I was watching mepo_2000 play the deck last while Hive account@meltysquid was explaining the finer details to me in chat along with Hpain and others. I was really surprised how consistent the deck was performing and that it could flip from combo to a more traditional aggro nature when needed. I had to give the deck a try. I don't have a ton of games in myself, but spending hours watching on stream plus playing a few myself gives me confidence that this is one you're going to want to try. Squid can always just in and add/correct anything I miss/get wrong.

The Deck

Deck Code:
GU_1_5_MBKMBKKDZKDZCAuCAuCExCExCEyCEyCATCATIDJIDJKDSKDSBCCBCCBEbBEbIAPBFLBFLGCNGCNCDLCDLCByCByMCw

How to Play

The core idea of the deck is to play Bladefly + a surged Food Chain on the same turn.

This can get you some amazing creatures on board that are really hard to answer.

Of course, this is just the most basic starting point - and honestly not that powerful. There are lots of lines that produce entire boards full of these guys in a single turn - even when you don't start with a surged Food Chain. For example:

This is still low on the scale of what's possible. For example, at 6 mana with a pip you can afford to play the Werewolf and BOTH bladeflies and then Food Chain.

And of course, that's all before even considering Palk Stalk.

Pack Stalk allows these high-powered combos to go off much earlier in the game. How early? Let's imagine the limit of how early it could go off (even if very unlikely):

At 3 mana with a pip:

1. Wolf (1 mana left)
2. Beetle (still 1 mana left because of wolf)
3. Marsh Walker (still 1 mana left)
4. Pack Stalk (3 mana)
5. Pip (4 mana)
6. Bladefly (costs 4 but wolf gives back 3 so 3 mana left)
7. Food Chain (which is surged because you spent >7 mana this turn)

Of course, you'll never have all this in hand by 3 mana in real games because you'll play early walkers/beetles and you won't hold cards looking for this absolute nuts of an open. More often, the combo seems to come together between 5 and 6 mana.

And of course, we can't forget to mention the other very real possibility with this deck: double food chain:

That's a double food chain on turn 5. Yes, I won that game. 😆

Recognizing the Combo

It's a fun deck, but it does take a bit of practice (or watching others), because you need to recognize when you have the combo. There are lots of ways to have it (or some version of it). The way mana refresh works, you often have a lot of power in your hand without realizing it. You also can't forget about your god power.

Wolf + Flies + GP gets you >7 mana spent with 1 left over.

So the core tip I can give you: if you have werewolf, bladefly, and food chain in hand you have SOMETHING. You may need a few turns to have enough mana to play it, but start planning your board space accordingly.

Another tip is to pay extra attention when you have two werewolves in hand. For example, with 2 werewolves on board, the GP is free. Lynx actually gains mana when you play it. Ditto bladefly. I played a game where 2x wolves were part of the combo and I had enough mana left over after combing to cast wildfire same turn!

Draw Cards

Nature has 0 draw cards, so the deck looks to neutrals to make up the difference.

The Trial Begins and Zaskia are key cards in the deck. Trial lets you find bladeflies (or werewolves if you have flies) and Zaskia finds Food Chain. This is a big part of the deck's consistency even though the combo needs quite a few cards in hand. Importantly, you don't need to surge Zaskia most of the time. Just play him on curve. As you saw in the example above, you normally surge food chain during the combo.

VS Control

Against control decks, you are 100% looking for combo pieces. Play your draw cards, collect what you need, and then try to win the game all at once. Control is built to be reactive early, so you should have time.

VS Aggro

This is where the deck surprised me. Most combo decks (e.g. school teacher) are one-trick ponies. Against aggro, it's all about how fast you can get the combo. This deck can flip to aggro nature fairly easily, and while aggro nature isn't a winning deck, it is effective at stalling to buy time for the combo.

Gameplay

In my gameplay video, I face aggro light. Instead of desperately scrambling for combo pieces, I instead look for low-drop creatures to control the board. Then I put together the combo at my leisure.

Mulligan

Against control, I get a great first set of 3 cards. I still probably toss the Lootable Corpse looking for more combo pieces, but I hold the windup and food chain as part of my win con.

Against aggro I don't do that. I'm not experienced enough with the deck yet to say whether throwing Food Chain back was the right move, but it feels right for now. It's a dead card until I can find everything else. Also, when I find wildfire, I know I can contest the board with wild creatures. Couldn't ask for a better find than Boar, so I'm all set.

1 Mana

Boar does what boar does.

2 Mana

Wind-Up Roller is amazing in this matchup, too. It can trade and draws a card. I also spend another pip to make sure I can answer the acolytes he's about to drop next turn.

At the end of this turn, I'm a combo deck in complete control of the board. Seems good.

3 Mana

Pretty straight forward turn. When Boar misses the favorable trade, I decide to just trade the wind-up roller. My win con actually isn't aggro and face damage. I'm really just stalling, and keeping aggro light's board clear is really important due to their ability to buff.

#4 Mana

Pack stalk makes things interesting here. During a full combo from hand, you spend enough mana to surge Food Chain. However, with my hybrid aggro approach, I'm rewarded for going wide, and I can surge Food Chain in the process. Let's fill up the board!

5 Mana

Clearing the board, drawing cards, doing things. Trial finds a Bladefly and now we have the most basic combo, which against aggro, is all you need. I don't fill my board this turn, because I need room for all 3 flies next turn.

5.5 Mana

Combo + concede. GG!

Conclusion

True, my gameplay vid was from my first run with the deck in casual, so my opponent was fairly weak. Don't let that make you doubt the deck. Plenty are playing it in Mythic.