Hag: I was sure I'd get a non-result as I thought every Hag was partially Black...and honestly, I basically did. But, there are two eligible Hags in
Brine Hag and
Scarwood Hag. Brine Hag is a clear winner as a 2/2 blocker that will turn everyone that kills her into useless 0/2s (although notably, they keep their type and abilities). That's funny, but she's 4 mana and that only triggers when she dies from damage dealt. This is a great, obscure thing to dig out with Volo but if you're looking to just Fog some attacks there's a lot of superior competition.
Halfling: Thanks to Forgotten Realms, Halflings are finally in MtG!
Gretchen Titchwillow,
Alora, Merry Thief, and
Erinis, Gloom Stalker are all legendary and wouldn't be great in multiples even if we could.
Prosperous Innkeeper is awesome though; a
Soul Warden effect in a totally no-competition typing that even comes with some one-shot ramp (or is effectively "free" post-Volo). While not an autoinclude, this little halfling will make every Volo deck a bit more cozy.
Hamster: Sorry,
boo - you aren't the right colors to join Volo's menagerie.
Harpy: Another D&D classic that won't be appearing here - most Harpies are part black, and apparently "Sirens" are different despite looking a lot like Harpies to me (at least on Ixalan). Oh well, I won't harp on it much longer.
Hellion: Exclusively red, we won't be getting to say hell-o to them here.
Hippo: I think one should try to get a Hippopotamus for Volo-mas. The most popular and only real include currently is
Keruga, the Macrosage and I've already discussed Keruga as a "meh" card imo. I think
Pygmy Hippo seems a spicy alternative, stealing mana to ramp into big stuff or even Volo. Overall though, Africa's most dangerous wild animal isn't necessarily a must-play in Volo.
Hippogriff: Diet Griffins are not that exciting for Volo, especially since a lot of "gryffs" are typed out as Chimeras or Griffins instead. It's a battle between limited chaff
Galedrifter (hard pass) and our winner by default,
Wretched Gryff which is an acceptable cantrip creature if you don't care about the Eldrazi competition.
Homarid: I was gonna try and say, with a straight face, that
Deep Spawn was an underplayed gem for Volo and I just...I can't. Paying more for a
Colossal Dreadmaw is so blah. Technically for some strategies, that forced mill is a "don't threaten me with a good time" sort of drawback. But...it's eight freakin' mana. Honestly, all of these weird old lobster folk are unplayable with
Homarid Explorer (the most recent, natch) being the closest to playable as a hill giant that can fill your 'yard.
Homunculus: These little dudes have some surprising value, if you're interested. First and foremost, if you just want
Elvish Visionary without the elf typing, there's
Fblthp, the Lost and
Oculus. That's the most popular set of homunculi to include, but if you're into mill,
Doorkeeper and
Riddlekeeper are interesting and nice in multiples. For artifact.dec Volo,
Filigree Attendant is a nice little scaling beater. For my money, I kind of dig
Bonded Fetch as a hasty looter in a competition-free typing. None of these are essential, flashy, or exciting - but they're all solid little roleplayers to fill out a menagerie, if you need them. Boring but functional - a perfect fit for Homonculi.
Horror: Try not to be too afraid of the shocking amount of powerful options amid this type. First up is
Murkfiend Liege, a great fun card that's even more fun in multiples and gets truly crazy if you have enough Flash enablers and/or creatures with interesting tap-abilities. Murkfiend Liege single-handedly (fin-edly? Hoof-edly?) could combine with
Opposition to make for a savage lockdown, and just pumping out +2/+2-+4/+4 to your crew is still good. Two monoblue newcomers are also popular Volo inclusions for removal on a stick -
Mindflayer is a D&D Icon and a "control magic on a stick", while
Sludge Monster lets you get ahead on board by sliming the competition. Those are the only three on the page for Volo, and clear frontrunners. The power of this trio is also their lack of competition type-wise, something that rules out the next best folks (
Chasm Skulker,
Phyrexian Revoker,
Psychosis Crawler,
Spellskite, and
Froghemoth - note for those middle three that a "Phyrexian" typing is new to them). Horror is a broad type covering most aberrations, and your Volo deck should for sure include one.
Horse: I look at these horses, these horses aren't amazing. Most horses in Magic have a secondary type like "Elemental" or "Spirit" or "Illusions" that can make it tricky to include. For pure horse power, I think the winner is
Workhorse. With +1/+1 counter synergy especially, this is "free" and it's a ritual with Volo out. For multi-typed horses, I will mention again
Wavebreak Hippocamp as an interesting Fish Horse for Flash or Enchantress spins on Volo, and for other fun stuff
Phantom Steed is interesting for a populate or sacrifice shenanigan engine.
Hydra: Hail hydras! Green's iconic is also a mythology and D&D Staple that no menagerie is complete without. The most popular inclusion is
Apex Devastator, who I mentioned in "Chimeras". I think this card is overplayed - no doubt it's insanely powerful, and Volo will double all the critters cascaded into, but you won't get 8 cascades. It's definitely great as "Primal Surge #2" for a Primal Surge-styled Volo deck, but it's not a must-run in my opinion. For my money, I really like the humble power of
Managorger Hydra as a big beater. Volo Enthusiasts agree and that's the only other Hydra that rates on EDHRecs, but I think two more are strong contenders.
Ulvenwald Hydra isn't a "ramp" card at six mana, but it's great to double and a great include to a landfall-y Volo deck in particular. There's also
Kalonian Hydra, which is nutty in duplicates. If you get two and then attack, they both go up to 16/16! HM is actually
Voracious Hydra as a possible "removal on a stick"; I greatly prefer it to
Hydroid Krasis (too many types on the typeline) and
Steelbane Hydra (which I generally find very overrated and inefficient as a naturalize creature). Finally, two dark-hydra budget nods to
Thunderous Snapper (as a weaker
Beast Whisperer type effect) and
Nessian Wilds Ravager which is the best stats-to-CMC EtB Fight Creature (at the expense of tribute, but then at least you're getting lots of stats).
Hyena: Sadly, the only black-border Hyena in Simic colors doesn't get a chuckle out of me as
Gibbering Hyenas is old, bad draft chaff. If your opponents allow Unsets,
Laughing Hyena is the other option but Gotcha! Is a brutally unfun mechanic and the opposite of what a Hyena should encourage.