Stolen Strategy looks really fun but it'll take work to get real value out of it, and by "work," I mean lots of mana. Good thing Neheb, the Eternal exists and can pump out 5-30 mana a turn in the right build. Decks with Red that can consistently make globs of mana should run Stolen Strategy, but otherwise, it won't be very useful.
Before I go into this deck, I want to mention that this is actually my old Bladewing the Risen deck with the dragon tribal removed. As such, it's kept all of the expensive, Reanimator parts to it. If you're interested in my old Bladewing list, you can find it here.
I also want to mention that I haven't bought any extra cards for this deck (yet) and the cards so far included are what's in my collection. I recently moved so my collection's currently in two parts: what's with me and what's not, including my foil Hazoret and Murderous Redcap. If you're intrigued by this list, expect an update or two after Christmas, when I retrieve the rest of my collection and order new cards for the deck.
Now, for the deck. Grusilda is an absolute dream come true and, even if silver-bordered cards are becoming "illegal" again on January 15th, I'm keeping her at the front of this deck. The strategy of the deck revolves around getting cool things into the graveyard and then using Grusilda to build your own two-card killing machine. The obvious route to victory is through repeated, huge damage triggers. There are two distinct methods to bring about these ginormous globs of damage: "death pingers" and ETB effects.
Again, the deck's not yet complete, though there are some very fun combinations already there. So far, my favorite's Living Inferno + Stuffy Doll. What combos do you see with Grusilda? What combos have I missed?
Questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and shiny new ideas are always welcome.
Heads up, peeps. I'm retiring Bladewing soon and disassembling it. I'm doing the same for my Prossh deck. Why?
I'm turning two decks into three: Grusilda, Monster Masher is a dream come true for me in Commander and my best Reanimator parts are in Bladewing. Throw in how I've been majorly conflicted lately about whether to go harder on the Reanimator theme or the Dragon Tribal theme for Bladewing and it only makes sense to separate the deck now that I've discovered Grusilda. Stapling Flayer of the Hatebound + Murderous Redcap, Wurmcoil Engine + Ronin Cliffrider, and Living Inferno + Stuffy Doll together sounds waaaay too fun not to do. The rest of my Dragon Tribal parts will be going to a new Atarka, World Render deck.
The Prossh deck is also getting disassembled. Its RG mana base will go to the aforementioned Atarka deck but its BR mana base and Aristocrat elements are heading for another new deck for one of our new Unstable cards: The Big Idea. Think of the Johnniest BR aristocrats deck that you can, then turn it up to 11. That's what I'm planning for The Big Idea.
These two new Unstable commanders have honestly provoked the biggest explosion of brewing ideas I've had for years, and, quite appropriately, the bones of this Bladewing deck will live on in Grusilda.
Last week, I was playing in one of my metas against an upgraded version of the new Wizard tribal precon deck and Galecaster Colossus absolutely wrecked me every game it came out. I tend to have a play style that is very proactive and aggressive (red's my favorite color after all) and all of my decks lately have been skewing that way, so this deck is a direct response to my own errors in deck building recently. It's packed to the gills with removal, it's got a solid enchantress engine powering it, and it has very achievable win conditions. Note to the decklist database people: this is a very different deck from my original Dragonlord Dromoka deck built around spring 2015.
I built this deck from what I've had laying around for a while, so it'll be upgraded more in the near future with a better mana base, more control cards, etc. I built a Tamanoa Enchantress deck for the fun of it this summer and had some fun with it but tore it apart since Tamanoa's just not legal as a non-legendary creature, and I used to run a mono-white Enchantress deck headed by Heliod a long time ago, so the parts for this deck mostly comes from those old decks. I also may lean more into a life-gain theme soon to make better use of Aetherflux Reservoir because I love that card. Also, Martial Law is specifically in the deck as a silver bullet for Galecaster Colossus, Breya, and many other often-played cards in my meta game.
Any advice, recommendations, questions, or constructive criticisms are welcome!
It was that The Ur-Dragon had scale dragons and it didn't want to be outdone, so this ship has scale ships. Does a 4/6 really deserve scale ships though?
Haven't had an Italian class for five years, still translated this perfectly in my head. Winning!
In other news, he seems pretty clunky. Sure he can come back often and he's a 4/4 with flying but that mana cost is pretty prohibitive. He'll only see play in Limited, Casual, and some low-powered Commander decks.
Quick update time! I'm not changing up the main list quite yet though because it needs an overhaul and I don't have the time to get to that tonight. However, I've got some new things from C17 and I'm taking the deck into a more tribal direction, because dragons are pretty great.
Adds:
Shifting Shadow - It puts dragons into my 'yard and pulls more out of the deck. We'll see it goes.
Deathbringer Regent - This deck lives out of the graveyard, so sending everything there is a pretty good move. Having it on the back of a dragon is just gravy.
I, too, greatly admire mono-red and all of the havoc it can wreak. Have you considered rocking Neheb, the Eternal in the deck? He's been doing so much work for me.
Have you considered Crimson Honor Guard, Disrupt Decorum and Curse of Opulence from the new Commander set? Crimson Honor Guard can punish slower decks, and Disrupt Decorum can clear the path for a Neheb-led Alpha Strike. Curse of Opulence just nets you extra mana, helping your x spells.
Actually I'm probably going to rock Bloodsworn Steward to get Neheb rolling right out of the command zone and I might run Curse of Opulence for the bit of ramp it provides but probably not the others, at least not in this deck. The thing about Crimson Honor Guard and Disrupt Decorum in synergizing in this deck is, yes, they cause lots of damage to be dealt, but I don't get to profit off of any of said damage (unless the off chance I get Loxodon Warhammer equipped to Honor Guard occurs). Putting them in would take spots I could have for cards that deal damage during my turn and to get me loads of mana like the deck wants.
I will, however, definitely be rocking Crimson Honor Guard and Disrupt Decorum in other decks. I've been tossing around the idea of a Mogis Group Slug deck for years now and they'd be great fun in that potential build.
I run a burn like Neheb, and for a slightly under tuned deck, it does what it does well. However I am running issues with card draw. Looking towards a Knollspine Dragon. I run loot draw, but would be wheels be better in this case?
Knollspine Dragon is always a good idea. Running 100% Wheels I don't think would be the best idea since it benefits your opponents while, simultaneously, probably peeving them off. However, asymmetrical Wheels (like Knollspine) are fantastic for refilling your hand and keeping up your momentum.
In my experienced opinion, I'd recommend running any asymmetrical Wheels as you can, a few symmetrical Wheels, and red's exile-play mechanic (a la Outpost Siege, Chandra, Pyromaster, Commune with Lava, etc). Including Alhammarret's Archive with looting too works well (it's a dream with Daretti), so if you're concentrating on Wheels and looting, I'd recommend Archive too.
Edit - I should mention that there aren't many asymmetrical Wheels available. Knollspine is obviously one. [card]Chandra,
Flamecaller[/card]'s 0 ability gets some advantage. Bedlam Reveler gives your hand a little refill and, running a burn package, should cost less on average. Collective Defiance works that way when you target yourself. Fateful Showdown both blasts an opponent's face and gives you a Wheel. Slate of Ancestry does work with a good board position but obviously isn't too effective in a burn deck. Those are all of the asymmetrical Wheels I can find in mono-red. As I mentioned earlier, Archive is near invaluable in getting you more card advantage in mono-red with looting effects, as well as small time Wheels.
I also want to mention that I haven't bought any extra cards for this deck (yet) and the cards so far included are what's in my collection. I recently moved so my collection's currently in two parts: what's with me and what's not, including my foil Hazoret and Murderous Redcap. If you're intrigued by this list, expect an update or two after Christmas, when I retrieve the rest of my collection and order new cards for the deck.
Now, for the deck. Grusilda is an absolute dream come true and, even if silver-bordered cards are becoming "illegal" again on January 15th, I'm keeping her at the front of this deck. The strategy of the deck revolves around getting cool things into the graveyard and then using Grusilda to build your own two-card killing machine. The obvious route to victory is through repeated, huge damage triggers. There are two distinct methods to bring about these ginormous globs of damage: "death pingers" and ETB effects.
1 Grusilda, Monster Masher
Lands
7 Mountain
7 Swamp
1 Badlands
1 Blood Crypt
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Canyon Slough
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Graven Cairns
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Temple of Malice
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Barren Moor
1 Temple of the False God
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Drownyard Temple
1 Homeward Path
1 High Market
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
Artifacts
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Mind Stone
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Mesmeric Orb
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Rakdos Cluestone
1 Hazoret's Monument
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Millikin
1 Burnished Hart
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Anger
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Ingot Chewer
1 Shriekmaw
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1 Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
1 Warchief Giant
1 Ronin Cliffrider
1 Flayer of the Hatebound
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Combustible Gearhulk
1 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Living Inferno
1 Pestilence Demon
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Enchantments & PWs
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Shifting Shadow
1 Flameshadow Conjuring
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Sneak Attack
1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
1 Warstorm Surge
1 Faithless Looting
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Altar's Reap
1 Wild Guess
1 Tormenting Voice
1 Twinflame
1 Rite of Consumption
1 Read the Bones
1 Buried Alive
1 Victimize
1 Essence Harvest
1 Bitter Revelation
1 Living Death
1 Twilight's Call
1 Rise of the Dark Realms
1 Dread Summons
Again, the deck's not yet complete, though there are some very fun combinations already there. So far, my favorite's Living Inferno + Stuffy Doll. What combos do you see with Grusilda? What combos have I missed?
Questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and shiny new ideas are always welcome.
I'm turning two decks into three: Grusilda, Monster Masher is a dream come true for me in Commander and my best Reanimator parts are in Bladewing. Throw in how I've been majorly conflicted lately about whether to go harder on the Reanimator theme or the Dragon Tribal theme for Bladewing and it only makes sense to separate the deck now that I've discovered Grusilda. Stapling Flayer of the Hatebound + Murderous Redcap, Wurmcoil Engine + Ronin Cliffrider, and Living Inferno + Stuffy Doll together sounds waaaay too fun not to do. The rest of my Dragon Tribal parts will be going to a new Atarka, World Render deck.
The Prossh deck is also getting disassembled. Its RG mana base will go to the aforementioned Atarka deck but its BR mana base and Aristocrat elements are heading for another new deck for one of our new Unstable cards: The Big Idea. Think of the Johnniest BR aristocrats deck that you can, then turn it up to 11. That's what I'm planning for The Big Idea.
These two new Unstable commanders have honestly provoked the biggest explosion of brewing ideas I've had for years, and, quite appropriately, the bones of this Bladewing deck will live on in Grusilda.
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
Lands
9 Forest
7 Plains
1 Command Tower
1 Temple Garden
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Serra's Sanctum
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Windswept Heath
1 Krosan Verge
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Naya Panorama
1 Ash Barrens
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Terrain Generator
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Blighted Steppe
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Temple of the False God
1 Reliquary Tower
Artifacts
1 Sol Ring
1 Aetherflux Reservoir
Instants & Sorceries
1 Gaea's Blessing
1 Mercy Killing
1 Oblation
1 Sylvan Reclamation
1 Winds of Rath
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Wood Elves
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Yavimaya Granger
1 Verduran Enchantress
1 Mesa Enchantress
1 Ghostblade Eidolon
1 Eidolon of Countless Battles
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Ajani's Chosen
1 Alms Collector
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Thran Golem
1 Acidic Slime
1 Celestial Archon
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Greenwarden of Murasa
1 Ulvenwald Hydra
1 Silent Sentinel
1 Archetype of Endurance
Enchantments
1 Soul Snare
1 Rancor
1 Ethereal Armor
1 Sylvan Library
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Seal of Primordium
1 Righteous Aura
1 Brave the Sands
1 Bonds of Mortality
1 Darksteel Mutation
1 Dragon Scales
1 Spirit Loop
1 Daybreak Coronet
1 Enchantress's Presence
1 Song of the Dryads
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Act of Authority
1 Unquestioned Authority
1 Shield of the Oversoul
1 Martial Law
1 Frontier Siege
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Indestructibility
1 Bear Umbra
1 Sage's Reverie
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Spectra Ward
1 Mana Reflection
I built this deck from what I've had laying around for a while, so it'll be upgraded more in the near future with a better mana base, more control cards, etc. I built a Tamanoa Enchantress deck for the fun of it this summer and had some fun with it but tore it apart since Tamanoa's just not legal as a non-legendary creature, and I used to run a mono-white Enchantress deck headed by Heliod a long time ago, so the parts for this deck mostly comes from those old decks. I also may lean more into a life-gain theme soon to make better use of Aetherflux Reservoir because I love that card. Also, Martial Law is specifically in the deck as a silver bullet for Galecaster Colossus, Breya, and many other often-played cards in my meta game.
Any advice, recommendations, questions, or constructive criticisms are welcome!
In other news, he seems pretty clunky. Sure he can come back often and he's a 4/4 with flying but that mana cost is pretty prohibitive. He'll only see play in Limited, Casual, and some low-powered Commander decks.
Adds:
Cuts:
Hopefully I'll get around to overhauling the main list pretty soon. Hurray dragons!
Actually I'm probably going to rock Bloodsworn Steward to get Neheb rolling right out of the command zone and I might run Curse of Opulence for the bit of ramp it provides but probably not the others, at least not in this deck. The thing about Crimson Honor Guard and Disrupt Decorum in synergizing in this deck is, yes, they cause lots of damage to be dealt, but I don't get to profit off of any of said damage (unless the off chance I get Loxodon Warhammer equipped to Honor Guard occurs). Putting them in would take spots I could have for cards that deal damage during my turn and to get me loads of mana like the deck wants.
I will, however, definitely be rocking Crimson Honor Guard and Disrupt Decorum in other decks. I've been tossing around the idea of a Mogis Group Slug deck for years now and they'd be great fun in that potential build.
Knollspine Dragon is always a good idea. Running 100% Wheels I don't think would be the best idea since it benefits your opponents while, simultaneously, probably peeving them off. However, asymmetrical Wheels (like Knollspine) are fantastic for refilling your hand and keeping up your momentum.
In my experienced opinion, I'd recommend running any asymmetrical Wheels as you can, a few symmetrical Wheels, and red's exile-play mechanic (a la Outpost Siege, Chandra, Pyromaster, Commune with Lava, etc). Including Alhammarret's Archive with looting too works well (it's a dream with Daretti), so if you're concentrating on Wheels and looting, I'd recommend Archive too.
Edit - I should mention that there aren't many asymmetrical Wheels available. Knollspine is obviously one. [card]Chandra,
Flamecaller[/card]'s 0 ability gets some advantage. Bedlam Reveler gives your hand a little refill and, running a burn package, should cost less on average. Collective Defiance works that way when you target yourself. Fateful Showdown both blasts an opponent's face and gives you a Wheel. Slate of Ancestry does work with a good board position but obviously isn't too effective in a burn deck. Those are all of the asymmetrical Wheels I can find in mono-red. As I mentioned earlier, Archive is near invaluable in getting you more card advantage in mono-red with looting effects, as well as small time Wheels.
Do you think Hateflayer's ability would be very useful?