At a glance
- Format: Standard Brawl
- Commander: Ruby, Daring Tracker
- Colors: Red / Green (RG)
- Archetype: Gruul aggro/midrange
- Power tier: high
- Standard Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
Ruby, Daring Tracker is a {R}{G} two-drop with haste who turns any beefy ally into reach: whenever she attacks while you control a creature with power 4 or greater she swings as a 4/4, and she taps for either colour so she is fixing-on-a-stick the turn she lands. The plan is to assemble a power-4 body fast and let the payoffs cascade. Terrapact Intimidator is the new two-drop and it is on-plan either way the opponent calls it — two Landers ramp you and hand Rampaging Baloths and Mossborn Hydra their landfall triggers, or it keeps the counters and becomes a turn-two 4/3 that immediately switches on Ruby, Courageous Goblin, Nessian Hornbeetle and Ashroot Animist. Llanowar Elves and Druid of the Cowl still power out the top end a turn early. Badgermole, Earth Kingdom General, The Boulder and Toph, the Blind Bandit earthbend lands into counter-laden hasty bodies that double as ramp AND power-4 enablers, with Badgermole handing every counter-carrying creature trample. The Earth King drops a 4/4 Bear and fetches a fistful of basics whenever your big creatures swing. Mossborn Hydra, Ashroot Animist, Rampaging Baloths and Quilled Greatwurm carry the late game. A dense burn suite doubles as removal and reach, Earth Rumble is removal that also ramps, Tannuk hands the team haste, Howlsquad Heavy goes wide, and Slagstorm resets against mirror aggro.
Upgrade path
Patched 2026-08-10 after Badgermole Cub was banned in Standard Brawl. Zero wildcards: Terrapact Intimidator is uncommon and owned x2. Its mode is chosen by the OPPONENT, which is fine here because neither mode is dead — two Landers is ramp plus two landfall triggers for Rampaging Baloths, Mossborn Hydra and Earthbender Ascension; declining them makes it a turn-2 4/3, a power-4 enabler for Ruby, Courageous Goblin, Nessian Hornbeetle, Ashroot Animist and The Earth King. Moving the two-drop from {1}{G} to {1}{R} also fits the manabase better (12 hard red vs 11 hard green). FLAGGED FOR A FUTURE PASS, pre-existing and out of scope here: at 22 lands this deck is 1-3 light for a curve topping out at Sire of Seven Deaths, and both colours sit below Karsten’s 13 sources for an on-curve two-drop.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Ruby, Daring Tracker
Deck
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Courageous Goblin
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Heartfire Immolator
1 Mossborn Hydra
1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Howlsquad Heavy
1 Battlesong Berserker
1 Ashroot Animist
1 Tannuk, Steadfast Second
1 Badgermole
1 Earth Kingdom General
1 The Earth King
1 The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Quilled Greatwurm
1 Burst Lightning
1 Shock
1 Torch the Tower
1 Lightning Strike
1 Abrade
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Feed the Flames
1 Earth Rumble
1 Slagstorm
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Vizier of the Menagerie
1 Loot, Exuberant Explorer
1 Ouroboroid
1 Stomping Ground
1 Command Tower
1 Capital City
1 Rumble Arena
1 Rockface Village
1 Thornspire Verge
7 Forest
8 Mountain
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Enduring Vitality
1 Sire of Seven Deaths
1 Earthbender Ascension
1 Ba Sing Se
1 Terrapact Intimidator
Ideal build (upgrade target)
Ideal Gruul keeps Ruby’s power-4 payoff shell but upgrades the aggressive core: Emberheart Challenger, Slickshot Show-Off and Questing Druid add explosive prowess/card-advantage pressure, Bristly Bill and Tyvar juice the earthbend counters, and a tight premium burn suite (incl. Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt) doubles as removal and reach. Ghalta and Quilled Greatwurm close. Manabase runs Stomping Ground + Thornspire Verge + Restless Ridgeline untapped. Top craft priorities: Bristly Bill Spine Sower, Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt, Tyvar the Pummeler, Ghalta Stampede Tyrant, Stomping Ground.
Crafts to reach the ideal: 10 (5 mythic, 4 rare, 1 uncommon)
- Mythic: Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, Emeritus of Conflict // Lightning Bolt, Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, Overlord of the Hauntwoods, Tyvar, the Pummeler
- Rare: Emberheart Challenger, Questing Druid // Seek the Beast, Restless Ridgeline, Slickshot Show-Off
- Uncommon: Witchstalker Frenzy
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Ruby, Daring Tracker
Deck
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
1 Badgermole
1 The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
1 Earth Kingdom General
1 Earthbender Ascension
1 Heartfire Immolator
1 Emberheart Challenger
1 Slickshot Show-Off
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Nessian Hornbeetle
1 Ashroot Animist
1 Mossborn Hydra
1 Questing Druid
1 Garruk's Uprising
1 Vizier of the Menagerie
1 The Earth King
1 Tyvar, the Pummeler
1 Rampaging Baloths
1 Quilled Greatwurm
1 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
1 Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Strike
1 Torch the Tower
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 Abrade
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Witchstalker Frenzy
1 Earth Rumble
1 Slagstorm
1 Emeritus of Conflict
1 Feed the Flames
1 Stomping Ground
1 Thornspire Verge
1 Command Tower
1 Ba Sing Se
1 Rockface Village
1 Restless Ridgeline
1 Fabled Passage
1 Starting Town
8 Forest
8 Mountain
Card images & data via Scryfall.