@ bah-bammmm

I really do not understand why you choose to continuously voice negative opinions of this deck, and not provide reasons as to why and how to improve. I have found much success with this deck, and have been learning from the match ups that I have lost to.

@SilentSpook and EverythingIsK

I am acquiring the Avatar of the Resolutes, but as I said before, I have not tested it. My problem is he is not naturally big, nor is he the best to play early. He requires an established field that I cannot always maintain. In addition to that, he is the most vulnerable creature in the deck as he can be burned, exiled, and countered more easily than any other creature I have, leaving me without gain.

From what I can see, he wants to be a finisher and to break a stalled board state.

personally, i have played against this deck, and the avatar makes it better. it synergizes really well with the Experiment One and often times it comes into play strong. it also goes well with Strangleroot Geist with undying.

Here's a MG Stompy that placed top 4 somewhat recently:

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=10041&d=257953&f=MO

I hope this helps!

The issue is that your version of MGS is slower (you play Dungrove Elder rather than the traditional Krosan Tusker). Since the release of Avatar of the Resolute, he has quickly replaced that slot. If you take on the argument that he's not big and unstoppable, then you're looking at stompy wrong.

Kalonian Tusker *

Id agree with primal bellow over aspect of hydra. I dont think avatar of the resolute is worth it if you are hoping to take a lot of advantage of his +1 counter ability.

I agree this isn't the best deck for Avatar of the Resolute, but with so many people constantly pushing for me to play it, I decided to test it out. I have not found it to be a spectacular card for me yet, as it often only gets 1 +1/+1 counter if any. The main source actually would come from Strangleroot Geists, but people are very hesitant to kill it if they can help it.

Honestly, Avatar of the Resolute is already playable without the +1/+1 effect - it's just a bonus. What's important here is that you're trading 1 toughness for Reach.

I would trade away Kalonian Tusker for Avatar of the Resolute every time because the difference between 2 toughness and 3 is Pyroclasm and the avatar does get potential +1/+1 counters and has natural reach and trample. That being said, I would prefer all the other creatures in the deck already over him because they are either much more resiliant, or are more impactful to the board.

Those are good points. Another important point is that in general, the successful MGS decks have been running both 4x Kalonian Tusker AND 4x Avatar of the Resolute, opting for a much more cheap and aggressive deck than what you have chosen. It's whatever you want I suppose

I have noticed that the two metas I play in (2 different shops) are either grixis heavy, or Wx heavy. That being said, both have heavy control elements and Dungrove Elder and Thrun, the Last Troll have made both squirm from their inability to deal with either. Dungrove Elder especially has allowed me to do well if the game pushes long as he naturally gets bigger even off of 'dead' land draws. Both have been able to stare down armies of Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Gurmag Angler, Loxodon Smiter, and Blade Splicer golems.

The higher curve and resiliance also means my deck fairs better vs more aggressive stompy lists and zoo more easily.

Just because you do have lots of devotion, I'd recommend 1 or 2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and also a Craterhoof Behemoth to finish off games. Nylea, God of the Hunt herself could be pretty helpful for the ever necessary trample.

I really like the look of the deck thought, aggro green beasts!

The devotion at any given time, believe it or not, is generally around 3 whenever I have tried casting Aspect of Hydra. Unlike how many people try to play the deck, I swing to trade rather than swing to kill. Odds are, something is going to die and I have instant speed pumps on my side that I may or may not have in hand. With this being the case, and not always having many lands to begin with. I do not like the idea of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx (I need at least 4 devotion to end up ahead, and with so many symbols on the low end of the curve, i cannot afford to tap for colorless) or Craterhoof Behemoth (I struggle hitting 6 mana, let alone 8 unless my opponent plays Path to Exile)

Nylea, God of the Hunt I have considered as well, but at 4 cmc, she doesn't cause enough impact on her own to justify playing. (Thrun, the Last Troll is the only 4 cmc card because he single handedly destroys control matchups if they don't run Wrath of God or Damnation)