Dies to Removal

Got some games in with the deck. Been testing with the Foothills as a fetch / Nykthos split card and mostly seems like Nyk just let's you get way ahead in the games you're winning. Like if they don't wreck your board, let alone start activating Nyk multiple times a turn, you'll probably be the one winning the game. It also mostly only comes into play with Nylea or Polukranos, again with something like Chord, odds are if you could activate Nyk for a large amt of mana you can just cast the damn thing normally for 5-7. If I go up to 24 land or cut a scry (10 ETBT is a lot) for an untapped land I'd probably have a miser copy.

Arbor Colossus has been a house against the GR deck thanks to lack of major removal (Nobody around here has bothered shoving 3-4 Crater's Claws in yet) and Butcher is kind of a joke. I honestly think that's the biggest trap card of the set, it promises lots of good things, but rarely does shit go
that well. Courser has been pretty meh since everyone seems to prep for it, but I still like one as a dumb value / lifegain card. Without Zegana to just draw six cards and end the game you need to take every extra card you can. Still going to 1 and maindecking a Hornet Nest is likely my next potential change, esp. if people go nuts over the basic GR deck Owen posted.

Knuckles is as big a curbstomping as I assumed it would be and I've won way too many games off t2 Knuckles or t3 knuckles, t4 polyk, t5 threaten to activate any of the 15 abilities I have on board or Chord. I feel like anyone who plays this type of deck is going to have a huge edge early on because people won't have a clue how to properly play against all your plays.

As Valdarith said, people snap blast Yisan and then get really sad when I follow up with a scary threat. Then they leave Yisan alive and then after killing one or two of my guys, suddenly there's a bunch of incremental advantage and they get buried. I do wish there was a
Fleecemane Lion-esque card I could tutor up on 2 though, since that's the only thing that sucks about this list. Yisan dies after two activations and while you gained mana, there's no real great threat to find. If Keranos wasn't so damned good I'd also consider just going black and shoving in Deathdealer, Pharika and a few others. That and Arc Lightning have proven to be the nuts though and it's hard to find something as consistently skullpunchy as Knuckles. Being able to haste it up after tutoring it up or just playing it on t3 w/ haste thanks to Caryatid or Follower is sweet.

Hornet Queen is also the best end game in the format outside of Elspeth, but you guys already knew that.

[deck]Lands
4 x Frontier Bivouac
4 x Temple of Mystery
1 x Temple of Abandon
1 x Temple of Epiphany
2 x Mana Confluence
4 x Yavimaya Coast
4 x Forest
1 x Mountain
2 x Wooded Foothills

Creatures
4 x Elvish Mystic
3 x Sylvan Caryatid
4 x Kiora’s Follower
4 x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1 x Reclamation Sage
2 x Courser of Kruphix
3 x Savage Knuckleblade
3 x Polukranos, World Eater
1 x Nylea’s Disciple
1 x Clever Impersonator
3 x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Surrak Dragonclaw
1 x Keranos, God of Storms
1 x Sagu Mauler
1 x Hornet Queen

Noncreature Spells
2 x Temur Charm
2 x Chord of Calling

Sideboard
3 Arc Lightning
2 Nylea's Disciple
2 Hornet Nest
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Sagu Mauler
1 Hornet Queen[/deck]

Deck is designed in part to just go over the top of other midrange decks. Has multiple methods of attack including
Yisan + Follower / Prophet, Keranos, going over the top with Hornet Queen or even just bashing them with big dumb jerks ala Polukranos, Mauler and Knuckles. You have a bunch of mana to make this happen and if you draw Chord or have active Yisan, you really shouldn't lose to opposing green. Red is a bit rough G1, but you have a lot of early drops and big dumb guys so it isn't as bad as say the current RUG Chord vs. red deck right now. Also sideboard Arc Lightning, Hornet's Nest and Disciple; get rekt. Sloooow midrange based on removal seems like a joke w/ Keranos and Sagu Mauler and no control deck I've tried so far can beat the plan of 'run 30+ creatures'. Elspeth does work, but without Revelation or a bunch of wraths backing her, it isn't enough.

You can make an even faster and more explosive version utilizing Nykthos and Voyaging Satyr to max out on 16 mana donks. Right now though I don't like that since everyone week one should either be on red, GX (X being w/e flavor of removal you like) or
BUG since people don't seem to get running 16+ relevant early plays (Seize, Despise, Caryatid, 2cmc removal, Drown in Sorrow, Downfall) is better than not doing fucking anything until turn 4. Basically people are going to forget they have to interact early and red will be good until everyone figures that out and then it's back to the drawing board. Mono Black Aggro is just stone worse in every way except Thoughtseize is a card, otherwise enjoy your draft deck made of 2/1's and Mogis's Marauders.