Deck Building - Green Devotion Hydra Deck

"I'd like to hear more about deck building. Learning how to play with a given deck is not so hard. Building the deck myself is a different matter."
- Steven M.

Deck building is a very broad and also in-depth topic, and the process can vary greatly based on whether you are building an aggro, combo, control, or midrange deck. For this article, I will walk you through the creation of my own Green Devotion “Hydra Deck”.

For me, it starts by finding a card I like or find really interesting, or maybe it’s even an interaction I notice between two cards. I rarely start by saying, “I’m going to make a green deck." When I got the M15 Clash Pack and combined the two decks, I quickly noticed the mana-producing potential of Karametra’s Acolyte paired with Kiora’s Follower. This was going to be the core of my new combo deck!

Now I have three main areas to focus on: 

1. How do I exploit this combo even further and make more mana? 
2. How am I going to use all this mana to win the game? 
3. How do I make sure the combo goes off every time?

1.   I want most of my creatures/permanents to be green for devotion (to power Karametra's Acolyte), so I start filling out my mana curve, making sure I have creatures to cast on every turn. Elvish Mystic is an easy choice for my 1-drop. He adds to green devotion and makes more mana on his own. At the 2-drop I already have Kiora’s Follower. At 3 I started with Boon Satyr which has two green symbols for devotion, but as my budget increased I eventually ended up on Courser of Kruphix, who helps me hit land drops and can gain me some life while I setup my mana combo. A 2/4 power/toughness also makes a great blocker. At 4 we have Karametra’s Acolyte. This seems like a pretty good mana base. I will ideally have 3-4 creatures in play on turn 3, ready to start tapping/untapping for lots of mana on turn 4.

2.   Now for the fun part, I get to look for cards that will make use of all this mana and win the game! I start by looking at everything that has an X mana symbol in it. Genesis Hydra… yes please! With all my mana I can easily end up with 2 huge creatures for the price of 1 and further increase my devotion. Hydra Broodmaster and Polukranos have XX in their Monstrous abilities, and with enough mana can easily win the game. I am noticing a hydra theme here… so I’ve defined my win condition: lots of big hydras attacking to crush my opponent. Heroes’ Bane, Nessian Wilds Ravager, and Mistcutter Hydra are all cool hydra options but seem less versatile. Heroes’ Bane can easily die to a removal spell after I inflate him, Nessian Wilds Ravager lets my opponent choose the less lethal option, and Mistcutter Hydra seems more suited for a sideboard.

3.   The trickiest part: making sure I get my combo every game. I know my combo won’t go off until turn 4 or later, so while I do need to be concerned about fast aggro decks, I feel like I have enough tough blockers built into my mana producing creatures. They should buy me a few extra turns. Since I am splashing blue for Kiora’s Follower, I decide to add Jace’s Ingenuity. I should be able to cast it well before turn five with all my ramp creatures, and it will help me find missing pieces for my combo or a hydra to finish the game. Genesis Hydra also serves a similar role. I notice that Prophet of Kruphix will work perfectly since I’m in green/blue, allowing me to untap and cast more creatures or activate monstrous on my opponent’s turn. With card drawing/searching and the accelerated mana I feel like my deck can now consistently combo and make a huge hydra.

So I’ve answered my three main questions, but notice along the way I was considering mana curve and what my deck is going to do in the early (ramp creatures), mid (combo), and late game (attack with hydras).

Now I have two areas for finishing touches:

1. Filling in Gaps
2. Lands/Mana base

1.   I can fill in gaps by anticipating what my deck will struggle against. I need to have answers against aggro and control decks. Curse of the Swine is a fun fit here against aggro as it can take advantage of all my mana and exiles creatures that are either threatening me or I have trouble attacking through. The drawback of a few 2/2 boars will be nothing but a snack for my huge hydras. Since I am able to search through so much of my deck with Jace’s Ingenuity and Genesis Hydra, I put in one each of Nylea for trample, Kruphix for even more mana goodness, and Archetype of Endurance for hexproof. My other obvious weakness against control is board wipes like End Hostilities. Not all my opponents will be playing those so I put Negate and Swan Song in my sideboard. I may also struggle against flying, so I add Archetype of Imagination and Arbor Colossus to my sideboard.

2.   When constructing my mana base, I start by counting up the mana symbols on my creatures and spells. I am really heavy on green (45) with a decent splash of blue (22). I am able to use Yavimaya Coast and Temple of Mystery for dual lands, so I only need a couple Islands and the rest can be Forests. I never mentioned Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, but obviously this combo works well with Kiora’s Follower. Normally I use 23 as the “magic” number of lands, but with all my mana ramp creatures I feel safe dropping it to 22. I do a quick check; I have 10 lands that make blue, and 18 that make green, with a couple Nykthos most likely providing lots of green… seems about right.

Here is my result:

---Main Deck 60
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kiora's Follower
4 Genesis Hydra
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Karametra's Acolyte
3 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Kruphix, God of Horizons
4 Hydra Broodmaster
1 Archetype of Endurance
3 Curse of the Swine
4 Jace's Ingenuity
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
10 Forest
2 Island
---Sideboard 15
2 Reclamation Sage
4 Nylea's Disciple
2 Arbor Colossus
1 Heroes’ Bane
2 Swan Song
2 Negate
1 Aetherspouts
1 Archetype of Imagination

Genesis Hydra by Pete Mohrbacher

You will not build the perfect deck on your first attempt! The fun of building a deck is watching it evolve and get better as you play more games. Take out the cards that aren’t performing (Boon Satyr) and replace them something that fills the slot better (Courser of Kruphix). Fill in gaps and look for ways to make your deck more consistent. Look for cards that are strictly better, same cost, same role, but a better effect. Listen to advice from your friends; they have a different perspective and may know of ways to upgrade or improve your deck. My journey began with a $20 Clash Pack. I found inspiration in a simple combo and grew it into a $100+ deck that is a blast to play and consistently beats my friends. We hope that our customers find a similar journey in our BDB decks. A card, combo, or theme within that deck will spark your creativity and you can slowly evolve it into your own great creation.

I know that was a long article so here’s a quick summary of guidelines for building a deck:

1. Keep your deck to 60 cards, ALWAYS. Don’t “water down” your best cards.
2. We found 23 lands work in most cases, leaving 37 creatures/spells.
• 20-30 creatures
• 7-17 spells
3. Pay attention to your mana curve! Have a mix of cheap and expensive creatures, with most between 2-4.
4. Include a few instants. Have a few tricks up your sleeve so you aren’t so predictable, and you can even disrupt their deck’s combos and strategy.
5. Have a clear plan for winning.

Hope this helps, and please give me feedback on how you'd like to see future articles!
Patrick