If you’ve read me for any length of time, you’ve likely absorbed the idea that I’m a big fan of green. I won Virginia State Champs many moons ago with a mono-green deck, and I jam a green deck whenever I can. I’ve actually got twelve different mono-green Commander decks in paper, and yet still I get the itch to build more when another cool mono-green legendary creature comes down the pike. The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is bringing the noise with Magic’s third version of big, bad Ghalta—this time, it’s Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant!
I literally just built a Commander deck around Ghalta, Primal Hunger earlier this year, which you can read about below:
While there will surely be some overlap in cards, I think the new Ghalta has enough difference that I want to build it and add a lucky thirteenth mono-green Commander deck to my collection. Below are a lot of the cards I’m thinking about.
Gain Haste
Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant costs a whopping eight mana, with none of the potential mana discount that the first version of Ghalta enjoyed. Luckily for us, green has a lot of ways to ramp mana, so reaching eight mana shouldn’t be a problem so long as you’re not playing against a bunch of highly optimized and powered decks. However, even the most casual Commander decks will be packing battlefield sweepers like Wrath of God, and when opponents realize you’ll be casting your commander soon, someone will hold on to their sweeper until after you’ve dumped your hand from Ghalta’s trigger.
That’s why haste will be vital to taking full advantage of your eight-mana investment, and the perfect card for this is Surrak and Goreclaw from March of the Machine. Each other creature that enters the battlefield gets a +1/+1 counter along with haste and trample, which ends up making Ghalta’s trigger potentially game-ending. Unless you have a way of protecting Surrak and Goreclaw, I’d hold off casting it early, and just keep it in hand for Ghalta’s trigger.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller’s trigger will only work for one creature, but if you put it and Crashing Drawbridge on the battlefield from Ghalta’s trigger, you can cobble together the most important part of Surrak and Goreclaw’s ability.
Akroma’s Memorial and Concordant Crossroads aren’t creatures, so you’ll want to get them out before you cast Ghalta.
I imagine I’d put nearly all of these cards in my Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant deck.
Card Draw
To leverage Ghalta’s power, you’ll want to keep your hand stocked full of cards, including lots and lots of big boom-boom creatures to put on the battlefield. And if you don’t win immediately and someone sweeps the battlefield clear of creatures, you’ll want lots of ways to refuel your grip for when you cast Ghalta again. Luckily, green has a ton of fantastic ways to draw cards, including the excellent Guardian Project and Tribute to the World Tree, which will replace each of the large creatures you put on the battlefield with Ghalta with another card.
If you’ve got Greater Good on the battlefield when you cast Ghalta, you can put its enters-the-battlefield trigger on the stack and then sacrifice it to Greater Good. You’ll draw twelve cards, discard three, and once that resolves, you should have a few big boom-booms to put onto the battlefield.
With all the card draw, Cultivator Colossus will be an excellent way to set up your next turn for casting Ghalta; you should have enough extra lands in hand to put each one onto the battlefield and draw another card to keep going and end the ability with a bunch of extra land drops on the battlefield and a full grip of gas.
If Ghalta ends up in the command zone and the commander tax has become too steep, Last March of the Ents can do a pretty good impression of Ghalta’s ability, assuming you have something huge on the battlefield when you cast it. I’d recommend Grothama, All-Devouring for the job.
Big Boom-Booms
We’ll want to play a lot more high-mana creatures than we otherwise would due to our commander’s sweet enters-the-battlefield trigger, and I’d likely want to include at the very least Craterhoof Behemoth for its game-smashing ability, and maybe either End-Raze Forerunners or Kamahl, Heart of Krosa. I would definitely play both Soul of the Harvest and Regal Force, since putting them on the battlefield with Ghalta along with other green creatures will let you redraw a bunch of cards to keep your hand full of gas. I’d like to include the new Earthshaker Dreadmaw, even if I’m not playing a bunch of other Dinosaurs, since it’ll replace itself assuming it sees Ghalta on the battlefield.
But speaking of more Dinosaurs, Verdant Sun’s Avatar, and Apex Altisaur are large creatures I’d love to plop onto the battlefield with Ghalta. Thorn Mammoth and Kogla, the Titan Ape bring more fight to the party, while Woodfall Primus and Titan of Industry bring flexible utility attached to a big body.
I’d likely play Fierce Empath in the list to search up the exact right big body to have in your hand when you get to cheat it out with Ghalta.
Other Ways to Cheat In Big Boom-Booms
I’d recommend having some other ways to cheat out your big boom-booms so that your plan is more than casting your eight-mana commander or bust. Cards like Howlpack Piper and Monster Manual are awesome for this. Casting Tooth and Nail with entwine is the dream, but if the coast is clear and you have seven mana available, you can just cast it without entwine to either drop two big creatures on the battlefield or search up two monsters into your hand. Lure of Prey will give you sweet style points when everyone asks you to read what the card does when you cast it in response to someone casting their commander.
Vorinclex and Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth won’t put monsters from your hand onto the battlefield, but they’re both awesome cards to cast for five mana that also synergize well with your gameplan of casting lots of huge creatures.
Blink Ghalta
Since Ghalta’s ability is an enters-the-battlefield trigger, if you need to, you can blink it with a variety of effects. I really like Sword of Hearth and Home, which can help you ramp lands while also providing some protection from opponents who want to steal your huge creatures to use against you. Since it gives equipped creatures protection from green, you can run right past anything they’ve stolen from you, and then you can blink it and bring it back under your rightful control.
High Power Matters
Since we’re playing with a lot of high-power creatures, we can tap into cards that care about that, like the original Ghalta, Primal Hunger. The Great Henge is awesome if you can get it down before Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant since it’s another way to replenish your hand with a new card for each creature you put onto the battlefield with its trigger. Garruk’s Uprising and Garruk’s Packleader will do a similar thing with higher power creatures.
Return of the Wildspeaker and Rishkar’s Expertise are awesome ways to refill your hand if you’ve got a big monster on the battlefield, and it should be pretty easy to activate the hideaway ability of Mosswort Bridge. Ram Through is awesome in most green creature decks, but with all these gigantic monsters in the deck, it could positively end someone. Just imagine doubling Ghalta’s power and toughnesswith Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus and then targeting it with Ram Through to deal damage to a one-toughness creature an opponent controls—that’s some serious damage!
I’m intrigued by Savage Order from the Jurassic World Collection; sacrificing a higher-power creature to fetch up Apex Altisaur and give it indestructible until your next turn should mean lights-out for as many creatures on the battlefield as you feel need gone.
Creatures Enter the Battlefield
Having a bunch of creatures enter the battlefield at the same time with Ghalta’s trigger has me wishing we had a green Terror of the Peaks, but we can still pile on the advantage with green cards like Gala Greeters and Prosperous Innkeeper. An ever-growing Champion of Lambholt can make it increasingly difficult for our opponents to chump block our large creatures and is sure to suck up pinpoint removal that might otherwise aim at one of our big beaters.
Mana Ramp
Every green Commander deck has access to all sorts of cards that can ramp your mana, but when you’re building up to an eight-mana commander, you need a bit more oomph than cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder or Rampant Growth. Selvala, Heart of the Wilds; Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma; and Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea can generate big mana while also being creatures you can potentially cheat onto the battlefield later on. Skyshroud Claim ramps you from four to six, while Throne of Eldraine ramps you from five to nine. And Throne of Eldraine can even draw you extra cards!
Seedguide Ash is another card that can ramp you (provided it dies) and makes a pretty good sacrifice to Greater Good.
Interaction
Since you’ll spend a good part of your early-game ramping up to cast Ghalta, you’d hate for a pesky control mage to shatter your fun with a counterspell, so I’d be strongly tempted to run cards like Allosaurus Shepherd and Prowling Serpopard to ensure its resolution. The new card Chimil, the Inner Sun might be worth considering, though at six mana it’ll conflict with a lot of green creatures you’ll want to run at that mana cost.
What big monsters would you run in your Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant deck? Are there any non-creature cards I’ve overlooked that you think would help out the deck?
Talk to Me
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And lastly, I just want to say: let us love each other and stay healthy and happy.
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