The third and final guild of the second set in the Ravnica block, Guildpact, is finally going to be taken charge of by yours truly. The reason I saved this as the last one is because it’s very underrated. Everyone reads Bloodthirst and immediately thinks “Wow, this mechanic sucks” when in reality, it kind of does. But that’s not why I’m ranting right now, I’m ranting because the Gruul have better tricks, better ideals, better methods to take opponents down. Of course, as the “guild that’s not a guild”, the Gruul also have a back-story.

Decades of war and violence have pushed the Gruul into splitting into many war-clans. Burning-Tree, Scab-Clan, and the Ghor-Clan are all small organizations of a bigger momentous guild, one with many different leaders. One such leader is Borborygmos, a Cyclops who leads the largest warclan. I may have stated before that he leads the Burning-Tree clan, but I may have been wrong due to information errors. I believe that is so and WotC doesn’t want us to know…but enough about that. The Gruul use Bloodthirst N¸ a mechanic which states “When this creature comes into play, put N +1/+1 counters on it where N is the damage dealt to an opponent this turn.” Interesting…let’s move on though eh?

Borborygmos in all his finger-pointing glory.

Anyways, I’m sure all of you are just dying to start reading up on this guild so without further ado…

Let’s dive…

Yay Red, the color of smashing and recklessness. It’s quite easy for me to choose three red cards with Bloodthirst because there are only three of them. Take a look.

Hmm…at first glance I’m sure the mana costs drive you up a wall, but fret not. When played correctly, a Bloodscale Prowler can be an effective 4/2 for three mana. There are probably better one and two drop cards though, so this isn’t the greatest Bloodthirst creature that you can play.

Rabble-Rouser is pretty…pretty awful. Without Bloodthirst, it's a pretty bad card. It’s like having half of a Glorious Anthem that is red, in goblin form, and costs to give the bonus. However…with Bloodthirst it changes. That’s a whole added power there, and combined with the “guildleader” and first strike it can be lethal. The mana cost is what’s bad.

The Firebird is an interesting card; it’s a Phoenix with Bloodthirst. What I like about it is how good it can get. After effectively attacking with your pumped-up Bloodscale Prowler, this baby becomes a 6/6 flier for six mana. Good, good I suppose. The return ability definitely adds a “kick” to the card. With spontaneous return, this card can spell “BAD DAY” for an opponent. Fun.

Ok, this color may be a bit better than Red because it’s tricky. Green seems cheaper and that’s good…it really is. Unfortunately, Green doesn't have the hastiness of red. This makes them equals if used seperately, but deadly if used together.

The Pit-Skulk! I love it because it’s so simple. One mana for a 1/1, and by doing some measly damage you just made it a 2/2. How magical is that now!? This is the cheapest Bloodthirst creature and I love it for that. You don’t even need to put it in a Gruul deck; any deck that can damage an opponent would open its doors and allow this card to enter unscathed.

Green is probably second for life gain (aside White) and it can get good at it. Gristleback is a prime example of how sneaky green life gain can be. It’s got Bloodthirst, so you can get it for more. Then, just block it and sack for three life.

Although it costs a lot, the Wood-Kin is an awesome card when on the field. Then again, this thing can get huge. It can’t be countered so you’ll have no problems, and however much damage you can deal in a turn make this baddy even more powerful. Even instants can’t touch this dude! That’s a hefty deal indeed-o!

I just got chills for some reason. Maybe it’s because of all that Multicolor Gruul has to offer. They’ve got a hellion-hydra creature that is awesome, they’ve got a reprint of an old-school Mirage card, and they’re got a snazzy land destruction card.

The Burning-Tree Bloodscale is a bit shaky in my opinion. It costs four mana, the equivalent of two Scab-Clan Maulers which are better. Then again, the Bloodscale can choose what is going to block it and what isn’t going to get in its way. That’s a good way to plan on what your opponent is going to lose and what they’ll regret playing.

The Mauler is very nice; it’s like the Pit-Skulk except a red more and better. Perfect two drop card, if you had another mana accel then you can get it to be an effective 3/3 trampler. That’s sweet right there.

I just had to throw Ulasht in there because he’s a freakin' champion. This guy can get huge. Did I say huge? I meant HUGE. Playing Gruul means you have some good drop cards at your disposal, others than what I’ve mentioned in this article. His second effect is what makes me get on my knees and pray to this god. You can get a ton of saprolings and/or deal a lot of damage. Then again, leave the saprolings on the field, kill your Ulasht, and play another that is even bigger. That’s smart thinking!

The Hybrid cards of this guild are really cool; they give colors abilities that they don’t normally have. For instance, the Cantor grants Red mana acceleration. Who would’ve thought?

Solifuge…solifuge….it was really good during speculation because at the time it was a 4/2. I still like it though; it gives Red access to trample and Green access to haste. That’s a dual-shock! (*snicker*)

The guildmage is…meh…it’s ok. I don’t favor the abilities; you’re better off just playing a shock and a giant growth instead of this card. Give note, he still is a 2/2 for two, but that’s the only reason I’d consider playing him; he’s versatile.

Oh man, the Cantor is so sweet. I love it though others don’t. It’s mana acceleration for one mana! And, it’s still a 1/1! Just block and sack, then just kill off whatever with that floating mana in your pool. Hooray for mana!

Finally we’re down to lands. The dual and the guildhome of course, and the home is a very good one indeed.

The dual land is nice, of course. It provided flexibility for both colors while you gaze wondrously at the artwork. I know, it’s beautiful. I can’t rant about this though, it’s a dual land with the same effect as the others except it’s red/green. Woo.

This is the best guildhome IMO that has yet to be printed. It’s simple and effective. It works so well with Bloodthirst that I wish I could grab a stick and beat someone because they didn’t print it sooner. It’s cheap, and the trample is so wondrous that I can’t believe it doesn’t cost that much. What’s up with these lands being non-legendary anyways? It’s not like there’s two Rage Pits right?

This is where I, Streetz, post some combos for Ghurhgs using cards from the Gruul guild. However, the Gruul aren’t exactly a combo bunch. To be honest, there aren’t many quality combos using Gruul cards and thus I’ve had trouble coming up with the following combos. However, I still think you will enjoy some of them. Here we go:

Note: Some of these combos are from the Guildpact combo page.

Savage Twister - Repercussion
This may not be anything new to you since Savage Twister is really as old as Mirage is and Repercussion is as old as Urza’s Block. However, if you opponent has lots of creatures and you have Repercussion in play – cast a hefty Twister. Say you have Twister deal 5 damage to each creature and your opponent has 10 creatures in play. With Repercussion, you have just dealt 5 damage to each creature (most likely killing most of them) AND... you have just dealt 50 damage to your opponent thanks to Repercussion.

Mind you, you need to be careful. The damage dealt to your own creatures via Twister is thus damage dealt to you via Repercussion. This combo usually works best in a deck with lots of burn and not as many creatures.

Ulasht, the Hate Seed - Cloudstone Curio
Make the most of your Ulasht – have a Cloudstone Curio in play. Cast Ulasht with Curio in play and then spend some mana removing +1/+1 counters from him to create a bunch of tokens. With the last token, use Curio’s ability to return Ulasht to your hand. Then, next turn, cast him again to get almost double the counters you had last time (depending on how many tokens you created previously).

Do this enough and you will be able to either wipe out your opponent with direct damage or pounce your opponent to death with a creature swarm.

Rabble-Rouser - Might of Oaks or Another booster
Yes… I know… this one is kind of lame. However, it is extremely effective if done correctly.

Rabble-Rouser has a nifty ability to give all attacking creatures +X/+0 where X is the Rouser’s power. And it is for the mere cost of one red mana and a tap. Why not make the most use of the tap and red mana. Increase the power of your Rouser. There are many means to do this – but Might of Oaks is one of the most efficient. For only 3G you can make your Rouser an 8/8 or 9/9 (depending on Bloodthirst) and thus give all of your attacking creatures +8 or +9 power until end of turn. Not bad.

Primal Rage anyone?

Killer Instinct - Congregation at Dawn
Search your library for any three creature cards and put them on top of your library... in any order and for only three mana - Congregation at Dawn seems cool enough. To make full use of the Dawn, make sure you have Killer Instinct in play (and I'm talking about the card). That way, during you next upkeep the card that you stacked on top of your deck is thrown into play to attack for a turn and then die. Crater Hellion anyone?

Now remember that to stack the 3 creatures on top of your deck wisely.. the second one will be drawn and the third one will be thwarted into play the next turn thanks to Killer Instinct.

Note: Sensei's Diving Top works VERY well with Killer Instinct.

Rumbling Slum - Any creature with Bloodthirst
Rumbling Slum is like a built in combo enabler for the Gruul. By dealing damage to each player during your upkeep, any creature that you cast that turn with Bloodthirst will automatically reap the benefits.

Battering Wurm, Bloodscale Prowler, Bloodthirsty Ogre, Burning-Tree Bloodscale, Ghor-Clan Savage, Gristleback, Petrified Wood-Kin, Rabble Rouser, Scan-Clan Mauler, Skarrgan Firebird, Sjarrgan Pit-Skulk and Skarrgan Skybreaker. These are all cards that work extremely well with Rumbling Slum...

Burning-Tree Shaman – Lethal Vapors
Burning-Tree Shaman doesn’t care who owns the card who’s activated ability is being activated – it cares about the person who activated it. And thus, there are many cards that can force your opponent to play an activated ability on a card you own – such as Lethal Vapors. With Lethal Vapors, your opponent will have to skip his or her next turn in order to play creature spells. Why not make the pain worse and deal a damage to your opponent for his or her decision? The Shaman is a great means to do this.

If one damage isn’t enough for you, try a Furnace of Rath and a copy enchantment… Or, you could always go the Skull of Orm route to recycle your Lethal Vapors endlessly as long as you have the mana to support it.

...

While putting together the above list of combos, I was really stretching on a few I had thought up.  As previously mentioned, the Gruul aren't exactly combo-licious.  And thus, there were many bad, bad combos; they just couldn't be included and elaborated on like the above.  I did, however, list some of the others below.

Gristleback - Proper Burial
Scan-Clan Mauler - Shock
Gruul Nodorog - Vorrac Battlehorns
Wreak Havoc - Dovescape
Skarrg, the Rage Pits - Cowardice
Borborygmos - Predatory Focus
Gruul War Plow - Wrath of God

Feel free to take a moment to laugh.

...

Done? 

With that, I conclude my combo addition to Ghurhgs's article.

I know what you’re thinking right about now; why is this kid, Ghurhgs, telling us about all these Gruul cards that already suck and we can read by ourselves?

Why?

Because I care, that’s why. My goal is to convince you that this guild is the best, and I'll try my hardest to do so until I make my next article. All I can do is hope that one day, I’ll be watching some Grand Prix and see someone say “I owe my Gruul Madness deck skills to Ghurhgs on MDV. Thanks! *thumbs-up*” Of course, I’m not that great nor grand, so let’s wrap this up now.

Until next time,

Ghurhgs

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

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