King Kogla: The Skull Island Experience

Commander / EDH Budget Dinosaurs Humans Mono-Green Stompy Theme/Gimmick

Molesto-the-Egregious

Creature (33)

• 1x Arasta of the Endless Web
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Borderland Ranger
• 1x Brooding Saurian
• 1x Deathgorge Scavenger
• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Garruk's Packleader
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Gigantosaurus
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Grunn, the Lonely King
• 1x Hornbash Mentor
• 1x Ixalli's Diviner
• 1x Karametra's Acolyte
• 1x Pelakka Wurm
• 1x Rampaging Baloths
• 1x Reverent Hunter
• 1x Ripjaw Raptor
• 1x Runic Armasaur
• 1x Shifting Ceratops
• 1x Silklash Spider
• 1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Territorial Allosaurus
• 1x Thrashing Brontodon
• 1x Timberland Guide
• 1x Titanoth Rex
• 1x Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Vorapede
• 1x Whisperer of the Wilds

Land (38)

• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Desert of the Indomitable
• 28x Forest
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Slippery Karst
• 1x Tranquil Thicket

Artifact (8)

• 1x Endless Atlas
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Rhonas's Monument
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Instant (7)

• 1x Ancient Animus
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Hunter's Insight
• 1x Pounce
• 1x Return to Nature
• 1x Unravel the Aether
• 1x Verdant Rebirth

Commander (1)

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Hurricane
• 1x Migration Path
• 1x Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1x Overrun
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Survivors' Bond

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Gravity Well
• 1x Shapers' Sanctuary

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When I saw the scene in Kong: Skull Island in which the group of protagonists come across a massive Water Buffalo-like horned animal, I thought to myself; "Huh, that kind of looks like Vigor from MtG...", and had a fleeting idea to build a Skull Island/Kong themed deck. At the time my plan was to use Grunn, the Lonely King as my Kong commander, however I lost interest pretty quickly due to the fact that Gruun just didn't really FEEL like the big Kong himself. The idea was scrapped and forgotten until...

Drum Roll

!!! Kogla, the Titan Ape !!!

Rap Air Horn

In addition to Kogla clearly being a direct call out to the various theatrical versions of Kong via its activated ability and artwork, his ETB and Attack triggers were both pretty appealing. My Skull Island deck dream was reborn thanks to Ikoria!

A lot of the cards I put into the deck, I tried to attach to specific themes or creatures seen through the years in various Kong movies/books.

The various humans in the deck are there to interact with Kogla's activated ability, and also to represent the more faceless/less important humans we see throughout the series.

Kogla, the Titan Ape is Kong.

Thrashing Brontodon represents the Brontosaurus; seen in the 1933 film.

Runic Armasaur represents both the Stegosaurus; seen in the 1933 film, and the Atercurisaurus we see in the 2017 film.

Deathgorge Scavenger represents the Adlapsusaurus; which is depicted and detailed in the 2005 Book.

Brooding Saurian represents the "Two-legged Lizard" which is seen in the 1933 film. This specific creature was the inspiration for the "Skull Crawlers" seen in the 2017 film "Kong: Skull Island" and again in 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong".

Temur Sabertooth represents Icarus Tigris; the "Skull Island Tiger" or "Holy Tiger" which ended up being cut entirely from the 2017 film, but appears in In the book "The Art and Making of Kong: Skull Island".

Ripjaw Raptor represents Ambulaquasaurus Cristarufus; the "Red Crest Water Walking Lizard" which is detailed and depicted in the 2005 book.

Arasta of the Endless Web/Silklash Spider represent the Giant pit spiders seen in the deleted scene of the pit scene from the 1933 film.

Territorial Allosaurus represents Avarusaurus Populator; the "Greedy Lizard Ravager", which is depicted and detailed in the 2005 book.

Shifting Ceratops represents the Triceratops seen in the 1933 film.

Vorapede/Pelakka Wurm represent all the god awful creepy crawlies seen throughout the various Kong films.

Gigantosaurus/Ghalta, Primal Hunger represent the Vastatosaurus Rex; the "Ravager Lizard King" seen in the 2005 Film and detailed further in the 2005 Book.

Garruk's Packleader/Rampaging Baloths represent the Foetodon; the "Cruel Stinking Tooth" seen in the 2005 film and is detailed further in the 2005 book.

Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma represents The Cave Bear seen in the 1933 film.

Vigor AKA the first card included in this build, represents Skerry Bubalis; the "Skull Buffalo" and is seen in the 2017 film.

Grunn, the Lonely King actually makes an appearance as well (though not as the commander) and he represents the "Son of Kong" the titular character of 1933's "Son of Kong"

Titanoth Rex makes an appearance in this deck even though Godzilla is never actually seen on Skull Island in 2021's "Godzilla vs Kong". I just wanted to include the history of versus with the King of Monsters.

Buried Ruin/Unravel the Aether/Return to Nature/Hurricane/Nissa's Pilgrimage/Migration Path/Expedition Map/Endless Atlas/Shapers' Sanctuary/Gravity Well (as well as most of the non basic lands) are all for the setting. To paint a picture of Skull Island's weather phenomena, climate, jungles/forests and ecology.

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Dinosaurs 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Humans 3 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 31 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.52
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Beast 4/4 G, Spider 1/2 G
Folders	Deck ideas, Commander, Commander, Kogla, commander decks