Budget-ish Minotaur tribal for Theros block Standard, initially based on Mike Cannon's deck for Gathering Magic, but adapted with my experiences playtesting.
Any suggestions on balancing and sideboard for FNM play are welcome.
Card Choices
1 CMC: Gnarled Scarhide, Thoughtseize - I'm happy with any of these turn 1. Gnarled Scarhide can come in as a 2/1 and put some early pressure on the board, and the hand disruption offered by Thoughtseize will help delay the opponents plan, giving the cattle time to hit the table. In the later game, the Scarhides can bestow either to a Deathbellow Raider for damage, or on an opposing creature to push through. The precise split of Duress/Thoughtseize is up to you - I run both because we can generally deal with creatures, and not having to pay life is helpful in the later game.
2 CMC: Deathbellow Raider, Ultimate Price, Doom Blade - Deathbellow helps tangle the board when it comes down turn 2, as that's the only time it can block. There aren't many things that can come down on turns 1 and 2 that can survive being blocked by Deathbellow. Ultimate Price and Doom Blade serve utility, allowing the destruction of problematic threats (e.g. killing a Fleecemane Lion on turn 3 before it can be made hexproof.)
3CMC: Felhide Petrifier, Rageblood Shaman, Ragemonger - These cows are the core of the deck. All are lords, granting beneficial and powerful effects. Petrifier hurts heroic decks, since we can trade out anything one for one. Rageblood turns everyone into tramplers, helping push damage through to the player. Ragemonger is a strong enabler in the mid to late game, letting remaining creatures hit the table fast.
4CMC: Mogis - This is a tough slot, as there aren't many good synergistic cards here. Mogis is unlikely to be a creature, but he does put control players on the clock, and is harder for them to remove. In a board stall, he's more likely to become a creature and thus be able to break up the stall with 7 damage.
5CMC: Kragma Warcaller - The top of the curve and the card that makes this deck work. Suddenly swinging for +2/+0 damage with your hasted minotaurs can turn a game fast.
Sideboard Plans
vs. Control: -4 Doom Blade, +4 Dreadbore. Control is creature-light and planeswalker-heavy. Better to have the more flexible removal, even if it's tougher to cast.
-2 Ultimate Price, -2 Felhide Petrifier, +4 Skullcrack. Having lots of creature removal isn't helpful against the creature-light control decks, and Felhide's deathtouch becomes much less useful. Skullcrack prevents Control from "turning back the clock" with lifegain from Sphinx's Revelation.
(If the opponent can run Blood Baron of Viskopa, consider removing the 3 Gnarled Scarhides in favor of 3 Mizzium Mortars. There isn't any other easy removal that can cope with them.)
vs. Mono-Black Devotion: -4 Doom Blade, +4 Dreadbore. Doom Blade is a dead draw here; Dreadbore is actually useful.
vs. RG Monsters: -4 Doom Blade, +4 Dreadbore. The planeswalkers are a big threat in this deck, and Dreadbore can handle them. Leave Ultimate Price to cover the other creatures.
-3 Gnarled Scarhide, +3 Mizzium Mortars. The only creature Mizzium can't deal with is Polukranos, and our other removal can deal with it. Low-power creatures are not helpful against RG Monsters.
