How To Hogaak Until It's Banned

I almost didn’t go to Mythic Championship IV in Barcelona.

My passport renewal had complications which sent it to the incorrect address. I didn’t realize it would’ve been rerouted and that I needed to reapply for a reissue. I cut it way too close for comfort, not receiving it until the Monday before the Mythic Championship, which gave me barely enough time to fly from Louisiana to Spain that Tuesday.

My passport came in today and I’ve booked a ticket to #MythicChampionshipIV leaving tomorrow. Didn’t want to miss this one.

— Tom Ross (@Boss_MTG) July 23, 2019

I had come to terms with possibly having to miss the tournament, although obviously I didn’t want to. I spent the previous weekend playing Hogaak in the Team Constructed Open at SCG Philadelphia as well as the Modern Classic there. The weekend beforehand, I Top 8’ed the Modern Grand Prix in Dallas with Bridgevine before Bridge from Below got banned. I even had the privilege of working on Modern Horizons and really wanted to be a part of the Mythic Championship that featured the set for its Limited portion.

Just a week before the Mythic Championship, I didn’t want to let the cat further out of the bag on Hogaak. Not everyone knew that Hogaak still lived despite the Bridge from Below banning. I wanted to get some experience “down in the trenches,” getting my hands dirty with some live testing experience. Hogaak is such a strong deck and I wanted to get the numbers right. I had to tread lightly during SCG Philadelphia.

In the Team Constructed Open, I played a routine 5-0 Magic Online list that jammed a bunch of one-ofs for science. I like one-ofs and like getting to draw and mulligan with them, even if it’s only a small sample size. Here are the ones I dabbled with in Philadelphia:

For the Modern Classic in Philly, I opted to try out a more Zombie-centric build to maximize Cryptbreaker and Gravecrawler. In the large nine-round tournament, I opted to intentionally draw the ninth round at 6-2 to not get my list published. Now that the dust has settled, this is what I played in the Classic, pulling quite a 180 from the one-ofs to something more streamlined.

Everyone liked how the Cryptbreakers and Lotleth Trolls played, especially post-sideboard as solid cards that can beat opposing graveyard hate. A denseness of Zombies helped piece together some of the non-Turn 2 Hogaak draws that involved drawing some Cryptbreaker cards and recurring Gravecrawler. These extra non-stock Zombies along with those maindeck Leyline of the Voids freed up valuable sideboard real estate.

Fortunately, I did end up making it out to Barcelona, albeit at quite the last minute and enduring about 24 hours of travel time (and about 24 more hours on the way back), but it was worth it.

Barcelona is quite a pretty city.

Ultimately, Team Ultimate Genesis (which is comprised of teams KMC Genesis, Ultimate Guard, and some stragglers like Jelger Wiegersma, Kai Budde, and me) decided on a consensus best build. Although I would’ve liked to play such cards as Dryad Arbor and basic Forest, I thought it best to go with what a room full of the world’s best players decided on. I ended up a medium 6-4 in Constructed. Combined with a 5-1 in Modern Horizons Draft, I ended with a respectable 11-5.

Hogaak

Tom Ross

44th Place at Mythic Championship on 07-26-2019

Modern

Creatures (32)

Lands (19)

Spells (9)

Sideboard

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa did an excellent job in his premiere article with his take on Hogaak featuring Hedron Crab, so check that out and compare which list you like best.

Leyline of the Void was a product of open decklists and an expected high amount of other Hogaak decks, as well as Izzet Phoenix and other decks that use the graveyard to some degree, like Grixis Urza, Dredge, and Hollow One. Personally, I never had a Turn 0 Leyline of the Void against a deck that mattered and wished they were normal cards, but that’s just variance in the ten rounds I played and I would’ve been singing a different tune if I’d played a ton of Hogaak mirrors.

We had the luxury of playing a wide smattering of artifact and enchantment removal after freeing up extra sideboard space. With the open decklists, we could better surgically deal with opposing hate cards as needed with a mix of Ancient Grudge, Assassin’s Trophy, Nature’s Claim, Thoughtseize, Force of Vigor, and Abrupt Decay. In general, Hogaak is such a strong deck that it demands to be dealt with above and beyond what the opponent is doing. Aligning your answers to their answers was key for the tournament.

However, moving forward without open decklists, it’s not necessary to play maindeck Leyline of the Void. You don’t know when to mulligan for it, nor when to mulligan it away.

I wanted to share a couple of Hogaak builds that I didn’t quite get around to registering for a tournament or putting in the quality Magic Online Leagues in to justify. Ben Friedman and his team came to similar conclusions to mine regarding blending Hogaak and Dredge.

These are the builds I brewed up:

Chill Hogaak

Tom Ross

Test deck on 08-01-2019

Modern

Creatures (33)

Lands (19)

Spells (8)

I’ve been having trouble against Burn and Mono-Red Phoenix with all the Hogaak builds I’ve played. Creeping Chill is the card from Dredge I’m most interested in as an easy form of lifegain and additional reach once the battlefield is stabilized by something like an Ensnaring Bridge. The question became, “How many of the moving parts of traditional Dredge did I want to play?”

Stinkweed Imp looked like the best bang for the buck if I wanted a low number of Dredge cards just for value. I never got on board with the Golgari Thug train, because once Satyr Wayfinder was discovered, I didn’t really see the point of wanting the extra cheap creature to convoke Hogaak. I quickly dismissed Darkblast, as the metagame was moving even farther away from relevant X/1 targets for it.

I was interested in a Conflagrate or two to go along with Life from the Loam, but that also seemed like I’d be spinning too many plates at once with my deck. After all, what would have to get cut? Some number of Zombies, I’m sure, which isn’t something I was looking to do, as I quite enjoy the cheap creatures to scrap with.

Mill Hogaak

Tom Ross

Test deck on 08-01-2019

Modern

Creatures (32)

Lands (19)

Spells (9)

This build takes a page out of Dredge with Narcomeoba and Prized Amalgam being a core part of the strategy. It doesn’t have the explosive draws involving Vengevine and prefers a slightly wider battlefield of smaller creatures.

You can see that I prefer creatures that mill over actual dredge cards. Small creatures attack, block, and convoke Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis. Dredge cards are also weak without enablers and can look awkward in multiples in your opening hand. I also just really like Satyr Wayfinder at basically all stages of the game and post-sideboard when you need to grind. Finding that Nurturing Peatland late-game is awesome as well.

Hogaak’s Future

If I were to register Hogaak for a tournament tomorrow, this is what I’d play:

Hogaak

Tom Ross

Test deck on 08-01-2019

Modern

Creatures (32)

Lands (19)

Spells (9)

Sideboard

Many people don’t like Dryad Arbor because it’s so fragile against removal (especially sweepers) and is quite the eyesore everytime you draw it. However, I’m comfortable with it and like the added dimension that it brings, especially when convoking out Hogaak from a low base. It can add a surprise counter to Carrion Feeder, be a mid-combat blocker, or get the ball rolling again after a sweeper. Dryad Arbor isn’t in too many Hogaak builds right now, so I also like its unexpectedness.

Once you change the fetchlands to accommodate Dryad Arbor, basic Forest starts to look better than the second basic Swamp. Satyr Wayfinder ends up being key to finding your red source. You don’t always need to cast Faithless Looting or Lightning Axe early. Insolent Neonate is often better on a later turn when you want to discard Vengevine to it before casting your second creature.

It’s likely a part of Hogaak will need action taken against it. It only put one copy into the Top 8 of Mythic Championship IV, but the resounding impact of Hogaak’s presence was felt everywhere, mainly regarding the immense amount of graveyard hate necessary to suppress it. A format where Leyline of the Void is by far the most-played card looks quite unhealthy. Hopefully the metagame with adjust. Maybe with Mono-Green Tron doing so well again that Infect can make a comeback?

If Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis survives a wave of bannings, I’ll be ready to rebuild the next iteration with the 8/8 trampler. I believe it can survive a Faithless Looting banning, or even Stitcher’s Supplier. My buddy Hogaak and I will be back to do battle again if so allowed.

Bring on the bannings.