Green is the color and ramp is the game for this deck. This deck employs both the traditional mana dork with Arbor Elf or
Somberwald Sage
and land ramp stratagems with Overgrowth as well as Karametra's Acolyte for devotion-to-mana conversion. This results in more mana ramp than otherwise would happen. Dictate of Karametra is an investment well worth it as it doubles the value of your lands. Arbor Elf Works better than the classic Elvish Mystic because your Forests will likely be worth 2 or more mana.
Somberwald Sage
is great, since it generates 3 mana a pop, like 3 Birds of Paradise in one.
The question now is, what do you do with all this extra mana?
The answer is, Hydra Broodmaster! The turn after it comes out, it produces many big hydra babies! Many people quit when you get 15 15/15 hydra tokens on turn 7.
Other creatures that aren't ramp are mostly support. For example,
Thorn Elemental
can get 7 damage through any number of tokens or weenies. This is a big threat, as once it comes out, your opponent is on a four turn clock to get rid of it or lose. Polukranos, World Eater works as an effective board wipe, with the added benefit of not killing your creatures. Nylea, God of the Hunt gives all my creatures trample, which is great in combination with lots of big fatties.
Defense of the Heart is one of the premier cards in this deck. With it you can conceivably double your mana production and get out your biggest threats.
Mythic Proportions
makes the biggest creature bigger and gives it trample. This card makes this deck able to compete with token decks that flood the board with 1/1s. Tooth and Nail is a Defense of the Heart any time you want. See above description. Primal Surge is one of those cards that if you can get if off, it often results in a win. With it, you could get 5 Forests, 2 Overgrowths, a Hydra Broodmaster, and a Nylea, God of the Hunt. There is always the danger of milling yourself out, which is why there are multiple sorceries in this deck.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx in conjunction with Voyaging Satyr produces more mana for Hydra Broodmaster to consume. Dictate of Karametra works even on Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx's devotion ability, which is even better.
Tower of Fortunes
is pure card advantage in the mid-to-late game. The extra 4 cards a turn really puts you ahead, even for the 8 mana cost. You will likely have the mana to play most of these cards anyway, so it is all benefit.
I am on a bit of a budget in improving this deck, so I would appreciate card suggestions that aren't very expensive. Other suggestions that I would appreciate a would be the land to spell ratio and ramp to beatdown ratio and other stuff like that.
I play in a very casual group where we just want to have fun, so super powerful decks don't see much use. The meta is basically everything; I've played against classic blue, burn, goblins, slivers, mill, angels/demons, evolve and many others so I can't afford to focus on countering one or two strategies since I don't know what's coming until we start playing. The size of the group changes as well, from 2-3 to 5-6 depending on the day.
