Budget Magic: Ghalta Gearhulk (Standard)

This week, we're heading to Standard to play a deck built around one of the most hyped cards from Rivals of Ixalan: Ghalta, Primal Hunger. While we've seen the Elder Dino show up in various GRx Monster decks as a beater, our deck is looking to take advantage of the fact that while we can often cast Ghalta, Primal Hunger for two mana, its converted mana cost is actually 12. Why is having a massive converted mana cost an upside in our deck? Well, instead of just beating down with Ghalta, Primal Hunger, we're also hoping to mill it with Combustible Gearhulk, which (when combined with another card or two) potentially lets us one-shot our opponent with direct damage! Can the combination of Ghalta, Primal Hunger and Combustible Gearhulk work in Standard?
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Match 1 - 7:46
Match 2 - 18:57
Match 3 - 24:30
Match 4 - 31:30
Match 5 - 38:02
Wrap Up - 41:15

[@Kaizerworks]

The obvious name for this deck should be "Fossil Fuels"

[@the_snakelicious]

Seth shold improve his deck naming skills, "Ghalta Gearhulk" is pretty bad, even "Combustible Ghalta" would be much better.

[@lelandgill3631]

Kaizerworks you need some kind of an award for that

[@stewartparkhurst2969]

I'm partial to Ghalhulk

[@serpensviktorijewiczvonarm1011]

What about Primal Gearhulk?

[@MTGGoldfish]

I need to hire you as my official deck namer :)

[@wendig0942]

Well, I need to sleep. *seth uploads* DAMN.

[@elizakleinman1332]

He always uploads at 11:00

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Elijah Kleinman 5:00 for me

[@adrianordp]

1am to me. And i have insomnia.

[@rahminh]

Ain't that the truth!

[@lordtyman]

TIL Seth needs to go to the zoo more often Rhino=Hippo LoL love this Deck BTW.

[@jessesherk990]

Hey Seth, love the new format for the videos. I also really appreciate the wrap-up section, it provided me extra insight into the good and the bad of the deck.

[@coreysierchio4650]

Seth! I love your use of Dinos. Keep up the good work & keep things Standard. (I play vicariously through you.)

[@samliveshere88]

WHERES THE FLING

[@tridentseven693]

Around halfway through there was a KZbin ad that showed a T-Rex chasing after a Jeep. It fit soooo well! Btw this deck looks crazy fun.

[@nolife874]

Plz make a none budget version of this deck. Also how can you not run fling with a 2 mana 12/12? If you do make another deck with this, art needs to be gearhulk flinging ghalta at someone

[@ecoKady]

A non-budget version would probably quickly evolve into R/G Monsters + Ghalta, dropping the Gearhulks entirely, eventually. If you really wanted to stick to the theme, the only thing I could see doing is swapping in 4x Glorybringer and 2x Chandra. All of Chandra's modes would be great in the deck. Probably -4 Mouth // Feed, -1 Reckless Rage, and -1 of something else. You could drop some other cards for 2x Fling, but I think you're just mosly weakening the deck with that card.

[@juanjogomez4187]

This made me think of doing a "just for fun" combo deck with Ghalta + insult + fling

[@melissagrenier2200]

juanjo gomez Why insult? Just attack then fling post combat.

[@juanjogomez4187]

Melissa Grenier I was thinking on casting all in the same turn

[@coolnobodycares]

juanjo gomez So best case scenario you will need 7 mana? Even for janky comboes there seem to better options out there...

[@Cangaroombi]

At 31:21 I would have played the Gearhuk, they probably would have let you draw but you never know. It is always possible a mistake by the opponent.

[@thesuperfan99]

Zumbo I was searching to see if anyone pointed that out before I posted a redundant comment.

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Zumbo why do people see punisher cards like this as bad? You get advantage whatever happens

[@sensei9767]

because there are many situations in which dealing some direct damage is use less.

[@Cangaroombi]

Louise Drake because the opponent gives you the worst effect (for example in this case he probably would have let Seth draw, which wasn't useful). You can look at punisher cards as the opposite of a modal spell: usually modal spell are good even if they have a mana cost higher than the single effects are worth because they give you choices. In case of punisher cards, since the opponent has the choice, they must be aggresivly costed to be decent (an example is Vexing Devil). Gearhulk is decent because at bare minimum it is a creature with decent stats, both effects are generally useful and you can build around it to minimize the disadvantage. For example I have it in my Daretti deck, because I don't care if the cards go to my hand or my graveyard since i want artifacts in my GY to reanimate them.

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Zumbo one example I see is sword point diplomacy in a burn deck. You either take a bunch of damage or let me refill my hand, the answer to that is that they let you keep the lands, but what difference does that do? It's a land now that I won't draw later

[@jameswilson4328]

Great deck, love the concept. My thoughts on a possible upgrade, changing timberline gorge with some number of aether hub, and changing some number of savage stomp (maybe the brontidon in the main as well) into harnessed lightning for less conditional removal. The tapped lands and conditional removal seemed to hold the deck back at pivotal moments.

[@Austinarcher10]

I'm loving watching this. I was running a similar build back with eldritch moon and big eldrazzi and the trample boar with combustibles

[@brentboland691]

No love for spring // mind? I run it over Drover of the Mighty, and it increases the number of gotcha moments by a lot. Also the deck is called Dino-mite. No negotiation.

[@MTGGoldfish]

I like Spring // Mind, but we have a really hard time making blue mana.

[@Shad932]

MTGGoldfish I think he means to use it as a ramp spell that does 9 dmg with the gearhulk

[@ROYBGP]

Brent Boland fossil fuels :3

[@JohnGrahamDoe]

@MTGGoldfish you dont need to make the blue, spring is the effect you want. The mind part is just for added cmc damage off of gearhulk

[@harrisonsmith6086]

Call the deck “Fossil Fuel”

[@tonyontilt3522]

Please never stop having so much fun!

[@ecoKady]

Seriously, Seth. Just start running more basic lands in these decks. You hate taplands so much and I've heard basics come into play untapped.

[@williamstocker8107]

David Kadonsky I have it in good authority that you might be right. Lmao

[@broomybroomybroomy]

I have no idea why people refuse to play more than a few basic lands in 2 color decks

[@koshi6505]

Basic lands in a budget deck?!

[@jmobley6]

This is exactly what I would want to play in standard, ridiculous. I may need to invest in this... Thanks for the content!

[@punlife6846]

Fling would be a good addition to this deck

[@FETUSSTATUS]

when you were explaining the deck, as soon as you said mil 3 I literally started laughing out loud lmao I havent watched the video yet but I already love it xD I love your jank so much Seth. You speak me only lovers of Jank can understand xD

[@FETUSSTATUS]

also I made sure I didn't spell "Junk" at least 10 times before commenting lmao

[@bradbedard1378]

I wana see a modern version of this deck

[@justinreschke3642]

I don't normally endorse these standard decks but this one looks like fun. I'd like to see what Ghalta can do.

[@JakobLogan]

Saddened that it's all one video, I like being able to read the comments on a match without spoilers

[@lucas6227]

Big fan. I love your content! btw games 7:47

[@Valkyrie.99]

Thanks man 😁👍

[@the_snakelicious]

There are timestamps in the description :)

[@MarkDeibert]

Really love this deck! Other than land upgrades, what would be some ideas for non-budget card swaps?

[@rodrigothompson2375]

There's something going on... Seth is too timmy since ixalan/RIX came out

[@MTGGoldfish]

Ixalan/RIX are pretty timmy sets. But we're about due for some combo, I think.

[@coolnobodycares]

mtg needs more timmy cards, it's what makes the game fun.

[@jacobdachauer4377]

I play a deck very similar to this...no mouth to feed and no combustible....but I do play sunbirds in the 6 drop slot to go nuts with ghalta as well off sunbirds. Same crazy wins outta nowhere. I love it!

[@cdmusic850]

I honestly am shocked that this deck is only $97, especially with Ghalta, raptors, and alpha. Nicely done Seth by the way

[@JonathanHecht]

I really like U\W auras, the Temmet in the deck in video caught me off guard, really nice innovation

[@justinmartin7653]

Jonathan Hecht Jim Davis added Temmet after his second video as a nice suggestion in his channel.

[@BrunoCasagrandaNeves]

31:22 against BG explore. Seth untaps with Combustible in hand, proper mana and scoops before even trying the value kill! Oh, Seth...

[@MTGGoldfish]

I did it later! Maybe I give the opponent too much credit sometimes.

[@Mike-de4ip]

Most awesome deck! Can u make another video pls? Maybe with no budget version :) good job for the idea

[@benfournell2585]

Splashing blue in this deck feels REALLY good. I mainboard spring/mind and commit/memory which allows gearhulk to kill when they take the damage more easily with their high mana costs, and saheeli -2 on a gearhulk or regisaur is just disgusting.

[@nilsbossiusklintenberg3623]

The ending of game 3 match 1 made my day! :'D

[@mave6602]

how often does it happen that you have a dino in hand to play Thunderherd Mirgation for 2? Wouldn't Spring // Mind be more efficiant regarding Combustible Gearhulk especially with two Drover of the Mighty on the field to produce blue mana? I'm just interested in the odds. But to be honest I'm more than happy to see a deck using the red Gearhulk with at least one Aftermath card.

[@13eetle13omber]

Yay! A wrap up! Thank you Seth

[@cybrson]

If it were me I'd probably perfer maybe a sunbirds invocation in sideboard over sandworm convergance because itd be really good against control

[@BudgetDiety]

Ghalta Gearhulk < GG dinosaurs EDIT: Someone get on making one of those oh mai wa mou shindeiru memes with the gearhulk for this.

[@ianmcabee8036]

Alex Laureyns I second this

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Alex Laureyns NANI!?

[@savewithteak]

This deck is everything I have ever wanted in a Standard deck

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Teak Foster I want to kill, and I want to mill.

[@trevontapp9707]

I LOVE this deck! How would you upgrade this for Modern? I really want to play this as a Modern deck.

[@RabbitOvHell1990]

@8:00 is this...the mirror? reminded me of that so much x'D Also, the GB explore deck is easily converted into a Ghalta Deck as well ;)

[@ToxicallyMasculinelol]

just looked at the decklist and my first thought is "oh my god if he reveals a ghalta on the gearhulk trigger" hahaha. i love it, who would ever expect it?

[@klowngaming4507]

I built a deck similar to this concept before amonkhet came out, was super fun to run

[@SomeFreakingCactus]

Make a "Miracle" deck for standard! Use stuff like Reason // Believe or Aid from the Cowl and cheat stuff into play from the top of your deck! Would love to see it.

[@gjoey88]

I made something very similar like this about 2 weeks ago and I've been tweeking here and there. Seeing this made me happy. Lol

[@slognz3449]

This deck looks like alot of fun im going to give it a try!

[@RedLexLuthur]

For some reason when I saw the name I was expecting a green gearhulk deck that lets you cast ghalta for 2 because of all dem counters.

[@theovertyrant2620]

Haven’t played standard in years but this looks super fun

[@BentTimeAndSpace]

Seth what you said at 22:09 is exactly what I was thinking hahahaha 😂😂

[@Ahayzo]

I think you had at least a chance that last game. Land drop gives you 6 mana. Migration revealing Brontodon, 4 mana left. 3 mana for Brontodon. Bront and Raptor block the pouncers to kill, you go down to 1 and then use Bront to kill the flying enchantment. Your next turn you drop Gearhulk leaving 2 creatures up, allowing you to kill the enchanted creature and an embalmed pouncer without losing creatures (first strike Gearhulk beats Pouncer). They pay 4 to keep the vampire probably, but it could very well give you time to stabilize.

[@kiyanooshpardakhti9858]

what about Metalwork Colossus and Ghalta using a ton of Vehicles to ramp you into either, and Fling for funsies?

[@stephenlofton5403]

I wonder if you could do a Temur ghalta deck with riverwise augur to set up the ghalta/gear hulk combo. Also match 2 at the end I think you should have at least played the gearhulk to see if the op messes up and take the damage

[@rapples101]

I'd love to see a deck like this in modern with Congregation at Dawn.

[@joelb9665]

Well, I'm early. Can you consider playing a Pia's Revolution/Atog/free artifact combo deck for your next budget modern deck please. I've been toying around with it and it's pretty fun to play and watch. By the way, well meme'd at 18:25

[@dirksaysfichsdich1514]

18! 18!

[@stephenlofton5403]

Why still not running Forerunner of the Empire? It tutors your ghalta/utility Dino's, sweeps the board (regisaur alpha is a pyroclasm!) triggers card draw off ripjaw and if we were running ranging raptors would also ramp, and could allow us cut down on the number of ghalta. Ranging raptors also combos with Reckless rage. Basically I don't understand why we don't run ranging raptors/forerunner combo in our big Dino's decks

[@ironocy496]

Stephen Lofton I don't think he wants to cut down the number of Ghaltas. The idea is to mill one with Combustible Gearhulk.

[@TheTrinisphere]

This looks so fun! Might have to take this to FNM this week!

[@hankhill5616]

Gotta love dinosaurs. I noticed that you used Mouth to Feed. The 3/3 hippo doesn't seem necessary, so wouldn't Rishkar's Expertise be a good replacement? Plenty of 5 and under cost cards in this deck to benefit it's second effect!

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Hank Hill it's a chump blocker and an extra body. You could try it but I'm not sure how well it will work

[@eltratzodelosintenetzos2045]

mouth to feed is a okay 3 drop that mills as a 7 drop. rishkars is always a 6 drop.

[@MTGGoldfish]

I think Mouth / Feed is slightly better, but I don't think trying Rishkar's Expertise is a bad idea, it could work.

[@coolnobodycares]

I always found it funny that a giant reptile can block Ulamog and survive.

[@jevry4307]

yah and a lizard ro cat is as strong as an elf.... there are countless hilarious examples of this

[@sasukekuniski1959]

its not hilarious

[@sasukekuniski1959]

its a dino in magic. also elder. get over it kid. eldrazi arent gods

[@coolnobodycares]

Sasuke kuniski Eldrazi are literally Cthulu knockoffs, they're the gods of gods. lol

[@sasukekuniski1959]

yet theyre not chulu,nor do you have proof theyre knockoffs. theyre just mana eating creatures .and chandra killed 2 of them easy.. get over it. the dino is a 12/12 .has nothiong to do with eldrazi lore ... you know there's an indestructible land thats a 20/20?kills emrakul and blocks it easy,salty about that to? theres also progenitus. also world spine wurm,which is a 15/15,that makes 3 more wurms .theres a 12/12 snow leviathan from coldsnap. blightsteel colossus 10/10 infect .those are just cards.. dont start with the lore .slivers,phrexians ,memnarch,yagmoth,xenogos etc

[@Atmapalazzo]

thing is, the budget manabase doesn't increase the number of tapped lands you play Seth, just makes those tapped lands less useful

[@MTGGoldfish]

It does very slightly (since the cycling land is a Forest/Mountain to maka Rootbound Crag come into play untapped).

[@FreyjaKatraValentine]

I feel like this could use more big CMC dinos, then splashing blue to get a bunch of scry in there

[@GalaxiaKnight666]

This looks really hype!

[@EggFuhrer]

i'd love to see this "Reuben Craig" Seth is always talking about in a video sometime

[@jonathanholleman5900]

I would suggest llano war elves somewhere to help with mana, so it won't hurt as much when you lose drove of the mighty

[@SilverAlex92]

Combustible Dinnasours? you mean, Gas/fuel?

[@clearasil11]

Could also get some cool synergies using Metalwork Colossus instead of Ghalta

[@Jesin00]

Have you considered taking out 2 taplands and put in a basic Forest and a basic Mountain? It seems you get punished for having so many taplands way more often than you get color-screwed.

[@melissagrenier2200]

I'd sooner take out oasis so root bound Crag comes in untapped more often. He only has 4 tapped lands if you don't count crag.

[@jasonb6860]

if you're going all-in Ghalta, why not Verdrous Gearhilk instead of Regisaur Alpha? 8 power for 5 mana.

[@tomjackal5708]

This deck is amazing I love it

[@levijackson7622]

Love this deck!

[@kentonfugate2249]

newbie question what does "nut draw" mean??

[@TheHiwiegehts]

So you trust in the heart of the cards?

[@jasonoshman1079]

Combo-stible Primalhulk?

[@tobykleinsmanhill7121]

why didnt he sac his hashep oasis to pump ghalta?

[@harrybenjamin8202]

This deck is sick!

[@jeirda5]

So as sweet as this deck is, if I do the math right, the average damage on gearhulk is something like 8.35, or 2.78 per card. It's amazing when you hit your twelve drop with it, but you're still only getting mediocre damage on average, considering this isn't an aggressive deck and doesn't pressure the opponents life total, it's usually not going to be doing much for us, making it even more inconsistent than any card that gives your opponents choices usually is. It's sooo cool to burn the opponent for 20 damage on one card. But you're only doing that a small portion of the time.

[@beneighinger8995]

Is Fling out of standard? If not, how did it not make this list?

[@enlightenedknight9882]

Man this looks fun

[@Jonzin4BeatzNYC]

Combustable Hunger! Or GG Ghaltas and Gearhulks

[@eltoussaint]

MFW Seth complains about taplands when the non-budget alternative is also a tapped land, it just has cycling on it (Sheltered Thicket)

[@sensei9767]

5 + 12 + 0 = 18? Well done Seth!

[@tobiberx7495]

Gearhulk of the Primal Hunger

[@blackmountain1983]

25:49 "Pumping the dorks" 😅

[@androssthered1157]

We learned it's fun but I really want a Dino deck that beats this new Aura deck stuff we're seeing. But looks impossible

[@stormcrow1685]

That Temur Energy Player wasn’t very experienced

[@MindSlain]

Ranging Raptors over Brontodons for me, but neat deck

[@bloodcrus]

Damn it Seth i was just building deck pretty much like this just flings instead of mouth to feed

[@omyasniko]

Hungerhalk name for deck

[@yellowroc7321]

Has anyone tried Metalwork Colossus and Galta?

[@cybrson]

in game 3 against constrictor why didnt you drop the gearhulk and see if the opponent mills enough to kill themselves before conceding , yes in all likelihood they were going to let you draw them because u were at 2 but it was definitely worth a shot.

[@maxwellbrody3260]

This looks fun.

[@GrimAngelshaquan]

id splash white and find a way to work in refurbish and cathartic reunion, and maybe consider gishath

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

GrimAngelshaquan why refurbish and cathartic

[@GrimAngelshaquan]

cathartic to get rid of clunky hands as well as to speed up the deck, and refurbish to "cheat" out gear hulk potentially earlier.

[@EffinChat]

Woah, Seth flunging in G1 against monument

[@qwer-hb8tp]

Ghaltahulk This deck is amazing

[@TheStainlessSteelCat42]

How about 'Bustisaur' !

[@FancyJerome]

Should call this deck "Fossil Fuel"

[@dirksaysfichsdich1514]

yEs! GhAlTa! gHaLtA!

[@SlashLexar]

Where's the Cat-Snake card?

[@drakeconsumerofsoulsandche5761]

Lexar Jackel prowling serpopard? It dies to 95% of standard removal and opponent will just kill spell+ counter big thing

[@ianmcabee8036]

Needs more brainstorm

[@jackpabich763]

Why no Wayward Swordtooth?

[@MTGGoldfish]

I haven't had any success with that card.

[@mctoast1463]

Colossus+Ghalta is fun too.

[@mctoast1463]

Vehicles count for both, and cultivator's caravan can wombo combo with heart of kiraan

[@kyleclickner9195]

Personally i would’ve ran commune than mouth // feed

[@lewispatton6550]

Wow this deck is hilarious.

[@notanetdeck5264]

Anyone else disappointed that the featured Gearhulk here isn’t the green one?

[@MTGGoldfish]

The green one is a lot more expensive (as far as the budget is concerned).

[@notanetdeck5264]

MTGGoldfish Fair (and I probably should’ve known better), but just given the thumbnail, I was thinking about the green Gearhulk giving an 8-mana discount to Ghalta ¯\_(ツ)_/¯