Vivi but Ugly (and Gruul) by MTGBob

Format: Commander

Commander: The Howling Abomination

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 37

Deck overview

This deck is a Gruul spellslinger storm deck commanded by The Howling Abomination. The strategy revolves around casting cheap 1-mana cantrips and combat buffs that target the commander, triggering its ability to grow into a massive trampling attacker while simultaneously dealing 2 direct damage to each opponent per spell. With a critical density of 23 targeting cantrips and protective spells, the deck rapidly cycles through its library while burning the entire table. Mana engines like Storm-Kiln Artist and Birgi, God of Storytelling turn 1-mana cantrips mana-neutral or mana-positive, while Auras such as Keen Sense and Snake Umbra generate massive card draw from the table-wide burn triggers. The deck protects its commander using efficient 1-mana green protection spells that double as offensive triggers, culminating in explosive lethal turns between Turn 5 and Turn 6.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Ancestral Anger
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Autumn's Veil
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty
• 1 Blossoming Defense
• 1 Bonus Round
• 1 Chandra's Ignition
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Charge Through
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Commercial District
• 1 Copperline Gorge
• 1 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
• 1 Crimson Wisps
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Deflecting Swat
• 1 Delighted Halfling
• 1 Elvish Spirit Guide
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Expedite
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Fists of Flame
• 7 Forest
• 1 Gaea's Gift
• 1 Game Trail
• 1 Goblin Anarchomancer
• 1 Grapeshot
• 1 Ground Rift
• 1 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 1 Guttersnipe
• 1 Hexing Squelcher
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Invigorate
• 1 Karplusan Forest
• 1 Keen Sense
• 1 Kessig Flamebreather
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Leyline of Resonance
• 1 Lotus Petal
• 1 Manamorphose
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 5 Mountain
• 1 Mutagenic Growth
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Poison the Blade
• 1 Prismatic Vista
• 1 Psychotic Fury
• 1 Pyroblast
• 1 Pyrokinesis
• 1 Ram Through
• 1 Ranger's Guile
• 1 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Renegade Tactics
• 1 Rile
• 1 Rite of Flame
• 1 Rockfall Vale
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Season of Growth
• 1 Seething Song
• 1 Simian Spirit Guide
• 1 Skyshroud Claim
• 1 Snake Umbra
• 1 Snakeskin Veil
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spire Garden
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Stump Stomp // Burnwillow Clearing
• 1 Talisman of Impulse
• 1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 1 Temur Battle Rage
• 1 The Howling Abomination
• 1 The Last Agni Kai
• 1 Thornspire Verge
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Three Visits
• 1 Tyvar's Stand
• 1 Veil of Summer
• 1 Venerated Rotpriest
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Verdant Rebirth
• 1 Viridescent Wisps
• 1 Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
• 1 Windswept Heath
• 1 Wooded Foothills