"Ghired , Conclave Exile: The Aggressive One"

"Ghired , Conclave Exile: The Aggressive One"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

As of now I have no idea why Ghired was exiled from the Conclave. Probably because he was too aggressive? Far more aggressive than most Selesnyan Conclave Cultists would want to be? With the way that they have been cultivating plants to fight their battles it sure is funny to think that Selesnyan Conclave members are chill people. 

Till Ghired came and he had access to Red mana making him a Naya Legendary creature. I think it is this ability to use Red mana that made him an exile in the first place but isn't this aggression that is naturally inherent in Selesnyan decks? I run a Trostani deck and while I always gain a ton of life , most of my wins usually come from a horde of 8/8's or swarms of tokens from using Populate like there was no tomorrow.

So it seems to me that Ghired was designed to be the aggressive one. And I like him already. Costing 2 colorless mana and Naya colors to cast. This 2/5 Human Shaman comes into play with a 4/4 Green Rhino creature token with Trample.

And when he attacks you get to Populate. And the best target is that 4/4 Rhino that is already in play. (Unless you have a bigger token in play like a 9/9 Golem or 8/8 Tree folk.) This token that you have just created comes into play tapped and attacking with Ghired. Talk about aggressive. Unblocked that is a total of 10 damage. 1/4 of the EDH 40 life points! And of course it gets worse with each attack.

14 points and then 18 points of Damage. Take note that if you are Populating the Rhino each token you produce has trample. Unblocked this is a total of 42 points. 3 turn death count. Not bad for a former Selesnyan right? Or should I say this is how Red mana elevates that innate aggression in Selesnyans?

Ghired, Conclave Exile is my must have of this Commander 2019 set. What do you think of Ghired? Is he a little too aggressive? Or is he going to be a clunky Commander?