I run 22-23 land (I don't remember exactly, but I know it's less than 24), the full suite of 8 mana dorks... and my deck curves out at 5. I've been playing that way the past two weeks and haven't really run into mana issues.
A big part of the decision for me was the Delver matchup. He won't get manaleaked and he's good against vapor snag. And he gathers mana for me to get around manaleak, so I can play Thragtusk and Thrun earlier. Plus, he's really good with cavern of the souls, b/c you call Human and your Ranger's & your Huntmaster's are safe.
My teammate plays Delver, so do a few kids in my meta, so it's a big matchup for me.
Rancor is more important for our late game I think. It pushes through Silverheart damage and guarantee's our Sword's hitting.
Rancor wins games, I can't imagine not playing. I mean heck, it's only one mana for a recurring enchantment that pumps +2/0 and gives trample. Sounds good to me.
I play neither right now. And if I want to curve out, my turn 3 play is Green Sun Zenith for 2... or hopefully I played a dork turn 1 and I can start hitting with Hellrider or Huntmaster.
Playing Borderland Ranger allows you to run less land. I would run 3-4 w/ a 22-23 land deck. For consistency if anything.
Bonfire is a big part of the reason the deck is good, but it's not fair to say it would be poor without. There were cascades of R/G lists that topped before AvR dropped, perhaps less afterwards. Bonfire is a great rip off the top, but so is a turn 2 Sword, or a Turn 3 Huntmaster or Turn 4 Hellkite.
R/G is capable of a ton of pressure with very good, early creatures. Running bonfire is a bonus, and even more so w/ Sword of Feast and Famine. Which is why I run them over War and Peace. Miracle/Hard Cast Bonfire...swing...reset...drop Huntmaster or w/e I want. There's no recovering from that. In two cards I wiped my opp's field, gained 2 life and summoned 2 creatures. That's dumb good.
EDIT: Side in Arc Trail for the Naya Matchup. 2 Arc Trails, 4 BotD and 4 Huntmaster's can go a long way to keeping Splicer tokens from having first strike. Remember, you don't need to deal with the golem directly, just the stupid splicer
I've been testing both and I now know why so many lists run Borderland Ranger at 4. It allows you to run 4 Bonfire of the Damned, and whatever copies of RR you want to, effectively. So often I'd have 2 mana and a mana dork and a hand full of creatures. That puts me entirely dependent on the dork for board stabilization. If the dork didn't stay, I was screwed.
With Borderland Ranger in hand, it's a whole different story. I can tutor the mountain, and keep my hand advantage for War and Peace.
What Borderland Ranger also does is increase the quality of cards in your deck as the game goes on. Each time you drop Borderland Ranger in a game, you're thinning your deck by 1, making it more likely to draw your bombs late game. And like I mentioned it feeds the best card in the deck. It allows you to run Bonfire at 4.
I do really like Avenger, right now I'm running 3 Borderlands and 2 Avengers, but I can see how the Avengers can be a little underwhelming. I like a turn 2 Avenger into a Turn 3 Hellrider but that two card combo doesn't always pan out.
A big part of the decision for me was the Delver matchup. He won't get manaleaked and he's good against vapor snag. And he gathers mana for me to get around manaleak, so I can play Thragtusk and Thrun earlier. Plus, he's really good with cavern of the souls, b/c you call Human and your Ranger's & your Huntmaster's are safe.
My teammate plays Delver, so do a few kids in my meta, so it's a big matchup for me.
Rancor wins games, I can't imagine not playing. I mean heck, it's only one mana for a recurring enchantment that pumps +2/0 and gives trample. Sounds good to me.
Playing Borderland Ranger allows you to run less land. I would run 3-4 w/ a 22-23 land deck. For consistency if anything.
Bonfire is a big part of the reason the deck is good, but it's not fair to say it would be poor without. There were cascades of R/G lists that topped before AvR dropped, perhaps less afterwards. Bonfire is a great rip off the top, but so is a turn 2 Sword, or a Turn 3 Huntmaster or Turn 4 Hellkite.
R/G is capable of a ton of pressure with very good, early creatures. Running bonfire is a bonus, and even more so w/ Sword of Feast and Famine. Which is why I run them over War and Peace. Miracle/Hard Cast Bonfire...swing...reset...drop Huntmaster or w/e I want. There's no recovering from that. In two cards I wiped my opp's field, gained 2 life and summoned 2 creatures. That's dumb good.
EDIT: Side in Arc Trail for the Naya Matchup. 2 Arc Trails, 4 BotD and 4 Huntmaster's can go a long way to keeping Splicer tokens from having first strike. Remember, you don't need to deal with the golem directly, just the stupid splicer
With Borderland Ranger in hand, it's a whole different story. I can tutor the mountain, and keep my hand advantage for War and Peace.
What Borderland Ranger also does is increase the quality of cards in your deck as the game goes on. Each time you drop Borderland Ranger in a game, you're thinning your deck by 1, making it more likely to draw your bombs late game. And like I mentioned it feeds the best card in the deck. It allows you to run Bonfire at 4.
I do really like Avenger, right now I'm running 3 Borderlands and 2 Avengers, but I can see how the Avengers can be a little underwhelming. I like a turn 2 Avenger into a Turn 3 Hellrider but that two card combo doesn't always pan out.