Living Walls of the Hydra's House

Casual Casual Mono-Green

VampireNighthawk999

Creature (32)

• 4x Axebane Guardian
• 4x Jaddi Offshoot
• 4x Mistcutter Hydra
• 4x Overgrown Battlement
• 4x Sylvan Caryatid
• 4x Traproot Kami
• 4x Vine Trellis
• 4x Wolfbriar Elemental

Enchantment (8)

• 4x Assault Formation
• 4x Utopia Vow

Land (20)

• 20x Forest

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Sandwurm Convergence

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Hydras and wolves only...

I've always found defender ramp to be a fun deck idea, so I thought I'd cook one up on a budget. I'm pretty happy with it, though I could see myself changing the removal and finishers.

Ramp

Axebane Guardian/Overgrown Battlement: The core of the deck. These guys allow us to generate ridiculous amounts of mana, especially in multiples. At four of each, they're a perfect set of build-arounds.

Sylvan Caryatid: A nice piece of mana acceleration that also happens to have defender (for synergy with the Guardian and Battlement) and hexproof, which can be useful with Assault Formation.

Vine Trellis : Another mana dork with defender is just what we need. Sure, there are other options, like Wall of Roots , but the assured four toughness that can help us crank out an Assault Formation win is what grants this card its slot.

Traproot Kami: In theory, the one-drop slots could be filled with typical ramp dudes like Llanowar Elves, but by adding defender, we can ensure safer blocks and have the bonus of generating added value from multiple copies of our main defender rampers. This card also has the added boost of scaling into a powerful threat with Assault Formation, and serves as a solid blocker until then. Overall, an inclusion I would't want to miss.

Jaddi Offshoot: Having a defender creature on turn 1 is an excellent start for this deck, and this isn't a bad candidate. Defaulting to three toughness can be a solid cover for the sometimes less reliable Kami, and the life gain is helpful as additional pillow fort until we can cast something big.

Removal

Utopia Vow: Out of the whole deck, this is the card I'm the least happy with. On a budget, though, there's not much else to work with. Beast Within would be perfect, but is a little expensive for this deck right now. Prey Upon effects are a bit of a non-bo with all of the zero-power creatures, and Lignify is counterproductive. The vow isn't the worst thing we could be running, as it can shut down creatures that come down too big too fast, but with all of the walls, we're more worried about activated abilities anyway. Any suggestions for replacements are appreciated!

Finishers

Assault Formation: Slam dunk inclusion. With the amount of mana we're generating, this can turn into some pretty brutal alpha strikes. Otherwise, it's a fun way to make attacking you more dangerous, and you'll practically always get at least one swing in.

Mistcutter Hydra: A hasty hydra that can't be countered or bounced? I'll take it! This card covers so many of the weaknesses of a regular hydra card, and is a great surprise beater that scales very well.

Wolfbriar Elemental: Though it takes a little more effort to set up than the Hydra, it's much harder to block and arguably harder to answer. As a pseudo-X-spell, it also scales well from huge to gargantuan amounts of mana.

Sandwurm Convergence: Not presently in the mainboard, but I'm looking at it as a possible replacement for either the Hydra or the Elemental. This thing is actually pretty hard to answer, and creates a very real clock for your opponent. Even so, I'm not sure yet if the deck wants it more than either of the above.

If you've read this far, thanks for viewing! As an aside, I've thought about making a modern version of this (still on a pretty strict budget) and would appreciate insight into that as well.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is Casual legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Rares 4 - 0 Uncommons 20 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.00
Tokens	Human 2/2 G, Wolf 2/2 G