At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Halana and Alena, Partners
- Colors: Red / Green (RG)
- Archetype: Gruul stompy/counters aggro
- Power tier: high
- Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
A Gruul +1/+1-counters aggro build around Halana and Alena’s combat trigger: each turn she dumps X counters (equal to her power) onto another creature and gives it haste, so a single explosive payoff ends games. The refined list leans into the OWNED earthbend ramp/counter package the old build undervalued. Cheap earthbend ramp - Badgermole Cub (a 2-mana engine that earthbends AND adds an extra G whenever you tap a creature for mana), Toph the Blind Bandit, Earthbender Ascension, and Ba Sing Se - turns lands into hasty evasive bodies while ramping a turn ahead, and counter-doublers (Sazh Katzroy doubles a creature’s counters on attack; Mossborn Hydra doubles its own counters every landfall) make Halana’s dump lethal. A wide power-4-matters shell (Ruby, Nessian Hornbeetle, Earth Rumble Wrestlers, The Earth King, The Boulder, Courageous Goblin, Bitter Work) rewards the big bodies the counters create - Bitter Work draws a card every time you swing with a 4-power creature. Five mana dorks (Llanowar Elves, Druid of the Cowl, Woodland Mystic, Ilysian Caryatid, Great Forest Druid) plus the earthbenders jump the curve. A dense red removal/burn package (Burst Lightning, Lightning Strike, Abrade, Scorching Dragonfire, Fiery Annihilation, Brimstone Volley, Feed the Flames, Inescapable Blaze) and green fights (Rocky Rebuke, The Last Agni Kai, Plow Through, Earth Rumble) clear blockers so trample counters carry through. First strike + reach protect the commander on both sides of combat; Ogre Battledriver, Memorial Team Leader, Drix Fatemaker, Screaming Nemesis, and Samut give haste/anthem/trample reach to close fast.
Upgrade path
LAND REVAMP 2026-07-11: manabase rebuilt to kill taplands (cut guildgates/temples/gainlands); now runs shock + verge (+painland in Brawl) untapped duals + basics. Land crafts this pass: Thornspire Verge. Every card verified against the owned pool - all 99 + commander are owned (own>=1) and within RG identity, exact printed names. RARE DISCIPLINE respected: zero rare/mythic SPELL crafts; the only crafted card remains the approved branch-out shock Stomping Ground (1 copy). Every rare/mythic in the 99 is an OWNED permanent, not a crafted spell (e.g. Badgermole Cub mythic own3, Mossborn Hydra rare own1, Sazh Katzroy rare own1, The Earth King rare own4, Screaming Nemesis mythic own1, Samut mythic own1, Ogre Battledriver rare own2, Toph Hardheaded Teacher rare own3, Earthbender Ascension rare own3, Drix Fatemaker/Crackling Cyclops, plus prior top-end Chandra’s Incinerator/Rampaging Baloths/Quilled Greatwurm/Prismabasher). REFINEMENT over the prior build, which buried the earthbend/counter engine the format is built around: ADDED owned hidden-power cards - Badgermole Cub (premier 2-mana ramp engine), Toph the Blind Bandit, Earthbender Ascension, Earth Rumble Wrestlers, Bitter Work (card-draw on power-4 attacks), Mossborn Hydra and Sazh Katzroy (counter-doublers that make Halana’s dump lethal), Nessian Hornbeetle (cheap snowball), Brimstone Volley (premium burn), District Mascot (1-drop counter). CUT the weakest/most off-plan slots - Mild-Mannered Librarian, Fire Sages, Burning Sun Cavalry (needs Dinosaurs), Eager Trufflesnout, Scorching Shot, Heated Argument - to make room. Count preserved: 1 commander + 99 singleton, identity subset of RG, 36 lands (untapped-heavy: Starting Town, Stomping Ground, Command Tower). Future rare upgrades if freed: untapped RG duals like Karplusan Forest / Copperline Gorge to replace the tapped Guildgate/Gongaga/Omashu.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Halana and Alena, Partners
Deck
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Ilysian Caryatid
1 Great Forest Druid
1 Badgermole Cub
1 Fanatical Firebrand
1 Frenzied Goblin
1 District Mascot
1 Raucous Audience
1 Nest Robber
1 Ruby, Daring Tracker
1 Heartfire Immolator
1 Explosive Prodigy
1 Courageous Goblin
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Casey Jones, Jury-Rig Justiciar
1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
1 Boar-q-pine
1 Giant Cindermaw
1 Beast-Kin Ranger
1 Mossborn Hydra
1 Howlsquad Heavy
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
1 Flamekin Gildweaver
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Ashroot Animist
1 Earth Rumble Wrestlers
1 Sazh Katzroy
1 The Earth King
1 The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
1 Toph, Hardheaded Teacher
1 Memorial Team Leader
1 Drix Fatemaker
1 Prismabasher
1 Quilled Greatwurm
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Chandra's Incinerator
1 Burst Lightning
1 Bushwhack
1 Plow Through
1 Lightning Strike
1 Abrade
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 The Last Agni Kai
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Feed the Flames
1 Earth Rumble
1 Bitter Work
1 Earthbender Ascension
1 Inescapable Blaze
1 Elemental Bond
1 Ouroboroid
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Stomping Ground
1 Command Tower
1 Secluded Courtyard
1 Capital City
1 Rockface Village
1 Starting Town
1 Ba Sing Se
1 Fire Nation Palace
1 Thornspire Verge
15 Forest
12 Mountain
1 Rekindling Phoenix
1 Innkeeper's Talent
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Wildgrowth Archaic
1 Den of the Bugbear
1 Snakeskin Veil
Ideal build (upgrade target)
Ideal leans all the way into the +1/+1 counter engine Halana’s combat dump wants: adds the premium doublers (Vorinclex, Branching Evolution, Hardened Scales, both Ozoliths, Bristly Bill, Kami of Whispered Hopes) so a single Halana trigger becomes lethal, plus real green fatties (Ghalta, Questing Beast, Old-Growth Troll) and Xenagos to double power AND grant haste. Manabase becomes fully untapped RG (Karplusan Forest, Copperline Gorge, Cragcrown Pathway, Rockfall Vale, Restless Ridgeline, Den of the Bugbear). Top craft priorities: Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider (mythic), Xenagos, God of Revels (mythic), Branching Evolution + Hardened Scales (rares), Ozolith, the Shattered Spire (rare), Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant (mythic).
Crafts to reach the ideal: 27 (6 mythic, 15 rare, 4 uncommon, 2 common)
- Mythic: Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, Kodama of the West Tree, Questing Beast, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, Xenagos, God of Revels
- Rare: Branching Evolution, Copperline Gorge, Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway, Delighted Halfling, Esika’s Chariot, Hardened Scales, Karplusan Forest, Old-Growth Troll, Ozolith, the Shattered Spire, Restless Ridgeline, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Rockfall Vale, Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance, The Ozolith, Workshop Warchief
- Uncommon: Kami of Whispered Hopes, Paradise Druid, Play with Fire, Renata, Called to the Hunt
- Common: Elvish Mystic, Ram Through
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Halana and Alena, Partners
Deck
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Paradise Druid
1 Delighted Halfling
1 Ilysian Caryatid
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Badgermole Cub
1 Ruby, Daring Tracker
1 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
1 Branching Evolution
1 Hardened Scales
1 Innkeeper's Talent
1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
1 The Ozolith
1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
1 Kami of Whispered Hopes
1 Mossborn Hydra
1 Kodama of the West Tree
1 Renata, Called to the Hunt
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Sazh Katzroy
1 Garruk's Uprising
1 Elemental Bond
1 Bitter Work
1 The Earth King
1 Colossal Majesty
1 Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
1 Questing Beast
1 Old-Growth Troll
1 Workshop Warchief
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Esika's Chariot
1 Quilled Greatwurm
1 Prismabasher
1 Chandra's Incinerator
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Earth Rumble Wrestlers
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
1 Earthbender Ascension
1 Drix Fatemaker
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Play with Fire
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Strike
1 Abrade
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 Ram Through
1 Snakeskin Veil
1 Bushwhack
1 Rocky Rebuke
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Feed the Flames
1 Inescapable Blaze
1 Toph, Hardheaded Teacher
1 The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
1 Boar-q-pine
1 District Mascot
1 Courageous Goblin
1 Stomping Ground
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Cragcrown Pathway
1 Rockfall Vale
1 Restless Ridgeline
1 Den of the Bugbear
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
1 Command Tower
1 Rockface Village
1 Thornspire Verge
13 Forest
12 Mountain
Card images & data via Scryfall.