Overview:

This Ruric Thar deck leverages a creature-heavy strategy to punish opponents for casting noncreature spells while deploying massive threats. The deck focuses on ramping into high-power creatures, utilizing Ruric Thar's punishing ability as both a deterrent and a damage engine. Key win conditions include overwhelming combat damage via Craterhoof Behemoth, Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, supported by creature-based tutors and card advantage engines.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
This deck aims to flood the board with creatures while punishing opponents for interacting via Ruric Thar's 6-damage trigger. The game plan unfolds in three phases:

1. Ramp & Protection: Use 1-2 mana dorks (Elvish Mystic, Birds of Paradise) and land enchantments (Wild Growth) to accelerate into Ruric Thar by turn 3-4. Protect key pieces with Heroic Intervention and Veil of Summer.
2. Value Engine: Deploy creature-based card advantage like Guardian Project and The Great Henge, while disrupting opponents with Collector Ouphe and Bane of Progress.
3. Closing Power: Tutor for Craterhoof Behemoth via Chord of Calling or Finale of Devastation, cheat in threats with Defense of the Heart, or overwhelm with Ilharg, the Raze-Boar recurring Etali, Primal Storm.

Key Tips:

• Prioritize casting Ruric Thar early to tax opponents' removal and combo attempts.
• Use Sylvan Safekeeper to protect Ruric Thar while sacrificing lands recovered by Ancient Tomb/Boseiju, Who Endures.
• Finale of Devastation at X=10 with a board of 3+ creatures often represents lethal.

Avoid Traps:

• Don't overextend into board wipes without Heroic Intervention backup.
• Save Deflecting Swat for critical removal targeting Ruric Thar or combo pieces.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Lacks counterspells to protect against game-ending combos.
• Heavy reliance on creature-based interaction (e.g., Reclamation Sage) makes it vulnerable to Humility effects.

Moderate:

• Limited instant-speed interaction beyond Veil of Summer.
• Recursive threats depend on graveyard (Eternal Witness, Endurance needed for anti-exile).

Minor:

• Blood Moon effects partially mitigated by basic lands and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth.

Most Important Cards:

• Craterhoof Behemoth
• The Great Henge
• Defense of the Heart
• Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• Tooth and Nail
• Finale of Devastation
• Heroic Intervention
• Veil of Summer
• Guardian Project
• Rhythm of the Wild

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10
Can deploy Ruric Thar by turn 3 and game-ending threats by turn 6-7. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds and Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant enable explosive turns.

Resilience: 5/10
Moderate protection (hexproof/indestructible) and recursion (Eternal Witness), but folds to repeated board wipes.

Consistency: 7/10
12 ramp sources, 6 tutors (Worldly Tutor, Chord of Calling), and 8 card advantage engines ensure threat density.

Interaction: 4/10
Primarily creature-based removal (Reclamation Sage, Manglehorn). Limited stack interaction beyond Deflecting Swat.

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between "Optimized Casual" (5.5) and "Focused" (6.0) on the rubric. It consistently threatens T7-8 kills through combat but lacks:

• cEDH-level fast mana (only Sol Ring)
• Infinite combos
• Tiered stax pieces

While more potent than upgraded precons (5.0), it doesn't reach T5-6 deterministic wins of higher tiers. The creature-focused strategy and commander tax vulnerability cap its ceiling.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0