This weekend, the next round of MTG Regional Championships began. Elite players from various parts of the world started competing for cash, glory, and spots at the next Pro Tour and World Championship. This time around, the Regional Championship format is Standard, matching the same format as Pro Tour Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
When Pro Tour Outlaws of Thunder Junction took place, the sheer volume of Esper midrange in the room combined with the general lack of innovation present was a bit concerning. Fortunately, not only has Esper’s presence died down a bit for these tournaments, but some really unique shells ended up overperforming.
One Gruul combo deck in particular is the talk of the town.
Calamity, Galloping Inferno
Calamity, Galloping Inferno
Haste
Whenever Calamity attacks while saddled, choose a nonlegendary creature that saddled it this turn and create a tapped and attacking token that's a copy of it. Sacrifice that token at the beginning of the next end step. Repeat this process once.
Saddle 1
combo of all things made top eight of the Regional Championship in Australia, and this decklist is spicy. When Thunder Junction came out, we had discussed the discovery of a neat combo involving Calamity and
Terror of the Peaks
Terror of the Peaks
Flying
Spells your opponents cast that target this creature cost an additional 3 life to cast.
Whenever another creature you control enters, this creature deals damage equal to that creature's power to any target.
. Now, one player took it upon themselves to incorporate this synergy into an awesome Gruul deck with a lot going on. Before we get into Calamity’s supporting cast, it’s important to reiterate the main combo and how it works.
Calamity and Terror
As described, the main card this deck is built around is Calamity, Galloping Inferno. Calamity is an extremely powerful card, but one that requires a bit of setup. Most of Calamity’s power comes from its triggered ability. In order to maximize it, you want to have a big Creature to Saddle up Calamity and copy twice.
As we will see, this deck is chock full of big Creatures, but none of them are stronger alongside Calamity than Terror of the Peaks. Terror conveniently costs five mana, so curving Terror into Calamity is very realistic. From there, if the opponent can’t remove either Creature right away, they will take at least 20 damage from Terror triggers when Calamity attacks.
Once you Saddle up Calamity with Terror, Calamity will create two copies of Terror that are tapped and attacking. The original Terror will deal 10 damage to the opponent when the other two Terrors enter the battlefield. On top of that, the two copies of Terror each see each other enter, so each will deal another five damage to the opponent for a total of 20 damage.
This combo is really sweet, but it’s not the easiest to get going. After all, Calamity is a six-mana card that requires additional board presence to abuse. Even if you can curve Terror into Calamity, the opponent has a big window to remove Terror of the Peaks. There’s a reason this synergy hasn’t been dominating Standard. The good news, though, is that this deck has some more tricks up its sleeve.
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The Role of Smuggler’s Surprise
This Gruul deck is constructed in a way to ensure that both Calamity and Terror are strong cards individually. Obviously, it’s great when the combo comes together, but you need a good backup plan. First, this deck has a high density of large Creatures that offer some versatility in the early game.
Trumpeting Carnosaur
Trumpeting Carnosaur
Trample
When this creature enters, discover 5.
{2}{R}, Discard this card: It deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
, for example, is a very strong six-drop, but can be used as a three-mana removal spell when necessary. Similarly,
Spinewoods Armadillo
Spinewoods Armadillo
Reach
Ward {3} (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {3}.)
{1}{G}, Discard this card: Search your library for a basic land card or a Desert card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. You gain 3 life.
is extremely beefy, but if you’re short on Lands, discarding it for two mana to search up a Land and gain three life is perfectly reasonable.
With such a high volume of enormous Creatures to put into play, this deck has the luxury to fully abuse
Smuggler’s Surprise
Smuggler’s Surprise
Spree (Choose one or more additional costs.)
+ {2} — Mill four cards. You may put up to two creature and/or land cards from among the milled cards into your hand.
+ {4}{G} — You may put up to two creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
+ {1} — Creatures you control with power 4 or greater gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
. Being able to pay six mana to put two haymakers into play is a great option to have. Notably, this mode works exceptionally well with Terror of the Peaks.
As good as Terror is, its biggest weakness is it usually needs to survive a full turn cycle for you to get value off of it. However, if you put Terror and another fatty into play at the same time, you’ll get to send a bunch of damage to any target right away. Of course, if the opponent ever taps out, you can always put in both pieces of the combo and win the game out of nowhere.
Beyond the card’s
Tooth and Nail
Tooth and Nail
Choose one —
• Search your library for up to two creature cards, reveal them, put them into your hand, then shuffle.
• Put up to two creature cards from your hand onto the battlefield.
Entwine {2} (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
impersonation, Smuggler’s Surprise even lets you dig for your threats or protect them once in play. The powerful Instant gets a lot of mileage out of its flexibility, and this deck puts all three modes to good use.
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Ramp Elements
The rest of the deck is just made up of ways to ramp towards your payoffs or remove opposing attackers to buy time. In the two-drop slot,
Glimpse the Core
Glimpse the Core
Choose one —
• Search your library for a basic Forest card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
• Return target Cave card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
acts as a mediocre
Rampant Growth
Rampant Growth
Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
, but that’s still more than good enough. Meanwhile,
Obliterating Bolt
Obliterating Bolt
Obliterating Bolt deals 4 damage to target creature or planeswalker. If that creature or planeswalker would die this turn, exile it instead.
and
Volcanic Spite
Volcanic Spite
Volcanic Spite deals 3 damage to target creature, planeswalker, or battle. You may put a card from your hand on the bottom of your library. If you do, draw a card.
can pick off pesky attackers that the opponent casts early.
At three mana, Outcaster Trailblazer and
Topiary Stomper
Topiary Stomper
Vigilance (Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.)
When this creature enters, search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
This creature can't attack or block unless you control seven or more lands.
can get you towards your massive beaters a turn ahead of schedule. Trailblazer may only give you a one-shot boost of mana, but it has the benefit of drawing you extra cards whenever any of your other Creatures enter.
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Beating Up Slower Decks
In a metagame filled with midrange and control decks, this abnormal Gruul shell seems like a great metacall. Every Creature in the deck is immune to
Cut Down
Cut Down
Destroy target creature with total power and toughness 5 or less.
, and Cavern of Souls helps you get your monsters past
No More Lies
No More Lies
Counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard.
and the like. While
Go for the Throat
Go for the Throat
Destroy target nonartifact creature.
and
Sheoldred’s Edict
Sheoldred’s Edict
Choose one —
• Each opponent sacrifices a nontoken creature of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices a creature token of their choice.
• Each opponent sacrifices a planeswalker of their choice.
can answer your bombs in an efficient manner, this deck plays so many heavy hitters that you can often overload the opponent’s removal.
Additionally, despite playing a bunch of expensive cards, this deck can close the game pretty quickly. The combination of ramp, Smuggler’s Surprise, and the combo makes it tough for midrange and control decks to race you.
That being said, if you run into lots of aggro, you may be in trouble. This deck doesn’t play much removal game one, so getting beat up by a quick draw from mono-red or Boros Convoke is a real concern. [tooltip]Brotherhood’s End[/tooltips] and
Tranquil Frillback
Tranquil Frillback
When this creature enters, you may pay {G} up to three times. When you pay this cost one or more times, choose up to that many —
• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
• Exile target player's graveyard.
• You gain 4 life.
out of the sideboard definitely help, but winning game one is rather difficult.
Given how popular midrange and control decks are, though, this Gruul archetype is in a reasonable spot. I’m sure the deck caught a lot of players by surprise (no pun intended), and its incredible performance cannot be denied. Importantly, almost the entire deck is made up of newer Standard cards, so the upcoming rotation is of minimal concern. With that in mind, if you’re looking to craft something interesting to play at FNM or on MTG Arena, look no further. Gruul Horse combo has you covered!
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