Before and for a short time after the signing of the Guildpact, the Gruul Clans were a wild and noble guild charged with maintaining the wild places on Ravnica. They were supposed to keep civilization in check. Civilization and the other nine guilds, however, overran every wild place on the plane. This changed the Gruul.[1]
As the wilds were torn down, so too were the Gruul's responsibilities taken from them. The Simic claimed jurisdiction over nature's future. The Selesnya preached about nature in order to bring it into its conclave. With their responsibilities taken over by others, they were seen as outside of the Guildpact and the Azorius began to write them out of the law. Outside the law, the Boros were not required to protect them and the Orzhov were free to enslave them.
The Gruul decentralized, lacking any sort of real leadership. Now the guild is nothing but a loose affiliation of clans. They have been exploited and ignored. They take any reason to cause chaos, any reason to destroy a symbol of civilization. Most Gruul hold contempt for those outside the Clans, referring to them as "cobble roaches".
It is common for Gruul clans to raid an area, destroy it, and live there until the resources gleaned from the destructive raid are used up. Once that happens, they move on to a new area, leaving smoldering ruins in their wake. They observe few consistent traditions but love to celebrate Rauck-Chauv, an irregular festival characterized by several days of rioting, feasting, looting, and destruction.
Borborygmos is the largest and angriest of many large and angry clan leaders. He is not the official guildleader of the Gruul as there is little official about the guild, but when he gives orders, the Gruul listen. As his orders are in line with the rage of the abused guild, they are happy to do so. There is also Ulasht, the Hate Seed. Though it isn't a part of any clan, it is revered by many Gruul as a natural embodiment of pure destruction and mindless rage.
Clans
There are six Clans that currently make up the Gruul. New clans occasionally form under ambitious Gruul warlords, and meanwhile other clans are occasionally challenged, defeated, and wiped out.
The Burning Tree Clan is the most influential in the guild, and is also the home of Borborygmos. They make sure that everyone in the Clans remembers who has held them down and destroyed their guild and then lets that rage loose on civilization. They are often tattooed with the crest of the guild.
Scab Clan Mauler by Liam Sharp
The Scab Clan is the most violent of the Gruul Clans. This is because every member of it has been tortured, mutilated, or crippled by the organizations of civilization. The members of this clan make up for physical deficiency by cooperating with each other.[2]
Of all the clans, the Ghor Clan execute the most frequent and savage assaults on Ravnican citizenry. The clan typically creates encampments close to heavily populated Ravnican districts. Their leader is Ruric Thar.
The Bolrac Clan (named after an ancient ravnican word for heavy hammers) is mainly composed of Ogres, Cyclopes, Trolls and Giants, who share a love for bringing down massive structures using mauls and battering rams.
The Slizt Clan, in contrast, are more skulkerous and trust stealth attacks and using high ground to their advantage. The other clans call them cowards, but are cautious to avoid Slizt territory.
The Zhur-Taa Clan (also called the skull bleachers) is the most religious of the six Clans, claiming to practice pre-guild rites. They worship the Utmungr, "gods of the deep earth," and await the awakening of Ilharg, an ancient boar god who will mount a fiery rampage and raze the over-civilized world once and for all.
The Gruul's special ability in Guildpact was Bloodthirst:[4][5] when a creature with bloodthirst comes into play, if an opponent was dealt damage that turn, the creature comes into play with a fixed number of +1/+1 counters (exception: Petrified Wood-kin has Bloodthirst X, meaning that it comes into play with counters equal to the total damage dealt to all opponents that turn).
