MTG Boar Legend Turns Mana Dorks Into Infinitely Large Beaters

If you’re building an MTG Commander deck, there are a fair few MTG cards that, while important, aren’t very exciting. Mana dorks, for instance, are a necessary evil, being simple and weak, yet often needed to ramp. Thankfully, these underwhelming auto-includes don’t have to be so dull, as there’s a spicy Commander dedicated to them.

MTG Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss

Beyond having one of the best names in all of MTG, Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss is a seriously strong Commander. At the very least, this Human Boar is a solid lord for mana dorks, buffing them and effectively giving them Vigilance. This lets them attack for solid damage before doing their usual mana-dork ramping post-combat.

Thanks to this synergy, unsurprisingly, Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss decks run a lot of mana dorks. You’ve got all the classics like Llanowar Elves Llanowar Elves {T}: Add {G}. and Elvish Mystic Elvish Mystic {T}: Add {G}. alongside the serious mana machines of Viridian Joiner Viridian Joiner {T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to this creature's power. and Marwyn, the Nurturer Marwyn, the Nurturer Whenever another Elf you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on Marwyn.
{T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to Marwyn's power. . You can even run cards like Leyline of Abundance Leyline of Abundance If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional {G}.
{6}{G}{G}: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. and Nyxbloom Ancient Nyxbloom Ancient Trample
If you tap a permanent for mana, it produces three times as much of that mana instead. to push mana production even further.

With mana production covered, the other piece of the puzzle is making your mana dorks genuine threats. Thankfully, since many of them are Elves, you can easily lean into potent typal support pieces like Coat of Arms Coat of Arms Each creature gets +1/+1 for each other creature on the battlefield that shares at least one creature type with it. (For example, if two Goblin Warriors and a Goblin Shaman are on the battlefield, each gets +2/+2.) and Door of Destinies Door of Destinies As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen type, put a charge counter on this artifact.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1 for each charge counter on this artifact. . Similarly, you can also run cards like Akroma’s Memorial Akroma’s Memorial Creatures you control have flying, first strike, vigilance, trample, haste, and protection from black and from red. to massively buff your board, and Dolmen Gate Dolmen Gate Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to attacking creatures you control. to keep everything safe.

With these artifacts, your mana dorks can easily become a lethal force, especially when you use Aggravated Assault Aggravated Assault {3}{R}{R}: Untap all creatures you control. After this main phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase. Activate only as a sorcery. for multiple combat steps. This is really just the tip of the iceberg, however, as having tons of mana lets you play bombs like Kamahal, Heart of Krosa and Regal Force Regal Force When this creature enters, draw a card for each green creature you control. . As if that wasn’t enough, Craterhoof Behemoth Craterhoof Behemoth Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control. , Etali, Primal Conqueror Etali, Primal Conqueror Trample
When Etali enters, each player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card. You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
{9}{G/P}: Transform Etali. Activate only as a sorcery. , and Etali, Primal Storm Etali, Primal Storm Whenever Etali attacks, exile the top card of each player's library, then you may cast any number of spells from among those cards without paying their mana costs. are all fair game.

Speaking of fair games, Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss is definitely strong there, as it doesn’t need combos to succeed. As a Gruul deck, you’ve just got to turn your cards sideways and reap the rewards. That said, if you want to end the game in a hurry, there are plenty of combos to exploit.

Infinite Mana, Token, and Power Combos

Thanks to Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss’ final ability, going infinite with it is surprisingly easy. Alongside a buffed-up mana dork like Viridian Joiner Viridian Joiner {T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to this creature's power. and Wurmcalling Wurmcalling Buyback {2}{G} (You may pay an additional {2}{G} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Create an X/X green Wurm creature token. , for instance, you can easily keep paying the buyback cost. Starting this loop is easy, too, as you just need to pay seven mana for Wurmcalling the first time around, including its Buyback cost.

Since this will trigger Raggadragga, you can then untap and buff Viridian Joiner so it taps for eight. This will be more than enough to pay for a seven-mana Wurmcalling again, including its Buyback cost, to trigger Raggadragga. Through this loop, you’ll get infinite mana, Wurm tokens, enters triggers, storm, and an infinitely big Viridian Joiner.

For added consistency, you can also use Marwyn, the Nurturer Marwyn, the Nurturer Whenever another Elf you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on Marwyn.
{T}: Add an amount of {G} equal to Marwyn's power. or Selvala, Heart of the Wilds Selvala, Heart of the Wilds Whenever another creature enters, its controller may draw a card if its power is greater than each other creature's power.
{G}, {T}: Add X mana in any combination of colors, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control. as the mana engine. You can also run Fanning the Flames Fanning the Flames Buyback {3} (You may pay an additional {3} as you cast this spell. If you do, put this card into your hand as it resolves.)
Fanning the Flames deals X damage to any target. as another scalable X-cost spell with Buyback. Alternatively, you can even run Temur Sabertooth Temur Sabertooth {1}{G}: You may return another creature you control to its owner's hand. If you do, this creature gains indestructible until end of turn. as a way to bounce a seven-cost creature, provided you have one in hand or play.

Should you want to lean into combos even more, you could even run Staff of Domination Staff of Domination {1}: Untap this artifact.
{2}, {T}: You gain 1 life.
{3}, {T}: Untap target creature.
{4}, {T}: Tap target creature.
{5}, {T}: Draw a card. or Umbra Mantle. Alongside a mana dork that produces four or more mana, five in the case of Staff, you can keep paying the untap costs to make infinite mana. Notably, while this is effective, running these combos will push you into Bracket 4, since they only need two cards.

A Bomb on a Budget

Between its fair game and the multitude of combos, Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss is a seriously strong MTG Commander. Once it gets going, it can spiral out of control, so the only real struggle is removal and counterplay. Thankfully, with Rhythm of the Wild Rhythm of the Wild Creature spells you control can't be countered.
Nontoken creatures you control have riot. (They enter with your choice of a +1/+1 counter or haste.) and Heroic Intervention Heroic Intervention Permanents you control gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. in the 99, you’re rarely dead in the water.

Mercifully, while Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss is very powerful, it’s not at all expensive. Even though it’s never been reprinted, you can easily pick up a near-mint copy on TCGplayer for just $0.20. Alternatively, the showcase frame is $0.14, and the foil etched printing is only $0.21. Given the price of most mana dorks, too, Raggadragga, Goreguts Boss can be a fantastically affordable build-around.

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