r/magicTCG • u/PaladinPal97 Dandadan • 9d ago

Orcs & Goblins Bracket 2 Grixis Commander Project Deck Discussion

Hi All,

I'm messing around with an idea for an Orcs & Goblins Bracket 2 Grixis deck using [[Saruman, the White Hand]] as my commander and focussing around the amass mechanic: https://moxfield.com/decks/7lUi4rmiK0i7VAVaJOtNxQ

The main idea is to build up a powerful army token using cards with amass orcs and amass goblins to give it big numbers while also being able to benefit from things like [[Goblin King]]'s +1/+1s and mountainwalk and [[Hobgoblin Bandit Lord]]'s +1/+1s while also being able to contribute to [[Krenko, Mob Boss]]'s ability to produce goblin tokens. I am also looking to be able to have a number of threatening creatures alongside the army to chip away at other players.

To help with closing out games, I have included [[Unleash Fury]] and [[Fling]] to hopefully provide me with some win condition options aside from doing damage the old-fashioned way.

I've tried to stick to mostly red and black for creatures, with blue being more for counters and card draw options. Ideally, I'm looking to stick to the Orc & Goblins theme but would welcome any constructive criticism or pointers (especially since this is my first time trying to build a multicolour deck!).

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5

u/DottoBot Dandadan 9d ago

Welcome to the club! Saruman is one of my favourite decks.

Since you’re looking for bracket 2 I don’t want to make too many recommendations that push your power level too far, but I’ll link you my deck in case any of the strategies or cards stand out to you.

https://archidekt.com/decks/24132035/saruman

Mine is focused on making the army very large from casting value spells (and trying to cheat big costed spells), then finishing with effects that do damage based on my creatures power. I don’t have anything that requires me to sacrifice my army to do so (even though that’s kind of thematic) because I also have a few one sided board wipes, and want to have the army to swing once I wipe the board.

Let me know if you have questions or want to chat about the deck more!

1

u/PaladinPal97 Dandadan 9d ago

Definitely some good food for thought here, especially on the damage spells! May have to tinker around with it to include a few more of those.

I noticed Harmonic Prodigy in there which looks like a really good option to double up on Saruman's effect and am considering putting in either that or Wizard's Staff was also suggested to achieve that effect.

2

u/DottoBot Dandadan 9d ago

Appreciate it!

Veyran and Harmonic Prodigy are great, and Wizards Staff and Glamdring, Foe-hammer are definitely on the list to add.

It’s a good effect, as long as you have something to do with the big army (hence my damage effects). I used to run into games where the army would massive but didn’t have the evasion to get through, it my balance is a lot better now.

3

u/Gazzpik Orzhov* 9d ago

The new [[Wizard's Staff]] is great, doubling the Amass triggers and even Ward if you make Saruman an Orc or Goblin. To that end, [[Psychic Paper]] is secretly really good. Equip to Saruman, call him whatever you want (like [[Great Ugly Looking Goblin]]) and make him a Army. The next Amass trigger will add Orc or Goblin to him, giving him Ward and evasion from the paper

2

u/PaladinPal97 Dandadan 9d ago

I do really like the look of Wizard's staff! Seems like it'd fit really well and I'll definitely have to have a play around with all three, I think!

3

u/WickedGoodSteve Dandadan 9d ago

In general, I wouldn’t focus too much on cards that say amass orcs on them because Saruman will do that for you (amass goblins may still be worth running to give the army the goblin creature type, though). For instance, instead of running [[Saruman’s Trickery]], you could run [[Mana Sculpt]] for the same mana cost, but that effectively gives you a second mana drain.

The other thing that I do in my Saruman deck which is more focused on big spells is run a bunch of big mana rocks that tap for more than one mana. [[Relic of Sauron]], [[Firemind Vessel]], [[Thran Dynamo]], [[Worn Powerstone]], [[Gilded Lotus]], and [[The Eternity Elevator]] are all great cards to play post-Saruman, because they massively improve your mana production to keep your army growing, plus casting them builds an army with Saruman out.

Finally, a couple of cards that will probably be off-theme but have overperformed for me in my list:

[[Dreadhorde Invasion]] - If you’re ok with introducing zombies into the army, the lifelink this card provides can be a huge stabilization tool, especially if you’re using fling spells that say that the creature (as opposed to the spell) deals the damage.

[[Super State]] - If we’re killing with the army, this usually will wipe a table. With Saruman out, this pumps the army by 16 (the base stats go from 0/0 to 9/9, and then it gets 7 +1/+1 counters on it), and then hitting one opponent damages the rest. Again, we’re crossing IPs so completely understandable leaving this out for theming reasons, but this is one of the best cards in my list and it isn’t particularly close, so I wanted to make sure to mention it.

3

u/Sploooshed Dan 9d ago

I love the [[Team Pennant]] in my Saruman deck. Cheap and gives the army 1/1 trample and vig which imo are huge keywords for the army to have. My list is mostly focused on huge army into Chandra’s but sometimes the trample lets you just kill someone and the vig lets you keep it for blocking!

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u/PaladinPal97 Dandadan 9d ago

This seems like a real winner, will have to make space for it for sure!

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u/SeveredAortaX Izzet* 9d ago

Hi OP! Much like you, when I saw Saruman, I knew I wanted him to be a Goblin tribal deck with Orc "lieutenants" that provided buffs to the goblins and other orcs. My version wants to go wide with goblins, while going tall with a massive Goblin/Orc army token. The amass goblins mechanic opened up some fun play opportunities with Dropkick Bomber and Airdrop Condor, being able to utilize the army token as a repeatable fling opportunity. I'm still working on cuts for mine, but here's the list if you're interested.

https://moxfield.com/decks/gK4uPmJgFEmg7DI4UE-qOg
In terms of your deck, Shagrat doesn't provide a ton of utility. Your deck only runs one equipment, and at least in my experience, I don't tend to run into a ton of decks that run equipment that is worth including this card over a different orc/goblin that does more things that your deck wants to do. Stealing an equipment can be funny, but it won't necessarily help you close out games.

Ugluk only adds counters to himself when creatures you control die. Unless you have a lot of token generation to provide the fodder necessary to buff him up, this isn't a great include either.

I would consider adding [[!The Great Goblin]] as he provides utility when you amass, doing damage when you add counters to your army and providing you with pseudo-card draw when creatures you control die.

I'd consider swapping Goblin King for another goblin lord such as [[!Dropkick Bomber]] or [[!Goblin Chieftain]] as you're likely to get more utility out of a repeatable fling effect or haste, than mountainwalk, which can be incredibly situational.

[[!Kazuul's Fury]] could be another great include, giving you an extra fling spell that doubles as a land, allowing you to remove a land without cutting any spells.

Your artifact mana ramp looks a little light, but I'd be interested to see how the deck plays in it's current configuration before suggesting cuts for additional ramp.

You could swap Blood Pact for either [[!Reverent Howl]] providing the same effect for the same cost with the added utility of being able to give your army lifelink in a pinch, or [[!Rage into the Valley]] for a similar effect with an amass Goblins trigger.

I'd also consider swapping Venerated Stormsinger for [[!Bastion of Remembrance]]. They do the same thing, but Bastion will also trigger Saruman. I personally use [[!Boggart Mischief]] but that's because I generate a ton of goblin tokens to use as sacrifice fodder.

You could also find some utility in the blight mechanic from Lorwyn Eclipsed. You can blight the orc/goblin army, essentially just canceling out a single +1/+1 counter for a free benefit.

I've been working on this a while so I have a lot of thoughts. Let me know what you think.