Hey everyone! It has been a long time since I have last played MtG and I thought I would get back into the fun of playing casually (very casual). I was thinking of putting together a Mono-Green Ramp deck on a budget. I only have a very few cards, as I got rid of my collection a while ago (which was never really that big to begin with).
I would absolutely love some feedback and suggestions - I have tried to find similar deck ideas on these forums, too. I will list the deck idea and then the other cards that I either have (not many) or considered within the theme.
The catch is, any suggested cards need to be < $1 (each) - as part of the budget aspect of the deck.
There were two avenues for ramp that I was considering. This was the one that I committed to. The "ramp" for this deck accelerates creature play via the Sol Rings / Emerald Medallions reducing/chipping away at colorless costs - which is also why I tried to go with creatures that have more colorless in the cost. The Elvish Piper has a big target on her back, but that may also work to draw out removal and/or force my opponent to deal with her (which may be a waste of a card)... ideally getting her out on T2. One likely opponent plays black a lot, so I included Lifeforce as a sideboard.
I also have considered (and have) the following cards, if any of these might be more suitable replacement.
SELVAXRI! King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers "Do ya feel lucky? Because you'd better start runnin' while you still can." 375 Misfortune {+3 signed AP's} & 104 Rocket Launcher (41 AQ/ 63 Rev) Edgar Rice Burroughs, forgotten legend of the word.
First off, we'd need to know which format you intend to play. Since you posted this in the multiplayer section of the forums, I assume you want this deck to perform well in multiplayers. Also, Sol Ring is restricted in every format where it is legal. I assume that you want your deck to be vintage-legal. So drop the number of sol rings to 1.
I would play Frontier Siege over Explosive Vegetation to get 4 extra mana per turn and the possibility to have 2 mana on the turn that i play the card.
Primordial Ooze is a red card, do you mean Predator Ooze ? ...I would replace the oozes by something that allows you to draw cards, you dont have any card that make you draw in your deck so I fear that you wont come back in the game after a Wrath of God or something similar.
I know two good affordable cards to make you draw...Momentous Fall (2$) (which you use at instant-speed when one of your creature is targeted by a removal spell) and Elemental Bond (0.26$). The Elemental bond has a great synergy with Rampaging Baloths. If you ever consider adding red and blue to your deck, Temur Ascendancy (0.44$) has an even better synergy with the baloths and Prophet of Kruphix (0.90$) is a great card to abuse the Ascendancy or the Elemental bond.
You deck will most likely be better by adding 2 more Sylvan Primordial...your playgroup might hate you though =)
Emerald Medallion does not trigger any landfall, you can go with Nature's Lore (1$) instead to have a good 2-cost card...the forest also comes into play untapped. Other good choices are Kodama's Reach (1.81$) and Cultivate (1.50$).
Plated Slagwurm seems weaker than the rest of your deck...it doesnt have trample, it's costy to play and it doesnt interract with landfall. I would remove these if you needed anything else to remove.Blastoderm (0.18$) could be a nice mid-game addition to ensure that you live to see the long game even if you are a bit mana-short. You dont want a full hand of 6+ cards if you are stuck at 4 mana.
In my playgroup, Elvish Piper tends to die before it loses summon sickness. I would rather run more cards that allow you to search your library for lands to put into play.
Dense Foliage (0.77$) could allow better protection for your creatures if you feel you need it.
First off, we'd need to know which format you intend to play. Since you posted this in the multiplayer section of the forums, I assume you want this deck to perform well in multiplayers. Also, Sol Ring is restricted in every format where it is legal. I assume that you want your deck to be vintage-legal. So drop the number of sol rings to 1.
Actually, this would be super casual (I was posting more for the "casual" side of the casual & multiplayer forum). I thrifted some of the cards - Sol Rings included, so the idea is it would keep me somewhat "competitive". So, 4x Sol Ring is agreeable. Otherwise, I am really not too concerned about legalities since I do not plan to take this one outside of those casual games!
I picked a lot of inexpensive ($) hexproof / indestructible cards because my main opponent uses a lot of creature abilities to that deck's advantage (RB vampire). While there is some removal, which is what I am concerned about, I think it has a lot to do with the creatures that get played.
Elvish Piper was on the list as much to force it to be dealt with. Those probably are wasted cards, though - I guess I figured I could get lucky and have her stick around 1 turn to crank out a big bad.
Blastoderm is harder to deal with if you expect a lot of removal.
I play casual too but no one in my playgroup would agree to someone playing multiple copies of obviously restricted cards...just make sure you let your playgroup know that you are running 4 Sol ring in your deck to prevent awkward situations where you get accused of cheating or where your opponent(s) ragequit.
The Dense Foliage seems a good option then...your Rampaging Baloths will require some protection. Remember to keep a land in hand and to announce that you play your land right after the baloths come into play...that way, your opponents have no way to kill your baloths before you play your land so they cannot prevent you from getting your 4/4 token even if they have a Sudden Spoiling or Swords to plowshares in their hand.
You can get additional land fetches for landfall triggers of Rampaging Baloths by using fetchlands. I'm not talking Wooded Foothills and the like here, not even Evolving Wilds, but rather the Alara Panoramas, specifically the three that can fetch Forests: Bant Panorama, Naya Panorama, and Jund Panorama. Those can be tapped for mana themselves, so they don't slow you down. They can also fetch a land for more landfall if you have some mana to spare, which will be the case in many games from a certain point on.
What about Scute Mob or Vinelasher Kudzu as cheap "chump" blockers that can ramp up real quick? It seems to work well with the other landfalls, etc. I would just have to survive to the upkeep (if I have the lands out)
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True, Leatherback Baloth does look like it would work well with the card draw.
I guess the trick with Myriad Landscape is that it enters tapped, whereas Bant can be used right away. On the other hand, 2x Land for Myriad is probably worth the 1-turn delay.
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I would suggest to play 0-1 copies of Sol Ring, as the card is totally overpowered. You playgroup might be ok with it, but the only logic consequence is that every player will have four copies in his deck. Green has access to the next best thing: Joraga Treespeaker.
If you want to ramp, it is best to set up a ramping chain.
T1 Llanowar Elves into T2 Cultivate gives you 5 mana on turn three. Sakura-Tribe Elder is a great card, but you don't tap the full potential in mono-green.
Decks that ramp have a lot of 'dead draws'. Adding some draw is usually a good idea. Harmonize is a popular option. Skullclamp works too, but the card is banned in some formats. Equipment can also help with dead draws.
Dense Foliage is not that great, imho. I think that Vines of Vastwood is vastly superior.
Your opponent will only have that much targeted removal. And if you need to cast it to protect the fat cards, you lose a lot of tempo. This is costly for archetypes that don't develop a lot of board. It also doesn't protect against mass removal.
Another alternative could be to play additional fatties instead. Blastoderm is cheap and effective.
I would stay away from lands that come into play tapped.
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These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
Quilt has a point in green ramp getting alot od dead draws after the initial ramping, sicne the ramp cards don't have much impact anymore. To lessen that issue Hunting Wilds could replace Explosive Vegetation. While it only grabs Forests, that's not an issue in your deck, and those Forests don't even have to be basic, so you can tutor Sapseep Forest or other nonbasic Forests from your deck. And getting two 3/3 haste creatures in the late game can very well spell victory.
Yeah, Sol Ring is definitely okay for this casual play - I will have 3 alternates in place if/when it needs to phase out. Right now, the understanding is that having the full playset makes up for some of the card disadvantage of not having $$$ cards and a deep pool to play against like my opponent[s].
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I actually like the suggestion for Dense Foliage for one of my primary opponents. He runs two decks that do a lot of spell shenanigans - like a "Heroic" deck from the Theros sets ... using spells to bulk up cards with counters by triggering the ability. In a way, that shuts that deck down to just the creatures, since quite a few of the spells are not meant to target the opponent's cards.
But, I definitely understand how it is situational. Asceticism seems to come up a lot as a better version ... but it comes at a much, much higher cost ($$$).
Mana Ramp 4 Sol Ring (yep, still good - will replace with 3 other cards when the time comes) 4 Explosive Vegetation (will replace with Skyshroud Claim or Hunting Wilds if/when $) 4 Vernal Bloom (trade/sell 4 Elvish Piper)
Creatures 2 Scute Mob (or 2 Vinelasher Kudzu to go along with Avenger and Landfall theme) 2 Scryb Ranger (I like the land shenanigans that these can pull, I think it could give them a better mid/late-game appeal than other chump blockers) 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Leatherback Baloth (for the early solid creature) 4 Rampaging Baloths 2 Gaea's Revenge (may replace with 2x Avenger of Zendikar for more Landfall goodness and if/when $)
Protection 4 Dense Foliage (replace with 4 Ascetitism if/when $$)
Card Draw 4 Harmonize (or 4 Elemental Bond, which works well with Baloths)
I tried to scale back the mana-curve on this deck a lot. I think the Landfall spam potential can work well to be a lot more early/mid-game aggressive, but has the normal weakness to wipes, etc.
I dropped Llanowar Elves because of the problem that seemed to be mentioned frequently: once the mana ramp is kicking, they don't particularly do much. Since I am comping 4x Sol Rings, I think Llanowar Elves might not be necessary in the ramp. I also think having a mana doubler like Vernal Bloom will play to the Landfall style more than the elves (no one else plays Green). I will just not have that potential ramp advantage that a T1 Forest -> Llanowar Elves brings for T2.
Would Gaea's Blessing be worth a look here? It seems like I would be able to retrieve some of my cards post-board wipe and still get a draw out of it. Maybe include 2?
Blastoderm over Vernal Bloom...you dont have that many strong creatures...I count only 10...and you dont need tons of mana anyway, you wouldnt know what to do with it.
I'd run Steely Resolve over Asceticism if you have money to get one or the other...since 3GG is a lot to pay for protection while 1G if very affordable (It's exactly for that reason that I have a playset of Privileged Position rotting in my trade binder. The card is strong but it costs way too much to play). Of course, that also means you will have to focus your deck on the beast theme.
Where are the Sylvan Primordial ? ...that card is a perfect fit in your deck...you have nothing to deal with non-creature permanents (what are you gonna do if I play Ensnaring Bridge, Meekstone, etc...), it triggers your landfall (get 4 lands if you have 4 opponents) and it adds a decent threat in your deck (you have only 10 of these right now)
To give you some additionnal ideas, here is my mono-green deck:
Good points. I will drop out the cheap blockers and add Primordial back in. I had considered Scryb Ranger because of the land ability - moreso than the other bits. Mainly, they still have some value later in the game with being able to pick up a land and drop it again ... triggering Rampaging Baloths and Avenger of Zendikar (when it gets added someday down the road).
I picked Vernal Bloom because the gears were already turning trying to replace Sol Ring (x3) andLlanowar Elves (since they become just chump blockers later in the game) and for use with Lifeforce (my brother plays predominantly Black) and Ascetitism (for the Regenerate effect). If I went with double mana, the bigger creatures are probably a bit easier to crank out with what I have.
Green Sun's Zenith also looks like a nifty use of that extra mana (of course, it would have to wait for now)
I just wanted to update between Elemental Bond and Harmonize. In the deck I was vacuum testing (on ManaStack), Elemental Bond accelerates like no one's business. So long as I can get one out on T2 or T3, everything just gets crazy.
I don't have these cards ... just something I was playing around with ...
I included Cultivate so it can come out a turn sooner if needed (slow start). I really have no target-creature spells, so Dense Foliage works in a pinch for a lot less than Asceticism.
Burn spells are popular with the few I play with, so I thought Vigor would be a great buff card ... at least in theory (getting one is another story).
I have been testing this one sided - so only can anticipate the opponent - but, with shielding out (Aceticism or Dense Foliage), this deck can crank out 15~20 4/4 or stronger creatures by T10.
Since you've added some money cards, use that budget to get some Skyshroud Claim over Hunting Wilds...the lands come into play untapped...id even play it over Vernal Bloom...you risk helping your opponent with Bloom...you should run more Primeval Titan instead if you want more mana....you'll reach the 6 mana easily anyway.
3 Dense Foliage and 2 Asceticism is too much...just run 3 of one of the two cards...you dont need that many. As you said, Asceticism costs too much so Foliage would be better.
Raise your number of lands to at least 22...the deck will run more smoothly.
I dont like Defense of the Hearth in your deck...you should focus on cards that interact well with your deck, instead of protecting from a potential threat that might never come. This card could be almost useless against decks with few creatures. You should play more cards that bring lands into play...a playset of Sakura-Tribe Elder for example...they protect against early-game attacks (you block and then sacrifice to get your land before damage is dealt) and it triggers Rampaging Baloths in the end game which will also trigger Elemental Bond...so you could get a land, a 4/4 and a card draw (or more !) out of this if all goes well.
Definitely. I "added" money cards ... but not really, yet. Still just cobbling together a budget deck for now. But, I was trying to build a fun Timmy mono-Green deck - and this gives something to shoot for.
Part of the reason I included Defense of the Heart is to help with a slow start. I tried this deck out on ManaStack and noticed there are times where I can get to 3~4 mana and then it "stalls" for a few turns (like T3 - T4) until I get a little more card draw. The thought was DotH helps with that threat of cheating in the big creatures (especially aggro, but not limited to that). But yeah, mid to late game it is essentially useless with the amount of creature churn that happens.
I was also considering possibly adding in Concordant Crossroads to help run the board when the card-draw bomb hits with all of the landfall/Elemental Bond shenanigans.
Similarly, Gelatinous Genesis seems to be a great sideboard card to handle a deck with board wipes (white/black). With the mana engine running, I could hope to hold onto a GG and spring it right after the board gets wiped. After about 8 turns, the mana ramp is so high I could spring something between 10 10/10 to 15 15/15 oozes. With a carefully timed crossroads, that would seem to be a hard counter to board wiping.
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I was also considering possibly adding in Concordant Crossroads to help run the board when the card-draw bomb hits with all of the landfall/Elemental Bond shenanigans.
Similarly, Gelatinous Genesis seems to be a great sideboard card to handle a deck with board wipes (white/black). With the mana engine running, I could hope to hold onto a GG and spring it right after the board gets wiped. After about 8 turns, the mana ramp is so high I could spring something between 10 10/10 to 15 15/15 oozes. With a carefully timed crossroads, that would seem to be a hard counter to board wiping.
The drawback of Concordant Crossroads is that your opponents will also have haste...you see what's best for you.
I'm surprised to hear that you are playing with a sideboard...I thought this was a casual deck and usually casual decks dont run sideboards unless they are playing a wish card (such as Living Wish).
Gelatinous Genesis could be ok in your deck would be to dump 7 mana in it to get 3 3/3 oozes and draw 3 cards with Elemental Bond in play. If you need cards to help against decks with a lot of board wipes, you should play things like Cauldron of Souls or Mimic Vat.
this would be super casual (I was posting more for the "casual" side of the casual & multiplayer forum). I thrifted some of the cards - Sol Rings included, so the idea is it would keep me somewhat "competitive". So, 4x Sol Ring is agreeable. Otherwise, I am really not too concerned about legalities since I do not plan to take this one outside of those casual games!
Do you not see the irony in running 4 Sol Rings in a "casual" setting? It's fine if your playgroup is OK with that, but it's the opposite of casual. You're doing it because it's competitive.
Yes, I do - the Sol Ring's will be dropped once I have assembled a more competent deck (like the idea above). Right now, the Sol Ring's are the best thing I have going for me ... otherwise it's a bunch of 0.01 thrifted cards against some stiff competition. It makes it more of a challenge for my opponent[s] - otherwise, I'd be getting tabled on T3~T5 (even casually).
I fully intend to drop that down to 1x as soon as I start putting this deck together.
I was also considering possibly adding in Concordant Crossroads to help run the board when the card-draw bomb hits with all of the landfall/Elemental Bond shenanigans.
Similarly, Gelatinous Genesis seems to be a great sideboard card to handle a deck with board wipes (white/black). With the mana engine running, I could hope to hold onto a GG and spring it right after the board gets wiped. After about 8 turns, the mana ramp is so high I could spring something between 10 10/10 to 15 15/15 oozes. With a carefully timed crossroads, that would seem to be a hard counter to board wiping.
The drawback of Concordant Crossroads is that your opponents will also have haste...you see what's best for you.
I'm surprised to hear that you are playing with a sideboard...I thought this was a casual deck and usually casual decks dont run sideboards unless they are playing a wish card (such as Living Wish).
Gelatinous Genesis could be ok in your deck would be to dump 7 mana in it to get 3 3/3 oozes and draw 3 cards with Elemental Bond in play. If you need cards to help against decks with a lot of board wipes, you should play things like Cauldron of Souls or Mimic Vat.
Good call. I actually found Concordant Crossroads in a random box - a legacy from when I played 20-some years ago. I was not sure if it would help seal the deal. It's definitely a gamble, since if the attack fails/stalls, it's going to come back to bite hard. I guess it would be best to leave it out.
As far as side board. I didn't really know what was protocol. [Back in the day] When I used to play, it seemed like a common thing. I figured it would just include a few extra color-hate cards to switch out depending on who I am playing (like 2 cards or so).
Gelatinous Genesis was an idea to counter a wipe; although, on second thought, the engine might actually make this a bad idea. By the time the card would be useful (in the way I had thought of using it), my deck might be drawn down pretty far to the point where springing the oozes could mill me out.
I would absolutely love some feedback and suggestions - I have tried to find similar deck ideas on these forums, too. I will list the deck idea and then the other cards that I either have (not many) or considered within the theme.
The catch is, any suggested cards need to be < $1 (each) - as part of the budget aspect of the deck.
20 Forest
Ramp
4 Sol Ring
4 Emerald Medallion
4 Explosive Vegetation
2 Gaea's Touch
Mana Dorks and Accelerants
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Piper
4 Rampaging Baloths
4 Primordial Ooze
2 Acidic Slime
Big Bads
4 Gaea's Revenge
2 Plated Slagwurm
2 Sylvan Primordial
4 Whirlwind
4 Lifeforce
There were two avenues for ramp that I was considering. This was the one that I committed to. The "ramp" for this deck accelerates creature play via the Sol Rings / Emerald Medallions reducing/chipping away at colorless costs - which is also why I tried to go with creatures that have more colorless in the cost. The Elvish Piper has a big target on her back, but that may also work to draw out removal and/or force my opponent to deal with her (which may be a waste of a card)... ideally getting her out on T2. One likely opponent plays black a lot, so I included Lifeforce as a sideboard.
I also have considered (and have) the following cards, if any of these might be more suitable replacement.
Thank you - and I appreciate your help!
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Land Grant is a powerful card in mono-green ramp
King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers
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I would replace Llanowar Elves with Sakura-Tribe Elder...it's a good blocker and in the end game, it interracts well with Rampaging Baloths.
I would play Frontier Siege over Explosive Vegetation to get 4 extra mana per turn and the possibility to have 2 mana on the turn that i play the card.
Primordial Ooze is a red card, do you mean Predator Ooze ? ...I would replace the oozes by something that allows you to draw cards, you dont have any card that make you draw in your deck so I fear that you wont come back in the game after a Wrath of God or something similar.
I know two good affordable cards to make you draw...Momentous Fall (2$) (which you use at instant-speed when one of your creature is targeted by a removal spell) and Elemental Bond (0.26$). The Elemental bond has a great synergy with Rampaging Baloths. If you ever consider adding red and blue to your deck, Temur Ascendancy (0.44$) has an even better synergy with the baloths and Prophet of Kruphix (0.90$) is a great card to abuse the Ascendancy or the Elemental bond.
You deck will most likely be better by adding 2 more Sylvan Primordial...your playgroup might hate you though =)
Emerald Medallion does not trigger any landfall, you can go with Nature's Lore (1$) instead to have a good 2-cost card...the forest also comes into play untapped. Other good choices are Kodama's Reach (1.81$) and Cultivate (1.50$).
Plated Slagwurm seems weaker than the rest of your deck...it doesnt have trample, it's costy to play and it doesnt interract with landfall. I would remove these if you needed anything else to remove.Blastoderm (0.18$) could be a nice mid-game addition to ensure that you live to see the long game even if you are a bit mana-short. You dont want a full hand of 6+ cards if you are stuck at 4 mana.
In my playgroup, Elvish Piper tends to die before it loses summon sickness. I would rather run more cards that allow you to search your library for lands to put into play.
Dense Foliage (0.77$) could allow better protection for your creatures if you feel you need it.
Actually, this would be super casual (I was posting more for the "casual" side of the casual & multiplayer forum). I thrifted some of the cards - Sol Rings included, so the idea is it would keep me somewhat "competitive". So, 4x Sol Ring is agreeable. Otherwise, I am really not too concerned about legalities since I do not plan to take this one outside of those casual games!
I picked a lot of inexpensive ($) hexproof / indestructible cards because my main opponent uses a lot of creature abilities to that deck's advantage (RB vampire). While there is some removal, which is what I am concerned about, I think it has a lot to do with the creatures that get played.
Elvish Piper was on the list as much to force it to be dealt with. Those probably are wasted cards, though - I guess I figured I could get lucky and have her stick around 1 turn to crank out a big bad.
Would Leatherback Baloth fit the mid-cost toughness?
Thank you both!
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I play casual too but no one in my playgroup would agree to someone playing multiple copies of obviously restricted cards...just make sure you let your playgroup know that you are running 4 Sol ring in your deck to prevent awkward situations where you get accused of cheating or where your opponent(s) ragequit.
The Dense Foliage seems a good option then...your Rampaging Baloths will require some protection. Remember to keep a land in hand and to announce that you play your land right after the baloths come into play...that way, your opponents have no way to kill your baloths before you play your land so they cannot prevent you from getting your 4/4 token even if they have a Sudden Spoiling or Swords to plowshares in their hand.
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What about Scute Mob or Vinelasher Kudzu as cheap "chump" blockers that can ramp up real quick? It seems to work well with the other landfalls, etc. I would just have to survive to the upkeep (if I have the lands out)
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20 Forest
2 Bant Panorama
Mana Ramp
4 Sol Ring
4 Explosive Vegetation (I like having the Landfall option here]
Mana Dorks / Accelerants
4 Llanowar Elves
Useful Chump Blockers
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Scute Mob
2 Predator Ooze
4 Rampaging Baloths
2 Gaea's Revenge
4 Sylvan Primordial
Protection
4 Dense Foliage
Card Draw
4 Elemental Bond
4 Lifeforce
4 Whirlwind
4 Tsunami
4 Elvish Piper
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Dawntreader Elk, Leatherback baloth, Blastoderm
Myriad Landscape over Bant Panorama ?
Nature's Lore over Llanowar Elves ?
I guess the trick with Myriad Landscape is that it enters tapped, whereas Bant can be used right away. On the other hand, 2x Land for Myriad is probably worth the 1-turn delay.
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If you want to ramp, it is best to set up a ramping chain.
T1 Llanowar Elves into T2 Cultivate gives you 5 mana on turn three.
Sakura-Tribe Elder is a great card, but you don't tap the full potential in mono-green.
You can then follow up with strong 5-mana spells. Acidic Slime, Nissa, Vital Force, Verdurous Gearhulk, Whisperwood Elemental, Wolfir Silverheart, Oversoul of Dusk and Deity of Scars come to mind.
The problem with the seven-mana fatties is that they require another round of acceleration to cast them. That's a lot of rounds of doing nothing.
Decks that ramp have a lot of 'dead draws'. Adding some draw is usually a good idea. Harmonize is a popular option. Skullclamp works too, but the card is banned in some formats. Equipment can also help with dead draws.
Dense Foliage is not that great, imho. I think that Vines of Vastwood is vastly superior.
Your opponent will only have that much targeted removal. And if you need to cast it to protect the fat cards, you lose a lot of tempo. This is costly for archetypes that don't develop a lot of board. It also doesn't protect against mass removal.
Another alternative could be to play additional fatties instead. Blastoderm is cheap and effective.
I would stay away from lands that come into play tapped.
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Yeah, Sol Ring is definitely okay for this casual play - I will have 3 alternates in place if/when it needs to phase out. Right now, the understanding is that having the full playset makes up for some of the card disadvantage of not having $$$ cards and a deep pool to play against like my opponent[s].
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But, I definitely understand how it is situational. Asceticism seems to come up a lot as a better version ... but it comes at a much, much higher cost ($$$).
Blastoderm does seem pretty potent, too.
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20 Forest
2 Bant Panorama
Mana Ramp
4 Sol Ring (yep, still good - will replace with 3 other cards when the time comes)
4 Explosive Vegetation (will replace with Skyshroud Claim or Hunting Wilds if/when $)
4 Vernal Bloom (trade/sell 4 Elvish Piper)
Creatures
2 Scute Mob (or 2 Vinelasher Kudzu to go along with Avenger and Landfall theme)
2 Scryb Ranger (I like the land shenanigans that these can pull, I think it could give them a better mid/late-game appeal than other chump blockers)
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Leatherback Baloth (for the early solid creature)
4 Rampaging Baloths
2 Gaea's Revenge (may replace with 2x Avenger of Zendikar for more Landfall goodness and if/when $)
4 Dense Foliage (replace with 4 Ascetitism if/when $$)
Card Draw
4 Harmonize (or 4 Elemental Bond, which works well with Baloths)
4 Lifeforce
4 Tsunami (4 Choke if/when $)
4 Whirlwind
4 color-hate of choice
I tried to scale back the mana-curve on this deck a lot. I think the Landfall spam potential can work well to be a lot more early/mid-game aggressive, but has the normal weakness to wipes, etc.
I dropped Llanowar Elves because of the problem that seemed to be mentioned frequently: once the mana ramp is kicking, they don't particularly do much. Since I am comping 4x Sol Rings, I think Llanowar Elves might not be necessary in the ramp. I also think having a mana doubler like Vernal Bloom will play to the Landfall style more than the elves (no one else plays Green). I will just not have that potential ramp advantage that a T1 Forest -> Llanowar Elves brings for T2.
Would Gaea's Blessing be worth a look here? It seems like I would be able to retrieve some of my cards post-board wipe and still get a draw out of it. Maybe include 2?
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Nature's Lore or Dawntreader Elk over Scute Mob (dies easily to removal) and Scryb Ranger (You have nothing worth untapping)
I'd run Steely Resolve over Asceticism if you have money to get one or the other...since 3GG is a lot to pay for protection while 1G if very affordable (It's exactly for that reason that I have a playset of Privileged Position rotting in my trade binder. The card is strong but it costs way too much to play). Of course, that also means you will have to focus your deck on the beast theme.
Elemental Bond over Harmonize: Put more big creatures and abuse of them
Where are the Sylvan Primordial ? ...that card is a perfect fit in your deck...you have nothing to deal with non-creature permanents (what are you gonna do if I play Ensnaring Bridge, Meekstone, etc...), it triggers your landfall (get 4 lands if you have 4 opponents) and it adds a decent threat in your deck (you have only 10 of these right now)
To give you some additionnal ideas, here is my mono-green deck:
4 Joraga Treespeaker
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
2 Eternal Witness
4 Blastoderm
1 Kodama of the North Tree
2 Primeval Titan
1 Gaea's Revenge
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Sol Ring
4 Skullclamp
2 Lightning Greaves
1 Mindslaver
Enchantment (1)
1 Zendikar Resurgent
Spells (6)
2 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Beast Within
1 Tooth and Nail
1 All is Dust
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
Lands (20)
2 Maze of Ith
18 Forest
I only play 1 Sylvan Primordial because we restricted it in my playgroup...we consider it too strong to run more than 1 per deck.
I picked Vernal Bloom because the gears were already turning trying to replace Sol Ring (x3) and Llanowar Elves (since they become just chump blockers later in the game) and for use with Lifeforce (my brother plays predominantly Black) and Ascetitism (for the Regenerate effect). If I went with double mana, the bigger creatures are probably a bit easier to crank out with what I have.
Green Sun's Zenith also looks like a nifty use of that extra mana (of course, it would have to wait for now)
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I don't have these cards ... just something I was playing around with ...
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Leatherback Baloths
4 Rampaging Baloths
2 Primeval Titan
2 Sylvan Primordsal
2 Vigor
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (the hand-cast win con, with acceleration gets out on T5 or T6)
2 Asceticism
3 Dense Foliage
2 Defense of the Heart (aggro prevention)
3 Vernal Bloom
4 Elemental Bond
2 Cultivate
2 Hunting Wilds (also triggers Elemental Bond)
2 Green Sun's Zenith
Artifacts
1 Sol Ring (okay, I finally gave up the 4x)
Lands
20 Forest
I included Cultivate so it can come out a turn sooner if needed (slow start). I really have no target-creature spells, so Dense Foliage works in a pinch for a lot less than Asceticism.
Burn spells are popular with the few I play with, so I thought Vigor would be a great buff card ... at least in theory (getting one is another story).
I have been testing this one sided - so only can anticipate the opponent - but, with shielding out (Aceticism or Dense Foliage), this deck can crank out 15~20 4/4 or stronger creatures by T10.
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3 Dense Foliage and 2 Asceticism is too much...just run 3 of one of the two cards...you dont need that many. As you said, Asceticism costs too much so Foliage would be better.
Raise your number of lands to at least 22...the deck will run more smoothly.
I dont like Defense of the Hearth in your deck...you should focus on cards that interact well with your deck, instead of protecting from a potential threat that might never come. This card could be almost useless against decks with few creatures. You should play more cards that bring lands into play...a playset of Sakura-Tribe Elder for example...they protect against early-game attacks (you block and then sacrifice to get your land before damage is dealt) and it triggers Rampaging Baloths in the end game which will also trigger Elemental Bond...so you could get a land, a 4/4 and a card draw (or more !) out of this if all goes well.
Part of the reason I included Defense of the Heart is to help with a slow start. I tried this deck out on ManaStack and noticed there are times where I can get to 3~4 mana and then it "stalls" for a few turns (like T3 - T4) until I get a little more card draw. The thought was DotH helps with that threat of cheating in the big creatures (especially aggro, but not limited to that). But yeah, mid to late game it is essentially useless with the amount of creature churn that happens.
Thanks!
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Similarly, Gelatinous Genesis seems to be a great sideboard card to handle a deck with board wipes (white/black). With the mana engine running, I could hope to hold onto a GG and spring it right after the board gets wiped. After about 8 turns, the mana ramp is so high I could spring something between 10 10/10 to 15 15/15 oozes. With a carefully timed crossroads, that would seem to be a hard counter to board wiping.
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The drawback of Concordant Crossroads is that your opponents will also have haste...you see what's best for you.
I'm surprised to hear that you are playing with a sideboard...I thought this was a casual deck and usually casual decks dont run sideboards unless they are playing a wish card (such as Living Wish).
Gelatinous Genesis could be ok in your deck would be to dump 7 mana in it to get 3 3/3 oozes and draw 3 cards with Elemental Bond in play. If you need cards to help against decks with a lot of board wipes, you should play things like Cauldron of Souls or Mimic Vat.
Yes, I do - the Sol Ring's will be dropped once I have assembled a more competent deck (like the idea above). Right now, the Sol Ring's are the best thing I have going for me ... otherwise it's a bunch of 0.01 thrifted cards against some stiff competition. It makes it more of a challenge for my opponent[s] - otherwise, I'd be getting tabled on T3~T5 (even casually).
I fully intend to drop that down to 1x as soon as I start putting this deck together.
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Good call. I actually found Concordant Crossroads in a random box - a legacy from when I played 20-some years ago. I was not sure if it would help seal the deal. It's definitely a gamble, since if the attack fails/stalls, it's going to come back to bite hard. I guess it would be best to leave it out.
As far as side board. I didn't really know what was protocol. [Back in the day] When I used to play, it seemed like a common thing. I figured it would just include a few extra color-hate cards to switch out depending on who I am playing (like 2 cards or so).
Gelatinous Genesis was an idea to counter a wipe; although, on second thought, the engine might actually make this a bad idea. By the time the card would be useful (in the way I had thought of using it), my deck might be drawn down pretty far to the point where springing the oozes could mill me out.
Thanks!
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