Grakmaw wants a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.
Mana cost
Black, Green ()
Power / toughness0 / 0
RarityRare
Grakmaw enters with three +1/+1 counters on it.
Whenever another creature you control dies, if it had a +1/+1 counter on it, put a +1/+1 counter on Grakmaw.
When Grakmaw dies, create an X/X black and green Hydra creature token, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Grakmaw.
Picked for what they do in Grakmaw's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Grakmaw's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Grakmaw works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast25 Sep 2020
Grakmaw's second ability puts just one +1/+1 counter on it, no matter how many counters the dying creature had.
Wizards of the Coast25 Sep 2020
If a creature with a +1/+1 counter on it dies after receiving too many -1/-1 counters, it dies at the same time that the counters are removed, and Grakmaw's second ability triggers. Similarly, if Grakmaw dies after receiving too many -1/-1 counters, use the number of +1/+1 counters it had prior to receiving the -1/-1 counters to determine the value of X.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryBGPlayers write colors as letters: B for black, G for green.AristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageDeath TriggerTriggers when a creature dies, whether it is this creature, one of yours or an opponent's. These are the cards that pay you in an Aristocrats deck: something else makes creatures die, and these decide what you get each time. Blood Artist, Solemn SimulacrumOpen the Death Trigger pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters pageHydrasHydras are almost all green; most enter with +1/+1 counters and keep growing, and some let you pick their size by paying X.Open the Hydras page
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