Even before COVID hit, it was getting harder to get folks together in person and once that started... well, it had been a long while since I had played in person. I had kept up with sets and grabbed singles that I thought would fit in my deck and about a month ago, I went to a friend's Commander house party.
I got trounced. It's one thing to be told how much faster Commander has gotten, even in the non cEDH games, but experiencing it was something else entirely. I had trouble getting cards to stick on the board, even though that's the main purpose of playing Thrun as a commander. He isn't fancy, but he's durable, or at least he should be. Not only was I not winning, my opponents could effectively ignore me to deal with the real threats. That stung. I had to make significant revisions to my deck or give up and go with a more modern commander, one which would probably come with built-in card draw or card advantage and several colors. I've been a green player since the days of Craw Wurm and Force of Nature. I want to smash face. Fortunately for me, Thrun isn't only the last troll anymore. He's also a Breaker of Silence.
Decklist
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This is what I brought to the second game day. The first obvious change was the commander. Thrun, the Last Troll is cheaper, has hexproof rather than "hexproof except green", and can regenerate on opponents' turns to avoid destroy effects. Thrun, Breaker of Silence is bigger, tramples on his own, and is indestructible on your turn. It seems like they're roughly equivalent, but in practice, keeping the mana open for regenerating LT slowed up the deck and there are enough global effects which bury (I told you I was old) which make regeneration hit-or-miss. Trample without having to find another card makes chump blocking much harder, and while BoS's weird pseudo-hexproof doesn't protect against Beast Within or Song of the Dryads, it also can't be removed by Shadowspear.
A few of the cards which don't fall under Equipment or Enchantment Buff still make creatures bigger, like the two gods, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, Tribute to the World Tree, Guardian Augmenter, and even Snake Umbra. War Room is also card draw and Sword of the Animist is land ramp. Most of the utility creatures function as card removal as well as secondary targets for equipment or a snack for Zop.
For my beatsticks, I mostly favor creatures with hexproof and/or indestructible as well as creatures which can recur. If I force my opponent to use a card like Cyclonic Rift or Blasphemous Act to deal with a single one of my creatures, I feel a little joy inside. Someone pulling out a Swords to Plowshares and pulling it back because Dungrove Elder wants none of that... delicious.
I've intentionally avoided cards which make my creatures unblockable, like Rogue's Passage or Trailblazer's Boots, or which give a one-turn buff as a finisher like Tyvar's Stand or Primal Bellow. I'm playing this with a group that isn't cEDH and after that second game day, I had won several of the games I had played. I wanted to know if I went from too weak to too strong. The response I got was "no - your deck gives us a chance to interact, even with all the hexproof and indestructible". Getting options to avoid blockers entirely (even more than what Indomitable Might can do) or to add an instant-speed buff of +11/+11 or so... it's just not as fun for me. Oh, Commander's Plate is also close to unblockable in this mono-green commander deck, but my opponents had the option to play green or colorless creatures.
This deck is successful in my current group and I enjoyed playing it, so I wanted to share it here. If anyone has any suggestions, or if new cards come out which are pretty much straight improvements (like how Cankerbloom replaced Outland Liberator // Frenzied Trapbreaker, feel free to reply. If you want to adapt this deck for your group or your tastes, have at it.
