Endless one would be nice to pump up experiment one for what ever mana is needed, would help with Avatar getting his counters, but over all I dont think there is a slot for the card. It doesnt add any devotion for Aspect of Hydra, nor is the card above the curve at all. It is actually the most vanilla creature ever printed, and we want better than vanilla here for our beaters.
My question though (havent read all 134 pages of threads) is whether or not Predator Ooze is useful in the deck. I have been testing him out on cockatrice, and there seems to be a lack of Path to Exile running around. Grixis is everywhere, Jund is making a huge comeback, merfolks and elves running around like mad. If the card sticks, Grixis cant actually kill it, Jund has to have a dismember or Lilianna with us not having anything else to sac, and the other creature decks will either have to deal with an unkillable wall or an eventual The Abyss
Staring at the spoilers and seeing everyone jumping on the MonoG devotion train, I wanted to look for a new hyper aggressive red deck. Knowing the power level of Sligh, wanted to see if there were any new goodies, and oh boy was I not disappointed. Frenzied Goblin is ridiculously good. Hammerhand is another very good pump spell that will give a turn 3 Akroan Crusader some extra goodness, being able to send in an additional 3 points of damage that turn shutting off a blocker. Inferno Fist is decent, being able to throw an extra shock out when necessary to finish off a game or to eliminate a pesky blocker. Stoke the Flames will give the deck the little bit of extra reach to finish the game off, especially when the board state has become rough enough to not attack.
I haven't really looked into the sideboard yet, but I don't believe there is much else to change, besides maybe bringing in a Mutavault some where. With access to Stoke the Flames, not sure if Mizzium Mortars is needed anymore. So that may leave in favor of Blinding Flare and the previously mentioned Mutavault.
Toil // Trouble is fantastic against any control deck obviously, play or draw. On the play against Mono Black Devotion its a fantastic card as well. Turns 1/2 for them is usually just playing lands or maybe(near every damn time) a discard spell. Most of the MBD players take Pack Rats out against Burn when they are on the draw to limit their vulnerability to Searing Blood. If they kept 7 cards, and haven't used a removal spell, then Boom, 7 to the dome. Follow it up with ANOTHER toil//trouble the next turn if still no plays? That typically equals GG for them. I have only done that twice to MBD players and they both just shuffled up their cards and move to the next game. When on the DRAW against MBD, I usually take them back out as they are typically not as good, being their Pack Rats come back in.
Good point DaR, I have used her once before and she did help out ONE time in a monsters matchup. If running Strength from the Fallen style, she would probably lead to a blowout, but with the version I am running probably not so much. Perhaps best leaving her at home and keeping the 3 Caryatids to slow down the soon to be influx of Mono Red decks.
Been looking into some options that other people have adopted as well as some teching with friends. 4 most problematic cards that I can think of for this deck are Desecration Demon, Thassa, God of the Sea, Master of Waves, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa. Demon and Master can be dealt with Ultimate Price, Thassa's devotion can be somewhat kept in check with the same way. Polukranos can handle Master of Waves as well as other smaller threats from MonoBlue. Baron is always going to be Blood Baron, but hopefully we have some Green fatties on board that can at least stop his attacks. Pharika is a card I am not SOLD on, but being able to make instant speed deathtouch blockers to stop some of the Monsters decks and other aggro decks seems helpful.
I am still on the original plan with Dredge and it still does just as good as ever. Haven't tested it with Eidolon or Strength of the Fallen and honestly don't want to. The consistency and redundancy of the deck works too good to switch. Only thing that is stopping me from taking the deck to the Grand Prix in Chicago next week is my unfortunate inability to reliably beat the Mono Blue deck. Every other deck I don't seem to have an issue with. If anyone has any thoughts on ways to improve that matchup, would be great.
FNM 4-1 no cut to top 8, took second.
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Mono Blue 2-1
Matchup was a pain as always. Tidebinders nailing my relevant threats until landing a Jarad to chuck things at him or landing a 5/5 Mistcutter Hydra. Lucky Top decked Mistcutter hydra for perfect damage game 3.
Round 3: Hoogland Junk 1-2
Game one took a LONG time to play, I flooded out on my mana, never seeing any Nighthowlers or Lotleth Trolls. Eventually he got there with Desecration Demons. Game 2 similar to the first, but he never had any demons to stop my Master of the Feasts. Game 3 I didn't draw a 3rd land and mystic got doom bladed. He won the game off Advent of the Wurm.
Round 4: Esper Control 2-1
Game 1 deck did what it was supposed to, play Lotleth, suit it up with Nighthowler, and go to work. Game 2 he had answers for everything and got it, game 3 Nighthowlers on Satyr Wayfinders do their thing.
Round 5: Brave Naya 2-1
This matchup was a fun one. Whip of Erebos is the best card I have for this matchup. Game 1 was won with that card, dredgers, and whipping back Shadowborn Demons to blow up with Double Strikers. Game 2 he comboed off on turn 3. Game 3 was again, Whip of Erebos gaining tons of life and just beating him down. Selesnya Charm is a pain here, exiling basically any of my threats in the deck. Luckily there are a bunch.
GPT, 5 rounds cut to top 8. 4-1, 3-0 in top 8. took 1st
Dont remember the whole report, but I do remember my only loss in the swiss was against White Blue midrange(beat him in first round of top 8). Otherwise it was a Bg Devotion, Hoogland Junk, Esper Control, UWR control, rogue Simic Big stuff deck, and Mono Red devotion (another deck that isn't easy to beat with their speed and Purphoros).
The big fat demon is going to be better in Dredge than Pharika. I feel like the only thing that the dredge deck is missing is another early evasive beater. Herald of Torment on 3 is good with a nighthowler on turn 4, as long as there are things in the graveyard. Playing this big dumb thing on turn 3 is fantastic as he is swinging for 5 in the air the next turn regardless of any buffs. Nemesis comes down on turn 3 and sees 4 slots in the deck even though he has 0 evasion. Sure 0 drawbacks, but is easily chumped forever. Where as Master of Feasts cant be easily chumped.
This has been my favorite deck of this standard, absolutely love it and it has led me to some great wins/top 8s. Starting to test out Burning Earth in the sideboard. Seems to be doing work for the SCG players and I could see it being an even better card against Esper to tax their D-Spheres/Counterspells. I am running into a bit of a dilemma though. I really want to put in my Satyr Firedancers again, but the only things I can see taking out would be Mizzium Mortars and Boros Reckoner. Any thoughts or reports on doing that?
Ive ran the deck both with Lotleth Troll and without him, honestly I can say he is better in the deck. He is everything we want in the deck, a resilient threat and an enabler. Nothing better than suiting him up with a Nighthowler to finish the game. Ditch one creature card and LolTroll gets +2/+2 with Nighthowler on him.
I have been wondering if there is a better card for this deck than Shadowborn Demon. As much as removal on wings as he is, can we find a better card? I have issues with Desecration Demon with this deck, and without a lot of dudes in the graveyard and a Nighthowler out, he is a giant road block. Has anyone tried running Big Double D in place with good results? Or is the removal on Shadowborn too good to pass up?
Does everyone always forget the Deathtouch/Trample combo of Nylea with Bow? 1 damage is enough to deal lethal with deathtouch, the rest of your damage tramples over. Someone blocks a trampling deathtouch Polu? sweet.. take 4 and lose your dude. Bow/Nylea is nearly required in this deck. We have no massive combat trick for your board barring Enlarge which is a much worse Revenge of the Hunted.
Bow is like everyone else said, a huge utility item. Lifegain is good against WW/RDW, counters help get bigger against GW, pinging off that annoying Calvary Pegasus / Chandra's Phoenix helps too. Plus if you lose big dudes, put em back in the deck and tutor em up with Garruk. The utility is too awesome.
Reverent Hunter is worse than the Witchstalker. Its a good card, but unfortunately very fragile and comes in as a 2/2 more often than you think. If he was 1GG, I would say absolutely.
RDW/WW cant get through enough damage early to be a threat once the hydras get down on the board. Sylvan Caryatid is too good for that matchup. Nylea's Disciple is ok, but I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly Primeval Bounty is great for that matchup as well. You can ramp to it easy, and then every land drop becomes free life, every creatures comes with a buddy that will be bigger than their creatures. Afraid of a god? No need with that card. They cant trample through the beast tokens. Life from lands counters Purph's shocks, beasts block Heliod's clerics.
I've tried the stompy route with this deck as well, honestly going standard Green works GREAT in current sets. Most of our Stompy disappeared with the Innistrad Block. No more Geist, no more PrOoze, no more Wolfir Silverheart/Avenger. Just play some mana producers, throw down hard to answer threats early, make big smash.
I have tested this deck actually quite a bit, this is its third incarnation. I used to run Mistcutter mainboard. I like the card, really do. Just after awhile, I would rather spend the mana on something that brings a bigger impact. That hydra belongs in a Red Deck. Almost seems like a blockable burn spell. He only adds 1 devotion, which I would like more out of when I am casting a bigger spell. He left the mainboard when Arbor Colossus came in. Skylasher is a better blue hoser in my opinion as it comes in with flash and has reach.
Going against Red decks, you can usually last the first few hits, or block with Caryatid. Once you hit turn 4 and something massive drops down that they cant burn away it starts tipping into your favor. Most other aggro decks tend to go the same direction. Havent tested this version against any hard Control decks. Just like any other creature deck it will get set back from the Verdict, but hopefully we can get a Garruk/Primeval Bounty online to make it easier. Targetted removal is a pain though, thats why relying on Kalonian as your only threat isn't the greatest idea. Arbor still smashes for 6, flashing Satyr in is great. ScOoze is another great tool to use as well, as he will grow from your guys dying to almost every deck out there. The great thing about running more consistent numbers is when you do have guys die, you have an easier time drawing into another one. And of course, with MonoG specifically we have the luxury of not having to DoomBlade/Burn everything on the board, as we will get bigger than them quick. Arbor Colossus / Polu are enough to get rid of the things that will give you the biggest headaches around.
Ok you are actually the second person to suggest that the Scouts should go... So as opposed to the Dryad's should I just go up to 4 copies of any other cards in my deck or can you think of a spell thats good enough for the main?
I would like to see you up the counts on your cards to 4's. I am a big fan of the rule of 9 when it comes to mono color decks. Adds so much consistency. 9 4ofs and 24 lands. But sometimes thats not always a good idea when we are running legendary cards.
Kalonian Tusker is one of my pet cards that I cannot seem to get working right. Its a much worse Fleecemane. As good as stompy is, he just doesnt have much more impact. No ETB abilities and dies to almost all removal in the format. He does block like a house though. Witchstalker, oh how I wish you were better. Havent tried him yet since rotation, but honestly I dont know if we need him. Maybe sideboard tech. Between those cards, I honestly would rather see Stalker mainboard.
Another suggestion would be upping your landcount or running another mana dork, like the Sylvan Caryatid. That card is too awesome even in monoG. Blocks all early game threats, serves to drop a fatty early.
My current version of MonoG. Just tested against a GW deck. Fleecemane Lion can usually be blocked by any of your big fatties, or a surprise Boon Satyr before it monsters out. Nylea, God of the Hunt is a HOUSE against those Advent tokens. Arbor Colossus has moved from sideboard into mainboard for all the Thune/Stormbreath runnin around. Experiment One can also evolve off of ANY of the creatures cast (except Elvish Mystic of course.)
The only slots I am not sure on are the Garruk, Caller of Beasts and Skylasher. The Skylasher was great out of sideboard last rotation, and probably will be decent in this one, but the only real scary blue threat is Aetherling. Garruk, Caller of Beasts was a suboptimal replacement in this style of deck for Primal Hunter, but he can still help in the control matchups.
From all the testing I have been doing, splashing G or splashing B (been meaning to splash R), Path of Bravery is fantastic. Against opposing aggro decks which are freaking everywhere, especially RG, its fantastic. Sure you wont be activating the Anthem effect right away, but it gives ALL kinds of lifegain which is hard for that deck to come back from.
Fencing Ace is great for any anthem effect though. Any sort of boost and he starts hitting like a truck. I do like him coming out for the pegasus. Arrester might not be bad either. My only issue with him is he becomes a worse Grizzly Bears after he ETB. No way to repeat him. The thing I like about the creatures I have, once they hit the field, their effects are ALL relevant and not conditional. Boros Elite is lackluster, going to throw Dryad Militant in cause I always forget about it lol.
My question though (havent read all 134 pages of threads) is whether or not Predator Ooze is useful in the deck. I have been testing him out on cockatrice, and there seems to be a lack of Path to Exile running around. Grixis is everywhere, Jund is making a huge comeback, merfolks and elves running around like mad. If the card sticks, Grixis cant actually kill it, Jund has to have a dismember or Lilianna with us not having anything else to sac, and the other creature decks will either have to deal with an unkillable wall or an eventual The Abyss
I haven't really looked into the sideboard yet, but I don't believe there is much else to change, besides maybe bringing in a Mutavault some where. With access to Stoke the Flames, not sure if Mizzium Mortars is needed anymore. So that may leave in favor of Blinding Flare and the previously mentioned Mutavault.
Come on red mages, lemme know what you think.
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Frenzied Goblin
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
4 Madcap Skills
4 Titan's Strength
2 Inferno Fist
3 Hammerhand
Removal
2 Stoke the Flames
2 Shock
Lands
17 Mountain
1 Peak Eruption
4 Skullcrack
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Magma Spray
2 Harness by Force
2 Mizzium Mortars
Main Deck Changes
-2 Commune with the Gods +2 Ultimate Price
-1 Sylvan Caryatid +1 Pharika, God of Affliction
Sideboard Changes
-2 Mistcutter Hydra +2 Skylasher
-1 Thoughtseize +1 Bow of Nylea
-1 Golgari Charm +1 Polukranos, World Eater
7 Swamp
8 Forest
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Grisly Salvage
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
4 Nighthowler
3 Nemesis of Mortals
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Shadowborn Demon
4 Lotleth Troll
2 Nyx Weaver
3 Master of the Feast
3 Golgari Charm
4 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Whip of Erebos
4 Thoughtseize
1 Shadowborn Demon
2 Lifebane Zombie
Recent tournaments with the deck:
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: Mono Blue 2-1
Matchup was a pain as always. Tidebinders nailing my relevant threats until landing a Jarad to chuck things at him or landing a 5/5 Mistcutter Hydra. Lucky Top decked Mistcutter hydra for perfect damage game 3.
Round 3: Hoogland Junk 1-2
Game one took a LONG time to play, I flooded out on my mana, never seeing any Nighthowlers or Lotleth Trolls. Eventually he got there with Desecration Demons. Game 2 similar to the first, but he never had any demons to stop my Master of the Feasts. Game 3 I didn't draw a 3rd land and mystic got doom bladed. He won the game off Advent of the Wurm.
Round 4: Esper Control 2-1
Game 1 deck did what it was supposed to, play Lotleth, suit it up with Nighthowler, and go to work. Game 2 he had answers for everything and got it, game 3 Nighthowlers on Satyr Wayfinders do their thing.
Round 5: Brave Naya 2-1
This matchup was a fun one. Whip of Erebos is the best card I have for this matchup. Game 1 was won with that card, dredgers, and whipping back Shadowborn Demons to blow up with Double Strikers. Game 2 he comboed off on turn 3. Game 3 was again, Whip of Erebos gaining tons of life and just beating him down. Selesnya Charm is a pain here, exiling basically any of my threats in the deck. Luckily there are a bunch.
Dont remember the whole report, but I do remember my only loss in the swiss was against White Blue midrange(beat him in first round of top 8). Otherwise it was a Bg Devotion, Hoogland Junk, Esper Control, UWR control, rogue Simic Big stuff deck, and Mono Red devotion (another deck that isn't easy to beat with their speed and Purphoros).
4 Ash Zealot
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Skullcrack
3 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm
4 Searing Blood
2 Shock
10 Mountain
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Mutavault
2 Boros Guildgate
2 Mizzium Mortars
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Boros Reckoner
3 Viashino Firstblade
2 Burning Earth
2 Blind Obedience
7 Swamp
8 Forest
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Grisly Salvage
2 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
4 Nighthowler
4 Herald of Torment
4 Nemesis of Mortals
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Shadowborn Demon
3 Lotleth Troll
4 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Lifebane Zombie
1 Shadowborn Demon
2 Whip of Erebos
4 Thoughtseize
I have been wondering if there is a better card for this deck than Shadowborn Demon. As much as removal on wings as he is, can we find a better card? I have issues with Desecration Demon with this deck, and without a lot of dudes in the graveyard and a Nighthowler out, he is a giant road block. Has anyone tried running Big Double D in place with good results? Or is the removal on Shadowborn too good to pass up?
Bow is like everyone else said, a huge utility item. Lifegain is good against WW/RDW, counters help get bigger against GW, pinging off that annoying Calvary Pegasus / Chandra's Phoenix helps too. Plus if you lose big dudes, put em back in the deck and tutor em up with Garruk. The utility is too awesome.
RDW/WW cant get through enough damage early to be a threat once the hydras get down on the board. Sylvan Caryatid is too good for that matchup. Nylea's Disciple is ok, but I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly Primeval Bounty is great for that matchup as well. You can ramp to it easy, and then every land drop becomes free life, every creatures comes with a buddy that will be bigger than their creatures. Afraid of a god? No need with that card. They cant trample through the beast tokens. Life from lands counters Purph's shocks, beasts block Heliod's clerics.
I've tried the stompy route with this deck as well, honestly going standard Green works GREAT in current sets. Most of our Stompy disappeared with the Innistrad Block. No more Geist, no more PrOoze, no more Wolfir Silverheart/Avenger. Just play some mana producers, throw down hard to answer threats early, make big smash.
Going against Red decks, you can usually last the first few hits, or block with Caryatid. Once you hit turn 4 and something massive drops down that they cant burn away it starts tipping into your favor. Most other aggro decks tend to go the same direction. Havent tested this version against any hard Control decks. Just like any other creature deck it will get set back from the Verdict, but hopefully we can get a Garruk/Primeval Bounty online to make it easier. Targetted removal is a pain though, thats why relying on Kalonian as your only threat isn't the greatest idea. Arbor still smashes for 6, flashing Satyr in is great. ScOoze is another great tool to use as well, as he will grow from your guys dying to almost every deck out there. The great thing about running more consistent numbers is when you do have guys die, you have an easier time drawing into another one. And of course, with MonoG specifically we have the luxury of not having to DoomBlade/Burn everything on the board, as we will get bigger than them quick. Arbor Colossus / Polu are enough to get rid of the things that will give you the biggest headaches around.
I would like to see you up the counts on your cards to 4's. I am a big fan of the rule of 9 when it comes to mono color decks. Adds so much consistency. 9 4ofs and 24 lands. But sometimes thats not always a good idea when we are running legendary cards.
Kalonian Tusker is one of my pet cards that I cannot seem to get working right. Its a much worse Fleecemane. As good as stompy is, he just doesnt have much more impact. No ETB abilities and dies to almost all removal in the format. He does block like a house though. Witchstalker, oh how I wish you were better. Havent tried him yet since rotation, but honestly I dont know if we need him. Maybe sideboard tech. Between those cards, I honestly would rather see Stalker mainboard.
Another suggestion would be upping your landcount or running another mana dork, like the Sylvan Caryatid. That card is too awesome even in monoG. Blocks all early game threats, serves to drop a fatty early.
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
21 Forest
Creatures
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Boon Satyr
4 Kalonian Hydra
4 Scavenging Ooze
4 Experiment One
4 Arbor Colossus
3 Bow of Nylea
3 Naturalize
3 Primeval Bounty
2 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
4 Skylasher
3 Plummet
The only slots I am not sure on are the Garruk, Caller of Beasts and Skylasher. The Skylasher was great out of sideboard last rotation, and probably will be decent in this one, but the only real scary blue threat is Aetherling. Garruk, Caller of Beasts was a suboptimal replacement in this style of deck for Primal Hunter, but he can still help in the control matchups.
Fencing Ace is great for any anthem effect though. Any sort of boost and he starts hitting like a truck. I do like him coming out for the pegasus. Arrester might not be bad either. My only issue with him is he becomes a worse Grizzly Bears after he ETB. No way to repeat him. The thing I like about the creatures I have, once they hit the field, their effects are ALL relevant and not conditional. Boros Elite is lackluster, going to throw Dryad Militant in cause I always forget about it lol.