The Incredible Hulk Commander Deck Guide

The Incredible Hulk | Illustration by Adi Granoy

George Lucas voice: “I may have gone to far in a few places.”

You know a character is powerful when creatives leave them out of a narrative arc because their mere presence would tip the scales too far in one direction. That’s why the Hulk doesn’t show up in Captain America: Civil War, a film that turns 10 years old in 2026.

If the Hulk is that powerful, a card that represents him had to do him justice. Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk doesn’t disappoint, with a front side that fuels your hand before you go on an extra combat rampage that smashes the table in no time.

The Deck

World War Hulk | Illustration by Serena Malyon

Temur Hulk smash face. Or rather, Temur Hulk smash puny blockers to pulp, then smash face.

Bruce Banner enables a Temur () extra combats deck with all the tools it needs to win in Gruul () plus blue’s control elements. I’d be confident to call this a Bracket 3 deck, but the right opening hands can win as early as turns 3 and 4, so this build may survive Bracket 4 tables. My bet is that it’s a tweener, a quad-A deck that overperforms in one crowd and underperforms in the other.

The Commander: Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk

Incredible, no doubt. Bruce Banner is a commander you can cast on turn 1 and then draws cards at a 2:1 mana ratio.

You can transform your commander into The Incredible Hulk at sorcery speed, even if Banner has summoning sickness, and you can transform it the same turn that you’ve activated the draw ability. You’ll need a lot of mana to get there without Moonmist, but with a 6-mana backside, you need a solid ramp package and mana base anyway. Note that this is an MDFC, so you can also just cast The Incredible Hulk without going through Bruce Banner at all, though commander tax adds up for the entire card, not individual faces.

The Incredible Hulk is the deck’s primary win condition with the extra combat ability. If you can make your Hulk indestructible but still ensure that it takes damage while it attacks, you can chain combats infinitely. As an 8/8, that’s a massive start to take everyone out through commander damage…. Chump blocking is also less effective because each individual source of damage becomes an enrage trigger that adds a +1/+1 counter and a combat step.

Extra Combat Enablers

The moment I saw Bruce Banner, I thought of Anzrag, the Quake-Mole, a similar commander that chains extra combats based on when your opponents block it. It comes with a built-in lure to keep the combat steps coming, and it acts as a backup commander that pressures your opponents’ removal even more.

I love when commanders give us reasons to summon cards from the depths of our card collections, and the big winner this time around is Caltrops. If you want to go off, this lil artifact pings the Hulk as it attacks to ensure that you get that extra combat. The +1/+1 counter from Hulk’s enrage trigger makes the damage net neutral, so you just have to worry about blockers.

Pyrohemia is a backup Caltrops, though you have to pay mana into it and it’ll damage everything and everyone. You also can’t tutor for it in here, so it’s the inferior option in every way.

Keyword Enablers and Damage Doublers

These cards all help to protect or supercharge your extra combat win condition.

Commander players ought to be familiar with combat tricks like Heroic Intervention, Tyvar's Stand, and Tamiyo's Safekeeping; Strength of Will is a Spider-Man card we can put to good use in this build.

I’ve slotted in Darksteel Plate, Anara, Wolvid Familiar, and Guardian Augmenter for more protection. Guardian Augmenter’s flash gives it disruptive potential.

Xenagos, God of Revels and Unnatural Growth are go-to power doublers, but Neyith of the Dire Hunt provides a ton of value, too. You have to pay for the power doubling, but Neyith also acts as a lure. The card draw is the cherry atop this value sundae.

While not a direct power doubler, Mjölnir, Hammer of Thor doubles all damage that the equipped creature would deal, and both Anzrag and Hulk are worthy to equip it. World War Hulk’s third chapter is a stat doubler mostly since Hulk already has trample, but I hope I never see that chapter. It’s here for the cost reduction on the first chapter.

Counter Adders

There isn’t much token generation in the deck, so there’s no point in shelling out for a Doubling Season. But here’re other cards that are worth running.

Hardened Scales is the classic 1-mana counter adder, and I’ve decided to slot in a creature version with Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11. I know that the Turtles have crossed over with DC rather than Marvel, but look at that card name again and tell me I can’t make whatever weird deckbuilding decisions I want. I’ve included Doc Samson, Super Psychiatrist because the flavor text and ability are too perfect here, though it’s among the first cuts for a high-power build. I barely even consider it a mana dork because of how late it comes down as a 5-drop.

Power Fist proves that you don’t have to bask in Atom’s irradiated glow to take advantage of Fallout’s wasteland tech. Trample is redundant, but the counters make sure you get through to your opponent’s life total.

Alternative Win Conditions and Accelerants

Maybe I’m just salty from playing matches with Valduk, Keeper of the Flame and Kotis, the Fangkeeper, during which nobody let me attack with my commander more than once, if at all, before they removed it or elked it (thanks, Oko). But if, like me, you don’t trust your pod to let you play a deck that relies on its commander as its primary win condition, I’ve got a work-around.

You already need ramp to ensure you can cast The Incredible Hulk, and you have some X-spells that can be mana sinks. Bruce Banner’s card draw is another reliable mana sink of its own, so I’ve slotted in Laboratory Maniac and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries as win conditions your opponents might not see coming from what is obviously an extra combats commander. If they won’t let you play your main game, you’ve got some extra tricks up your sleeve.

Hulk’s trample won’t always be enough to get over your opponents’ creatures, so you need another way to deal damage to your opponents’ faces. Enter Brash Taunter. It pairs with your fight spells to redirect damage to your opponents, and you can use the fight ability during combat to trigger Hulk’s enrage ability. Note that the Hulk’s enrage trigger won’t untap Brash Taunter.

Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar doesn’t offer an alternative win condition, but it allows you to focus on one opponent. Like Brash Taunter, it’s smashes the mirror match and most other situations that might stall you out.

Bear Umbra ramps you during combat, and the only things you have to do with mana during combat besides cast interaction and indestructible enablers is win more with the abilities you have on the battlefield. Untapping all your lands each time you attack helps you to pay into Neyith of the Dire Hunt’s triggered ability or activate Kessig Wolf Run or Pyrohemia.

Fight Spells and Other Removal

To make the mana base more consistent, I included a few MDFCs that offer interaction. Khalni Ambush and Bridgeworks Battle are both fight spells; only Khalni Ambush can get you the extra combat trigger, but you get more counters ahead of combat with Bridgeworks. Shatterskull Smashing deals damage divided as you want; you can trigger Hulk, filter it through Brash Taunter to hit your opponent, or just incinerate two opposing threats.

HULK SMASH! is an auto-include regardless of the actual rules text, but thankfully it’s useful. The first mode is overcosted when Vandalblast is right there, but the potential for both modes thanks to teamwork is solid 2-for-1 removal value.

Staples and Glue

This Temur deck contains an assortment of what you’d expect between ramp spells, counterspells, and protective equipment.

Training Grounds adds a card any time you draw cards with Bruce Banner, and it makes it cheaper to transform your commander or activate Anzrag’s lure.

Goblin Anarchomancer is surrounded by an ensemble of classic mana dorks. Bloom Tender has three colors to work with here, and Fanatic of Rhonas accelerates your mana when your commander is transformed.

I want this deck to ramp so it can cast The Incredible Hulk consistently or pump mana into Banner’s card draw. But if you’re going to ramp, you may as well have some other places to spend that mana. Tyvar's Stand doubles up here, but Kessig Wolf Run offers a mass pumping mana sink on a land. Hulk may not need the trample, but Anzrag won’t complain.

Caltrops is the main reason I have Trophy Mage and Fabricate in the deck as tutors; I didn’t originally, but then I realized just how key Caltrops is to the win. You don’t want to rely on card draw and pure luck alone to get it out of your library. Darksteel Plate is another valid target since indestructible enablers are another key part of your win.

Be mindful of your game pieces, because Eternal Witness is the only recursion spell in this deck. Rhythm of the Wild is likewise one of the few haste enablers besides the Boots and Greaves.

For the Bruce Dickinsons in the crowd screaming for more card draw, I’ve slotted in Mystic Remora and Toski, Bearer of Secrets. Toski isn’t at its best because you want to draw cards before you go for infinite combats, not while you do it. But it’s cheaper than Rhystic Study.

Hexing Squelcher makes control players reach deeper into their bag of tricks to deal with you; I’m not even considering the ward cost because 2 life is less of a cost in a 40-life format. The Squelcher’s uncounterable ability has backup in the mana base from Mistrise Village.

Just like World War Hulk, Moonmist gives you a cheap way to access the back side of your commander, and it allows you to win very quickly.

The Mana Base

I prefer a budget mana base so I can spend more on the actual deck. Besides, I want to use some of the basics and cheap duals I’ve accumulated over the years. By all means, run fetches if you got ‘em, but you can have just as much fun with Guildgates and gain lands at the right table.

That said, I didn’t go fully skinflint here. There’s on-color shock lands because they’ve been reprinted in Edge of Eternities and Lorwyn Eclipsed, and I’ve tried to balance lands that you can fetch with your Farseek with lands that can enter untapped.

There’s a few utility lands for some added oomph; Mistrise Village protects your most important spells from counters, Kessig Wolf Run offers a mana sink and a pump, and Reliquary Tower saves your hand when your card draw goes off.

If the pinging deserts from Outlaws of Thunder Junction could target your commander, they’d be in here, too.

The Strategy

This deck’s primary win condition comes from chaining combat steps with The Incredible Hulk or Anzrag, the Quake-Mole. Indestructible enablers are your Super Star to make sure your creatures survive the repeated beatings. Caltrops is key to ensure that Hulk’s enrage ability triggers during combat, so there are a few tutors to help you grab it when you’re ready.

Part of piloting this deck is evaluating your opponents and your opening hand to decide exactly how you’re going to reach your end game. Mulligan the worst hands away, but remember that your commander can draw cards as early as turn 2.

When possible, ramp early, and ramp often. You want to cast your commander on either side whenever you want, and you need mana for indestructible enablers and interaction when you’re ready to go off.

Anzrag, the Quake-Mole acts as your backup extra combats commander, and you’ve got tertiary draw-based win conditions to pivot toward if needed.

Combos and Interactions

Both The Incredible Hulk and Anzrag, the Quake-Mole have the ability to chain multiple combat steps when you combine them with indestructible enablers, so let’s break down exactly how each one does that. For this exercise, let’s assume you cast Heroic Intervention before or as you attack.

The Incredible Hulk’s enrage trigger adds a +1/+1 counter to it every time something deals damage to it, but the extra combat only triggers if Hulk is damaged during combat. Blockers are the primary way that happens, but Caltrops damages Hulk every time it attacks, you can activate Pyrohemia or Brash Taunter at instant speed, and Khalni Ambush is an instant-speed fight spell. If your opponent blocks Hulk, every time Hulk is dealt damage enrage will trigger. Two blockers means you add two +1/+1 counters and get two extra combat phases; a double strike blocker hits Hulk twice and causes two extra combats, too.

Something to note about how these combats stack: Hulk untaps itself as part of the enrage trigger. Say you get four extra combats because your opponent has stacked four blockers in front of your commander; Hulk only untaps itself if enrage triggers again during those subsequent combats. If you swing at an opponent on the first extra combat and they don’t block, and if you can’t trigger enrage during that combat step, Hulk stays tapped until your next untap step or something else happens to untap it.

Neyith of the Dire Hunt will trigger at the beginning of each of those combat steps and its lure can help to avoid Hulk being left unblocked and undamaged, but because it’s a triggered ability, it doesn’t benefit from Training Grounds.

Anzrag, the Quake-Mole’s extra combat trigger cares about when it’s blocked, and the mole god also has a built-in lure to make sure that happens. It’s a much cleaner ability to handle than Hulk’s; Anzrag can only trigger once, specifically when blockers are declared, so you don’t have to worry about stacked combat steps. Anzrag also untaps every one of your creatures, so it can bring everyone along for the assault.

While we call these infinite combat loops, remember that you don’t actually have to attack with Anzrag or Hulk during those extra combats unless someone goads them. If your indestructible creature that gives you extra combats when it’s blocked or dealt damage faces off against an opponent’s equally tall, indestructible creature, it doesn’t automatically lock the game unless you choose to keep banging your head against that specific wall.

Rule 0 Violations Check

My deck analysis tools tell me this might be a Bracket 4 deck, and I’d usually slam the X button to doubt that because those tools haven’t been calibrated for some of these brand new cards and they tend to struggle with double-sided and split cards. That said, a god-hand can win on turn 4 or even turn 3 if you draw the right lands and cards, and that’s a sign of a somewhat optimized deck.

Picture a god-hand of an opener with some lands and a ramp spell, Moonmist, Tamiyo's Safekeeping, and Caltrops. Let’s assume you hit your land drops, you play Bruce Banner on turn 1. You ramp to 3 lands on turn 2 or just use your commander to draw a card. You cast Caltrops on 3. You use Moonmist and Tamiyo’s Safekeeping to transform and protect your commander on 4, then attack. Or how about Sol Ring and Arcane Signet on turn 1, then Banner on turn 2; you have the mana for Caltrops that turn, or you can draw with Banner instead, then cast Caltrops, Moonmist, and Safekeeping on 3 when your commander no longer has summoning sickness. Ouch.

Aside from the possibility of a few absurdly quick matches and the infinite combat potential, this deck should clear more Rule 0 conversations. Your win conditions are easy to disrupt. You aren’t running free counterspells, and you aren’t taxing or denying your opponents’ mana or ability to do their thing beyond a few stray lures to force blocking. You aren’t chaining extra turns, but you could take incredibly long turns if your victory isn’t guaranteed and you need to play everything out. There also aren’t infinite mana combos that allow you a quick Lab-Man victory once Bruce Banner has drawn your library.

Budget Options

As always, start in the mana base by cutting duals for other duals. Mistrise Village is cheaper than some other uncounterable enablers you might consider like Delighted Halfling or Allosaurus Shepherd, but Domri, Anarch of Bolas or Frenzied Baloth can work in a pinch. I'd cut another spell somewhere and replace the Village with another Island or a Simic dual.

Hexing Squelcher  makes it hard for your opponents to prevent you from winning, and that plus its Standard legality make it a pricey card at the moment. Spider-Punk is cheaper and fits the Marvel theme; it shuts off fogs so your opponents can’t use them to stifle Hulk’s enrage triggers, but it also makes your opponents’ spells and abilities uncounterable.

Llanowar Tribe or a recent 2-mana dork can sub in for Fanatic of Rhonas or Bloom Tender, although that LT’s mana value is more intense and doesn’t benefit from Goblin Anarchomancer. If you swap out Birds of Paradise, I’d go for a land.

Coastal Piracy has the same issues as Toski but is less expensive than Mystic Remora. Negate and other cheap counterspells are fine in place of Swan Song.

Indestructible enablers are a key part of the win condition, but you can cut Heroic Intervention in favor of another form of targeted protection if you must. Shatterskull Smashing isn’t totally necessary either.

Power Fist works really well when you combo off with this commander, but it’s not essential. You can replace it with other equipment that helps you deal more damage or provides saboteur or attack triggers, like Fireshrieker or Mjölnir, Storm Hammer.

Other Builds

You can keep the theme but tune up the power with fetch lands, channel lands, Game Changers, Commander free spells, and plenty of other $40+ cards.

Any commander with +1/+1 counters text can helm a deck that leans that way. You can lean on classics from Magic’s history, but you can also stock your deck with Marvel cards. The first few spoilers from Marvel Super Heroes also include some power-up creatures like Quicksilver, Brash Blur and Kang the Conqueror, plus power-up cost reduction from Hulk, Gamma Goliath. Ant-Man, Colony Commander adds board presence the first time you place a +1/+1 counter on a creature each turn. The Thing, Ben Grimm grows as your heroes deal damage to your opponents, which makes it perfect to join your extra combat loop.

I considered firebending cards as part of the ramp package, specifically Sozin's Comet and Fire Nation Palace as firebending enablers, but it felt like its own subtheme that I’d have to support with mana storage abilities.

I chose indestructible enablers, but you can combine Hulk, Caltrops, and unblockable enablers for a different flavor of deck. Land-based options like Access Tunnel and Rogue's Passage are the most common, although Pym Particles cantrips and adds more Marvel flavor.

You can build endless Voltron decks here. The mad brewer in me wants to focus on Sword of the Animist and landfall triggers. Even if Hulk doesn’t untap them, can you imagine looping your extra combats and having new Scute Swarm copies join the fray every time? Or maybe take everyone out with Tannuk, Memorial Ensign and commander damage?

Commanding Conclusion

HULK SMASH! | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Marvel and Magic fatigue alike had hit me when I first saw Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk, but this is a winning commander for me. It supports the obvious extra combat route and has good colors to protect that strategy, but you also have open lanes for more creative and flavorful deckbuilding for the Vorthos brewers out there.

Which other Marvel cards would you consider for this deck? Which Bracket would you aim for with your Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk deck? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord. For more from us on Marvel Super Heroes and all other things Magic, subscribe to our newsletter and come join us on YouTube at The Daily Upkeep.

And with that, I gotta say, big guy… the sun’s getting’ real low.