commander · Marath, Will of the Wild
Nature of the Beast (C13).
A Naya creature ramp and token deck from Commander 2013, led by Marath, Will of the Wild — spend +1/+1 counters to deal damage, make tokens, or spread counters, then ramp into massive board states with Avenger of Zendikar and Warstorm Surge.
The Commander
Nature of the Beast is Commander 2013's Naya deck and Marath is one of the most flexible commanders in the set. He enters with +1/+1 counters equal to the mana you spent to cast him. Spend one mana and remove a counter to deal one damage to any target, create a 1/1 Elemental token, or put a +1/+1 counter on another creature. Recast Marath for more mana after each death and he returns bigger. An eight-mana Marath enters as an 8/8 with eight activations ready to go.
Marath, Will of the Wild is a mana sink that scales infinitely. He deals damage, creates tokens, and distributes counters — all on demand. The deck runs the best Naya finishers to support him: Avenger of Zendikar to convert land count into tokens, Warstorm Surge to convert creature entry into damage, and Rampaging Baloths to generate tokens off every land drop.
Key Cards
Avenger of Zendikar
When Avenger enters, create a 0/1 Plant token for each land you control. Whenever a land enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on each Plant. With ten lands in play, Avenger creates ten Plant tokens immediately. Each subsequent land drop gives them all a counter — after two more land drops, ten Plants are 2/3s. After five, they're 5/6s. In a deck that ramps heavily through green, Avenger of Zendikar arrives as a board full of tokens that grow exponentially with each land played.
Warstorm Surge
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, it deals damage equal to its power to any target. In a deck where Marath creates Elemental tokens, Avenger of Zendikar floods with Plants, and Rampaging Baloths creates 4/4 Beasts, each creature entering deals damage on entry. A 4/4 Beast entering deals four damage immediately — to a creature, player, or planeswalker. Multiple Baloths over a few turns deal sixteen damage before any combat step occurs.
Rampaging Baloths
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, create a 4/4 green Beast token. In a deck that ramps through multiple lands per turn, Baloths generates a 4/4 each time. With Avenger of Zendikar also in play, each land drop creates a Plant counter and a 4/4 Beast simultaneously. The Beasts trigger Warstorm Surge for four damage each. Over two or three turns of land drops, the token production creates a board that wins through sheer force.
Mayael the Anima
Pay three mana and tap Mayael: look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a creature card with power five or greater from among them onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put them all on the bottom. Mayael cheats the most expensive creatures in the deck into play at instant speed on opponents' end steps. In a deck with Avenger of Zendikar, Rampaging Baloths, and other large creatures as the payoff package, Mayael bypasses the mana cost entirely and generates a five-power-plus creature every turn with enough mana.
Where Ancients Tread
Whenever a creature with power five or greater enters the battlefield under your control, you may have it deal five damage to any target. A Warstorm Surge variant that triggers only on large creatures but always deals exactly five damage. In a deck that regularly cheats in five-power-plus creatures through Mayael, every Mayael activation that hits also triggers five damage through Where Ancients Tread. Multiple five-power creatures entering per turn deals fifteen to twenty damage from triggers before combat.
How to Play
Ramp aggressively through the first three turns. Nature of the Beast runs enough green acceleration to be casting seven-mana spells by turn five regularly. Get Marath onto the battlefield and start generating tokens with his ability to build a board presence while accumulating mana. Warstorm Surge converts creature entry triggers into free damage, so prioritize casting it before the large creatures. Mayael is the mid-game engine — activate her each turn to cheat in Avenger of Zendikar or Rampaging Baloths, each triggering Warstorm Surge for damage and Where Ancients Tread for five more. Win through the damage chain from creature entry triggers, or close with Avenger of Zendikar creating a full board of countered Plants for a lethal attack.