I have been playing Werewolves in standard lately and it remains pretty much intact with rotation. Starting off with a comprehensive deck while everyone else is figuring out can get you some quick wins until the meta starts to form then you can start playing with the numbers and sideboard.
My first real commander deck is Radha. The reason why is to have a Turn 2 accelerant 100% as long as you have the correct colors, I'll get into that later, so that you can replace those 2 drop ramp cards with more impactful spells.
With that I have 15 ramp spells that give me 2 or more mana on Turn 3 with odds of 70%/82% (in hand to start the game/ hoping to draw into one by Turn3).
I am playing all the spells that can give me lands as I want to minimize the chance to be set back by having artifacts or creatures destroyed.
So my game plan is to go "2-4-6+" by turn 4. I play as many flash enablers as possible as it helps play around wraths, counters, gives Pseudo-haste and allows you to play tricks to would be attackers. My main goal is to get Archetype of Endurance in play first then Nyxbloom Ancient followed by Seedborn Muse or a flash enabler. Vigor and Apex Altisaur are high on the list and I want to live the dream of using Finale of devastation to find Pathbreaker Ibex and have all my creatures swing for at least +23/+23 and trample. Kogla, Titan Ape can return Eternal Witness and Druid of Purification to my hand.
Opening hand with 2 lands=80%, 3 lands by T3=78%. Turn 2 ramp =100%. Turn 3 ramp adding 2 or more mana on Turn 4 = 70/82% (in hand to start the game/ hoping to draw into one by Turn3).
Having or drawing a 6 or 7 drop by T4=81% plus 97% chance to have any combination of TWO cards at CMC 2-4*(have to recalculate)
Stats derived from: https://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx
One minor hypothetical problem I have is the percentage of unfavorable outcomes to cast Radha on T2. 23% chance to get 2 lands that are either: double green, double red, double colorless or single red/green and colorless.
2xG=20%
2xCL=1%
2R=0% (rounded up)
1G1CL=41*19=8%
1R&1CL=13*19=3%
But favorable outcomes are:
Green & Red, Green & a Duel, Red & a Duel or both Duels.
In my opening hand the odds of having:
at least 1 of 14 Mono Green sources is 67%.
at least 1 of 2 Mono Red sources is 14%.
at least 1 of 17 Duel sources is 75%
at least 2 of 17 Duels sources is 34%
Having G&Red is 67%*14%=9%.
Having G&Duel is 67%*77%=52%.
Having Red&Duel is 14%*77%=11%.
Probability of at least 1 combination happening is: .67*.14*.75*34=.95(I feel like I messed up some where) https://www.calctool.org/CALC/math/probability/4_events
Please let me know your thoughts as I am a new Commander player. Any suggestions?
Maybe board
Choose your weapon is gone since its cheaper to cast against Jeskai control and uptick in artifacts in the meta
I love Ulvenwald Oddity but between Chariot, invoke and Froghemoth it doesn't make the cut for me.
At the moment I think InvoKe the Ancients is better than Unnatural growth and Wrenn and Seven
Had to make room for Invoke the Ancients so -1 Snakeskin Veil and -2 inscription of Abundance.
So far I like Invoke the Ancients and Spring Leaf-Avenger.
Invoke is simple, 8 power for 5 mana that can block fliers if you want with reach or stomp with trample (vigilance the other option). I dont know if Mono Green would want this card but it deserves to be tested. Questions, is it better than Wrenn and Seven or Unnatural Growth? I think with 4 Chariot it just might be! Three 4/5 Trample tokens on Turn 5? yes please.
Spring-Leaf looks sexy because of the thought of dropping a 6/5 on turn 4. Its 6-X damage on turn4 where X= the damage from the creature you picked up. So hopefully that creature has a good ETB ability. For example your unblocked Ascendant Packleader goes unblocked, ninja the Spring-leaf in so you increase your damage by 4 picking up your wolf that you can play next turn making it a 3/2
Tamiyo's Safekeeping is a card that could replace snakeskin veil or be used inaddition to as it gives indestructibility not only to creatures but to any permanent.
Boseiju, Who Endures could maybe be a 2 of in the deck? This is GREAT to blow up man lands!
Update 2/17/22
Spring-Leaf did have the feel I was hoping it to have. Times I had it I didnt have anything in the graveyard and some other times I felt like I could get it in only if I sacrificed another better creature.
With the up tick of control decks I have a 2/2 spilt on Snakeskin veil and Tamiyo's Safekeeping.
Invoke the ancients is awesome of course, dies to Path of Peril where as Froghemoth or ulvenwald oddity wouldn't but they have to have it.
Boseiju is great of course
Another card I am currently testing is Reckoner Bankbuster Attack for 4 on T3! with some card draw late game or when there is a larger creature in the way. That list is as follows:
Something I wanted to bring up and discuss is the manabase. I see many mana bases with 5+ manlands (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-mono-green-aggro-znr#online)and I feel that incorrect. I feel one of the advantages to playing green the low true land count you can get away with due to the "MDFCs" (Modal Double Faced Cards).
It is an advantage to be able to play so many man lands but when the decks main removal spells REALLY wants 3 snow permanents by T3 playing anything but a snow covered forest and put you a turn behind.
Also Green has a lot of mana sinks in the form of Wolfpack Leaders ability, kicked inscription, leveling up ranger class, keeping 2 lands untapped for a dead troll and keeping lands untapped maintaining one's board presence with snakeskin and or inscription.
I only run 20 forest and only 2 faceless haven then 4 Mammoths for a total land count of 26 but enough forest to be able to have blizzard brawl on T3 and be able to Cast Troll. In my opinion this is the ideal land count as you have enough forests for your blizzard brawl as early as turn 3,have a land to put a dead troll on or to untap with sculptor. I think the only advantage manlands provide is against complete control with I dont think is necessary considering the current meta.
Whatcha think? Agree or disagree?
With Crimson Vow coming out so far we have a new 1 drop that will speed the deck up, Ascendant Packleader and Reclusive Taxidermist that gets bigger late game. I am removing 3 Wrenn and Seven and 1 Primal adversary moving the adversary and 2 Wrenn or Unnatural Growth to the Sideboard in place of 1 Tajuru Blightblade, 1 Tangle Trap and 1 Froghemoth. Other deck options so far are: Retrieve, Ulvenwald Oddity and Cemetery Prowler. The question is as always, what to take out of the deck for cards like Oddity and Prowler?
Current deck list so far
I REALLY like Ulvenwald Oddity and will be brewing a Mono Green or Gruul Haste list with that in it. Cemetery Prowler seems good but is it better than Briarbridge tracker or Primal Adversary? Im guessing not; it can not crew Chariot either. Retrieve might be a nice 1 of against removal heavy decks getting back Chariot and a creature of choice.
11/14:I have been testing Reclusive Taxidermist a lot and have decided it is not better than Sculptor. The biggest factor was the -1 power and the interaction with fight spells. There also enough spells in the meta that exile your creatures either in play or in the grave so that is always a bummer.
Make sure to follow the current #1 Green Mage: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/sj0G1Ch1t
Three Pro players showed up to Magic's last "Worlds" event with mono Green and the new major upgrade is Sculptor of Winter as the 2 drop accelerant to Esika's Chariot. The 2/2 body is better than the other options, mainly Lotus Cobra and Tangle Florahedron, it can untap a forest with Old-Growth Troll on it and it is a snow permanent which helps trigger Blizzard Brawl. The only other argument I see for any other option is Florahedron as you have the option to play it as a land. The other tech I saw was the sideboard Tajuru Blightblade presumably for the mono White/Green match ups, to slow them down, allow you to catch up.
My favorite Green list was Paulo's:
I am having the HARDEST time with Mono White and I am at the point where I want to shape my main board around that matchup then sideboard for others. I side in Tangle Trap for Mono White due to Reidane, God of the Worthy, Elite Spellbinder and Maul of the Skyclaves but also the possibility of legion Angel. I think sideboarding in 3 Snakeskin Veil is correct, maybe 4. Mono white has more 1 drops then mono Green therefore faster so it is advantageous for Green to paly spells that have a lower mana value. If White plays Brutal Cathar and or Skyclave Apparition and we negate it with a Snakeskin veil that is a large up tick in tempo since those creatures by themselves are smaller than ours and we will retain the creature for our removal. I think that is the reason Tajuru Blightblade is in the sideboard from the pro lists, for mono white and green, prevent them from attacking/slow them down.
10/20/21
I sideboarded Gnarled Professor out against every match seemingly and figure I have such a hard time against mono White that I should flex the main towards it more hoping to give me better odds at winning. So I added 1 veil and 1 inscription to the main to help against the more popular match ups and removed the Professor and Briarbridge tracker.
now playing:
I played this list on Arena's latest "Standard Metagame Challenge" with a few minor differences in the sideboard and went: 7-0, 3-1, 0-1, 5-1, 3-1, 7-0.
Im confident that this version is better than the one playing Unnatural Growth but I really like that card so right now my "Unnatural Green" List is:
So far with spoilers from Innistrad some cards to consider are Saryth, the Viper's Fang and Unnatural Growth. For Saryth I would -1 chariot and -1 inscription. Dont forget the synergy of Jaspera Sentinel giving deathtouch to a creature during blocks or for a fight spell to kill a larger creature.
For Unnatural Growth I would remove the same cards and the thought of playing Froghemoth after landing this card sound very attractive; something like +1 Professor, +2 Froghemoth for ultimate 'Timmyness'
Edit 9/13/21
Concerning Unnatural Growth I made this list:
I love the Idea of having Troll, Symmetrist or Professor in play then playing Unnatural growth, or having it in play then playing Froghemoth or Vorinclex!!!
Vs Control
-4 Blizzard Brawl, -1 Inscription of abundance, +2 Toski, +2 Froghemoth, +1 Snakeskin Veil.
Vs Dragons
+1 Plummet, -1 blizzard/inscription
Vs Mono Red or something aggressive also creature heavy decks
-1 vorinclex, +1 inscription
My list differs from top lists thus far. Here is the latest event I know of to this date:https://mtgazone.com/top-8-standard-2022-decks-tgs-open-8-22/
Most are not running Vorinclex and have too many man lands in my opinion. For example the 1st place list runs 8 man lands, 24 total lands but also 4 Mammoths so that is 8 lands that could delay blizzard brawl from doing its thing. Maybe the plan with a list like that is to use the man lands without reservation treating them more as creatures than lands. I am taking the approach to minimize total land count increasing spell count while maintaining maximum snow land count to enable blizzard brawl.
I dont think 4 Professors is the right number. Im surprised not to see Introduction of Annihilation in the sideboard. I think he should have a 2nd or 3rd Containment Breach removing the 3rd Toski and pest summoning. Maybe Pest summoning is better in blocking creatures then gaining life, but he already has access to 4 life gain spells and 8 removal spells so against aggressive decks pest summing shouldn't be needed.
The 3rd place list is closer to my main except this guy was running Froghemoth main over my Vorinclex and his land base is closer to mine. The main difference is the lack of though in my opinion on the sideboard.
So forgotten Realms has come out and with that Burning Hands has made a big impact and Naya Winota is the best deck. With that I think that my version or idea of running Vorinclex is negated at the thought of spending 6 mana to have it destroyed by a 2 mana instant. Moreover mono red will be a little faster with this direct removal and the game has to speed up with Winota being able to win on T4 and 5 with consistency.
With all the above being said i have switched over to a snow version with a lower mana curve and more removal:
Current deck list is:
If I were to stick with Vorinclex then my list would look like this with Realms of the forgotten out; -2 Old Growth Troll, +2 Werewolf Pack Leader, +2 Lair of the Hydra, -1 Crawling Barrens and -1 Forest = lowering the curve plus sideboard changes.
Current deck list is:
I kind of like Jims Version more to be honest. Perhaps you are trying to go more nuts but Jim's Version has a lot more resilience and reliability to it. I don't really like the high mana cost cards in your version I like all the 2-3-4 mana cards but once you go beyond that not a fan.
hmmm......ok. Im reviewing my deck taken what you said into consideration. I believe Vorinclex is unnecessary, Phylath too, Embercleave is probably "win-more", I have cast it but didnt do the math to determine if it mattered. I got the idea for Embercleave and Terror of Mt. Velus from Magda's 5 treasure ability but since excluding Jaspera Sentinel that doesn't come up much at all plus im more likely to use the treasures to cast spells. Henge can go own to 2 as I mentioned in the list. All being said I am going to try: -2 Vorinclex, -1 Henge, -1 Phylath, -1 embercleave, +2 Questing Beast, +3 Sentinel. New list:
I did notice a strict issue with fliers so Sentinel is very helpful there and Arasta of the Endless Web might be main deck worthy. I am going to pay closer attention to Zirda to see if her abilities are worth the slot over 1 Sentinel.
7/6 edit: Zirda's out, 4th Sentinel in, Henge and terror of mt velus out, going to 3 Esika and Birgi to ensure I see them more as having more mana to power to class 3 as soon as possible is more likily plus using their back sides are useful.
Leaving 1 vorinclex in as a way to search up purphoros if vivien is in play. Having haste on the turn you go off is a must.
first draft SB
7/22 edit: focusing on going off more than just playing hasty, -2 Questing Beast, -1 Vorinclex, -1 forest, +3 Kolvari, +1 Inferno, edited the SB
If I were to go 'Hasty' it would look like this:
Here is an absolute fun, glass cannon-ish Gruul deck that is new for standard. I found out about it on "CoolStuffInc." from MTG pro Jim Davis; Bard Class. Since running the deck a around 30 times I have made some changes and am having an absolute BLAST!
The goal is to have a hand with Bard class in it, don't be afraid to mull to 4, seriously, its that explosive! Turn 2 Bard Class, Turn3 pay RG to go to level 2 then hopefully you'll have some creatures to play and from there its all about putting your library in play.
I've seen Selesnya and Gruul deck guides on CFB Pro - why do you think the mono Green version is better than having another color in there?
The mana.....
With the new set I have not looked at any new brews so maybe something is out there but even with Pathways I had games where I would get tripped on color requirements with Gruul Adventures.
4 Ascendant Packleader
4 Kessig Naturalist
4 Outland Liberator
4 Tovolar, Dire Overlord
4 Reckless Stormseeker
2 Halana and Alena, Partners
3 Volatile Arsonist
Spells - 10
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
2 Unnatural Moonrise
4 Cathartic Pyre
2 Arlinn, the Pack's Hope
6 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Rockfall Vale
4 Karplusan Forest
2 Boseiju, Who Endures
3 Secluded Courtyard - Maybe 2 is right?
1 Ziatora's Proving Ground - duel with cycling
1 Jetmir's Garden
3 Plummet - fliers, obvious
3 Unlicensed Hearse - for any graveyard decks that might try to pop up
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping - control, heavy removal
1 Volatile Arsonist - control
1 Thundering Raiju - control
1 Ulvenwald Oddity - control
2 Vampires' Vengeance - small wide creature decks, just incase.
2 Tail Swipe - other midrange decks
I have been playing Werewolves in standard lately and it remains pretty much intact with rotation. Starting off with a comprehensive deck while everyone else is figuring out can get you some quick wins until the meta starts to form then you can start playing with the numbers and sideboard.
Latest decklist Post New Capenna
4 Ascendant Packleader
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
Spells - 18
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
1 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
3 Invoke the Ancients
18 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Boseiju, Who Endures
2 Lair of the Hydra
4 Outland Liberator - Runes, Anvil
3 Tangle Trap - Angels, Raffine, Dragons, maybe mono White for raydane, maul, portable hole, shield
3 Tajuru Blightblade - mono white, Runes and mirror
2 Froghemoth - control decks, black snow, flashback
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping - wrath decks to keep a creature alive
1 Inscription of Abundance - other creature decks, Meathook
My first real commander deck is Radha. The reason why is to have a Turn 2 accelerant 100% as long as you have the correct colors, I'll get into that later, so that you can replace those 2 drop ramp cards with more impactful spells.
With that I have 15 ramp spells that give me 2 or more mana on Turn 3 with odds of 70%/82% (in hand to start the game/ hoping to draw into one by Turn3).
I am playing all the spells that can give me lands as I want to minimize the chance to be set back by having artifacts or creatures destroyed.
So my game plan is to go "2-4-6+" by turn 4. I play as many flash enablers as possible as it helps play around wraths, counters, gives Pseudo-haste and allows you to play tricks to would be attackers. My main goal is to get Archetype of Endurance in play first then Nyxbloom Ancient followed by Seedborn Muse or a flash enabler. Vigor and Apex Altisaur are high on the list and I want to live the dream of using Finale of devastation to find Pathbreaker Ibex and have all my creatures swing for at least +23/+23 and trample.
Kogla, Titan Ape can return Eternal Witness and Druid of Purification to my hand.
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Prismatic Vista
11x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Cinder Glade
1x Highland Forest
1x Sheltered Thicket
1x Stomping Ground
1x Command Tower
1x Forbidden Orchard - for Defense of the heart
1x Fire-Lit Thicket
1x Spire Garden
1x Mossfire Valley
1x Karplusan Forest
1x Raging Ravine
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Castle Garenbrig
1x Mosswort Bridge
1x Turntimber Symbiosis // Turntimber, Serpentine Wood
1x Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
1x Inkmoth Nexus
1x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Winding Canyons
Creatures - 14
1x Archetype of Endurance
1x Nyxbloom Ancient
1x Seedborn Muse
1x Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1x Vigor
1x Pathbreaker Ibex
1x Cavalier of Flame
1x Hellkite Charger
1x Savage Ventmaw
1x Regal Behemoth
1x Greenwarden of Murasa
1x Eternal Witness
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Ulvenwald Hydra
1x Finale of Devastation
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Tooth and Nail
1x Shared Summons
Draw Spells - 7
1x Beast Whisperer
1x Garruk's Packleader
1x The Great Henge
1x Return of the Wildspeaker
1x Elemental Bond
1x Garruk's Uprising
1x Guardian Project
Flash Cards - 5
1x Yeva, Nature's Herald
1x Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
1x Arlinn, the Pack's Hope // Arlinn, the Moon's Fury
1x Vedalken Orrery
1x Panglacial Wurm - pet card
Saviors - 5
1x Warping Wail - 8 sources to cast, testing
1x Constant Mists
1x Heroic Intervention
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Wrap in Vigor
Ramp - 15
1x Tempt with Discovery
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Ranger's Path
1x Verdant Mastery
1x Hunting Wilds
1x Vastwood Surge
1x Terramorph
1x Migration Path
1x Explosive Vegetation
1x Circuitous Route
1x Llanowar Tribe
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Sol Ring
1x Hedron Archive
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
1x Woodfall Primus
1x Thorn Mammoth
1x Apex Altisaur
1x Domri, Anarch of Bolas
1x Druid of Purification
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Chaos Warp
1x Beast Within
1x Kamahl's Will
1x Kogla, the Titan Ape
1x Volcanic Offering
1x Vivien Reid
5 artifacts
5 enchantments
10 instants
16 Sorcery
5 planeswalkers
24 creatures + 5 tutor spells and turntimber symbosis
36 lands including spell lands
Opening hand with 2 lands=80%, 3 lands by T3=78%. Turn 2 ramp =100%. Turn 3 ramp adding 2 or more mana on Turn 4 = 70/82% (in hand to start the game/ hoping to draw into one by Turn3).
Having or drawing a 6 or 7 drop by T4=81% plus 97% chance to have any combination of TWO cards at CMC 2-4*(have to recalculate)
Stats derived from: https://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx
One minor hypothetical problem I have is the percentage of unfavorable outcomes to cast Radha on T2. 23% chance to get 2 lands that are either: double green, double red, double colorless or single red/green and colorless.
2xG=20%
2xCL=1%
2R=0% (rounded up)
1G1CL=41*19=8%
1R&1CL=13*19=3%
But favorable outcomes are:
Green & Red, Green & a Duel, Red & a Duel or both Duels.
In my opening hand the odds of having:
at least 1 of 14 Mono Green sources is 67%.
at least 1 of 2 Mono Red sources is 14%.
at least 1 of 17 Duel sources is 75%
at least 2 of 17 Duels sources is 34%
Having G&Red is 67%*14%=9%.
Having G&Duel is 67%*77%=52%.
Having Red&Duel is 14%*77%=11%.
Probability of at least 1 combination happening is: .67*.14*.75*34=.95(I feel like I messed up some where)
https://www.calctool.org/CALC/math/probability/4_events
Please let me know your thoughts as I am a new Commander player. Any suggestions?
Maybe board
1x Broken Wings
1x Asceticism
1x Act of Aggression
1x Burn Away
1x Chain Reaction
1x Clash of Titans
1x Deflecting Swat
1x Etali, Primal Storm
1x Fissure
1x Cinder Cloud
1x Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
1x Kenrith's Transformation
1x Kodama of the East Tree
1x Lignify
1x Patron of the Orochi
1x Ravager Wurm
1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
1x Song of the Dryads
1x Struggle // Survive
1x Tajuru Preserver
Latest decklist with new cards from Kamigawa
4 Ascendant Packleader
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
Spells - 18
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
1 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
3 Invoke the Ancients - Sweet ass card, great, 2 might be the right number
18 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Boseiju, Who Endures - GREAT card! 2 is just right
2 Lair of the Hydra
4 Outland Liberator - Selesyna enchantments, a LOT more artifacts and enchants in standard now
3 Froghemoth - control decks, black snow, flashback
3 Tangle Trap - dragons, mono White for fliers, portable hole and skyblade, shield
2 Tajuru Blightblade - mono white and mirror
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping - wrath decks to keep a creature alive
1 Inscription of Abundance - other creature decks
Choose your weapon is gone since its cheaper to cast against Jeskai control and uptick in artifacts in the meta
I love Ulvenwald Oddity but between Chariot, invoke and Froghemoth it doesn't make the cut for me.
At the moment I think InvoKe the Ancients is better than Unnatural growth and Wrenn and Seven
Had to make room for Invoke the Ancients so -1 Snakeskin Veil and -2 inscription of Abundance.
So far I like Invoke the Ancients and Spring Leaf-Avenger.
Invoke is simple, 8 power for 5 mana that can block fliers if you want with reach or stomp with trample (vigilance the other option). I dont know if Mono Green would want this card but it deserves to be tested. Questions, is it better than Wrenn and Seven or Unnatural Growth? I think with 4 Chariot it just might be! Three 4/5 Trample tokens on Turn 5? yes please.
Spring-Leaf looks sexy because of the thought of dropping a 6/5 on turn 4. Its 6-X damage on turn4 where X= the damage from the creature you picked up. So hopefully that creature has a good ETB ability. For example your unblocked Ascendant Packleader goes unblocked, ninja the Spring-leaf in so you increase your damage by 4 picking up your wolf that you can play next turn making it a 3/2
Tamiyo's Safekeeping is a card that could replace snakeskin veil or be used inaddition to as it gives indestructibility not only to creatures but to any permanent.
Boseiju, Who Endures could maybe be a 2 of in the deck? This is GREAT to blow up man lands!
Update 2/17/22
Spring-Leaf did have the feel I was hoping it to have. Times I had it I didnt have anything in the graveyard and some other times I felt like I could get it in only if I sacrificed another better creature.
With the up tick of control decks I have a 2/2 spilt on Snakeskin veil and Tamiyo's Safekeeping.
Invoke the ancients is awesome of course, dies to Path of Peril where as Froghemoth or ulvenwald oddity wouldn't but they have to have it.
Boseiju is great of course
Another card I am currently testing is Reckoner Bankbuster Attack for 4 on T3! with some card draw late game or when there is a larger creature in the way. That list is as follows:
4 Ascendant Packleader
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
2 Briarbridge Tracker - additional 3 drops that can crew bankbuster
3 Ulvenwald Oddity -
Spells - 17
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
3 Reckoner Bankbuster
4 Ranger Class
1 Inscription of Abundance
3 Esika's Chariot
17 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Lair of the Hydra - more chances to crew Bankbuster
2 boseiju, who endures
4 Outland Liberator - abundance of artifact and enchantment spells right now
3 Froghemoth - control decks, black snow, flashback
3 Tangle Trap - dragons, mono White for fliers, portable hole and skyblade, shield
2 Tajuru Blightblade - mono white and mirror
2 Tamiyo's Safekeeping - with more control comes more wraths
1 Inscription of abundance
It is an advantage to be able to play so many man lands but when the decks main removal spells REALLY wants 3 snow permanents by T3 playing anything but a snow covered forest and put you a turn behind.
Also Green has a lot of mana sinks in the form of Wolfpack Leaders ability, kicked inscription, leveling up ranger class, keeping 2 lands untapped for a dead troll and keeping lands untapped maintaining one's board presence with snakeskin and or inscription.
I only run 20 forest and only 2 faceless haven then 4 Mammoths for a total land count of 26 but enough forest to be able to have blizzard brawl on T3 and be able to Cast Troll. In my opinion this is the ideal land count as you have enough forests for your blizzard brawl as early as turn 3,have a land to put a dead troll on or to untap with sculptor. I think the only advantage manlands provide is against complete control with I dont think is necessary considering the current meta.
Whatcha think? Agree or disagree?
Current deck list so far
4 Ascendant Packleader
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
Spells - 18
4 Blizzard Brawl
3 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
3 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
20 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Lair of the Hydra
2 Froghemoth - control decks, black snow, flashback
2 Ulvenwald Oddity - control decks
2 Choose your weapon - Izzet, decks with fliers
2 Outland Liberator
2 Tangle Trap - dragons, mono White for fliers, portable hole and skyblade, shield
2 Tajuru Blightblade - mono white and mirror
1 Unnatural Growth - mirrors or other midrange creature decks
1 Primal Adversary - control
1 Snakeskin Veil - decks with hard removal
I REALLY like Ulvenwald Oddity and will be brewing a Mono Green or Gruul Haste list with that in it. Cemetery Prowler seems good but is it better than Briarbridge tracker or Primal Adversary? Im guessing not; it can not crew Chariot either. Retrieve might be a nice 1 of against removal heavy decks getting back Chariot and a creature of choice.
11/14:I have been testing Reclusive Taxidermist a lot and have decided it is not better than Sculptor. The biggest factor was the -1 power and the interaction with fight spells. There also enough spells in the meta that exile your creatures either in play or in the grave so that is always a bummer.
Make sure to follow the current #1 Green Mage: https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/sj0G1Ch1t
11/16: Many players are forgoing chariot for the Moose first published by: https://twitter.com/Rumti5/status/1459076279119056896
12/1: Chariot is too good, not playing any Oddity main but have 2 in the SB
2/3/22: Faceless is banned for some reason so they are replaced with Lair of Hydra.
My favorite Green list was Paulo's:
2 Tangled florahedron
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
1 Primal Adversary
Spells - 18
4 Blizzard Brawl
1 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
3 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
2 Wrenn and Seven
19 Snow Forest
4 Faceless Haven
3 Froghemoth
3 Snakeskin Veil
2 Tajuru Blightblade
2 Outland Liberator
1 Devouring Tendrils
1 Choose Your Weapon
1 Inscription of Abundance
1 Wrenn and Seven
1 Tovolar's Huntmaster
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
1 Primal Adversary
1 Briarbridge Tracker
1 Gnarled Professor - dont know if this makes the cut any longer
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
2 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
3 Wrenn and Seven
Lands - 22
20 Snow Forest
2 Faceless Haven
3 Froghemoth - control decks, blood in snow deck
2 Toski, Bearer of Secrets - control decks, decks without bounce or -X/exiling affects
2 Tangle Trap - dragons, mono White for fliers, portable hole and skyblade, dragons
2 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal protection from damage based removal
2 Snakeskin Veil - decks with hard removal
1 Choose your weapon - dragons
1 Containment Breach
1 Introduction to Annihilation - koma, multi-purpose
1 Mascot Exhibition
I am having the HARDEST time with Mono White and I am at the point where I want to shape my main board around that matchup then sideboard for others. I side in Tangle Trap for Mono White due to Reidane, God of the Worthy, Elite Spellbinder and Maul of the Skyclaves but also the possibility of legion Angel. I think sideboarding in 3 Snakeskin Veil is correct, maybe 4. Mono white has more 1 drops then mono Green therefore faster so it is advantageous for Green to paly spells that have a lower mana value. If White plays Brutal Cathar and or Skyclave Apparition and we negate it with a Snakeskin veil that is a large up tick in tempo since those creatures by themselves are smaller than ours and we will retain the creature for our removal. I think that is the reason Tajuru Blightblade is in the sideboard from the pro lists, for mono white and green, prevent them from attacking/slow them down.
10/20/21
I sideboarded Gnarled Professor out against every match seemingly and figure I have such a hard time against mono White that I should flex the main towards it more hoping to give me better odds at winning. So I added 1 veil and 1 inscription to the main to help against the more popular match ups and removed the Professor and Briarbridge tracker.
now playing:
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Sculptor of Winter
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
1 Primal Adversary
Spells - 21
4 Blizzard Brawl
3 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
3 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
3 Wrenn and Seven - maybe -1 +1 Unnatural growth?
20 Snow Forest
2 Faceless Haven
3 Froghemoth - control decks, black snow, flashback
3 Choose your weapon - Izzet and Black Snow
3 Tangle Trap - dragons, mono White for fliers, portable hole and skyblade, dragons
3 Tajuru Blightblade - mono white and mirror
1 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal protection from damage based removal
1 Snakeskin Veil - decks with hard removal
1 Primal Adversary - control
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Tangled florahedron
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
2 Briarbridge Tracker
2 Gnarled Professor
Spells - 20
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
2 Inscription of Abundance
4 Esika's Chariot
4 Wrenn and Seven
18 Snow Forest
2 Faceless Haven
4 Froghemoth - control decks, blood in snow deck
2 Toski, Bearer of Secrets - control decks, decks without bounce of -X/exiling affects
2 Tangle Trap- dragons (Maybe Plummet is better)
2 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal
2 Snakeskin Veil - decks with hard removal
1 Introduction to Annihilation - koma, multi-purpose
1 Containment Breach
1 Mascot Exhibition
I played this list on Arena's latest "Standard Metagame Challenge" with a few minor differences in the sideboard and went: 7-0, 3-1, 0-1, 5-1, 3-1, 7-0.
Im confident that this version is better than the one playing Unnatural Growth but I really like that card so right now my "Unnatural Green" List is:
3 Tangled Florahedron - trying to ramp to more T3 fatties
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
1 Primal Adversary - trying this out over a Master symmetrist
3 Gnarled Professor
2 Master Symmetrist - gives Mammoth & wolves trample
2 Froghemoth
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil - protect my fatties
4 Ranger Class
2 Inscription of Abundance
3 Unnatural Growth - maybe 2 is right but I want to draw them during this testing period
Lands - 21
19 Snow Forest
2 Faceless Haven
3 Outland Liberator
2 Toski, Bearer of Secrets - control decks
2 Plummet - dragons
2 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal
1 Froghemoth - blood in Snow, control
1 Snakeskin Veil
1 Containment Breach
1 Introduction to Annihilation - koma, multi-purpose
1 Mascot Exhibition
For Unnatural Growth I would remove the same cards and the thought of playing Froghemoth after landing this card sound very attractive; something like +1 Professor, +2 Froghemoth for ultimate 'Timmyness'
Edit 9/13/21
Concerning Unnatural Growth I made this list:
4 Jaspera Sentinel
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
4 Gnarled Professor - tool box to get what we might need game 1
2 Vorinclex, monstrous Raider - pet card, love it too much
Spells - 16
4 Blizzard Brawl
3 Snakeskin Veil - protect my fatties
4 Ranger Class
2 Inscription of Abundance
3 Unnatural Growth - maybe 2 is right but I want to draw them during this testing period
17 Snow Forest
3 Faceless Haven
2 Lair of the Hydra
2 Froghemoth - control decks
2 Outland Liberator
1 Plummet - dragons
1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets - control decks
1 Esika's Chariot - control decks, 'wide' decks
1 Snakeskin Veil - control decks
1 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal
2 Introduction to Annihilation - koma, multi-purpose
2 Expanded Anatomy
1 Containment Breach - decks with lots of Artifacts/enchants
1 Mascot Exhibition
I love the Idea of having Troll, Symmetrist or Professor in play then playing Unnatural growth, or having it in play then playing Froghemoth or Vorinclex!!!
I am starting this thread to start discussions of Mono Green headed into rotation. Here is my stating list:
+2 X: Main deck outland Liberator, Gnarlid Colony, Swarm Shambler, Deathbonnet Sprout
4 Jaspera Sentinel
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Old-Growth Troll
4 Kazandu Mammoth
3 Gnarled Professor - tool box to get what we might need game 1
2 Vorinclex, monstrous Raider - pet card, love it too much
Spells - 15
4 Blizzard Brawl
2 Snakeskin Veil
4 Ranger Class
2 Inscription of Abundance
3 Esika's Chariot
17 Snow Forest
3 Faceless Haven
2 Lair of the Hydra
2 Froghemoth - control decks
2 Outland Liberator - decks with arts and enchants
1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets - control decks
1 Esika's Chariot - control and 'wide' decks
1 Plummet - dragons
1 Snakeskin Veil - control decks
1 Inscription of Abundance - life gain/removal
2 Introduction to Annihilation - koma, multi-purpose
2 Expanded Anatomy
1 Containment Breach - decks with lots of Artifacts/enchants
1 Mascot Exhibition
-4 Blizzard Brawl, -1 Inscription of abundance, +2 Toski, +2 Froghemoth, +1 Snakeskin Veil.
Vs Dragons
+1 Plummet, -1 blizzard/inscription
Vs Mono Red or something aggressive also creature heavy decks
-1 vorinclex, +1 inscription
My list differs from top lists thus far. Here is the latest event I know of to this date:https://mtgazone.com/top-8-standard-2022-decks-tgs-open-8-22/
Most are not running Vorinclex and have too many man lands in my opinion. For example the 1st place list runs 8 man lands, 24 total lands but also 4 Mammoths so that is 8 lands that could delay blizzard brawl from doing its thing. Maybe the plan with a list like that is to use the man lands without reservation treating them more as creatures than lands. I am taking the approach to minimize total land count increasing spell count while maintaining maximum snow land count to enable blizzard brawl.
I dont think 4 Professors is the right number. Im surprised not to see Introduction of Annihilation in the sideboard. I think he should have a 2nd or 3rd Containment Breach removing the 3rd Toski and pest summoning. Maybe Pest summoning is better in blocking creatures then gaining life, but he already has access to 4 life gain spells and 8 removal spells so against aggressive decks pest summing shouldn't be needed.
The 3rd place list is closer to my main except this guy was running Froghemoth main over my Vorinclex and his land base is closer to mine. The main difference is the lack of though in my opinion on the sideboard.
With all the above being said i have switched over to a snow version with a lower mana curve and more removal:
Current deck list is:
4 Swarm Shambler - more creatures to mutate on, earlier aggression
4 Stonecoil Serpent - ignores Binding of the gods
4 Scavenging Ooze - main deck for rogues and cycling
4 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Lovestruck Beast
4 Kazandu Mammoth
4 Gemrazer
4 Blizzard Brawl
3 Primal Might - green Fireball
3 The Great Henge
Lands - 22
18 Snow forest
2 Faceless Haven
2 Lair of the Hydra - enables Lovstruck to attack
3 Weathered Runestone - for winota. Once they start packing Artifact hate we're screwed
2 Chainweb Aracnir - does work against Rogues
2 Thrashing Brontodon - cleave and henge
2 Questing Beast - control, Sultai
2 Garruk, Unleashed - control, Sulltai
2 Garruk's Harbinger - use against decks with heavy black removal
2 Ram Through - Winota, replaces primal might
If I were to stick with Vorinclex then my list would look like this with Realms of the forgotten out; -2 Old Growth Troll, +2 Werewolf Pack Leader, +2 Lair of the Hydra, -1 Crawling Barrens and -1 Forest = lowering the curve plus sideboard changes.
Current deck list is:
2 Swarm Shambler - more creatures to mutate on, earlier aggression
4 Stonecoil Serpent - ignores Binding of the gods
4 Scavenging Ooze - main deck for rogues and cycling
2 Werewolf Pack Leader
4 Tangled Florahedron - accelerate from 2 to 4, 4 to 6 for vorinclex with castle, enables lovestruck beast
4 Lovestruck Beast
4 Kazandu Mammoth
4 Gemrazer
3 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider
2 Ram Through - non-fight removal
2 Primal Might - green Fireball
3 The Great Henge
Lands - 20
13 forest
4 Castle Garenbrig
2 Lair of the Hydra
1 Bonder's Enclave
3 Weathered Runestone - Winota
2 Chainweb Aracnir - does work against Rogues
2 Thrashing Brontodon - cleave and henge
2 Questing Beast - control/Sultai
2 Garruk, Unleashed - control/Sultai
2 Garruk's Harbinger - use against decks with heavy black removal
1 Primal Might - creature matchups
1 Ram Through - creature matchups
hmmm......ok. Im reviewing my deck taken what you said into consideration. I believe Vorinclex is unnecessary, Phylath too, Embercleave is probably "win-more", I have cast it but didnt do the math to determine if it mattered. I got the idea for Embercleave and Terror of Mt. Velus from Magda's 5 treasure ability but since excluding Jaspera Sentinel that doesn't come up much at all plus im more likely to use the treasures to cast spells. Henge can go own to 2 as I mentioned in the list. All being said I am going to try: -2 Vorinclex, -1 Henge, -1 Phylath, -1 embercleave, +2 Questing Beast, +3 Sentinel. New list:
4 Jaspera Sentinel
4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
2 Gallia of the Endless Dance
2 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
2 Grumgully, the Generous
2 Klothys, God of Destiny
2 Radha, Heart of Keld - get those lands off the top out of the way!
3 Esika, God of the Tree - Vigilance and EXTRA mana is key!
3 Birgi, God of Storytelling - every spell cast gives 1 mana, sometimes thats all you need to keep the train going
3 Kolvari, God of Kindship - mana rock on elf early, potential 8/8 with vigilance late with ability to find that legendary creature to go off when you are empty handed
1 Nylea, Keen-eyed - make creatures cost 1 less, mana adds up quickly with Birgi when spells are free, helps keep the train going
1 Umori, the collector - makes creatures cost 1 less, same reason as nylea
1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded - added him to give everyone haste once I go off
1 Inferno of the star Mounts - wanted a 6 drop to find Purphoros is Vivien is in play, can also fetch with Magda and blocks fliers
4 Bard Class
2 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate - playing off the top keep the train going! Maybe 1 of?
Lands - 23
9 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
4 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
2 Temple of Abandon - took out 1 World tree for the 3rd one. With so many gods and huge mana potential with Esika
4 Redcap Melee - mono red, Winota, dragons
3 Chainweb Aracnir - rogues/mill
3 Scavenging Ooze - cycling, rogues ~ but less so
1 Arni Brokenbrow - control decks, more aggro, faster
1 Arasta of the Endless Web - any deck with a lot of spells, decks with fliers
2 Questing Beast - control
1 Phylath, Worlds Sculptor - creature decks
I did notice a strict issue with fliers so Sentinel is very helpful there and Arasta of the Endless Web might be main deck worthy. I am going to pay closer attention to Zirda to see if her abilities are worth the slot over 1 Sentinel.
7/6 edit: Zirda's out, 4th Sentinel in, Henge and terror of mt velus out, going to 3 Esika and Birgi to ensure I see them more as having more mana to power to class 3 as soon as possible is more likily plus using their back sides are useful.
Leaving 1 vorinclex in as a way to search up purphoros if vivien is in play. Having haste on the turn you go off is a must.
first draft SB
7/22 edit: focusing on going off more than just playing hasty, -2 Questing Beast, -1 Vorinclex, -1 forest, +3 Kolvari, +1 Inferno, edited the SB
If I were to go 'Hasty' it would look like this:
4 Jaspera Sentinel
4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
3 Gallia of the Endless Dance
3 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
3 Grumgully, the Generous
2 Klothys, God of Destiny
2 Radha, Heart of Keld - get those lands off the top out of the way!
1 Birgi, God of Storytelling
2 Arni Brokenbrow
2 Esika, God of the Tree - Vigilance and EXTRA mana is key!
3 Kolvari, God of Kindship - mana rock on elf early, potential 8/8 with vigilance late with ability to find that legendary creature to go off when you are empty handed
2 Questing Beast
1 Vorinclex, monstrous Raider
4 Bard Class
1 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate - playing off the top keep the train going! Maybe 1 of?
Lands - 23
9 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
4 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
2 Temple of Abandon - took out 1 World tree for the 3rd one. With so many gods and huge mana potential with Esika
4 Redcap Melee - mono red, Winota, dragons
3 Chainweb Aracnir - rogues/mill
3 Scavenging Ooze - cycling, rogues ~ but less so
1 Arasta of the Endless Web - any deck with a lot of spells, decks with fliers
1 Phylath, Worlds Sculptor - creature decks
Here is an absolute fun, glass cannon-ish Gruul deck that is new for standard. I found out about it on "CoolStuffInc." from MTG pro Jim Davis; Bard Class. Since running the deck a around 30 times I have made some changes and am having an absolute BLAST!
The goal is to have a hand with Bard class in it, don't be afraid to mull to 4, seriously, its that explosive! Turn 2 Bard Class, Turn3 pay RG to go to level 2 then hopefully you'll have some creatures to play and from there its all about putting your library in play.
4 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
2 Gallia of the Endless Dance
2 Targ Nar, Demon-Fang Gnoll
2 Grumgully, the Generous
2 Klothys, God of Destiny
2 Radha, Heart of Keld - get those lands off the top out of the way!
2 Esika, God of the Tree - Vigilance and EXTRA mana is key!
2 Birgi, God of Storytelling - every spell cast gives 1 mana, sometimes thats all you need to keep the train going
1 Zirda, the Dawnwaker - makes Bard class level 3 cost 2 less to increase the chance you have enough mana to go off. Purphoros and Nylea ability costs 1, reduces Radha's and Targ's ability as well
1 Nylea, Keen-eyed - make creatures cost 1 less, mana adds up quickly with Birgi when spells are free, helps keep the train going
1 Umori, the collector - makes creatures cost 1 less, same reason as nylea
1 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded - added him to give everyone haste once I go off
1 Phylath, World Sculptor - more dudes
2 Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider - more counters for everyone and trample
1 Terror of Mount Velus - double strike for everyone and when paired with Purphoros its lights out!
4 Bard Class
2 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate - playing off the top keep the train going!
1 Embercleave - casting this for 1 with Birgi's red mana is awesome!
3 The Great Henge - probably could get away with 2
Lands - 24
8 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
4 Shatterskull Smashing // Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass
3 Temple of Abandon - took out 1 World tree for the 3rd one. With so many gods and huge mana potential with Esika
I have posted some ridiculous screenshots from Arena to show how crazy things can get
The mana.....
With the new set I have not looked at any new brews so maybe something is out there but even with Pathways I had games where I would get tripped on color requirements with Gruul Adventures.