Feedback and suggestions is always appreciated! Hydras made me fall in love with green. I really, really enjoy the simplicity of ¨big monsters swing¨. Green has become my 2nd favorite color slice (my heart will always belong to black). Let's discuss how annoying these card interactions are.
LANDS
Wooded Foothills- Nice flexibility to mana-fix an opening hand, shuffle and deck-thin. The effectiveness of fetchland deck-thinning is always a hot topic, but it is not the only card in here with this function.
Mirrorpool- As this deck is permanent-based, I only use the 2nd ability to copy something on the field. Kalonian Hydra is a prime card to copy, as well as Managorger Hydra.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx- My most coveted land. Thanks to my spells being permanent-based, the devotion adds up real quick and easy.
Kessig Wolf Run- A non-basic that really upped the aggression in this deck. I found that I had way too much mana always, and I looked to be more efficient. It has proved to be an awesome mana-sink in certain situations.
CREATURES
Llanowar Elves- You know em, you love em.
Oath of Nissa- This card really facilitated my spell choice. First, it's a permanent and provides devotion. Second, it allows me to find a card that works best for my given hand. Not including Oath, my deck is comprised of creatures, planeswalkers, and lands. Thus, the card's ETB effect is maximized. Most of my planeswalker spells are RG, so Oath keeps me from being color-screwed.
Burning-Tree Emissary- Good as a potential chump, allows for another 1-2 drop to be cast on your turn. The real value comes from the old school mana symbols. It counts for two devotion of either red or green. I just opt for green devotion, but the versatility is appreciated. Its presence on the field really stacks up.
Sylvan Caryatid- Helps mana-fix and is a hexproof ground wall, making it difficult to remove and provides more devotion.
Managorger Hydra- SUCH an annoying card (so I've been told). It becomes a removal target pretty quickly, which is ok. At 3 mana, these are very easy to cast, grow very quickly, and become very problematic if they are not addressed. The more aggressive the match up, the more aggressive this card gets.
Xenagos, God of Revels- Another kooky card that adds aggression. Provides more opportunity for haste synergy, aids itself in becoming a creature, doubles one of my creatures power (most likely something with Trample), and it's difficult to remove.
Kalonian Hydra- Such a fun card that's full of flavor. Instantly becomes a threat on the field, and draws out removal spells. I view Managorger Hydra, Primordial Hydra, and Kalonian as the cards that receive the most hate. It makes it ok to play them, because if one is removed the others will inevitably get bigger. Upon declaration, it doubles Managorger, Primaordial, ITSELF, and Genesis Hydra. I love it for the chaos it brings to the field.
Ulvenwald Hydra- I'm thankful this card has Reach, for starters. It's real purpose is to pull out my non-basic lands. It adds heavy devotion as well and typically is a great blocker. This has funny synergy with Mirrorpool. I can use Ulvenwald to pull out Mirrorpool. Then on the next turn, use Mirrorpool to create an Ulvenwald copy and trigger the land fetch ability yet again. If out of options, it's a defensive play, and it thins and shuffles the deck.
Gargos, Vicious Watcher- THIS guy has really changed this deck. The hydra spell reduction makes the majority of my hydra spells one or two green mana to cast. The cost reduction also extends the impact of my variable cost hydras. The second ability guarantees a bit of collateral for every removal spell sent my way, which is nice since I doubled down on my massive creature strategy and have no removal otherwise. PLUS, Vigilance.
Primordial Hydra- This card has been fun for a long time. If I have it early game, I'll play it early. If it gets removed, it only paves the way for more annoying creatures to thrive. And, if it doesn't get dealt with in time, it wreaks utter havoc as it doubles its own counters each upkeep.
Genesis Hydra- Such a staple for any deck with green. My massive devotion allows me to essentially pick through my deck for a card to cast. Helps deck-thin and shuffle, yet again.
PLANESWALKERS
Xenagos, the Reveler- what a bonkers planeswalker. Comes out on turn 3-4 pretty often. Helps my mana ramp, and is yet another threat to address. Its -6 is actually easy to achieve, and wreaks havoc within this creature-based deck.
Sarkhan Vol- This card has worked out really well for me. Whether it's the haste ability (Kalonian Hydra), or the gain control ability, it's an asset. I've achieved the -6 a couple times, which is nice for a deck that has little to no air protection.
Vivien, Monsters' Advocate- Even as a 5-drop, Vivien is quite easy to cast in this deck. She adds two to green devotion, which is heavily appreciated. Her +1 has such versatility. I opt for either a 3/3 token with Reach to aid in potential air defense, or Vigilance to stay offensive while protecting Vivien. As this deck is mostly creatures, her passive ability really goes a long way. It extends my hand and has the potential to see multiple creatures cast from the top of my library. This is such UGLY synergy with Gargos, Vicious Watcher. Her -2 is so easy to achieve multiple times, enables me to search basically whatever creature I need, shuffles the deck, and deck-thins. My new favorite card in here.
Deck-thinning cards include: Wooded Foothills, Ulvenwald Hydra, Vivien, Monsters' Advocate, Genesis Hydra, Oath of Nissa. Xenagos, the Reveler may constitute a deck thinning with its -6, but is situational. As mentioned, people have something to say about the actual usefulness of fetchlands as deck-thinning, but all of these cards together keep me digging through my deck for whatever card I need.
