Baki the Grappler — The Strongest Creature on Earth

Commanded by Baki Hanma, the Grappler, this Gruul (red/green) 100-Card Commander Deck follows a seventeen-year-old high-schooler who rules a secret fighting arena dug beneath a Tokyo stadium and paid for by an old man, Mitsunari Tokugawa. He trains for one reason: his father, Yujiro Hanma, "the strongest creature on Earth", the Ogre. Every arc has the same shape — someone stronger arrives, Baki loses, grows and goes back — and when nobody real is strong enough, he fights an imaginary opponent for hours, and the bruises are real. The cast includes Yujiro, Jack Hanma, Doppo and Katsumi Orochi, Retsu Kaioh, Biscuit Oliva, Kaoru Hanayama, Gouki Shibukawa, Pickle, Musashi Miyamoto, Izou Motobe, Kozue Matsumoto and the five escaped death-row inmates.

• Challenger: word for word on twenty-nine creatures and given to the whole team by the commander — "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, if another creature on the battlefield has greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature." One keyword, one sentence, only +1/+1 counters.
• Baki is the plan: trample and haste, other creatures you control have challenger, and whenever a creature you control with challenger deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
• The chase: the stronger creature can be yours — Yujiro Hanma, the Ogre, a 9/9, is the bar the whole deck chases and puts a counter on each other attacker with challenger. Shadow Sparring creates the Imaginary Opponent each turn, a legendary token that can't attack or block and whose power is always 1 more than the biggest other creature: there's always someone stronger.

Why Gruul

Red is the fight — the punch, haste, the man who walks into an arena he has no chance of winning. Green is the body — muscle that grows back thicker where it tore, the jungle, the mountain, Pickle's prehistory. Two combos close the game: The Imaginary Twin on Biscuit Oliva, Mister Unchained makes unlimited hasty Olivas, each growing and drawing; Mitsunari Tokugawa, Arena Promoter with Staff of Domination makes unlimited mana, life and cards. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Gruul Signet, Talisman of Impulse and Mitsunari ramp; Tokugawa's Invitation and Izou Motobe tutor; The Ogre's Fist, Thrown from the Ring, Hanayama's Grip and The Underground Bout remove threats; Yujiro Punches the Earthquake sweeps; Image Training and The Arena Roars draw; Never Back Down protects.

A complete 100-card Commander deck plus 4 tokens, tuned for Bracket 4, available as a digital print-yourself edition or a printed physical deck, and offered in 10 languages.