Raph & Mikey, TroublemakersRaph & Mikey, Troublemakers | Art by Aaron J. Riley

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Fury of the HordeFury of the Horde is the only extra combat effect you can cast for free?)

Oh hey, a seven-mana Gruul () reptile that cheats things out. Where have I seen that before?

Something that was unexpected in the wake of Mana CryptMana Crypt and Jeweled LotusJeweled Lotus being banned was Gruul still being able to power out a seven-mana commander on turn two in Competitive EDH. What isn't in dispute is that an Etali that lands early can win the game.

So, the question is: Is there another Etali here? Well, that depends on what Raph & Mikey, TroublemakersRaph & Mikey, Troublemakers can go get, right?

Top 10 Expensive Gruul Creatures

1. Avenger of ZendikarAvenger of Zendikar
2. Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth
3. Ghalta, Primal HungerGhalta, Primal Hunger
4. Etali, Primal ConquerorEtali, Primal Conqueror
5. Meteor GolemMeteor Golem
6. Myr BattlesphereMyr Battlesphere
7. Old GnawboneOld Gnawbone
8. Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient
9. Omnath, Locus of RageOmnath, Locus of Rage
10. Ghalta, Stampede TyrantGhalta, Stampede Tyrant

Yeah, no. Gruul doesn't have any "you win the game" creatures, at least, not without a lot of other creatures or lands to go with them. So... we're done here?

Well, not quite. What Gruul does have that could have Raph & Mikey winning the game on turn two is ways to repeatedly go to combat.

Top 10 Gruul Extra Combat Cards (Not Attached to an Attack Trigger)

Criteria: Cards within the Gruul color identity that can untap Raph & Mikey and create an additional combat step without a "first combat step of your turn" rider that do not trigger on a creature attacking. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Savage BeatingSavage Beating

(42.2K Inclusions, 1.07% of 3.94M Decks)

Now, I know what y'all are thinking. "Why are we looking at spells when there are 30 versions of Combat CelebrantCombat Celebrant out there that Raph & MikeyRaph & Mikey can cheat in?" Well, as usual, the devil is in the details, and Raph & Mikey's attack trigger puts down a creature already attacking, which means that the creature doesn't get an attack trigger.

In other words, all those hordes of creatures that can make an extra combat? Most of them don't work here.

The real question is: Does Savage BeatingSavage Beating? There's no question that it's a bit too expensive for most cEDH builds at five mana, but what if we could cast it for free?

There are several creature options that Raph & Mikey can cheat in that would make it possible to abuse Savage Beating. The issue is, they're all a roll of the dice.

When I built this version of the deck, two things became immediately apparent. First, there aren't enough cards like Savage Beating. Aside from Savage Beating itself, the list is Great Train HeistGreat Train Heist and Breath of FuryBreath of Fury. All the other extra combat spells have an "if it's your main phase" rider that won't work during combat.

The other issue? All of the options to cast these spells for free need them in specific places. Evercoat UrsineEvercoat Ursine felt by far the easiest, looking through six cards, but would constantly whiff with only three targets available. Efreet FlamepainterEfreet Flamepainter and the similar horde of creatures that can cast spells from graveyards would be fine if we had time to mill half our deck, but we just don't have room to do that and cast a seven-mana commander on turn two.

Wildfire EternalWildfire Eternal probably shows the most promise, but is essentially asking you to keep a hand with enough mana to cast your commander early, have room left over to keep Savage Beating or similar, and then luck into also flipping the Eternal off the top. Do you know what's way more likely than all of that? Flipping into a Wildfire Eternal that does nothing.

All of which is the long way of saying that Savage Beating isn't going to work out for this particular strategy. Stick to Magar of the Magic Strings, friendo.

9. Anzrag, the Quake-MoleAnzrag, the Quake-Mole

(Helms 6,168 Decks, Rank #375; 42K Inclusions, 2.43% of 1.73M Decks)

Without nearly as much hot air, I can also make the declaration that Anzrag, the Quake-MoleAnzrag, the Quake-Mole isn't going to do what we want. cEDH players will absolutely take eight damage to ensure that another deck doesn't win the game, and even folks that have no idea what our deck does will be able to put two and two together that giving Raph & Mikey multiple combats is a very bad idea.

8. Overpowering AttackOverpowering Attack

(65.7K Inclusions, 1.84% of 3.57M Decks)

Overpowering AttackOverpowering Attack, on the other hand, I'm feeling pretty good about. The whole premise of the deck is that we're attacking with our commander, meaning that this will essentially always cost three unless we've already been blown out of the game, and will get us another Raph & Mikey trigger alongside another seven commander damage to an opponent.

This will be a hard ask on turn two, where we're unlikely to just have three mana sitting around after paying seven, but will be an absolute slam dunk on turn three.

7. Port RazerPort Razer

(67.7K Inclusions, 1.72% of 3.94M Decks)

Now here is exactly what we've been looking for. Raph & Mikey can cheat Port RazerPort Razer in, we'll point it at the deck that doesn't have any blockers available yet, and we'll immediately untap and be able to swing again.

Now, it is worth noting that we're only swinging again with Raph & Mikey, because Port Razer will have summoning sickness. But who cares? Let's PolymorphPolymorph up another creature and see if we can keep things going!

6. Full ThrottleFull Throttle

(68.1K Inclusions, 2.42% of 2.81M Decks)

Full ThrottleFull Throttle is the definition of a win-more card here at six mana. Even if we were to pursue a strategy where we try to draw a bunch of cards with our big free attacking creatures, play down a bunch of fast mana, and then cast an extra attack, there just is no universe where that all adds up to six mana.

5. Seize the DaySeize the Day

(75.7K Inclusions, 1.92% of 3.94M Decks)

I did play around with the likes of Efreet FlamepainterEfreet Flamepainter, as previously noted, and do you want to know the card that felt the best in that version of the deck that milled hard? Seize the DaySeize the Day. Do you want to know which card still feels great even when I'm not attempting to do Hermit DruidHermit Druid things? Seize the Day.

At four mana, this is a bit of a stretch at times, but when a Wheel or a mill effect can get it in the graveyard, three mana feels like a deal.

4. Relentless AssaultRelentless Assault

(84.7K Inclusions, 2.15% of 3.94M Decks)

Relentless AssaultRelentless Assault, however, needs the previously mentioned "draw a bunch of cards, play a bunch of fast mana, and attempt to play another extra combat effect in your second main phase" treatment, so let's look into that:

The first big creature I discovered that could draw a bunch of cards when cheated in with Raph & Mikey was Knollspine DragonKnollspine Dragon. It can draw 30-ish cards, but more often, it draws zero cards when its the first creature flipped. On to other options.

The next thing I tried, against my better judgment, was Dragon MageDragon Mage. This one felt better, and was where Seize the DaySeize the Day really shined, but giving my opponents 21 cards is likely to get Raph & Mikey removed and kick me out of the game entirely.

So, as a last-ditch effort, I tried out Clive, Ifrit's DominantClive, Ifrit's Dominant, and it did feel the best of all of them, drawing four cards if it was the first flip, and eight to ten regularly if I happened upon some Port RazerPort Razer effects beforehand.

Even with all that, it usually didn't translate into an extra attack. Stuffing the deck full of 10 extra combat effects had them constantly dead in my hand, I wouldn't draw enough mana to cast them, or I would get the mana and not the extra combat effect.

While this version of the deck would probably be the way to go if Raph & Mikey had blue in their color identity, it just doesn't hack it when it comes to pure Gruul.

3. Great Train HeistGreat Train Heist

(109K Inclusions, 2.87% of 3.81M Decks)

Great Train HeistGreat Train Heist doesn't work with free casts because it has an additional cost, and it also doesn't work with the strategy we just detailed with Relentless AssaultRelentless Assault because it can only be cast during the combat step. This just doesn't work for this deck.

2. Moraug, Fury of AkoumMoraug, Fury of Akoum

(Helms 700 Decks, Rank #1,685; 115K Inclusions, 2.92% of 3.94M Decks)

If you're looking for the breakthrough, though, then I'm happy to report that Moraug, Fury of AkoumMoraug, Fury of Akoum is it.

Now, he is a dead card if you have to play your land down to get to your seven mana and you flip him first. There are two real reasons that Moraug rules. First, if he sticks around for a turn, then you likely just win the game, even if your commander gets removed. Why? Fetch lands that will give you two extra combats and Moraug's power boost on all of your creatures to go with it.

The thing that really makes Moraug work, though? Icetill ExplorerIcetill Explorer.

The downside to Icetill is the same as Moraug: Flipping into it early doesn't feel great, despite it often milling a couple cards and giving you a couple mana with a fetch from the graveyard. When you do have Moraug and Icetill out, however, it's pretty much game over for a table as you stack extra combat after extra combat and trigger after trigger.

In other words? This is the interaction that wins the game.

1. Aggravated AssaultAggravated Assault

(155K Inclusions, 3.94% of 3.94M Decks)

As for our number one card, Aggravated AssaultAggravated Assault is combo central, but there's just no way that we're going to have the mana or luck to cast Raph & Mikey and Aggravated Assault and the activation.

In Bracket 4, this would be exactly the kind of thing we were looking for. Throw down a NehebNeheb or twotwo, then kill the table with multiple Assault activations. Here in Bracket 5, however, you need to get in under the radar and kill the table before they can find answers or win themselves.

As such, laying down combo pieces and waiting a turn is just not an option.

Honorable Mentions

We're close to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to viable extra attack shenanigans with Raph & Mikey, TroublemakersRaph & Mikey, Troublemakers, but there are still two more out there worth considering.

Raphael, Tag Team ToughRaphael, Tag Team Tough is a slam dunk. The best extra attack effect that isn't a creature you can search up with Raph & Mikey, however, is easily Grim Reaper's SprintGrim Reaper's Sprint. It only costs two after someone inevitably blocks, and it provides haste so your summoning sick Port RazerPort Razer or Blightsteel ColossusBlightsteel Colossus can swing again.

Wait, Blightsteel Colossus in a cEDH pile? Are you crazy?

Yep. Let's take a look.

Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers cEDH Deck List

The comparison that will immediately come to mind with Raph & Mikey is EtaliEtali, but there are some crucial differences.

With Raph & Mikey being essentially a Polymorph deck, it can't play all of the early mana dorks and Tinder WallTinder Walls that Etali can. With MoraugMoraug being the glue that holds the whole thing together, however, you can open up some additional ramp avenues by playing the likes of ExplorationExploration and BurgeoningBurgeoning, and two-mana land ramp like FarseekFarseek and Three VisitsThree Visits starts to look a little bit better as well.

The other advantage that makes up somewhat for losing all your creature ramp is the ability to play Irencrag FeatIrencrag Feat, which counts to seven all on its own and isn't much of a restriction when it comes to Raph & Mikey's main strategy. In testing the deck, I found that I didn't really struggle at all to count to seven on turn two. Aggressive mulligans are required, but that's true of Etali as well.

All that said, do I think this deck is as good as Etali? In short, no. With Etali's game-winning trigger going on the stack immediately, and resolving even if it gets removed, it's just a lot more resilient. Combine that with Raph & Mikey typically only being able to kill one player at most on turn two, rather than being able to finish the table off as Etali often can, and Etali being more able to grind value to continually recast Etali where Raph & Mikey is only going to get one shot, and it's just not quite there.

In short, I don't expect Raph & Mikey to take over the tournament scene anytime soon (although it's worth a revisit if more combat damage extra combat creatures are printed). No, what we're looking at here is what we're almost always looking at when it comes to new commanders that might be cEDH worthy: a fringe deck. Not that you couldn't show up to a tournament and have fun, or even maybe place, with it. Off-meta decks are notoriously taken for granted, as is trying to win with aggro.

In other words, folks may just assume you're not going to do anything, and not have on-board removal available for you on turn two when they should. And I can tell you from experience, even if folks have removal on turn three for Raph & Mikey or Moraug, it's still likely you're killing several players or outright winning anyhow with the likes of Port RazerPort Razer, Raphael, Tag Team ToughRaphael, Tag Team Tough, Moraug, Fury of AkoumMoraug, Fury of Akoum, or Blightsteel ColossusBlightsteel Colossus.

Bottom line, cEDH players are not used to having to worry about combat, and this deck wins on turn three with little to no issue if you're left even a little bit to your own devices. And at a lot of cEDH tables, that's more than enough.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

And finally, what is your favorite extra combat effect? Would it work with Raph & Mikey? Is it efficient enough that it would work on the aggressive time table of cEDH?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the table that's folding itself, and then unfolding itself, and then folding itself, and then unfolding...