How we play Magic has more to do with environmental factors than many people realize; not everyone has a playgroup that they can match up against on the regular, whether due to work, kids, or other strains on our time. There’s a growing subset of people who, by choice or circumstance, jam quite a bit more of our favorite social format online rather than face-to-face, and that often means a rotating cast of new opponents as opposed to a trusted council of jank enthusiasts. Decks that perform well in each of the many ways we play Commander vary intrinsically, as some playgroups dislike combo (even in their allowed brackets), and complicated decks where every new card is a reading comprehension test doesn’t play well with 3 new faces every game. Within those confines though, exists an enigmatic option—overly specific, meant more to cause oohs and ahhs than win, perhaps even defined by a joke or reference. This is the gimmick deck.
Much in the same way every board game night has varying weights in its options, Commander likewise follows this paradigm. Sometimes when you don’t have a lot of time, it makes sense to play as a higher-bracket pod with combos around, rather than the endless midrange slogfest that, while fun, takes up an entire evening. This amuse-bouche of the format does one thing with frightening consistency, likely in service of a punchline; Tomer Abramovici’s aim to assemble Kaldra comes to mind, and odd typal strategies made possible by Commanders like Rukarumel, Biologist also fit in this category. Now, there is a dedicated bracket for so-called ‘exhibition decks’, Bracket 1, but I feel this does a disservice to our gimmicky friends. I feel every deck should have a cogent, planned-out win condition from its outset, and that means it might rest anywhere from brackets 1-4, given some concessions are made in the pursuit of ones’ endgoal. With all that being said, as one of the biggest polymorph/scramble aficionados out there, I am delighted to share that I’ve cracked the case on another hilarious target: Grozoth. Strap in, because we won’t just be another ‘big spell’ deck, we’ll be doing it in style.
“Search Your Library for Any Number of Cards that Have Mana Value 9”
Tutors are good, certainly, but what about one that has the phrase ‘any number’ embedded in its text? Arriving in Ravnica: City of Guilds, Grozoth represented the Dimir guild with its one-of-a-kind ability to fill your hand with cards you likely couldn’t easily cast. Nine is quite a high mana value, and actually getting the Leviathan onto the board was no small feat either. Certainly, you could Transmute and then revive it, but that requires you find the card in the first place. Moreover, without some way to actually make use of these gigantic spells, Grozoth was just a fancy way to add cardboard flotsam to your hand—greedy, pointless junk. Still, the allure of unique card text beckoned to my Johnny brain for years, until finally I stumbled upon its partner in crime, Cecily, Haunted Mage.
Cecily was originally Eleven from the Stranger Things Secret Lair, a product which largely passed me by, but her capacity to freecast an Instant or Sorcery while you had 11+ cards in hand synergized beautifully with Grozoth’s ability to fill out a grip of massive haymakers. Not only that, the alarm bells rung still as I realized I had access to both Blue & Red in her color identity: Polymorph colors. By coupling her to Elmar, Ulvenwald Informant for access to Green and some unique synergies we’ll cover later, there was a stew going…but without that aforementioned cogent win condition. Not only that, but because we couldn’t play any other Creatures, this committal to Poly lost out on tons of the best mana value 9 cards, such as Valvagoth, Terror Eater & Void Winnower. What options did specifically non-Creatures with mana value 9 have left? Well…
Naughty Number Nine
Not only is the pool of targets for Grozoth surprisingly deep, it also fulfills basically every role we would need. There’s board wipes, tons of damage, the things you expect from high mana value spells; where it gets shocking however is in the utility that arises from cards which are technically mana value 9. Rooms, while not on the stack or the board, are their combined mana value, and this is also true for both split cards and those with Aftermath. To that end, Moldering Gym // Weight Room and Spring // Mind are fine ramp cards, and Ticket Booth // Tunnel of Hate makes a body for us to Polymorph away. Connive // Concoct meanwhile is actually a reasonable Transmute target, allowing us to use the Concoct side to bring back the Grozoth we just discarded, making use of more of its card text if stuck in hand. These functionally bring down the curve of the strategy as a whole, meaning we’re less likely to be stuck on cards we want to search, but can’t cast until the late game.
Beyond that, there’s also two of the Legendary Artifacts of Eldraine, The Great Henge and The Magic Mirror. While Henge is certainly the more well-known card of the two, The Magic Mirror isn’t too far off. It functionally mimics the draw component of The One Ring, which is probably the part people know it for. Henge may actually be the worse card here, given we don’t have a ton of non-token Creatures to go around, but the fact it’s just a 2 mana rock that produces {G}{G} is fine enough. Don’t forget, Grozoth has a whopping 9 power, and that doesn’t just come into play with Henge, but with a bit of Edge of Eternity’s Station mechanic in a later section. Sorcerous Squall is a perfect card to use if you need to borrow something like a board wipe or tutor, and given we don’t especially use our graveyard for much else, the Delve cost is ancillary. All of these discounted or half-and-half mana value 9 targets aren’t going to push us towards victory on their own, however—we can and do play a number of those that need to be cast for their full cost, or in Cecily’s case, a cool {0}.
In that vein of winning with our tutor targets, however, there’s a few reasonable lines to take. Given we have Friends Forever in our Command Zone, Skull Storm is being copied at least twice, and coupling it with board wipes like In Garruk’s Wake and Soulfire Eruption we can use it like a massive Torment of Hailfire to close out a game. Not only that, if our opposition persists, we could always copy those cards with Mnemonic Deluge, which due to its phrasing allows for 3x the copy triggers of Skull Storm, being a minimum of 9 instances. Rise of the Dark Realms is a great way to follow up one of these board wipes too, if the graveyards start piling up. That being said, unless things have gotten hairy, the first spell we’re likely to be casting with Cecily isn’t a board wipe or damage dealer…it’s actually a ramp spell. Allow me to introduce the world’s farthest Farseek, Ten-times-Three Visits: It’s Reshape the Earth!
The On-Ramp
Ten lands is a lot of land, and for most decks that aren’t dedicated ‘lands decks’, it’s often more than a normal player will have in a single game. Ten is also, for the astute among you, more than nine, the critical threshold for our haymaking spells. This means that investing in a Reshape first and foremost ensures you don’t even necessarily need Cecily for future turns. Importantly Reshape is also for non-basics, so while there is some push-and-pull between playing a greedy mana base and one that can consistently generate all four of our colors, there’s room enough for tools to make this card really hurt. For anyone that survived the format surrounding GP Denver 2019, the interaction between our first Game Changer, Field of the Dead, and multiple lands entering at the same time should trigger alarm bells. Field sees every land enter alongside it, producing Zombies galore as chump blockers or fodder, but thanks to Vesuva it can represent 20 Zombies, if you already have Field out. Aside from this powerhouse combo, though, we’re also playing three of the new Planets from Edge of Eternities to make instant use of these tokens.
Susur Secundi, Void Altar can then turn cards like Grozoth into 9 cards drawn, or make our board even more massive. Kavaron, Memorial World as well is actually a great way to give Cecily Haste once Stationed, as getting to 12 Charge Counters is exactly enough by using Grozoth & Elmar. We’re even on Evendo, Waking Haven if there is a need to generate 10+ mana from our board of Zombies, but critically all three of these enter play tapped. That is, unless we’ve got Amulet of Vigor or Spelunking around. These each turn a resolved Reshape into a truly bonkers turn, to the point that it’s difficult to navigate for even an experienced player like myself. Not only that though, we’re also on a bounceland, which means tutoring up cards like Boseiju, Who Endures gives us a removal spell once all is said and done! Is the mana base still fairly greedy, given everything we’ve talked about? Absolutely, yes. Is it still functional, though? I would argue the answer is yes, as our color breakdown still puts us at majority Green, and we can find access to all 4 pips via any 2 fetchlands.
Looking beyond Reshape however, there’s more ramp that’s worth covering here, beyond the usual suspects. Yes, we have all of the normal land ramp that Green has access to, such as Nature’s Lore, but one thing we’ve leaned into is finding lands off the top, similar to how our Polymorph effects work. Open the Way & The Regalia are great examples, which help us quite a bit given we’re on uh…three total basic lands. Yes, that’s indeed fairly greedy, but as a pip-intensive four color deck it’s about par for the course. I’m also fond of Guild Artisan, a card that shows up in my Commander decks more than most, especially given we have two Commanders, both of which are fairly happy while attacking. In terms of rocks, we’ve got Eye of Ojer Taq // Apex Observatory, which can help us cast our big spells for free, and Relic of Legends which may seem mediocre until you consider that it’s often making 3+ mana per turn by way of Elmar. Not only that, Midnight Clock is actually good here, helping to reset us if the game ever goes long enough and we want to re-tutor with a Grozoth. This is a deck with a ton of ramp, as one might expect with a whole 14 spells with a mana value of 9, but there’s one more wrinkle in that regard: Our second Commander.
Tickle Me Elmar
Cecily gets a lot more spotlight than ol’ Elmar, as to the untrained eye it appears he could be basically any of the other Friends Forevers with Cecily. Othelm, Sigardian Outcast gives you all 5 colors, and Wernog, Rider’s Chaplain is the cheapest choice for targeting with a Polymorph (and provides White). These are both legitimate considerations, but I’ve gone with Elmar not only to access Green, but also for his ability to ramp far more than the other choices. See, Elmar untapping isn’t just good for Relic of Legends—we’re on a variety of Auras to make use of this potency. Multani’s Harmony helps manafix for the low low cost of a single pip, and Karametra’s Favor replaces itself for the added cost of a cantrip. The creme here though is Leyline Immersion, which can help us cast one of our massive haymakers, perfectly paying for a 1 mana spell and a 9 mana follow-up.
Not only that, Elmar also represents a fully Stationed planet all on his lonesome, often over the course of two turns if he isn’t doing anything else. Clues aren’t just card draw either, as we can Bargain them away for Beseech the Mirror into a Polymorph, which, hey, that’s two spells for the price of one (giving us another untap+clue). You can even Transmute Artifact (or Whir, etc) these tokens to get your Amulet, or pop them for mana with Culling Ritual. The long and short of it is that not only does Elmar provide Green for ramp, which is sorely needed unlike White, but also has a variety of micro-synergies that carry him over the finish line.
Synonyms of Transform
My very first Magic article on Goonhammer covered Reality Scramble, and Polymorph strategies more broadly, yet my love for the theme has never been stronger than present day. Being in UBRG we have access to every single one of the juiciest tools, including standouts like Chaos Mutation & Divergent Transformations. Importantly, as we only have a single target, it’s okay to just use Elmar as a Poly target given Cecily is the important Commander to have swinging onboard. That being said, we’re still on a variety of cards which make alternate token targets, such as Lazotep Plating & Defend the Rider. Khalni Garden is the stand-out land for this purpose, as well, although obviously Field of the Dead works wonders once it’s online.
Both Vehicles & Spacecraft also operate as above-average Poly targets, given they only become threatened by Creature removal once you choose, and Exploration Broodship is a card I find myself putting in more and more decks, here both an explore and fully Stationed by Grozoth in one go. Imposter Mech as well is one of the best clones ever printed, and with Crew 3 Elmar conveniently gets the early mode on for Broodship, and turns Mech into a Creature for the turn. I did mention he had plenty of micro-synergies, case in point. Black Market Connections is only rarely going to be a ‘full send’ for us, but on the turn we’re Polymorphing, having our mana+card draw engine also produce a token body feels patently absurd. And, as mentioned in the above section, Ticket Booth // Tunnel of Hate is a mana value 9 card that produces a Poly-able card, in the Manifest Dread Creature; this will only come up as a Transmute target if Connive // Concoct has already been used, and you have a means of shuffling Grozoth.
Example Decklist: Grozoth Never Forgets
Navigating opportunity cost is my favorite aspect of Polymorph/Scramble, and this deck doubles down on not only needing to play just a single Creature, but also a sufficient number of mana value 9 spells that you fill your hand to at least 11 for Cecily. That’s a lot to take in, and strikes me as the reason I haven’t seen Grozoth Poly decks appear anywhere, despite the card being extremely competent. I’ve managed to test this deck fairly extensively with online friends & strangers, and the results have been strikingly similar each time: I tell them to google Grozoth, they laugh a bit and ask if the deck is bracket 1, and I proceed to do the most heinous things on my path to a win. Because you never even need to resolve Grozoth itself, by way of Poly effects, you’ve stacked your hand enough to fight past removal or simply board wipe. At the very worst, if they remove Cecily during your combo turn, you’ve tutored Blasphemous Act & Sorcerous Squall, on top of the Eldraine Artifacts. Raw value goes pretty far in Bracket 3, no matter how peculiar the source from which it arises is.
Decklists are kept updated, and may change with set releases.
Beyond what I’ve covered already, I want to call out Dream Halls as an excellent card to combo off through removal, given all of our relevant haymakers are Sorceries. Also in the vein of cool, niche cards is Cathartic Parting, which can remove The One Ring and reset relevant targets for Grozoth, in particular Grozoth itself & Skull Storm. Merchant’s Scroll finds Chaos Mutation or insulation for the combo, and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain finds a Sol Ring, Amulet, Broodship…or just untaps an enchanted Elmar if you’re trying to go mana-positive. Our tutors are purposeful, given the more limited selection with our Game Changers being Field, Rhystic, and Expropriate.
But let’s talk about Expropriate for a second, because as a brief aside this is a card which makes the deck a good bit less fun to navigate, for everyone involved. Getting your Extra Turn at a minimum is the obvious first cast off of Cecily unless you have a way to cast Reshape the Earth with untapped lands, and it grabs whatever you need, including more lands to ramp with. While we can’t loop turns due to being in Bracket 3, thank goodness, this makes the combo far more clear just as long as you can get Cecily into combat without dying. There is a very good case of this being worth replacing with something like a Jeska’s Will or similar ramp Game Changer, if only because it’s a massive feelsbad. Results may vary, given the card is not just a card with mana value 9, it’s debatably the best of them.
Stranger Targets
Grozoth has never been reprinted, and it’s not as though the card has a massive fanbase. Hell, the only reason I found it was because of a sweep of URx Creatures with mana value 8+, to find Polymorph targets that hadn’t yet been considered. What a profoundly unique option, and build the Leviathan presents though. This level of specificity in all forms is what draws me to deckbuild, and I think this may be among the fastest articles for me to write, if only due to sheer excitement. Gimmicky as it is, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to build this with paper (with a substantial number of proxies). I’ve been a Monocolor advocate for some time now, and intend to continue with that, but every so often one must pursue an idea when it arrives.
There is a caveat, however, as the gimmick of this deck is not just Grozoth as a Poly target, is not just casting silly spells…its core function is a reference, a joke. Grozoth finds Nines, to enable Elevens, which allow us to tutor out Command Tower & Reliquary Tower. Each of these pieces is independently good in the deck, and has perfect mechanical justification, but it also just so happens to be a comically roundabout way for a joke about a tragedy over 20 years in the making. I was close to including Pentad Prism, for reference. I kept quiet about this fact the entire time because, at my core, this was a Johnny’s masterpiece, a true zenith of finicky mechanical design. When I mentioned gimmick decks though, I wasn’t talking solely about those in the realms mechanical—getting a good laugh is often better than actually winning. Is this article the most elaborate Magic-themed Shaggy Dog story online? Maybe. Is it better than it will actually win games? Definitely.
Until next time, ach! Hans, run! It’s the Grozoth!
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