Played this deck at our Magic 2014 Game Day and actually did VERY well, especially for me (my track record at any sort of tournament is generally pretty poor).
First round, I lost to a gruul aggro deck. First game I had him dead by turn 4-5 with double striking, rampaged reckoners and smiters, and didn't even get to see what his deck did. In the second game, Scavenging Oozes showed up and completely ruined me. He outpaced me, and managed to eek out a win. Third game, even with siding in some Rest in Peaces (which would have worked very well against his Oozes and undying creatures), I got mana screwed and never hit a 3rd land or mana dork.
Also, burning earth hurts like hell. Note to self.
Second round was against some boros deck that never hit land. Beat him 2-0 with ease. I don't like winning that way, but I'll take it.
Third round was against a very potent Selesnya token deck. Voice of Resurgence, Advent of the Wurm, Rootborn Defenses, Druid's Deliverances... lots of combat tricks. They were very hard fought, especially the last game where he had out TWO Collective Blessings and I had no way to deal with them. But I managed to keep getting out more creatures, and buffing them (or threatening to buff them) with the Archangel of Thune, until finally I could swing all out, get 8 of his 12 life down, then Boros Charm him for the win. Very solid game.
Fourth and final round of the Swiss was against a Golgari Zombie deck which potentially would have given me a lot of trouble. Lifeband Zombies HURT my deck. But I just played well, flashed out blockers at opportune times, and beat him down reliably. Savage Summoning is AWESOME.
I made top 8, got the full art promo, and played on, beating American Pyromancer tokens, then replaying the Gruul aggro deck and beating it this time, then losing HORRIBLY against a different and much more powerful Selesnya tokens deck. I never gained any momentum, and just lost. I don't think it was a shortcoming of the deck, but simply poor draws. I think I could have dealt with it with better cards in hand. It just didn't happen.
Either way, 2nd place is fine by me, winning 12 boosters.
I made the decision that Scavenging Oozes might be really good for this deck, Ruric Thar sucks (and is now removed from the deck). Thalia was moved to the sideboard. Kalonian Hydras are in the main board. Should work well!
