Hello, and welcome to the Primer for Group Hug, an EDH deck that I have been playing for some time now and is by far the most loved by everyone at my shop. Group Hug is unique in that, unlike other decks, it does not seek to win the game. At all. Instead it does its best to jump-start the game and give everyone some incredible advantages, such as cheating things into play, drawing cards, and accelerating the land count.
But before we get too in depth here, let's ask ourselves "Is this deck for me?" Why I'm glad you asked! Because that's the first thing we're talking about here!
This deck IS for you if...
-You enjoy the political aspect of EDH
-You like shenannagins (I'm positive I spelled that wrong, but whatever)
-You like fun
-You want to make new friends
And most importantly:
-To you, winning ISN'T everything
This deck IS NOT for you if...
-You only play aggro decks and are known as a "Spike"
-You like saying "And my combo is online... so I win...
-Winning the game is the most fun to you (there's no shame in thinking this way, you just won't like this deck is all)
Now then, let's get started.
I. The General
To start us off, lets take a look at our beloved Flying Purple Hippo. He's a 4/4, and carries an ability that revolves around each of his three colors. To state the obvious, we'll be playing in the Bant color scheme, and it just so happens that there's an incredible amount of hugging potential within these colors. His white ability grants Phelddagrif flying until end of turn, and allows you to give an opponent 2 life. His blue ability is a built in Unsummon that can be used to protect Phelddagrif in the event of a Wrath type effect, it also allows us to give one of our opponents a card in the process, sadly given that Phelddagrif needs to be recast after this effect it's somewhat hard to make use of. Finally, the green ability gives Phelddagrif trample until end of turn and one lucky individual gets a 1/1 Green Hippo token, perfect for those surprise chump blocks when they're getting picked on by someone else!
Group Hug is a pretty easy deck to pilot, seeing as we aren't playing to win that allows us to keep almost any hand we're dealt. And (other than land) any card we topdeck is going to be the "right card" because no matter what the game is going to progress. However there is some strategy to how things would go ideally.
For example, if we start the day off with something that cheats stuff into play (Braids) or gives everyone land (Collective Voyage), then the game is going to progress much better than if we drop turn three Jace. By this I mean that, while giving everyone the extra draw is good, some people might not be able to utilize the card advantage as well as others, at such an early point in the game.
IV. Conclusion
Without a doubt in my mind Group Hug is one deck that should at least be an option for every playgroup. Whenever we all sit at the table and I show up with Phelddagrif in hand everyone's faces get just a little bit brighter. I would highly recommend that you create your own build and show up to your next game with Phelddagrif, it will land you more friends than you can shake a stick at and make everything you touch turn to gold (okay not really but you know what I mean...). I'd like to thank you for taking some of your time to read this and if you have any questions or comments please do post them (if it is requested I will create and expand an card explanation section, but be sure to ask which card in particular you would like explained)! I'm always looking to tweak the deck so that it can better hug everything it touches. Have a fantastic day!
I just made a group hug deck of my own. While making it, I came across some cards I thought fit well for the theme of the deck. You should replace a forest with Llanowar Reborn. And throw a Bear Hug in.
Hello, and welcome to the Primer for Group Hug, an EDH deck that I have been playing for some time now and is by far the most loved by everyone at my shop. Group Hug is unique in that, unlike other decks, it does not seek to win the game. At all. Instead it does its best to jump-start the game and give everyone some incredible advantages, such as cheating things into play, drawing cards, and accelerating the land count.
But before we get too in depth here, let's ask ourselves "Is this deck for me?" Why I'm glad you asked! Because that's the first thing we're talking about here!
This deck IS for you if...
-You enjoy the political aspect of EDH
-You like shenannagins (I'm positive I spelled that wrong, but whatever)
-You like fun
-You want to make new friends
And most importantly:
-To you, winning ISN'T everything
-You only play aggro decks and are known as a "Spike"
-You like saying "And my combo is online... so I win...
-Winning the game is the most fun to you (there's no shame in thinking this way, you just won't like this deck is all)
Now then, let's get started.
I. The General
II. The Decklist
By Card Type
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Bant Panorama
8 Forest
1 Graypelt Refuge
8 Island
8 Plains
1 Rainbow Vale
1 Seaside Citadel
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Simic Growth Chamber
Instant (14)
1 Arcane Denial
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Condemn
1 Second Sunrise
1 Snakeform
1 Truce
1 Turn to Frog
1 Vision Skeins
1 Wheel and Deal
1 Words of Wisdom
1 Fog
1 Holy Day
1 Blunt the Assault
1 Dawn Charm
1 Awakening
1 Fecundity
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Hive Mind
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Propaganda
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Seed the Land
1 War Tax
1 Well-Laid Plans
1 Dense Foliage
Sorcery (12)
1 Temporary Truce
1 Day of Judgment
1 Flux
1 Nature's Resurgence
1 New Frontiers
1 Prosperity
1 Skyscribing
1 Wrath of God
1 Time Reversal
1 Hunters' Feast
1 Collective Voyage
1 Minds Aglow
Artifact (10)
1 Bubble Matrix
1 Azorius Signet
1 Gate to the AEther
1 Horn of Greed
1 Horn of Plenty
1 Norn's Annex
1 Selesnya Signet
1 Simic Signet
1 Spectral Searchlight
1 Temple Bell
1 Jace Beleren
Creature (17)
1 Arbiter of Knollridge
1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
1 Brooding Saurian
1 Ghosts of the Innocent
1 Heartwood Storyteller
1 Hunted Wumpus
1 Indentured Djinn
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Liege of the Hollows
1 Phelddagrif
1 Pulsemage Advocate
1 Questing Phelddagrif
1 Veteran Explorer
1 Wall of Shards
1 Wishmonger
1 Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
1 Phelddagrif
1 Questing Phelddagrif
Drawin' Cards!
1 Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer (Doubles as repeatable Pacifism)
1 Heartwood Storyteller
1 Indentured Djinn
1 Jace's Archivist
1 Minds Aglow
1 Kami of the Crescent Moon
1 Flux
1 Nature's Resurgence
1 Prosperity
1 Skyscribing
1 Temporary Truce
1 Truce
1 Arcane Denial
1 Vision Skeins
1 Wheel and Deal
1 Words of Wisdom
1 Horn of Greed
1 Horn of Plenty
1 Temple Bell
1 Fecundity
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Jace Beleren
1 Arbiter of Knollridge
1 Wall of Shards
1 Temporary Truce
1 Truce
1 Beacon of Immortality
1 Hunters' Feast
1 Condemn
Protection
1 Ghosts of the Innocent
1 Wishmonger
1 Blunt the Assault
1 Dawn Charm
1 Fog
1 Holy Day
1 Bubble Matrix
1 Dense Foliage
1 War Tax
1 Well-Laid Plans
Cheating Stuff In
1 Braids, Conjurer Adept
1 Hunted Wumpus
1 Gate to the Aether
Reset Buttons (For "Oh ****" Moments)
1 Day of Judgment
1 Wrath of God
1 Veteran Explorer
1 New Frontiers
1 Collective Voyage
1 Spectral Searchlight
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Rainbow Vale
Graveyard Shtuff
1 Pulsemage Advocate
1 Time Reversal
1 Second Sunrise
Shields Up!
1 Norn's Annex
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Propaganda
1 War Tax
Other
1 Brooding Saurian (Fights Control Magic and friends)
1 Liege of the Hollows (Cause its fun...)
1 Snakeform (Reduces threats)
1 Turn to Frog (See above)
1 Awakening (Gives everyone full use of their lands)
1 Journey to Nowhere (For when **** hits the proverbial fan)
1 Oblivion Ring (Ditto)
1 Seed the Land (Lands come with free chumps)
III. How to engage in a group hug:
For example, if we start the day off with something that cheats stuff into play (Braids) or gives everyone land (Collective Voyage), then the game is going to progress much better than if we drop turn three Jace. By this I mean that, while giving everyone the extra draw is good, some people might not be able to utilize the card advantage as well as others, at such an early point in the game.
IV. Conclusion
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon, the Destroyer of Darksteel
BGW Teneb, the Harvester, my Pimped Out Reanimator
GUB The Mimeoplasm Ooze-Mill
GWU Rafiq the Exalted
Standard
BW B/W Tokens BW
GWR G/W Humans GWR
EDH:
BW Ghost Council Control BW
BG Glissa, the Antique Dealer BG
UG Edric the Politician UG