The most effective MTG Commanders attack from multiple angles. The Legends that can both play an attrition game and push an advantage will go a long way in such a slow format.
This level of flexibility is part of what makes Slogurk, the Overslime such an intriguing option. Lethal attacks and combo kills out of nowhere aren’t uncommon with Slogurk at the helm, but the Ooze also excels at playing the long game.
MTG Slogurk, the Overslime
For just a three-mana creature, Slogurk, the Overslime presents a wide range of abilities that all synergize with each other. As Slogurk continues to grow, its Trample ability only becomes more threatening. Yet you can always bounce it to your hand if an opponent goes to kill it to generate some value. This is all possible so long as you can get lands into your graveyard.
Fortunately, Slogurk doesn’t care how your lands get to your graveyard, making this task easy. Any Mill effects from Hedron Crab to Blossoming Tortoise can get your engine rolling in no time. With some luck, mass-Mill effects like Traumatize can singlehandedly grow Slogurk large enough to kill an opponent by surprise.
Another avenue to quickly get +1/+1 counters on Slogurk is to discard lands from your hand. Cards like Ayula’s Influence and Trade Routes let you convert excess lands into on-board pressure. Pair these cards with Terrasymbiosis, and you significantly reduce the risk of running out of gas.
Slogurk also provides a similar effect to Life from the Loam, which can come in clutch in attrition battles. Coupled with cards such as Deadeye Navigator that can repetitively blink Slogurk, you’ll have a seemingly endless supply of lands in hand. From there, throwing in Azusa, Lost but Seeking and some Landfall payoffs like Sapling Nursery will help provide a consistent flow of attackers.
Variety of Infinite Combos
While Slogurk is quite a strong card without going infinite, the Ooze gets even better when you factor in ways to go infinite. Combining Slogurk with Mind Over Matter allows you to create infinite enters, leaves, discard, and Storm triggers so long as you have a Birds of Paradise. Start by floating mana with your Bird and discarding a land from your to untap it. After repeating this process two more times, you’ll have enough mana floating to bounce Slogurk to your hand and replay it. Since Slogurk costs three mana and picks up the lands you discarded, you can do this infinitely. You can pull off a similar combo with Ayula’s Influence and Aluren, netting infinite 2/2 Bear Tokens.
Once you include other colors, there are plenty of other cool combos you can execute. One of the strongest avenues to victory is to draw your deck by playing Slogurk alongside Bone Miser and Escape Protocol. Each time you cycle a land and trigger Escape Protocol, you get a mana rebate from Bone Miser and get to blink Slogurk, setting you up to keep cycling the same land repeatedly.
My vote for the coolest three-card combo, though, definitely goes to Slogurk, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, and Walk the Aeons. With Slogurk and Azusa in play, your first step is to cast Walk the Aeons with Buyback, sacrificing three Islands. This will trigger Slogurk, so you can bounce it back to your hand and regrow the three Islands. During your extra turn, all you have to do is replay Slogurk and your three Islands and recast Walk the Aeons.
A Criminally Underplayed Commander
With so many combo options available, Slogurk has tons of upside both as a Commander and in the 99 of graveyard-themed decks. Its efficiency as a beefy threat that consistently enables you to hit your land drops makes Slogurk a strong option even in lower EDH brackets.
Despite all of this incredible upside, though, Slogurk continues to be an extremely underplayed Commander. Accounting for less than 2,000 total decks according to EDHREC, Slogurk doesn’t even crack the top 1,000 Commanders. Meanwhile, as a support element in the 99 of other EDH shells, this Ooze falls short of 8,000 decks.
Once you factor in its price, Slogurk only becomes more appealing. Given its minimal demand, Slogurk sits at 25 cents, making it a great budget choice.
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