Simic Landfall Counter-Bounce

A Simic landfall deck that grows trampling threats with +1/+1 counters while using cheap bounce and counterspells to protect the snowball.

Mossborn Hydra doubles its counters on each land drop, and Overlord of the Hauntwoods creates tokens whenever a land enters. Cenote Scout explores to find more lands, triggering landfall again. Pawpatch Recruit grows into a threat. Bounce spells like Into the Flood Maw and Unsummon clear blockers or reset opposing threats, while Essence Scatter and Negate protect your board. Bite Down lets a large Hydra or token remove an opposing threat without spending a rare wildcard.

Keep hands with two or three lands, a one- or two-drop creature, and at least one interaction spell. Mulligan all-land or no-action hands, and shave hands that cannot interact by turn two on the draw.

Early: deploy Pawpatch Recruit or Cenote Scout, and use bounce to slow opponents. Mid: land multiple lands to grow Mossborn Hydra and generate tokens with Overlord of the Hauntwoods. Late: overload the board with trample damage and token pressure; hold Essence Scatter and Negate for key threats, and use Bite Down to break stalled boards.

The deck is vulnerable to sweepers, cheap removal on Mossborn Hydra, and fast combo or flyers. It also needs land drops to function, so hands with too few lands or too many expensive payoffs can stall. Bounce is temporary, so use it for tempo and lethal rather than as permanent removal.