Really like this. Only complaint is that I feel like Emperor's Vanguard is just so unbelievably weak unless the deck has a bunch of pump spells like Larger Than Life that allow him to get through or give him flying or something.

When I opened him in a draft and tossed cobbled wings on him he got up to 10/9 before I won. In here he just seems weak.

Also march of the drowned with only 4 copies of a pirate card? Seems like a gamble to me. But I defintely see the syngery this card has with explore creatures!

Haven't played this at FNM yet. I hear your comment on Cobbled Wings, which is fair. My thoughts were that if you get Lurking Chupacabra on the field and a double explore trigger, then there will be no blockers for Emperor's Vanguard.

I can hive him hexproof and indestructible, but maybe to also give him flying would add value to the deck. I need to play-test this a bit more

Have you considered breaking this deck with Winding Constrictor?

You should totally add Deadeye Tracker

Thanks for the comment iano9. I had Deadeye Tracker in the slot currently occupied by Ramunap Excavator and found it to be fairly useless in the early game when your opponent had nothing in the graveyard. Later in the game it just seems very fragile and doesn't seem to last too long on the field. Yes, it probably commands a position in the side-board ahead of March of the Drowned, but Kambal, Consul of Allocation is also competing for that spot (against control decks). I need to think this one out a bit more.

fair enough

I noticed that with the explore the mana ramp would be pretty solid have you considered putting a couple tanks in their to give you some heavy hitters like Ghalta, Primal Hunger

I considered Ghalta, Primal Hunger - it could work, but this is the only deck that I can think of where Tetzimoc, Primal Death could work. Just mark all your opponent's creatures - then kill them in one foul sweep. I really want to try and win at least 1 game with Tetzimoc, Primal Death. I only have 1 copy at the moment, but might eventually add a second.

Nice use (abuse) of the explore feature !

I agree with iano9, Ghalta, Primal Hunger would be a great hard hitter !

I tried Tetzimoc, Primal Death as my apex creature, keeping it side-board for game 1. This just didn't work as expected, and yes, Ghalta, Primal Hunger is the logical replacement.