“From beginning to end, I will never leave your side”
Art:Loyal Guardian
by Robbie Trevino
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Since we can use uncommons as commanders in pauper edh we of course had to build a deck around this sweet rhino, who really feels like a legendary! Loyal Guardian is a sweet commander that allows us to play a stompy style ramp deck and just cast an absolute ton of creatures and make them big! Just a couple turns with Loyal Guardian on the field can end the game. Combine that with our large ramp package and stuff starts happening very early! Without further adieu lets get it!
The Deck:
Loyal Guardian Stompy!
Why Loyal Guardian?
The main reason we chose Loyal Guardian is how easy it can be to constantly trigger him and buff creatures like crazy. Even if Guardian can only stick around for 1 or 2 turns this alone can be enough to kill an opponent. Since we ramp so heavy we are able to get out Guardian out very easily as well. I was able to cast him on turn 3 during testing and by turn 6 I had already killed two opponents. Loyal Guardian is just a super sweet commander who is a ton of fun to play and effective at making us a real mono-green stompy deck!
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck!
Creatures:
Since we are a creature deck that is looking to ramp as early as possible we have Elvish Mystic
, Llanowar Elves
and Boreal Druid
all of these are great early game plays that allow us to ramp really early! Arboreal Grazer
is another cool piece of ramp that lets us put down another land drop! Ilysian Caryatid
is a sweet card that plays really well into our decks ability since we can very easily meet the requirement and get the two mana!
Since we can make our creatures bigger with Loyal Guardians ability small creatures with great abilities like Deadly Recluse
and Ambush Viper
. We also have a ton of cards that give out +1/+1 counters themselves like Pridemalkin
, Guardian Gladewalker
and Phantom Tiger
all of these cards are great for buffing our creatures and making Loyal Guardian even more effective when he is cast.
We also have some creatures that benefit from our creatures having counters like Longshot Squad
and Tuskguard Captain
both of these cards help us on the offensive and defensive side of combat!
Since we are a deck that loves to do ramp and stompy things we also have some big creatures! Some of our favorites include Ulamog's Crusher
, Vulpine Goliath
and Greater Sandwurm
. In testing with all of our ramp out we very easily cast these one to two turns early. Tangle Golem
is another sweet card that can come out very early!
Instants:
We don’t have a ton of ways to stop our opponents so we have to stop us from dying in combat so we have Fog
which can be a great way to save us for a turn. We also have Return to Nature
which is a great cheap removal spell! Lifecrafter's Gift
is one of the best instants in our deck since we can buff a creature and then buff the rest. This can be great after only one turn with Loyal Guardian on the field!
Sorceries:
Our sorcery package is headlined by two legendary ramp spells in Cultivate
and Kodama's Reach
. You Meet in a Tavern
is a great card that we can use in the late game to help finish out an opponent! Since we struggle to draw cards Lead the Stampede
is a great way to cycle through the top of our deck and grab a creature! Outmuscle
is another sweet card that allows us to buff a creature and fight an opponents creature. Fighting effects are one of the few ways that we interact with our opponents in the deck!
Artifacts:
Our artifact package is mostly used for ramp and mana generation so we have Arcane Signet
, Manalith
, Mana Geode
and Bonder's Ornament
. The most interesting artifact in our deck is Wedding Invitation
since we not only can draw a card when it enters but we can easily make a creature unblockable which can be a great way to kill an opponent through commander damage.
Enchantments:
Our enchantment package mostly consists of ways to make our creatures bigger, the best of this being Master Chef
not only can this give Loyal Guardian a counter it also gives all of our creatures more counters when they enter which we will never complain about! Predatory Hunger
is a great card to put on a trample creature that can progressively get bigger as our opponents do things.
Gift of Paradise
not only gives us life but also lets us tap a land for two, just a great ramp card and this card is great at really any stage of the game! Presence of Gond
is a sweet enchantment that lets us make more creatures which we will never complain about!
Land Base:
Our land base is pretty simple with mostly forests but we do Desert of the Indomitable
and Tranquil Thicket
which are both great ways to draw some cards. Being in Mono-Green we dont have a ton of ways to draw so these lands can be a big help! The last cool nonbasic is Khalni Garden
which is pretty simple and just makes a creature which can be another target for Loyal Guardian to give another counter too!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Hard to kill us through combat
- Can ramp very quickly
- Always have a creature to commit to the board
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Deck is weaker without Loyal Guardian
- Weak to creature hate
- Not much interaction / card draw
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
Our main win condition is through combat, we don’t have any infinite combos or loops in the deck. Loyal Guardian combined with our creatures that have trample or very easily can gain trample, not only make combat easier we can also just do a ton of damage and with the right creatures + a couple turns with Loyal Guardian can end the game very easily!
Conclusion:
In conclusion Loyal Guardian is a very fun mono-green commander who allows us to play a really aggressive stompy style deck! While we don’t have a ton of interaction we can absolutely ramp out a ton of creatures and pressure our opponents pretty early on in the game. We can easily pressure our opponents with the fear of being of able to take them out in only 1 or 2 turns especially if we had a couple turns with Loyal Guardian out.
Thanks for reading to the end!