Holiday
02-02-2016, 05:18 PM
GW Hexproof / Auras / Bogles Primer by Holiday (started 2/2/16)
1. Background
2. Maindeck Choices
3. Sideboard Choices
4. Sample Deck Lists
5. Matchup Analysis
1. Background
GW Hexproof (I'll go by what SCG likes to call this deck) is a simple linear strategy where auras are attached to little creatures with hexproof or Kor Spiritdancer. I have been playing this deck for a few months now and have logged hundreds of games against, mainly, decks in a format without Twin or Amulet Bloom. This is by no means a Tier 1 deck but it can certainly be competitive. With that said, it's a fun deck that I enjoy playing. It's entertaining to watch a little 1/1 Bogle turn into a 12/10 First Strike, Vigilance, Lifelink, Trampler.
This is not going to be the type of primer where I advocate for the deck and claim 50% or better chances in most matchups. As you'll see in the Matchup section, it has its good and bad matchups. These percentages can vary greatly just based on the extent your opponent can interact with you. For exampe, a matchup against a RG Tron deck running 3 Spellskite and 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon will be very different than one without as many of these cards. Before I get to card choices let me explain the strengths and weaknesses of this deck.
Strengths
- Many decks cannot interact with it Game 1
- Can win the damage race because of lifegain and evasion
- Your creatures are difficult to remove due to hexproof and umbra effects
- Operates effectively with just a few lands
- Generates positive card advantage from Kor Spiritdancer
- Does not suffer as much from mulligans as other decks
- Difficult to misplay and won't tax you mentally during long tournaments
Weaknesses
- Mulligans very frequently due to needing a creature turn 1 or 2
- Suffers negative card advantage if a creature (with one or more auras) is removed
- Tends to lose attrition based battles
- Unable to interact with certain opponents' strategies
- Has a predictable linear strategy
- Your strategy can be completely derailed by certain cards
- Lack of library manipulation makes it inconsistent
2. Maindeck Choices
Creatures
GW Hexproof typically runs between 12 and 15 creatures (counting Dryad Arbor). Too few and you'll have a hand full of auras and nothing to do with them, too many and you'll wind up with a pathetic army of 1/1s and 0/2s.
4 Slippery Bogle and 4 Gladecover Scout - You preferably want to see one of these little creatures in your opening hand. They will be enchanted with multiple auras and their Hexproof ability keeps them safe from basic removal spells.
2-4 Kor Spiritdancer - This card is probably the reason this deck exists. She grows +2/+2 with every aura attached but lacks Hexproof. You will also draw a card every time you play an aura (even if your aura is countered). Loading her up with Auras, Game 1, is a high risk/high reward strategy. If you decide to do this you'll want to ensure you use cards with the Totem Armor effect, like Hyena Umbra or Spider Umbra, to protect Spiritdancer from spot removal like Lightning Bolt or Abrupt Decay. However, Totem Armor will not protect her from cards like Path to Exile. Bounce spells, like Cryptic Command, will return her to your hand, causing all your auras to fall off. Kor Spiritdancer is a better offensive weapon in Game 2 when your opponent may have boarded out their targeted creature removal.
1-3 Silhana Ledgewalker - Not every Hexproof deck runs her but many have started to run some split of Ledgewalker and Spiritdancer. Ledgewalker allows you to play a more conservative game and mulligan less frequently. You are only going to have a Bogle or Scout in your opening-seven 65% of the time. Adding 2 Ledgewalkers increases your odds of opening with a Hexproof creature to 74% of the time. Ledgewalker is also unblockable with the exception of flying creatures. This is nice to have in a format where most creatures (especially the big ones) can't fly.
1-2 Dryad Arbor - Its main purpose is to take one for the team when your opponent makes you sacrifice a creatures (ie Liliana of the Veil). Your umbras do not protect your creatures from effects that force you to sac them. One of the this deck's favorite tricks is to find arbor, with a fetchland, in response to your opponent forcing you to sac a creature. In the most dire of situations I have even seen this sacrificial stick don a couple auras and charge into combat!
Auras
A typical list will run between 23 and 28 Auras.
3-4 Hyena Umbra and Spider Umbra - Play these early and often to protect your creatures from board sweepers like Anger of the Gods, Pyroclasm, and Engineered Explosives. They also get your creature ready for a 3rd turn Daybreak Coronet. You want to be running about 7 or 8 of these in your maindeck.
It's good to familiarize yourself with the rules for how Totem Armor works.
- If an effect would destroy your creature and the umbra at the same time (like EE) only the umbra will be destroyed.
- If an effect would destroy your creature while two umbras are attached you choose which of the umbras is destroyed.
- If a creature, enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor, would be destroyed by multiple state-based actions at the same time the totem armor's effect will replace all of them and save the creature.
- Totem armor has no effect if the enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard for any other reason, such as if it's sacrificed, if it's legendary and another legendary permanent with the same name is controlled by the same player, or if its toughness is 0 or less.
4 Ethereal Armor - This card gets your creature so big so fast I wish I could run more than 4. It counts all enchantments you control (as opposed to just auras) so it has great synergy with the enchantments in your sideboard.
4 Daybreak Coronet - When I look back at my notes to how I won games I usually see some reference to "coronet". Vigilance and Lifelink allow you to win the damage race against most decks (aside from Infect). It's important to note that if this card is equipped to a creature with only one other aura, and that aura is destroyed, Daybreak Coronet will be attached to an illegal permanent and will be put into your graveyard when state based effects are checked. On the other hand, if a Spellskite (with no auras attached) targets a Daybreak Coronet on the stack it will be unable to be equipped to the Spellskite and the coronet with resolve successfully on the creature you're trying to enchant.
4 Rancor - This is one of the best auras (or should I say Enchant Creature) ever printed. Having Trample is important for when your opponent goes into chump block mode against your giant Hexproof creature. This is also a great card to bait out a counter so you can lay down an even bigger coronet or ethereal armor.
1-4 Spirit Mantle - Mantle not only lets you get around a wall of blockers late in the game but can turn your little creatures into recurring chump blockers if you need to buy some time. The numbers vary based on how many creature based decks are in your meta.
0-3 Unflinching Courage - I was skeptical about this card when I first picked up this deck but this Armadillo Cloak knockoff serves many purposes. It's Rancor, Spiritlink, and part of a Carapace. This is perfect if your meta is full of Burn, Zoo, and Affinity decks.
0-4 Keen Sense - The older versions of this deck used to run 4 of these. It's good against grindy control decks. Now you might see one or two in the main deck or a couple in the SB. I was running two until realized it wasn't helping my bad matchups and I was constantly boarding them out. It's a fun card to play and could be useful if the Modern meta shifts away from the explosive linear decks we're seeing in early 2016.
0-2 Spirit Link - This is another meta call. I typically find coronet and courage give me adequate life gain but if your meta is full of Burn it could be nice to have.
0-2 Battle Mastery - This is rarely played. It could be a solution if you just need to go balls to the wall and double your damage. This could be viable against creature-light decks like Scapeshift and Tron.
0-2 Fists of Ironwood - This is likely to be played in the sideboard, if at all. If your meta is full of decks running 4 Lilis then go for it. It would be nice if it had Flash or put creatures into play each time you attacked. The picture shows it giving the creature a gigantic fist but this is obviously false advertising because you don't get +2/+0, just Trample and some lame saplings.
Other Spells
0-4 Path to Exile - Most decks run 3 of these. They are great for removing pests like Spellskite, Ravenger, Wormcoil Engine, Tarmogoyf, etc. I often board them out, Game 2, to bring in more specialized hate.
0-3 Suppression Field - This is an annoying card for a lot of decks to play around. I have yet to test this maindeck myself but I keep a few in my SB. It disrupts fetchlands, manlands, Scavenging Ooze, Tron's shitty little artifacts, most of Affinity's artifacts, planewalkers, Aether Vial, equipment, etc. After reading this list I'm starting to think I should test it maindeck. However, it's going to tax your own fetchlands and Horizon Canopy's draw ability.
Lands
You want 18-20 lands (not counting Dryad Arbor). I wouldn't run anything less than 18 lands and 2 Arbor or more than 20 lands and 2 Arbor. I feel 19-20 lands and 1 Dryad Arbor is optimal.
0-2 Plains
1-2 Forest
2-4 Temple garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Windswept heath
0-4 other green fetchlands. - These will find Dryad Arbor, Forest, or Temple Garden.
0-4 Horizon Canopy - I know these are expensive as hell right now but they are great in this deck. You can run the whole deck off 2 or 3 lands so having the ability to cycle these late in the game is very beneficial. Of course, many people play this deck because it is relatively cheap and having canopy isn't mandatory.
Here's some other lands people run: white fetchlands, Wooded Bastion, Khalni Garden, Brushland, Canopy Vista
3. Sideboard Choices
When sideboarding with Bogles it may be tempting to remove a lot of auras to bring in several sideboard cards. However, removing too many auras can end up crippling your own offensive strategy, especially if your deck is only running 22-25 auras. Bogles is a tight deck so knowing which cards to take out is almost as important as deciding what to bring in. In addition, you always want to consider what your opponent is bringing in. For example, if you are facing Scapeshift (a creature light deck) and you decide to board out your Path to Exiles for some Leyline of Sanctity, you will likely have zero answers if they bring in Spellskite. I will go over what to bring in and take out in the Matchups section.
Leyline of Sanctity - If you're running these you should be running 4. You want to maximize the odds this card is in your opening hand because you might be dead before you have enough lands to hard cast it. The obvious time to bring this in is against a burn deck. In addition to shutting down lightning bolt to the face, it's also great against decks that run discard, like Thoughtseize and Inquisition. If your opponent is on the play they could potentially take your only creature or your only enchantment before you even get a turn. Leyline also shuts down Liliana of the Veil, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Grapeshot, and Vendilion Clique's ability.
Stony Silence - I prefer this over spot removal like Nature's Claim for decks that run many artifacts like Affinity and RG Tron as well as decks running Aether Vial or Spellskite. In certain matchups you force your opponent to deal with Stony Silence or lose.
Suppression field - As I mentioned before, this card disrupts a wide variety of strategies. Suppression field is used to slow down your opponent long enough for you to win. However, late in the game, decks like Tron, Jund, or Abzan will have enough mana to play around it.
Pithing Needle - This is a versatile card that can be used to shut off your opponent's means to disrupt you. You'll find yourself naming Spellskite (drink every time I mention Spellskite in this article and you won't be able to drive), Liliana, Karn Liberated, Ugin the 1CMC Destroyer Dragon, Aether Vial, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Engineered Explosives.
Gaddock Teeg - This grumpy Kithkin grandpa can put many of your opponent's strategies on hold until they can deal with him. He's even better if your opponent boarded out their targeted spot removal. He shuts down win-cons like Scapeshift, Gifts Ungiven, Collected Company, Chord of Calling and Through the Breach. He prevents Planeswalkers like Ajani Vengeant, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Karn Liberated. He also stops control like Cryptic Command, Damnation, Engineered Explosives, and Supreme Verdict.
Rest in Peace - Persistent graveyard hate that's also an enchantment. There aren't many graveyard based decks in early 2016 (aside from those that run Goryo's Vengeance or Living End) but RIP shuts off cards like Snapcaster Mage, Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Lingering Souls' flashback, Gurmag Angler and could be viable against a deck like Abzan, Jeskai Control, and Grixis Control.
Grafdigger's Cage - While it doesn't shrink Goyf or prevent your opponent from delving, Cage prevents creatures that ETB from libraries. This is great against Collected Company or Kiki-Chord decks. Also be aware that Cage will not stop Living End.
Spellskite - (Drink!) If you can't beat 'em join 'em. It's great against the mirror and also unexpected. Spellskite helps one of Hexproof's toughest matchups: Infect. However, Infect is may be prepared for Spellskite, with cards like Twisted Image.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast - This is a cheaper and more resilient option against Infect than Spellskite but if you have enough Infect in your meta to consider playing her you might just want to avoid playing Hexproof altogether.
Fog / Moment's Peace / Holy Day - Infect and aggro decks will probably swing away, undeterred by your open mana. "Hexproof doesn't have any tricks up their sleeve," they'll think to themselves, "The worst they can do is cast Path to Exile!" then BOOM you hit 'em with one of these old school instants while all their creatures are swinging for lethal. Very situational but very unexpected.
Torpor Orb - This is so you can bring in 4 Phyrexian Dreadnoughts game two. Actually, it's great against decks with many ETB effects, like GW Hatebears. However, it won't stop effects that say "When you cast..." so most of the Eldrazi cards are unaffected by Orb.
Nature's Claim - This good for dealing with a few problem artifacts like Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, Cranial Plating, and Spellskite. Natural State can also deal with the smaller problematic artifacts and auras in the mirror match. Oh and we can't forget Troll Worship which is apparently a thing now...
Dismember - Creature removal without the drawback of giving your opponent a land. I'm not entirely sure which decks this is most useful against.
Retether - Perfect for those late game attrition battles. Unfortunately it does not work with Daybreak Coronet unless the creature had an aura prior to casting Rether.. Imagine how fun this card would be if it was an instant.
Some other options: Dromoka's Command, Seal of Primordium, Nevermore, Grand Abolisher, and Relic of Progenitus
4. Sample Deck Lists
Reid Duke - 2nd Place at Worlds 2013
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
4 Keen sense
3 Unflinching Courage
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Forest
1 Wooded Bastion
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Suppression Field
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Path to exile
2 Dismember
1 Grafdigger's Cage
Comments: Reid Duke knew his meta well and set his list up to have good matchups against control decks. This is evident from his 4 Spiritdancers, 4 Keen Sense, and 4 Horizon Canopy to ensure a steady supply of draws throughout the game. There's a video on YouTube of him playing best of 5 against a UWR Control deck in the finals. I'll post a link if I can find it.
Ellen Cantor - 5th Place at StarCityGames.com Premier IQ on 8/9/2015
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
2 Keen Sense
3 Path to Exile
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Spirit Mantle
1 Forest
2 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothils
SB
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Torpor Orb
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Suppression Field
2 Nature's Claim
2 Gaddock Teeg
Comments: I picked this deck because she wrote an entertaining and informative tournament report Here (https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/3gh8zd/how_i_stumbled_my_way_into_5th_of_a_modern_iq/). You can see she expected a creature heavy meta and packed 4 Spirit Mantles. Also we see a full 4 Horizon Canopy. The sideboard is Ok but I would make a few changes. I think there are better options than Qasali Pridemage (perhaps Seal of Primordium) and I recommend running 4 Leylines if you're going to run any. But overall, this deck worked well for her.
Seth Mansfield - 1st Place at SCG World Championship on 8/27/2015
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
1 Glaring Aegis
4 Daybreak Coronet
1 Spirit Mantle
3 Unflinching Courage
3 Path to Exile
1 Forest
2 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Seal of Primordium
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
3 Suppression Field
2 Gaddock Teeg
Comments: Here's a first place list from a major SCG event in August of 2015. He's running 20 lands +1 Arbor. He also included Glaring Aegis in the deck which I think is nice 1CC aura worth trying. His SB favors Stony Silence and Seal of Primordium over Nature's Claim.
Ei Yong Ahn - 5th Place at StarCityGames.com Invitational Qualifier on 1/30/2016
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
2 Kor Spiritdancer
2 Silhana Ledgewalker
2 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
1 Keen Sense
4 Daybreak Coronet
2 Spirit Mantle
1 Spirit Link
1 Unflinching Courage
3 Path to Exile
1 Forest
2 Plains
2 Canopy Vista
1 Flooded Strand
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Mana Confluence
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pithing Needle
2 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
2 Natural State
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Path to Exile
Comments: I picked this list because it was one of the most recent lists to place in a Top 8 (from when I wrote this primer). It is also a unique list. We see a 2 and 2 split between Spiritdancer and Ledgewalker. I like this, especially in a meta with more spot removal. I have also seen splits with various other numbers of both cards. His mana-base looks like it was thrown together in a hurry. Canopy Vista and Mana Conflunce are just not optimal choices in this deck. He would have been better off if he had 4 Razorverge Thickets. This manabase is also 18 lands and 2 Arbor, which I think is pretty greedy. I like his SB. I think we'll be seeing more lists running Pithing Needle in the future.
(Matchup Analysis continued in the first post below)
1. Background
2. Maindeck Choices
3. Sideboard Choices
4. Sample Deck Lists
5. Matchup Analysis
1. Background
GW Hexproof (I'll go by what SCG likes to call this deck) is a simple linear strategy where auras are attached to little creatures with hexproof or Kor Spiritdancer. I have been playing this deck for a few months now and have logged hundreds of games against, mainly, decks in a format without Twin or Amulet Bloom. This is by no means a Tier 1 deck but it can certainly be competitive. With that said, it's a fun deck that I enjoy playing. It's entertaining to watch a little 1/1 Bogle turn into a 12/10 First Strike, Vigilance, Lifelink, Trampler.
This is not going to be the type of primer where I advocate for the deck and claim 50% or better chances in most matchups. As you'll see in the Matchup section, it has its good and bad matchups. These percentages can vary greatly just based on the extent your opponent can interact with you. For exampe, a matchup against a RG Tron deck running 3 Spellskite and 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon will be very different than one without as many of these cards. Before I get to card choices let me explain the strengths and weaknesses of this deck.
Strengths
- Many decks cannot interact with it Game 1
- Can win the damage race because of lifegain and evasion
- Your creatures are difficult to remove due to hexproof and umbra effects
- Operates effectively with just a few lands
- Generates positive card advantage from Kor Spiritdancer
- Does not suffer as much from mulligans as other decks
- Difficult to misplay and won't tax you mentally during long tournaments
Weaknesses
- Mulligans very frequently due to needing a creature turn 1 or 2
- Suffers negative card advantage if a creature (with one or more auras) is removed
- Tends to lose attrition based battles
- Unable to interact with certain opponents' strategies
- Has a predictable linear strategy
- Your strategy can be completely derailed by certain cards
- Lack of library manipulation makes it inconsistent
2. Maindeck Choices
Creatures
GW Hexproof typically runs between 12 and 15 creatures (counting Dryad Arbor). Too few and you'll have a hand full of auras and nothing to do with them, too many and you'll wind up with a pathetic army of 1/1s and 0/2s.
4 Slippery Bogle and 4 Gladecover Scout - You preferably want to see one of these little creatures in your opening hand. They will be enchanted with multiple auras and their Hexproof ability keeps them safe from basic removal spells.
2-4 Kor Spiritdancer - This card is probably the reason this deck exists. She grows +2/+2 with every aura attached but lacks Hexproof. You will also draw a card every time you play an aura (even if your aura is countered). Loading her up with Auras, Game 1, is a high risk/high reward strategy. If you decide to do this you'll want to ensure you use cards with the Totem Armor effect, like Hyena Umbra or Spider Umbra, to protect Spiritdancer from spot removal like Lightning Bolt or Abrupt Decay. However, Totem Armor will not protect her from cards like Path to Exile. Bounce spells, like Cryptic Command, will return her to your hand, causing all your auras to fall off. Kor Spiritdancer is a better offensive weapon in Game 2 when your opponent may have boarded out their targeted creature removal.
1-3 Silhana Ledgewalker - Not every Hexproof deck runs her but many have started to run some split of Ledgewalker and Spiritdancer. Ledgewalker allows you to play a more conservative game and mulligan less frequently. You are only going to have a Bogle or Scout in your opening-seven 65% of the time. Adding 2 Ledgewalkers increases your odds of opening with a Hexproof creature to 74% of the time. Ledgewalker is also unblockable with the exception of flying creatures. This is nice to have in a format where most creatures (especially the big ones) can't fly.
1-2 Dryad Arbor - Its main purpose is to take one for the team when your opponent makes you sacrifice a creatures (ie Liliana of the Veil). Your umbras do not protect your creatures from effects that force you to sac them. One of the this deck's favorite tricks is to find arbor, with a fetchland, in response to your opponent forcing you to sac a creature. In the most dire of situations I have even seen this sacrificial stick don a couple auras and charge into combat!
Auras
A typical list will run between 23 and 28 Auras.
3-4 Hyena Umbra and Spider Umbra - Play these early and often to protect your creatures from board sweepers like Anger of the Gods, Pyroclasm, and Engineered Explosives. They also get your creature ready for a 3rd turn Daybreak Coronet. You want to be running about 7 or 8 of these in your maindeck.
It's good to familiarize yourself with the rules for how Totem Armor works.
- If an effect would destroy your creature and the umbra at the same time (like EE) only the umbra will be destroyed.
- If an effect would destroy your creature while two umbras are attached you choose which of the umbras is destroyed.
- If a creature, enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor, would be destroyed by multiple state-based actions at the same time the totem armor's effect will replace all of them and save the creature.
- Totem armor has no effect if the enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard for any other reason, such as if it's sacrificed, if it's legendary and another legendary permanent with the same name is controlled by the same player, or if its toughness is 0 or less.
4 Ethereal Armor - This card gets your creature so big so fast I wish I could run more than 4. It counts all enchantments you control (as opposed to just auras) so it has great synergy with the enchantments in your sideboard.
4 Daybreak Coronet - When I look back at my notes to how I won games I usually see some reference to "coronet". Vigilance and Lifelink allow you to win the damage race against most decks (aside from Infect). It's important to note that if this card is equipped to a creature with only one other aura, and that aura is destroyed, Daybreak Coronet will be attached to an illegal permanent and will be put into your graveyard when state based effects are checked. On the other hand, if a Spellskite (with no auras attached) targets a Daybreak Coronet on the stack it will be unable to be equipped to the Spellskite and the coronet with resolve successfully on the creature you're trying to enchant.
4 Rancor - This is one of the best auras (or should I say Enchant Creature) ever printed. Having Trample is important for when your opponent goes into chump block mode against your giant Hexproof creature. This is also a great card to bait out a counter so you can lay down an even bigger coronet or ethereal armor.
1-4 Spirit Mantle - Mantle not only lets you get around a wall of blockers late in the game but can turn your little creatures into recurring chump blockers if you need to buy some time. The numbers vary based on how many creature based decks are in your meta.
0-3 Unflinching Courage - I was skeptical about this card when I first picked up this deck but this Armadillo Cloak knockoff serves many purposes. It's Rancor, Spiritlink, and part of a Carapace. This is perfect if your meta is full of Burn, Zoo, and Affinity decks.
0-4 Keen Sense - The older versions of this deck used to run 4 of these. It's good against grindy control decks. Now you might see one or two in the main deck or a couple in the SB. I was running two until realized it wasn't helping my bad matchups and I was constantly boarding them out. It's a fun card to play and could be useful if the Modern meta shifts away from the explosive linear decks we're seeing in early 2016.
0-2 Spirit Link - This is another meta call. I typically find coronet and courage give me adequate life gain but if your meta is full of Burn it could be nice to have.
0-2 Battle Mastery - This is rarely played. It could be a solution if you just need to go balls to the wall and double your damage. This could be viable against creature-light decks like Scapeshift and Tron.
0-2 Fists of Ironwood - This is likely to be played in the sideboard, if at all. If your meta is full of decks running 4 Lilis then go for it. It would be nice if it had Flash or put creatures into play each time you attacked. The picture shows it giving the creature a gigantic fist but this is obviously false advertising because you don't get +2/+0, just Trample and some lame saplings.
Other Spells
0-4 Path to Exile - Most decks run 3 of these. They are great for removing pests like Spellskite, Ravenger, Wormcoil Engine, Tarmogoyf, etc. I often board them out, Game 2, to bring in more specialized hate.
0-3 Suppression Field - This is an annoying card for a lot of decks to play around. I have yet to test this maindeck myself but I keep a few in my SB. It disrupts fetchlands, manlands, Scavenging Ooze, Tron's shitty little artifacts, most of Affinity's artifacts, planewalkers, Aether Vial, equipment, etc. After reading this list I'm starting to think I should test it maindeck. However, it's going to tax your own fetchlands and Horizon Canopy's draw ability.
Lands
You want 18-20 lands (not counting Dryad Arbor). I wouldn't run anything less than 18 lands and 2 Arbor or more than 20 lands and 2 Arbor. I feel 19-20 lands and 1 Dryad Arbor is optimal.
0-2 Plains
1-2 Forest
2-4 Temple garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Windswept heath
0-4 other green fetchlands. - These will find Dryad Arbor, Forest, or Temple Garden.
0-4 Horizon Canopy - I know these are expensive as hell right now but they are great in this deck. You can run the whole deck off 2 or 3 lands so having the ability to cycle these late in the game is very beneficial. Of course, many people play this deck because it is relatively cheap and having canopy isn't mandatory.
Here's some other lands people run: white fetchlands, Wooded Bastion, Khalni Garden, Brushland, Canopy Vista
3. Sideboard Choices
When sideboarding with Bogles it may be tempting to remove a lot of auras to bring in several sideboard cards. However, removing too many auras can end up crippling your own offensive strategy, especially if your deck is only running 22-25 auras. Bogles is a tight deck so knowing which cards to take out is almost as important as deciding what to bring in. In addition, you always want to consider what your opponent is bringing in. For example, if you are facing Scapeshift (a creature light deck) and you decide to board out your Path to Exiles for some Leyline of Sanctity, you will likely have zero answers if they bring in Spellskite. I will go over what to bring in and take out in the Matchups section.
Leyline of Sanctity - If you're running these you should be running 4. You want to maximize the odds this card is in your opening hand because you might be dead before you have enough lands to hard cast it. The obvious time to bring this in is against a burn deck. In addition to shutting down lightning bolt to the face, it's also great against decks that run discard, like Thoughtseize and Inquisition. If your opponent is on the play they could potentially take your only creature or your only enchantment before you even get a turn. Leyline also shuts down Liliana of the Veil, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Grapeshot, and Vendilion Clique's ability.
Stony Silence - I prefer this over spot removal like Nature's Claim for decks that run many artifacts like Affinity and RG Tron as well as decks running Aether Vial or Spellskite. In certain matchups you force your opponent to deal with Stony Silence or lose.
Suppression field - As I mentioned before, this card disrupts a wide variety of strategies. Suppression field is used to slow down your opponent long enough for you to win. However, late in the game, decks like Tron, Jund, or Abzan will have enough mana to play around it.
Pithing Needle - This is a versatile card that can be used to shut off your opponent's means to disrupt you. You'll find yourself naming Spellskite (drink every time I mention Spellskite in this article and you won't be able to drive), Liliana, Karn Liberated, Ugin the 1CMC Destroyer Dragon, Aether Vial, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Engineered Explosives.
Gaddock Teeg - This grumpy Kithkin grandpa can put many of your opponent's strategies on hold until they can deal with him. He's even better if your opponent boarded out their targeted spot removal. He shuts down win-cons like Scapeshift, Gifts Ungiven, Collected Company, Chord of Calling and Through the Breach. He prevents Planeswalkers like Ajani Vengeant, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Karn Liberated. He also stops control like Cryptic Command, Damnation, Engineered Explosives, and Supreme Verdict.
Rest in Peace - Persistent graveyard hate that's also an enchantment. There aren't many graveyard based decks in early 2016 (aside from those that run Goryo's Vengeance or Living End) but RIP shuts off cards like Snapcaster Mage, Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Lingering Souls' flashback, Gurmag Angler and could be viable against a deck like Abzan, Jeskai Control, and Grixis Control.
Grafdigger's Cage - While it doesn't shrink Goyf or prevent your opponent from delving, Cage prevents creatures that ETB from libraries. This is great against Collected Company or Kiki-Chord decks. Also be aware that Cage will not stop Living End.
Spellskite - (Drink!) If you can't beat 'em join 'em. It's great against the mirror and also unexpected. Spellskite helps one of Hexproof's toughest matchups: Infect. However, Infect is may be prepared for Spellskite, with cards like Twisted Image.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast - This is a cheaper and more resilient option against Infect than Spellskite but if you have enough Infect in your meta to consider playing her you might just want to avoid playing Hexproof altogether.
Fog / Moment's Peace / Holy Day - Infect and aggro decks will probably swing away, undeterred by your open mana. "Hexproof doesn't have any tricks up their sleeve," they'll think to themselves, "The worst they can do is cast Path to Exile!" then BOOM you hit 'em with one of these old school instants while all their creatures are swinging for lethal. Very situational but very unexpected.
Torpor Orb - This is so you can bring in 4 Phyrexian Dreadnoughts game two. Actually, it's great against decks with many ETB effects, like GW Hatebears. However, it won't stop effects that say "When you cast..." so most of the Eldrazi cards are unaffected by Orb.
Nature's Claim - This good for dealing with a few problem artifacts like Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, Cranial Plating, and Spellskite. Natural State can also deal with the smaller problematic artifacts and auras in the mirror match. Oh and we can't forget Troll Worship which is apparently a thing now...
Dismember - Creature removal without the drawback of giving your opponent a land. I'm not entirely sure which decks this is most useful against.
Retether - Perfect for those late game attrition battles. Unfortunately it does not work with Daybreak Coronet unless the creature had an aura prior to casting Rether.. Imagine how fun this card would be if it was an instant.
Some other options: Dromoka's Command, Seal of Primordium, Nevermore, Grand Abolisher, and Relic of Progenitus
4. Sample Deck Lists
Reid Duke - 2nd Place at Worlds 2013
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
4 Keen sense
3 Unflinching Courage
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Forest
1 Wooded Bastion
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Suppression Field
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Path to exile
2 Dismember
1 Grafdigger's Cage
Comments: Reid Duke knew his meta well and set his list up to have good matchups against control decks. This is evident from his 4 Spiritdancers, 4 Keen Sense, and 4 Horizon Canopy to ensure a steady supply of draws throughout the game. There's a video on YouTube of him playing best of 5 against a UWR Control deck in the finals. I'll post a link if I can find it.
Ellen Cantor - 5th Place at StarCityGames.com Premier IQ on 8/9/2015
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
2 Keen Sense
3 Path to Exile
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Spirit Mantle
1 Forest
2 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothils
SB
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Torpor Orb
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Suppression Field
2 Nature's Claim
2 Gaddock Teeg
Comments: I picked this deck because she wrote an entertaining and informative tournament report Here (https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/3gh8zd/how_i_stumbled_my_way_into_5th_of_a_modern_iq/). You can see she expected a creature heavy meta and packed 4 Spirit Mantles. Also we see a full 4 Horizon Canopy. The sideboard is Ok but I would make a few changes. I think there are better options than Qasali Pridemage (perhaps Seal of Primordium) and I recommend running 4 Leylines if you're going to run any. But overall, this deck worked well for her.
Seth Mansfield - 1st Place at SCG World Championship on 8/27/2015
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
1 Glaring Aegis
4 Daybreak Coronet
1 Spirit Mantle
3 Unflinching Courage
3 Path to Exile
1 Forest
2 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Seal of Primordium
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
3 Suppression Field
2 Gaddock Teeg
Comments: Here's a first place list from a major SCG event in August of 2015. He's running 20 lands +1 Arbor. He also included Glaring Aegis in the deck which I think is nice 1CC aura worth trying. His SB favors Stony Silence and Seal of Primordium over Nature's Claim.
Ei Yong Ahn - 5th Place at StarCityGames.com Invitational Qualifier on 1/30/2016
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Gladecover Scout
2 Kor Spiritdancer
2 Silhana Ledgewalker
2 Dryad Arbor
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
1 Keen Sense
4 Daybreak Coronet
2 Spirit Mantle
1 Spirit Link
1 Unflinching Courage
3 Path to Exile
1 Forest
2 Plains
2 Canopy Vista
1 Flooded Strand
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Mana Confluence
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pithing Needle
2 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
2 Natural State
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Path to Exile
Comments: I picked this list because it was one of the most recent lists to place in a Top 8 (from when I wrote this primer). It is also a unique list. We see a 2 and 2 split between Spiritdancer and Ledgewalker. I like this, especially in a meta with more spot removal. I have also seen splits with various other numbers of both cards. His mana-base looks like it was thrown together in a hurry. Canopy Vista and Mana Conflunce are just not optimal choices in this deck. He would have been better off if he had 4 Razorverge Thickets. This manabase is also 18 lands and 2 Arbor, which I think is pretty greedy. I like his SB. I think we'll be seeing more lists running Pithing Needle in the future.
(Matchup Analysis continued in the first post below)