Ah, so Dissension has been released. The Ravnica Block is over, and I actually must say it’s the first block that I’ll miss since, well, Odyssey. The reason? Well, that means no more Groodions, Indriks, Nodorogs, Drekavacs, Ursapines, and when’s the next time we’re going to see a “Snake Elf Druid”?

Ravnica was a mythozooilogical heaven. On top of all the various nondescript beasties, we were also treated to the return of some old friendly (or not so friendly) faces. Nothing makes me happier than breaking some face with new Loxodon fists, or running around cutting people with knives like any self respecting Viashino. We can even play Vedalken Tribal now!

But the real blast from the past is what we’re going to peek into this time around. Mirrodin can continue to rot, we’re setting our Wayback machine to Fallen Empires. Get out the sewing machines, and prepare to check out Thrulls.

Recycle for a Better Tomorrow!

The Order of the Ebon Hand had it made. With the Thallids and Homarids wreaking havoc around the world, the only thing they had to worry about was those unoriginal limp-wrists over in Icatia. Why would they even pose a problem, anyway. Protection from White for the win!

What the Ebon hand failed to do was see the mistakes of those around them. In retrospect, engineering a race in a time rampant with inner-color conflict was probably a bad idea. That knowledge came far too late, however, and The Ebon Hand was soon sharing their slice of the color pie with their vat-grown minions, the Thrulls.

It started out perfectly. The Ebon Hand grew the Thrulls in their Breeding Pits, and the Thrulls served the Ebon Hand in return. However, since the Ebon Hand was black mana aligned, serving them often included being part of ritual sacrifices. I’m not the authority on the inner workings of Thrull Philosophy, but I assume after one or two too many Basals got thrown into the flesh-grinder engines, the group convened and agreed that maybe, just maybe, they didn’t need to be smears on the altar anymore. (How they apparently “decided” is beyond me, since Thrulls are basically mindless drones.)

Even with all this going on under their noses, the Ebon Hand didn’t suspect a thing. If anything, they were growing dependant on the Thrulls more and more, breeding them into ranks as high as ‘Champions’ and ‘Wizards’. By the time that the Thrulls were ready to swamp over and erase the guild that birthed them; they outnumbered their creators two hundred to one.

Without the Ebon Hand to tend to their pets, it can generally be assumed that the Thrulls could not function on their own and their population receded. Even with the Ebon Hand destroyed, however, Thrulls were still bullied around and sacrificed. That’s just what Thrulls do. It’s what they were made to do. Somewhere along the line, Yawgmoth stumbled upon the Thrulls and decided they suited his fancy, so the Phyrexian Army had a handful of Thrulls among their ranks. Volrath also had a few scurrying around the Evincar’s Stronghold. Additionally, the Thrulls found some refuge among the streets of Ravnica as well.

The Orzhov use a form of Thrull as the bottom of their hierarchal totem pole. These Thrulls, which aren’t made in the same manner as their Dominarian brethren, are instead stitched together from the ‘shed’ bodies of Patriarchs that have ascended beyond their bloated saggy frames, and have become bloated saggy ghosts. The easiest way to tell the difference between a Dominarian Thrull and a Ravnican Thrull, other than where you find them, is that the Orzhov like to fit their Thrulls with masks, with the Thrulls in service to higher ranking guild members clad with one made of gold. For reference to these masks, look at cards like Crime (from Crime/Punishment), Ostiary Thrull, Orzhov Pontiff, and the Thrulls in the background of Douse in Gloom.

Fluffy Bunny?

There are a few cards, incidentally from Fallen Empires that have nothing to do with Thrulls but are important to them anyway.

We’ve got Soul Exchange, a sorcery that pitches a creature to recur bigger and better than before (with the help of Thrulls).

Ebon Praetor, the creepy old demon judge thing and his bunny henchman (Chances are it’s a cousin of Infernal Spawn of Evil.) who eats your permanents… and his favorite food is Thrulls.

Tourach’s Gate, the geyser of creature beefing demon froth that requires, of all the energy sources out there, Thrull sacrifice! Who’d of guessed?

The final, more sensible, duo of this quintet is Thrull Retainer and Breeding Pit. The first is one of the weirdest flavored cards out there, giving it’s enchanted creature a Thrull sidekick, making it a creature that is never actually a creature, save for Opalescence shenanigans. The latter is a good explainer of how horrible, masochistic monsters have been surviving, since some of these pits must still be in operation. I’m not even going to entertain the concept of Thrull mating… eugh.

Maybe we should start working on Thrull powered cars, or outsource manual labor to Thrulls.

Blood and Guts (With a Sprinkling of Clove!)

In case you weren’t paying attention earlier, Thrulls are black on the color pie. Not just because black mana is the only thing that keeps their poor suffering husks from falling apart. They also know no bounds or limitations in what they can inevitably become.

Being made of human slag, they’re nothing more than living garbage. Without any pride, you can’t have humiliation, and without humiliation, you know no restraint. Thus, you enter things like Derelor, who is undoubtedly one of the most hideous looking things ever to grace an art slot. I wouldn’t have it any other way, either.

However, there’s something else about Thrulls that doesn’t get touched on. At their core, Thrulls are, startling enough, somewhat white. Thrulls have a strange sense of martyrdom in which they’re even willing to be hacked up, grinded to bits, and detonated in the name of their master. While it’s more blind obedience than traditional honor, the fact that Thrulls uncannily look out for others over themselves is undeniable.

We Can Rebuild Him, Faster, Stronger, Better…

Let’s be honest here. Thrulls are thrulls. There aren’t a whole lot of options when it comes to deckbuilding without rehashing the same deck concept over and over again. Despite this, I bring forth three decklists that are all Tribal Thrull decks with the help of fellow writers on MDV.  First up, a deck by me!

The majority of the creatures in this deck are really only a means to stall your opponent. Mourning Thrull can swing over the opponent’s head early on and net you a few extra clicks of life, and Basal and Blood Pet can help power your Champion out sooner, same as Ritual. Necrite can serve up at least a small amount of creature control, being as your opponent should be worried more about your big, beefy Demon Judge.

Breeding Pit will indefinitely pump out chump blocking fodder, which, if they aren’t dying, you can feed into the Gate, Soul Exchange, or Praetor. Then, when you’ve muscled around long enough, Patriarch’s Bidding will fetch up all those sacrifices into an army. Pump said army with Thrull Champion and the Gate, and you’re good to go. [Kind of like a crunch wrap supreme?  ~Sreetz~]

If you happen to lose your Thrull Champion or Ebon Praetor, Soul Exchange can win them back for you, and chances are pretty high that they’ll get +2/+2 upon reentry. Duress will get rid of whatever sneakiness you’re opponent may throw into your proverbial gears. This, of course, is all in theory, since the deck isn’t all that good. Consider it a jumping off point.

(Even better, email me your improvements on the build! You know I love to hear from ya’ll. Yes, ya’ll. I said ya’ll. Sue me.)

Next up we have a deck from Kishiesties:

The following brief deck description is based on Kishiesties deck description.

The idea behind this deck lies in the interaction of Breeding Pit and Contamination.  At the beginning of your upkeep you have to sacrifice a creature to keep it in play.  In return, all non-black decks will be severely crippled.  And what better way to use a Thrull than to sacrifice it.  Every turn, with Breeding Pit, you pay BB and generate a 0/1 Thrull token creature.  His purpose is to feed your Contamination.

I wouldn't suggest playing this deck against another black deck... Contamination really only likes nonblack decks.

The sideboard has plenty anti-black cards where Death Wish can get at them. The Thrulls play more of a defense/utility role and also help speed the deck up.

Lastly, we have a deck from Streetz:

The following deck description is quoted from Streetz.

Crafting Thrulls is a fun little deck that I threw together trying to stray away from the traditional Thrull Tribal deck. How did I accomplish this?

You see, Thrull Champion is a rare black creature. I’m not just talking about its ‘rarity’ but more about the color pie portion that this guy’s ability falls into. Controlling another creature is red and/or blue. It’s most certainly not black, unless it was dug out of a graveyard. A black card that can control creatures, mind you just Thrulls, should be paired up with the color that really has that share of the color pie: Blue.

So Thrull Champion can control Thrulls at the cost of a tap. And this control doesn’t end at the end of the turn. No, it ends when Mr. Thrull Champion leaves play or when you lose control of him. That’s abusable. What if I made something that wasn’t a thrull before, a thrull? Then I could just tap the Champion and take control of it. Behemoth now? Let’s thrull-anize him and steal him. Elf? Let’s make him a thrull with pointy ears! Whatever the creature, just turn him into a Thrull thanks to Imagecrafter and steal him with Thrull Champion. True, Imagecrafter can’t turn creatures into walls (with defender) anymore, but who cares! Thrulls are the ‘in thing’ with this deck.

How else have I incorporated blue into the deck? I didn’t do a whole lot with blue aside from one copy of Faces of the Past (untapping Thrull fun) and a playset of Counterspells. Otherwise, this is a pretty traditional Thrull deck loaded with sackable Thrulls for mana and Gravepact for synergy with your Blood Pets and Blood Vassals. Go, go Demon Froth!

Did He Say ‘Demon Froth’?!

I’ll leave you on that note. What was I thinking? Demon froth? It sounds like some kind of alcoholic whipped cream or something.

Until next time maggots, keep your pets on leashes. You never know when they might go crazy and start a rebellion. Oh, and if I hear one complaint that I didn’t talk about famous Thrulls in the media, or a Thrull that redefined the tournament scene, I’ll break your frigging nose. [He means that in a friendly, joking kind of way, I’m sure! ~Streetz~]

Cheers! :-D

Tekkactus

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

Articles Spotlights from 2006
The Games People Play - Tactical Magic.
If I worked at R&D
The Beginner’s Guide to Rogue
Druid Week Primer
Opting In: Ravnica
MDV Idol: Finale!
Avatar Week Primer
Delusions of Mediocrity: Getting Stuffy in Here.
Lands-More than Mana: Part One
Raiding Ravnica: Guildmages and You!