Gargos, Tyrant of the Forest

Commander / EDH Counters Hydra Mono-Green Trample

Red05

Ramp (16)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Utopia Sprawl
• 1x Wild Growth
• 1x Emerald Medallion
• 1x Explore
• 1x Fanatic of Rhonas
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Three Visits
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Llanowar Tribe
• 1x Nissa's Pilgrimage
• 1x Overgrowth
• 1x Vernal Bloom

Protection (6)

• 1x Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 1x Tyvar's Stand
• 1x Collective Resistance
• 1x Gaea's Gift
• 1x Overprotect
• 1x Bear Umbra

Special Lands (4)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Bala Ged Sanctuary  ^Flip
• 1x Detection Tower
• 1x Khalni Territory  ^Flip

Token Generators (2)

• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Hydra Broodmaster

Combat Hydras (13)

• 1x Goldvein Hydra
• 1x Hungering Hydra
• 1x Nyxborn Hydra
• 1x Wren's Run Hydra
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Neverwinter Hydra
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Managorger Hydra
• 1x Ironscale Hydra
• 1x Honored Hydra
• 1x Hydra Omnivore
• 1x Oran-Rief Hydra
• 1x Ulvenwald Hydra

Combat Support (6)

• 1x Rancor
• 1x Vastwood Hydra
• 1x Branching Evolution
• 1x Hydra's Growth
• 1x Visions of Dominance
• 1x Kalonian Hydra

Fetch / Ramp Lands (4)

• 1x Arid Archway
• 1x Castle Garenbrig
• 1x Guildless Commons
• 1x Myriad Landscape

Combat Tricks (3)

• 1x Solidarity of Heroes
• 1x Sylvan Might
• 1x Invigorating Surge

Basic Lands (29)

• 29x Forest

Commander (1)

Card Draw (8)

• 1x Trash the Town
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Hunter's Insight
• 1x Lifeblood Hydra
• 1x Hunter's Prowess
• 1x Soul's Majesty
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Apex Devastator

Mana Sources (5)

• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Nissa, Who Shakes the World
• 1x Mana Reflection
• 1x Virtue of Strength

Removal (2)

• 1x Steelbane Hydra
• 1x Voracious Hydra

Boardwipes (1)

• 1x Whiptongue Hydra

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Maybeboard

Card Draw (15)

• 1x Keen Sense
• 1x Sixth Sense
• 1x Season of Growth
• 1x Colossal Majesty
• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Rites of Flourishing
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Fruit of the First Tree
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Momentous Fall
• 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Vivien, Nature's Avenger

Supporting Cast (8)

• 1x Tenacious Pup
• 1x Gnarlid Colony
• 1x Pridemalkin
• 1x Tuskguard Captain
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
• 1x Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi
• 1x Iridescent Hornbeetle

Boardwipes (6)

• 1x Back to Nature
• 1x Tranquility
• 1x Calming Verse
• 1x Rampage of the Clans
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Wave of Vitriol

Combat Tricks (6)

• 1x The Crowd Goes Wild
• 1x Inscription of Abundance
• 1x Crash the Ramparts
• 1x Invigorate
• 1x Ruthless Instincts
• 1x Biogenic Upgrade

Mana Sources (3)

• 1x Early Harvest
• 1x Heartbeat of Spring
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Protection (14)

• 1x Carapace
• 1x Hapatra's Mark
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Ranger's Guile
• 1x Run Wild
• 1x Seedling Charm
• 1x Snakeskin Veil
• 1x Vines of Vastwood
• 1x Fortitude
• 1x Jolrael's Favor
• 1x Regeneration
• 1x Boar Umbra
• 1x Gaea's Embrace
• 1x Vigor

Creature Removal (8)

• 1x Aggressive Instinct
• 1x Nature's Way
• 1x Rabid Bite
• 1x Smell Fear
• 1x Titanic Brawl
• 1x Warbriar Blessing
• 1x Ambuscade
• 1x Monstrous Onslaught

Cantrip Tricks (7)

• 1x Irresistible Prey
• 1x Feral Instinct
• 1x Setessan Training
• 1x Foxfire
• 1x Lace with Moonglove
• 1x Refresh
• 1x Touch of Vitae

Fogs (6)

• 1x Fog
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Moment's Peace *list*
• 1x Root Snare
• 1x Winds of Qal Sisma
• 1x Thwart the Enemy

Too Expensive (2)

• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient

Removal (14)

• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Broken Bond
• 1x Collector Ouphe
• 1x Naturalize
• 1x Ram Through
• 1x Return to Nature
• 1x Wilt
• 1x Barrier Breach
• 1x Broken Wings
• 1x Crushing Canopy
• 1x Ruinous Intrusion
• 1x Slice in Twain
• 1x Desert Twister
• 1x Rain of Thorns

Other Hydras (8)

• 1x Capricopian
• 1x Feral Hydra
• 1x Benevolent Hydra
• 1x Stumpsquall Hydra
• 1x Bristling Hydra
• 1x Domesticated Hydra
• 1x Ramunap Hydra
• 1x Heroes' Bane

Special Lands (7)

• 1x Blasted Landscape
• 1x Cryptic Caves
• 1x Hashep Oasis
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 1x Memorial to Unity
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Tyrite Sanctum

Combat Support (5)

• 1x Instill Energy
• 1x Duskshell Crawler
• 1x Gate Smasher
• 1x Strider Harness
• 1x Power Matrix

Smoothers (1)

• 1x Abundant Harvest

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Gampeplay Mission: Ramp up your mana base to summon Gargos and overwhelm opponents with high-impact hydras in the late game. Topple over your opponents' creatures with trample and remove key threats by triggering Gargos to fight with cheap support spells. Keep Gargos in play with protection auras while making your other hydras even bigger with additional +1/+1 counters.

Power Cards ($>10): None

Sleeper Cards: Hydra's Growth, Trash the Town, Visions of Dominance

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Possible Edits

ADD Forest, H Prowess, L Tribe, T Town and C Resistance (once received)

CHANGE something to Mossborn Hydra

INCREASE protection?

CONSIDER payoffs for casting big spells, more protection to replace some of the Gargos triggers? (MTG doesn't have many redundancy sources for Gargos)

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During Game

Keep in mind that “additional counter” effects like Branching Evolution also apply when counters are first placed on a hydra as it ETB’s

Nature’s Lore and Three Visits bring the forest in untapped

Remember to say “go to combat” to give opponents a chance to respond before declaring attackers

Hydra abilities like Reinforce and Monstorsity can be activated at instant speed as a combat trick

Typically attack -before- casting spells in 2nd main phase to see what happens during combat (Apex Devastator is an exception)

Save some instants for use on opponents' turn since Gargos will “reset” at each end step

Use Ulvenwald Hydra to tutor for Tyrite Sanctum or Arcane Lighthouse in most cases

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Stats

23 hydras + 18 spells that can trigger Gargos

~28 cards dealing with +1/+1 counters

Only 4 of the hydras have <4 generic mana (maximizes discount from Gargos)

17 cards with trample (9 hydras + 8 spells)

13 “X” spells (Tyvar’s Stand + hydras)

76% of lands are forests (helps with Nissa, Vernal Bloom, Extraplanar Lens, and Oran-Rief Hydra)

37 lands + 16 ramp + 5 mana sources = 58% of deck

5 lands that ETB tapped (13% of total)

3 colorless non-fetch lands (8% of total)

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Deck Notes

Deck theme is built around Gargos getting to decide who gets to stay in the forest through fight triggers

Semi-battlecruiser theme since A/E removal is very limited but has lots of creature removal through Gargos triggers

Includes some spells that can target multiple creatures (= multiple Gargos triggers)

Some of the Gargos triggers include ramp, card draw, and removal

Most of the triggers are instants and auras (sorceries are primarily for ramp)

Has multiple cards >$5 because hydras are fairly limited

Average CMC is understated because of the 12 hydras with X in casting cost (plus others w/ monstrosity etc) - actual is approx 3.51 based on the spells with fixed casting cost and the 10 "X" hydras at 6 CMC each

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Card Notes

Apex Devastator might cascade into an “X” spell during its four triggers (11/62 = 18% chance), but still worth the casting cost discount from Gargos

Genesis Hydra can find 28 non-land permanents with mana value 6 or less when it is cast at X = 6

Emerald Medallion helps with 84% of the spells (deck has ten 1-mana instants and artifacts it doesn’t discount)

Gargos serves as ramp for all other hydras and additional removal

Bear Umbra also serves as ramp

Khalni Territory can also be a removal spell

Virtue of Strength and Bala Ged Sanctuary can also be a recursion spells

Regeneration preserves counters and auras but removes the creature from combat, taps it, and doesn't help with exile, bounce, flicker, or -1/-1 effects

Maybeboard has some supporting cast that give other creatures trample, but these don't trigger Gargos

Uses Branching Evolution instead of Unbound Flourishing b/c 25 cards relate to +1/+1 counters vs. only 9 “X” spells

Date added	3 years
Last updated	5 days
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.14
Tokens	Emblem Nissa, Who Shakes the World, Fanatic of Rhonas 4/4 B, Honored Hydra 6/6 W, Hydra X/X G, Morph 2/2 C, On an Adventure, Snake 1/1 G, Treasure
Folders	Commander, Tyranid