Marhault's Block Party [EDH]

[Oversoul]

I've already built decks helmed by five of the twenty "Legends Retold." That's not enough of them! I need to do more. I'd been contemplating a Marhault Elsdragon deck for a while, and this new version presents an interesting puzzle. The original Marhault only has Rampage 1 to distinguish itself, and there's literally not enough support for that for a meaningful theme, although a general combat manipulation theme could work. This commander is perhaps the closest of the "Legends Retold" to its original version. Makes me ponder what could have been if Rampage had caught on or been developed more fully. The original Marhault Elsdragon could have had a global effect, giving your whole team Rampage 1. That would have been interesting. Anyway, he's a better commander now that he's been promoted to general, but shares essentially the same deficiency as the old version. A red/green combat-based deck that aims to force opponents into blocking so that you can pump up your own creatures just isn't very good. Oh, it's doable, for sure. The cards exist. You can put them together and build a deck out of them. I have done so. But yeah, I don't have high hopes for this one. Could still be fun, but I expect an uphill battle.

Commander:
1 General Marhault Elsdragon

1 Abundance
1 Alluring Scent
1 Arcane Signet
1 Archetype of Aggression
1 Arid Mesa
1 Assembled Alphas
1 Bala Ged Recovery
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Baton of Morale
1 Beast Within
1 Benefactor's Draught
1 Berserk
1 Bloodshot Cyclops
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
1 Brash Taunter
1 Chaos Warp
1 Command Tower
1 Crawlspace
1 Crop Rotation
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Elvish Berserker
1 Embercleave
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fires of Yavimaya
1 Fling
1 Forbidden Orchard
10 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Goblin War Drums
1 Greater Good
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Harrow
1 Helm of Chatzuk
1 Hunter's Insight
1 Invasion Plans
1 Jangling Automaton
1 Kaldra Compleat
1 Khenra Charioteer
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lure
1 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mogg Infestation
1 Mogg Maniac
7 Mountain
1 Nemesis Mask
1 Ohran Frostfang
1 Overrun
1 Prized Unicorn
1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
1 Rancor
1 Regrowth
1 Roiling Regrowth
1 Saber Ants
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seasons Past
1 Shinen of Life's Roar
1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
1 Sol Ring
1 Soul's Fire
1 Spike Weaver
1 Spore Frog
1 Sporeweb Weaver
1 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Sylvan Library
1 Taiga
1 Taunting Elf
1 Tempting Licid
1 Timber Wolves
1 Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor
1 Varchild's War-Riders
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Yavimaya Hollow

 

[Oversoul]

Just one game with this deck so far. Played it first, then got bogged down in an epic four-hour game with my Thelon deck. I won both, so I guess I'm 2-0 tonight.

I was behind for most of this game, took a beatdown, and seemed to be pretty vulnerable. Finally managed to get a board state going, with Spore Frog, Shinen of Life's Roar, Archetype of Aggression, and my commander all out at the same time. Then one opponent passed the turn to me, and I got to make this play...

1. Three players alive. I'm at 18 and the other two are each between 20 and 30 life. They've both attacked, but have a couple of blockers up.
2. Cast Mogg Infestation on Player B, who has 8 creatures. He gets 16 goblins.
3. Attack Player B with Shinen of Life's Roar. All 16 goblins are able to block it, so they must.
4. General Marhault Elsdragon sees 16 goblins blocking Shinen of Life's Roar. So it gets +3/+3 for each blocker. That's +48/+48
5. Cast Berserk on Shinen of Life's Roar. It's a 49/50, so it gets +49/+0 and tramples over 16 toughness for a total of 82 damage. Player B dies.
6. Player A is busy being amazed at this turn of events, but I have to interrupt by announcing that I'm also casting Fling, sacrificing Shinen of Life's Roar and dealing 98 damage to Player A. Player A dies.
7. All hail Mogg Infestation!

 

[Oversoul]

Store closed before I could finish the game I started with this deck, but I liked my chances. At first, I couldn't find green mana, but I did get both Varchild's War-Riders and Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor. Those two cards are pretty sweet together. Supreme Verdict put a stop to that, but by then I had found a couple of forests and had Sylvan Library + Abundance. To my surprise, my deck not only seemed to be keeping up with the competition at this table, but even seemed to have a bit of an edge. Too bad the store was closing, so I can't be sure. But yeah, happy with this one.

 

[Oversoul]

Played with this one a bit more. It has accounted for itself pretty well. As the "Legends Retold" go, Marhault Elsdragon seemed to get a tepid reception from the community, but I'm satisfied.

 

[Oversoul]

This deck lost a couple of games it probably had no business being in. Despite the considerable power that Marhault can punch with, and how well this deck utilizes that, it's really a medium-power deck at best. I used the deck too recklessly in games where I should have selected something faster. Still, I did get those victories earlier, and it's been fun. I think I've seen this deck to the end of its run for 2022. In a good way, though.