Creature (21)
- 4x Arbor Elf
- 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
- 1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 3x Hornet Queen
- 2x Joraga Treespeaker
- 2x Khalni Hydra
- 1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller
- 4x Voyaging Satyr
- 3x Wolfbriar Elemental
Planeswalker (4)
Land (18)
Enchantment (8)
Sideboard
Creature (4)
Enchantment (2)
Maybeboard
Sorcery (2)
Normal casted Emrakul on turn 3, WHAT?
What does the deck do?
Basically, this deck is designed around getting the fatties Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Surrak, the Hunt Caller , Khalni Hydra and Craterhoof Behemoth on the board ASAP. While being capable of achieving these on turn 3/4, the deck has an extreme Mono-G ramp built in, and keeps pressure high with cards such as token creators.
Want to build this deck, but don't have the cash for it? Here is the budget version of the deck that basically does the same thing. Hydranyx (Budget version). This also provides a solid base of cards to build this version.
How does it work?
To do this, there is tons of ramp built in in the form of untaps, using Arbor Elf, Voyaging Satyr, Magus of the Candelabra , Garruk Wildspeaker and ofcourse Nissa, Worldwaker. These form the main backbone of the deck, ramping the mana base up in many different ways for a high consistency.
To make the untaps as effective as possible, enchant 1 or 2 lands with as many Utopia Sprawl and Overgrowth as possible, effectively giving tons of mana for 1 land.
All this means that on average, on turn 3, there is around 8 mana available. However, it is possible to get 15 mana by turn 3 which means that you can normalcast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn!
Usually by turn 3, there will be something on the board along the lines of Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, Overgrowth, Garruk Wildspeaker/Nissa, Worldwaker and one of the large creatures, or a Wolfbriar Elemental with 3-4 2/2 Wolf tokens, or even Emrakul, the Aeons Torn + Surrak, the Hunt Caller (gotten from Tooth and Nail) this gives your Emrakul haste!
By turn 4 there are tons of options to play. You can play a ton of tokens, or swing for huge amounts with Hoofie, or have an 8/8 trampler with Haste, or swing with a big haste Mistcutter Hydra for example.
Apart from the standard Tooth and Nail wincondition, there are several more. These will be explained in the Synergies/Combos section. (Pretty much a must-read to understand deck workings)
Synergies/Combos and other card workings explained
Mana gain
Arbor Elf + Overgrowth/Utopia Sprawl - This basically gives you a minimum of 2 mana to a (realistic) maximum of 8, for just 1 creature
Voyaging Satyr + Overgrowth/Utopia Sprawl - Same as for Arbor
Magus of the Candelabra + Overgrowth/Utopia Sprawl - Same as for Arbor
This is also a one drop, but it's not effective unless a land taps for a minimum of 2 mana, since it costs a minimum of 1 to tap Magus himself.
There's many of these 3 to have high consistency and high mana ramp!
Nissa, Worldwaker + Overgrowth/Utopia Sprawl - Same as Arbor, but you get an additional 3 lands
Garruk Wildspeaker + Overgrowth/Utopia Sprawl - Same as Arbor, but you get an additional land
Cheaper than Nissa, untaps ALL lands instead of just Forests. Having both on the board is HUGE mana base.
Khalni Hydra + Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Having both on the board makes Shrine tap for 8 mana
Umbral Mantle + Arbor/Satyr + Land that taps for 3/4 (+ Nylea, God of the Hunt) - Having a land that taps for 3 and Mantle on one of your untappers makes the guy infinitely big, with Nylea it becomes an infinitely big trampler. In addition, having a land that taps for 4 mana or more also gives you infinite mana which could, for example, make infinite wolves with Wolfbriar Elemental or make one of your other guys infinitely big with Nylea.
This means the deck now also has an infinite combo!
(Near) free 8/8 trampler
- Wolfbriar Elemental + Khalni Hydra - Casting Wolfbriar for 8 mana gives you a ton of small creatures (that lock up the board very nicely!) AND reduces Hydra's mana cost to 3. Having, for example, an Arbor Elf on the board and casting Wolfbriar for 10 mana gives you a total of 8 creatures, making Hydra 100% FREE
Wolfbriar can be used with a lot of flexibility, if you need a 4/4 fast you can cast him for 4, or if you have excess mana you can lock the board with 6+ 2/2's for 10+ mana (easily attainable)
Hornet Queen + Khalni Hydra - Same as for Wolfbriar, except it creates a fixed amount of tokens (4) which are flying and deaththouch, reducing Khalni's mana cost by 5.
Nissa, Worldwaker/Garruk Wildspeaker + Khalni Hydra - If you use their abilities to create creatures - either a 4/4 trampler land or a 3/3 beast token, these both reduce Hydra's cost by 1
Tons of damage
Wolfbriar Elemental + Craterhoof Behemoth - When playing your Hoofie with Wolfbriar's tokens up, each token and Hoofie get +1/+1 (and trample) for EACH token. With 4 tokens for example (which means a 8 CMC Wolfbriar cast), this makes Hoofie a 10/10 haste trample, and all of the tokens 7/7 trample. All other creatures you have on the board will ofcourse be added to this, and they also get the +1/+1s. This swings for insane amounts with trample.
Hornet Queen + Craterhoof Behemoth - Same as for Wolfbriar Elemental
Often, the Wolfbriar plus its tokens by themselves are enough to win the game, when you cast it with enough mana.
Garruk Wildspeaker + Wolfbriar Elemental - Garruk's -4 ability is _very _cheap, and provided he's protected it's usable the 2nd turn he's on the board. Using this with, for example 4 tokens + Wolfbriar himself, will swing for 27 damage.
Garruk Wildspeaker/Nissa, Worldwaker + Craterhoof Behemoth - The tokens created by the planeswalkers synergize neatly with our Hoofie. A token made by Garruk or a trampler land made by Nissa, when Craterhoof comes on the board, gives all other creatures +1/+1
If all else fails, the good ol' Tooth 'n Nail
- Tooth and Nail + Emrakul, the Aeons Torn/ Surrak, the Hunt Caller - This one is fairly straightforward. 9 mana = Emrakul + Surrak. This gives Emrakul Haste on the turn he comes on the board for an instant 15 damage + Annihilator 6!
Tooth can also be casted for 7 if you have big creatures in your hand ofcourse. Additionally, drawing Surrak is alright since it's dirt cheap (4 CMC) and gives your Khalni Hydra and Wolfbriar Elemental haste without any other creatures needed.
Note: Tooth and Nail can ofcourse also fetch any of the other creatures, I've had situations where Emrakul wouldn't win me the game, but Craterhoof would.
Mana dependent cards
Wolfbriar Elemental + All of the mana creation cards - Pretty simple, the more mana, the more 2/2 Wolves you get.
Mistcutter Hydra - Basically, the more mana you have to spend, the stronger this haste hydra is.
Additional notes
- If you ever get to the point where you use Nissa, Worldwaker's -7 ability, it's almost a guaranteed win unless the opponent has a board wipe. Additionally, this ofcourse also synergizes very nicely with Khalni Hydra and Craterhoof Behemoth
Hand examples / How to play
Obviously, missing any of these and drawing them later on also works, and there's different ways to do this with Satyrs, Sprawls, Growths and Nissas
Turn 1: Play Forest + Arbor
Turn 2: Play Forest, play Sprawl on other Forest. Tap Forest + Tap Arbor for 4 mana, play Overgrowth on Forest with Sprawl.
Turn 3: Optionally play Nissa and untap both Forests. Tap both Forests + Arbor for 9 mana total and cast Tooth/Nail to fetch both Emrakul and Surrak. Emrakul attacks with Haste for 15 damage + Annihilator 6
This is just one of the many ways to get something like this on the board
Obviously, missing any of these and drawing them later on also works, and there's different ways to do this with Satyrs, Maguses, Sprawls, Growths, Garruks and Nissas
Turn 1: Play Forest + Arbor
Turn 2: Play Forest, play Sprawl on other Forest. Tap Forest + Tap Arbor for 4 mana, play Overgrowth on Forest with Sprawl.
Turn 3: Tap Forest for 4 + Tap Arbor for 8 total. Play Wolfbriar Elemental, kicking it 4 times. This gives a 4/4 and 4 2/2's.
Turn 4: Tap Forest for 4 + Tap Arbor for 8 total. Play Craterhoof Behemoth and you have 4 8/8 tramplers, a 10/10 trampler and a 12/12 haste trample Hoofie to swing for 54 damage (even more if you have other creatures such as Arbor Elf)
You could also, for example, in turn 2 tap Forest + Sprawl and Arbor for 4 mana, and play Garruk. Then in turn 4, use -4 ability to give all creatures an additional +3/+3
Turn 1: Play Forest + Arbor
Turn 2: Play Forest, play Sprawl on other Forest. Tap Forest + Tap Arbor for 4 mana, play Overgrowth on Forest with Sprawl. Play another Arbor.
Turn 3: Play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, tap Forest for 4 mana. Play another Overgrowth on the same forest. Tap other Forest. (2 mana total). Tap Arbor elf to untap Forest, tap it for 6 mana (8 total at this point). Tap Shrine for 5 mana. (11 total). Tap second Arbor for the Forest to get a total of 17 mana, and cast Emrakul from your hand.
Starting hands/when to mulligan
You will want all the cards needed to start ramping your mana base turn 1, as being unable to do this cripples the deck hard.
So, calculate the amount of mana you will be able of having by turn 3 with your hand. If it's enough to play something like Tooth and Nail or Wolfbriar Elemental or whatever, it's worth keeping.
This means you need 2+ Forests, an Arbor Elf, an Utopia Sprawl and an Overgrowth. Missing either a Sprawl or an Overgrowth is okay, as long as you have one of them. Missing a Forest is okay if you have the Arbor and a Sprawl, but it slows the deck down (you have 2 mana to spend turn 2 after playing Sprawl, instead of 4). Having a Voyaging Satyr instead of the Arbor is alright but again, it slows the deck down.
Additionally, having a Garruk Wildspeaker or a Nissa, Worldwaker is great if you have the cards I mentioned above, as you can usually play them for "free" by turn 3 (you spend as much or less mana on it as you get back from untapping the lands with them).
Missing one of the key cards mentioned in the part above, is usually reason to mulligan.
For example: Have an Arbor/Satyr + 2 Forests, but no Sprawl or Overgrowth? Mulligan.
Example 2: Have 1 Forest + Sprawl + Magus? Mulligan. Magus of the Candelabra doesn't get good until you're about 3-4 turns in, as it costs mana to untap. (Further explanation: A forest that taps for 3 + Magus = 2 mana -you lose 33% of the mana-. A forest that taps for 6 mana + Magus = 5 mana -you lose 16% of the mana-.
Note: if you also have an Overgrowth, keep the hand with the Magus.
Having 2 Forests + Sprawl + Overgrowth but no untapper is okay. You will have 5 mana to spend by turn 3.
Basically any hand that lets you get 9+ mana by turn 3.
Example: 2x Forest, 1x Arbor Elf, 1x Forest/Arbor Elf, Sprawl, Overgrowth
This allows you to cast a Tooth and Nail, cast Wolfbriar Elemental with 5+ tokens, Kalonian Hydra + Surrak, the Hunt Caller , Khalni Hydra , and more. Basically tons of options.
Ultimate ideal starting hand is described in "Turn 3 Emrakul" tab. This gets you 17 mana by turn 3 which can ofcourse do tons of stuff next to just Emrakul.
Sideboard choices and what to sideboard
The deck has no cards to counter stuff by itself, as it often doesn't need any. If you find yourself needing counters against blue tempo cards, tron decks, affinity decks or whatever, is when you mainboard in hate cards.
Cards should be fairly straightforward, but I'll go over them shortly.
Avoid Fate - Helps against almost any Blue or Red deck, stuff like Path to Exile, Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere and such.
Beast Within - This helps against so many different things. For example it can kill a Liliana of the Veil, Deceiver Exarch, pretty much whatever you need it for. It can even kill lands.
Blood Moon - Works against all decks using non-basic lands. Urza-Tron, Amulet Bloom (bouncelands), again many options. Downside: You have to play Sprawl for Red (and it only adds Red mana the whole game)
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Only helps when you're getting your Tooth and Nail and Harmonize countered. Just mainboard this in if you're facing Blue.
Creeping Corrosion - Pretty straightforward artifact hate. Great against Affinity, okay against artifact infect, can work against decks built around 1/2 artifact workings. You'll know when you need it.
Gaea's Revenge - Amazing against any deck with removal. Ignores all targeted removal (except for green ofcourse). Does not ignore stuff like Damnation or Liliana of the Veil's -2 ability, since those target the player.
Mistcutter Hydra - If you're facing blue, having an extra one of these in the deck can sometimes save you.
Gaea's Revenge - any 2 creatures, I'd probably go for Mistcutter Hydra + Hornet Queen
Mistcutter Hydra - Probably Hornet Queen
All the others: This is very situation-based. Usually you'd take out the Mistcutter and Queens/Maguses (this gives you 3 spots). If you need more sideboard cards, you should probably take out 2 Nissa's.
Again, this is very situation-based and may differ for certain matchups. For example, against a removal deck don't take out any Maguses as that would make the mana base more susceptible to the removals.
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 9 years |
| Last updated | 8 years |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 11 - 0 Mythic Rares 10 - 10 Rares 8 - 3 Uncommons 16 - 2 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.98 |
| Tokens | Beast 3/3 G, Human 2/2 G, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Wolf 2/2 G |
| Folders | Ramp Decks, stuff, Sounds Fun - Normal, mazzi, Things I wanna try, Liked Decks, Favorites, Ramp Decks, Interesting Concepts, Interesting Decks |
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