Do Forests Make Sound When They Fall ?
Thrasios and Bruse Tarl: quite the unusual couple, isn't it ? Certainly not the most feature Partner combination among the dozens you could play.
But these two pretty unique Generals, who do not seem to synergize at all with each other, can offer a perfect mix, covering most of your needs during an average game of Commander.
So this deck is a midrange land-matters deck: it aims to gather resources in the form of mana and card advantage during the earliest stages of the game, pivoting into a more aggressive style from the mid/late game, with the constant support in terms of life gain and damage applied to our big beaters.
But before looking more in depth at the strategy and card choices, let's get to know better our Generals: enter Thrasios and Bruse Tarl.
"Thrasios is a triton living among the Meletian people, who saved him and his family a long time ago. He is a firm believer of Thassa , thinking he is the righteous bringer of her divine sanction. He enters one pilgrimage after the other, in the constant search of the ancient ruins of his old people and seeking anything related to his beloved Goddess."
He provides anything we need for the earliest stages of the game, in the form of card draw, ramp and a pretty decent blocker. Later he's quite the mana sink, letting us refill our hand if needed or just as a way not to waste our mana. All and all a very well rounded Commander, for the low low cost of two mana.
"Bruse Tarl is a manly and vigorous herder from the Zendikarian plane, known for his colorful manner in which he motivated his beloved oxen and buffalos. He organized an armed resistance when the Eldrazi menace came, becoming quickly well known among the people in Goma Fada , especially because of the creativity of the insults he hurled at those giant monsters."
He is the leader of our armies later in the game, enabling a couple of one-hit K.O. attacks in combination with some cards or acting as a repeatable life points source when we are too low. Finally, with double strike our opponents' health point will certainly go down quickly, which is nice.
Combos & Synergies
"Wait... Valakut is not Legendary ?"
Prismatic Omen + Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (or more...)
Without a doubt my favourite way to win the game and one of the most resilient we can have. Even if the list doesn't run enough Mountains to make Valakut active on its own, being a 4-color deck, Prismatic Omen got us covered. With these two cards in play each land we drop on the field becomes a Lightning Bolt we can point at our own will. "Not enough" you say ? Well, meet Valakut #2, Valakut #3 and Valakut #4. Each one can double on the effect and I can assure you that a shot of 6 or 9 damage for a single land ends the game very quickly.
Knightfall
Knight of the Reliquary + Retreat to Coralhelm
This combination saw play even in modern, but, differently from a format with a single 20 HP opponent, in commander grow a big Knight of the Reliquary is not a reliable win condition. Fortunately each component of the "combo" is more than useful on its own for the list purpose. But, if we really need to go deep and take out a person at the table, we can go all in adding Prismatic Omen to the mix, fetching land after land and closing with a huge pump with Kessig Wolf Run and all the mana we floated in the process.
"See that crack in the ice ?"
Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage/Mirage Mirror
One of the classic land-based finishers: Marit Lage is nothing to laugh at, even in a 40 life points format. This can be assembled very early, but leaves you open to huge blowouts since this 20/20 indestructible flyer comes at the steep cost of two lands in the graveyard. In EDH decks are often prepared to deal with such threats, packing exile or bounce removals, but a suite of haste enablers helps our giant monster getting through. Finally, think what happens with Bruse and our "little" Marit Lage on the field: I'll let you do the math.
RKO Outta Nowhere!
Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder + Rubblehulk
The game is going on for some time: removal went all over the board, maybe some wrath just balanced the situation. Your modest creature is sitting there, harmless. You play your Commander and target the only valid creature for the double strike and lifelik.
You swing... and then discard Rubblehulk for its Bloodrush cost! +15/+15 with Double Strike and Lifelink!
Obviously removal is always a thing, but it's a very fun and on theme finisher that often nobody sees coming. If needed keep recycling Rubblehulk with some of the permanent focused recursion packed in the deck and you are good to go.
The missing link
Nature's Will/Sword of Feast and Famine + Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder + Thrasios, Triton Hero
Too often partner Commanders are played only to get a specific 4 color combination, leaving behind any form of synergy between them. Here Nature's Will and Sword of FaF could be seen as the classic goodstuff you often try to stretch in, but these cards really makes our Generals a powerful duo: Thrasios provides an absurd mana sink, while Bruse doubles the untaps we can get when we happens to connect.
Its raining lands!
Sakura-Tribe Scout + Retreat to Coralhelm + Ravnica Bounceland
This combination of cards let us loop to get infinite landfall triggers. It's a three card combo that needs another piece to win, so not really worth considering as a main gameplan. But we would play every piece anyway and if something lines up perfectly it's good to know there's such possibility. Our best outlets are:
-Angry Omnath: for infinite bolting elementals
-Nissa's emblem: for infinite card draw
-Lotus Cobra for infinite colored mana