Grakmaw Golgari Midrange

Hey all! I started brawling on Arena when M21 released, and I've been having a blast brewing different decks after rotation. One of my favorite new commanders is [[Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager]].

Decklist: https://archidekt.com/decks/802584#Grakmaw_GB_Midrange_Brawl

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Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager – 1BG – 0/0

Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters on it.

Whenever another creature you control dies, if it had a +1/+1 counter on it, put a +1/+1 counter on Grakmaw.

When Grakmaw dies, create an X/X black and green Hydra creature token, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Grakmaw.

So far, I'm impressed with how effective Grakmaw can be even without triggering his first ability. Being able to replace himself with a 3/3 token at minimum makes Grakmaw both a removal and counterspell tank. His job is to make your opponents uncomfortable. If they spend their exile or counters to avoid Grakmaw's second ability, that leaves fewer tools to deal with the deck's top end. If they ignore Grakmaw, he'll continue to grow both via his first ability and by mutating creatures on top of his 0/0 base.

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Deck Focus and Playstyle

After testing a more dedicated +1/+1 counters theme, I decided to shift the deck closer to an aggressive midrange style to improve creature quality. That said, the deck maintains a +1/+1 counters subtheme through creatures with strong abilities: [[Wildborn Preserver]] [[Scavenging Ooze]], escape: [[Woe Strider]] [[Polukranos, Unchained]], and both The Great Henge and [[The First Iroan Games]].

The deck can take advantage of +1/+1 counters in the mid/late game through mutation. An early Stonecoil Serpent suddenly becomes much more threatening with a Gemrazer on top. That said, I've included [[Ranger's Guile]] in addition to Heroic Intervention in order to avoid blowouts.

Against Omnath, the key has been to pummel him with instant speed removal before he can get rolling. Unlike Niv-Reborn, Omnath only draws one card on entry. Grakmaw into [[Rankle, Master of Pranks]] is a lot of fun in this matchup as well. If Omnath is the only creature on your opponent's side, you can sacrifice Grakmaw to take out Omnath and still hang on to the 3/3 token.

I hope you all enjoy the deck. I'm excited to hear your feedback!