“It’s a Crocodile, an Elk, a Turtle; How could it possibly be!”
Art:The Pride of Hull Clade
by Brent Hollowell
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
The Pride of Hull Clade is the commander I was most excited about from MKM because they are huge, unique, and who can say no to a crocodile elk turtle! I had a blast building this one, and being in Simic gives us so many strong options like Artful Dodge
and Aqueous Form
, as well as a bunch of interactions that we can use both offensively and defensively. Our deck is filled with a ton of high-toughness defenders who are great blockers and allow us to get our commander down as early as turn three. If you like huge commanders and a ton of card draw, then this deck is certainly for you, me and my playgroup have been having a ton of fun with this one, and I am very excited to showcase it today. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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The Pride of Hull Clade Defenders!
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Why The Pride of Hull Clade?
The Pride of Hull Clade is a very important card for the deck and not only can come down very early since we have a ton of low-cost high toughness creatures, but it also gives us the ability to draw an absolute ton of cards, when combined with unblockable we can guarantee hits and with some of our cards that let us deal combat damage with our toughness allows us to hit like a truck and in some cases we can even get commander damage kills. Pride of the Hull Clade is a card we cast as early as possible and in some cases that can be as early as the third turn!
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
We have a ton of amazing defenders, but a ton of them are nothing more than a pile of stats, so let’s focus on the more interesting creatures. Bedrock Tortoise
is essentially a second copy of Assault Formation
, and it is extremely strong for the deck and a great way to begin to do some damage and draw a ton of cards. The hexproof on our turn is very strong as well since we tend to draw a lot of single-target removal from our opponents. Axebane Guardian
and Overgrown Battlement
are both great mana producers for the deck and can help us ramp a ton of creatures and cast like a madman, emptying our hand from all of the cards we draw. Charix, the Raging Isle
, is one of the biggest and baddest creatures in the deck and can draw us an absolute ton of cards and attack and block like a machine, an amazing card for only four mana. Psychosis Crawler
is one of our biggest damage dealers in the deck and can be a huge threat to our opponent’s life total. Another one of our finisher-style cards is Towering Titan
, which can get absolutely huge and is one of my favorite creatures to target with Pride of the Hull Clade’s ability. Since we draw a ton of cards, we had to include Laboratory Maniac
is a great insurance policy and a viable win condition if we start drawing an absolute ton. Geralf, Visionary Stitcher
is a great way to respond to single-target removal on one of our bigger creatures and is a great way to establish a huge board of evasive and strong creatures. Silent Arbiter
forces our opponents to be considerably weaker in combat.
Instants:
I really like Tower Defense
in the deck since it not only makes our creatures better attackers/blockers but can help if we are against a deck that is high on flying creatures, which is one of our biggest weaknesses. Our instant package is where a large majority of our control resides, including strong counterspells like the namesake Counterspell
, Disallow
, and Arcane Denial
. We also have some strong removal like Rapid Hybridization
and Beast Within
. These are perfect for any large threats or problematic commanders our opponents may have. Heroic Intervention
is a great way to protect our board from strong board wipes like Wrath of God
or Blasphemous Act
.
Sorceries:
We have some strong sorcery speed ramp like Cultivate
and Kodama's Reach
which can be great to speed up the gameplan and grab our basics as well as Farseek
which is a great way to grab a non-basic like Breeding Pool
. Last March of the Ents
is an amazing albeit a little expensive card for the deck. It can draw us an absolute ton of cards and allow us to dump our creatures onto the battlefield. The same is true for Majestic Genesis
, which is essentially a Genesis Wave
for eleven. Traverse Eternity
is great when we have our commander out and can be ok if we don’t have them out, it’s nothing more than another mass card draw spell for the deck. Artful Dodge is nothing more than another unblockable effect for the deck, and being able to flashback it for only one mana is quite strong as well.
Artifacts:
We don’t have a ton of mana rocks, but we do have format staples like Sol Ring
and Arcane Signet
s since our commander gets heavily reduced by our cheaper high-toughness creatures, and we have a decently low cost overall there is really no need for a ton of rocks. Spellbook
and Venser's Journal
both give us no maximum hand size, which is quite important in this deck, and Vensers Journal also helps us gain a ton of life, which can be nice if we are against more aggressive strategies. We rarely use Manifold Key
to untap an artifact but it can be helpful as there are a few artifact creatures in the deck, we primarily use manifold key for the unblockable effect.
Enchantments:
Assault Formation is the best enchantment in our deck since it allows us to be aggressive with our high-toughness defenders. This is a card that pretty much guarantees a snap-keep if we have it in our opening hand. Fruit of the First Tree
is a very underappreciated card among defender lists, and while a little expensive at four mana, it offers a ton of life and a ton of cards when our creatures die whether it be to combat or removal, this card is a wonderful insurance policy for the deck. Speaking of removal, we have both Kenrith's Transformation
and Imprisoned in the Moon
, which are great ways to invalidate opponents’ threats and are absolutely perfect for commanders. Aqueous Form and Security Bypass
are another strong pair that gives us unblockable on our defenders, which helps the commander damage gameplan and also nets us a ton of cards. Unnatural Growth
is quite expensive but can get very out of hand, and our commander can allow us to draw thirty cards in a turn, which is just pure insanity.
Land Base:
Escape Tunnel
is one of the best lands in our deck since it can make our commander unblockable and, with his ability activated, also draw us fifteen cards. Reliquary Tower
is another very strong land that helps to further the gameplan and is just one of the few ways we have to have no maximum hand size. Not too much to say about the rest of our land base, mostly just Simic duals, and for the purposes it serves, it works very well and is quite strong; in the fifteen or so games I’ve tested, I haven’t had any issues with the land base.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We have quite a few ways to make our creatures unblockable, and when combined with Pride of the Hull Clade’s ability, it can give us a ton of card advantage.
- We have quite a bit of stack interaction and removal; whether we use it to protect our stuff or stop opponents is dependent on the game-state, but it is great to have options.
- With cards like Assault Formation
and Bedrock Tortoise, a commander damage kill is actually quite possible in the deck.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Because our commander is a card draw machine, they tend to draw a lot of removal, and we typically need to expunge our stack interaction to get them to resolve or stay on the battlefield.
- We are great blockers, but most of our creatures are not strong attackers; in the early-mid game, we don’t put really any pressure on our opponents.
- We are generally weak to creature hate.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops in the deck. Since we have Laboratory Maniac, and we draw a ton of cards throughout the deck that can certainly be a win condition, but if something blows that win up, we can use cards like Psychosis Crawler to deal a ton of damage to our opponents when we draw a ton of cards. Towering Titan can be another strong way to end the game, especially if we have a board established since we can hit like a train. The Pride of Hull Clade with cards like Assault Formation or Bedrock Tortoise and unblockable can allow us to get a commander damage kill as well. We aren’t the fastest deck in the world, but we do have multiple ways to close out games.
Conclusion:
Pride of the Hull Clade is a very cool and unique commander; it’s not very often I look at a card that is eleven mana and think about how awesome it is, but Pride of the Hull Clade really is that cool, just a fun commander to play. I have been having a blast with this one and found it to be strong but certainly not overpowering in testing, which makes it perfect for a mid-power level table. I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!=