We Have A Hulk

Commander / EDH

Malware_

Land (29)

• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forest
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Rhystic StudyGC
• 1x Survival of the FittestGC
• 1x Sylvan Library

Creature (24)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Auriok Salvagers
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Consecrated Sphinx
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded *f-pre*
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Viscera Seer

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Chart a Course
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Imperial SealGC
• 1x Life / Death
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Windfall

Artifact (6)

• 1x Chrome MoxGC
• 1x Lion's Eye DiamondGC
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox DiamondGC
• 1x Pithing Needle
• 1x Sol Ring

Commanders (2)

Instant (24)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Cyclonic RiftGC
• 1x Delay
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Flash
• 1x Force of WillGC
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mystical TutorGC
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Shallow Grave
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vampiric TutorGC
• 1x Winds of Rebuke
• 1x Worldly Tutor

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Grand Abolisher

Instant (1)

• 1x Dispel

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Hulk Piles in Raza/Hulk Mergers

By AstralCodex and Trestian

This aims to document Flash Hulk piles in Sans Red Razaketh Reanimator variants with Hulk. For a variant without Hulk, please see Shaper’s Razakats. For dedicated Hulk decks, see Breakfast Hulk and Sans Red Hulkball.

Because of the context, we tend to assume that decks will contain the following cards by default:

• razaketh, the foulblooded
• Reanimate
• Multiple Enchantment-Based Reanimation Effects
• Leonin Relic-Warder
• Blood Artist
• Eternal Witness
• Viscera Seer (or a similar 1cmc sac outlet)
• Spellseeker

In addition, many lists play Grand Abolisher, as its presence forces interaction before you resolve your first Hulk trigger and protects piles almost entirely from spot removal. Nonetheless, it is not strictly necessary for the deck. As discussed in the Karmic + Saffi Section, Saffi’s ability to double up on Spellseeker triggers allows you to protect your Flash Hulk pile with Pact of Negation, serving a similar purpose.

For Razaketh-only lines, please consult Razakats. The main additional Razaketh line gained by playing Hulk is the following:

Razaketh into Hulk

(2 Creatures, 18 Life + 0 Mana, Sorcery Speed) Razaketh in Play. Sacrifice a creature for LED. Crack LED For GGG. Sacrifice the other creature for Eternal Witness. Cast Eternal Witness, return LED. Crack LED for BBB. Sacrifice Witness for Reanimate. Reanimate Eternal Witness, returning Reanimate. Sacrifice Witness for Hulk. Reanimate Witness, returning LED. Crack LED for BBB, discarding Hulk. Sacrifice Witness for any Reanimation effect. Reanimate Hulk, sacrifice with Razaketh, and proceed into a standard hulk combo.

Karmic Guide or Academy Rector?

There are two main schools of thought in Hulk + Razaketh decks: Karmic + Saffi decks and Rector + Pattern decks. This guide aims to cover both of these schools. Example Lists:
Example Karmic + Saffi Lists:
Flashakats/Lucksack ‘Kats: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/flashakats-copy/
Hulkweaver: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/protean-weaver/

Rector + Pattern

Relic Seeker Raza Hulk: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/relic-seeker-raza-hulk/
Advantages of Karmic + Saffi:
- 0 Mana Instant Speed, Rule of Law Dodging Flash Line. Disadvantages of Karmic + Saffi:

• Razaketh Pivot costs BB and 7 life.
• Saffi is a bear that, if exiled, closes off winning hulk lines forever. (And thus cannot safely be cast.)
• Karmic is a 5 cmc double white overcosted reanimation spell
• Needs Phantasmal Image (a 2 cmc clone) in cases where pieces are stuck in hand.

Advantages of Rector + Pattern:

• 0 Mana Razaketh Pivot.
  

Disadvantages of Rector + Pattern:

• Direct Flash Hulk line costs B or 1B more.
  
• Rector is a combo piece that, when drawn, only works with Flash or Viscera Seer.
  
• Pattern of Rebirth is a combo piece only with Seer. In addition, when drawn, it locks you out of Razaketh pivots almost entirely.
  

Note that both Karmic and Rector give you sorcery speed 0 mana Flash Hulk lines, as well as Flash Hulk lines that use Grand Abolisher or Gilded Drake to deal with hate for B extra. What should you choose? Clearly, if you are playing Rule of Law effects as in Hulkweaver, we recommend Karmic + Saffi, as having to remove/sacrifice your own Rule of Law effects to win is suboptimal.

In decks without Rule effects, the answer becomes less clear. The main proponents of Karmic + Saffi argue that the presence of the free 0 mana instant speed Hulk line greatly outweighs the cheaper pivot, while the proponents of Rector + Karmic tend to argue that saving a slot (due to not having to run Image) and the cheaper pivot makeup for this. In addition, there is some dispute about the relative value of overcosted utility pieces like Karmic and Saffi, and combo pieces that are dead out of the combo like Rector and Pattern. Ultimately, we believe that the differences are small, and may come down to meta differences and personal preference.

Karmic Guide Win Conditions

Karmic + Saffi Piles

Standard Pile

(0 Mana, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer + Karmic Guide. Reanimate Hulk with Guide and sacrifice with Seer -> Fetch Saffi Eriksdotter + Blood Artist + 2 cmc worth of creatures. Sacrifice Saffi to itself, targeting Guide. Sacrifice Guide to Viscera Seer. Guide returns due to Saffi trigger and returns Saffi. Repeat until your opponents are dead to Artist triggers. Requires Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck. Commentary: Bog standard pile, nothing to see here. This is the main draw for playing Karmic over Rector - you get an instant speed 0 mana kill off of flash.

Raza Pivot Pile

(7 Life + BB, Sorcery Speed or 1BB, Pseudo-Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Saffi Eriksdotter, Spellseeker. Spellseeker gets Entomb. Sacrifice Saffi, targeting Spellseeker. Sacrifice Spellseeker, which returns due to Saffi and gets Reanimate/Shallow Grave. Entomb and Reanimate Razaketh. Requires Viscera Seer, Saffi Eriksdotter, Spellseeker, Entomb, Razaketh, and one of Reanimate/Shallow Grave in deck. Commentary: This combined with the Abolisher Protected Pile below enables you to play around spell or single-use on-board GY hate with BB open. Hilariously, against noxious revival or memory’s journey on your hulk in response to the hulk trigger, you can simply entomb and reanimate hulk for the win, following the Saffi in grave line below.

Abolisher Protected Standard Pile

(7 Life + B, Sorcery Speed or 1B, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Grand Abolisher, Spellseeker. Fetch Reanimate/Shallow grave with Spellseeker. Reanimate Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk -> Fetch Karmic Guide. Reanimate Hulk with Guide and proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Grand Abolisher, Spellseeker, Reanimate/Shallow Grave, Karmic Guide, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck. Commentary: By substituting Gilded Drake or Leonin Relic Warder for Abolisher, you can hulk through a Cursed Totem or Linvala.

Abolisher Protected Raza Pivot

(14 Life + BBB, Sorcery Speed or 2BBB, Pseudo-Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Grand Abolisher, Spellseeker. Fetch Reanimate/Shallow grave with Spellseeker. Reanimate Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk -> Fetch Saffi Eriksdotter + Eternal Witness. Return Reanimate/Shallow Grave with Eternal Witness. Sacrifice Saffi to itself, targeting Spellseeker. Sacrifice Spellseeker, which returns due to Saffi and gets Entomb. Entomb + Reanimate Razaketh. Requires Viscera Seer, Grand Abolisher, Saffi Eriksdotter, Spellseeker, Eternal Witness, Entomb, Razaketh, and one of Reanimate/Shallow Grave in deck. Commentary: This is pretty bad and we do not recommend using this line unless you’re in the very late game and Karmic Guide is exiled. Also, getting to 5 extra mana after Flash Hulk is generally incredibly difficult, so this line is functionally restricted to sorcery speed.

Pact Protected Standard Pile

7 Life + B, Sorcery Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Saffi, Spellseeker. Fetch Pact of Negation with Spellseeker. Sacrifice Saffi, targeting Spellseeker. Sacrifice Spellseeker, which returns due to Saffi and gets Reanimate/Shallow Grave. Reanimate Hulk. Proceed as in the Saffi in GY pile (below). Requires Viscera Seer, Spellseeker, Pact of Negation, Reanimate, Karmic Guide, Phantasmal Image, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck. Commentary: This provides an alternative to the Abolisher protected piles for decks without Abolisher (for example Lilbrudder’s Flashakats). Though Pact of Negation is not as good as a protection as Grand Abolisher, it still protects against a single Noxious Revival or other piece of spell-based interaction. Note that if your opponent attempts to remove your Hulk (or Spellseeker or Artist) in response to the first Spellseeker trigger, you can sac Saffi + Spellseeker to get Pact first, counter the removal, then resolve the first trigger for Reanimate. In addition, note that Pact of Negation can be substituted with creature/artifact removal to Hulk through a single cursed totem effect.

Seer in Graveyard

(7 Life + BB or 1BB, Sorcery Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Eternal Witness + Spellseeker. Return Seer to hand with Witness. Fetch Reanimate/shallow grave with Spellseeker. Cast Seer. Reanimate Hulk. Proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Eternal Witness, Spellseeker, Reanimate, Karmic Guide, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck.

Seer in Hand

(B, Sorcery Speed): Just cast Seer and proceed with the Standard Pile. Requires Karmic Guide, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck. Seer in hand.

Saffi or Blood Artist in Graveyard

(0 Mana, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide. Guide Reanimates Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk -> Saffi/Blood Artist, Phantasmal Image, 2 cmc worth of creatures. Image enters as a copy of Guide. Guide copy reanimates the other of Saffi and Blood Artist. Proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide, Spellseeker, and Phantasmal Image in deck. In addition, one of Saffi or Blood artist must be in deck, while the other may be in the graveyard.

Saffi and Blood Artist in Graveyard

(2 Life + B, Sorcery Speed, 1B, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide. Guide Reanimates Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk -> Phantasmal Image, Spellseeker, a 1 cmc creature. Image enters as a copy of Guide. Guide copy reanimates one of Saffi and Blood Artist. Fetch Reanimate/Shallow Grave with Spellseeker. Sacrifice Guide copy to Seer. Reanimate Phantasmal Image, which enters as a copy of Guide. Guide copy reanimates the other of Saffi and Blood Artist. Proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide, Spellseeker, Phantasmal Image, and Reanimate in deck. Both Saffi and Blood Artist should be in the graveyard.

Brainstorm Pile

(U, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide. Guide Reanimates Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk, getting Spellseeker, Phantasmal Image, 1 cmc worth of creatures. Image enters the battlefield as Guide. Guide copy reanimates Hulk. Spellseeker gets Brainstorm. Brainstorm, putting Hulk pieces back into deck. Sacrifice Hulk, and proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Karmic Guide, Spellseeker, Phantasmal Image, and Brainstorm in deck. Saffi Eriksdotter and Blood Artist can both be in hand. Commentary: This enables you to combo with both Blood Artist and Saffi in hand, and another reason to run Phantasmal image in a Karmic + Saffi build. Notably, this is cheaper than either casting Saffi or Blood Artist.

Brainstorm Pile v2: BRAINSTORM HARDER

Brainstorm Pile v2: (7 Life + UB, Sorcery Speed or 1UB, Instant Speed): Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, Saffi Eriksdotter, Spellseeker. Spellseeker gets Brainstorm. Sacrifice Saffi, targeting Spellseeker. Sacrifice Spellseeker, which returns due to Saffi and gets Reanimate/Shallow Grave. Brainstorm to put Hulk pieces back. Reanimate Hulk, then proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Spellseeker, Reanimate, Saffi Eriksdotter, and Brainstorm in deck. Karmic Guide and Blood Artist can be either in hand or in deck. Commentary: This enables you to combo with both Karmic Guide and Blood Artist in hand.

Karmic in Hand, Flashing

(7 Life + 1UB, Sorcery Speed or 2UB, Instant Speed) Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, 2 cmc worth of creatures, Eternal Witness. Witness returns Flash. Flash + Karmic, returning Hulk. Sacrifice Hulk -> Fetch Spellseeker + 3 cmc of creatures. Fetch Reanimate/shallow grave with Spellseeker. Reanimate Guide. Guide reanimates Hulk, then proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Viscera Seer, Eternal Witness, Spellseeker, Reanimate, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck. Commentary: The main advantage of this over the Brainstorm pile is being able to get 2 cmc worth of creatures on the first fetch. (And being usable if Brainstorm is exiled.) Grand Abolisher can be fetched in the first fetch to provide combo protection, as can Leonin Relic Warder or Gilded Drake for removal. The life cost associated with this line can be reduced by up to 6 (to costing 1 life total) by fetching Blood Artist in the first fetch.

Karmic in Graveyard

Karmic in GY: (5 Life + B, Sorcery Speed or 1B, Instant Speed): Flash + Hulk -> Fetch Viscera Seer, 2 cmc worth of creatures, Spellseeker. Fetch Reanimate/Shallow grave with Spellseeker. Reanimate Karmic. Reanimate Hulk with Guide and proceed as in the Standard Pile. Requires Seer, Karmic Guide, Saffi Eriksdotter, Blood Artist in deck.

Karmic + Fiend Hunter Piles

Less recent effort has focused on Fiend Hunter after the release of Spellseeker, largely due to the inability to nicely pivot to Razaketh in the case of Hulk being exiled from the graveyard. That being said, some pilots have argued that Fiend Hunter should be run for its higher utility when manually drawn, and for occasional double Gilded Drake triggers. In general, most of the Saffi Piles aside from the Raza Pivot and Pact Protection piles can be done with Fiend Hunter instead of Saffi - we encourage you to try figuring them out on your own as an exercise.

Credits

For comments on this document, our thanks goes to Lilbrudder and ShaperSavant. In addition, we’d like to thank to hornager who came up initial idea of jamming Flash Hulk into Razakats, as well as Dtrain and YokiDragon for working with us on Hulk Piles in the Razaketh and Hulkweaver discords. Our thanks goes to Lerker and Lobster their work on Rector/Pattern Hulk lists after the release of Spellseeker.

Special thanks to AstralCodex for putting in the time to make this guide!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.07
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U