Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet | Art by Brian Valeza

Secrets of Strixhaven is packing a lot of power in the command zone, with perhaps no color identity gaining more than Golgari ().

First, we had Witherbloom, the BalancerWitherbloom, the Balancer and its infinite token shenanigans. Now, it's time for a much cheaper commander - one that enables a plethora of two-card combo kills thanks to the persist mechanic. Here's Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet: cEDH's newest and coolest Frog.

What Does Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet Do?

For , Gorma, the Gullet is a legendary 1/1 Pest Frog creature with lifelink and "Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Gorma." Additionally, nontoken creatures you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter on them for each creature that died under your control this turn.

At lower Brackets, Gorma would get up to some crazy shenanigans as a +1/+1 counters deck. Not so here; in cEDH, this card's ability granting your other creatures +1/+1 counters effectively translates to "Creatures with persist you control are infinitely loopable."

What do I mean by that? Well, when a creature with persist dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it. Thanks to a rules quirk of Magic, if a creature would have both a -1/-1 counter on it and a +1/+1 counter on it, both of those counters are removed, since they effectively cancel out.

With Gorma in play, this means that a creature with persist will die, come back with a -1/-1 counter as well as some number of +1/+1 counters based on however many creatures died this turn (including the creature with persist itself), then the -1/-1 counter and one +1/+1 counter will immediately disappear, freeing up persist to trigger again the next time that creature dies. All you need is a sacrifice outlet, and Gorma, of course.

Key Cards for Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet

Aside from the combo pieces enabled by Gorma (persist creature + sacrifice outlet), this deck is essentially completely commander agnostic. That's a huge boon; rather than running any particular synergy pieces, Gorma, the Gullet is effectively a Golgari good-stuff pile.

Every good black tutor? Check. The best green to-field creature tutors? Check. All the mana a ball of Elves could generate? Triple check.

How Does Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet Win?

Persist Loops

Alrighty, on to the closing packages. At its simplest, Gorma can win with any persist creature (this deck runs Putrid GoblinPutrid Goblin, Lesser MasticoreLesser Masticore, and Rendclaw TrowRendclaw Trow as the three options) and Altar of DementiaAltar of Dementia.

Assuming Gorma's in play, simply cast these two cards, then sacrifice the persist creature to Altar of Dementia, targeting any opponent. That player will mill some number of cards (dependent on the sacrificed creature's power), then persist will trigger, resurrecting the creature. Thanks to Gorma, it will enter with at least one +1/+1 counter, thus negating the -1/-1 counter persist places. Rinse and repeat, milling out each opponent's entire library.

Alternatively, this combo also works if you target yourself with the Altar of Dementia's mill ability, or if you use Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot as the sacrifice outlet instead. However, in doing so, the combo closeout involves an extra step.

If you mill your entire library by repeatedly sacrificing a persist creature (either with Altar of Dementia as self-targeting or by surveilling it away with Umbral Collar Zealot), eventually you'll mill two cards: Dread ReturnDread Return and Walking BallistaWalking Ballista.

Provided that you've sacrificed a creature enough times (which you will have, since you can sacrifice a persist creature an infinite number of times), you can then flashback Dread Return by sacrificing three creatures (any three except for Gorma), targeting Walking Ballista. It'll enter with a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the number of times you've sacrificed creatures this turn, which you can then remove in order to kill the rest of the table through Walking Ballista's activated ability.

Wither Chain

As a backup to all the persist loop goodness, Gorma also runs the classic Golgari combo of Witherbloom ApprenticeWitherbloom Apprentice plus Chain of SmogChain of Smog.

Just cast Chain of Smog targeting yourself while Witherbloom Apprentice is in play, then infinitely loop it via Chain of Smog's copy effect (still targeting yourself each time). Each copy will trigger Witherbloom Apprentice's magecraft trigger, draining the table for one life per opponent and gaining you one life.

Do that enough times and the game's yours.

Gorma, the GulletGorma, the Gullet cEDH Deck List

Wrap Up

Gorma, the Gullet is a deck that runs only the best of Golgari's card pool, then rounds it out with seven total commander-specific cards, enabling a diverse suite of compact two-card combos. Only time in the tournaments will tell if it's better than fellow Secrets of Strixhaven commander Witherbloom, the BalancerWitherbloom, the Balancer, but one thing's for certain: this Frog's got promise.