If you are going to ramp with creatures, stick to one strategy. If you are going to use defenders, stick to them only. My personal favorite is using elves. They work great together to produce large amounts of mana quickly. On top of that, they tend to boost each other, making them a possible threat as well as the eldrazi. If you are interested, just respond and I can give you a very nice elf setup for ramping.

0zack0 sounds good! if you send it to me ill test it along with a more defender-focused strategy, but part of the reason i had it mixed was because i wanted an attacking creature for Eldrazi Conscription. if the elf setup works just as well or even better, i'll definitely replace it.

thanks!

I think you are better off with elves. Here is a list of them that should be considered. Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Archdruid, Joraga Treespeaker, and Elvish Harbinger to search for the archdruid. Now when playing with elves, you play your hand rather quickly due to their low mana costs so make sure you have some stuff to draw cards. And if you still need more ramp, make sure to run at least 2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx