Unbowed, Unbroken

By Luis Scott-Vargas

Luis Scott-Vargas plays, writes, and makes videos about Magic. He has played on the Pro Tour for almost a decade, and between that and producing content for ChannelFireball, often has his hands full (of cards).

For this week's Commander deck, I went back to the drawing board. I thought of commanders that sounded fun and somehow came back with Ruric Thar. Just the idea of Ruric Thar running around (vigilantly) and punching anyone who casts a spell amused me, so I decided to take a whack at it. I do understand that playing Ruric runs the risk of drawing the ire of the table, but ask yourself: would Ruric Thar care?

I started by adding in a ton of good creature-based acceleration. I purposely stayed away from spells, because Ruric, but there still was an ogreabundance of options. Elves, Cobras, and the odd Bird all contribute to making sure you get to cast your awesome commander and the rest of the large creatures that come with him.

Because of all the ramp, I'm pretty light on two- to four-casting-cost creatures that just provide stats. Thrun, the Last Troll is one of the few exceptions, because I for some reason have a soft spot for Trolls. The rest of the midrange creatures are utility creatures (and this even extends to the higher casting costs). If you are avoiding spells for the most part, your creatures are going to have to pull double duty and deal with troublesome permanents.

The large creatures are the meat of the deck, with all sorts of behemoths (including literal Behemoths) providing a wide array of powerful effects. Some draw cards, some attack every other player, others fight or shoot fire at anything they can see, and some are just monstrous. I also like the inclusion of cards like Ezuri and Craterhoof Behemoth that take advantage of all the small creatures in the deck.

Lastly, there are the spells. I kept it pretty light, but I went with every Garruk imaginable, along with a few card-draw spells to make sure you don't run out of gas. Lead the Stampede; Domri Rade; and Garruk, Caller of Beasts all pay you for running this many creatures, so they easily made the cut.

As with any Commander deck, there is infinite customization available, and I'd encourage you to take any and every part of this that looks fun and work it into a deck that does what you want it to do. If you don't, Ruric Thar WILL punch you.

LSV's Ruric Thar Commander deck

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (5)

1 Domri Rade 1 Garruk Wildspeaker 1 Garruk Relentless 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter 1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts

Creature (57)

1 Llanowar Elves 1 Fyndhorn Elves 1 Elvish Mystic 1 Birds of Paradise 1 Joraga Treespeaker 1 Lotus Cobra 1 Devoted Druid 1 Priest of Titania 1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary 1 Zhur-Taa Druid 1 Gyre Sage 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Fauna Shaman 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder 1 Wall of Roots 1 Bloom Tender 1 Eternal Witness 1 Uktabi Orangutan 1 Fierce Empath 1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader 1 Greenweaver Druid 1 Elvish Archdruid 1 Imperious Perfect 1 Somberwald Sage 1 Farhaven Elf 1 Heartwood Storyteller 1 Wood Elves 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Flametongue Kavu 1 Oracle of Mul Daya 1 Master of the Wild Hunt 1 Spike Weaver 1 Argothian Elder 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Spellbreaker Behemoth 1 Wickerbough Elder 1 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald 1 Zealous Conscripts 1 Acidic Slime 1 Genesis 1 Thragtusk 1 Kalonian Hydra 1 Wurmcoil Engine 1 Primordial Sage 1 Hydra Omnivore 1 Inferno Titan 1 Duplicant 1 Avenger of Zendikar 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Gruul Ragebeast 1 Sylvan Primordial 1 Pelakka Wurm 1 Craterhoof Behemoth 1 Terastodon 1 Bogardan Hellkite 1 Woodfall Primus

Sorcery (2)

1 Harmonize 1 Lead the Stampede

Enchantment (2)

1 Sylvan Library 1 Lurking Predators

Land (33)

1 Taiga 1 Stomping Ground 1 Karplusan Forest 1 Rootbound Crag 1 Command Tower 1 Misty Rainforest 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Scalding Tarn 1 Gaea's Cradle 1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits 1 Kessig Wolf Run 1 Cavern of Souls 1 Fire-Lit Thicket 1 Mossfire Valley 1 Temple of the False God 1 Mosswort Bridge 1 Raging Ravine 1 Winding Canyons 1 Grove of the Burnwillows 1 Gruul Turf 2 Mountain 9 Forest

99 Cards