Garruk, Primal HunterHow it works & interactions with other cards

Unleashing the Primal Power

Garruk's abilities focus on board presence and card advantage. His +1 ability provides immediate protection by creating a 3/3 Beast token. His -3 ability is his most famous, scaling with the size of your largest creature to refill your hand. Finally, his ultimate -6 ability can end games instantly by filling your board with 6/6 Wurm tokens based on your land count.

Step-by-Step Resolution

When you activate the -3 ability, the game checks the 'greatest power among creatures you control' only when the ability starts to resolve. If your largest creature is removed in response to the ability being activated, the game will look at the new greatest power among your remaining creatures. Similarly, for the -6 ability, the number of lands you control is checked at the moment of resolution, not when the ability is put on the stack.

Common Mistakes and Nuances

A common mistake is forgetting that if your greatest power is 0 or less (for example, if you control only 0/0 tokens with no counters), you will draw zero cards, but you do not discard anything. Also, remember that Garruk's tokens are specific colors; the Beasts and Wurms are green, which can be relevant for protection or color-based destruction effects.

When to Play Garruk

Garruk is best deployed when you already have a high-power creature on the battlefield to immediately use his -3 for value, or when you are at parity and need the +1 to build a board. Because he requires three green mana, he is most effective in mono-green or heavy-green decks where you can reliably cast him on curve.

Interaction examples

Synergizing with Nissa

Nissa, Who Shakes the World

If Nissa, Who Shakes the World has turned a land into a 3/3 Elemental, you can use Garruk's -3 ability to draw 3 cards. Furthermore, Nissa's passive ability helps you generate the triple green mana required to cast Garruk early.

Facing Ugin's Removal

Ugin, the Ineffable

If your opponent controls Ugin, the Ineffable, they can use his -3 ability to destroy Garruk, Primal Hunter because Garruk is a green (colored) permanent. However, if you already used Garruk's +1 to create a Beast, you still keep the token even if Garruk is destroyed.

Generating a Wurm Army

Wurm

If you control six lands and resolve Garruk's -6 ability, you create six 6/6 green Wurm creature tokens. If an opponent destroys one of your lands in response to the activation, you will only create five tokens, as the count happens during resolution.