Temur Roar is a Blue-Red-Green big creatures deck built around the Temur clan's philosophy of raw ferocity and size. The deck deploys enormous threats ahead of schedule through ramp and cost reduction, then leverages the formidable mechanic (bonuses when your creatures have 8 or more total power) to generate cascading advantages as your board grows.
April 2025Precon GuideBlue, Red, Green · URG
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Face Commander · TDM · Rare · Legendary Creature
Temur Commander
Legendary Creature
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URG · TemurBig CreaturesFormidableTarkir
Overview
Temur Roar channels the Temur clan's love of raw power into a Commander deck where size matters above all else. The deck uses Green's ramp package to deploy threats several turns early, then capitalises on the formidable mechanic to unlock bonuses for having creatures with 8 or more total power. Once the formidable threshold is cleared, the deck generates free spells, untap effects, and combat advantages that pile up faster than opponents can remove.
The strategy is reinforced by Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, which converts your largest creatures into mana generators, and Xenagos, God of Revels, which doubles the power of a creature on attack. A deck that already clears the formidable threshold easily becomes lethal fast when its largest threat suddenly attacks as a 20/20 with haste. The URG colour identity also provides Blue's draw and interaction, adding resilience to what would otherwise be a purely linear strategy.
Key Cards
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Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
Mana Generation · Card Draw
Whenever another creature enters, its controller may draw a card if its power is greater than every other creature's power on the battlefield. Selvala also taps to add mana equal to the greatest power among creatures you control specifically, not the whole board. In a deck running 8-power creatures routinely, this creature generates eight or more mana per activation and draws a card every time a big threat lands as the new biggest thing in play.
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Xenagos, God of Revels
Haste · Power Doubler
Indestructible, and only a creature himself once your devotion to red and green reaches seven; below that he's just an enchantment sitting safely out of combat's reach. At the beginning of combat on your turn, another target creature you control gets haste and gains power and toughness equal to its current power until end of turn. A 10/10 becomes a 20/20 with haste. A single Xenagos activation on your largest other creature frequently deals lethal commander damage in one attack, closing games that appeared to be going long.
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Genesis Hydra
Mana Sink · Card Advantage
When Genesis Hydra enters, reveal the top X cards of your library and put a nonland permanent with mana value X or less into play for free. Cast it for X=10 and you deploy a free permanent from the top 10 cards while getting a 10/10 body. Selvala makes this trivially achievable from turn five or six onward.
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Surrak Dragonclaw
Evasion · Protection
Flash, and both Surrak himself and every other creature spell you cast can't be countered. He also gives every OTHER creature you control trample, though he doesn't have it himself unless something else grants it. In a deck of enormous creatures, trample is the difference between dealing 10 damage through a wall of 1/1 tokens and dealing 9 damage through them, and blanket protection from counterspells means opponents can't simply Counterspell your way out of the threats that matter.
Playing the Deck
The early game is almost entirely about mana development. Every land and ramp spell counts toward landing a large formidable creature by turn four. Green's suite of Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, and creature-based ramp accelerates reliably into the five-to-eight mana range, where the deck's best threats live. Selvala on turn two is your best possible play: she accelerates your mana while drawing cards as your big threats arrive.
The mid game clicks into gear the moment your total creature power crosses eight. Formidable payoffs start triggering on combat and end-step effects, and opponents face the dilemma of removing threats that immediately get replaced by the card advantage Selvala generates. Surrak Dragonclaw should enter as a flash response to a counterspell or removal spell, not proactively, to maximise the anti-counter protection.
In the late game, a single Xenagos activation ends the game. An opponent sitting on 30 life is not safe when your 10-power creature becomes a 20/20 with haste and trample out of nowhere. Protect Xenagos with Blue's counterspells and the game closes naturally from combat damage alone.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths: The deck generates enormous amounts of mana relative to opponents and can deploy threats that far outsize anything else on the board. Selvala provides card advantage passively, meaning the deck refuels faster than most ramp strategies. The Xenagos combo kill can end games from nowhere, making it impossible for opponents to assume they are safe at any life total.
Weaknesses: The deck is highly vulnerable to counterspells on key payoffs and to spot removal on Selvala (which provides a disproportionate share of the deck's mana and card advantage). Flying blockers are also a problem against a non-flying creature base, and the deck can be outpaced by degenerate combo strategies that win before turn five or six.
Verdict
Temur Roar is the most straightforward of the Tarkir Commander precons to pilot but among the most satisfying to watch win. Deploying a 20/20 with haste on turn six through a legitimate game sequence is a visceral, explosive experience that captures everything the Temur stand for. The deck scales well with upgrades focused on faster ramp and more formidable payoffs, and it is an excellent choice for players who want to experience the joy of casting large creatures without the complexity of control or combo lines. If you want to win by being the biggest thing at the table, Temur Roar is built for you.
Want to push the big-creature engine even further? Build a fully synergy-optimised upgrade with the Oracle.