Posted - March 22, 2014

This deck is a modification of the preconstructed Gruul Wilding theme deck. So I'm looking at the Gruul Wilding deck and I have three options for tweaking this deck.

First, I can go with highlighting the deck's Bloodthirst mechanic. Bloodthirst is a Gruul mechanic that gives counters to creatures when they are played if the opponent gets damaged during the turn. The Gruuls could have creatures come in with as much as three +1 counters which is fantastic. The only problem is, of the twenty-four creatures on the Gruul Wilding deck only nine have the Bloodthirst mechanic. Only nine. Next, I don't have immediate access to any more creatures that have that mechanic, and I'm not about to go to the hobby shop and dig into those binders looking for those creatures. That's simply too much trouble for the sake of a bunch of plus counters. So the Bloodthirst option is out.

Second, the deck comes with a very strong Aura-centric gameplay and I have had lots of fun using it. I love enhancing creatures with these Aura spells. This option is definitely worth considering specially since the deck has two creatures - Gatherer of Graces, a druid, and Bramble Elemental - who have great synergies with Auras.

The third option is to tweak the deck so that it takes advantage of its heavy weight creatures. The biggest creatures on this deck are the great land wurms, the Streetbreaker Wurm and the Battering Wurm. Also in the heavy weight class are two Skarrgan Skybreakers, a Gruul Nodorog, and Gruul leader Borborygmos. Having these powerhouses on the battlefield is definitely a winning proposition. The problem is getting these expensive creatures on the battlefield. I've played dozens of games and in all that time I've played the Streetbreaker Wurm once, Skarrgan Skybreaker once, the Nodorog also once, and very late in the game to count besides. And most glorious of all, Borborygmos once, with the big guy winning the game for me. I've never seen head nor tail of the Battering Wurm. My usual experience with these expensive drops is they would just sit in my hand. Clearly if I wanted to play these heavies I would have to bring in some sort of mana ramp. And clearly, if I bring in mana ramp capabilities I would have to sacrifice Aura capabilities, and I'm not willing to do that because I already have a big stompy deck - its called the Mono Green Advocate deck.

So with that, I am going to modify this deck by focusing on its ability to play Auras. Auras will be the focus but I also plan to give this deck some capability with regards to flying opponents and removal. No, I am not doing a multiple focus deck here, that is the downfall of the plain vanilla Gruul Wilding deck; Auras take major precedent here, the other abilities will be represented by a card or two with the hope that I can top deck them at just the right time.

There are some ground rules about this modification. First of all, any modification has to remain true to the theme of this deck which is, this is a Gruul deck, a wandering band of nature-loving yet savage raiders. Second, this is a modification. If I change all of the cards that's no longer a modification, its a total change, I still want to see this deck and see the original Gruul Wilding deck under allthe changes.

And with that let's look at the changes. Spells first.

Here is the original spell set of Gruul Wilding:

All but one spell is an Aura and every spell is a creature enhancement. I love Auras but the thing about them is that they need to be paired with a creature in order to work - sometimes I'm sitting there with a deck of lands and Auras and no creature in play. What I need is more flexibility in the spell set, so here are the new spells I'm adding in:

I bought Oath of the Ancient Wood as a single for the incredible Dan Scott art. When it came time for me to create a green deck I foolishly put this card in even though the deck did not hardly have any Enchantments. So I took it off again and put it back in the binder - until now. Oath of the Ancient Wood is both a green spell and rewards enchantments with +1 creature counters. It is absolutely perfect for this deck.

Some burn for my red deck. Right now the Gruul Sparkmages can hit with their lightning for 1 damage, the other druids and shamans don't have anything like this ability, so this 3 damage Bolt of Keranos is definitely a step up and could come in handy for the Gruul magicians.

I'll confess that I'm looking forward to webbing some flying opponents but Arachnus Web also gives the Gruuls the flexibility to stop the groundlings. It will stop weaker creatures permanently, assuming they can't get rid of the Enchantment, and it will slow down bigger creatures for a turn.

Brought in specifically to deal with fliers. The devotion aspect of this spell should make it deadly during the latter part of the game. I also like the multi-target effect of this deck. Gruuls don't fly so 'every creature with flying' means the other deck.

Again good flexibility here. This card able to affect creatures in ground or air - provided I have a strong enough creature in play. Oh yes, unblockable creatures won't be safe from this spell. So I'm including this one.

I am including one anti-Enchantment card that also doubles as anti-artifact. So top decking this card at the right moment is chancy but still better than the number of anti-Enchantment spells I had before which was 0.

This will be my total-protection-for-this-turn card. When the Gruul brings this into play it will be a shimmering green shield of force cast by one of their mages. I chose this over the cheaper Fog spell because if I happen to have Saprolings on the field when this spell is cast I get an extra creature. So there is synergy and that is always good.

I am adding one artifact to the mix and here it is.

I somehow ended up with several copies of this grisly artifact that I really didn't know what to do with. Then I kept looking at Borborygmos and this Cleaver and they seem made for each other. And there you have it. A +3 Butcher's Cleaver to go with his warhammer. I just have to get creative storywise if this artifact shows up and Borborygmos isn't around - considering how much the big guy is worth, its extremely likely that he won't see the field often but the Cleaver will.

So here is the reworked Gruul Wilding spell set:

Spells + Artifact

I've gone from ten spells to fifteen spells and an artifact.

The original spells are in the first two rows. They are pretty much untouched except for the reduction of one Fencer's Magemark and one Beastmaster's Magemark. This was brought about by the ghastly experience of having an all Aura hand several times during games. Even so the Auras are still the core spell type of this deck. The loss of the Magemarks is balanced by the addition of the Oath of the Wild Wood, and, as you'll see later, the addition of a creatures that support the Aura-centric direction of this deck.

Where before the Gruuls only had the ability to enhance creatures now they have four spells that can damage or stop rival creatures or players - incuding fliers, an ability that this deck did not have before. A spell also grants artifact and enchantment removal and we also have a general protection spell.

I want my MTG!

The lone artifact is an enhancer, and yes, I'd much rather have it as an Aura in line with the Aura-centric theme of this deck but I'm including it for the flavor it adds. I looked at the Butcher's Cleaver and it was just screaming 'Borborygmos wants me!'.

Speaking of flavor, I'm requiring all changes to honor the theme of the deck, otherwise I'll throw out the change no matter how it made sense from a competitive standpoint. I'm into magic for the story not the pro points. That said, the Gruuls have a healthy crowd of mages, druids, and shamans, so all these spells make sense. And Cleaver + Borborygmos makes sense. So these changes are good storywise.

Now the other card types will have to make room for this expanded spell set. Let's look at creatures next.

Here is the original Creature set of Gruul Wilding:

Creatures

Here are the creatures I've decided to remove:

Everybody except the Dryad Sophisticate is a big stompy - an expensive high-damage creature that this deck has shown itself unable to afford. I've decided to stick with low drop creatures backed up by Auras.

The Dryad Sophisticate is being removed because, well, anybody with the word 'Sophisticate' in her name doesn't really belong with the Gruuls. Apart from that, her landwalk ability is almost next to useless since I keep going up against basic land decks. Another thing, her flavor text has her going through cities. Cities! Gruuls hate cities.I'm a bit sorry to see her go though, I mean, look at her, she is the best looking dryad in all of Magic - so far. And with that our Dryad Sophisticate packs her bags, snubs her nose at the unruly Gruuls and goes off to see if the Dimir can use a helping hand with their espionage activities.

I am less sorry to see the wurms go. Yes, the Streetbreaker Wurm looks magnificent and both wurms are sure to do a lot of damage when unleashed but - apart from the fact that they are too expensive for the mana of this deck - they just do not make sense with my idea of the Gruuls. The Gruuls are a warband - a bunch of wandering brigands. Implicit in this description is that they form some kind of society, a tribe of sorts. Wild creatures such as wurms and such, I don't see them socializing in a tribe. i don't see them as Gruulish. If I were forced to I would perhaps conceive of wurms, and other such creatures, as being summoned by the Gruul mages, but these big creatures will just end up sitting in my hand most likely, so its easier to throw them out and welcome more humanoid, and thus, more Gruulish, creatures. I realize that this idea of the Gruuls is a departure from the Wizards of the Coast idea of the Gruuls since the Gruul intro deck for the Return to Ravnica block is called Gruul Goliaths and is full of wild, giant beasts.

Having riled against beasts as flavor violators for a Gruul deck I must now go up against my own reasoning and say the Gruul Nordorog has a place in the Gruul band -flavorwise. He's obviously the band's pet dog. But dog or not, he's simply too expensive, so he's out.

The next set of castaways are the ones I regret the most. I love the Skarrgan Skybreakers. I mean, a giant and a shaman? What's not to like. I swear the Skybreakers will find themselves included if I ever make a red-green deck with big creatures. With great regret I let them go. I'm standing in the forest with the rest of the Gruuls as all these big creatures disappear in the distance, everybody must feel much weaker now.

One heavy hitter must stay though. Flavor dictates that Borborygmos cannot possibly leave his own Guild. Who knows? Maybe he would get to play every now and then; that would be awesome.

At this point twenty-six creatures have been reduced to nineteen. It's time to welcome some new additions. I will be adding five new cards for a total creature count of twenty-four.

What is a knight doing in the company of the Gruuls? Some would say that this knight has fallen from grace but the Fervent Cathar would counter that the scales have fallen from his eyes. He was never a good knight anyway - too many rules - but he was always a good fighter; and a good fighter always has a place among the Gruuls. Besides, some of the druids are rather fetching. Fervent Cathar brings the Haste ability to this Gruul deck.

Newcomer she may be but the Hero of Leina Tower is fast proving that she is among the foremost among the Gruuls in a skirmish. This is one of the newer cards from the Born of the Gods set with the spell activated Heroic mechanic. The Heroic mechanic can be activated by hittig her with a spell and my deck has lots of Auras. Perfect.

If the Fervent Cathar brings in Haste, Riot Piker brings in First Strike. Riot Pikers insistence to attack each turn if able is also very Gruul-like.

Again from the Born of the Gods set. A fun-loving Satyr seems a natural fit for the Gruul. I love that he's a one drop and I specially included him because of the Bestow mechanic. A Creature who is an Aura enchantment is a great fit for this deck.

Last, and most surprisingly, we have an escapee from the Simic Guild joining the Gruuls. The Sporeback Troll has the Graft mechanic allowing him to transfer +1 counters to other creatures.

And there it is, our new recruits. I've emphasized synergies with this deck's Aura approach when possible. I've also traded expensive creatures with new Gruuls that could see action as soon as the first turn.

Here is the revamped Creature set:

I've dialed down on the creatures, there are now only now twenty-four of them instead of the original twenty-six. Not only that, I've also lessened the mana drain of my creature deck. Aside from the guild leader Bogborygmos, an expensive seven drop, we only have two five drops (Bramble Elementals) and a four drop newcomer (Sporeback Troll). Everybody else costs less than that, which is good because I need to cast the creatures early for them to catch Auras. On the spell side, the deck has gone from ten spells to sixteen. What all this means is I have to reduce the amount of lands in order to maintain this deck at my preferred sixty cards. With sixteen spells and twenty-four creatures, lands have to go down to tweny lands from the original twenty-four. This isn't a big issue, in fact its perfect, because with the big creatures out I don't need that much mana. But how much to take from green and how much to take from red? Let's check the color ratios of this deck.

Green cards dominate at twenty-one cards. Red is at fifteen cards. There are three dual colored cards. Lastly, the lone artifact card is colorless.

So I've taken out four cards and ended up with eleven forests, just one less than the original number, eight mountains, down five from the original eleven and I'm retaining Skarrg, the Rage Pits, a dual land. Twenty lands in all down from twenty-four.

With that I present Gruul Wilding Aura Edition:

Lands

Creatures

Spells & Artifacts

The main change is that this deck is no longer a deck that leverages large creatures, what it is designed to do now is be able to cast creatures early in the game and strengthen them with Auras. A secondary difference from the original deck is greater flexibility because of the added spells. The deck can now have a chance of handling flying and unblockable attackers and there is removal capability.

A total of eleven cards of the original cards were removed and changed. An 18% change. It's very important to me that the original theme is maintained and it is. The majority of the original Gruuls remain and new additions, both spells and creatures, are in line with the theme - ok, the Sporeback Troll is stretching it.