Halana and Alena: A Perfectly Cromulent Strategy

Commander / EDH* RG (Gruul)

Mootant_the-Mystic

BuffingEffects (92)

• 1x Agatha's Soul Cauldron
• 1x Alpha Status
• 1x Arlinn Kord  ^Flip
• 1x Arni Slays the Troll
• 1x Banshee's Blade
• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Blanchwood Armor
• 1x Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1x Branching Evolution
• 1x Bravado
• 1x Bronze Cudgels
• 1x Civic Saber
• 1x Claws of Valakut
• 1x Colossal Dreadmask
• 1x Colossification
• 1x Colossus Hammer
• 1x Concealed Weapon
• 1x Contagion Clasp
• 1x Contagion Engine
• 1x Death's Presence
• 1x Demonic Ruckus
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Draconic Destiny
• 1x Dragon Mantle
• 1x Dragon Throne of Tarkir
• 1x Dust Corona
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Elephant Guide
• 1x Embercleave
• 1x Errantry
• 1x Explorer's Cache
• 1x Fight Rigging
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Forced Adaptation
• 1x Forebear's Blade
• 1x Frenzied Rage
• 1x Gaea's Embrace
• 1x Garruk, Unleashed
• 1x Glowcap Lantern
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Hardened-Scale Armor
• 1x Hydra's Growth
• 1x Impending Doom
• 1x Innkeeper's Talent
• 1x Invigorating Hot Spring
• 1x Kusari-Gama
• 1x Leyline Axe
• 1x Lightning Talons
• 1x Lion Umbra
• 1x Luxior, Giada's Gift
• 1x Madcap Skills
• 1x Malamet Scythe
• 1x Mantle of the Wolf
• 1x Mishra's Domination
• 1x Mythic Proportions
• 1x O-Naginata
• 1x Oakenform
• 1x Ordeal of Nylea
• 1x Ordeal of Purphoros
• 1x Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
• 1x Prodigious Growth
• 1x Quest for the Gemblades
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Ring of Kalonia
• 1x Rope
• 1x Rowan, Fearless Sparkmage
• 1x Runes of the Deus
• 1x Scavenged Blade
• 1x Seton's Desire
• 1x Shape of the Wiitigo
• 1x Shiv's Embrace
• 1x Staff of Compleation
• 1x Starforged Sword
• 1x Stitcher's Graft
• 1x Strata Scythe
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Sylvok Battle-Chair
• 1x Tangle Tumbler
• 1x Taste for Mayhem
• 1x Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
• 1x Temur Runemark
• 1x Tenza, Godo's Maul
• 1x The First Iroan Games
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x The Skullspore Nexus
• 1x Thirsting Axe
• 1x Tilonalli's Crown
• 1x Unnatural Growth
• 1x Vivien of the Arkbow
• 1x Vivien, Nature's Avenger
• 1x Vow of Wildness
• 1x Wurmweaver Coil

Land (78)

• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Cabaretti Courtyard
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Commercial District
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 20x Forest
• 1x Game Trail
• 1x Grove of the Burnwillows
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Karn's Bastion
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 1x Meteor Crater
• 1x Mossfire Valley
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 20x Mountain
• 1x Nesting Grounds
• 1x Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Restless Ridgeline
• 1x Riveteers Overlook
• 1x Rockfall Vale
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Shifting Woodland
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Spinerock Knoll
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Teetering Peaks
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornspire Verge
• 1x Tyrite Sanctum
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Removal (3)

• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Lignify
• 1x Song of the Dryads

ExtraCombat (2)

• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Zariel, Archduke of Avernus

Stax (1)

• 1x Blood Moon

Commander (1)

CardAdvantage (8)

• 1x Instrument of the Bards
• 1x Invasion of Ergamon  ^Flip
• 1x Invasion of Shandalar  ^Flip
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Vivien Reid
• 1x Vivien, Monsters' Advocate
• 1x Weatherlight

CombatManipulation (8)

• 1x Alpha Authority
• 1x Berserkers' Onslaught
• 1x City on Fire
• 1x Familiar Ground
• 1x Nemesis Mask
• 1x Rage Reflection
• 1x Trailblazer's Boots
• 1x Ward of Bones

Ramp (8)

• 1x Bard Class
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Honor-Worn Shaku
• 1x Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree
• 1x Relic of Legends
• 1x Sword of the Animist
• 1x The Irencrag
• 1x Thran Temporal Gateway

BurnDamage (4)

• 1x All Will Be One
• 1x Burning Anger
• 1x Mage Slayer
• 1x Surestrike Trident

Misc (3)

• 1x Colossal Majesty
• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Elemental Mastery

BigCreatures (2)

• 1x Demolition Stomper
• 1x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Recursion (1)

• 1x Cauldron of Souls

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This deck aims to ramp and play big, substantial threats each turn and attack with them. An already good creature with +2/+2 and haste is a great creature. With fight effects, trample, and other removal, we hope to reduce our opponents' creature presence until they're overwhelmed. This is a very timmy deck, where you get to play all the big, exciting legendary creatures you want, without the downside of summoning sickness.

Importantly, Halana and Alena don't just improve your other creatures but also add value to otherwise temporary buffing effects. If it's applied to H&A, it is conserved when an equivalent amount of counters are put on another creature.

H&A themselves are somewhat passive, embiggening and empowering our other creatures and acting as an effective blocker. While there are means that pump them up and make them able to attack for substantial damage, such as Kessig Wolf Run and Colossification, it's firmly a secondary strategy to them being made to better enable your other creatures. People love to remove them even before they get large, so be careful if you decide to go in for it.

There is an issue that this deck can sometimes feel like a soup of all the best Red and Green legendary creatures without much of its own identity. I've tried to mitigate it, but it's somewhat unavoidable.

A significant disclaimer is that I do not use cards that debuted in Commander or Universes Beyond products in my decks. I find them to be boringly designed, and it adds a challenge to deckbuilding. Another, is that I don't like to have the same cards in multiple commander decks (excluding basic lands, of course). This encourages me to not build the same deck every time. There are many effective cards, even obvious ones, not included for these reasons.

Date added	2 days
Last updated	1 day
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	25 - 0 Mythic Rares 68 - 0 Rares 52 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	211
Avg. CMC	3.32
Tokens	5/5 U Token Creature Dragon Spirit, A Mysterious Creature, Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Devil 1/1 R, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon, Emblem Garruk, Unleashed, Emblem Vivien Reid, Emblem Zariel, Archduke of Avernus, Fish 1/1 U, Fungus Dinosaur, Gold, Human 2/2 G, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B, Plot, Rebel 2/2 R, Treasure, Wolf 2/2 G, Wurm 6/6 G