The idea is pretty straightforward. Play a bunch of 4 toughness dudes (to dodge Lightning Bolt), some sweepers, and enough low CMC board control to survive the early turns.
I originally had Anger of the Gods in place of Volcanic Fallout, but after enough Mana Leaks and Remands losing me games against Delver, I swapped it to Volcanic Fallout. When the meta changes, I'll look at the card slot again.
A surprisingly good addition is Hellion Crucible which does everything I want in a man-land by producing a 4 toughness dude. Being colorless hasn't been such a drawback, given that I have 22 other lands that produce colored mana. Maybe 3 would be better, but testing will tell.
Most of the deck is fairly obvious, but the maindeck Relic of Progenitus and Hide // Seek may look odd.
The case for Relic of Progenitus is marginally strong, but I don't have a lot of T1 plays that I'm relying on. There's enough graveyard reliance these days with Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise that an easy hoser that cantrips is worthwhile. I've even drawn Bonfire on an opponent's end-step for the instant speed blowout. 10/10 would cast again.
It hurts Pod, too. The matchup gets very grindy if they're allowed to recur Kitchen Finks multiple times, and turning Bitching Pod into a Fauna Shaman is nice. It ruins Gifts Ungiven decks, Living End decks and Storm decks.
Hide // Seek is live in a surprising number of matchups. A short list of Hide targets in various T1 decks:
- Pod: Birthing Pod
Twin: Splinter Twin
Tron: Wurmcoil Engine
Affinity: basically everything
Bogles: the lifegain enchantments
Jund: Courser of Kruphix
Ascendancy Combo: Jeskai Ascendancy
Merfolk: AEther Vial
Death 'n Taxes / Hatebears: AEther Vial
Storm: Pyromancer Ascension
- Burn: Treasure Cruise becomes "gain 8 life" for me, which is pretty slick.
Scapeshift: taking 1 or both Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle is game over for them
Ad Nauseam Combo: Lightning Storm