The Legends of Big Dingus
As I was packing for MagicCon Philadelphia I left four of my Commander decks behind. One of these was a deck I had together for quite some time but had yet to play beyond playtesting – Multani, Maro-Sorcerer. I had the chance to play the deck for the first time this past weekend when a friend came into town. Our first game was at a bar a few blocks from the game store but we had to stop about five turns in, but by that time I had resolved a Multani on an empty board as a 26/26 and was about to start one-punching people. Luckily (for my opponents) the game store called and our table was open so we packed up the cards, walked a few blocks, and started a new game.
Seedtime
I started playing Commander in earnest once I moved back to Brooklyn in the late summer of 2011. I had found a playgroup and the bug bit me hard. Fairly early on I decided I wanted to build a mono-green deck based around Baru, Fist of Krosa. I loved the idea of turning green creatures sideways and since Baru would turn my acceleration into extra damage it seemed like a good idea. Like so many decks of mine from that era this one did not end up seeing a ton of play as there were other things I wanted to be doing. But I never lost the mono green bug.
After moving and finding a different playgroup that was a bit more competitive I put together a Seton, Krosan Protector deck that made a ton of mana and spit out all sorts of gigantic monsters while also making some pretty serious enemies that the table. This period of my life was also one of my most prolific for building decks. Seeing as how I had a LGS with a vibrant Commander scene I wanted a wide array of options to bring to the table.
It was at this time that I started to squirrel away cards for a Multani Group Slug style deck. I wanted to feed everyone a ton of cards but turn those cards against them with Multani and cards like Viseling and Psychosis Crawler. These cards sat in the corner of my closet and collected proverbial dust as the Covid pandemic took over.
Season of Growth
I have a strong affinity for old legendary creatures. Part of this stems from the fact I have been playing Magic for nearly 30 years. A not-so-small portion of this also comes from the fact that when I started graduate school in the fall of 2006 I shipped my cards – along with most of my other belongings – to my new apartment. Only one box was lost, and it was the one that happened to contain the majority of my collection at the time. Now some of my cards did make it, including my rare box which had multiple copies of Multani. The fact that I still have these cards and am playing them feels right.
So I had the Multani idea in the back of my mind for years before I actually put the deck together. I was on the AffinityArtifacts stream one night and everyone else brought out their green deck. I didn’t have one at the time and got my face summarily punched in, and had a blast. Less than a week later I had the first version of Multani built, which looks a lot like the build you can find here.
Harvest Season
We sat down and shuffled up for the first real game of the night. The table included my old friend Andrew on his Edric Kingmaker deck, Hobbes on Phabine Group Hug, and Andy on Roon Elephants and Rhinos. I immediately regret having both Compost and Bellowing Tanglewurm in the deck. Regardless I start to accelerate aided by Hobbes. While I draw some heat – my Psychosis Crawler ate it early – I was able to generate a ton of value off of Lurking Predators. Hobbes, however, is popping off and what would have been a timely board wipe from Andy proved to be useless thanks to a Heroic Intervention. Andy and I are about to take lethal damage when Andrew comes through with a fog effect, which buys us another turn cycle.
The game goes back to Hobbes and he goes for broke, sending his army. Thanks to my own Intervention I manage to survive while Andy goes to to the mid-teens and Andrew kicks the proverbial bucket. As the turn passes back to me I start to do green things. A Selvala means I started the turn with 21 mana thanks to Multani. I resolve Beast Whisperer and Zendikar Resurgent, which provide me the gas to churn through cards. Eventually I pick off Hobbes’ green blockers, which means Bellowing Tanglewurm is online. Heartwood Storyteller helps me grow Multani when I am not casting creatures and I eventually find that very same Baru. At this point Multani is easily a 50/50 creature and my other attackers are sufficiently large. A Crop Rotation and Nature’s Lore later I attacked for lethal damage.
Second Harvest
There are a few cards I am exploring for this deck. First up is Monstrous Onslaught which seems like a slam dunk way to clear a path. The second card is Woodland Bellower – I am not sure I want it in the 99 anymore but am not sold on cutting it quite yet. What cards do you think fit into this Multani deck?
I’m not sure when the next time I’ll be able to play this deck but I am for sure looking forward to it. There’s something incredibly satisfying about sticking a massive threat early and becoming the problem.
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NerdtotheCore 