June 21, 2021
Love Hurts:
Combat Finishers for Group Hug
Some people say that if you are playing group hug you shouldn’t have a win condition… Some people say that winning with group hug isn’t the point… I say aren’t you tired of living in those boxes people like to draw around everything???
Winning with group hug is always a gotcha moment for the table and different players have different ways they like to win with it. Today I’d like to talk about some of my favorite combat finishers for group hug!
But wait how are finishers in group hug any different than in any other type of commander deck? Well they aren’t except they are usually much more of a surprise! They basically have to be carried out in a single turn.
Imagine the board state below…
It looks pretty good for your opponents doesn’t it??? It’s the board state equivalent of twiddling your thumbs! That’s what makes this board state so primed for a…
Surprize! Craterhug! Suddenly everything gets a healthy buff and you have enough power onboard to take someone out! The main difference in group hug or political play is you have to keep up appearances until you are ready to surprise the table! I personally prefer to wait until it is down to a one verses one situation or someone is about to win if they get another turn but hey it’s up to you how you wanna play it!
The basic formula for a group hug deck that I build to win with is as follows: Give away lots of things but make sure my deck is designed to take full advantage of the board state I create.
For instance with Aluren in play you can play most group hug creatures for free at flash speed. This enables you to play them at the end of the opponent’s turn so you can be the first to take advantage of their free goodies! And that type of play leads to an obvious finisher with Craterhoof Behemoth or a good old fashioned Overrun!
This strategy gets even more nutty if you use Chulane, Teller of Tales, as your commander. Bant is a great color combo for group hug and Chulane is an engine that allows you to do A LOT in a single turn! You can go from a fairly small board to a massive amount of creatures and lands in a single turn. If you have Concordant Crossroads down you can just win on the spot.
Phelddagrif is the most iconic of all group hug commanders and I love all the options for her! Phelddagrif and Seed the Land alongside Primal Vigor pass out a nutso amount of tokens over the course of a game! Just try not to giggle as they stack up or you will ruin the surprise, Ezuri’s Predation in the late game!
So to recap, build a board state that you can benefit from more than the average player, prosper and then drop a surprise finisher for the win! My personal rule is to change my win con or my finisher after I win with it. This keeps my opponents guessing and keeps my deck building hobby alive!
Thanks for checking in for The Group Hug Gazette weekly blog! Reach out on twitter if you wanna chat about group hug or Commander in general!
I wish you many surprised opponents at the table this week!
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