Gitrog isn't afraid to dance on the knife's edge and get rid of your most valuable game pieces---including the very lands that allow you to cast spells at all---in exchange for completely different pieces
You might just find your new favourite card shop
Ashaya will usually be a big creature, so cards that scale based on power and toughness are excellent
A creature with Protection from a quality, let's say a colour for simplicity, can't be targeted by spells and abilities of that colour (like Shroud, that's regardless of who controls them)
This deck all about X costs in cards, and Hydras happen to be the best Magic creatures in these colors for X
Jozu helps shift the field presence in your favor, and if you use a cost-reduction card, you can remove a high-cost carry from play, putting your opponent behind on the field