Good God Stompy (Gruul Bo1) (Standard)

I was looking at the gods in War of the Spark and thought that both Ilharg and Rhonas were powerful cards I have not seen getting a lot of play. My next thought was that they could slot into a deck together pretty nicely. Both are big bodies that never fully go away and both have ways to finish off a game when they enter the battlefield. Now the pair just need a compliment of creatures to work with and ways to get to them faster.

When I was looking at cards to include in the build Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma jumped out. It helps ramp out the gods and pumps their attack. Goreclaw can also help cast any other 4 power creatures in the deck. Another key point is that the trample anthem effect also works with cards like Gruul Spellbreaker, which is not 4 powered on entry but will be during attacks.

Ghalta was my next obvious inclusion. There is no better card to spring in standard off of an Ilharg and playing beefy creature means that you can still ramp out Ghalta early without help.

Since the deck is obviously a Gruul stompy deck Nullhide Ferox is another nice inclusion. It is a lot of punch for 4cmc and can be a game ender with either god.

I decided to play two Carnage Tyrant, but I'm not sure if this is the right play. I will see how it plays out. It wight be better to have additional 3 or 4 cmc creatures to play ahead of the gods.

The deck is light on removal (that is an understatement). The deck is not looking to remove creatures, but to trample all over them. To help with this I included a playset of Kraul Harpooner's and Thrash // Threat. Harpooner is especially nice in late games when given haste. Thrash is very solid removal (a lot of people see this as a fight mechanic, but it just deals the damage and also targets planeswalkers) and Threat puts out a very nice body that fits our synergies very well.

The last beatstick in the deck is Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion. Cards like this rarely work out, but I'm still testing one anyway. This is the flex slot. This slot may be much better served as Rekindling Phoenix, Chandra or Karn. I'm just looking at it as the possibilities with haste. Having trample also makes it a nice curve a turn before Rhonas or to play off of Ilharg.

To get to the bombs I decided to go the tradional mana dork route. They are better with Rhonas and Ghalta then going with other ramp options. I'm playing 8 right now, but may cut it down to 7. Paradise Druid helps to cast the red spells and it is nice that they can't "bolt the bird" until you get to use it at least once.

Key decision
Domri, Anarch of Bolas vs. Rhythm of the Wild. Both beef up creatures and both make creatures uncounterable. The decision is left between ramp or haste. I flipped on this decision multiple times, but haste is my final choice. Domri is the better card, but Rhythm is better in this deck. Ilharg and Neheb are so much better with haste. Harpooner becomes a wincon with haste. Also, in a format full of planeswalkers, haste is invaluable.