In sports whenever you have an all-star player, you do everything you can to help that player be your star.
Managorger Hydra is the high-scoring all-star creature of this championship team.
Between you and your opponent, at least 2 spells will be cast every turn. With additional pump effects, that usually means at least +4/+4 in counters every turn it lives. After 2 turns it will be over 10 power trample. Not bad for a 3-drop, right?
So in this deck we do everything we can to ensure Managorger scores.
The Trainers
Hardened Scales and Winding Constrictor tag-team to make everybody pumped up. With 8 of these, we can rely on getting big muscle.
Two-Way Players
Hangarback Walker is an incredible defender who can switch to a swarm attack at a moment's notice.
Walking Ballista can tackle enemy creatures one by one but can also score from a distance.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
can call out additional blockers, or can power-up the team to score.
Setting up the Star
Elvish Mystic is not a power player, but works to get them out sooner.
Smuggler's Copter is a fine offensive creature, it's real job is to dig for cards to pull the team together.
Defense
Fatal Push, Murderous Cut combine with Ballista to take down opposing creatures.
Interference Plays
We don't want anybody stopping our star creatures so:
Blossoming Defense - Prevent removal of our star creature. Suppose you play a Managorger. They cast Ultimate Price, and you respond Blossoming Defense. With scales out, you now have a 7/7 hexproof trampler. That is why we play the card.
Duress - Eliminate everything Blossoming Defense can't deal with. Of note in Frontier decks:
Crackling Doom
, Blessed Alliance, Become Immense, Languish, Fumigate, Collected Company,
Rally the Ancestors
, Chord of Calling, Saheeli Rai. Every deck in Frontier has a key card you want to eliminate.
SIDELINES (sideboard)
Tormod's Crypt - Good against rally, maybe against control with their delve and recursion?
Touch of Moonglove - against creature-heavy decks. Insane combo with Ballista: Remove X counters, kill X creatures, opponent loses XX life. Insane combo with Managorger. Attack, they multiblock to kill it. You give Ballista +3/+2 and deathtouch. All blockers die, and the player takes damage equal to Managorger's power PLUS the number of blockers. Pretty silly for B.
Natural State - when we're this aggressive, what artifact/enchantment costing 4+ do we care about?
Farm Teams (Maybe Board)
Servant of the Scale scales well, and can pump something huge when it dies, but compare that to Elvish Mystic who accelerates your 3 star players out sooner or provides Blossoming Defense mana to protect them.
Avatar of the Resolute would be great if it wasn't so conditional. Too often it's a 3/2 reach trampler which was okay in the day, but these days is subpar. Smuggler's Copter who flies and draws into the real stars seems better.
verderous gearhulk
is incredible, but I don't want to pay his hefty 3GG salary.
Matchups (Opposing Teams)
Any opponent on a random deck will quickly be overwhelmed by a horde of giant creatures. An opponent playing a good deck will have a chance, but probably still get run over by a giant trampler.
Atarka Red decks are generally a good matchup. We get out there quickly, produce creatures that can block well, outsize their burn, and besides the 4 removal spells we have the Ballista to destroy their attacking plan. Fatal Push limits their ability to combo kill.
Control matchups are reasonably good, we get started so quickly we will deal a ton of damage before they slow us down. But our draws are inconsistent, and if they draw well, we can run out of gas. Duress/Transgress work to help us plan our plays better and get rid of their key answers.
Jeskai Black is a challenge thanks to
Crackling Doom
and interaction on multiple levels. Stripping their hand is a priority.
Abzan Midrange should also be good, because our creatures get bigger than theirs, even though initially it's the other way around.
Rally should be a battle, but Ballista can keep the Cutthroats from causing too much trouble, we can push the Husk, Blossoming stops Reflector Mage, and Duress can stop the Rally. Sideboard Tormod's Crypt and
Transgress the Mind
should help I think, as will
Roar of Challenge
if they aren't in a position to remove its target.
Saheeli combo is mostly beat by killing them fast, and we have a bit of removal.
Tournament record to date: 5-2-1 matches (13-6-1 games).(But the team was still being formed. With practice and our improved roster this will get better.)
