Hydra Deck

[Kozilek]

Hydra Deck

[G. Moto]

   Looking at the deck I can see that your strategy is pretty straight forward. Some recommendations that I have are as follow:

1) Add some creature recursion, when your Hydras become weak or lose their +1/+1 counters they'll be highly vulnerable. Also it'd be easy getting rid of a hydra if your blocking it with a death touch creature.

2) Add some combat tricks, You're playing Naya so you have access to cards such as rabid bite, aim high, spidery grasp, sure strike, burst of strength, zealous strike and even aerial maneuver (that's three effects for only 2 MANA!).

3) Remove the molten hydra and replace it with creatures such as nessian wilds ravager and scourge of skola vale. These creatures are both capable of removal just by entering the field and can actually put some of your creatures that get targeted for destruction to good use.

4) Lastly I recommend switching out the city of brass for swell of growth and maybe some more basic lands (or perhaps even the dual-colored tarkir lands). Reason being, even though you want speed you shouldn't be pinging yourself that much just to get mana. That puts you in a tough spot where you'll have big creatures but you'll be putting yourself in a spell kill range. That's not good especially for a Naya deck. Always keep your health up and the strength of your creatures even higher.

     Overall what do you think of these suggestions? Have you played tested the deck yet and if so what have you discovered from using it?

[WWolfe]

Kalonian Hydra is almost a must in this deck but I really question if there's enough ramp for this deck to get going before it would be taken out, especially in three colors. I'd take out the Phytohydra as the cost is just too much (5 for a 1/1) in a format with Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, all the -x/-x cards, etc..

The problem with him adding those combat tricks, as the deck is currently constructed, is that he has Steely Resolve so he wouldn't be able to target his own creatures with them.

Also, try to get it down to 60.

[G. Moto]

   Well with the deck being larger and I'm assuming modern casual, it would probably benefit more from being a larger deck. Yeah I understand the draw probabilities and what not but he'd be able to fit more mana into the deck (meaning more plays per turn), he'd be able to pay more costs of creatures effects (such as apocalypse hydra) and since he's running three colors it'd give him some more room to work in various plays that an opponent would not expect (such as aerial maneuver), can you imagine a flying 10/10 hydra with first strike and trample? But looking at this deck overall there are a few cards that I would suggest removing or simply trading out. Mainly the ones that have defender. Reason being, hydras are highly aggressive creatures, if you play a strong and fast hydra in a slow, defensive deck then you won't see the greater effect of that creature being put to use. If you look at the Selesnya and the Gruul guilds from the return to ravnica block then you may find the other cards that you need to strengthen, speed up and solidify this deck.

     Also thank you wwolfe for pointing out that steely resolve. Its' effect is rock solid but for a deck like this I'd recommend side boarding it so you can use the combat ticks. If you prefer to keep it in the deck then you'll need to pay a lot of mana to make your creatures grotesquely large when they enter the field. In exchange for the enchantment would you consider oak street innkeeper? It basically says that: all your tapped hydras that you just attacked with cannot be targeted by YOUR OPPONENT. This still lets you play cards such as burst of strength or aim high when you need to.

[WWolfe]

I agree about the defender creatures but they are his only form of ramp. If he takes them out he likely doesn't survive long enough to get the hydra's out depending on how casual or competitive the environment the deck is built for is. I'd probably take them out for some 'traditional' mana dorks or direct ramp spells that put more lands on the battlefield.

[G. Moto]

     They could be replaced for creatures such as whisperer of the wilds, circle of elders, druid of the anima, exuberant firestoker (which is also good because it can deal damage as well),  knotvine mystic, and even manamorphose would be good cards to consider. Best part about them all is this; when they become tapped they all get hexproof thanks to the oak street innkeeper.

[WWolfe]

The more I've thought about this deck, the more I'm convinced that Phytohydra doesn't belong. He's splashing a third color for a total of 2 cards, which require a double mana symbol of the third color, that only enters as a 1/1 for 5.

There's no efficiency or value there.

[G. Moto]

   That one we both agree on. Also instead of that creature he could add Also a must have for this deck would be Zhur-Taa Druid. It gives you mana and ALSO deals damage to the opponent. That combo with exuberant firestoker can lead to some pretty quick games and give your hydras less work to do when they come out.

[WWolfe]

Zhur-Taa Druid would fit this deck, as would possibly Burning-Tree Emissary to help maintain a board presence early basically for free.

[G. Moto]

I think that it's funny how we've done the most deck construction on this than anybody else.

[DaddyFatSack]

Well, I am going to make the assumption that you want this deck to be a more casual kind of deck? In that case, I would say take out all of the defenders. There is no point, although axebane can crap out mana, it's not worth it. Not when you can replace him with Omnath, Locus Of Mana. You can also have Exploration and Vorinclex, Voice of hunger. Zhur-ta druid would make a good addition, as would swell of growth. Just something to remember, you can combine Zada, Hedron Grinder with Swell of growth to place a lot of lands. I like the idea of Urzas incubator. Mirrari's wake might also be something to consider. Hardened scales would also make a good addition. Altogether however, I would actually suggest removing red from the deck and going pure green. Might be beneficial for you. Genesis Hydra is a must have. Also, in turning the deck pure green, you could make fantastic work out of Khalni Hydra. Even mistcutter hydra would do well. Hope this helps!

[WWolfe]

I think that it's funny how we've done the most deck construction on this than anybody else.

LOL true

[Konjiikhan]

Nykthos,shrine to nyx, fetile ground, ,sakura-tribe scout,walking atlas,kodama's reach,explore, all great mana ramps.Hardened scales,solidarity of heroes. I absolutly love burst of strength in hydra decks. well any green decks lol. swarm attack /buff and untap and watch opponent's eyes go dull lol.I play corpsejack menace over doubling season in this deck.Sideboard mistcutter hydra.good for merfolk or control deck imo.

[WWolfe]

I absolutly love burst of strength in hydra decks. well any green decks lol.

I love that card! I ran it in a Golgari deck that was turbo fog with all the creatures having counters (Experiment One, Hydras, & Desecration Demon among others). Nothing was more fun than someone sac'ing a creature to tap your Desecration Demon then casting Burst of Strength and watching their faces.

[G. Moto]

   When I was first starting to play MTG I played spidery grasp during my opponent's combat phase. He had used claustrophobia and when I used my instant it forced my creature to untap. Everybody looked at me as if I had grown two heads. The words that came out all their mouths were: Can he DO that? The move was legal, that's why I love loopholes.