The "Hunter's Strength" deck is a monogreen deck, very straightforward and linear in theory, but a bit complicated to build in a effective way.
The strategy to follow is quite simple: cast as many creatures as possible in the first turns to mantain the initiative and put pressure on your opponent, then play in the fifth and crucial turn a buff card like Overwhelming Stampede, Overrun or Enlarge to close the match before your opponent can play his bombs.
But how can you obtain this? I'll show you step by step, sharing my Hunter's Strength build: "THE CHARGING HERD"

"THE CHARGING HERD"
A library for the Garruk 2014 deck: Hunter's Strength"
60 Cards: 36 nonlands {20 creatures, 16 spells}; 24 Lands (24 Forest).

LANDS
24 Forest
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SPELLS
1 x Green Sun's Zenith[gatherer.wizards.com]
4 x Prey Upon[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Rancor[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Pulse of the Tangle[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Elephant Guide[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Hunt the Weak[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Enlarge[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Overrun[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Overwhelming Stampede[gatherer.wizards.com]
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CREATURES
1 x Fauna Shaman[gatherer.wizards.com]
3 x Kalonian Tusker[gatherer.wizards.com]
3 x Garruk's Companion[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Eternal Witness[gatherer.wizards.com]
3 x Gloomwidow[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Leatherback Baloth[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Predator Ooze[gatherer.wizards.com]
2 x Cudgel Troll[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Fangren Firstborn[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Bellowing Tanglewurm[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Vorapede[gatherer.wizards.com]
1 x Primalcrux[gatherer.wizards.com]
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The idea behind this build is to clear the opponent's field in the early phase of the match and to gain the victory in the middle phase, playing Overrun/Enlarge/Overwhelming Stapede in the right moment.
1 CMC
The 1 CMC are crucial for this deck so I put 4 x Prey Upon and 2 x Rancor in my build.


Prey Upon grants me the chance of removing a great majority of opponent creatures, without any trade-off due to the very high toughness of the green creatures. A single green mana for an unconditional removal spell is a very convenient prize.

Rancor is a very versatile card, excellent if played on Predator Ooze to accelerate its growning process (with the nice touch of trample).
Its synergy with Overwhelming Stampede (+2 power for all creatures involved in the attack) is literally explosive and your opponent can't rid of it due to its recurisve ability.

Obviously, Green Sun's Zenith is a must-to-have in this build.
I won many games against not green deck, searching and summoning in the sixth turn the almost unstoppable Bellowing Tanglewurm, but is very useful to search any other singleton creature like Predator Ooze or Primalcrux.

Therefore, this card has high sinergy with Eternal Witness, allowing the recovery of precious card from the graveyard, with a total cost of only 4 mana.

No space for Savage Summoning, that I consider ouf of the scope respect the focus of this build.



2 CMC
Considering the 4 x Prey Upon and 2 x Hunt the weak, I need though creatures to handle the "damage trade" in the first turns, so the great toughness of Kalonian Tusker is perfect and it's my first choice.
No fancy abilities, no tricks, just a solid 3/3 body for a cheap 2 mana.

But it's not enough: for this build, it's very important to summon as many creatures as possible in the early phase of the game, so I put in all the creatures available with a cost of two mana, regardless of real strength, so I put in Fauna Shaman too.

After many attempts, I've removed all Nature's Lore and Revive. The second one is a duplicate of the ability of Eternal Witness but without body, the first one is a great card but is out of the scope in this build focused on winning in the middle phase and without big guns to summon.



3 CMC
Eternal Witness is an exception for the build philosophy: very weak stats but high versatility, so I put 2 copies of it because its ability to recur stuff from graveyeard is priceless.

Contrary to popular belief, I consider Gloomwidow a decent card: its reach ability is fundamental for this deck, that is so vulnerable against flying creatures, but it is also a useful cannon fodder with its solid 3/3 to trade damage with PreyUpon, so I put 3 copies of it.

Predator Ooze and Leatherback Baloth are mandatory card; the first one can be a determinant winning factor against "not full of removal effect" decks; the second one has monstrous stats and it's perfect for Prey Upon or Hunt of the Weak, being able to kill opponent's bigger creatures.

Elephant Guide is a nice addition: 3/3 is a relevant bonus that becomes explosive with an Enlarge card played after it or just with a Rancor, but the ability to summon an 3/3 Elephant token, in case of the enanched creatures dies, is absolutely valuable in this type of build, because it allows to maintain costant the number of creatures deployed in the battlefield.

I've some doubt about Pulse of Tangle, but I need low cost creatures, so I put it in.

I don't use/I don't like Sacred Wolf: 1 thoughness makes it useless to trade damage and frustrates the Hexproof property, so 0 copies is the right number for me.
Beastmaster ascension is a intriguing card, I've tried to use it many times but I surrendered, its activation condition is too complex to work.

Oakenform is a waste of space, because is preferable to summon one more creature of 3 mana cost (Gloomwidow just for example) than to potentiate an already summoned creatures (especially considering the high percentage of removal card in the metagame).

Probably is my limit, but I can't imagine a use for Staff of Wild Magus, so no copy of it.


4 CMC
First assumption: no Master of Hunt! Why? Simple: is a very slow card, with a stats above the average. It can start to act in the fifth turn, but its ability requires tapping, so is incompatible with the massive attack that I plan for the fifth turn. However is a very powerful card, so keep an eye on my VARIANT section.
My ideal choice for the fourth turn is Fangren Firstborn, breakable but deadly in synergy with an Overrun or an Overwhelming Stampede but I start to appreciate also Cudged Troll, especially in combo with a Predator Ooze to deploy a "infantry line" of a nearly indestructible troop.

In the absence of 4 CMC creature to cast, I can usually summon a 2 or 3 CMC creature with a Prey Upon or Rancor to mantain the field control.

As a desperate move, If I can't summon any creature in the fourth turn, I try to play Hunt the Weak to kill an opponent's creature and to open space in the opponent's rank that I can exploit in the following and decisive turn.

I don't use Bamblecrush because is too expensive and limited; I don't use Brawn too, because is ability is quite useless in this deck that doesn't suffer of any Trample lack.


5 CMC
2 x Overrun, 2 x Enlarge, 1 x Overwhelming stampede = almost 70% of chance to draw one of them in the fifth turn (73% in the sixth turn).

In my previous build, I used 3 x Overrun and 1 x Overwhelming Stampede with no Enlarge, but now I'm sure that I have found the right mix.

Enlarge is particularly useful in matches against decks with a lot of removal effect like Avacyn's Glory, Deadwalkers, Firewave and Dodge & Burn, because in those situations is very probable to reach the fifth turn only with one or two creatures deployed, so the Overrun card would have a very limited effect.

But if I can't play any sorceries in the fifth turn, I try to put in game one of those powerful creatures: Bellowing Tanglewurm or Vorapede. Both of them are very strong, especially the first one that can easily allow the victory against NOT green deck.

No space for Sentinel Spider (I prefer Gloomwidow, same ability, less cost).

6 CMC
Only Primalcrux for me, due to its very high compatibility with this build and especially for its amazing synergy with Overwhelming Stampede.

I tried and removed Primeval Bounty and Rampaging Baloths (great combo, but too slow for this deck) and I don't find any valid use for Vigor, theorically great for its ability but too defensive for this deck.

7+ CMC
Heavy cards like Terastadon and Living Hive are very powerful in absolute terms, but they are very far from the philosophy of this build, designed to close the game in the first 5-6 turns and aimed to keep the average mana cost as low as possible.
Other cards like Protean Hulk or Regal Force are a big temptation, because they would be perfect for this deck, but 7 mana cost are too high and, without the help of any Nature's Lore to ramp the curve, their contribution would be late.

1. "I can't be left out, I'm a mythic rare!" variant
Very simple:
-1 Pulse of Tangle,
+1 Master of Wild Hunt.
In this manner we keep costant the number of creatures (Pulse of Tangle is a creature camouflaged), with a impercetible raise in the average mana cost.

2. "More control, less aggressiveness" variant
Against decks with dangerous enanchment, Bramblecrush can be useful so this variant consists of:
-2 Hunt the Weak
+2 Bramblecrush

3. "More might, less magic" variant
Handling five sorceries of 5 mana cost are a bit risky, so this variant proposes the following little adjustment:
-1 Overrun
+1 Vigor
Vigor costs 6 mana, but it is a awesome card and in this configuration the deck can hang tough in matches that go beyond the seven/eight turns.
If you don't like the "odd couple" Primalcrux and Vigor, you can substitute them with 2 x Rampaging Baloths for a more consistent deck; its ability to put in play a 4/4 beast is invaluable and it can fuel adeguately Overrun or Overwhelming Stampede.

4. "Anarchic" variant
It's possible to apply two or also all of the variants at the same time

An ideal match with this library could be:

• Starting hand: mulligan if you don't have 3/4 Forests, a couple of 2-3 CMC creatures and a
  buff spell like Enlarge or Overrun
  
• Turn 1 - no cards to play
  
• Turn 2 - Kalonian Tusker or Companion's Garruk
  
• Turn 3 - Leatherback baloth or Kalonian Tusker/Companion's Garruck with Prey Upon/Rancor
  
• Turn 4 - Fangren Firstborn or Cudgel Troll or any other creature CMC<4 with Prey
  Upon/Rancor or two 2 CMC creature summoned in succession
  
• Turn 5 - Overwhelming Stampede or Overrun to close the match, maybe Enlarge if you have
  less than three creatures in play
  
• Turn 6 - Primalcrux or Bellowing Tanglewurm (tutored by Green Sun's Zenith)
  
• Turn 7 - pray for a painless end, your library warranty has expired...

This library is quite harmless againts Avacyn's Glory deck because this not well balanced monowhite deck can:

• easily removes green creatures in the early phase of the match without fight
  
• quickly sumons an incredible number of low cost creatures in the first 3-4 turns

In both cases, it's not possibile to accumulate the rough power needed to inflict the critical hit in the fifth turn, so the chances to win against Avacyn's Glory are tied to a bad draw of the opponent (ie: no champion of parrish, no field hunter and so on).

I hope this guide will be helpful for beginner players, because "Hunter's Strength" is the perfect choice to start with.
I have to be honest, this isn't the best deck in the game and it will not be a Top Tier deck like Deadwalkers or Avacyn's Glory.
But following the hints and tips contained in this guide, I hope you can revalue the "Hunter's Strength" deck, that can guarantee very good results and -above all- a lot of fun.
Excuse me for my bad english, please report me errors and inaccuracies.

Fosforo