It Ain’t Easy Being Green

It’s been a long, hard couple of months after making top eight in back-to-back tournaments with my Mono-Green Beast Wars deck that I discussed here. Since then, I’ve been to two more PTQs and GP Cincinatti, but was unable to recapture the success I previously had with the deck. However, some others had quite a bit of success with different versions of Mono-Green.

Immediately after my first article went up, Stephen Girdner revised the list to his liking and made top eight of a PTQ.

[deck title=Mono-Green Aggro by Stephen Girdner]

[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
3 Swordwise Centaur
2 Gyre Sage
4 Boon Satyr
2 Renegade Krasis
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
4 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Enlarge
[/Spells]

[Land]
3 Mutavault
20 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Pithing Needle
1 Tower Defense
2 Witchstalker
1 Bramblecrush
4 Nylea’s Disciple
1 Enlarge
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Later he revised it further and won a Magic Online Premier Event with it.

[deck title= Mono-Green Aggro by Stephen Girdner (TurboG73)]

[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Experiment One
4 Kalonian Tusker
3 Swordwise Centaur
2 Gyre Sage
4 Boon Satyr
4 Witchstalker
2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
3 Polukranos, World Eater

1 Mistcutter Hydra
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Bow of Nylea
[/Spells]

[Land]
3 Mutavault
20 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Ranger’s Guile
1 Pit Fight
2 Tower Defense
1 Renegade Krasis
3 Nylea’s Disciple
2 Bramblecrush
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Mason Lange made the top eight of an SCG Open with a very different version.

[deck title=Mono-Green Aggro by Mason Lange]

[Creatures]
4 Brushstrider
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Experiment One
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Reverent Hunter
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Slaughterhorn
4 Boon Satyr
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
2 Mending Touch
1 Ranger’s Guile
[/Spells]

[Land]
19 Forest
4 Mutavault
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Dryad Militant
4 Mistcutter Hydra
4 Nylea’s Disciple
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Mending Touch
1 Bramblecrush
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Recently, even Raphael Levy has taken up the Mono-Green mantle with this list.

[deck title= Raphael Levy – Mono Green Aggro]

[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Spire Tracer
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Burshstrider
4 Kalonian Tusker
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Reverent Hunter
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
3 Giant Growth
1 Ranger’s Guile
[/Spells]

[Land]
2 Mutavault
16 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
2 Mutant’s Prey
2 Ranger’s Guile
2 Hunt the Hunter
1 Gyre Sage
2 Plummet
1 Scavenging ooze
1 Skylasher
2 Unravel the Aether
1 Tower Defense
1 Reverent Hunter
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

What comes next for Mono-Green, you ask? Well, I’m not entirely sure, but there are a ton of options including a splash with any other color. I’ll be covering what I would do with the deck with each color combination and a straight Mono-Green update below.

[deck title= Blue Splash]

[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Kiora’s Follower
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Boon Satyr
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Simic Charm
2 Bow of Nylea
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Breeding Pool
2 Temple of Mystery
4 Mana Confluence
3 Mutavault
10 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Setessan Tactics
2 Simic Charm
3 Witchstalker
4 Nylea’s Disciple
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The blue splash offers a couple interesting options for the main including [card]Kiora’s Follower[/card] for ramp/defensive purposes, and [card]Simic Charm[/card] which does absolutely everything you could want a card to do in this deck. The only real issue the blue splash has is that it can’t protect itself from [card]Supreme Verdict[/card], and that is a problem if control decks become more popular.

[deck title= Black Splash]

[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Swordwise Centaur
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Boon Satyr
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Bow of Nylea
2 Putrefy
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple of Malady
4 Man Confluence
3 Mutavault
10 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Thoughtseize
3 Golgari Charm
2 Putrefy
4 Nylea’s Disciple
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The black splash doesn’t offer much in the main deck outside of removal like [card]Putrefy[/card], but it does offer the best sideboard options of any of the color splashes. You gain protection from [card]Supreme Verdict[/card] with [card]Thoughtseize[/card] and [card]Golgari Charm[/card], and access to more removal with [card]Putrefy[/card]. I tried some of the various other removal earlier in the season, but [card]Ultimate Price[/card] and [card]Doom Blade[/card] were just too narrow when I needed to hit various threats. I came to the conclusion that [card]Putrefy[/card], which can hit pretty much anything, was the best option available.

[deck title= Wite Splash]

[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Boon Satyr
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Bow of Nylea
2 Selesnya Charm
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Temple Garden
2 Temple of Plenty
4 Mana Confluence
3 Mutavault
10 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
3 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Deicide
3 Banishing Light
3 Ready//Willing
4 Nylea’s Disciple
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The white splash adds the second best sideboard options, and one of the best main deck cards among any of the versions of Mono-Green. Adding a card like [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] adds a lot of protection against decks like Mono-Black Devotion, Esper Control, and U/W Control. The sideboard all-stars in this version are [card]Banishing Light[/card], allowing you to deal with nearly anything, [card]Deicide[/card], which lets you deal with those pesky [card]Detention Sphere[/card]s and gods, and [card]Ready // Willing[/card], allowing you to survive board wipes and occasionally get value with the other half.

[deck title= Red Splash]
[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Boon Satyr
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
4 Domri Rade
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Stomping Ground
2 Temple of Abandon
4 Mana Confluence
3 Mutavault
10 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
4 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Setessan Tactics
4 Witchstalker
4 Nylea’s Disciple
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The red splash adds a lot to the main deck, but nothing relevant to the sideboard. Adding [card]Ghor-Clan Rampager[/card] adds the much-needed effect of allowing you to push through your opponent’s creatures with your efficient monsters. Speaking of which, [card]Domri Rade[/card] gives you a steady stream of gas that can push you through those board stalemates and wrath effects.

[deck title= Mono-Green]
[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Swordwise Centaur
4 Reverent Hunter
4 Boon Satyr
3 Nylea, God of the Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Setessan Tactics
2 Bow of Nylea
[/Spells]

[Land]
3 Mutavault
20 Forest
[/Land]

[Sideboard]
4 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Ranger’s Guile
2 Plummet
2 Setessan Tactics
2 Witchstalker
3 Nylea’s Disciple
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

And finally, the mono-green version, which has the benefit of a mana base that won’t occasionally slow you down or cost you a bunch of life. This will likely be very relevant for the first few weeks of the format, as players like to push the most aggressive strategies available until those decks get put in check. The only card this version of the deck really gained is the green [card]Wrath of God[/card] in [card]Setessan Tactics[/card]. The biggest issue the mono-green deck faced before was its inability to remove threats from the board, but with [card]Setessan Tactics[/card], you not only get that ability, but you can now have an additional pump spell in the deck to push through those final points of damage.

That’s all I have for now. I’m very excited for the prospects of Mono-Green Aggro in the near future, and hopefully you are as well. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below and I will try my best to give you an answer.

Thanks for reading,

Josh Milliken

@joshuamilliken on Twitter

P.S. – Hail Hydra!

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2 comments on It Ain’t Easy Being Green

  1. George N. says:

    I was playing with your original list to great success at my local FNM’s. With the new set out, I messed around with the devotion deck from Saito and found it to be very unreliable. Don’t get me wrong, some turns it went off. I want to thank you for the article and hope to bring feedback of my own results.

    1. Josh says:

      Actually, I won an SCG Invitational Qualifier on the 11th with the Mono Green list and then made top 8 of Columbus States this past weekend with it.

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