Deck Rating: 6 out of 10
Deck Strategy: Aristocrats, Voltron
Ah, Grismold. A very misunderstood commander, if you ask me. Probably the reason he sells for cheap ($0.35 currently!) - but never mind that. We're here to prove just how fun and powerful Grizzy can be.
People who haven't seen Grismold, the Dreadsower before tend to assume you're playing group hug/politics when you lay him out. This makes a certain kind of sense; you're giving everyone tokens to use, after all - and you get incremental value when they die. This deck is geared towards making sure that incremental value becomes a constant deluge, while denying your opponents the use of 'their' tokens. We accomplish this by running every possible board-wide -X/-X enchantment out there, meaning any 1/1 tokens are DOA, auto-triggering any and all LTB/dies triggers. So, how does the deck win?
- Commander Damage. When this deck pops off, it pops off. Stacking Auras like Alpha Authority, Aspect of Gorgon, Indomitable Might and Hydra's Growth on Grismold will keep him safe from most removal, makes sure he gets his damage in and grows him to unstoppable size. Giving him the Whispersilk Cloak will work just as well, of course.
- Damage/Life Loss. Alongside the commander the deck features some creatures and spells which can close out the game on their own. On the Aristo side, Poison-Tip Archer and Massacre Wurm will bleed your opponents dry in short order with all the creatures they will be losing. Mycoloth, Slaughter Specialist and Woodland Champion can be rapidly grown into enormous threats.
- Big X Money. With green in the mix, ramp is not a problem in this deck. Cabal Coffers is nice, but Grismold swinging in big with a Mark of Sakiko is bonkers too. We will use the resulting flood of mana to sling X spells in the double digits; think Exsanguinate, Sylvan Offering or the sac ability on Snake Basket.
So now that we know how it wins, how does the deck maintain itself on the board?
Here are the 5 pillars:
- Card Draw Engines such as Skullclamp, Idol of Oblivion and Species Specialist effortlessly keep your hand stocked with options and answers, and ensure you never miss a land drop.
- Token Generators such as Dreampod Druid, Akroan Horse, Iridescent Hornbeetle, Mycoloth, Verdant Embrace, Verdant Force and Infernal Genesis allow you to generate a never-ending stream of 1/1 creatures, providing you with ample block/sacrifice fodder. At least, until you drop one of the deck's board-wide oppression cards to set the value train a-rolling.
- Aristocrat Effects such as Poison-Tip Archer, Massacre Wurm and Shadows of the Past oppress your opponents and fix your draws, while your various creatures that grow off 'dies' triggers roid out on +1/+1 counters!
- Targeted Removal protects you against threats the deck is not as adept at handling. As such, reserve creature removal like Prey Upon, Beast Within, Seize the Soul and Corpsehatch for big fliers and other evasive bodies. Artifact/Enchantment removal (Pest Infestation, Containment Breach) should be reserved for board-altering cards, not wasted on denying your opponents value.
- Self-excluding Boardwipes such as Plague Wind and In Garruk's Wake are expensive, and painful if they get countered. Yet it seems few people expect the boardstate-loving Golgari player to wipe the slate, which is always a nasty surprise when they don't keep counter mana up. If you can resolve one of these with a solid board of your own, you've typically got the win in the bag.
Combos and Interactions
This isn't a classic combo deck, but there are some fun and funky interactions in here:
- Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth + Dryad's Favor is often an unexpected and unpleasant surprise for an opponent who thought himself protected. In a similar vein, Yavimaya can sometimes combo with Waiting in the Weeds to get a stupendous amount of Cats in play late-game - all of whom will likely die to your enchantments. Value!
- Not a combo, but still fun. Reito Lantern can be used reactively, to both protect your own graveyard cards from exile, and to thwart opponents who are attempting targeted graveyard recursion.
- Your boy isn't wealthy enough to casually buy himself a copy of The Ozolith but we have a fine stand-in on a stick in Reyhan, Last of the Abzan. Use her to shift the many, many counters your death-roid creatures accumulate to the place where they can contribute more value. Fat Grismold got Murdered? Shift them counters to Mycoloth to ramp up token production even more! Bye bye to your enormous Slaughter Specialist? Now you have a whopping Nadier, Agent of the Duskenel that your opponents will be loath to remove.
Pet Cards
To me, Commander is a format where fun is first, and competition second. As such, almost every deck I make will have some cards that are probably not the best choice for inclusion. They're there to stay, though, for no other reason that I like their art/flavor/design.
- Fruit of the First Tree - it's very easy to get a ton of value off this one, but I'd advise against putting it on Grismold. That's an easy way to mill yourself out by accident.
- Praetor's Counsel - it's expensive, yes! But it's also an awesome second wind late-game, getting all your greatest hits right back to your hand to use again.
- Reito Lantern - there are probably better cards for graveyard hate and protection, but this one is just so niche and unusual that I love to surprise people with it.
- Akroan Horse - much-maligned and for good reasons. I wanted to give it a chance, though - and this deck is one of the few where it shines. Importantly, it doesn't stand up to Grismold as a blocker.
An Aside: Maybe A Maybeboard?
I rarely go to the trouble of writing up a maybeboard here, though almost all my decks have them. Often it comprises cards that would synergize very well with the deck, but that I do not own and are too expensive for me to procure. However, for those of you that do own the card or are wealthy enough to purchase them, I figured why not list them?
- The Ozolith. Damn, this would be a great fit. 1 CMC, versatile, effective. The world knows that too, though - this swirly rock's too rich for me.
- Hangarback Walker. A decent mana sink that provides token value when it dies. Ultimately not quite synergistic enough to make the cut, but you could see your way clear to adding this one.
- Walking Ballista. Quite a different story, this one. Notorious for being an instant win-con with infinite mana loops. This one's not in the deck for a number of reasons: price, availability, and to keep the deck's power level more in line with that of my pod. If you want more spice though, have at it.
- Beacon of Creation. An excellent card, especially in combination with Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth! So many tokens, over and over. Price was the limiting factor here.
- Black Market. This was not included simply because I couldn't find a copy. It's that hot of an item. In Grismold, you'll have free double-digit mana before you can say 'die'.
- Revel in Riches. This is a fairly pricy card, but the main reason this was omitted was the power spike it would give the deck. Making a vast amount of Treasure tokens with a free wincon attached is simply too spicy for my group.
- Fungal Sprouting. This one, I might yet add - I was simply don't own a copy. With the absolutely enormous size your creatures can grow to in this deck, this sorcery is almost a wincon on its own. Nice work if you can get it, and you may get it if you try.
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