“Call to arms, banners fly in the wind.“
Art:General Marhault Elsdragon
by Heonhwa Choe
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
General Marhault Elsdragon is a very fun Gruul commander whom I have been having an absolute blast with. They are a very fun commander who really feels like a Gruul commander; on top of that, they make us much better in combat because if an opponent decides to block. We are pretty much a stompy-style deck with a ton of trample and blocking upside. This deck is as Gruul as they come and that is a great thing, if you love Gruul decks or just having a ton of awesome creatures for combat then this is the deck for you. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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General Marhault Elsdragon Big Blocks!
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Why General Marhault Elsdraong?
General Marhault is a very cool commander and is a large part of our deck; while the deck can absolutely function without them, they greatly enhance the gameplan through and through and make us much stronger in combat, especially with all of the creatures we have that have trample. General Marhault tends to be a removal magnet, but we do have a couple of ways to protect them in Snakeskin Veil
and Tamiyo's Safekeeping
, which are great ways to protect our commander from single target removal. General Marhault is a great card for our deck, and the card I often cast on the curve to get the most turns with them on the field.
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 quite a few creatures that get better with blocking, like Battle-Scarred Goblin
, Dwarven Berserker
, and Jade Avenger
, which are all great ways to get some extra benefits from our opponents blocking with or without our commander. Gorilla Berserkers
is another creature that loves to force our opponents to block; this card can get out of hand very quickly. Because we have decently big creatures throughout the deck, we can easily cast Molten Monstrosity
pretty early and start swinging for the fences. Matsu-Tribe Decoy
is a pretty good card for the deck, and if we can force our opponents to block it, we can lock down their creatures for a turn, which is quite strong. One of the best ways to set up that mass blocking of one creature is Shinen of Life's Roar
which we almost always channel to get the mass block going. Taunting Elf
is another very strong creature that we try to give deathtouch or at least always have our commander out to get them the big buff.
Instants:
Big Score
and Unexpected Windfall
are arguably the two best sources of supplemental card draw within the deck, which are also great mana producers for the deck. Band Together
is an amazing piece of removal for the deck, and in this deck, there really isn’t much we can’t kill with this one. Brute Force
and Giant Growth
are a strong pair to help our creatures win combats and are both amazing with our commander since we can deal a ton of damage to the blocking creature and with the abundance of trample throughout the deck some big damage to our opponent as well. Snakeskin Veil and Tamiyo's Safekeeping are great ways to protect any of our creatures but especially our commander because they are typically a decent removal magnet from our opponents.
Sorceries:
We are a Gruul deck, so we had to include both Kodama's Reach
and Cultivate
, which are both amazing ramp spells that help us get ahead on mana early in the game. Feral Contest
is a little expensive, but it provides a buff and guarantees a trigger for our commander, and a great way to take out at least one of our opponent’s creatures. Alluring Scent
is a card we typically use with a deathtouch creature, and an opponent who has a huge board will be absolutely devastated. King Harald's Revenge
is a very similar card that also gives us trample on top, which is a great card for any of our bigger creatures. You've Been Caught Stealing
is a bomb in this deck if we have huge creatures or just a deathtouch creature because we can take out an opponent’s entire board. Warlord's Fury
is great as well with any of the above spells; while we already have a leg-up in combat, cantripping and first strike are both great as well. Pick Your Poison
is an amazing hate piece for the deck that gives green access to removal it never had before and for only one mana.
Artifacts:
We are a Gruul deck, so we, of course, have some mana rocks like Arcane Signet
, Moss Diamond
, and Fire Diamond
, which are all amazing ways to get some extra mana in the early game and get ahead of our opponents. The rest of our artifact package is two amazing pieces of equipment that work very well within the deck. Trailblazer's Torch
is a wonderful card when combined with our commander because we get the buff from our commander as well as the extra damage to the blocking creature if their creature wasn’t dead before they are now!! Hunter's Blowgun
is a great equipment through and through; on our turn, it gives our creature deathtouch, which is perfect for something like Taunting Elf, and on our opponents turn it has reach which helps to address one of green’s biggest weaknesses just a great piece of equipment in every way.
Enchantments:
Battle Plan
is a little pricey but the buff can be great for any trample creature and is also very strong if we control our commander. Bequeathal
is a great source of card draw for the deck and is something I typically put on our smaller creatures who we are ok with dying. Since we are perfectly ok with our creatures getting blocked, it can be a great way to get some damage to a creature and is one of the few ways to target a creature directly within the deck. Runes of the Deus
may be a little pricey, but it can be a huge damage dealer for the deck and is great on any of our multi-color creatures. Madcap Skills
and Sticky Fingers
are both cheap buffs, and giving our creatures menace is awesome as well.
Land Base:
Being in Gruul allows us to have a pretty simple landbase, luckily Gruul has a ton of dual land support at common like Racers' Ring
, Rugged Highlands
and Wooded Ridgeline
which can all help us get our colors established early. Just like nearly every Pauper EDH deck I build, we have a decent amount of draw throughout the landbase like Slippery Karst
and Tranquil Thicket
as well as some straight-up draw lands like The Autonomous Furnace
and The Hunter Maze
which are great sources of draw as well. The last lands I want to highlight are pretty special. Looming Spires
gives a creature a buff and first strike, which can be great on a turn where we force our opponents to block. We also have Turntimber Grove
which gives a temporary creature buff which is always nice as well. I like this landbase a lot and think it is quite effective for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We actually have a decent amount of supplemental card draw within the deck.
- On top of trample we have a ton of different ways to force our opponents to block and still hit for some extra damage.
- We are quite strong in the early game and can output a decent amount of damage even in the early turns.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We don’t have a ton of ways to deal with creatures, especially removal-wise.
- Our commander makes us better in combat in every way; because of this, they are typically a removal magnet as they help push our deck to the next level.
- We can be quite weak against decks that don’t have a ton of creatures or never block because we never get our commander trigger, and that can hurt our damage output.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We win the game through combat; we do have a leg-up in combat because our commander buffs up our creatures when we block, and we have creatures like Stirring Bard
, which helps make our strong Gruul creatures better in combat. A lot of our creatures in the deck have tramples, which allows us to be very strong in combat, and if they choose to block, we get the buff, so it’s a true win-win.
Conclusion:
General Marhault is a very fun creature that I should have featured on the site a long time ago; this deck is as Gruul as they come and is a blast to play. I have been having so much fun with this one and getting a leg-up in combat and swinging and hitting hard always feels good. I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did, if you have a list I’d love to check it out. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!