Can't they just choose not to cast the spell they Possibility Storm into though? It just says that they exile a card and may cast it...
Yeah, if they want to cast NOTHING!
I also do not want to be that guy playing Infect at the table.
I hear you on the Infect - I heard someone call it "The aggro players' combo" and that's a fair assessment, I feel - but so it Berserk in most circumstances.
well the new ones:
vastwood/kalonian
and savage born is just nuts
and we can't forget about primordial hydra
I should really get rid of the sorcery ramp and go for the creature ramp
uhh
uhh
uhh
BUTTS
byedon'tfollowme
I really don't know why this wasn't a thing. Wow, I'm stupid.Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
Gratuitous Violence is a must. Ruric swings for 12 and burns for 12 with it out? Seems good to me. Pairing this with Heartless Hidetsugu ends the game in a draw. But have Platinum Emperion or Platinum Angel on board when you do it to be left the last man standing.
Nullstone Gargoyle and Heartwood Storyteller are great for this deck, too.
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
17 Forest
16 Mountain
Creatures:
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Zhur-Taa Ancient
1 Deus of Calamity
1 Heartless Hidetsugu
1 Fumiko the Lowblood
1 Zo-Zu the Punisher
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Orcish Settlers
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Detritivore
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Gyre Sage
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Anger
1 Somberwald Sage
1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1 Soul of the Harvest
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Gruul Ragebeast
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Molten Primordial
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Acidic Slime
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Terastodon
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Fierce Empath
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Garruk's Horde
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Thragtusk
1 Pelakka Wurm
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Indrik Stomphowler
1 Primordial Hydra
1 Wood Elves
1 Keldon Firebombers
1 Duplicant
1 Chaos Warp
1 Manabarbs
1 Mana Flare
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Domri Rade
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 War's Toll
1 Grand Melee
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Beast Within
1 Ruination
1 Price of Glory
1 Birthing Pod
1 Gruul Signet
1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Kodama's Reach
This is my chaos build right now. It's made for multiplayer EDH and aims to make everything go crazy. What do you think? A lot of the cards are based off your list with some from my own.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao