Would like help with a Simic Hydra deck in Standard
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 25, 2014, 3:46 p.m. by Selkinor
Gyre Sage is what really got me interested in this idea, as I play a Simic evolve deck in standard (that I netdecked), but now I want to build a deck of my own. I'm playing with the idea of using Gyre Sage to cast some really big hydras. While this sort of deck may not be T1, I still want it to be as competitive as it can be. The basic idea is to play Gyre Sage, get some +1/+1 counters on her, and use her ability to tap for lots of mana and summon large hydras with X casting costs, as well as provide some tools to play with those +1/+1 counters.
Below are the cards I'm considering for the deck. I need help with narrowing them down, as well as how many of each should be played. Although I've read through various guides that I've found on deckbuilding, I still don't trust myself to tell which cards to trim and which to keep. They all potentially look good. I've got the It's-cool-so-I'll throw-it-in-the-deck syndrome. If there are other cards that I've overlooked or am unaware of that would work with this deck, go ahead and tell me about them, too. I'd also like to hear about the deck's weaknesses and what a sideboard would look like, as well as overall thoughts and criticisms on the concept, but bare in mind that I am not trying to build a top-tier standard deck. And as a final disclaimer, I'm not particularly good at deck building and have only been playing for a few months - feel free to tell me my idea is complete crap. Thanks in advance for any help.
The Mana Rampers
Elvish Mystic your standard four-of for mana-ramping. I'm not sure if the deck actually needs him, but what other options are there for the 1-drop slot?T1: Forest, Elvish MysticT2: Forest, Gyre Sage... another Elvish Mystic? Or Forest, Courser of Kruphix, and play Gyre Sage on T3 and miss the evolve? I can't find a clear use for him.
Slitherhead there is always the option of Slitherhead as the 1-drop. Playable for G, and he can be Scavenged to provide +1/+1 counters for Gyre Sage for free.
Gyre Sage to produce lots of mana for the hydras. My only concern is that it will take too long to build up the counters with Evolve alone, so I'm looking into ways to accelerate the +1/+1 counter growth.
Kiora's Follower mainly to untap Gyre Sage, but could also be used to untap Elvish Mystic or a land.Sylvan Caryatid mainly to splash for red, solid body, and can be used to trigger the Evolve on Gyre Sage, but there are too many competing 2-drops and I think I'd cut her first in favor of some Stomping Grounds.
Courser of Kruphix while there's a lot of competing mana rampers, she is the only 3-drop. She also has a lot of extra benefits over the other cards, including thinning the deck of lands, surviving some common removal (Lightning Bolt, etc.), and effectively letting you play Shock-Lands for only 1 life. In fact, I think I've talked myself into definitely playing her in the deck.
Vorel of the Hull Clade the other option to fill in the 3-drop slot. He can be used to double the counters on Gyre Sage in addition to triggering her Evolve. Courser of Kruphix is probably still better, but he was worth mentioning anyway.
The Hydras
Kalonian Hydra while he doesn't have the ability to be cast with X +1/+1 counters on it via Gyre Sage, he is a solid card and doubles the counters on everyone else, including Gyre Sage. Trample is nice as well.
Vastwood Hydra one of the hydras that can be played with all the mana Gyre Sage produces, thanks to an X in its casting cost. Aside from that fact though, he is not so great, and I'm not sure how useful his ability to disperse the counters on himself on death will be.
Mistcutter Hydra this is usually sideboard material, but I'm wondering if it is good enough to main-deck due to Haste. I like the possibility of a huge, uncounterable body with Haste hitting the field.
Savageborn Hydra what I'd mainly be splashing red for, either with a few dual-lands or Sylvan Caryatid. He does what I want the deck to do, and has Double Strike - can't complain.
Polukranos, World Eater because of that Monstrosity.
Scourge of Skola Vale not sure this fits into the deck, but it's up for consideration anyway.
Instants and Sorceries
Simic Charm pretty standard support for any Simic deck.
Dissolve I think the deck could use some counters, but I'm not too sure about this. Possibly in the side-board?
Dispel see above.
Bioshift mostly here as a combat trick, or to shift some counters onto Gyre Sage for even more mana-tapping.
Give//Take the Take half can help you with card advantage - something that this deck lacks - and the Give half can help with building up counters on Gyre Sage (with the added bonus of immediately returning the mana spent to cast it).
Other
Prophet of Kruphix I know this card is hard to pull off in standard, but I just can't get over the idea of some huge hydras attacking and untapping on your opponent's turn.
Domri Rade if I'm going to splash red, might as well put him up for consideration as well. He has great synergy with Courser of Kruphix.
Lands
Deciding on a land-base has always been one of my weaker points in deckbuilding. With all the mana primarily coming from Gyre Sage, could I cut down severely in the number of lands I put in? That would free up room for even more spells. I see myself using Forests, Breeding Pools, maybe a few Islands, and possibly 2-3 Stomping Grounds if I decide to play Savageborn Hydra.
blackmarker90 Thanks for the feedback. I think you've made some good points in favor of Sylvan Caryatid and I'll probably end up putting her in the final decklist. I did consider running Garruk, Caller of Beasts but was afraid he wouldn't help me get my Hydras out that had an X in the casting cost. My concern is that, with the suggestions you've made, this deck effectively becomes R/G. I was trying to get it to worth mainly in the Simic colors, and wanted some interaction with the +1/+1 counters. Do you think Gyre Sage belongs in the final decklist at all?
March 25, 2014 4:46 p.m.
blackmarker90 says... #5
Yes, there is a good amount of value to be gained from her evolve, even if it is only 1 or 2 counters, there's free mana and if she gets large enough you can use her to attack. It is hard to run blue with hydras, but a couple of good blue cards to use are Omenspeaker for early scry on a good body, and Divination / Opportunity to get some cards back into your hand.
A lot of the problems with trying to run Blue, Red, and Green together is the synergies of the colors in standard right now are hard to mesh well. But the biggest thing you will need is efficient beefy low drops and ways to protect your hydras once they are on the board.
March 25, 2014 4:57 p.m.
blackmarker90 I've posted a first draft of the decklist if you'd care to take a look: Simic Hydras
blackmarker90 says... #2
The best way to assess this is to create the baseline for your deck. Build what you are thinking about and we can help you fine tune it.
Now that that is out of the way; I would not suggest running Vastwood Hydra the mana you need to invest may or may not be worthwhile for the return of +1/+1 distribution. Use the Sylvan Caryatid it is a removal resistant mana ramp that provides alternate colors.
Kalonian Hydra is almost a must in big green decks. If you are going to use red I highly suggest the use of Savageborn Hydra as well as Domri Rade as the hydra gives you ways to use your mana late game and domri gives you much needed card advantage against control decks. I would also suggest Garruk, Caller of Beasts as the fair majority of your creatures will be green.
Mistcutter Hydra is not a bad option in this case to run mainboard. A decent sized body with haste and uncounted able is always nice. Another suggestion I have is Xenagos, God of Revels as a "win more" type finisher or to assist in breaking a board stalemate. Courser of Kruphix is very nice and can help eliminate land topdecks when you need gas to power through your opponent. As for instants and sorceries I would suggest cards like Pit Fight and Fall of the Hammer as cheap removal.
The only card I would suggest splashing blue for is Prophet of Kruphix so that you can flash creatures in at you opponents end step then buff them to the sky on your turn.
As for land I would suggest running no less than 23 and have 4x Stomping Ground , 4x Temple of Abandon , 2x Breeding Pool , and 2x Temple of Mystery
March 25, 2014 4:16 p.m.