I can see the merits of it. I don't think I'd play it personally. But that's just preference.

You just have to play Solidarity of Heroes. It's not likely to be the first heroic spell on a creature, so it's pump will be more than a 4 pump. Also the pump it gives ensures that the pump will stay around. The strive is less likely to be relevant, but if it is, it will be a blowout.

Solidarity of Heroes has bounced in and out of the build due to varying degrees of effectiveness. I think I do agree that it's more useful than Thrive. I'll consider adding it back in. Thanks for the input!

Non-creature spells are quite tight already. We have a solid number of fights and of buffs, and a lot of good creatures to put them on. Now it's time for a lot of testing, punching opponents' creatures and getting fun stories with the deck. And share them here, of course! Right, Sagarys?

Solidarity of Heroes is a great card. The best deck for it might be Bogles or some unusual Green Aggro based on Bassara Tower Archer. It would follow Thrive perfectly.

Setessan Tactics works wonders as a one-of against clogged battlefields: we have five creatures, they have five creatures staring at each other. Sooo... it's blowout time!

Hello, after reading this deck, I built it and play tested it with major success. So here is a couple of tweaks I will attempt. I am going to replace Tuskguard Captain with Predator Ooze also I will be taking out one forest for a Bow of Nylea. Thoughts?

Bow of Nylea takes the deck in a slightly different direction, but it totally works. Deathtouch synergizes well with trample. And the other activated abilities all have their uses. Let me know how that pans out.

For me personally, I think Predator Ooze is just a lot too slow for how aggro this deck wants to be. It's certainly an excellent card, but while the Captain isn't the fastest growing card in the deck, he does provide an instant benefit with trample, he synergizes with the Bramblewood Paragon, and in board stall situations or a dry spell on pump/fight draws, he beefs up quickly and works well in conjunction with the Tracker. I'd keep the Captain, but by all means, please try out the ooze and let me know how it goes!

And like MarioLL said, it's time to get out there and collect fight stories. So if you do something awesome, post it here and I'll add it to the main post!

I was watching Standard finals of SCGNY, so my thoughts come after Sagarys' - they are quite similar.

Tuskguard Captain often comes into play as 3/4, thanks to a boost from Bramblewood Paragon. Next turn he can deal with pretty much anything through fight, because it works even when she is tapped by outlast.

Ooze is interesting, though it looks slow. It needs four clear attacks to get to 5/5. Or two attacks with successfully killing blockers. Or just four killed creatures, by a fight spell, for instance. It doesn't read that damage must be dealt in combat :) So on turn 4, we can play two fight spells, score one counter from attack, and score another one if the attack killed a blocker. The point is: does an opponent block the Ooze? I don't think so. Also, to make it 5/5 we have used probably three spells, because 1/1 Ooze doesn't kill too many creatures. It leaves us with almost empty hand. Rancor works fine with it, because it gives extra power and trample, practically sealing the fate of a blocker. That's a good scenario. With a bad scanario... well, four attacks are a lot. It's definitely an idea to test, in a build without Centaur Battlemaster and probably Staunch-Hearted Warrior, with more Rancors and other cheap buffs that give trample.

Bow of Nylea eats our turn 3 and half of a turn 4 to put one counter on a creature. It requires a 2 mana creature to operate, because we can't play any creature turn 3 nor turn 4. It doesn't trigger heroic on Hero of Leina Tower, nor on Setessan Oathsworn. The card is okay in Midrange decks, but in Aggro slows everything down.

Hey, nice budget deck and I like your enthusiasm for it. That's what Magic is all about! +1

Also, comment updates can help shorten your list of comments if you want.

Thanks Mongol. It's the kind of deck that's still fun to play even when you lose. Unless it's to control. But screw those guys. They ruin everyone's fun.

So, I had some success testing out Solidarity of Heroes today. I still had Giant Growth in the build at the time as well. So on turn 3, Setessan Oathsworn came down with a +1/+1 from Bramblewood Paragon . On turn 4 I attacked. My opponent had 1 creature out and didn't want to lose it blocking, so they let the apparent 2/2 through. So I hit the Oathsworn with Giant Growth, bringing him up to 7/7. Then I dropped Solidarity of Heroes, triggering his heroic, bringing him up to 9/9, 5 of which is counters... which then doubled. On turn 4, I hit him for 14... with one base 1/1 creature. And that felt really good! So, MarioLL, I'm not sure if Solidarity of Heroes can be totally counted out yet.

Sagarys, that was awesome! We have 7 creatures with heroic-based pumping, 11 if you count Hero of Leina Tower. That's 1/3 or 1/2 of all our creatures. So this situation is definitely not that rare. On top of that, I think most opponents will not block Oathsworn wearing trample (from Captain or from Rancor), unless they block with some sort of big butt creature like Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Nyx-Fleece Ram. Maybe one copy of Solidarity instead of one fight spell?

On the other hand, what type of deck were you playing against? Was it Aggro? For Aggro matchup, the deck, as it is now, doesn't need win more cards. Against Midrange... it can be good, we have more turns to draw it. Against Control I'd not play it, because of removal in response to Solidarity.

Today evening I'm going to play a few matches with the latest version of the deck against some tier 1 and 2 decks. Expect a report tomorrow!

I believe it was some kind of burn/creature hybrid Izzet deck. He had Battlefield Thaumaturge out and didn't want to lose it. I could have fought it down but I had a feeling he'd let me slip through.

And I can't wait to hear how it does against the tier 1 and 2 decks. Good luck MarioLL!

The deck is awesome, especially the synergy, and just how quickly it can get out of hand. Seriously, friggin awesome deck that would honestly not be too expensive to recreate, all around a great deck

Thanks SG_Matt. Yeah, the deck costs less than $30 with the sideboard included, and that's only because Rancor isn't super cheap. Without the sideboard, it's maybe a $15 deck that can hold its own (or stomp all over) more expensive decks. It's not the best deck ever. But it's strong and super fun to play.

Why not add a Hardened Scales? It seems like it would go perfectly.

Hardened Scales is an excellent card in most counter decks, and it's good here in theory. But in practice, you're almost always going to want a spell that triggers a Heroic over this. Hardened Scales plans for the long game, while this deck is trying to crush its opponents in the first 5 or 6 rounds. In those rounds, pumps like Prey's Vengeance, Vines of Vastwood, and the various fights are going to be taking up the majority of our non-creature mana, maximizing damage in the short-term, where a single additional +1/+1 isn't super useful.

But like every suggestion I get, please feel free to test it out in your own build, and if you have success, let me know and I'll consider swapping it in.

Thanks!

Thank you very much for the fast response.

I wouldn't exactly say I'm new, but, I'm still learning definitely. And your explanation is exactly what I was looking for. It makes perfect sense after you explained why.

But in the same vein of things, I feel like Titanic Growth would be good because it's cheap, an instant, and triggers heroic. But I may be missing why you don't already have it in the deck.

Yup, Titanic Growth is an excellent card in this deck. The reason I'm not running it though is because if you look at Vines of Vastwood, if you kick it, it costs exactly the same and gives the same +4/+4, but with the added benefit of providing our creature with Hexproof, so it offers more utility for the same price. Titanic Growth however would be an excellent alternative card if you didn't have Vines.

Sagarys, mate, here is my report. First the matches, then observations what worked and what didn't, then conlusions and some suggested cards to try.

MERFOLK
1-2, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0.

Combining with numbers from previous tests, it's clear this is THE AGGRO DECK. It crushes any Abzan, Zoo, Merfolk. It may race Bogles. Mono-Red Aggro matchup depends on how many burn spells they play or if we sideboard in some lifegain effects.

I lost to Merfolk, when he played a perfect game and I stumbled on mana. He went to three counters on Aether Vial, then played double Merrow Reejereys and Lord of Atlantis. Spreading Seas was already on my Forest.

In two or three games I found myself lacking a trample enabler. I had some 2/2s and was chumpblocked for four straight turns. Still, I managed to close game in my favour, thanks to fight spells.

BLACK INFECT
0-2, 1-2, 0-2, 0-2.

Black Infect.. those games were horrible. I stood no chance. Some games I was lacking a creature. Some games I was lacking a buff spell. Fights spells were just dead in my hand, if they survived Inquisition of Kozilek and Duress. When I managed to play something, the creature was hit by Victim of Night or Geth's Verdict. Then Lashwrithe or Phyrexian Vatmother were coming.

BOROS BURN
2-1, 1-2, 0-2, 1-2.

These games were close. Fight spells obviously didn't work too much and typical attacking was quickly shut down by Lightning Bolts and Lightning Helixes. When I tried to delay my plays - Setessan Oathsworn on turn 4 with a backup of Vines of Vastwood - it got shot second time in response. Those spells, too cheap really...

SPLINTER TWIN
1-2, 0-2, 0-2.

Playing against Splinter Twin makes a mirage that those games are close. Well, I would certainly win more games, if those fight spells were all instants. Often I had a 4 power creature to kill Deceiver Exarch, but I held Prey Upon in hand.


Ok, so, what cards didn't make a difference? Four and five mana creatures were too expensive. Quite often I had two fight spells and one buff spell in my hand, and no creature to put it on. In my GW Aggro I play 26 creatures and 14 spells, but creatures provide power bonuses themselves. Here the only 'giver' is Bramblewood Paragon.

That's not all. I misclicked...

Awaiting part 2 of the report, but so far, it looks like the fate of the Centaur Battlemaster and the Staunch-Hearted Warrior is sealed. They'll be cut after this. I'll have to change the name to include satyrs instead of centaurs. sad trombone

Now, what to replace them with...

Sagarys, here are my next thoughts and suggestions.

Surprisingly, Hero of Leina Tower didn't shine, but it was due to being constantly shot in the face.

Mutant's Prey was pretty useless most of the time. Opponents destroy creatures with counters quite fast. One mana instant should be good, but to put a counter on a creature was not that easy. For the similar reason I came to dislike Savage Punch. Epic Confrontation proved really good with its +1/+2 fight bonus.

Rancor was just okay. Probably if creatures were harder to kill (hexproof, big toughness, indestructible), it would shine.

The overall conclusion: if playing against Aggro or other creature-based decks, go for power in tricks. If playing anything else, go for value. Even with Become Immense, Mutagenic Growth and Gather Courage it's hard to go superfast. We need to be prepared for longer games and suprising tricks. With this in mind, here are my suggestions for cards to think about and test.

Sheltering Word against Burn. Grants hexproof and gives life. Great with Oathsworn. Predator's Rapport serves the similar role of lifegain. I'd think also of Dawnglow Infusion.

Fog and similar shenanigans against Splinter Twin. Doesn't matter how many tokens they create. None of them will deal damage.

Hardened Scales + Predator Ooze + Lumberknot + Witchstalker package - SageLior suggested Predator Ooze. All these creatures are wonderful, because they are hard to kill in some way. They're not Warriors, I know... Lumberknot and Ooze work well with fight spells.

Leatherback Baloth is just big creature for . It deals easily with Phyrexian Vatmother and Siege Rhino.Increasing Savagery looks as awesome as Become Immense. One copy of them both might work from time to time.

Wild Defiance can work with fight spells. It also protects creatures against burn. If they don't board in some enchantment removal... They go in the face, for which we have lifegains I wrote a bit earlier about.

Blessings of Nature looks sweet. One-of to test.

Pit Fight is an instant fight spell to deal with Deceiver Exarch. I think it's a replacement for Savage Punch.

Blunt the Assault... I imagine playing that against Splinter Twin as an instant win con. Hahaha...

Wrap in Vigor - now, this is interesting against sweepers. Doesn't work against creatures with infect, sadly, since they deal damage of -1/-1 counters.

Primal Bellow may or may not be good. It's quite cheap and has the potential to punch hard. Worth testing.


That's it from me for today. Games were fun (except those against Black Infect), deck is still open for tuning. It may lose its Warrior theme, if we push it to be a real Modern contender. Definitely, we can go with two versions: first is a Warrior Aggro for FNMs, second is Modern-ready. Let's talk now!

Hmm, that's a lot to consider. You make some excellent points, and there's no doubt that the big Modern powerhouse decks you went up against are always going to be issues without a bit of an overhaul. I'm going to take some time today to look over your suggestions. I think this deck, with some minor tweaks to make it a little leaner and meaner might be as good as it's going to get without completely losing its flavor.

So from the looks of it, we might actually need to create a second deck entirely, separate from this one. Same feel, but designed less for the shiggles and more for being competitive. If I fire up a new deck page, I'll tag you so you can hop over there. Thanks again man!

You know what, Sagarys, Warriors' flavour may be saved, if we move from Mono-Green to Green/X. White has some Warriors, Black has some Warriors. Both of them has also sweet removal and tricks (like double strike and lifelink), which could aid in combat/fights. I think of a light splash with lands from Core Sets like Sunpetal Grove, lifelands from Tarkir block, tri-lands from Alara/Tarkir, or even Alara's Panoramas. Of course, I'm talking about testing versions for now, not about buying actual cards.

I'd definitely be willing to splash the deck to make it more competitive. It'll likely mean a few more slots dedicated to land to ensure consistency, but with the right creature mix, the trade off could be worth it. Time to experiment.