GruulLegendary Creature — Human KnightJerrard of the Closed Fist
Mana value6Rank#26,990
The Commander
Guide
Gameplan
Jerrard is a vanilla 6/6 for six, so you're playing him as a low-cost (color-identity-wise) Gruul beatstick that the deck builds around rather than relies on. Ramp into him early, slap on equipment, auras, or trample/double-strike enablers, and crash in for commander damage while a wide creature board or big-mana payoffs back you up. Turn to turn you accelerate, deploy threats, fight through removal, and convert raw power into lethal swings.
Strengths
- Six native power makes commander damage (21) reachable in just four hits or fewer with trample/double strike
- Gruul has the format's best ramp and the biggest, most efficient fatties and burn
- Cheap to recast relative to many commanders, and a 6/6 body dodges a lot of small removal
- Flexible shell—can pivot to voltron, big stompy, or +1/+1 counters easily
Weaknesses
- No built-in evasion, protection, or card advantage—he's a vanilla creature
- Highly vulnerable to spot removal and board wipes since the deck leans on creatures
- No recursion or value engine in the command zone; you draw from the 99 only
- Struggles against control/stax that neutralizes the battlefield
Key Cards
- Swiftfoot Boots — Hexproof and haste protect your six-drop and let him attack the turn he lands.
- Rancor — Cheap, recurring trample that pushes commander damage and never stays in the graveyard.
- Embercleave — Often comes down cheaply off a wide board and gives Jerrard double strike for instant 12+ damage.
- Xenagos, God of Revels — Doubles Jerrard's power and grants haste, turning him into a one-shot 24-power haymaker.
- Shifting Hartwood — Representative of Gruul ramp dorks—accelerate into Jerrard and your payoffs ahead of curve.
- Cindervines — Reach and incidental damage to punish artifact/enchantment combo decks Gruul otherwise can't touch.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the curve with premium mana dorks and rocks (Birds of Paradise, Sol Ring, Cultivate) so Jerrard lands turns 3-4 and you have mana for protection and payoffs. Add evasion and resilience—Lightning Greaves, Loxodon Warhammer, Berserk, and haste enablers like Fervor—plus a clean finisher package (Embercleave, Craterhoof Behemoth, Xenagos). Round out with interaction Gruul can play (Beast Within, Krosan Grip, Cindervines) to survive long enough to swing.
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
- ▸Commander damage via equipment/auras and double strike or power-doubling
- ▸Overrun-style alpha strikes with a wide creature board (Craterhoof Behemoth, Overwhelming Stampede)
- ▸Direct burn and X-spell finishers like Fireball or Banefire
- ▸Grinding opponents out with relentless oversized attackers
Archetypes
- Voltron — His large native power makes him an ideal target for equipment and auras to deal lethal commander damage.
- Gruul Stompy — Color identity gives access to the best ramp and fatties to flood the board with threats.
- +1/+1 Counters — Growing an already-large body with counters and trample races opponents quickly.
- Big Mana / X-spells — Ramp into Jerrard early then dump mana into game-ending X burn and giant creatures.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GR), by popularity.
