If you like to throw bananas at your opponents and wait for them to slip on the banana peel to steal the victory from their hands, then Ape Tribal is the right deck for you. Let’s see how you can trick your opponents and make them go bananas!
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Apes exist throughout the history of magic, but they lacked any synergy among their tribe and a leader to help them construct a meaningful tribal commander deck. All that changed with the coming of Kibo, Uktabi Prince, a Monkey Noble that supports both Apes and Monkeys by buffing them to a point where a meme tribe can become powerful primates that can dominate the battlefield.
Kibo, Uktabi Prince with 
forces each player to create a colorless artifact token named Banana with “, Sacrifice this artifact: Add 
or 
. You gain 2 life.” Furthermore, it has “Whenever an artifact an opponent controls is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that’s an Ape or a Monkey.” Moreover, by attacking, it forces defending player to sacrifice an artifact.
At first, Kibo seems quite friendly, giving all players bananas that help with ramp and lifegain. The trick is that if the opponents choose to use our “gift” then its second ability triggers and they buff our Apes and Monkeys. They have to be careful, but Kibo don’t let them choose the optimal situation, as with its last ability it forces defending player to sacrifice an artifact.
Our strategy is simple, yet it can needs proper planning and accurate timing. We want to spread the bananas across the players, but we don’t plan to let others get the best out of them. We run powerful and repeatitive artifact removal (since bananas are artifacts) and mock our opponents by destroying the bananas before they get a chance to use them, while on the same time buffing our creatures. Interestingly, one of the few things that some Apes share over the years, is artifact removal. I see a design pattern here.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add the best Apes and Monkeys. Our priority is to add the ones with artifact removal since with the help of Kibo, Uktabi Prince, we can get great value. Moreover, we can add Apes/Monkeys that have synergy or benefit the most from +1/+1 counters (like Apes with trample, menace or other useful abilities).
- Add artifact removal and artifact removal support. With our strategy, we need way more artifact removal than the optimal of an average deck. Moreover, there are a few cards that can turn creatures and/or permanents into artifacts and that combined with exceptional and repeatitive artifact removal can synergize greatly with our strategy.
- Add +1/+1 counter support cards or cards that care about +1/+1 counters.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that fit greatly the Ape tribal theme.
The deck:
Ape Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
34 Lands
13 Ramp: Kibo, Uktabi Prince , Simian Spirit Guide , Arcane Signet , Sol Ring , Silverback Elder , Patchwork Banner, Rampant Growth , Cultivate , Mosswort Bridge (kinda), Gruul Signet , Talisman of Impulse , Domri, Anarch of Bolas, Rishkar, Peema Renegade
17 Target Removal: Khalni Ambush , Kibo, Uktabi Prince , Uktabi Orangutan , Gorilla Shaman , Kogla, the Titan Ape , Yavimaya Steelcrusher , Silverback Elder , Warstorm Surge , Mizzium Mortars , Stump Stomp, Primitive Justice , Masked Vandal, Domri, Anarch of Bolas, Kogla and Yidaro , Return to Nature , Vandalblast, Gearbane Orangutan
6 Board Wipes: Mizzium Mortars , Primitive Justice (artifacts), Hammer Mage (artifacts), Vandalblast (artifacts), Anzrag’s Rampage (artifacts), Season of Gathering (artifacts/enchantments)
2 Graveyard Recursion: Unnatural Restoration , Creeping Renaissance
2 Graveyard Hate: Return to Nature , Scavenger Grounds
0 Tutor:
3 Protection: Inspiring Call , Swiftfoot Boots , Blinding Fog
10,5 Card Draw: Racers’ Ring (1/2), Silverback Shaman (1/2), Viridian Revel , Inspiring Call , Lifecrafter’s Bestiary , Gorilla War Cry (1/2), Bestial Fury (1/2), Colossal Majesty , Shamanic Revelation , Harmonize , Beast Whisperer, Season of Gathering, Kogla and Yidaro (1/2)
6 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Grunn, the Lonely King , Gorilla War Cry (kinda), Declare Dominance , Overrun , Glorious Sunrise (mini), Kogla and Yidaro
As we see form the comparative analysis, the rates per category are very good. With the exception of tutors category, there is no score below the optimal low average and we see 4 categories that are above the optimal max average. We see two great spikes, the first in Target Removal which reflects our strong artifact removal and the second in Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions category at 6 and that is important because our deck needs ways to finish games consistently. Board wipes at 6 (mostly mass artifact removal) are also a highlight of the deck.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Our commander Kibo, Uktabi Prince is a great source of ramp. He helps all players but we benefit the most in any case. We get color fixing as well and can be repeatitive, so he has big gravity for our Ape Tribal build.
Simian Spirit Guide is an Ape Spirit that can either be cast as a creature or be exiled from our hand at instant speed to add to our mana pool. The flexibility is its true power.
Silverback Elder is one of the strongest Apes ever printed. It can be a great ramp source, target removal (artifact or enchantment) or life giver and all that can be repeatable whenever we cast a creature spell. In our Ape Tribal deck that is full of creatures, we can get amazing value.
Domri, Anarch of Bolas is a planeswalker that acts like an anthem for our creatures and at the same time with +1 it gives us or and our creatures can’t be countered, or with -2 it acts like a target removal (fight mechanic). Once again, the true power lies in the flexibility.
Rishkar, Peema Renegade has +1/+1 counter synergy and can turn all of our Apes/Monkeys into ramp sources. It has amazing ramp potential in our Ape Tribal deck.
Patchwork Banner is one of the best cards for Tribal builds as it combines ramp and tribal support. Being both a mana rock and a Tribal Anthem gives us amazing value for its mana cost. Of course it is a top pick for our Ape Tribal!
Target Removal
Kibo, Uktabi Prince is also a repeatable artifact removal. Although technically it is not target removal, since we choose the player we attack, we can count it as target removal.
Uktabi Orangutan has artifact removal on EtB and has great synergy with our strategy. Gearbane Orangutan is actually a strictly better upgrade of Uktabi Orangutan which is one of the best Apes for our Ape Tribal build. On ETB we can choose either to destroy target artifact or to sacrifice an artifact and put two +1/+1 counters on Gearbane Orangutan. In addition it has Reach which is very welcome in a deck with no flyers. Of course we can keep both for high synergy and consistency!
Gorilla Shaman is a great artifact removal card as with paying 
we can destroy at instant speed target artifact with mana cost . A great inclusion for our Ape Tribal.
Kogla, the Titan Ape is a true Legend and one of the best cards for Ape Tribal. With fight on EtB and a great body it can become creature removal and whenever it attacks, it becomes repeatable artifact/echantment removal. We even have an important human to protect in our deck, but it isn’t a lady in distress. With its last ability, we can protect a personal favorite inclusion for the deck, Hammer Mage that I will further analyze below.
Yavimaya Steelcrusher is another Ape with hate for artifacts, as with and sacrificing itself, it destroy target artifact. Enlist ability is a bonus, but we run it for the Ape Tribal and the artifact removal synergy.
Warstorm Surge is great in creature tribal decks since they run many creatures and we can get amazing value from repeatitive removal on creature EtB.
Masked Vandal is a staple for green creature tribal decks, but in our Ape Tribal deck it has even better synergy than usual since it is both a Ape and a Monkey and artifact removal is part of our main strategies.
Kogla and Yidaro is a legendary duo that is flexible and can play multiple roles in our strategy. On EtB it can fight target creature we don’t conrol, or act as a finisher gaining trample and haste. Moreover, if we pay 
and discard it, at instant speed we can destroy target artifact or enchantment, shuffle Kogla and Yidaro into our library from our graveyard and draw a card. Amazing flexibility and great synergy with our Ape Tribal deck.
Stump Stomp takes the place of a Land and offers us a cheap removal option at sorcery speed.
Board Wipes
Primitive Justice can be either a target artifact removal spell, or if we have enough mana to spend it can become a kinda mass artifact removal by paying either or for each extra target. If we choose the green extra cost we also get 1 life per extra target. The flavor of the card greatly fits the Ape Tribal theme too.
Hammer Mage is a Human Spellshaper that with paying , and discarding a card from our hand it destroys at instant speed all artifacts with mana cost or less. It is a repeatable mass artifact destruction card that works great with bananas since they cost 
and we’re going to flood the board with them. It is a favorite personal inclusion for our Ape Tribal build. It’s hammer time! We’re going to crush some artifacts again and again, make our Apes/Monkeys King Kong size and make our opponents go bananas!
Vandalblast and Anzrag’s Rampage are some of the best mass artifact removal cards and the best part is that that they are one-sided wipes. Anzrag’s Rampage also offers a kind of ramp/card advantage that works great with big creatures and creatures with ETB abilities. Great synergy with our Ape Tribal build!
Season of Gathering is a great flexible card that plays many roles. It can act as card draw, mass artifact/enchantment removal and even a finisher. What makes it optimal for our Ape Tribal build is that we can combine some of the choices to get maximum value.
Graveyard Recursion
Unnatural Restoration is a cheap graveyard recursion spell that also has proliferate that equals synergy with +1/+1 counters (and our Ape Tribal build).
Creeping Renaissance is a great mass grave recusrion spell that works very well in tribal decks since many cards share a permanent type.
Graveyard Hate
Scavenger Grounds is a staple for graveyard hate.
Protection
Inspiring Call is a staple in +1/+1 counters decks since it offers great card draw and mass protection (indestructible) until end of turn at instant speed.
Card Draw
Silverback Shaman has card draw on death trigger which is a minor help in card draw and deck consistency. Its body is average for its stats but at least it has trample which is very important for our Ape Tribal build.
Viridian Revel has great synergy with our Ape Tribal deck since either from just the use of bananas from our opponents or from our artifact removal, we expect to draw many cards from it each turn.
Lifecrafter’s Bestiary is a great source of card draw for creature-heavy decks and its scry 1 is very important too.
Bestial Fury fits the flavor of our Ape Tribal deck and has gives trample and +4/+0 to a creature if it is blocked, so it makes a big hitter harder to be blocked and on top of that it offers card draw at the beginning of the next turn’s upkeep.
Colossal Majesty is great in any deck with many high power creatures as we can expect to draw many cards from it.
Beast Whisperer offers great card draw on tribal creature decks since most of them are creature-heavy decks.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Of course Apes have some great big hitters. Kogla and Yidaro can be have trample and haste on EtB, while Grunn, the Lonely King is amazing when attacking alone as it doubles its stats and can become huge if we use its kicker cost or combined with our +1/+1 counter strategy. Both work quite well with cards that provide any kind of evasion/trample like Bestial Fury and Gorilla War Cry .
Gorilla War Cry provides a kind of evasion which can be a potential finisher in our Ape Tribal deck that is full of angry Apes and on top of that it provides card draw at the beginning of the next turn’s upkeep.
Declare Dominance can either be attached to a big hitter to eliminate enemy forces, or to be attached to a minor creature and let others be unblocked for a lethal hit. It greatly fits the flavor of Ape Tribal.
Other synergy pieces
Kird Ape is cheap and gives easy value by getting +1/+2 as long as we have a forest in play.
Kavu Predator has great synergy with our banana strategy, since bananas grand life when used (sounds healthy) and if our opponents use our “gifts”, our Kavu will quickly grow into a huge threat. It also has trample so it’s hard to be blocked.
Molder Slug fits perfectly in our artifact removal strategy and it has great synergy with bananas and Kibo. A great inclusion for our Ape Tribal build.
Liquimetal Coating can turn any permanent into an artifact and we have our deck full of artifact removal. Mycosynth Lattice turns all permanents into artifacts and turn our mass artifact removal spells into nukes. They both have amazing synergy with our heavy artifact removal strategy. Key cards for our Ape Tribal build.
Monkey Cage is a great spell for producing Monkey tokens and surely fits the flavor of our Ape Tribal deck.
Invigorating Hot Spring fits the +1/+1 counter strategy and its artwork fits the flavor of Ape Tribal.
Bloodroot Apothecary works wonders in our Ape Tribal. Bananas we gift to our opponents are noncreature tokens so we can easily poison our opponents to death if they dare use them, or at least we can prevent them from using them until we eventually destroy them. Great synergy with our build!
Hardened Scales is a staple for +1/+1 counters builds and can really shine in our Ape Tribal as Kibo, Uktabi Prince places one +1/+1 counter at a time on each Ape/Monkey so it becomes a +1/+1 counters doubler.
Apes/Monkeys with Trample/Evasion : 8 cards
Trample/Evasion is important in our Ape Tribal build since we expect our creatures to be constantly buffed by the destroyed artifacts of our opponents and we want a way for our damage to get through.
Apes/Monkeys with +1/+1 counters synergy : 4 cards
Since our Ape Tribal is build around +1/+1 counters too, Apes/Monkeys that have synergy with +1/+1 counters provide our deck more consistency.
Apes/Monkeys with Reach : 3 cards
Having some creatures with Reach is important in Ape Tribal that is a deck with no flyers.
Apes/Monkeys with Protection : 2 cards
Apes/Monkeys with protection are harder to remove and that help us maintain the board control.
Kessig Wolf Run and Skarrg, the Rage Pits contribute to our trample/evasion strategy.
Treetop Village can become a 3/3 green Ape with trample until end of turn with so it greatly fits Ape Tribal.
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve seems more middle-range centered that usual, with many drops on 2-6 drop positions, two spikes (at 2-3 drops and at 5-6 drops) and an absence of 7+ drops. That reflects our strategy that needs many low to mid mana creatures to buff them rather than big threats.
Card Type Distribution
The Ape Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant tribal creature-heavy theme with 31 creatures, with Sorceries and Artifacts to follow at 14 and 10. Other categories have lesser presence with Enchantments at 7, Instants at 5, and Planeswalkers are at 1. No Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with all the deck build around Kibo, Uktabi Prince, and our deep artifact removal strategy, our Apes/Monkeys can quickly grow into formidable threats and that is not reflected in statistics.
Update v1 (Murders at Karlov Manor)
Update v2 (Bloomburrow)
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If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
