The Best Starter Commander Decks – Ruhan of the Fomori

As we get more involved with good starter commanders, it’s about time we look into one of the tribal options. The trouble is that if you go with a tribe like Vampires, you’re looking at an extortionate amount of money for the best Commander there, which is undoubtedly Edgar Markov Edgar Markov Eminence — Whenever you cast another Vampire spell, if Edgar is in the command zone or on the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Vampire creature token.
First strike, haste
Whenever Edgar attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control. .

So, it’s often better to look to some of the lesser-known tribes if you want to capture that tribal feeling without the absurd price tag. One of the biggest tribes of recent years happens to be Giants, so we’re going to take a look at Ruhan of the Fomori Ruhan of the Fomori At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose an opponent at random. Ruhan attacks that player this combat if able. .

Meet your commander

Ruhan of the Fomori Ruhan of the Fomori At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose an opponent at random. Ruhan attacks that player this combat if able. is a four mana red, white, and blue 7/7. They read, “At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose an opponent at random. Ruhan of the Fomori attacks that player this combat if able.” As a commander, Ruhan encourages an aggressive playstyle, although you can negate some of the and blood because they have to attack at random, which can help you be a little more sympathetic.

It does, however, set the tone for the deck. The aim here is to kill people with damage, and the ability to have bigger creatures than everyone else, along with some really great Giants and tribe-specific cards, means you can do that knowing full well that people are going to struggle to retaliate.

So, we know we need big creatures, ways to look after them, and ideally some spells which’ll deal the finishing blow if needed. Thankfully, Giants have some really cool subthemes, but we’ll get to those in just a little bit. For now, let’s have a look at some of the best Giants at your disposal.

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Best aggro Giant cards

There are a lot of great Giant cards available in Commander, so it’s no big surprise that we’ve got plenty of options here too. First up is Calamity Bearer Calamity Bearer If a Giant source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead. , a four mana Red 3/4 that makes it so that your Giants deal double damage to any permanents or players they hit. That’s an auto-include.

Sunrise Sovereign Sunrise Sovereign Other Giant creatures you control get +2/+2 and have trample. is a six mana Red 5/5 that gives all of your other Giants +2/+2 and trample, which is nice. Borderland Behemoth Borderland Behemoth Trample
This creature gets +4/+4 for each other Giant you control. is another red Giant, but this time it’s a seven mana 4/4 with trample. However, it also gets +4/+4 for each other Giant you control, which makes it a hard one to stop without dedicated removal.

Finally, there’s Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas Double strike, vigilance
Whenever you cast a creature spell with mana value 5 or greater, you get an experience counter.
Kalemne gets +1/+1 for each experience counter you have. . Kalemne is a four mana 3/3 with both double strike and vigilance. While that’s fine, it’s not amazing, however, whenever you cast a creature spell with a mana value of five or more get an experience counter, then Kalemne gets +1/+1 for each experience counter you have too, which can get out of hand very quickly.

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Best utility Giant cards

Next, we’ve got cards that help compliment what you’re doing, once again, all of which happen to be Giants too, well apart from our first pick. Stinkdrinker Daredevil Stinkdrinker Daredevil Giant spells you cast cost {2} less to cast. is a three-mana red 1/3 Goblin that makes all of your Giant spells cost two mana less to cast, which is great given how pricey many Giants are. On that subject, there’s also Thryx, the Sudden Storm Thryx, the Sudden Storm Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
Flying
Spells you cast with mana value 5 or greater cost {1} less to cast and can't be countered. , who is a five-mana blue 5/5 with flash and flying that makes any spell you cast with a mana value of five or more cost one less to cast, and stops them being countered too.

Giant Harbinger Giant Harbinger When this creature enters, you may search your library for a Giant card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top. is a simple red five-mana 3/4 that reads, “When Giant Harbinger enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a Giant card, reveal it, then shuffle and put that card on top.” Of course, it’s even better if you can quickly draw that card, and Aegar, the Freezing Flame Aegar, the Freezing Flame Whenever a creature or planeswalker an opponent controls is dealt excess damage, if a Giant, Wizard, or spell you controlled dealt damage to it this turn, draw a card. is a three-mana blue and red 3/3 that basically lets you draw cards if you deal too much damage to a creature or planeswalker using a Giant.

Finally in this section, we’ve got Giant’s Grasp Giant’s Grasp Enchant Giant you control
When this Aura enters, gain control of target nonland permanent for as long as this Aura remains on the battlefield. . This is a four mana Blue aura that reads, “Enchant Giant you control. When Giant’s Grasp enters the battlefield, gain control of target nonland permanent for as long as Giant’s Grasp remains on the battlefield.” Stealing stuff is fun, isn’t it?

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Best board wipe Giant cards

Our last section is dedicated to making sure you can always attack without issue. Realm-Cloaked Giant Realm-Cloaked Giant Vigilance is the simplest of these. While it’s a seven-mana 7/7 with vigilance normally, you can first cast it as a five-mana board wipe that specifically destroys all non-Giant creatures.

There’s also Thundercloud Shaman Thundercloud Shaman When this creature enters, it deals damage equal to the number of Giants you control to each non-Giant creature. , a five-mana red 4/4 that reads, “When Thundercloud Shaman enters the battlefield, it deals damage equal to the number of Giants you control to each non-Giant creature.” Even if you only control a handful of Giants, that’s usually going to deal enough damage to wipe the board.

Last but not least is Cyclone Summoner, a seven-mana 7/7 that has every permanent except for Giants, Wizards, and lands returned to their owner’s hands as long as you cast it from your own hand. Sure, you can’t flicker it, but you’ll likely only need one shot to wipe everyone out anyway, so who cares?

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