Hydra Commander by mjaspike

Format: Commander

Commander: Gargos, Vicious Watcher

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 34

Deck overview

This mono-green stompy deck is built around Gargos, Vicious Watcher, utilizing its massive 8/7 stat line, {4} generic mana cost reduction on Hydra spells, and retaliatory fight triggers. The primary strategy accelerates mana in the opening turns using a dense suite of 1- to 3-mana dorks and land search spells, landing Gargos by Turn 4. Once Gargos is active, the deck deploys enormous, undercosted Hydras like Kalonian Hydra, Voracious Hydra, and Genesis Hydra, turning cheap single-target cantrips and fight spells into lethal removal that clears opposing blockers. Draw engines keyed to high power, such as Garruk's Uprising, Tribute to the World Tree, and Return of the Wildspeaker, keep the hand fully stocked. While the deck possesses immense combat pressure and rapid recovery through The Skullspore Nexus, it remains vulnerable to noncreature combo decks and mass exile board wipes due to a lack of stack interaction and limited defensive shielding.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Arbor Elf
  • 1 Audacity
  • 1 Band Together
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Briar Hydra
  • 1 Bushwhack
  • 1 Cankerbloom
  • 1 Colossal Majesty
  • 1 Cosmic Hunger
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Desert of the Indomitable
  • 1 Domesticated Hydra
  • 1 Drumhunter
  • 1 Elvish Mystic
  • 1 Entish Restoration
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 1 Explore
  • 24 Forest
  • 1 Gargos, Vicious Watcher
  • 1 Garruk's Uprising
  • 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
  • 1 Genesis Hydra
  • 1 Glimpse the Core
  • 1 Green Sun's Twilight
  • 1 Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea
  • 1 Gyre Sage
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Hidden Nursery
  • 1 Honored Hydra
  • 1 Hungering Hydra
  • 1 Hunter's Prowess
  • 1 Ilysian Caryatid
  • 1 Incubation Druid
  • 1 Inscription of Abundance
  • 1 Inspiring Call
  • 1 Kalonian Hydra
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Leafkin Druid
  • 1 Leyline of Abundance
  • 1 Lifeblood Hydra
  • 1 Llanowar Elves
  • 1 Managorger Hydra
  • 1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Oran-Rief Hydra
  • 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Poison the Blade
  • 1 Pridemalkin
  • 1 Priest of Titania
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Rampant Rejuvenator
  • 1 Return of the Wildspeaker
  • 1 Return to Nature
  • 1 Rhonas's Monument
  • 1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Season of Growth
  • 1 Shamanic Revelation
  • 1 Smell Fear
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Tandem Takedown
  • 1 The Skullspore Nexus
  • 1 Thirsting Roots
  • 1 Three Visits
  • 1 Titanic Brawl
  • 1 Topiary Stomper
  • 1 Tranquil Thicket
  • 1 Tribute to the World Tree
  • 1 Ulvenwald Hydra
  • 1 Vastwood Hydra
  • 1 Vigor
  • 1 Visions of Dominance
  • 1 Voracious Hydra
  • 1 Whiptongue Hydra
  • 1 Wildwood Scourge
  • 1 Wood Elves