Xenagos, Merciless Pain-Bringer

Commander / EDH Aggro Haste RG (Gruul) Trample

MortisAngelus

Creature (36)

• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Archetype of Aggression
• 1x Atarka, World Render
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Battle Mammoth
• 1x Bloodthirster
• 1x Combat Celebrant
• 1x Crimson Fleet Commodore
• 1x Dragonborn Champion
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip
• 1x Etali, Primal Storm
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1x Ghor-Clan Rampager
• 1x Goblin Anarchomancer
• 1x God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1x Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1x Hellkite Tyrant
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Malignus
• 1x Moraug, Fury of Akoum
• 1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1x Phyrexian Hydra
• 1x Port Razer
• 1x Quartzwood Crasher
• 1x Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
• 1x Savage Ventmaw
• 1x Scourge of the Throne
• 1x Swashbuckler Extraordinaire
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth
• 1x Tyrant's Familiar
• 1x Verdurous Gearhulk
• 1x Wood Elves

Land (34)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 11x Forest
• 1x Highland Forest
• 1x Kazandu Refuge
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 9x Mountain
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Instant (7)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Collision / Colossus
• 1x Critical Hit
• 1x Savage Beating
• 1x Starstorm
• 1x Temur Battle Rage
• 1x Unleash Fury

Artifact (6)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Ring of Kalonia
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Commander (1)

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Hull Breach
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x World at War

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Font of Fertility
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Kenrith's Transformation
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Wild Growth

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Garruk, Unleashed

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Sideboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Flameblast Dragon
• 1x Rampaging Baloths
• 1x Spellbreaker Behemoth

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Maybeboard

Creature (33)

• 1x Argothian Wurm
• 1x Atsushi, the Blazing Sky
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Carnage Tyrant
• 1x Deadwood Treefolk
• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Elder Gargaroth
• 1x Etali, Primal Conqueror  ^Flip
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fiendish Duo
• 1x Genesis
• 1x Gruul Spellbreaker
• 1x Hellkite Courser
• 1x Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient
• 1x Klothys, God of Destiny
• 1x Kodama of the East Tree
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Neyith of the Dire Hunt
• 1x Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1x Ogre Battledriver
• 1x Panglacial Wurm
• 1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
• 1x Satyr Hedonist
• 1x Savage Ventmaw
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Scourge of the Throne
• 1x Shivan Wumpus
• 1x Skarrg Goliath
• 1x Terror of the Peaks
• 1x Thorn Mammoth
• 1x Treasonous Ogre
• 1x Ulvenwald Oddity  ^Flip
• 1x Wrecking Ogre

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Boundless Realms
• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Dryad's Revival
• 1x Nature's Spiral
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Seize the Day
• 1x Unnatural Moonrise

Artifact (6)

• 1x Chariot of Victory
• 1x Gruul Keyrune
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Gruul War Plow
• 1x Mask of Memory
• 1x Spellbook

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Aggravated Assault
• 1x Call of the Wild
• 1x Fiery Emancipation
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Vessel of Volatility

Instant (7)

• 1x Fling
• 1x Fungal Rebirth
• 1x Hunter's Insight
• 1x Ram Through
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Soul's Fire
• 1x Unleash Fury

Planeswalker (5)

• 1x Arlinn Kord  ^Flip
• 1x Domri Rade
• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1x Garruk, Unleashed
• 1x Samut, the Tested

Land (5)

• 1x Grove of the Burnwillows
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Rockfall Vale
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Stomping Ground

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INTRODUCTION:

In April 2021 I tore down my Marath-deck after 7 years of service in order to repurpose cards for this deck. Strategy is very simple and basic Timmy: get Xenagos out and start throwing big things at opponents all while giving trample, lifelink and/or double strike to them.

Initially supposed to be only using stuff from aforementioned Marath-deck and stuff from my inventory, and so it was for the first 6 months. Then I really wanted to make this my ultimate, no apologies deck, that will knock out a few opponents very fast. So until December 2021 this was in the state as mentioned above; a mash-up of my old deck and cards in my inventory. Then in January 2022, after 3 months of testing cards in a more focused decklist here on tappedout, I ordered the heavy-beaters for this deck (scroll down to the "Updates"-section below). The only thing missing at this point are the final lands that I want to add.

BASIC STRATEGY:

This deck is to do what Gruul is all about: It hits fast, it hits hard, and it does not apologize for it. Getting the commander out as fast as possible is the only thing that matters in the beginning, and after that it is just a monster of an engine throwing essentially a minimum of 8/8 creatures in the face of the opponents. It's built around a high synergy of trample, minimum creature power of 4 (for e.g. Garruk's Uprising) and multiple combat phases.

Turn 1 - 3 is ramp galore. With most 1cmc ramp and mana-dorks available this should be a piece of cake. This is also why I chose the 3cmc ramp as the next step, because if everything is working as meant, I should have 3 mana at turn 2.

Next step, get Xenagos, God of Revels out on turn 2 - 4

First swing with min 8/8 trample occurs on turn 5.

Of course, there will be better or worse starts with this deck, and it is a very brutal, high risk-High reward situation, that if it works as intended, one opponent should be out turn 6 - 7.

TURN 0 DISCUSSION & SIDEBOARD

Now, it is crucial to mention on Turn 0 discussion how efficient this deck is. It must be made very clear that it's nothing personal, but this deck plays to eliminate as fast as possible. The sideboard is there to take out any insta-kill creatures and thus take down this deck a notch for playing a bit more casually. Other possibility is to not play as aggressively and let all players play the game even if it's not as efficient. And this deck is not an easy deck to win with. It will most likely never be last, but it will also become archenemy real fast and you end up in 2nd or 3rd place quite often. But you'll feel like a king while doing it.

FUTURE UPDATES

As mentioned above, I still have not obtained my land-base that I want due to already having spent so much money on this, and because lands always feel a bit overpriced imho. But if and when I get new cards for this deck, the changes and updates will be listed in the UPDATE-section below.

As always, I welcome any suggestions for improvements. Before suggesting, please check my maybeboard, because there is a good chance I have already looked at what you may suggest. I am also very particular about the mana-costs, and will try to avoid adding anything higher than 5 cmc. If suggesting something 6 or above, please tell me which card I should remove that is 6cmc or higher in the deck too.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	7 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 3 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 20 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.89
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Beast 4/4 G, Dinosaur Beast X/X G, Emblem Garruk, Unleashed, Foretell, The Monarch, Treasure