MTGGoldfish is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Browse > Home / Strategy / Articles / Fish Five-0: Dave Gruul (Standard, Magic Arena)

Fish Five-0: Dave Gruul (Standard, Magic Arena)


One by One our opponents will understand the might of Gruul as this week we're getting some Gruul Midrange action going!

Gameplan

Step 1. Play Creature

Step 2. Destination Face

Step 3. Profit.

We still have the beefy creatures in Gruul Spellbreaker and the ever-resilient Rekindling Phoenix that supply enough pressure in the early game that our opponents will usually be forced to tap out. 

$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00

After we put our opponents into a tight bind, we windmill slam our planeswalkers to keep our foot on the gas pedal to close out the game as they'll need to now answer creatures and planeswalkers.

We've added some new planeswalkers to the deck thanks to #MTGWAR and these planeswalkers definitely help contribute to the 3 steps mentioned above!

$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00

Domri serves as ramp and an anthem effect so your little elves don't stay little for long. I'm also a huge fan of the +1 not forcing you to use the mana on creatures. This means the mana can be used for planeswalkers and spells. Domri also serves as removal. I guess my initial assessment on Domri was wrong. I think the card is sweet but I don't think it's sweet enough to warrant more than two copies. 

Chandra gives this deck the much-needed card draw engine for when you've run out of steam and are living off the top of your deck. Chandra's ultimate is also a deal 7. This ultimate has been quietly threatening people. It doesn't seem like much until you remember her passive ability. The passive has also been very good as it makes attacking into her very awkward and potentially life-threatening.

Sarkhan might be the second most overlooked planeswalker. I didn't think he'd even get played as a singleton copy, but he's showing up in every superfriends deck that can play him. The fact that you can threaten 8 power on its own is great for 5 mana but if your board is loaded with planeswalkers before he lands, he can potentially set up some one turn kills! 

The last planeswalker to talk about is perhaps the most underrated walker in my opinion. Well, maybe not by the time this comes out but she's so good! Nissa runs away with the game so fast and is a must answer as letting the opponent untap with additional mana can lead to some disastrous situations. 

Conclusion

There are a few adds I'd like to make to the deck after playing this, like Banefire and potentially more graveyard hate in the sideboard. In the maindeck, I can't help but feel like I want more Sarkhan the Masterless and Nissa, Who Shakes the World. I don't know if there's an empty spot for Ugin, the Ineffable but that'd be pretty sweet here with all the additional mana we can make with Nissa. I pretty much want to turn the deck more into midrange than aggro though so if you're looking to stay aggressive, you can keep it the way it is with maybe one or two more Sarkhan and Nissa. Either way, the deck felt like it got a decent power boost to keep up with the meta! Hope all you Gruul mages enjoy the deck and let me know what your build looks like in the comments!

You can also reach out to me on Twitter @TheAsianAvenger or theasianavenger@mtggoldfish.com or tune into my late night streams on Twitch Sunday through Thursday 8pm PST!

See you at the next one 

-TheAsianAvenger
 



More in this Series

Show more ...


More on MTGGoldfish ...

Image for Fish Five-0: Esper Turbo Friends (Standard, Magic Arena) fish five-o
Fish Five-0: Esper Turbo Friends (Standard, Magic Arena)

All aboard the ship! The friendship, that is! This week TheAsianAvenger takes a planeswalker heavy deck into the queues.

May 17 | by TheAsianAvenger
Image for Podcast 476: Are These MTG Arena Conspiracy Theories Real? podcast
Podcast 476: Are These MTG Arena Conspiracy Theories Real?

Seth and Crim discuss post-ban Modern, Crim's recent Standard tournament and whether or not a massive list of MTG Arena conspiracy theori...

Mar 18 | by mtggoldfish
Image for Every You "Lose the Game" Card Ranked from Easiest to Hardest video
Every You "Lose the Game" Card Ranked from Easiest to Hardest

Magic has 18 cards that can make the opponent lose the game directly, and today, we're going to rank them all from hardest to easiest!

Mar 18 | by SaffronOlive
Image for Weekly Update (Mar 17): Violent Outburst Banned in Modern weekly update
Weekly Update (Mar 17): Violent Outburst Banned in Modern

This week in MTG news: Violent Outburst Banned in Modern.

Mar 18 | by mtggoldfish

Layout Footer

Never miss important MTG news again!

All emails include an unsubscribe link. You may opt-out at any time. See our privacy policy.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Twitch
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • RSS
  • Email
  • Discord
  • YouTube

Price Preference

Default Price Switcher