Cruelclaw by cledetjr1

Format: Commander

Commander: The Infamous Cruelclaw

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 44

Deck overview

This deck executes an explosive combat-cheat strategy centered on The Infamous Cruelclaw. The plan deploys the commander on Turns 2–3, equips evasion or haste such as Brotherhood Regalia and Lightning Greaves, and attacks on Turn 4. Connecting combat damage triggers Cruelclaw, exiling cards until hitting a nonland card and casting it immediately by discarding a card. The deck leverages this trigger to deploy devastating 7-to-12 mana bombs—including Portal to Phyrexia, Blightsteel Colossus, Rise of the Dark Realms, and Breach the Multiverse—many turns ahead of curve. Dense functional redundancy across evasion equipment and utility lands ensures Cruelclaw consistently connects. Secondary synergies like Squee, Goblin Nabob offset discard costs, while extra-combat spells such as Seize the Day trigger Cruelclaw multiple times in a single turn. Defended by free spells like Deflecting Swat and uncounterable tech from Cavern of Souls, the deck applies overwhelming board attrition and closes games decisively around Turn 6.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Access Tunnel
  • 1 Anger
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archon of Cruelty
  • 1 Arena of Glory
  • 1 Badlands
  • 1 Blackcleave Cliffs
  • 1 Blazemire Verge
  • 1 Blightsteel Colossus
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Blood for the Blood God!
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Breach the Multiverse
  • 1 Brotherhood Regalia
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Call Forth the Tempest
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Chimil, the Inner Sun
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Delayed Blast Fireball
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Eldrazi Conscription
  • 1 Etali, Primal Storm
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Fevered Suspicion
  • 1 Filth
  • 1 Flaming Tyrannosaurus
  • 1 Foreboding Ruins
  • 1 Genji Glove
  • 1 Graven Cairns
  • 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
  • 1 Haunted Ridge
  • 1 Insatiable Avarice
  • 1 Karlach, Fury of Avernus
  • 1 Keeper of Secrets
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Lizard Blades
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress
  • 1 Monument to Endurance
  • 9 Mountain
  • 1 Nalfeshnee
  • 1 Overpowering Attack
  • 1 Passionate Archaeologist
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Portal to Phyrexia
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Prosper, Tome-Bound
  • 1 Rakdos Signet
  • 1 Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
  • 1 Raucous Theater
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Restless Vents
  • 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Savage Beating
  • 1 Seize the Day
  • 1 Sheoldred // The True Scriptures
  • 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
  • 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
  • 1 Strionic Resonator
  • 9 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tainted Peak
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 The Black Gate
  • 1 The Infamous Cruelclaw
  • 1 Trailblazer's Boots
  • 1 Ugin, Eye of the Storms
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Vesuva
  • 1 Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn
  • 1 Vorrac Battlehorns
  • 1 Whispersilk Cloak
  • 1 Wild-Magic Sorcerer