Had a bad opening this weekend trying to play aggro nature. Then jumped around with a few different decks, but I decided to get back to basics. Here is the deck I had most success with.
The Deck
Deck Code:
GU_1_5_GAwIDNCAuCAuCEyCEyCCOCCOIASCCUBCCBCCCBxCBxIALIALCAtCAtCArCArGAbCByICHICHCAxCAxIDFIDFCDfCDf
Strategy
The idea is basic midrange strategy: you slow down aggro enough to to reach 4 mana and start dropping big threats. At the same time, we pack enough stats between 4 and 6 mana to close out before control drops their game enders.
Stall Aggro
Removals and heal.
Assuming we can generate the walking plants, we've got a total of 14 heal in the deck. We also have heavy early game removal and our 1 and 2 drop cards aren't slouches, either. We probably can't beat them early game, but we can definitely slow them down. If we start first, we can possibly shut them down completely. Going second, we have enough reactive cards to survive.
Win Condition
Good grief look at that beef! It's an absolutely stacked lineup. Valewarden does triple duty. He gives us an OK body, heals us for 3, and then gives us a 7 mana wild creature.
Stretching Against Control
If you curve out, you should be able to win against control with just your creatures. The deck runs lots of 4 hp+ creatures, which are designed to exhaust their removals, stay safe from board wipes, etc. We also have a few strategies to give us a fighting chance if the game stalls in their favor.
Against control, you hold your lightning strikes to deal with their 6 and 7 mana creatures. The hunt, while effective against zoo aggro, is also great against large single targets. As mentioned, Valewarden gives a 7 mana wild. None of them suck - especially considering you are getting them without having to take up space in your deck. A Charging Oryx to the face is ideal. The Albino Hydra is another solid roll.
Flavor Cards
There is space for a few flavor cards in this deck. I'm running Selena + Guerilla Training + Wildfire, but there are other options.
The idea is to take advantage of your big creatures. Thinking more about it, Territorial Dominion is a very interesting card. It can definitely swing a board state. I'm interested if the attack counts as the creatures' attack for that turn. It would be amazing to attack, heal, and then attack again. If not, you can always attack normally and then play this card. Just more likely that your creature doesn't survive.
The other one in the list that really interests me is Forrestheart Dryad, and for similar reasons as Territorial Dominion. You drop it right before attacking and any creatures that survive get healed back up. It can also provide a lot more value given that the effect exists as long as the creature does and you have the 1 mana echo to do it again. Healing Guild Enforcers and Pangolins are game-winning effects. I don't know. I may even pull Wildfire and try 2x of these.
Selena pairs well with big, confused creatures. They are hard to kill, which makes her hard to kill. She removes their confusion so you can make the most of them. She also confuses enemy creatures, which greatly improves the survivability of your own (them going face is usually a good thing). She also provides reach to close out the game against control (and ward + 4 hp makes her expensive to remove). Finally, she can really shut down aggro by knocking out a badger or acolyte each turn. She provides so much value to a midrange deck like this.
Mulligan Strat
Going first you want 2 of your 1 mana creatures and a canopy/boar. This lets you open up with both 1 drops and then react to them on turn 2. Going second, Underbrush Boar is king, but Canopy/Lightning/Staff are also really solid.
Gameplay
(Apologies for the bass. New machine and I need to tweak it I guess.)
This is solid game that demonstrates the ability to go second against aggro nature and still win. With a hidden name and a Blazing Talisman played early, I honestly wasn't sure what the deck comp was for the first few turns. The Talisman was surprisingly annoying, but I was able to play around it. A big part of that was the large HP on my creatures, but also, making sure to kill off my 1 hp creatures to burn while his board was clear (to avoid giving his creatures regen).
The win was classic: aggro was exhausted while I kept dropping big value cards. Their last gasps were at 5.5 and 6 mana. We retake the board at 7 and that's basically game over.
Conclusion
Hand-Vomit nature is slightly less oppressive after the nerf to War's Wake and Staff of Roots. At the same time, the nerf to Unbound Flames and Apprentice means that our 5 hp creatures survive now when they didn't last week. Nerfs to aggro and control give midrange decks like Big Beast Nature room to shine.