Hanging out on the fringes of Magic: The Gathering’s Standard meta, the Gruul archetype gets a powerful boost from several cards within March of the Machine.
Many of the best Magic: The Gathering Standard decks following the release of March of the Machine (MOM) will remain top-tier. But new decks will arise thanks to an abundance of Phyrexian creature types that are supported, Battle cards, and +1/+1 counter support. Fulfilling a purpose for the Enchantment All Will Be One in the Standard format are new MOM cards like Ozolith, the Shattered Spire, Rampaging Raptor, and Axgard Artisan. And these cards shined during the MTG Arena March of the Machine Early Access event.
How MTG Gruul +1/+1 counters and burn works
Gruul is an archetype within MTG that features the colors Red and Green. It’s most often knowns for being a stompy creature-heavy archetype that uses evasive keywords like Trample on oversized creatures to win games. The archetype has a few new tools from the MOM set that synergize with +1/+1 counter themes and ramp, creating a Gruul deck worth playing in best-of-one MTG Arena Ranked.
Cards from the MOM set like Ozolitth, the Shattered Spire, and Axgard Artisan are the backbone of the Gruul deck, working with existing Standard cards like Halena and Alena, Partners, and All Will Be One.
Early game strategy
The idea is to ensure that an opening hand contains at least one or both of Axgard Artisan and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire. And Fable of the Mirror Breaker is another ideal card to have in an opening hand.
Players will want to target Axgard Artisan with counters, creating Treasure tokens, curving into Rampaging Raptor and Halana and Alena, Partners. Fable of the Mirror Breaker is used mostly as a Treasure token generator and a card advantage engine through looting, setting up a powerful board state early on that puts an opponent’s life total within lethal damage range.
Players can also cycle extra copies of Ozolith, the Shattered Spire to gain additional card advantage over an opponent.
Winning strategy
There are multiple ways to win with the Gruul Counters deck. Players can opt to run the old-fashioned smash with Trample technique using Kodama of the West Tree to give all modified creatures Trample, along with Rampaging Raptor.
Players can also choose to burn an opponent for lethal damage through cards like Voldaren Thrillseeker and All Will Be One. And a third option is to cast Archangel Elspeth, using her minus-two Loyalty ability to give a target create two +1/+1 counters and Flying.
Powerful MTG combos
There are several powerful combos within the Gruul Counters deck that create a problematic board presence for opponents to deal with while ramping.
- Turn one Kumano Faces Kakkazan into Axgard Artisan on turn two.
- Tap Ozoloth, the Shattered Spire to put +1/+1 counters on Halana and Alena, Partners, and then target another creature with the legendary duo while All Will Be One is on the battlefield.
- Use Treasure tokens created by Axgard Artisan and Fable of the Mirror Breaker to cast Archangel Elspeth, giving a beefed-up creature Flying and more +1/+1 counters.
- Use Tyvar’s Stand to push extra damage in conjunction with creatures that have Trample in addition to protecting critical cards like Rampaging Raptor, along with Halana and Alena, Partners.
Hitting combos is fun but players should always prioritize board state and damage over getting a combo to go off. The Gruul Counters deck is an aggressive one that can also go the distance thanks to looting, protection, and multiple win conditions.
Players can test out the Gruul Counters deck when March of the Machine drops into MTG Arena on April 18.
