The Commander
Trample
Whenever Ilharg attacks, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Return that creature to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.
When Ilharg dies or is put into exile from the battlefield, you may put it into its owner's library third from the top.
Guide
Gameplan
Ramp into Ilharg by turn 4-5, then attack to cheat huge creatures from hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking, getting their ETB and attack triggers before bouncing them back at end step. You build a board of monocolored beaters and overwhelm the table with repeatable value and combat damage.
Strengths
- Cheats expensive creatures into play for free, dodging mana costs every combat
- Doubles up on powerful ETB and attack triggers since creatures return to hand
- Built-in recursion makes Ilharg hard to permanently remove
- Trample plus a fattie pushes serious commander damage
Weaknesses
- Must connect in combat, so it folds to blockers, fogs, and removal on Ilharg
- Mono-red lacks card draw consistency and reliable interaction
- Relies on having big creatures in hand to maximize attacks
- Board wipes set back the whole strategy and leave you topdecking
Key Cards
- Worldspine Wurm — Massive trample threat with a huge body that Ilharg can swing free every turn.
- Combat Celebrant — Cheated in attacking, it grants an extra combat step for repeated Ilharg triggers.
- Terror of the Peaks — Each creature Ilharg drops in triggers damage, turning ETBs into burn.
- Hellkite Tyrant — Steals all opponents' artifacts on damage and threatens an alternate win.
- Goldspan Dragon — Ramps and provides treasure to keep casting and protecting Ilharg.
- Dockside Extortionist — Repeatable treasure generation each combat fuels explosive turns.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and ramp like Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, and Jeska's Will to land Ilharg early, plus haste enablers such as Lightning Greaves and Fervor so it attacks the turn it arrives. Tighten the curve toward impactful ETB and attack-trigger creatures, and include protection like Heroic Intervention and extra-combat engines to convert a single attack into a game-ending turn.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Trample over with Ilharg plus enormous cheated creatures
- ▸Repeated ETB damage from Terror of the Peaks/Warstorm Surge
- ▸Extra combats via Combat Celebrant or Aggravated Assault for one-shot kills
Archetypes
- Big Creature Beatdown — Ilharg lets you reliably cheat your biggest monsters into combat ahead of schedule.
- ETB Value — Returning cheated creatures to hand each turn doubles their enter-the-battlefield payoffs.
- Voltron/Combat — Trample and free attackers stack damage to push lethal commander and combat damage.
Combos
- Ilharg, the Raze-Boar + Medomai the Ageless
→ Infinite turns, Lock
- Wormfang Manta + Torpor Orb + Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
→ Infinite turns, Lock
- Colossal Grave-Reaver + Altar of Dementia + Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
→ Infinite LTB, Infinite ETB, Infinite sacrifice triggers
- Wormfang Manta + Tocatli Honor Guard + Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
→ Infinite turns, Lock
- Wormfang Manta + Hushwing Gryff + Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
→ Infinite turns, Lock
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
