Deck #3: Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss
Overrun by mana dorks!
Deck Techs
$100 decks that are cheap, fun, and competitive.
Total cost: $96.22
Gruul epitomizes how I would ideally win a game of commander: swing out with a bunch of creatures. Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss encourages you to build what I call "mana-dork tribal" where cards like Llanowar Elves and Birds of Paradise will both fuel your win conditions and act as the win conditions themselves!
Win conditions
Raggadragga gives all creatures, that have a mana ability, +2/+2 and pseudo-vigilance. When Fyndhorn Elves attacks, it taps, but Raggadragga untaps it, leaving Fyndhorn Elves around to either tap for mana, to cast a spell in your second main phase, or to hold back as a blocker.
Once we have achieved a critical mass of mana dorks, we can slam down an overrun effect like End-Raze Forerunners or Overwhelming Stampede. If that fails, we can tap out for a giant X spell like Jaya's Immolating Inferno.
When I say "overrun effect" I'm referring to the classic Overrun that buffs all of your creatures and gives them a way to punch through. There are many cards that do this, and one of the most famous is Craterhoof Behemoth. Craterhoof is too expensive for this build, but some cheap imitators are Overwhelming Stampede, Nissa, Ascended Animist, End Raze Forerunners, and a mini one in the least used part of Return of the Wildspeaker.
There is one way to win with an infinite combo in the deck. It relies on casting a 7 mana value spell and having the right pieces on the board. I know, having an infinite combo seems antithetical to the spirit of budget and Raggadragga stompy, but in this case we're going to take advantage of his third and final ability. Whenever we spend 7 mana on a spell, it untaps a creature and gives it +7/+7 and trample. For this combo, we'll need something on board that taps for mana equal to its power, like Heronblade Elite.
- Spend 7 mana on a spell like Tooth and Nail, which will untap Heronblade Elite and give it +7/+7.
- Tutor for Hellkite Charger and any other creature directly to the battlefield.
- Move to combat and swing with the Hellkite and Elite, tapping Heronblade Elite in the process to pay for the Hellkite's extra combat ability.
- This will untap both the Heronblade Elite and Hellkite, allowing you to do the same thing again.
Who said infinite combos weren't fun and thematic!
Ramp
In normal decks, we'd have around 10 pieces of ramp. A Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, etc. In Raggadragga, almost our entire deck is ramp! We have Sol Ring, 29 mana dorks, and 1 generator of mana dorks (Awakening Zone). There is a sub theme of elves as well, since they synergize so well with each other. Let's take a look at some of the ramp creatures:
Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid generate mana for each elf, of which there are 17.
Circle of Dreams Druid is functionally a Gaea's Cradle, which is great because Cradle is one of the most expensive (and powerful) cards in all of Magic.
The previously mentioned combo can utilize one of Heronblade Elite, Kami of Whispered Hopes, or Selvala, Heart of the Wilds.
When every card is ramp, you'll never have to worry about not having mana!
Card draw
Our card draw is centered around either attacking and dealing damage or drawing based on how many creatures we have. Guardian Project, Beast Whisperer, and Soul of the Harvest are the all stars, as they will trigger off each creature we play. In total, there are 36 creatures in the deck, so no shortage there.
If you do manage to play a 7+ mana value spell and pump a creature, Return of the Wildspeaker will draw you cards equal to its power. It is worth mentioning that Raggadragga's abilities do stack. Heronblade Elite will get the original +2/+2 and the +7/+7, for a total for +9/+9. That's 10 cards right there!
Similarly, Hunter's Insight will draw you a ton if the pumped up creature can hit your opponent's life total.
Finally, Toski, Bearer of Secrets and Ohran Frostfang help us draw when our creatures deal damage.
Sometimes recursion can be a form of draw, and what I've found in Raggadragga is people look at your giant board state, get scared, and play a board wipe. Reap the Past lets you get back as many things from your graveyard that you have the mana to pay for. Since it can be cast for 7+ mana, it will also trigger Raggadragga's third ability.
Interaction
Green and red are a little light on being able to effectively remove creatures, so we'll definitely pack the few, most reliable removal spells in Chaos Warp and Beast Within. Wild Magic Surge is an underrated card that should see more play since it is close to another Chaos Warp for one less mana. Another underrated removal piece is Mogg Salvage, a card that should see more play as a lot of the time it is free artifact removal!
Ezuri's Predation is a classic green board wipe. It creates a 4/4 Beast for each of your opponents' creatures and fights them. Why is it perfect for Raggadragga?
- Each creature it creates could be a potential source of card draw, based off of Garruk's Uprising or Soul of the Harvest.
- It is an army in a can, playing right into our strategy of eventually using an overrun effect to kill our opponents.
- It is a 7+ mana value spell, triggering Raggadragga's third ability. Imagine casting this, creating a ton of creatures, then untapping Heronblade Elite to cast more things.
Alternate win conditions
Raggadragga is a magnet for removal once your opponents catch on to your game plan. Because of this, it is smart to include some backup win conditions. This deck's singular focus is to get as many mana dorks on the board as possible. If we can't win through combat damage with our pseudo-vigilant mana dork army nor with an overrun effect, having Jaya's Immolating Inferno to deal a ton of damage, with all of that mana, is a great way to close out the game if it goes late.
What about his third ability?
I see lots of decks where there are too many 7+ mana value spells. Focusing too much on Raggadragga's third ability can actually be a negative, because you'll have too many high cost spells and not enough mana to cast them. In each of my decks, I like to aim to have at least 30 cards that play into my main strategy, meaning around 30+ mana dorks.
Even though I de-emphasized high costed spells in this deck, it does not mean the one in the deck aren't impactful.
Ezuri's Predation is a board wipe and powers up our eventual overrun effects.
Remember the infinite combo? Tooth and Nail allows us to find both pieces.
Nissa, Ascended Animist and End-Raze Forerunners are both overrun effects. If you pay the full 7 mana for Nissa, you can activate her ultimate immediately.
Archetype of Endurance is a fun card to run because, as I said earlier, Raggadragga has a target on his back, so giving your board some protection is a must.
Jaya's Immolating Inferno is an alternate win condition into which you can pump all of that extra mana.
This deck wants to go fast with lots of mana dorks, that let us cast more mana dorks, and draw into an overrun effect. Having too many 7+ mana value spells would only slow us down.
Clean up
It is pretty fun turning what you typically see as mana ramp into game winning beat sticks. Having the mana generation pieces actually be the win condition really is quite different and not something many decks traditionally do. Another fun aspect of this deck is that it is very easy to swap in new cards, as seemingly every set has another mana dork in it. When this article gets published, Bloomburrow will have just released, so I'm looking forward to slotting in Trailtracker Scout since it is both mana generating and a source of recursion! With that, give Raggadragga a try and stomp your friends!