Another highly playable non-promo, (non-foil) reprint with modern design and Oracle which kept the well-known artwork and flavor text...gosh, i love Garruk's deck.
LeoKula
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Garruk's deck is a great compilation of awesome green aggro decks throughout Magic history. Rancor, Treetop Village, Blastoderma and Wild Mongrel... cool!
Still my favorite green deck is 1999 Matt Linde's deck for Worlds. 4x Rancor and 4x Gaea's Cradle FTW!
UNBAN_SHAHRAZAD
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(11 votes)
How is the Liliana suppose to compete with this? Garruk's deck is by far superior.
True_Smog
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Mongrel in new design? SWEET !
kilovortex
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
a def. addition to a tarmogoyf centered deck. it's cheap and adds to the card types in the graveyard while beafing it up !! i'd say run 2-3 pending how much room you'd allow it.
ClockworkSwordfish
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(16 votes)
Perhaps they thought at the time that people might care about the colour-change ability? Anyway, this is one of the greatest creatures of all time. If the opponent thinks "Oh, it's two damage, and he won't want to part with his hand this early in the game" and let it through, they will be shocked by the flood of Basking Rootwallas, Arrogant Wurms, and Flashback cards that pour from your hand onto the battlefield and into the graveyard, as well as by the fact that they take about 10 damage. The best part is that if they know what to expect, it doesn't help. 5/5
spectermonger
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
this, tarmogoyf, and terravore are the only creatures needed in loam aggro.
gromgrom777
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(12 votes)
strictly better than Storm Crow
Beastlygreen
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
A very funn card to play with. the Rootwalla combo is great, especially because you can use Stampeding Wildebeest with it to keep up the pain. Any deck will have a bit of trouble with this nifty card.
zositmos
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
me: play this card
opponent: oooo scary a 2/2
me: discards hand swings for 7 plays lurghyof
boneclub
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Look at that smirk on his face. He knows he's the stuff.
Phyrexian_Champion
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Doesn't die to doom blade o Lightning Bolt... Nice!
Saxican
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
it was amusing when my opponent played 4 forced fruition and I ddnt play anything during those turns then played this drew 28 cards then discarded them all for this dude then played fling drew another 28 cards then discarded those for his effect and hit him for 60.....he was at 5 xD
sonorhC
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Is this any good if you're not using things like Basking Rootwalla or 'Goyfs, though? I mean, every card in my deck had better have better uses than just giving a single creature +1/+1 for one turn.
lorendorky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd kill for this to have the subtype "beast."
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(6 votes)
ClockworkSwordfish: The color change protects it from removal and helps it against protection. You can pitch a card to make it black and make it impervious to Terror and Dark Banishing, or to block that Mirran Crusader or a creature wielding Sword of Body and Mind or Feast and Famine can still be blocked by this. The color change becomes really awesome once you start thinking of all the times it may come in handy.
Axiam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card just gets better and better, Giant growths, strength of lunacys, seal of strengths, arrogant wurms, flashbacked roar of the wurm, Brawn, basking rootwalla and that's just the cards it had when it first came out. Start with a seal of strength turn one, wild mongrel turn two, drop a swamp and swing for 2 plus Brawn, Roar of the wurm(or any other not so important to keep in hand card) and a third card ditched to the graveyard or rootwalla into play on turn three leaving you with 5/5, boost with the seal and two giant growths (or another seal if you're lucky enough to draw them) for 14/14 and top up with strength of lunacy and final card if it isn't a land for 17/16 with trample in the third turn - don't forget to shout surprise - and sit their smug knowing you still have the 4/3 wild mongrel with prot from white sitting their ready to finish the opponent off. Brutally fast and lots of fun, as the previous guy said, you don't even have to be subtle about attacking with it, knowing it is going to be boosted really doesn't help, especially as there is a good chance it will be trampling over any turn two defender for minimal loss of effectiveness. I love this card!
Trygon_Predator
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I love the extra "color of your choice" ability. It's useless most of the time but doesn't detract from the awesomeness of this card, and every now and then you'll run into someone with protection from green.
Saikuba
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I wonder if he started out with the color change ability (to tie in with Invasion block shenanigans) and when development found that to be too weak they said, "let's just have it pump itself, what's the worst that could happen?"
SnyprBB
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Brawn is perfect with this guy. No doom blade. Stops intimidate. Dodges protection.
Cheap 2/2 for 2 and all of that.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why does it seem like Liliana got the short end of the Duel Deck stick? Garruk's deck is stacked...
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Now play him without madness cards. Pretty terrible right?
EKraj
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Use with 4x Artful Dodge, discard your hand, dodge from the graveyard and swing for game.
NARFNra
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
@TheWrathOfShane
Why are you judging a card in constructed on how good it does when you're playing it outside its niche?
No, seriously. Constructed is meant to be built around synergies. If you're trying to use this in a deck where you actually plan to cast those and don't want things in your graveyard, you're doing it wrong. Wild Mongrel is a good card because it does things extremely well in the right deck, and thus deserves a good rating. Would you play Cranial Plating in a deck without artifacts? Does that make it a bad card because it doesn't do much on its own?
Taudisban
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
@TheWrathofShane
Still a bear with upside. He won't die to Lightning Bolt or Doom Blade, he'll trade with quite a few things and the ability to just drop your hand if you get the chance to swing for lethal is a pretty big deal. So, I guess the response to your question is "No, Wild Mongrel is NOT pretty terrible."
Totema
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
wow
so green
such cheap
so madnis
very drege
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Can be used in Nic Fit to discard a Cabal Therapy and flash it back if you kept a no-black-mana hand. Great next to any card advantage engine. It's unfortunate he pumps Goyf/KotR, but then again; you can build your deck around that idea for green beats!
Works well with Tombstalker, Bloodghast, and other aggro/discard build creatures. Dark Confidant likes him as well, as you can plop that card advantage into board-state. Dodges thalia blocking (pump), Mom (color change), Mirran Crusader (color change), and most blockers he'd run into; so long as you can survive the card loss.
Can be glorious with Deathrite and Scavenging as well.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Or you could just use Tamiyo's emblem...
ZaisConsultant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of Gilgamesh's most hated cards.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
With Wild Mongrel out, discard a bunch of Sosuke's Summons and Reach of Branches cards, cast Sakura-Tribe Elder to get back all your Sosuke's Summonses, discard them, sac the elder to get a forest and bring back all your Reach of Brancheses, discard those, then attack for a lot with your mongrel.
Comments (30)
Still my favorite green deck is 1999 Matt Linde's deck for Worlds. 4x Rancor and 4x Gaea's Cradle FTW!
opponent: oooo scary a 2/2
me: discards hand swings for 7 plays lurghyof
Brutally fast and lots of fun, as the previous guy said, you don't even have to be subtle about attacking with it, knowing it is going to be boosted really doesn't help, especially as there is a good chance it will be trampling over any turn two defender for minimal loss of effectiveness.
I love this card!
No doom blade.
Stops intimidate.
Dodges protection.
Cheap 2/2 for 2 and all of that.
Pretty terrible right?
Why are you judging a card in constructed on how good it does when you're playing it outside its niche?
No, seriously. Constructed is meant to be built around synergies. If you're trying to use this in a deck where you actually plan to cast those and don't want things in your graveyard, you're doing it wrong. Wild Mongrel is a good card because it does things extremely well in the right deck, and thus deserves a good rating. Would you play Cranial Plating in a deck without artifacts? Does that make it a bad card because it doesn't do much on its own?
Still a bear with upside. He won't die to Lightning Bolt or Doom Blade, he'll trade with quite a few things and the ability to just drop your hand if you get the chance to swing for lethal is a pretty big deal. So, I guess the response to your question is "No, Wild Mongrel is NOT pretty terrible."
so green
such cheap
so madnis
very drege
Works well with Tombstalker, Bloodghast, and other aggro/discard build creatures. Dark Confidant likes him as well, as you can plop that card advantage into board-state. Dodges thalia blocking (pump), Mom (color change), Mirran Crusader (color change), and most blockers he'd run into; so long as you can survive the card loss.
Can be glorious with Deathrite and Scavenging as well.