“Darkening clouds. An omen to those who stand against the wild!”
Art:Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
by Svetlin Velinov
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Goreclaw is a very cool commander and a great commander for new or old players; Goreclaw is for the people! Stompy is one of my favorite archetypes in all of magic, and Goreclaw is up there as a top stompy commander; not only do they provide quite a discount for most of our creatures, but they also give all of our bigger creatures +1/+1 and trample, which can allow us to put a ton of pressure on our opponents. This deck is lean, green and pretty mean and can hit like a truck, I am very excited to showcase this one today. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma Stompy Pauper EDH!
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Why Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma?
Goreclaw is a huge part of our deck and a card we cast as often as possible. They not only make nearly every creature in our deck cheaper but they allow us to use those big creatures and turn them into a ton of damage with trample on top. Goreclaw does draw a lot of removal, but since we have a ton of ramps in the deck, we can easily recast them even three or four times as needed.
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:
Let’s start with our ramp creatures, we have format staples like Elvish Mystic
, Boreal Druid
, and Llanowar Elves
, but my personal favorite ramp creature is Ilysian Caryatid
because our deck is focused around creatures with power four or greater we are able to get the most value out of this quite often. Also, a huge shoutout to Taunting Elf
, which takes all of our opponent’s blockers and allows us to hit hard, and in testing, I was able to one-shot opponents multiple times when also attacking with Taunting Elf. Some of my favorite big creatures in the deck aren’t even green! I love Hand of Emrakul
, Ulamog's Crusher
, and Eldrazi Devastator
, which can all be ramped into easily and cast cheaper because of Goreclaw and are game-warping when they hit the battlefield, once we get even one of these down we put a ton of pressure on our opponents and annihilator can be game-ending. Tangle Golem
is another very sweet creature that not only gets the Goreclaw discount but, because of the affinity for forests, it is almost always free except for the first couple of turns, of course. Entourage of Trest
is not only a discounted strong blocker but also gives us the monarch, which can lead to supplemental card draw, and since we are in green, we can always use more cards. Annoyed Altisaur
is another bomb of a creature that often gives us two creatures from the cascade and is a strong blocker with reach.
Instants:
Since our board typically gets targeted by a lot of removals and we are susceptible to creature hate, we have Wrap in Vigor
, which is an amazing way to recover after a bad combat or our board dying en-masse. Lull
is one of my favorite Fog
effects since we can cycle it and turn it into a card as needed. Bite Down
and Prizefight
are amazing ways to take out creatures or commanders from our opponents, and since we have a large number of huge creatures, we can take out just about anything. We have some strong artifact/enchantment removal like Return to Nature
, Shower of Arrows
and Broken Wings
I really like that we can also take out flying creatures with broken wings and shower of arrows, flying creatures have been a long time problem for green and its awesome to have an answer for that!
Sorceries:
Broken Bond
and Explore
are both great ways to get some additional land drops going and, in the case of a broken bond, can slow down opponents who have early game artifacts/enchantments. We do have some more traditional ramp like Cultivate
and Kodama's Reach
, which is nothing more than strong ramps for the deck and help to speed along the gameplan. You Meet in a Tavern
can be a strong piece of creature selection for the deck but, most importantly, provides an Overrun
effect for all of our creatures, which allows us to often one-shot opponents and hit like a train.
Artifacts:
We are low on mana rocks because we have a ton of ramp in our creature package and spell package. We do have Bonder's Ornament
, which is mostly included because of the card draw and Moss Diamond
which is nothing more than an extra land for the deck. Bramble Armor
is a strong buff for a creature, and I really like it because we often don’t have to equip it tp a creature. Last but certainly not least is Spare Supplies
, which is a great way to get some additional cards.
Enchantments:
Wild Growth
and Overgrowth
are two great and cheap pieces of ramp for the deck and can allow us to get Goreclaw and our other big creatures out very early. Master Chef
is a card I love to include in any creature-heavy deck, and this is no exception; one of the big benefits of a master chef in this deck is if we have a three-power creature and they ETB they become eligible for Goreclaw’s ability. We do have mass trample from Goreclaw on most turns, but we also have Rancor
and Fists of Ironwood
, which are great ways to give creatures trample all the time and the benefit of a buff and some additional creatures. Snake Umbra
is another very strong buff and gives us card draw. This is a key enchantment for the deck. Lignify
is one of our few pieces of “removal” and is a great way to take out a pesky creature or commander from our opponents.
Land Base:
We have some strong supplemental card draw in our landbase like The Hunter Maze
as well as Slippery Karst
and Tranquil Thicket
green lacks card draw overall so having any form of additional card draw for the deck is wonderful. We also have Forge of Heroes
and Captivating Cave
, which are both great ways to buff up creatures/ our commander. Not too much to say about the rest of our landbase. We are running above average at thirty-six, but with the ramp in the deck and Goreclaw’s ability, we typically don’t run into land problems within the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Because of Goreclaw’s ability and a large abundance of ramp throughout the deck, there are very few times when we want to mulligan outside of a one or two lander with no support; because of the way the deck is built, we can assemble strong and threatening boards quickly and with pretty much any opening hand.
- We have quite a few creatures with reach and a bunch of ways to kill flying creatures, helping stem the bleeding on one of Green’s most significant weaknesses.
- We have quite a lot of artifact and enchantment hate that is quite cheap, which allows us to still maintain the core gameplay and slow down our opponents.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We do have some, but not a ton of card draw in the deck.
- We are weak to creature hate.
- Our commander draws an absolute ton of removal, and we don’t really have any ways to protect them from removal.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We are a combat deck through and through and take full advantage of Goreclaw’s ability, which allows us to cast our huge creatures quite early, combine that with Goreclaw’s buff from their second ability and a ton of ramp in the deck, and we can overwhelm and pressure our opponents with all of our huge green creatures. Goreclaw’s ability is extremely strong and guarantees damage and pressure on our opponents, and since a good majority of the creature base is cards with power four or greater, we have Goreclaw’s ability active in nearly every combat.
Conclusion:
Goreclaw is as mono-green and stompy as they come, and I am so excited to show them off on the site. Goreclaw is a very fun commander in Pauper EDH and pretty much any EDH format. Goreclaw is a very sweet mono-green commander and is a great introduction commander for a new player, but it is still an absolute blast for any mono-green lovers or long-time players. I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did, thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!