You do need to have some amount of board presence established for this to end the game, but it doesnt take too many creatures for this to overwhelm a table beneath a flurry of hooves, paws, and other things to make a lake of your table
Unlike the lightning-fast Mono-Red Aggro mirrors, the first game between the matching decks stalled while Rood's Portolan took the second game with a quick rush of Otters and aggro, and as the players moved to their fairly different-looking sideboards it was time to see who had the best post-board plans, where the Otters were once again key
Gurgi is Common, so easy to pull or trade for, but he isnt what this deck needs
So you might have Ariel Whoseit Collector on the board and use Work Together to give her the Support keyword
Maarika, Brutal Gladiator / Zangief, the Red Cyclone Maarika, Brutal Gladiator is the Universes Within version of Zangief, the Red Cyclone from the Secret Lair x Street Fighter drop