So this is a pretty simple Green Aggro deck, that attempts to utilize my favorite creature, Predator Ooze in the best ways possible. So let's just dive right in. I'm gonna break down each card in CMC order, then the sideboard, fun combos, and general strategy!
1 Drops:
Hardened Scales, Noble Hierarch, Rancor, and Ulvenwald Tracker. All the one drops in this deck are designed to get Ooze out, and keep him aggressive. Since Ooze grows one +1/+1 at a time, Hardened Scales makes him twice as good for almost nothing. Rancor gives me trample to force my opponent to more than chump block, and Ulvenwald Tracker lets me take out utility creatures , and has some fun interactions if you're careful with timing. He has saved me from more than one gross Splinter Twin combo. More on him later. Finally, Noble Hierarch is just a great utility creature, since this deck typically runs fairly voltrony, but she is expensive, and the deck plays just fine with Birds of Paradise or Elvish Mystic and friends. Sometimes the extra 1 or 2 damage is all you need though, so she's worth throwing in if you can!
2 Drops:
Avatar of the Resolute,
Ordeal of Nylea
, and Scavenging Ooze. Avatar is probably pretty obvious, but at worst it's a 3/2 reach/trample for 2, and at best it is significantly better. He's great turn 2, and even better on turn 5, and just a great green beater. Scavenging Ooze helps deal with some common issues in my meta (in the form of graveyard bullshit and burn), and alongside Hardened Scales is even better. Finally, Ordeal of Nylea both lets me ramp fairly aggressively (alongside Predator Ooze and Hardened Scales), and lets my favorite creatures grow faster, which is a win/win as far as I'm concerned.
3 Drops:
Predator Ooze, Champion of Lambholt, and Bow of Nylea. The whole deck is focuses on getting Ooze out and big before anyone knows what to do with him, so I'm not going to focus too much on why he's wonderful, but an Indestructible, ever growing beater, with a deck to back it is lots of fun. Champion of Lambholt keeps the tokens off of me, and lets me swing past a few bigger threats if I get her early. Bow of Nylea is another fun card in this deck, with some fairly cool synergy, and some great effects. I'm either getting bigger, gaining life, killing fliers, or unmilling myself, which are all fairly relevant; but the bigger deal is giving all my attacking creatures deathtouch, and making people really gamble on blocking the Ooze.
Everything Else:
Finally, we have Kalonian Hydra as a high-end creature. He's obviously wonderful for his counter doubling, but is also just a big ole beater who can do plenty on his own.
I'm only running basic lands currently, because they do perfectly fine, and I don't wanna be slowed down by something coming in tapped unless there is a damned good reason.
Sideboard:
Here we have a few things specific to my meta, but I'll walk through them real fast for everyone. Deglamer/
Unravel the Aether
help fight off some of the grosser artifacts/enchantments that sometimes give me problems. I could see using Krosan Grip if you're worried about being countered, but it's not something that stresses me out too bad. Feed the Clan helps with burn, Relic of Progenitus deals well with all sorts of graveyard shenanigans (including my least favorite card, Tarmogoyf ). Tajuru Preserver fights off Living End (or at least gives me a fighting chance against it) as well as forced sacrifice effects, and Vines of Vastwood is there to deal with Dismember, Path to Exile, and blue bounce spells that can all deal with my indestructible best friend.
Fun Combos
- Hardened Scales and anything that likes +1/+1 counters. If possible, I try to run a Predator Ooze wearing an
Ordeal of Nylea
. This gives you 4 +1/+1 counters the very first time you swing with them, which is obviously a lot of fun (and Magic is about having fun, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise).
- Bow of Nylea + Ulvenwald Tracker. As long as you're currently attacking with a Predator Ooze, this reads "g1/tap, destroy target creature, and put a +1/+1 counter on Predator Ooze". Oozefriend tested, Oozefriend approved.
- Bow of Nylea + Hardened Scales together let you pay 2 and tap, to to put 2 counters on a creature of your choosing, every single turn, which helps the deck explode a little faster.
- Rancor + Bow of Nylea gives your new gooey best friend trample alongside deathtouch, which lets you run over token decks. As long as each creature is assigned one damage, and dies, you're getting a counter for each of them, which makes Predator Ooze a tricky attacker.
General Strategy
Your ideal opening hand is:
Your average game should play out something like this:
Turn 1
Forest, Noble Hierarch
Turn 2
Forest, Predator Ooze
Turn 3
Hardened Scales, Ordeal of Nylea, swing with Predator Ooze for 6, and grab and play a forest.
On turn 4 you're capable of casting Kalonian Hydra assuming you've drawn at least one other forest, and you're well on your way to victory.
Obviously not every game can be perfect, but deck is totally useable without any one part as well, as long as you're careful with your hands.
Closing Thoughts
This deck is designed to be lots of fun to play, and interactive, while still being capable of dealing with threats as they come up. It can be made budget (and has been run budget extensively in the past) with a few simple swaps (Noble Hierarch for Birds of Paradise or Elvish Mystic is a very solid starting place). An early version of the deck is visible here predator-ooze-aggression
The sideboard (and main deck if I'm being honest) is super tailored to my meta which is a hell of a lot of graveyard shenanigans, and probably should be changed to be better in your meta. No one here regularly plays Artifact Affinity, which is a major weakness of the current deck (and could be fixed with a sideboard swap).
With some minor tweaks this could also go in a few ways, none of which I'm currently super interested in for myself: Green Devotion is the most obvious, but you could also run full Voltron with some new equipment or enchantments, and you could easily splash some white or blue for better removal.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and feel free to shoot me your thoughts down below!
