Gruul Summer by ThoughtfulWalrus

Format: Commander

Commander: Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 33

Deck overview

This deck is a Gruul Stompy and Punisher strategy led by Ruric Thar, the Unbowed. It accelerates early mana using efficient mana dorks and land ramp to cast its commander ahead of curve on Turn 4. Once on the battlefield, Ruric Thar establishes an immediate anti-spell tax by dealing 6 damage to any player who casts a noncreature spell. The deck amplifies this pressure using damage multipliers like Solphim, Mayhem Dominus, Fiendish Duo, and Fiery Emancipation, turning single noncreature spells into lethal penalties. Large trampling beaters like Ghalta, Primal Hunger and Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant provide heavy combat pressure, closing games around Turn 7. Card draw engines such as Beast Whisperer and Garruk's Uprising keep creature flow steady, while uncounterable effects from Vexing Shusher and Hexing Squelcher protect key plays from blue disruption.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Absorbing Man and Titania
  • 1 Arbor Elf
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archetype of Aggression
  • 1 Archetype of Endurance
  • 1 Augur of Autumn
  • 1 Bane of Progress
  • 1 Basilisk Collar
  • 1 Beast Whisperer
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Birds of Paradise
  • 1 Cinder Glade
  • 1 City on Fire
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Copperline Gorge
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Delighted Halfling
  • 1 Dragonborn Champion
  • 1 Elvish Mystic
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fanatic of Rhonas
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Fated Firepower
  • 1 Fiendish Duo
  • 1 Fierce Empath
  • 1 Fiery Emancipation
  • 13 Forest
  • 1 Frenzied Baloth
  • 1 Fyndhorn Elves
  • 1 Game Trail
  • 1 Garruk's Packleader
  • 1 Garruk's Uprising
  • 1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
  • 1 Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
  • 1 Goblin Anarchomancer
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hexing Squelcher
  • 1 Ilysian Caryatid
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Llanowar Elves
  • 1 Manglehorn
  • 1 Mosswort Bridge
  • 13 Mountain
  • 1 Omen Machine
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Reclamation Sage
  • 1 Rockfall Vale
  • 1 Rootbound Crag
  • 1 Runic Armasaur
  • 1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
  • 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
  • 1 Scytheclaw Raptor
  • 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
  • 1 Shadow in the Warp
  • 1 Shadowspear
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Solphim, Mayhem Dominus
  • 1 Somberwald Sage
  • 1 Soul of the Harvest
  • 1 Spire Garden
  • 1 Stomping Ground
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Terastodon
  • 1 Thornspire Verge
  • 1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets
  • 1 Twinflame Tyrant
  • 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
  • 1 Urabrask the Hidden
  • 1 Vexing Shusher
  • 1 Wild Growth
  • 1 Wood Elves
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
  • 1 Zhur-Taa Druid