I already talked about Selvala and Eldritch Evolution, but the new Cataclysmic Gearhulk is actually something this deck really wanted as well:
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds: I don't necessarily want her for the drawing ability, though I figure that I'm probably more likely to trigger it, than most other deck. What I'm really after here is the very powerful mana ability, which not ony casts Karametra a turn earlier, but will also put me very far ahead, if I get to untap with it. She also fixes any colored mana problems I might encounter.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: While the ETB effect is far weaker than Tragic Arrogance, I found that there frequently are situations where I fell behind on the board and struggled to regain my footing. This thing can be found with tutors and is easy to reanimate (compared to other sweepers). I previously had Myojin of Cleansing Fire in this spot but found it a bit too clunky.
Eldritch Evolution: This is a fantastic tutor for any deck with a reasonable creature density and in many situations I think it's better than Birthing Pod as it's much more flexible. The most important piece of text to remember when using the card is "or less", as it can be tempting to look among the most expensive creatures you are "allowed" to get, not realizing that something cheaper might be what you really need.
Pendlehaven: I mostly put this in here because it is a legendary land which means that Captain Sisay can get me a land if needed.
About the cuts: While I really like both Myojins, especially the green one, they always felt a little bit too clunky so I decided to cut them. I also cut Rout because Cataclysmic Gearhulk means that It is now much easier to find a sweeper effect via tutors.
Tough I myself run Karametra and probably won't swap her for Trostani in the foreseeable future, I find your list really awesome.
Some questions/suggestions:
Why don't you run Admonition Angel? I mean sure, she is a target, but if she sticks around,she completely dominates the battlefield (note that she can exile all non-land permanents!) and even if she doesn't, there are all kinds of powerful shenanigans with her, not to mention if you manage to have multiple copies through population.
One card I think is incredibly undervalued in the format is Mosswort Bridge. I guess in your deck it's almost always active, it's actual card advantage (including card selection) on a land, you probably get a huge discount on the casting cost and it even grants pseudoflash.
I also really like Eldrazi Displacer as it's a very versatile mana sink.
If I mentioned something that was already discussed, I'm sorry.
Thank you for the interesting suggestion. The reason I don't want to run it is because it doesn't curve into Marath. I very deliberately mostly chose ramp/acceleration that can be cast on turn one or two because on turn three I usually want to cast Marath and from there I don't have time to cast any more ramp in most games.
I decided to trim down on the Sunforger package and move a bit more towards a creature deck (somehow that always happens with my deccks ^^). That's why I cut Boros Charm and Comeuppance. They are at their best when played with Sunforger but can often get stranded in my hand. I also considered to cut Wild Ricochet, however I decided against it as it gives the deck the ability to interact with the stack in a way that Naya normally can't. Stonehewer I unfortunately also had to cut (somehow that also always happens :(). Evolutionary Leap was simply upgraded to Eldritch Evolution. The problem with Leap was, that it only gave me creatures, when I often really needed lands. Eldritch Evolution allows me to transform a Marath with one counter left into Karametra, Titania and other goodies and is just a more precise tool overall. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds just struck me as a very powerful card. The draw ability is okay, as it can manipulated by distributing counters with Marath but what really intrigues me is the insane tap ability which will often double the amount of available mana.
I previously held off to add Eldrazi Displacer because there isn't an abundance of ETB-creatures in the deck, but I found that most of the time there is at least one of those around and that I'd love to have additional instances of the ETB trigger. Besides his ability can also be used to protect and disrupt. Realm Razer is something I always wanted to try in a deck. Ideally I can drop him when I'm either ahead on the board and prevent my opponents from catching up or when I have an alternative mana source such as Cryptolith Rite, Xenagos the Reveler or Selvala. I also think there might be awesome shenanigans with Eldrazi Displacer. It's not a card I'm 100% convinced of, but I want to give it a try as it is a unique effect.
If Realm Razer doesn't work out, it will at least free up a slot for Aurelia, the Warleader which I just think a super awesome card.
Cyclonic Rift is a real nuisance in this format (not that I wouldn't play it :P) and especially with this deck. There are three suggestions that I can offer:
- Ghostway and Eerie Interlude: Those are the most commonly known. They have the upside that they are versatile answers to multiple boardstates and can also offer great value, depending on the board. The downside is that they are instants and thus hard to interact with (tutor and recur) in a GW deck.
- Planar Guide: This one is kind of a hidden gem, and I just love it in this deck. As a onedrop he triggers Karametra and he is easy to find a recur - unless you activated him. This also brings me to the downside: You can only use him once but it should usually be enough. Note that he his effect includes ALL creatures, which means you have to be careful about other peoples ETB creatures on the board, but also provides utility in sweeping tokens, reseting counters and even foging an alpha strike.
- Myojin of Life's Web: Somehow I really love this card. By himself it's a somewhat overpriced indestructible beater but he enables all kind of tricks. With it in hand you can just put your whole board back onto the table after a rift. Downside is that it's still bad if the Cyclonic Rift happens at the end of your turn and that it's somewhat soft to permission.
In my experience, once opponents know what you are up to, they try very hard to undo it. That's why I moved a bit away from the concept to try and assemble an unpenetrable fortress to a bit more flexible gameplan with more recursion and low cmc "engine creatures" like Yisan, Eldrazi Displacer or Tireless Tracker.
However I still kept the most effective elements for protecteing my board in Avacyn, Archetype and most importantly Gaddock Teeg. The old kithkin advisor does so much work in this deck. He often seriously stalls opponetns when you need time to catch up and, combined with Archetype, I also found him to be a more effective "lock" than Avacyn+Archetype. Not only is it easier to assemble, he also locks down almost all of the sweepers (including exiling and tucking sweeper, but not Cyclonic Rift *sigh*) but also prevents opponents from finding the right answers.
Anyhow, I hope that helps. Once my Selvala, Heart of the Wilds arrives in the mail, I will update my decklist, adding Selvala, Eldritch Evolution and Llanowar Elves. If you have suggestions for cuts, I'll be more than happy to hear them
That was exactly my line of thinking. There is probably no other deck that can play around the effect being global as well as Marath and also no other commander that can potentially extract the maximum value from the first ability. And even if an opponent may draw some cards of her, we are the ones who have access to that crazy mana ability.
I just recently pondered the inclusion of Panglacial Wurm, however I concluded that it probably isn't worth it. The reason is, that a 9/5 french vanilla for seven mana (or nine including activating Mistveil Plains) is probably too inefficient and if I have to resort to it for the lack of better options I am pretty screwed already. Adding the fact that I might draw into it, I decided to abstain form it.
Has anyone tested Selvala, Heart of the Wilds in Marath? You can respond to the trigger and put counters on the creatures that enters the battlefield so you can draw a card or just ensure that your creatures are larger as opponents creatures enter the battlefield. And the mana ability seems just absurd.
Opinions?
I think Animation module could be interesting because of its low casting cost, however it essentially enables "2: Put a 1/1 into play" and I don't know if that's strong enough to warrant an inclusion. If you run a planeswalker-heavy list, there's more of an argument, of course.
Hi, sorry for taking so long to reply. I just started a new job and moved to a different part of the country, so I didn't have much time lately.
Anyhow, the Eldrazi Titans (the old as well as the new) are definitely among the most powerful creatures in the game and there can definitely be a spot for them in the deck. I don't run them because I try to keep the curve relatively low in order to be able to cast multiple spells a turn so I can be flexible and also to get as many lands as possible. The other reason is also personal preference. Sure, I could just bring out the biggest bullies on the playground and stomp face with them, however I like to play this deck because it is a bit durdly and tries to assemble strong creature synergies. So bottomline: I like to play creatures that are a little less powerful by themselves but have powerful synergies with each other and also won't get stuck in my hand due to prohibitive manacost, however the most powerful version of the deck might want one or more Eldrazi Titan.
Since I last updated the decklist we got two new sets in Eldritch Moon and Conspiracy and both yielded one card which I find promising for the deck. One is of course Eldritch Evolution which is just another very good tutor to enable the aforementioned synergies (some might say "Doesn't every game play out the same with all the tutors?", but I find that because the deck is a bit on the slow side it needs to be reactive and so I always need to search for different cards to tackle different situations).
The other is Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. Even having yet to play a game with her, I suspect she might become a staple for green creature decks. Games are usually won by having access to the most cards and the ability to deploy them and as she provides both (especially the mana ability seems singularly powerful) I think she will be very strong in the deck. She also helps to play Karametra a turn earlier which is also a very important feature for low cmc creatures in this deck.
I also want to add Llanowar Elves to the deck, as the mana dorks continue to be very good in this deck. That means I need to find three cuts. One will be Rout which can't be searched for and also doesn't have the versatility of the other sweepers in the deck. Finding the other two cuts will be more difficult and I am glad for any suggestion!!
Thanks for the rules clarifications, I didn't realize that
Also Cloak and Dagger seems tailormade for Grenzo, awesome suggestion, I will pick up a copy asap and find a slot for it. Kiki-Jiki is a card I'd like for multiple decks, however I wasn't able to trade for one so far and the price tag is a bit restrictive (however I just realized it isn't that it has come way down since I last checked). I'll definitely keep him in mind.
How does mana echoes help? The creature types aren't particularly homogenous in my list.
I thought about including more reanimation effects though more in the form of creatures like Phyrexian Delver or maybe Body Snatcher, since I want to keep the creature count as high as possible. I run Wake the Dead because it is incredibly efficient and can turn board states around completely and Fate Return because the scrying is extra valuable and an indetructibel Sheoldred, Mikaeus or Sire of Insanity or something like that is very powerful (and because I really like the card).
Grenzo has probably one of the most unique designs we have in magic. I mean everybody has heard of top deck manipulation, but bottom deck manipultion? Interestingly there is a good number of effects with that ability. Scry is the most obvious, but far from the only one. But more on this a little furter down.
Grenzo's power comes less from the fact that you can cheat on the cmc. My deck has an average cmc of about 4 and runs 50 creatures, so when you blindly activate his ability, according to the laws of probabilty you will be about breaking even in that regard. His TRUE power comes from the fact that you will never run out of things to do with your mana.
Many Grenzo lists only run creatures with 2 or less power but I think you lose a lot of fun and power if you do that. Grenzo is a very efficient "Hydra" which is remarkable for his colors and in addition I run a number of cards that can pump his power to higher levels. Here I looked for cards that either have powerful secondary effects like Sword of Feast and Famine or don't require a mana investment to equip like Hero's Blade and Cloak and Dagger, so we can use all our mana to "look into the dungeon".
Of course I tried not to get too greedy when building the deck and so 5 and 6 power creatures were only included if they have a particularly powerful effect. That means a 4 power Grenzo is enough to dig out most creatures.
The deck features an artifact subtheme with Goblin Welder and Kuldotha Forgemaster to abuse it. In addition Buried Ruins and Myr Retriever can ... retrieve any noncreature artifacts that Grenzo unwittingly buries. Among those noncreature artifacts there are some powerful engines: Heartstone and Sword of Feast Famine essentially double the the number of Grenzo activations you can get in a turn which means double the amount of value he generates. Teferi's Puzzlebox is a particularly fun one. Most of you probably know it from those annoying Nekusar lists, but here it can be super degenerate: Assumung you have a hand of about 5-7 cards, it is highly probable that you almost always hit your landdrop and then put all creatures on the bottom your library in an order to suit you. Hitting landdrops is crucial for this deck since mana is the only restricting ressource with Grenzo out.
card]Clone Shell[/card], Hideaway lands (Spinerock Knoll, Howltooth Hollow), Junk Troller, Epitaph Golem and Tel-Jilad Stylus are more ways to make sure that you get what you want when activating Grenzo. Blightsteel Colossus is the only creature with a power greater than 6 and may look a bit weird, but it's just a big payoff card to cheat into play with the Summoner's Egg, Clone Shell, Hideaway lands or Kuldotha Forgemaster.
Further the deck features a lot of disruption and attrition, the most powerful of which is global hand destruction in the form of Mindslicer and Sire of Insanity. Apart from lands, most of the time there isn't very much incentive to play cards from your hand anyway when Grenzo is out, so losing our hand really doesn't bother us. Tree of Perdition,Purphoros and especially Flayer of the Hatebound are ways to close the game out in short order.
Weaknesses of the deck are Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb and Hushwing Gryff, which is why we run Torch Fiend and Reckless Reveler. Further RB doesn't have many ways to interact with enchantments (I can discard them, blow them up or use my opponents cards (Mindclaw Shaman, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Gonti, Lord ofLuxury), so we have to be careful of that cardtype. Other than that the deck is hard to disrupt. If Grenzo gets killed over and over it's a bit annoying but we have the tools to fight an attrition war without Grenzo and thus navigate the game to a point where opponents run out of answers.
The deck is immens fun to play. It is a powerful, grindy deck that has this mad Rakdos feeling to it, since often even you yourself don't know what will happen next. On the other hand it really isn't a chaos deck. The randomness is balanced through careful deckbuilding and ways to manipulate the probability in our favor (hence "restrained Rakdos"). Rather than playing a lot of tutors, we try to find the right answers by the sheer number of cards we get to look at.
Anyway! There are still some rough edges that I'd like to smooth out and I need your help to do it. I think I have come as far as I can on my own with this deck and need your feedback to further improve it.
I hope you like it and I can only recommend to give this deck a spin, especially if you want some fresh spice in your commander experience.
I don't think that's true, since Gideon isn't a creature during the untap step, so no downside here
What I'm interested in is: Does this deck ever actually win?
oh also, Tireless Tracker is great. it keeps your hand full and he gets huge if left unchecked.
This is a great idea! One of the things that I've struggled with is getting enough card advantage into the deck (GW aren't the best colors for this). Definitely gonna try and get this one in there!
I'm going to update the decklist this weekend; with changes I've already made and also new additions from suggestions in this thread.
So far:
- Seasons Past
- Tireless Tracker
Both are CA cards which I'm really happy about!
Tireless Tracker is certainly awesome in this deck. I also had great success with other low cmc creatures (so you can cast them early and in multiples to accumulate Karametra triggers), that are great as the game progresses and we accumulate enough mana, e.g. Fauna Shaman, Duskwatch Recruiter, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard and Eldrazi Displacer. Especially the Displacer is surprisingly good as his ability is very versatile in its uses and thus allows you to really control the battlefield if you have enough mana. A creature with the right ETB ability on your side of the board of course also turns him into a potent CA engine. Selvala, Explorer Returned is also really nice since she not only allows you to cast Karametra a turn earlier, but also helps you to draw into more action. Sure, she helps your opponents too, but generally you will have a much easier time to empty out your hand than your opponents. Zendikar Resurgent over Mana Reflection may also be a chance you might want to look at, as it can also generate CA.
Last but not least one cmc mana dorks are deceptively good. Initially I was very sceptical about them, because I didn't want to have those dead draws in the lategame, but unless I am in desperate topdeck mode (which should only very rarely happen) I almost never find them to be useless. Granted my list runs cards like Survival of the Fittest and Skullclamp but it's foremost the ability to power out Karametra on turn three (in combination with any other ramp) and to be able to get extra lands once she is out for just G which makes them so valuable.
Thanks for the suggestions Realm Seekers is very much on my radar. The problem with it is though, that they are rather clunky. To get to the first land I'd have to spend 6GGG and then it isn't even on the battlefield. I still think about finding a slot for them though.
I previously thought that Amulet of Vigor was like a $10 card and spending that on such a niche card wasn't worth it to me, but I just realized that it is actually much cheaper, so I'll try to pick one up and see if I can find a slot
I have shifted the focus in my list to more of a toolbox and recursion deck while still retaining the element of having a well protected board.
One card I found particularly amazing is Glacial Chasm. It helps to alleviate the early pressure that was already discussed as being problematic and lets us develop our board while our life total is protected. It also stops any damage based combos or annoying stuff like Nekusar.
Another card I found to be great is Ulvenwald Hydra. It gets powerful lands like Emeria, the Sky Ruin or Dusk Bowl while probably being the biggest creature on the board. Plus it has reach to protect from fliers.
-Myojin of Life's Web
-Rout
-Plains
+Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
+Cataclymic Gearhulk
+Eldritch Evolution
+Pendlehaven
I already talked about Selvala and Eldritch Evolution, but the new Cataclysmic Gearhulk is actually something this deck really wanted as well:
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds: I don't necessarily want her for the drawing ability, though I figure that I'm probably more likely to trigger it, than most other deck. What I'm really after here is the very powerful mana ability, which not ony casts Karametra a turn earlier, but will also put me very far ahead, if I get to untap with it. She also fixes any colored mana problems I might encounter.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk: While the ETB effect is far weaker than Tragic Arrogance, I found that there frequently are situations where I fell behind on the board and struggled to regain my footing. This thing can be found with tutors and is easy to reanimate (compared to other sweepers). I previously had Myojin of Cleansing Fire in this spot but found it a bit too clunky.
Eldritch Evolution: This is a fantastic tutor for any deck with a reasonable creature density and in many situations I think it's better than Birthing Pod as it's much more flexible. The most important piece of text to remember when using the card is "or less", as it can be tempting to look among the most expensive creatures you are "allowed" to get, not realizing that something cheaper might be what you really need.
Pendlehaven: I mostly put this in here because it is a legendary land which means that Captain Sisay can get me a land if needed.
About the cuts: While I really like both Myojins, especially the green one, they always felt a little bit too clunky so I decided to cut them. I also cut Rout because Cataclysmic Gearhulk means that It is now much easier to find a sweeper effect via tutors.
Some questions/suggestions:
Why don't you run Admonition Angel? I mean sure, she is a target, but if she sticks around,she completely dominates the battlefield (note that she can exile all non-land permanents!) and even if she doesn't, there are all kinds of powerful shenanigans with her, not to mention if you manage to have multiple copies through population.
One card I think is incredibly undervalued in the format is Mosswort Bridge. I guess in your deck it's almost always active, it's actual card advantage (including card selection) on a land, you probably get a huge discount on the casting cost and it even grants pseudoflash.
I also really like Eldrazi Displacer as it's a very versatile mana sink.
If I mentioned something that was already discussed, I'm sorry.
-Stonehewer Giant
-Comeuppance
-Boros Charm
-Evolutionary Leap
+Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
+Eldrazi Displacer
+Realm Razer
+Eldritch Evolution
I decided to trim down on the Sunforger package and move a bit more towards a creature deck (somehow that always happens with my deccks ^^). That's why I cut Boros Charm and Comeuppance. They are at their best when played with Sunforger but can often get stranded in my hand. I also considered to cut Wild Ricochet, however I decided against it as it gives the deck the ability to interact with the stack in a way that Naya normally can't.
Stonehewer I unfortunately also had to cut (somehow that also always happens :(). Evolutionary Leap was simply upgraded to Eldritch Evolution. The problem with Leap was, that it only gave me creatures, when I often really needed lands. Eldritch Evolution allows me to transform a Marath with one counter left into Karametra, Titania and other goodies and is just a more precise tool overall.
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds just struck me as a very powerful card. The draw ability is okay, as it can manipulated by distributing counters with Marath but what really intrigues me is the insane tap ability which will often double the amount of available mana.
I previously held off to add Eldrazi Displacer because there isn't an abundance of ETB-creatures in the deck, but I found that most of the time there is at least one of those around and that I'd love to have additional instances of the ETB trigger. Besides his ability can also be used to protect and disrupt.
Realm Razer is something I always wanted to try in a deck. Ideally I can drop him when I'm either ahead on the board and prevent my opponents from catching up or when I have an alternative mana source such as Cryptolith Rite, Xenagos the Reveler or Selvala. I also think there might be awesome shenanigans with Eldrazi Displacer. It's not a card I'm 100% convinced of, but I want to give it a try as it is a unique effect.
If Realm Razer doesn't work out, it will at least free up a slot for Aurelia, the Warleader which I just think a super awesome card.
- Ghostway and Eerie Interlude: Those are the most commonly known. They have the upside that they are versatile answers to multiple boardstates and can also offer great value, depending on the board. The downside is that they are instants and thus hard to interact with (tutor and recur) in a GW deck.
- Planar Guide: This one is kind of a hidden gem, and I just love it in this deck. As a onedrop he triggers Karametra and he is easy to find a recur - unless you activated him. This also brings me to the downside: You can only use him once but it should usually be enough. Note that he his effect includes ALL creatures, which means you have to be careful about other peoples ETB creatures on the board, but also provides utility in sweeping tokens, reseting counters and even foging an alpha strike.
- Myojin of Life's Web: Somehow I really love this card. By himself it's a somewhat overpriced indestructible beater but he enables all kind of tricks. With it in hand you can just put your whole board back onto the table after a rift. Downside is that it's still bad if the Cyclonic Rift happens at the end of your turn and that it's somewhat soft to permission.
In my experience, once opponents know what you are up to, they try very hard to undo it. That's why I moved a bit away from the concept to try and assemble an unpenetrable fortress to a bit more flexible gameplan with more recursion and low cmc "engine creatures" like Yisan, Eldrazi Displacer or Tireless Tracker.
However I still kept the most effective elements for protecteing my board in Avacyn, Archetype and most importantly Gaddock Teeg. The old kithkin advisor does so much work in this deck. He often seriously stalls opponetns when you need time to catch up and, combined with Archetype, I also found him to be a more effective "lock" than Avacyn+Archetype. Not only is it easier to assemble, he also locks down almost all of the sweepers (including exiling and tucking sweeper, but not Cyclonic Rift *sigh*) but also prevents opponents from finding the right answers.
Anyhow, I hope that helps. Once my Selvala, Heart of the Wilds arrives in the mail, I will update my decklist, adding Selvala, Eldritch Evolution and Llanowar Elves. If you have suggestions for cuts, I'll be more than happy to hear them
Opinions?
I think Animation module could be interesting because of its low casting cost, however it essentially enables "2: Put a 1/1 into play" and I don't know if that's strong enough to warrant an inclusion. If you run a planeswalker-heavy list, there's more of an argument, of course.
Anyhow, the Eldrazi Titans (the old as well as the new) are definitely among the most powerful creatures in the game and there can definitely be a spot for them in the deck. I don't run them because I try to keep the curve relatively low in order to be able to cast multiple spells a turn so I can be flexible and also to get as many lands as possible. The other reason is also personal preference. Sure, I could just bring out the biggest bullies on the playground and stomp face with them, however I like to play this deck because it is a bit durdly and tries to assemble strong creature synergies. So bottomline: I like to play creatures that are a little less powerful by themselves but have powerful synergies with each other and also won't get stuck in my hand due to prohibitive manacost, however the most powerful version of the deck might want one or more Eldrazi Titan.
Since I last updated the decklist we got two new sets in Eldritch Moon and Conspiracy and both yielded one card which I find promising for the deck. One is of course Eldritch Evolution which is just another very good tutor to enable the aforementioned synergies (some might say "Doesn't every game play out the same with all the tutors?", but I find that because the deck is a bit on the slow side it needs to be reactive and so I always need to search for different cards to tackle different situations).
The other is Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. Even having yet to play a game with her, I suspect she might become a staple for green creature decks. Games are usually won by having access to the most cards and the ability to deploy them and as she provides both (especially the mana ability seems singularly powerful) I think she will be very strong in the deck. She also helps to play Karametra a turn earlier which is also a very important feature for low cmc creatures in this deck.
I also want to add Llanowar Elves to the deck, as the mana dorks continue to be very good in this deck. That means I need to find three cuts. One will be Rout which can't be searched for and also doesn't have the versatility of the other sweepers in the deck. Finding the other two cuts will be more difficult and I am glad for any suggestion!!
Also Cloak and Dagger seems tailormade for Grenzo, awesome suggestion, I will pick up a copy asap and find a slot for it. Kiki-Jiki is a card I'd like for multiple decks, however I wasn't able to trade for one so far and the price tag is a bit restrictive (however I just realized it isn't that it has come way down since I last checked). I'll definitely keep him in mind.
How does mana echoes help? The creature types aren't particularly homogenous in my list.
I thought about including more reanimation effects though more in the form of creatures like Phyrexian Delver or maybe Body Snatcher, since I want to keep the creature count as high as possible. I run Wake the Dead because it is incredibly efficient and can turn board states around completely and Fate Return because the scrying is extra valuable and an indetructibel Sheoldred, Mikaeus or Sire of Insanity or something like that is very powerful (and because I really like the card).
Grenzo has probably one of the most unique designs we have in magic. I mean everybody has heard of top deck manipulation, but bottom deck manipultion? Interestingly there is a good number of effects with that ability. Scry is the most obvious, but far from the only one. But more on this a little furter down.
Grenzo's power comes less from the fact that you can cheat on the cmc. My deck has an average cmc of about 4 and runs 50 creatures, so when you blindly activate his ability, according to the laws of probabilty you will be about breaking even in that regard. His TRUE power comes from the fact that you will never run out of things to do with your mana.
Many Grenzo lists only run creatures with 2 or less power but I think you lose a lot of fun and power if you do that. Grenzo is a very efficient "Hydra" which is remarkable for his colors and in addition I run a number of cards that can pump his power to higher levels. Here I looked for cards that either have powerful secondary effects like Sword of Feast and Famine or don't require a mana investment to equip like Hero's Blade and Cloak and Dagger, so we can use all our mana to "look into the dungeon".
Of course I tried not to get too greedy when building the deck and so 5 and 6 power creatures were only included if they have a particularly powerful effect. That means a 4 power Grenzo is enough to dig out most creatures.
The deck features an artifact subtheme with Goblin Welder and Kuldotha Forgemaster to abuse it. In addition Buried Ruins and Myr Retriever can ... retrieve any noncreature artifacts that Grenzo unwittingly buries. Among those noncreature artifacts there are some powerful engines: Heartstone and Sword of Feast Famine essentially double the the number of Grenzo activations you can get in a turn which means double the amount of value he generates. Teferi's Puzzlebox is a particularly fun one. Most of you probably know it from those annoying Nekusar lists, but here it can be super degenerate: Assumung you have a hand of about 5-7 cards, it is highly probable that you almost always hit your landdrop and then put all creatures on the bottom your library in an order to suit you. Hitting landdrops is crucial for this deck since mana is the only restricting ressource with Grenzo out.
card]Clone Shell[/card], Hideaway lands (Spinerock Knoll, Howltooth Hollow), Junk Troller, Epitaph Golem and Tel-Jilad Stylus are more ways to make sure that you get what you want when activating Grenzo.
Blightsteel Colossus is the only creature with a power greater than 6 and may look a bit weird, but it's just a big payoff card to cheat into play with the Summoner's Egg, Clone Shell, Hideaway lands or Kuldotha Forgemaster.
Further the deck features a lot of disruption and attrition, the most powerful of which is global hand destruction in the form of Mindslicer and Sire of Insanity. Apart from lands, most of the time there isn't very much incentive to play cards from your hand anyway when Grenzo is out, so losing our hand really doesn't bother us.
Tree of Perdition,Purphoros and especially Flayer of the Hatebound are ways to close the game out in short order.
Weaknesses of the deck are Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb and Hushwing Gryff, which is why we run Torch Fiend and Reckless Reveler. Further RB doesn't have many ways to interact with enchantments (I can discard them, blow them up or use my opponents cards (Mindclaw Shaman, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Gonti, Lord ofLuxury), so we have to be careful of that cardtype. Other than that the deck is hard to disrupt. If Grenzo gets killed over and over it's a bit annoying but we have the tools to fight an attrition war without Grenzo and thus navigate the game to a point where opponents run out of answers.
The deck is immens fun to play. It is a powerful, grindy deck that has this mad Rakdos feeling to it, since often even you yourself don't know what will happen next. On the other hand it really isn't a chaos deck. The randomness is balanced through careful deckbuilding and ways to manipulate the probability in our favor (hence "restrained Rakdos"). Rather than playing a lot of tutors, we try to find the right answers by the sheer number of cards we get to look at.
2x Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Creatures
5 Ingot Chewer
1 Goblin Welder
2 Myr Retriver
5 Shriekmaw
2 Nezumi Graverobber
2 Iron Myr
2 Leaden Myr
2 Reckless Reveler
2 Torch Fiend
2 Blood Artist
2 Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
3 Flehbag Marauder
3 Merciless Executioner
3 Burnished Hart
3 Paladium Myr
3 Pilgrim's Eye
3 Feldon of the Third Path
3 Bone Shredder
3 Grim Haruspex
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Disciple of Bolas
4 Olivia Voldaren
4 Anger
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Mindslicer
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Tree of Perdition
4 Junktroller
4 Summoner's Egg
5 Clone Shell
5 Zealous Conscripts
5 Sadistic Hypnotist
5 Puppeteer Clique
5 Mindclaw Shaman
5 Kuldotha Forgmaster
5 Epitaph Golem
5 Voldaren Pariah
6 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
6 Sire of Insanity
6 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
6 Homamura, Human Ascendant
6 Duplicant
6 Steel Hellkite
6 Swift Warkite
6 Flayer of the Hatebound
6 Demon of the Dark Schemes
6 Godo, Bandit Warlord
7 Sheoldred, the Whisperig One
7 Kaervek, the Merciless
12 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Sol Ring
1 Tel Jilad Stylus
2 Hero's Blade
2 Cloak and Dagger
2 Mind Stone
2 Rakdos Signet
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Heartstone
4 Teferi's Puzzlebox
5 Possibility Storm
Instants
4 Dread Return
Lands
0 Command Tower
0 Blood Crypt
0 Smoldering Marsh
0 Dragonskull Summit
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Akoum Refuge
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Terramorphic Expanse
0 Tower of Phyrexia
0 Rakdos Carnarium
0 Temple of the False God
0 Tectonic Edge
0 Buried Ruins
0 Terrain Generator
0 Spinerock Knoll
0 Howltooth Hollow
11 Swamp
9 Mountain
Anyway! There are still some rough edges that I'd like to smooth out and I need your help to do it. I think I have come as far as I can on my own with this deck and need your feedback to further improve it.
I hope you like it and I can only recommend to give this deck a spin, especially if you want some fresh spice in your commander experience.
-Dimir House Guard
-Phalanx of the Underworld
-Rakdos Augermage
-Corpse Augur
-Shard Phoenix
-Malfegor
-Skullclamp
-Demonmail Hauberk
-Fated Return
-Wake the Dead
-Land
+Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
+Pilgrim's Eye
+Paladium Myr
+Tree of Perdition
+Voldaren Pariah
+Godo, Bandit Warlord
+Demon of the Dark Schemes
+Mind Stone
+Cloak and Dagger
+Possibility Storm
+Dread Return
What I'm interested in is: Does this deck ever actually win?
Tireless Tracker is certainly awesome in this deck. I also had great success with other low cmc creatures (so you can cast them early and in multiples to accumulate Karametra triggers), that are great as the game progresses and we accumulate enough mana, e.g. Fauna Shaman, Duskwatch Recruiter, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard and Eldrazi Displacer. Especially the Displacer is surprisingly good as his ability is very versatile in its uses and thus allows you to really control the battlefield if you have enough mana. A creature with the right ETB ability on your side of the board of course also turns him into a potent CA engine.
Selvala, Explorer Returned is also really nice since she not only allows you to cast Karametra a turn earlier, but also helps you to draw into more action. Sure, she helps your opponents too, but generally you will have a much easier time to empty out your hand than your opponents.
Zendikar Resurgent over Mana Reflection may also be a chance you might want to look at, as it can also generate CA.
Last but not least one cmc mana dorks are deceptively good. Initially I was very sceptical about them, because I didn't want to have those dead draws in the lategame, but unless I am in desperate topdeck mode (which should only very rarely happen) I almost never find them to be useless. Granted my list runs cards like Survival of the Fittest and Skullclamp but it's foremost the ability to power out Karametra on turn three (in combination with any other ramp) and to be able to get extra lands once she is out for just G which makes them so valuable.
Realm Seekers is very much on my radar. The problem with it is though, that they are rather clunky. To get to the first land I'd have to spend 6GGG and then it isn't even on the battlefield. I still think about finding a slot for them though.
I previously thought that Amulet of Vigor was like a $10 card and spending that on such a niche card wasn't worth it to me, but I just realized that it is actually much cheaper, so I'll try to pick one up and see if I can find a slot
One card I found particularly amazing is Glacial Chasm. It helps to alleviate the early pressure that was already discussed as being problematic and lets us develop our board while our life total is protected. It also stops any damage based combos or annoying stuff like Nekusar.
Another card I found to be great is Ulvenwald Hydra. It gets powerful lands like Emeria, the Sky Ruin or Dusk Bowl while probably being the biggest creature on the board. Plus it has reach to protect from fliers.