You need them to have a reasonable shot versus noninteractive combo decks; without them, Goblins goldfishes too slow. Pro blue is also very relevant; you can attack through Snapcasters, through thing in the ice, block awoken horror forever, and dredge has no creature that can block it (forget Hogaak, it's gone next week). And together with a tutorable Legion Loyalist, it can crush through any boardstall for lethal.
I was 100% on the Frogtosser Banneret train at the start but I'm now convinced the card is too weak. The acceleration is great, but individually it is rarely worth a card, needing multiple Ringleaders to be worth the investment.
My list for reference;
) So, they seemed fine. Better to have and not need, I suppose.
3
The power of him isn't that he can't be removed by blue spells (although that does help against UW Control, where they cannot bounce it with Cryptic Command, Jace, The Mind Sculptor or either Teferis) or that he can't be countered (he can indeed be countered, but counterspells are notoriously bad against us,because we run Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls); he is really good because he is a big threat, and needs to be answered. And when the opponent chooses to remove a Piledriver, that is one removal spell they cannot use on Matron or Ringleader.
What I was saying is that in the decks I mentioned, there are only very few creatures that can block Piledriver, and even if they happen to have one of those, we have Munitions Expert, Pashalik Mons, Tarfire, Mogg Fanatic and/or Cratermaker as removal, so we can swing through with a 11/2. And if they are a deck that play few big creatures, they would either have to block with something like a Reality Smasher, Primeval Titan, or Tarmogoyf, or take a lot of damage. This also makes it so that other goblins (like Warchief) have a bigger chance of not getting blocked/killed in combat.
As for Plague Engineer: when the opponent plays it, our main concern is getting rid of it, not getting in with Piledriver, so that argument is a bit loose. Any Goblin that survives that semi-sweeper is a big plus for us.
We are not an aggro deck, and we do not want to attack every turn. We are only going to attack when a) the opponent has no creatures and/or we need to race, or b) if we can win. Getting in with Piledriver is not our main way of winning (that would be swinging with (almost) everything and saccing it post combat with Sling-Gang), but it is a really good plan B that we can Matron for to swing for lethal out of nowhere.
Note that a big upside for Piledriver is that you can Vial it in at the end of your opponent's turn, and you can also give it haste with Warchief. This can make for some surprise attacks that the opponent didn't see coming (and didn't leave blockers open for). Also important: having multiples is insanely strong in almost all matchups.
It helps us race against a lot of the top decks that are being played right now: Tron, UR Phoenix, Dredge, Storm, Spirits, Humans, UW Control, Valakut, Burn, and Thopter. It also survives more than most our goblins do: Wrenn and Six, Lava Dart, Gut Shot, Plague Engineer, or being blocked by 1/1's.
Another thing I'd like to add is that I've seen and talked to a number of other Goblins players, and they all play 2-3 Piledrivers, with good results and a really positive view on the card.
And to answer the last part of your response: the purpose of Piledriver is to race your opponent. Goblins is a control-combo deck, and generally gets outraced by decks like Burn or fast combo decks. Piledriver helps combat those decks, making our bad mautchups better.
A more subjective thing, but: I would cut one Frogtosser Banneret and 2 Chieftains, or one Frogtosser, one Chieftain, and either one Tarfire, Pashalik Mons, or Skirk Prospector.
And to explain a bit about Chieftain, which links nicely with The Fluff's question:
Like I said before, Goblins is not an aggro deck. A lot of people make that mistake, but it is actually combo-control (for the lack of a better term for such a versatile deck). We want to block our opponent's creatures forever with Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Matron etc, draw cards forever (which is THE reason to play this deck; no other deck can grind like we can), and win in one turn with an alpha strike + Sling-Gang.
Therefore, Chieftain isn't that good. He can pump our board, but if he gets removed during combat it can create an awful blocking scenario for us. It also doesn't protect our board against Plague Engineer: Jund right now is the biggest deck that runs PE, sometimes even mainboard, and Chieftain creates a house of cards like state, where only 1 damage to your Chieftain will cause it and all your pumped 1/1's to be gone.
This is also why Piledriver is generally better: He gets the boost at the start of attackers phase, and what happens to the rest doesn't matter. If Piledriver gets removed during combat, the rest of the attackers stay the same, something which you can rely on.
Trashmaster is a very strong sideboard card, but I don't think it's wanted/needed in the main.
--
For clarity, and help with your list, here is my current list:
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Blood Crypt
4 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Field of Ruin
22 Lands
4 Aether Vial
2 Skirk Prospector
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Tarfire
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Munitions Expert
3 Goblin Piledriver
2 Frogtosser Banneret
1 Goblin Cratermaker
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Warchief
1 Pashalik Mons
4 Goblin Ringleader
2 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
Sideboard:
3 Thoughtseize
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Fatal Push
2 Earwig Squad
1 Goblin Trashmaster
1 Goblin Cratermaker
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Blood Moon
Note that there is no 'average' Goblins list. Because Goblins is partially a control deck, we have to change when the meta changes.
Some things that deviate the most from other decks (even though my deck is a pretty average list):
The amount of Skirk Prospectors (0-4), Mogg Fanatics (0-4), and Legion Loyalists (0-1)
The amount of Frogtosser Bannerets (0-4), Goblin Cratermakers (0-2), Sling-Gangs (1-2) and Krenko's (0-1)
The amount of lands (22 or 23), the amount of Field of Ruins (0-4), the amount of Swamps (0-1)
Other sideboard cards that you can use are:
Damping Sphere
Chalice of the Void
Leyline of the Void (even though I don't think it's needed after the ban)
Surgical Extraction
Warren Weirding x1
Stingscourger x1
Another Pashalik Mons (so you have 2 total, helps against Humans)
Goblin Ruinblaster
2
Introduction
Stompy is a long-running archetype which features efficient green creatures and pump spells. Its goal is always the same: deal as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. In Modern, we have lots of great, cheap options to facilitate this, many of which are inherently strong meta choices. These often make for explosive games which consistently end on turn 4-5 (in line with other decks in the format).
One of the advantages of Stompy in Modern is it's an inherently cheap deck that doesn't require any truly expensive cards. It's also fairly straightforward to play (although there is definitely a learning curve, and skill is required for optimal results). As such, if you're brand new to Modern and are looking for a starting point, this is a great one.
The Modern version of this deck was created in part by Hans Christian Ljungquist (who posts here as user_369654), and has been updated in 2015 by destroyermaker. The list you can see here is the most recently updated version, that can be seen as the basic list.
The List
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
9 Forest
2 Nurturing Peatland
2 Treetop Village
Creatures: 27
4 Dryad Militant
4 Narnam Renegade
3 Experiment One
2 Hexdrinker
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Steel Leaf Champion
3 Aspect of Hydra
2 Dismember
3 Rancor
2 Vines of Vastwood
2 Blossoming Defense
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Gut Shot
1 Creeping Corrosion
3 Natural State
2 Life Goes On
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Obstinate Baloth
2 Pithing Needle
1 Dismember
This can be seen as a starting point when designing or building a stompy list.
Please note the creatures were very carefully chosen, and that when you are suggesting or testing creatures, they must be 3 toughness or higher, be able to get to 3 toughness or higher and stay there (Experiment One, Pelt Collector), or otherwise have a very relevant ability stapled onto them (Dryad Militant). This is because we need our creatures to dodge as much popular removal as possible (Electrolyze, Grim Lavamancer, Kolaghan's Command, Collective Brutality, etc), and also be able to profitably block or trade with as many popular creatures as possible (Goblin Guide, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Snapcaster Mage, Bloodghast, etc). If we can't do that, we need to hurt popular decks hard enough that we don't mind so much that our creature dies easily. This is a strict approach, but it will get you the most competitive version of the deck possible.
Please do not suggest 4 drops; we're an aggro deck with 21 lands and can't consistently cast them, nor do we want to. There are very few exceptions to this, the most important one a single Thrun, the Last Troll in the sideboard. We also don't want more than 21-22 lands, lest we turn into a midrange deck.
The Core
These cards are generally agreed upon to be in the core of every traditional Stompy list. If you want to experiment with card choices, know that these cards HAVE to be in there, unless you have a really good reason for it!
3 Experiment One/Pelt Collector
4 Dryad Militant
2 Hexdrinker
Two Drop Creatures: 10-12
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Steel Leaf Champion
Spells: 12-16
3 Rancor
4 Vines of Vastwood/Blossoming Defense
2 Removal
2 Pump Spells
2 Treetop Village
2 Utility Lands
17 Forests and/or Fetches
These are the cards you don't have to use, but are normally used to fill in the flex spots and add up to 60 cards.
2 Hexdrinker
4 Narnam Renegade
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Barkhide Troll
2 Dungrove Elder
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Rancor
2 Dismember
3 Aspect of Hydra
1 Blossoming Defense
2 Nurturing Peatland
2 Hashep Oasis
Card Choices
Below you can find an in-depth look at the cards in Stompy, including reasons why they're chosen and how they're best used.
The main land we use. Comes into play untapped, completely painless, and is Blood Moon-proof. If you run a build with Dungrove Elder, you want to run as many of these as possible in your landbase.
Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills
This is a big improvement over not using fetches, making it possible to use a splash, but most importantly to use Narnam Renegade, an incredible addition to our deck. Use 10 for consistent revolt triggers, 8 if you also use Nurturing Peatland or Hashep Oasis. The only big downside is the price..
Treetop Village
An efficient manland, Village provides us with a much-needed extra body (with evasion no less) that gives us reach, especially against decks with mass removal. Coming into play tapped can be a hindrance, but as a 2-of it helps a lot more than it hurts. Some prefer it as a 1-of, but I've never had any real trouble with it as a 2-of.
Nurturing Peatland
This is the card you buy last, since it is pretty expensive in comparison to the rest. If you've just started or want to make a budget build you can leave this card out, but if you can, 1 or 2 of these can make a big difference! While hurting you for mana no matter what, the cheap card draw is insane and can give us just the little push to victory. This used to be Horizon Canopy, but this card is better if you're not splashing white because it's significantly cheaper to buy, and because it's able to make Dismember cost one less life.
Hashep Oasis
While being a land that hurts some of the time, it has a slight upside of being able to be a pump spell late game. Because it can only be used at sorcery speed, you're sadly unable to use this as a combat trick. It costs 4 mana, which is a lot for our deck, but it might be the extra pump you needed to break through. It's best used as a budget alternative for Nurturing Peatland.
Tranquil Thicket
Another good budget option if you can't afford Nurturing Peatland, this can be cycled to prevent mana flooding. It has the obvious downside of coming into play tapped, and should therefore only be used as a budget replacement of other utility lands. Choose between this and Hashep Oasis.
1 drops
Experiment One
One of the best green one drops in the format, Experiment starts off small but consistently grows bigger, often to the point where it can dodge popular removal, or just regenerate through it. It's a bad topdeck and can come at awkward times, but it's well worth it overall.
Pelt Collector
This card is slightly different from Experiment One but acts as the same in our deck; they both have advantages and disadvantages. While Pelt Collector lacks the resilience of possible regeneration, it is a much better topdeck because other creatures dying triggers the pseudo-evolve. Also gives himself trample if it stays unanswered, one of the most relevant abilities we could ask for. Check your meta and deck to see which one you prefer (playing them together doesn't work that well because they don't evolve one another AND they are still both bad topdecks, although Pelt Collector is slightly better).
Important info: While Narnam Renegade is slightly worse for Pelt compared to Experiment (Pelt doesn't look at defense), a lot of creatures get a lot better because their power can grow, making their deaths important for Pelt. Strangleroot Geist, Avatar of the Resolute, Scavenging Ooze, Dungrove Elder, Groundbreaker, Hexdrinker, even Treetop Village, and pump from Rhonas the Indomitable, Rancor, and our usual pump-spells all improve slightly because of Pelt's dying-power trigger.
Dryad Militant
A 2/1 for 1 that evolves Experiment One/Pelt Collector and hurts Storm, blue decks, and graveyard decks. Solid card. If you don't play the full playset for whatever reason, put the rest in your sideboard (although it is strongly suggested to play all 4 in the mainboard).
Important info: If Dryad Militant gets hit by Lightning Bolt, the Bolt gets exiled since she lives until state-based action is checked. If hit by other removal, such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push, the removal will go to the graveyard.
She exiles instants and sorceries if they enter the graveyard from ANYWHERE. This means that this applies to casting, discarding, dredging and plain milling. Thought Scour is an important card here, and it also applies to your own pump spells, regardless of whether they resolve or not.
Narnam Renegade
This is a very strong card, being able to enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter and having deathtouch, but the decks that run this card want to have 8-10 fetches to reliably trigger revolt. It is significantly weaker in fetchless lists, but in both cases the deathtouch can prevent a lot of big creatures from attacking you (Death's Shadow, Tarmogoyf, etc). It also has very strong interaction with Experiment One and Avatar of the Resolute.
Important info: A creature with deathtouch and trample only needs to deal 1 damage to each blocking creature, and the rest will all go to the defending player.
Hexdrinker
This is one of the most recent additions of the deck, and this can be a bomb. Coming into play as a 2/1 for one mana, but being able to grow into a 4/4 that dodges most removal for only 3 mana makes it a card that shines both early and late in the game. Also can be pumped into a mini-Progenitus to end players really quickly if you play it later on. Run at least 2.
Important info: Leveling can only be done at sorcery speed. Try to do so at the end of your turn, after combat (so you have the mana for combat tricks). If you play against an opponent with possible removal in their hand, try to keep one mana open when leveling it to level 3, so you can react to your opponent with a Vines of Vastwood if they try to remove it before it gets protection from instants.
When it is level 3+, you cannot pump it, since it has protection from your own instants as well. When it is level 8+, You cannot put Rancor on it, and any Rancors that it already had will fall off and go to the graveyard (and then back to your hand).
Kessig Prowler
Although you're probably dead before you can use the transform ability, Kessig Prowler is another 2/1 for 1. Now mostly overlooked by Hexdrinker.
Wasteland Viper
The 1 power is a significant downside, but the Deathtouch can be really useful against Eldrazi en Death's Shadow decks. The bloodrush ability only gives +1 power, but it's uncounterable and makes combat a little bit scary for our opponents.
Greenbelt Rampager
Only play this in a revolt build. It can be really good, consistently triggering revolt, dodging Lightning Bolt and evolving Experiment One time and again, but it's bad against decks with Chalice of the Void, control decks since they can see the actual play coming from a mile away, and burn decks because of Eidolon of the Great Revel. Treat this card as a 3-drop when building a deck.
2-drops
Strangleroot Geist
Fast, efficient, has a good devotion count, and typically forces your opponent to 2 for 1 themselves to get rid of it. Excellent card, and one of the other main reasons the deck works as well as it does.
Avatar of the Resolute
A strictly better Garruk's Companion, this card has everything we want. Trample makes this card scarier to block, the reach is very strong against Delver and affinity, and with all the +1/+1 counters our other creatures have, this can easily be a 4/3 or a 5/4 for 2 mana.
Important info: The synergy between Avatar and Experiment One/Pelt Collector can be a bit tricky. The Avatar comes into play with counters on it, and THEN the evolve ability triggers. If there is an Experiment One/Pelt Collector without counters on it in play when you cast Avatar, the Avatar will not get counters from that creature.
Scavenging Ooze
A key card to keeping this deck competitive, Ooze shrinks Goyfs and gives us serious game against Burn, UWx, Storm, Reanimator, Dredge and Death's Shadow decks. The only downside is that it is a 2/2 with 1 devotion, but the hate is well worth it. Most decks run 3 in the 75, of which 2-3 main. It never hurts to have 1 or 2 in your sideboard!
Important info: Keep mana open! Try to use the Ooze's ability at the end of your opponent's turn, so you have mana open to threaten with pump spells or protection.
You can eat cards like Kitchen Finks when they hit the graveyard, preventing them from entering the battlefield again with persist.
If your Ooze gets removed in response to you exiling a creature with its ability, it won't get a counter (since it died) but you will still gain 1 life.
Barkhide Troll
While not being as strong as our other 2-drops, this card does have synergy with Avatar of the Resolute and can dodge removal once. Use this card if you're on a budget or if you have a low curve.
Kalonian Tusker
Even though it's above the curve, it does not have trample, it dies to Lightning Bolt and it does not have a useful ability. The use of this card has seen some decline lately, as the above 2-drops are all better than this one. It has now been completely overshadowed by Barkhide Troll.
3-drops
Steel Leaf Champion
The latest addition to our deck, and it is exactly what we need. An incredibly strong 3-drop, with a huge body and the inability to be chump blocked, and 3 devotion as well. This card made Leatherback Baloth obsolete, and you need a very good reason not to run 4 of these.
Rhonas the Indomitable
This card can be really strong. It is huge, dodges everything but Path to Exile, and is a mana sink that gives creatures trample as well. Oh yeah, it has deathtouch so it's a prime target for Rancor. You need some board presence to attack with it, but even a Dryad Militant can be pumped to swing for 9. Most people who run it play 1 since he's legendary, only gives 1 devotion and does nothing on an empty board.
Leatherback Baloth
It's really big, it gives 3 devotion, and it dodges Lightning Bolt. Sadly, this card is not played anymore due to Steel Leaf Champion. The only reason to play this card is if your meta is full of Hollow One, and even then it's questionable.
Groundbreaker
An amazingly agressive card, and one of my personal favourites. If you want to finish games quickly and are not afraid of removal, this is the card for you. It lives for one turn, but the fact that you have 6 extra power with haste can be really scary against some decks. One of the upsides of this card is that it gives enough devotion by itself to survive a Lightning Bolt with an Aspect of Hydra, but other than that it dies to almost everything, including Walking Ballista. Look at your meta when you decide if this card is the one for you!
Boggart Ram-Gang
Another hasty one, which can permanently weaken your opponent's creatures or just beat face immediately. It dies to Lightning Bolt though, which can be big for a 3 mana investment. It's also not as big as some of the other 3-drops.
Dungrove Elder
This is a very strong card against midrange and control decks, slowly growing bigger and unable to be hit by spot removal. However, it has mostly been replaced with Rhonas the Indomitable since it came out. You might want to run less utiliy lands when this is in your deck, and it only gives 1 devotion, but if you know games will get long and Path to Exile is a threat, this card can get insane. Your opponent Pathing other creatures even makes Elder bigger!
Predator Ooze
This card is very resilient, but very slow. If you want to play the midrange game, or have a meta full of removal, this can be a good card. It's a shame Path to Exile still hits. If you have a normal or fast stompy build, this card is not for you.
4-drops or higher
Hooting Mandrills
Even though it has a cmc of 6, it's mostly played as a 3-drop in builds with fetches and 2 Dryad Militants to make place for a playset of Narnam Renegade. Has trample, and dodges both Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push. Because of the delve, do not play more than 2 since having multiples will do you more harm than good.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller
As a 4-drop, you want something incredible. This card can be that extra push with haste that you needed, or it can be very underwhelming. Note that using 4-drops causes you to be tapped out (most likely), leaving no mana for pump and/or protection.
Aspect of Hydra
Almost always at least a Giant Growth, Aspect often gets up to 4, 5, 6, or 7, and steals games that couldn't be won otherwise. It's an unfair card, which this deck needs to compete. Opponents never see it coming the first time, and after that you'll still likely be able to punish them hard regardless of what they do. You'll encounter a lot of situations where it's late game and the board is full on both sides; you go for the alpha strike and put Aspect on the one unblocked guy or the guy with trample and win. But also sometimes just the raw damage will get you the win a turn before they are able to go off with storm or Scapeshift, for example.
Vines of Vastwood
This card is bonkers. It negates all targeted removal, and can be kicked for an extra pump spell.
Important info: Vines does not give hexproof, but protection from your opponent, regardless what Vines is targeting. Therefore, it can also negate a pump spell on an opponent's creature against Infect, counter a Temur Battle Rage against Grixis Death's Shadow, or even equipping a Cranial Plating for a turn against Affinity. Some opponents do not know this card, so you might be able to surprise them game 1. I know I did!
Rancor
A very powerful enchantment, Rancor offers a lot for little, including the ever-important evasion. Yes, you can get 2 for 1'd by it, but as mentioned, almost all of our creatures dodge popular removal, and we have Aspect and Vines, so between that and smart play, you'll be doing the 2 for 1'ing or even 3 for 1'ing most of the time (be sure to bait removal with Rancor then cast Vines or Aspect in response to really piss off your opponent).
Blossoming Defense
This card can act as extra removal negation while also slightly pumping your creature. It doesn't pump as much as Vines of Vastwood, but only costs one mana. Since decks like Twin and Infect aren't really played anymore, this might be preferable over Vines of Vastwood. Make sure you have at least 4 of these two cards in your main, with a max of 6 if you have a removal heavy meta.
Dismember
Sadly our best removal spell. -5/-5 at instant speed for 1 mana is nothing to sneeze at. It costs us 4 life, but the fact that our mana base is almost painless negates this. It removes Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Reality Smasher (with an extra card), and sometimes Tarmogoyf. Opponents playing Remand in response hurts though..
Savage Swipe
This is the best fight card we will probably ever have. It can pump our creature before fighting, which is a big upside. Other than that, it's a sorcery which still sucks. Play it if you already have 2 Dismember and want to have more removal.
Mutagenic Growth
The pump isn't much, but it can definitely surprise your opponent. Only better than Aspect of Hydra in rare situations. If you want to add it, don't add more than 1.
Nature's Way
At 2 mana, it is a reasonable card. A single-sided fight card that also gives the all-important trample. Since it's not a fight card, you can even use this on a Dryad Militant with a Rancor attached without having to worry about it dying. Also very good if you run more deathtouch creatures. If you feel like 2 Dismember is not enough, this is a nice addition.
Important info: The damage the card makes your creature deal does not work with trample, only combat damage does. If your opponent's creature dies before the card resolves, your creature still gets trample and vigilance.
Lifegain
Life Goes On
Even though it's conditional, this is the single best lifegain spell. It negates more than 2 Lightning Bolts and only costs 1 mana, what more do you want? Watch out for Skullcrack, and time your play right.
Pulse of Murasa
Good against both midrange decks like Jund, and Burn. Getting back a creature of your choice while also negating 2 Lightning Bolts is pretty good. Most people run 1 of these and 1 Life Goes On.
Kitchen Finks
If you're afraid of Skullcrack or just want to play as aggro as possible, then this card is not bad at all. A reasonable body, and hard to remove.
Feed the Clan
Another condition, but one we can easily meet. 10 life is insane, but the 2 mana makes it slightly less favourable over Life Goes On.
Weather the Storm
A pretty okay card that gains life and hates on Storm, but most of the time Life Goes On or Feed the Clan might be the better option.
Bow of Nylea
A pretty versatile card. It gives our creatures deathtouch when they attack, creating great synergy with trampling creatures, can pump, gain us life every turn, or can shoot down flyers. the big downside to this is that it is super easily removed. Good against decks like Burn and Death's Shadow.
Graveyard hate
Relic of Progenitus
One of the most popular pieces of grave hate. It can constantly apply pressure, and even draws you a card when you sacrifice it.
Important info: If you target your opponent with the first ability, they get to choose which card they exile.
Tormod's Crypt
Free, and completely gets rid of a graveyard (not both), but you can only use it once.
Grafdigger's Cage
This card, while also being grave hate, shuts down cards like Collected Company and Chord of Calling. Mind you, if someone blows up your artifact they can continue using the cards in their graveyard!
Important info: This card does NOT stop Living End, since the creatures in the graveyard are moved to exile first.
It also prevents your Strangleroot Geist and Kitchen Finks from re-entering the battlefield after they've died.
Wheel of Sun and Moon
This does not affect the cards already in someone's graveyard, but is a solid card. It also works against mill if you target yourself, and even gives you 2 devotion.
Removal
Gut Shot
Since we are always tight on mana, the phyrexian cost is very useful against mana dorks, affinity, Vizier of Remedies, Elves and Infect. Can even function as the last 1 damage to your opponent!
Dismember
Most people who don't play this main put them in the side. Hits almost everything, and is the best removal we have.
Beast Within
Gets rid of absolutly everything, at the cost of a 3/3 for the owner of the permanent. 3 mana is pretty costly, but it is an instant, and if you're flooding you can even use it on your own lands to turn it into a beast! Good against Tron since you can hit their lands.
Artifact/enchantment hate
Natural State
It's cheap, it's an instant, and hits almost all the relevant cards: everything Affinity has (including the manlands when they are activated), Ensnaring Bridge, Pithing Needle, Spellskite, you can even counter a Daybreak Coronet by removing the other aura (if it's only 1) in response to the cast.
Naturalize
A classic piece of removal, this hits the bigger cards and is more useful against Chalice of the Void since it gets put on 1 a lot against us.
Return to Nature
What's this, a strictly better Naturalize? Pretty good! I don't expect the last mode to be relevant that often, but if you're planning on using Naturalize, use this card instead.
Unravel the Aether/Deglamer
The answer against Wurmcoil Engine. Now played a lot less, since Tron has shifted more to the planeswalker side and the Wurm isn't their main wincon anymore. Should be used instead of Naturalize, since it is better in almost every scenario.
Force of Vigor
This can be a 2 for 2, without any tempo loss! The hard cast is 4 mana, so that's also still doable for us most of the time.
Creeping Corrosion
At 4 mana, this takes a long time before you can cast it, but if you can cast this against Affinity, you've basically won.
Gleeful Sabotage
A sorcery, but able to destroy 2 of your opponent's cards as long as you have 2 creatures you can tap.
Oxidize
If you're facing bigger artifacts such as Hollow One, this might be good for you. 1 mana, instant speed, good card.
Manglehorn
This is very good against Chalice of the Void, and slows down your opponent as well.
Back to Nature
A fringe card, since it only shines against enchantment prison and Bogles, but resolving this card almost equals victory for you.
Reclamation Sage
Since the most popular enchantments that are being played aren't much of a threat to us (Blood Moon does nothing, Bitterblossom is too slow most of the times), we're better off playing Manglehorn unless your meta is full of enchantments.
Anti-control
Thrun, the Last Troll
Thrun is the bane of almost every control deck, and most people run 1 in the sideboard. 4/4 is very nice, it dodges all removal and can survive most mass removal as well; this card is impossible to get rid of.
Choke
Another card that has seen some decline in use. It is costly at 3 mana, but if you manage to land it against a tapped out control deck, you can seriously screw them over. Note that this isn't good against Merfolk, since they both use a lot of non-Islands as blue sources, and they use Spreading Seas often.
Veil of Summer
One mana, counters counterspells and removal, and cantrips! This card greatly depends on your meta, but it's good against Jund, UW Control and any Grixis builds. Note that it also counters hand disruption.
Guttural Response
This is a great card against blue decks in general, being able to surprise them with a green counterspell for 1 mana! Can counter other counterspells and cards like Gifts Ungiven.
Prowling Serpopard
Although not that good against Jeskai control because it dies to Lightning Bolt, this card shines against decks that play Chalice of the Void like Eldrazitron and Titan Breach, and decks like blue Urzatron.
Eyes of the Wisent
Not used often anymore, this card is good against control heavy decks, as long as you're able to land it.
Vexing Shusher
Although it's not used often, this can be a very strong card against counter heavy decks.
Important info: You don't have to activate his ability immediately. You can react to an opponent trying to counter your creature by activating. The counterspell will still resolve, but not counter anything.
Slaughterhorn
This can act as an uncounterable pump spell, and it has the option to be a creature, although an expensive one. It also feeds Scavenging Ooze. If you have a counter heavy meta, this can be a good inclusion, but other than that it's not worth it.
Anti-removal/sweepers
Heroic Intervention
An incredible card, it dodges removal, most mass removal (with the exception of All Is Dust), and can make combat a piece of cake for one turn. Just make sure you have 2 mana open if you feel like a Wrath of God is coming.
Shapers' Sanctuary
Good for removal heavy metas and midrange decks. This card hasn't been tested a lot yet, but it has potential.
Evolutionary Leap
Although you need to have mana open at almost all times, this card is very strong against removal heavy decks.
Others
Pithing Needle
Our very own multitool. Costs only 1 mana, and shuts down almost anything. Good against Tron, Vizier combo, Affinity, Jund, planeswalkers, equipment and manlands in general.
Important info: You name a card as it enters the battlefield, not when you cast it. When you play against a deck with counterspells, wait for the Needle to resolve before you say which card you're naming. It also doesn't target, so you can name cards with hexproof.
Collector Ouphe
Our very own Stony Silence, now usable in builds that don't splash white! Shuts down almost every artifact that's threatening us, except for Ensnaring Bridge and Chalice of the Void.
Damping Sphere
This can be good against Storm, Phoenix and Tron, but it also slows us down a lot.
Obstinate Baloth
If Liliana of the Veil or 8-rack is big in your meta, then this can be really nice. a 4/4 that gains some life too is something Burn struggles against as well.
Wilt-Leaf Liege
Same as Obstinate Baloth. It doesn't gain life but pumps your creatures, which isn't necessarily worse but most people prefer the Baloth because of its versatility.
Fog
A classic. Can be good against decks like Eldrazi or Merfolk, as long as you can swing back for lethal.
Act of Aggression
This is pretty good against decks with large game-enders. Steal their creature, and swing for lethal. Useful for dealing with Eldrazi, and decks that play Death's Shadow, Tarmogoyf, Wurmcoil Engine, Gurmag Angler etc.
Ghalta, Primal Hunger
Although this card hasn't been tested much yet, it shines in decks with little removal like Humans and Eldrazitron.
Torpor Orb
This used to be really good, but since both Twin and Pod are no more this card is seen a lot less. Still good against decks like Fairies, Elves and Collected Company decks.
Spellskite
Very strong against Infect and Bogles, but if you want to dodge removal it's better to run Blossoming Defense.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Since Infect lost their Gitaxian Probe, so did we lose the need for this card. If Infect is being played near you, this card can do some serious work.
Suboptimal Card Choices
Here is a list of cards that have been tested, and are generally not good enough to play in this deck. This can be because of multiple reasons: they don't have enough synergy with the rest of the deck, they are not good in the current meta, they are unreliable, win-more, or there are simply better options.
The fact that it doesn't create green mana is way too big of a deal for us to play this.
Dryad Arbor
It can't be used when it comes into play, and the upside is just a 1/1 that doesn't evolve Experiment One. Play Treetop Village instead.
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Coming into play tapped is a really big downside, and the counters don't outweigh the tempo loss in the first few turns.
Llanowar Reborn
Same as Oran-Rief, the Vastwood. Even though moving the counter is free, it is terrible compared to Treetop Village.
Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
We barely play any legendary creatures mainboard or sideboard, so it is just not worth putting this over having advantages that basic lands have.
Young Wolf
Although it used to be a popular card, Wolf is simply underwhelming. Even though it survives removal once, the opponent will usually let it live and take 1 damage per turn until they've built up their board state. Also doesn't evolve Experiment One when it hits the battlefield. Only good in a Hardened Scales build.
Old-Growth Dryads
Even though this is a 3/3 for only 1 mana, giving your opponent an extra land is just really, really bad. With Path to Exile, you can at least do it in their turn, so that you have your own turn without them having the advantage. With the Dryad, it does not have that. It also cannot attack the turn it enters, making this a poor choice.
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
Underwhelming, and requires your creatures to have both attacked and hit your opponent for it to enter with a counter, which is also a slight extra downside for Experiment One.
Gnarlwood Dryad
We don't play artifacts, fetches or planeswalkers, and the playset of Dryad Militant all make this a bad card in our deck.
Scythe Tiger
The sacrifice cost is way too costly for this card to be used. It also cannot be pumped or enchanted with Rancor.
Uktabi Drake
Even though it has flying and haste, the echo cost makes this card a lot worse than it looks.
Nettle Sentinel
The untap ability makes it very clunky when your hand starts being empty around turn 4. It also requires you to play something before combat if you want to attack with this, which is very undesirable at times.
Elvish Reclaimer
It only has 1 power, and you need to play a lot of fetches to make him worth it, and even then it's not as good as the other options we have.
Icehide Golem
It's a 2/2, but doesn't have ANY upsides and it doesn't add devotion AND can be removed with artifact removal.
Garruk's Companion
This one does have trample, but it is a strictly worse version of Avatar of the Resolute. If you feel like the 10 core 2-drops aren't enough, you're better off playing an extra Scavenging Ooze.
Skinshifter
Only 1 devotion, 1/1, and a constant mana sink for it to work. Simply not good enough.
Sheltering Ancient
Even though the creature is huge, the downside is way too big. You also can't pay the upkeep cost if the opponent doesn't have creatures on the board.
Burning-Tree Emissary
This has been tested a lot, and it's simply not as good as we hoped it'd be. Although it can speed up your game, it is only a 2/2 without any evasion or resilience.
Hidden Herbalists
Same as Burning-Tree Emissary.
Greenwheel Liberator
This only works in a revolt build, and is too hard to pull off consistently in the normal build. Even then, the 3 toughness makes it vulnerable against Lightning Bolt.
Lambholt Pacifist
Even though this card can get strong, it is a worse Kalonian Tusker at first, and the devotion count is 1 and 0, which is also a big deal for us.
Resilient Khenra
The eternalize cost is way too much, and the pump is at sorcery speed.
Talara's Battalion
4 power and trample don't outweigh the 1 devotion, dying to Lightning Bolt and being hard to cast.
Tarmogoyf
It might sound like this is the perfect creature for a green aggro deck, but it gives 1 devotion, and we are actively fighting the graveyard so it cannot grow much. Same as Gnarlwood Dryad.
Viridian Zealot
This would be good if damage was still on the stack. Right now it simply costs too much and his body is too small for his upside.
Lupine Prototype
This card requires you to play all your pump spells and protection before it can actually do anything, and has 0 devotion.
Merfolk Branchwalker
Although it can draw you a card or manipulate your next draw, this card simply isn't that strong. It might be good if you're running a lot of Scavenging Ooze and Hooting Mandrills, but other than that there are better options.
Reverent Hunter
This card can get very big, but it has no evasion or other abilities, only gives 1 devotion, and can also be very underwhelming when you're behind. It doesn't evolve Experiment One since the ability triggers when it enters the battlefield. This also means that your opponent can react to the trigger by dealing 1 damage to it.
Troll Ascetic
The regeneration cost is very high for our deck, and you're better off playing Dungrove Elder.
Primal Forcemage
This card is only good in a build with mostly hasty creatures. Other than that, don't bother.
Renegade Krasis
This relies too much on the +1/+1 synergy to be good. It might be good in a Hardened Scales build, though.
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
This has been tested as a substitute for Leatherback Baloth, but the vigilance is not worth the -1/-1. We want as much power as possible, and do not want to be on the defensive.
Boon Satyr
Even though the flash is nice, 4/2 is just not good enough and the bestow cost is way too high.
Tireless Tracker
Only use this in a fetch build, as a 1 or 2-of. This is a very midrange-y card though, and you want to keep her out of Bolt-range as quickly as possible against most decks.
Scale Up
It's a sorcery, and most of the time it's about as good as Might of Old Krosa, which is another card we 100% don't use.
Giant Growth
Even though it's good when you're on the losing side, we much prefer Aspect of Hydra since it can be much more explosive. It is always at least as big as Giant Growth, and when it's not you probably aren't going to win anyway.
Prey Upon
Although this card has seen use for a long time, the fact that you need a board state for this AND that it's sorcery speed makes for an underwhelming piece of removal. It can be good, but Dismember and Savage Swipe are better. It has one slight upside over Nature's Way in that it only costs 1 mana.
Become Immense
The anti-synergy with Dryad Militant and Scavenging Ooze and the fact that most builds don't play fetches is too big to play this card, sadly.
Revenge of the Hunted
We have no way of manipulating our deck, so this is only good as a topdeck mid or lategame. If it's in your opening hand it's absolutely worthless.
Groundswell
It's worse than Aspect of Hydra, whether you play fetches or not. You'd rather have the option to go to +5/+5 or +6/+6, since that is not an unlikely scenario for us, and often one that wins us the game. Every point of damage matters!
Garruk Wildspeaker
While an Overrun-effect will most likely win you the game, it costs 4 mana, a whole turn, and your opponent will definitely try to kill it before you can use his -4. Very slow, and already slightly above our curve. His +1 doesn't do much for us either, which is a bummer.
Aether Vial
Although it helps us in the mid/late game, it gives us important tempo loss in the early game, needs to be in your opening hand and is a terrible topdeck.
Harmonize
This card is simply too slow for us. 4 mana is hard to pull off, and doing nothing to improve the board state for an entire turn isn't what we want to be doing.
Eldritch Evolution
This has been tested, and it is better to just put in the 3-drop you want to search for instead of this card. It shines more in toolbox decks, but not in Stompy.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
This has proven to be too slow, and turns the deck into more of a midrange deck, which is not what we're looking for.
Rhonas's Last Stand
The creature you get might be pretty big, it gives no devotion, doesn't have any evasion, dies to Fatal Push and the card's downside creates such a huge tempo loss that it's not worth playing it.
Alternate Lists
Not all versions of Stompy have the exact same outline; some use a combination of cards to exploit different parts of this deck and make it work slightly differently, while staying mono green.
Collected Stompany
This list revolves around using mana dorks in order to cast Collected Company at turn 3, while filling the rest of the deck with the strongest 3-drops available to us.
20 Forest
Creatures: 28
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Avatar of the Resolute
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Groundbreaker
3 Steel Leaf Champion
2 Eternal Witness
4 Collected Company
4 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Spellskite
2 Back to Nature
2 Natural State
2 Creeping Corrosion
1 Act of Aggression
1 Reclamation Sage
The goal of this deck is to be able to play the 3-drops as soon as possible, using Birds of Paradise and the incredible Noble Hierarch to deal even more damage with her exalted ability. This deck wants to win as soon as possible, even earlier than the basic Stompy list; this is possible by sacrificing a bit of the stability in order to play fragile, but very dangerous hasty cards like Boggart Ram-Gang and Groundbreaker. The 2 Eternal Witnesses are able to get them back to your hand, or just retrieve a Collected Company in order to get another 2 3-drops on the battlefield.
Treetop Village has also been completely scrapped, in order to have 3 mana available at turn 2, and being able to play Collected Company turn 3 without any lands holding you back.
Strengths
This version is just incredibly fast, being able to outrace most combo decks and overwhelm a number of slower decks.
Weaknesses
This deck heavily relies on both mana dorks and being able to cast Collected Company. If your dork gets removed turn 1 it is a significant setback, and playing against counterspells can be problematic.
Card Choices
Noble Hierarch
This card is deceivingly powerful. Her exalted ability is sneakily very good, slipping in extra damage and making combat a little more different in a deck that wants those small advantages, and on an otherwise empty board lets Hierarch (or multiple Hierarchs, or a Hierarch and a Birds) do some damage.
Birds of Paradise
The biggest upside over some other 1/1 mana dork is the flying keyword, as it gives us a random attacker with evasion that we can drop an Aspect of Hydra on or such to dodge blockers, or allows us to block some flyer on the other side, and this can be more important than the 1 power. Also can randomly help with casting Dismember or Act of Aggression out of the sideboard.
Eternal Witness
She hasn't got the best body, but her ability to come into play with Collected Company and immediately return it to your hand is very powerful, allowing you to chain them often and flood the board.
Collected Company
This is what the deck revolves around. Most of the time you want to cast this:
During your pre-combat main phase. You're trying to find hasty creatures and devotion to get as much damage in as possible.
During your opponent's combat step, after attackers are declared. You're trying to find some blockers to soak up some damage and hopefully kill some of the attacking creatures.
During your opponent's end step. This way the creatures that come into play are able to attack immediately, regardless of whether they have haste or not.
Important info: If you cast it during your opponent's end step and get a Groundbreaker, it will not be sacrificed when your opponent's turn ends. The "At the end of turn" trigger has already passed, so you can attack with it during your own turn.
Splash Lists
Monogreen has its benefits (consistency, no life loss from lands or spells if we don't run removal or run Nature's Way instead of Dismember, being able to steal games with the explosive Aspect of Hydra), but splashing certainly has its benefits too. Most people who splash use white: it gives us Path to Exile, Dromoka's Command, and some strong sideboard cards.
4 Forest
2 Treetop Village
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Temple Garden
10 Green fetches
Creatures: 27
2 Dryad Militant
4 Experiment One
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Hooting Mandrills
2 Rancor
Other spells: 10
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dromoka's Command
2 Blossoming Defense
1 Path to Exile
1 Dryad Militant
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Path to Exile
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Choke
2 Manglehorn
2 Pithing Needle
This deck sacrifices the explosiveness of the mono green version for resilience. Because of this, most people using the white splash drop the Aspect of Hydra for more protection spells and more removal.
Note that when you splash, you are using a lot of fetchlands (8-10) to both always have access to a white source, and to trigger revolt on Narnam Renegade, of which you should always play 4.
Good Card Choices
Lands
Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills
Since these are the cheapest green fetchlands you can get, get these first!
Misty Rainforest/Verdant Catacombs
These are significantly more expensive as the other two, and will most likely be the last cards you'll get for this deck to fill up the last 2 spots.
Temple Garden
Since land destruction exists, you need to run two to be sure you can cast all the cards in your deck.
Horizon Canopy
A card that's even better in this build. They come into play untapped, produce both colours you care about, create card advantage and even trigger revolt when you need it! Run 2-4.
Plains
ONLY run a Plains when you have a really big splash (more than 25% of cards played are white), since this can really screw you over and make a lot of cards unplayable with this land.
Spells
Dromoka's Command
This is the biggest reason to splash white. Dromoka's Command does absolutely everything you can ask for: it can act as removal, can create +1/+1 counter synergy, can destroy enchantments, and most importantly, can negate any damage dealing spell! This includes cards like Lightning Bolt, Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods. Definitely run 3-4 in your main/side.
Important info: There's a lot happening in this card. Whichever modes you pick will resolve in reading order, so if you pick the +1/+1 counter and the fight mode, the counter will be put on before your creature fights. You also HAVE to pick 2 modes.
The enchantment removal might not be used very often, but it shines against Merfolk (Spreading Seas), Bogles, Ad Nauseam (Phyrexian Unlife) and BW Tokens (Bitterblossom, Intangible Virtue). Note that you cannot target the enchantment, since your opponent chooses which enchantment will be sacrificed. This also means that this mode will not work if your opponent has a Leyline of Sanctity in play.
The +1/+1 counter has nice synergy with Kitchen Finks, since -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters remove each other. That means that if you have a Finks with a -1/-1 counter on it and you target it with Dromoka's Command, it will lose the counter and persist will trigger again if it dies.
Path to Exile
This is generally considered to be the best removal spell in Modern, so no reason not to run 3-4 in your main/side.
Creatures
Loxodon Smiter
An arguably better Obstinate Baloth and Leatherback Baloth, this uncounterable beater is really strong against U-Tron, UW control and most midrange decks. It can also trade with Thought-Knot Seer. If you don't play this mainboard, definitely put some in your sideboard.
Narnam Renegade
This card is already discussed before, but with 10+ fetches, this card becomes the best 1-drop we have by far.
Hooting Mandrills
With Dryad Militant dropped to 2 and fetches included, this becomes a threat that can only be removed by Path to Exile and has natural trample. Run 1-2, since multiples can be hard to cast.
Loam Lion
A really strong 1-drop that's always going to be a 2/3. You can run this over Dryad Militant if you want a more resilient creature.
Voice of Resurgence
This card is pretty slow, but is a pain to remove. It's not much of a threat as a 2/2 for 2 mana, but it needs to be destroyed twice and the token can be pretty big as well. Good if you want more of a midrange build, or if control is big in your meta.
Wilt-Leaf Liege
This can be pretty good in a build with a heavy splash, since it pumps Loxodon Smiter and Voice of Resurgence twice. It's a 4-drop though, so only play in a slower build.
Sideboard
Gaddock Teeg
The strongest sideboard card we get access to. This card stops so many finishers and half of some decks all by itself. It gives us a huge advantage against Eldrazi Tron, which might be our worst matchup (Chalice of the Void, All is Dust, Karn Liberated), and stops cards like Gifts Ungiven, Past in Flames, Ad Nauseam, Through the Breach, Cryptic Command, Logic Knot, Condescend, Collected Company, Chord of Calling, Scapeshift, most planeswalkers, and a lot more.
Selesnya Charm
While the token isn't that spectacular, the removal can be really useful against decks like Eldrazi Tron and Death's Shadow, and the pump (with trample!) at instant speed can be very strong as well.
Lands
Brushland
It might generate colourless mana, but you will not need it very often so most of the times this is a worse Horizon Canopy.
Canopy Vista
This card is just too slow, but can be good as a budget replacement for Temple Garden.
Fortified Village
Since you run a lot of fetchlands, this just isn't good in our build.
Gavony Township/Grove of the Guardian
Lands that only produce colourless mana are just not good enough for us. Also the extra abilities are way too slow, even for a slower build.
Scattered Groves
This can also be used as a budget replacement for Temple Garden, but always coming into play tapped is not fast enough for us.
Stirring Wildwood
Again too slow, and the creature is too small for its cost.
Razorverge Thicket
A very strong budget card if you don't play fetchlands. If so, run 4.
Sunpetal Grove
This only works if you don't play fetches either, and doesn't work with itself, so don't run more than 3 in a budget list.
Creatures
Wild Nacatl
She will only be a 2/2 unless you also run Stomping Grounds, and will turn back into a 1/1 if your Temple Garden is destroyed.
Qasali Pridemage
We already have strong enchantment hate in Dromoka's Command, so it's better to run Manglehorn in your sideboard. The exalted isn't something we often need either.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
This hinders us as much as it hinders our opponents, and just slows us down too much.
Noble Hierarch
Only run mana dorks if you have a Collected Company list.
Knight of the Reliquary
If you want this card badly, you're better off playing Knightfall.
Sigarda, Host of Herons
Even though this card is really strong, it's just way too slow for us.
Watchwolf/Fleecemane Lion
This is just either a Kalonian Tusker, or one with an ability that is way too slow for us to use.
(Credit to to Fat_Buddha for the amazing banner above.)
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I would personally say that your list is too 3-drop heavy, and I would cut at least 2 Rhonas the Indomitable and put in 2 more Forests. You really need 21 lands, especially with so many 3-drops!
I would also cut 2 more 3-drops, be it the last Rhonas or 2 Dungrove Elders, and put in either 2 Pelt Collector, 2 Kalonian Tusker (even though I'm not a big fan of the card), or (what I'd prefer) the 4th Rancor and 2nd Dismember.
If you want to go even lower, cut the last 2 Dungroves for 2 Pelt Collector (as you'd still have 5 3-drops then), but if you like to be 3-drop heavy, that's fine. Just do it with 21 lands.
Your sideboard looks pretty fine to me, you can choose to switch Feed the Clan for Life Goes On, but that's just a matter of what you prefer.
(I'm very tired at the moment, but I saw that you're going tomorrow so I wanted to give some quick advice in time)
Primer edit: changed the core of the deck from 2 to 4 Dryad Militant, with 1-drop flex slots from 4 to 2. Dryad is just too important not to have 4 in the main, especially in the current meta.
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Gideon is able to create a token every turn, and with Serra you can only make one (that is a lot stronger than our other tokens, turning on removal for our opponent. On the other hand, it is Bolt proof, so it really depends on which removal the opponent has access to).
Her +2 only works for flyers, so aggro builds with Raise the Alarm and Legion's Landing, or decks that play History of Benalia benefit less from it.
Her ultimate is very good, but nonbos with Bitterblossom, which is one of our strongest cards.
I know it's not all bad, but I don't think this card boosts our deck that much.
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Vines of Vastwood is a better card than Blossoming Defense against Infect. Deathtouch creatures are good against Eldrazi decks and big Merfolk, and more removal like Prey Upon/Hunt the Hunter might be good against Cord decks. I would personally bring in Natural State (and in your case the Back to Nature) against Merfolk to get rid of the Spreading Seas, but I haven't played much against them. The Fluff, how do you feel about this? I also completely agree on Thrun, the Last Troll against Control, I always have 1 in the side.
Also mainline11, how is Firespout working out for you? It's a card that I haven't even put in the sideboard section of the primer, so I'd love to get some info on it!
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I've tried looking it up, but to no avail. Anyone knows how to fix this?