What do people think are the top Gruul cards these days? I'm doing a big Zendikar/Commander Legends overhaul and I'm looking at making other changes. I'm looking at Gruul and wondering what are the favorites after Bloodbraid Elf and Dragonlord Atarka? I wouldn't be unhappy to just jam Sarkhan Vol back in but maybe there is something better?
- Bloodbraid Elf
- Dragonlord Atarka
- Wrenn and Six
- Klothys, God of Destiny
- Xenagos, the Reveler
Pretty happy with this lineup. Bloodbraid Elf / Atarka / Wrenn and Six are pretty locked in with Klothys / Xenagos being my flex slots. I do like Klothys as my #4 Gruul card. Xenagos is fine, but it literally could be any other 4-cmc Gruul spell / Domri, Anarch of Bolas. The reason I stick with Xenagos is because of its ramping capabilities.
I consider Bloodbraid Elf / Atarka / Wrenn and Six and Klothys the top 4 Gruul. Furthermore, Radha, Heart of Keld has been better than Domri, Anarch of Bolas and my #5 Gruul card
I only run some Signets, but run all 10 Talismans. Grumgully and Rhythm are there for persist/counters synergy, but I am generally happy with Radha over Domri (although not by much). Rampager was added when I was trying to add more cards for Kaheera, and I haven't gotten around to swapping it out yet.
Can someone explain how Klothys has been good? What types decks want him, and how does the card play out over the course of a game? Thanks!
She's an indestructible threat that ramps or plays a lifegaining Sulfuric Vortex variant. I've been happy with her in any shell that RG is in, although I like her more in midrange or aggro-leaning decks than ramp decks, since she won't shine as much if you're trying to turbo out enormous creatures and end a game quickly with a finisher.
She's comes down really early and is very hard to remove, so she can grind out a lot of value over the course of the game.
I forgot all about Wrenn and Six! There's my answer! Excited to jam that back into my cube. Otherwise, I'd probably bring Sarkhan Vol back. I liked Vol more than Xenagos and in theory I like him better than Klothys.
I'm still a huge fan of Ghor-Clan Rampager. That card has ended so many games played with bloodrush, and it still gets played as a creature as well, in a pinch.
I forgot all about Wrenn and Six! There's my answer! Excited to jam that back into my cube. Otherwise, I'd probably bring Sarkhan Vol back. I liked Vol more than Xenagos and in theory I like him better than Klothys.
Cheers,
rant
Wrenn and Six is kinda the perfect cube card - really strong, but not generally oppressive, and it supports some specific synergies like loam/aggroloam/crucible without being parasitic or narrow. It's also one of the stronger answers to ramp decks heavily invested into mana elf/bird starts, and a bunch of important 1 toughness targets like Mother of Runes, Dark Confidant... just a great card.
Wrenn and Six is kinda the perfect cube card - really strong, but not generally oppressive, and it supports some specific synergies like loam/aggroloam/crucible without being parasitic or narrow. It's also one of the stronger answers to ramp decks heavily invested into mana elf/bird starts, and a bunch of important 1 toughness targets like Mother of Runes, Dark Confidant... just a great card.
I really like Wreen and Six myself for that reason.
I'm still a huge fan of Ghor-Clan Rampager. That card has ended so many games played with bloodrush, and it still gets played as a creature as well, in a pinch.
I'm not sure about a combat trick in two colors. I've actually been thinking about Mutagenic Growth because it can help aggro push through creature midrange + help spells matter/ double strike. Idk.
You can make a strong argument that Arlinn Kord and Huntmaster of the Fells in my cube should be cut in favor of some other options, but I don't see them as a slam dunk upgrade and never got around to acquiring them.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Well, I never tested Mutagenic Growth, although I did consider it multiple times. People do go into a second color for Ghor-Clan though. I think it's worth the multi-colored slot (we have 5 non-hybrid gruul slots) and I rate it higher than Arlinn Kord and Huntmaster. +4/+4 and trample as a combat trick can finish a game out of nowhere (especially on a double striker ) Just my 2 cents!
Damn I've never been a huge fan of Bloodbraid Elf, Sarkhan Vol, or Wrenn and Six in cube. We've played all 3 and the Elf was only ok, Sarkhan Vol was better than he looked but still pretty mediocre, and in our experience Wrenn and Six was pretty useless in the several drafts we got to play it in, just hardly ever did much.
In my experience, Dragonlord Atarka has been by far best Gruul card as a premier cube fatty, but Xenagos, the Reveler and Klothys, God of Destiny round out the rest of the ones we play, with Klothys probably being the second best and Xenagos at third (and imo by far the best/most versatile of all the Gruul 4 drops). Back years ago when our cube was 450 we played Huntmaster of the Fells, so I think that's probably(?) the fourth best Gruul cube card in a vacuum, but I might just be partial because it's so unique and can be really fun to build around, plus it's really good vs mono red which is super important in larger and unpowered cubes.
I came up with the following list (in somewhat likely order). Just have to narrow it down in the next days
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540> 360 Powered CubeWhat do people think are the top Gruul cards these days? I'm doing a big Zendikar/Commander Legends overhaul and I'm looking at making other changes. I'm looking at Gruul and wondering what are the favorites after Bloodbraid Elf and Dragonlord Atarka? I wouldn't be unhappy to just jam Sarkhan Vol back in but maybe there is something better?
Cheers,
rant
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Staff- Bloodbraid Elf
- Dragonlord Atarka
- Wrenn and Six
- Klothys, God of Destiny
- Xenagos, the Reveler
Pretty happy with this lineup. Bloodbraid Elf / Atarka / Wrenn and Six are pretty locked in with Klothys / Xenagos being my flex slots. I do like Klothys as my #4 Gruul card. Xenagos is fine, but it literally could be any other 4-cmc Gruul spell / Domri, Anarch of Bolas. The reason I stick with Xenagos is because of its ramping capabilities.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
-Grumgully, the Generous
-Radha, Heart of Keld
-Rhythm of the Wild
-Ghor-Clan Rampager
-Talisman of Impulse
I only run some Signets, but run all 10 Talismans. Grumgully and Rhythm are there for persist/counters synergy, but I am generally happy with Radha over Domri (although not by much). Rampager was added when I was trying to add more cards for Kaheera, and I haven't gotten around to swapping it out yet.
She's an indestructible threat that ramps or plays a lifegaining Sulfuric Vortex variant. I've been happy with her in any shell that RG is in, although I like her more in midrange or aggro-leaning decks than ramp decks, since she won't shine as much if you're trying to turbo out enormous creatures and end a game quickly with a finisher.
She's comes down really early and is very hard to remove, so she can grind out a lot of value over the course of the game.
Draft my cube! (630 cards)
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Wrenn and Six is kinda the perfect cube card - really strong, but not generally oppressive, and it supports some specific synergies like loam/aggroloam/crucible without being parasitic or narrow. It's also one of the stronger answers to ramp decks heavily invested into mana elf/bird starts, and a bunch of important 1 toughness targets like Mother of Runes, Dark Confidant... just a great card.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
He does a pretty good impersonation of Sulfuric Vortex. He's very difficult to remove and the 4 point life swing makes racing very difficult.
I really like Wreen and Six myself for that reason.
I'm not sure about a combat trick in two colors. I've actually been thinking about Mutagenic Growth because it can help aggro push through creature midrange + help spells matter/ double strike. Idk.
You can make a strong argument that Arlinn Kord and Huntmaster of the Fells in my cube should be cut in favor of some other options, but I don't see them as a slam dunk upgrade and never got around to acquiring them.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
In my experience, Dragonlord Atarka has been by far best Gruul card as a premier cube fatty, but Xenagos, the Reveler and Klothys, God of Destiny round out the rest of the ones we play, with Klothys probably being the second best and Xenagos at third (and imo by far the best/most versatile of all the Gruul 4 drops). Back years ago when our cube was 450 we played Huntmaster of the Fells, so I think that's probably(?) the fourth best Gruul cube card in a vacuum, but I might just be partial because it's so unique and can be really fun to build around, plus it's really good vs mono red which is super important in larger and unpowered cubes.