Going Ape on Our opponents with Grunn, the Lonely King!
Overview
This is a brew for a Grunn, the Lonely King Commander deck that combines the Voltron strategy with flooding the board with lots of big creatures. This deck also focuses a lot on +1/+1 counters to make your creatures even bigger and to allow Grunn to swing in for lethal commander damage without needing to attach any equipment that would boost his power/toughness.
Mana Ramp
One of the most important elements to being able to cast our big creatures and our commander is ramp. This deck utilizes the classic Sol Ring as well as using cards such as Search for Tomorrow, Harrow, and even Collective Voyage to get most of our lands out onto the battlefield, so we are left with drawing creatures we can cast. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Growing Rites of Itlimoc
are also mana ramp options for later in the game when we want to cast a lot of big creatures.
Voltron Package
Grunn is a unique voltron commander, in that it doesn't take a lot to get him off the ground and swinging for lethal commander damage right away. When we cast our commander, we most certainly will almost always be kicking him to make Grunn from a 5/5 to a 10/10. The +1/+1 counter synergy in the deck will also work in our favor in getting a one turn kill on an opponent by increasing the number of +1/+1 Grunn recieves (The +1/+1 synergies will be discussed later). Grunn's ability to double his power/toughness until end of turn when he attacks is the main reason we can swing with him and kill our opponent quickly. Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, and Chariot of Victory are great equipment to put on Grunn to get him to swing as soon as he enters. We also play a bit dirty with cards such as Grafted Exoskelton and Triumpth of the Horde to cheat in an infect win when Grunn can't do the trick with just his commander damage. Future iterations of this deck will most likely take a look into more ways of giving our commander haste and trample to suppliment this strategy even more, but as it stand it's a good way to win, but not the only way to win.
Big, Beefy Creatures
Grunn isn't the only creature we have that is big. Ghalta, Primal Hunger, Hydra Broodmaster, and Realm Seekers are some of our biggest creatures that we can play with this deck, and they aren't the only ones. Steel Leaf Champion and Rhonas the Indomitable are great early drops that are also big creatures for their mana cost. Realm Seekers might not seem like a big creature, but unless you're playing against a table of opponents that empty their hands quickly, he'll likely stack up on the +1/+1 counters and be huge while also being a good way to get more lands. Many of the hydras in this deck can also continually grow as well with +1/+1s. Creatures like Craterhoof Behemoth can help close out the game and let us swing wide with all of our big creatures or just help Grunn swing in alone, depending on which helps us win faster.
+1/+1 Counters for Days!
Okay, time to discuss what really accelerates all of these strategies. grunn utilizes +1/+1 counters with his kicker to get pretty big. This deck runs Doubling Season + Hardened Scales + Primal Vigor
(Ideal order in which you should resolve each trigger to maximize the number of counters you get is Hardened Scales resolving first, then either Primal Vigor or Doubling Season, followed by the other) to multiply the number of +1/+1 counters all of your creatures can get. This is also a great way to let your Grunn swing in without needing a ton of equipment. We use cards such as Afiya Grove, Scournging Bandar, and
verderous gearhulk
to be +1/+1 counter producers, which with the enchantments mentions previously, can net you tons of counters. Lifeblood Hydra and Heroes' Bane also go well with the +1/+1 synergy.
Final Notes
This deck is still being tinkered with but I can say with confidence this is a deck you canbuild as is and win some games. Games in which you need to wait to cast your commander until you have the protection and haste to give to him or risk him being removed on the spot will come up, but those games are still definately winable. As the deck evolves I'll update this description for other relavent sections as update older ones with newer additions to the deck. Feel free to leave feedback and suggestions and I'll be sure to take a look. Also, thankfully Doubling Season is getting a reprint in Battlebond, which might make it a great time to try this EDH deck.
