Overview:

A +1/+1 counter-focused green deck leveraging landfall triggers and counter multipliers to create overwhelming creature threats. The strategy centers on ramping lands to fuel Bristly Bill's doubling ability, using proliferate effects, and converting massive creatures into combat wins. While synergistic, it lacks infinite combos or stax locks and relies on incremental value.

Primer:

Core Strategy: This deck accelerates land drops (Rampant Growth, Cultivate) to trigger Bristly Bill's landfall ability, distributing +1/+1 counters across creatures like Managorger Hydra and Oran-Rief Hydra. Key counter amplifiers (Hardened Scales, Branching Evolution) exponentially grow threats. The endgame involves activating Bristly Bill's {3}{G}{G} ability to double counters, then swinging with trample enablers (Garruk's Uprising) or using Inspiring Call for protection/draw.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3+ lands with at least one green source
• Early ramp (Llanowar Elves, Wild Growth)
• At least one counter generator (Roaring Earth, Woodland Champion) Avoid hands without ramp or counter synergy.

Key Tips:

• Prioritize land drops over early creatures - each land powers multiple triggers
• Save Bristly Bill's activation until after blockers are declared to maximize damage
• Use Swiftfoot Boots/Lightning Greaves to protect key enablers
• Invigorating Surge on a creature with 3+ counters creates immediate lethal threats

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending into board wipes without Inspiring Call
• Wasting counter doublers on small-value targets
• Keeping slow hands without T1-T2 ramp

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• No counterplay to mass removal (Wrath of God, Blasphemous Act) beyond single-use indestructible effects
• Relies entirely on Bristly Bill for exponential growth (dies to 3+ removals)

Moderate:

• Limited card advantage beyond creature-based draw (Armorcraft Judge)
• Minimal graveyard recursion for key pieces

Minor:

• Weak to flying/evasive strategies

Most Important Cards:

• Hardened Scales
• Branching Evolution
• Roaring Earth
• Evolution Sage
• Invigorating Surge
• Garruk's Uprising
• Augur of Autumn
• Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• Renata, Called to the Hunt
• Loyal Guardian

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Goldfish win ~T8-10 through combat damage
• Fastest theoretical win T6 with perfect ramp → Bristly Bill activation → Invigorating Surge

Resilience: 4/10

• Limited protection (2 equipment, 3 instant protections)
• Slow recovery from board wipes
• Commander-centric strategy falters after repeated removal

Consistency: 6/10

• 14 ramp spells ensure land drops
• 8 counter amplifiers provide redundancy
• Lacks tutors for key pieces like Branching Evolution

Interaction: 3/10

• 7 targeted removal spells (mostly sorcery-speed)
• No counterspells or stack interaction
• Relies on combat as primary disruption

Rating Justification:

Falls between "Focused Casual" (T9-11 wins) and "Optimized Casual" (T8-10) in the rubric. While landfall/counter synergies are well-developed, the absence of combos, limited protection, and reliance on combat damage place it below true optimized decks. Comparable to upgraded precons but with better synergy focus.

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0