Group Slug Commander: Everyone Loses Life, You Win

Group Slug decks are one of the most controversial archetypes in Commander. Instead of winning through combat or combos, Group Slug decks win by draining all your opponents to zero life simultaneously. If you love the idea of watching your opponents' life totals tick down to zero while you sit back and watch, Group Slug is the archetype for you.

What Makes a Good Group Slug Deck?

A good Group Slug deck needs three things: a commander that enables your drain strategy, a suite of drain effects to damage your opponents, and protection to keep your drain engines safe from removal.

Drain Effects

Drain effects are the backbone of any Group Slug deck. They damage your opponents and often gain you life. Here are some of the best drain effects in Commander:

• Blood Artist: Whenever Blood Artist or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
• Zulaport Cutthroat: Whenever Zulaport Cutthroat or another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel: When Gray Merchant enters, each opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is your devotion to black.
• Exsanguinate: Each opponent loses X life and you gain X life.

Token Generators

Token generators create the creatures you'll sacrifice to trigger your drain effects. Here are some of the best token generators in Commander:

• Dragon Fodder: Create two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens.
• Krenko, Mob Boss: Tap to create Goblin creature tokens equal to the number of Goblins you control.
• Siege-Gang Commander: Create three 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens when Siege-Gang Commander enters the battlefield.

Sacrifice Outlets

Sacrifice outlets let you sacrifice your creatures to trigger your drain effects. Here are some of the best sacrifice outlets in Commander:

• Ashnod's Altar: Sacrifice a creature, add 2 colorless mana.
• Phyrexian Altar: Sacrifice a creature, add one mana of any color.
• Viscera Seer: Sacrifice a creature, scry 1.

Best Group Slug Commanders

Kokusho, the Evening Star

Kokusho is the ultimate Group Slug commander. His ability to drain your opponents whenever he dies creates a powerful drain effect. With Kokusho on the battlefield, every sacrifice becomes more valuable.

Bloodghast

Bloodghast is a popular Group Slug commander. His ability to return from the graveyard whenever a land enters the battlefield creates a powerful sacrifice loop. With Bloodghast on the battlefield, you can sacrifice him repeatedly for value.

Zulaport Cutthroat

Zulaport Cutthroat is a classic Group Slug commander. His ability to drain your opponents whenever a creature dies creates a powerful drain effect. With Zulaport Cutthroat on the battlefield, every sacrifice becomes more valuable.

Building a Group Slug Deck

Here's a step-by-step guide to building a Group Slug deck:

1. Choose your commander: Pick a commander that synergizes with drain strategies. Kokusho, Bloodghast, and Zulaport Cutthroat are popular choices.
2. Build your drain suite: Run at least 10-15 drain effects. Include Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
3. Add token generators: Run 8-12 token generators to create creatures to sacrifice.
4. Add sacrifice outlets: Run 8-12 sacrifice outlets to sacrifice your creatures for value.
5. Add ramp: Run 8-12 ramp sources to help you cast your expensive spells on time.
6. Add card draw: Run 8-12 card draw sources to help you find your best cards.
7. Test and iterate: Play your deck and see what works. Cut underperforming cards and add new ones.

Checking Your Group Slug Deck with Rate My Decks

When you analyze your deck with Rate My Decks, we detect your deck's archetype and compare it to the optimal build for that archetype. If your Group Slug deck is running too few drain effects, we'll flag it as a weakness. If your deck is missing key sacrifice outlets, we'll recommend additions.