mdbook wiki

Grumgully, the Generous

6 min read

Grumgully, the Generous

At a glance

  • Commander: Grumgully, the Generous
  • Colors: Gruul
  • Archetype: Gruul +1/+1 counter non-Human aggro
  • Power tier: mid

Cards

Commander

Grumgully, the Generous — Legendary Creature — Goblin Shaman (3/3)

Each other non-Human creature you control enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it.

That’s the whole card, and it’s confirmed against the printed oracle text — the scout’s paraphrase was accurate. The build is exactly what the text promises: a low-curve, almost entirely non-Human creature shell where every body lands oversized for free, and a counter-matters package (fights, proliferate, trample-granters, counter-doublers) turns that free stat into removal, evasion, and lethal damage.

Gameplan

Cheap non-Human bodies come down a size bigger than printed thanks to Grumgully. A 1/1 dork is a 2/2, a 2/2 beater is a 3/3, and “enters with a counter” creatures (Iron Apprentice, Clockwork Beetle, Skitter of Lizards, Spike-style bodies) double-dip. Once anything has a +1/+1 counter, the fight package becomes one-sided removal that grows my creature, the trample-granters (Duskshell Crawler, Gnarlid Colony) turn the whole board into a battering ram, and the counter-doublers (Twisted Spider-Clone, Lifecrafter’s Gift, proliferate) snowball the board out of reach. I curve out, go wide, hand everything trample, and swing.

Win condition: a wide board of counter-pumped non-Humans with trample (granted by Duskshell Crawler / Gnarlid Colony, plus Wildsize/Charge Through on demand) swinging for lethal. Lifecrafter’s Gift + Twisted Spider-Clone + proliferate provide the “one big turn” overrun finish if the ground stalls.

Key synergy lines

  • Grumgully + any “enters with a counter” creature = double counters. Iron Apprentice, Clockwork Beetle, Skitter of Lizards, Llanowar Elite, Ivy Elemental all arrive even bigger; when they die (Iron Apprentice, Sparring Construct, Arcbound Worker modular) the counters move and persist.
  • Counter + fight spell = removal that keeps the creature. Mutant’s Prey and Titanic Brawl are literally cheaper/better when your creature already has a counter — which, with Grumgully out, it always does. Outmuscle/Hunt the Weak/Ancient Animus add the counter themselves.
  • Trample anthems: Duskshell Crawler and Gnarlid Colony give every countered creature trample. With Grumgully in play that’s the whole team, so chump-blocking stops working.
  • Counter doublers / proliferate: Twisted Spider-Clone and Lifecrafter’s Gift re-counter every creature that already has one; Smell Fear / Thirsting Roots / Pollenbright Druid / Contagious Vorrac proliferate to push another rank of counters and trigger the fight math.

Role breakdown (counts)

  • Lands — 37: 11 nonbasic (Gruul duals: Guildgate, Rugged Highlands, Timber Gorge, Wooded Ridgeline, Bleeding Woods, Highland Forest, Slagwoods Bridge + cycling lands Tranquil Thicket, Forgotten Cave, Slippery Karst, Smoldering Crater) + 15 Forest + 11 Mountain. Green-leaning base to support GG and the dorks.
  • Ramp — 11: Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Arbor Elf, Boreal Druid, Druid of the Cowl, Devoted Druid, Birchlore Rangers (all non-Human, so all enter as 2/2s under Grumgully), Rampant Growth, Nature’s Lore, Three Visits. Accelerates to a turn-2/3 Grumgully and floods the board.
  • Card advantage — 11: Lifecrafter’s Gift, Wildsize, Charge Through, Implement of Ferocity, Candy Trail, Horizon Spellbomb, Chromatic Star, Thirsting Roots, Contagious Vorrac, Cloakwood Swarmkeeper, Smell Fear (most cantrip and advance the counter/aggro plan).
  • Spot removal / interaction — 11: fight package (Mutant’s Prey, Titanic Brawl, Outmuscle, Hunt the Weak, Pit Fight, Prizefight, Epic Confrontation, Ancient Animus) doubling as counter payoffs, plus burn (Lightning Bolt, Abrade, Flame Slash).
  • Mass/pseudo-wipe — 0: intentionally none. Red’s commons-pool wipes (Sulfurous Blast, etc.) are symmetric and actively bad for a go-wide deck. Inevitability comes from board recovery + repeatable fight removal + trample reach instead.
  • Payoffs / enablers — rest: the non-Human creature curve (Snapping Gnarlid, Territorial Scythecat, Akoum Hellhound, Garruk’s Companion, Charging Badger, Defiant Elf, Basking Rootwalla, Bond Beetle, Duskshell Crawler, Gnarlid Colony, Twisted Spider-Clone, Saddleback Lagac, Bloom Hulk, Adaptive Sporesinger, Urban Daggertooth, the modular constructs, top-end trampers Colossal Dreadmaw / Kazandu Stomper) plus team pumps (Lifecrafter’s Gift, Nature’s Panoply, Lead by Example).

Pilot notes

  • Mulligan for a turn-1 dork → turn-2/3 Grumgully. The commander is the engine; everything after it is bigger.
  • Almost everything you play is non-Human on purpose. The few Humans in the pool were cut so Grumgully buffs essentially the whole deck. Sequence creatures after Grumgully whenever you can afford to.
  • Fight spells are your removal — hold them until your creature has its counter so the math is lopsided. Titanic Brawl and Mutant’s Prey are best with Grumgully online.
  • Don’t over-commit into open mana from an opponent who could have a blowout; you rebuild fast (modular counters, cheap bodies), so play to the board but keep a follow-up.
  • Drop a trample-granter (Duskshell Crawler / Gnarlid Colony) before the alpha strike, or hold Wildsize / Charge Through to push through a blocker and cantrip.

Weaknesses

  • Board wipes hit a go-wide deck hard, and at commons we have no real protection. Mitigation: modular counters and a cheap rebuild curve, plus reach via burn and recurring fights.
  • Fliers / evasive value engines can race over the top; our pool is mostly grounded. Burn handles the worst single threats.
  • Single-target hate on Grumgully slows the engine — but the deck still functions as a generic Gruul counters-aggro pile without him, just smaller.

Decklist

⬇ Download as .txt — paste into Moxfield, Archidekt, or MTG Arena.

Graph View

Backlinks