Greenbelt Rampager works really well with Experiment One, Narnam Renegade, and Pelt Collector with Talara's Battalion to a lesser extent. I've tried quite a few combinations of these cards and have found that 3 Rampagers is the magic number if you have 5-8 E1/NR/PC. This synergy comes with the price of potentially cutting some number of Dryad Militant, competing for the 1 drop slots though.
Speaking of fight effects in Pounce and Pit Fight, why not run Setessan Tactics? I currently run 2 in my sideboard alongside 3 maindeck Dismember. Same speed, scalable effect, and can often be a one-sided pseudo-boardwipe.
I've had a decent amount of success with this build's creature synergy + breaking open the deck's sequencing. I'd like a few thoughts on getting the opponent to 0 faster in the spell-based combo matchups like storm and ad-nauseum. I can seem to get them to 1-3 quickly but the corner is usually turned at the final moment. This build seeks to abuse greenbelt rampager without overcommitting to the +1/+1 counter theme and allows for some nasty synergies with experiment one, narnam renegade, talara's battalion, and giantbaiting (lol). There are 9 cards that nerf graveyards in the 75 and 12+ cards that interact with affinity in the 75 - though I can tell you manglehorn is a monster against a mediocre affinity draw. I've tried to hedge againt chalice with spreading the CMC of my artifact hate. Groundbreaker steals a lot of games against death's shadow builds and has broke the locks of LOTV/Karn several times for me - I am sold on it in my local meta. I've reached the point to where I have cut all rancors, blossoming defense, and dungrove elders though I never thought I'd arrive at a list like this. I feel those cards fit best in a more mindrange meta.
Two cards of interest that I am not completely sold on - Giantbaiting wins out of nowhere sometimes (with 2x experiment one triggers to boot), and wheel of sun and moon. What do you guys think can hit harder/faster in this list than those two in particular? People seem to get tilted when losing a game to giantbaiting though.
And with Groundbreaker ? I get Baloth vs Dungrove, but breaker might be a quicker clock? Is it worth it to split the two, or does the amount of copies per list depend of the amount of aspect of hydra in your deck?
I've tried Groundbreaker before and didn't like it as much versus Boggart Ram-Gang because the Gang stuck around and Groundbreaker forces removal most of the time. Groundbreaker is a real beating though and I don't see anything wrong with running a few. I believe using either Boggart Ram-Gang + Aspect of Hydra or Groundbreaker + Blossoming Defense could be equally viable. Aspect is amazing, but I am running a more hexproof-centered package in 3 Dungrove Elder and 3 Blossoming Defense with 2 Aspects that I seem to keep siding out in games 2 & 3.
Another thought, with Narnam Renegade in the deck there is more of an excuse to run a few fetches. My old build had 4 fetches, 2 Copperline Gorge and 1 Stomping Ground main with 3 Blood Moon and 3 Ancient Grudge in the board. The build just stole games when I should have lost and the Ram-Gang still allowed me to use non-forests while under a moon. The land drops I could make maindeck even functionally ignored there was red in the deck on game 1.
I would have to agree with the Dungrove. The list I'm taking to a small tournament a few days from now has 2 Dungrove, and no baloths. Dungrove starts out less impressive, as he is just a 3/3 or a 4/4 when cast, but in the mid game he is almost always larger than baloth + cannot be hit with targetted removal. How many Dungroves do you have in the main?
I run 3 Dungroves in the main because my meta is full of grixis and jund. Jund has a slightly easier time dealing with Dungrove, but the card will eat grixis alive in multiples. I'd love to go up to 4 main but my deck is all 1-2 drops and exploits Greenbelt Rampager triggers.
leatherback baloth is this deck's budget tarmogoyf. If you were running a build that exploits green devotion then you would want a creature that sticks around for a burst of hasty aspect of hydra damage. Right now I am running a list that tops out at 3 CMC in dungrove elder because fatal push is everywhere. The negative tempo from losing a 3CMC card to a 1CMC card is real and opens you up to being put on the back foot for the rest of the game - which isn't where this deck wants to be.
A decent replacement that meets halfway between the two cards you mentioned is boggart ram-gang which adds the same 3 devotion, sticks around, and has a nice upside of putting undying creatures like kitchen finks down for the count. It also has haste, which is just gross in an aggro deck.
Crocodile of the Crossing / 3G
Creature - Crocodile, Uncommon
haste
When Crocodile of the Crossing enters the battlefield, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature you control.
5/4
Has synergy with E1 to negate the evolve and resets or makes geist stronger. Thoughts?
Speaking of young wolf's spot, Narnam Renegade is now spoiled. A newer, greener, kird ape... with an upside! Deathtouch, evolves E1, but more difficult for us to turn on revolt since we don't really run fetches.
I am actually thinking of just splashing white or red simply for the better sideboard options.
Many a time I have imagined how powerful Stompy would be with Blood Moon. If only it were green! Our fast aggression backed up by the strong disruption of the Moon would be unbeatable. That, I think, is the major difference between Stompy with a red splash and decks like bushwhacker zoo: being able to load up on copies of Blood Moon without getting punished in the mana base like Nacatl decks do. That, combined with Lightning Bolt and powerful hate cards like Ancient Grudge , Destructive Revelry, and Pyroclasm make the red splash very appealing... but that brings us back to the classic question: if it isn't mono green, can we really say that it's Stompy? Is the power of Aspect of Hydra worth playing sub-optimal mono-colored creatures even when we have a fetching manabase and could be running things like Wild Nacatl and Tarmogoyf? I want to believe... but I am not totally convinced that it is :/
I had actually ran a splash of red in this deck for an addition of 3x blood moon and 3x ancient grudge in the sideboard. I did end up getting 3-1 four times in a row at my local FNM with the list. The only maindeck change I had was replacing 4 leatherback baloths with 4 boggart ram-gangs and the surprise Giantbaiting. I can say this change was very powerful and gave the deck a fighting chance over our bad matchups like affinity and tron while only making the burn matchup slightly worse. The amount of maindeck haste makes a world of difference and finding red mana was never an issue when needed. Pardon the awkward formatting, I mainly lurk. This is what I ran:
Goyf will always be okay, even here, with what the other person does even if he's small will usually be a 3/4 or 4/5 for 2 mana, that's playable. There's no doubt he's better in a jund build but he's fine here. I think voice is much more impressive though. There's also nothing to say he needs to be a 4-of either. Why not have 2? Goyf actually is a respectable late draw as a threat and is cheap enough that you can still hold mana up or play other things, maybe it's an inexpensive threat you do want to see latter rather than in your opening hand in this deck
I agree with this sentiment of goyf. I don't have my list on hand, but probably should post it soon since 2 goyf has been the sweet spot for my bant coco list. He is definitely an all-star when it comes to grinding, but to have him ran out and die to anger is pretty frustrating since we have little gas ourselves to make him dumb before turn 4.
I have played him and he's plenty fine, just inferior to other options in my opinion Won a lot of games off of 6/7 and 7/8 goyfs off of hangarback/courser pumping him from the yard. But voice was always better at protecting the combo and screwing with people's tempo (for me).
I'm running a 4 voice / 2 goyf split for the 2 drops. Voice has been an all-star for me against infect and twin where we can bait instants out of our opponent's hand with path. Voice, GQ, and path helped me absolutely crush two opponents each playing infect last FNM where I technically should not have done so well against their draws.
I'm not sure if this has been explicitly stated or not but if your combo gets nerfed after thinning your deck of lands, your threat density increases to well over 90% in topdeck mode. I do love seeing 6 options from a resolved coco.
I've been playing this deck for a few months and can't get over the dismal combo, grixis and tron matchups. Has anyone considered or tested a red splash for only Blood Moon out of the SB to shore this up? I know it sounds ridiculous at first but it does fill in the gaps we may need to close out against decks that have far more access to a range of removal, fits in the 3cmc slot, and MUST be answered by greedy decks, and is easily splashable now with wooded foothills + BFZ Cinder Glade. I've also had dismal luck against fish and blood moon would fill in all the gaps that choke cannot against them. Thoughts?
Does anyone have advice on beating bloom titan? Would this be dependent on my opening hand mainly? I played against a pretty standard one for the first time this week and was crushed, even through casting a nature's claim on a t1 amulet and casting rapid hybridization on a t2 titan. The opponent had a second amulet to drop and a pact in hand. Granted I had to mull to 5 due to not having enough interaction or any infecters. Can I just chalk that one up to variance within the game?
I've also tested 2 monastery siege out of the board a bit and it really packed a punch against an esper build. I was able to overcome 2 spell pierce, snapcaster, 2 PtE, ghost quarter, and play around a supreme verdict with only 1 inkmoth and 2 vines only to drop a BI for the win. I'm less impressed by rapid hybridization but one maindecked does take advantage of the surprise factor.
I'm running a Bg attrition style list. How would one deal with GW aggro ramping with a mystic on turn 1? I've found this to be a difficult matchup with only 7 maindeck removal spells and a curve that tops at 4.
In most of my experience I have found shadowborn demon to be underwhelming and gray merchant to be even more underwhelming for the attrition-based list. RotW actually tends to do quite well in GW matchups because he cannot be selesnya charmed, does not trade with smiter or a monstrous lion, and deathtouches wurm tokens.
Basically I'd like to know other peoples' strategies in dealing with GW aggro once the aggro player is on the play and lays out a mystic on turn 1. You know everything is coming sideways each turn, so what are my best options in a Bg attrition-based deck?
Two cards of interest that I am not completely sold on - Giantbaiting wins out of nowhere sometimes (with 2x experiment one triggers to boot), and wheel of sun and moon. What do you guys think can hit harder/faster in this list than those two in particular? People seem to get tilted when losing a game to giantbaiting though.
Maindeck:
4 Experiment One
4 Greenbelt Rampager
3 Narnam Renegade
2 Dryad Militant
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Talara's Battalion
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Groundbreaker
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Giantbaiting
3 Dismember
21 Forest
Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
1 Creeping Corrosion
2 Unravel the Aether
1 Manglehorn
2 Life Goes On
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Setessan Tactics
I've tried Groundbreaker before and didn't like it as much versus Boggart Ram-Gang because the Gang stuck around and Groundbreaker forces removal most of the time. Groundbreaker is a real beating though and I don't see anything wrong with running a few. I believe using either Boggart Ram-Gang + Aspect of Hydra or Groundbreaker + Blossoming Defense could be equally viable. Aspect is amazing, but I am running a more hexproof-centered package in 3 Dungrove Elder and 3 Blossoming Defense with 2 Aspects that I seem to keep siding out in games 2 & 3.
Another thought, with Narnam Renegade in the deck there is more of an excuse to run a few fetches. My old build had 4 fetches, 2 Copperline Gorge and 1 Stomping Ground main with 3 Blood Moon and 3 Ancient Grudge in the board. The build just stole games when I should have lost and the Ram-Gang still allowed me to use non-forests while under a moon. The land drops I could make maindeck even functionally ignored there was red in the deck on game 1.
I run 3 Dungroves in the main because my meta is full of grixis and jund. Jund has a slightly easier time dealing with Dungrove, but the card will eat grixis alive in multiples. I'd love to go up to 4 main but my deck is all 1-2 drops and exploits Greenbelt Rampager triggers.
A decent replacement that meets halfway between the two cards you mentioned is boggart ram-gang which adds the same 3 devotion, sticks around, and has a nice upside of putting undying creatures like kitchen finks down for the count. It also has haste, which is just gross in an aggro deck.
Crocodile of the Crossing / 3G
Creature - Crocodile, Uncommon
haste
When Crocodile of the Crossing enters the battlefield, put a -1/-1 counter on target creature you control.
5/4
Has synergy with E1 to negate the evolve and resets or makes geist stronger. Thoughts?
I had actually ran a splash of red in this deck for an addition of 3x blood moon and 3x ancient grudge in the sideboard. I did end up getting 3-1 four times in a row at my local FNM with the list. The only maindeck change I had was replacing 4 leatherback baloths with 4 boggart ram-gangs and the surprise Giantbaiting. I can say this change was very powerful and gave the deck a fighting chance over our bad matchups like affinity and tron while only making the burn matchup slightly worse. The amount of maindeck haste makes a world of difference and finding red mana was never an issue when needed. Pardon the awkward formatting, I mainly lurk. This is what I ran:
Main:
4x Dryad Militant
4x Experiment One
4x Strangleroot Geist
4x Avatar of the Resolute
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
2x Nettle Sentinel
2x Kalonian Tusker
3x Scavenging Ooze
3x Dismember
3x Aspect of Hydra
4x Vines of Vastwood
1x Giantbaiting
2x Rancor
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Stomping Ground
3x Copperline Gorge
12x Forest
Side:
3x Blood Moon
3x Ancient Grudge
3x Pithing Needle
2x Feed the Clan
2x Setessan Tactics
1x Choke
1x Deglamer
I agree with this sentiment of goyf. I don't have my list on hand, but probably should post it soon since 2 goyf has been the sweet spot for my bant coco list. He is definitely an all-star when it comes to grinding, but to have him ran out and die to anger is pretty frustrating since we have little gas ourselves to make him dumb before turn 4.
I'm running a 4 voice / 2 goyf split for the 2 drops. Voice has been an all-star for me against infect and twin where we can bait instants out of our opponent's hand with path. Voice, GQ, and path helped me absolutely crush two opponents each playing infect last FNM where I technically should not have done so well against their draws.
I've also tested 2 monastery siege out of the board a bit and it really packed a punch against an esper build. I was able to overcome 2 spell pierce, snapcaster, 2 PtE, ghost quarter, and play around a supreme verdict with only 1 inkmoth and 2 vines only to drop a BI for the win. I'm less impressed by rapid hybridization but one maindecked does take advantage of the surprise factor.
In most of my experience I have found shadowborn demon to be underwhelming and gray merchant to be even more underwhelming for the attrition-based list. RotW actually tends to do quite well in GW matchups because he cannot be selesnya charmed, does not trade with smiter or a monstrous lion, and deathtouches wurm tokens.
Basically I'd like to know other peoples' strategies in dealing with GW aggro once the aggro player is on the play and lays out a mystic on turn 1. You know everything is coming sideways each turn, so what are my best options in a Bg attrition-based deck?