Best Starter Commanders - Ayula, Queen Among Bears

Did you know that MTG originally started off as a game that could have creatures without special abilities in it? It’s a little strange to think about now, given that even the most basic monster has a wall of text on it, but it’s true.

In fact, it was the case so often that any creature that only cost two mana and was a 2/2 tended to be a Bear. It’s why there are cards referred to as hatebears that aren’t well, ursine in nature. Anyway, let’s talk about Ayula.

Meet your commander

Ayula, Queen Among Bears Ayula, Queen Among Bears Whenever another Bear you control enters, choose one —
• Put two +1/+1 counters on target Bear.
• Target Bear you control fights target creature you don't control. , is a two-mana green 2/2. Whenever another bear enters the battlefield under your control you can either put two +1/+1 counters on a target bear, or you can have a Bear you control fight a creature you don’t control.

So, the aim here is really simple; we’re gonna play Bears. The good thing about this is that you don’t have to spend much money on most of the cards, because while everyone loves Bears, they’re not often very expensive because they’re just very vanilla.

So, with Ayula at the helm, let’s take a look at the cards we want in the deck. You know, other than just searching for Bears and putting them in. Although that’s a perfectly valid way of doing this, we won’t judge you if you just do that.

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The best Bears

Before we get to the actual bears, it’s worth making sure you have both Metallic Mimic Metallic Mimic As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
Each other creature you control of the chosen type enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it. and Adaptive Automaton Adaptive Automaton As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
Other creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1. . Both of these are creatures that can become Bears and will then buff other Bears as they come in, or just in general. Hooray! Kamahl’s Summons Kamahl’s Summons Each player may reveal any number of creature cards from their hand. Then each player creates a 2/2 green Bear creature token for each card they revealed this way. is another good not bear that allows players to reveal creature cards from their hands to make some Bear tokens.

Ruxa, Patient Professor Ruxa, Patient Professor Whenever Ruxa enters or attacks, return target creature card with no abilities from your graveyard to your hand.
Creatures you control with no abilities get +1/+1.
For each creature you control with no abilities, you may have that creature assign its combat damage as though it weren't blocked. is a four-mana 4/4 that reads, “Whenever Ruxa, Patient Professor enters the battlefield or attacks, return target creature card with no abilities from your graveyard to your hand. Creatures you control with no abilities get +1/+1. You may have creatures you control with no abilities assign their combat damage as though they weren’t blocked.” That’s a lot of what we want, so hooray for that too.

Finally, as we’ll be making our Bears as strong as possible, there’s also Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma Creature spells you cast with power 4 or greater cost {2} less to cast.
Whenever Goreclaw attacks, each creature you control with power 4 or greater gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn. . Goreclaw makes your creatures with four or more power cost two less to cast, but also gives them +1/+1 and trample until the end of the turn whenever it attacks.

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The best support cards

Aside from Unnatural Growth Unnatural Growth At the beginning of each combat, double the power and toughness of each creature you control until end of turn. , which should be in every green deck, we’ve got four picks for support cards. First up is Yeva, Nature’s Herald Yeva, Nature’s Herald Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
You may cast green creature spells as though they had flash. , which allows you to cast your green creatures as though they had flash. Instant speed Bears should be feared, and we love it.

Ayula’s Influence Ayula’s Influence Discard a land card: Create a 2/2 green Bear creature token. can also grant more instant speed bears, because this three-mana enchantment lets you discard land cards to create 2/2 bear tokens. That means yet more buffs and fights as you choose. Rhonas’s Monument Rhonas’s Monument Green creature spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Whenever you cast a creature spell, target creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn. is a three-mana artifact that makes your green creatures cost one less to cast, but also allows you to make your creatures bigger too.

Finally, Foe-Razer Regent Foe-Razer Regent Flying
When this creature enters, you may have it fight target creature you don't control.
Whenever a creature you control fights, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step. is a seven-mana 4/5 Dragon with flying. It reads, “When Foe-Razer Regent enters the battlefield, you may have it fight target creature you don’t control. Whenever a creature you control fights, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step.” This means you can really go all-in on fighting things and then just grow as a result of it, which is wonderful.

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