Hello everyone. For the past two weeks, I've been looking at decks featuring a specific color, including decks where that featured color is paired with another color. I've already looked at decks featuring Black and Red mana, so this week I'll be looking at decks featuring Green mana. Let's get started.
Mono-Green Midrange
As usual, we'll start off with a mono-colored deck, which happens to be a midrange deck this week. Let's take a look at the decklist.
Mono-Green Midrange | OTJ Standard | nickjlarocca, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (28)
- 1 Ankle Biter
- 1 Beastbond Outcaster
- 1 Cenote Scout
- 1 Fang of Shigeki
- 1 Kodama of the West Tree
- 1 Quirion Beastcaller
- 2 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
- 2 Civic Gardener
- 2 Hardbristle Bandit
- 2 Placid Rottentail
- 2 Seeker of Sunlight
- 2 The Pride of Hull Clade
- 3 Poison Dart Frog
- 3 Ruins Recluse
- 4 Kami of Whispered Hopes
- Instants (2)
- 2 Cosmic Hunger
- Sorceries (6)
- 1 Over the Edge
- 2 Bushwhack
- 3 Pick Your Poison
- Enchantments (3)
- 1 Tribute to the World Tree
- 2 Audacity
- Artifacts (2)
- 2 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
- Lands (19)
- 19 Forest
+1/+1 counters are the name of the game with this deck. Many of the creatures in this deck either enter the battlefield with some number of +1/+1 counters, or they have an ability that can be activated to create them. For those creatures, there's no better artifact to play in Standard than Ozolith, the Shattered Spire. While it is on the battlefield, you'll place an additional +1/+1 counter whenever any number of them would be placed on your artifacts or creatures. It also provides you an additional way of creating these counters.
If that wasn't good enough, you'll be able to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control whenever you play a land as long as Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is in play. Bristly Bill will also provide you a place to sink your mana in the later stages of the game. By doing this, you'll double the number of +1/+1 counters on each of your creatures. Making your creatures into massive threats is never a bad plan.
Selesnya Counters
Continuing with the +1/+1 counter theme is the next deck I have for you, which adds White mana to the equation. Let's check it out.
Selesnya Counters | OTJ Standard | snORlax, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (26)
- 1 Sovereign Okinec Ahau
- 2 Cenote Scout
- 3 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
- 4 Botanical Brawler
- 4 Dusk Legion Duelist
- 4 Enduring Bondwarden
- 4 Iron Apprentice
- 4 Ornery Tumblewagg
- Planeswalkers (4)
- 1 Archangel Elspeth
- 1 Elspeth Resplendent
- 2 The Wandering Emperor
- Artifacts (6)
- 2 Collector's Cage
- 4 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
Much like the previous Mono-Green deck, this deck employs Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire to help you gain +1/+1 counters. However, the addition of White mana allows you to do a couple of things that can help you gain even more +1/+1 counters. First you have Collector's Cage, which acts as both a +1/+1 counter supplier as well as a way to cheat a card into play without paying its mana cost.
There's also a single copy of Sovereign Okinec Ahau included in this deck. When you attack with Sovereign Okinec Ahau, each creature you have that has power greater than its base power will gain an amount of +1/+1 counters equal to the difference between those two amounts. Since this happens when he attacks, you'll notice an immediate benefit by dealing extra damage if those other creatures are also attacking.
Simic Cookies
The next deck I have for you pairs Green mana with Blue mana resulting in a Simic deck that thrives on artifacts. Let's take a look at the deck.
Simic Cookies | OTJ Standard | arstall, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (23)
- 2 Kitesail Larcenist
- 3 Gingerbrute
- 3 Spyglass Siren
- 3 Surge Engine
- 4 Sentinel of the Nameless City
- 4 Teething Wurmlet
- 4 Tough Cookie
- Sorceries (3)
- 3 Hard-Hitting Question
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Zoetic Glyph
- Artifacts (8)
- 2 Lost Jitte
- 3 Agatha's Soul Cauldron
- 3 Subterranean Schooner
Both Gingerbrute and Tough Cookie are Food Golems, playing into the theme of this deck. It can often be worth it to hold 2 mana open while attacking with either of these creatures, as you can use that mana to sacrifice them in the event that your opponent would somehow destroy them. Tough Cookie brings with it a Food token when it enters the battlefield, which you can later animate with its other ability, turning that Food into a 4/4 creature for the turn.
Both of these creatures help enable the real powerhouse in this deck, Teething Wurmlet. While it starts as a meager 1/1 creature, Teething Wurmlet is able to gain a +1/+1 counter each turn, as long as you're able to put an artifact into play. This allows it to grow throughout the game, eventually turning into a large threat, with the possibility of having deathtouch.
Golgari Ramp
The next deck I have for you is a Golgari ramp deck. Let's take a look at it to see how it works.
Golgari Ramp | OTJ Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (18)
- 1 Gisa, the Hellraiser
- 2 Railway Brawler
- 2 Vaultborn Tyrant
- 3 Colossal Rattlewurm
- 3 Deep-Cavern Bat
- 3 Goldvein Hydra
- 4 Freestrider Lookout
- Instants (9)
- 2 Bitter Triumph
- 2 Cut Down
- 2 Go for the Throat
- 3 March of Wretched Sorrow
- Sorceries (4)
- 2 Deadly Cover-Up
- 2 Duress
- Enchantments (4)
- 1 Phyrexian Arena
- 3 Virtue of Persistence
- Artifacts (1)
- 1 Unlicensed Hearse
- Lands (24)
- 6 Forest
- 7 Swamp
- 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
- 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- 2 Blooming Marsh
- 2 Field of Ruin
- 2 Mirrex
- 3 Festering Gulch
Whenever you commit a crime, Freestrider Lookout is able to put a land from the top five cards of your deck onto the battlefield. While this only happens once per turn, it can be just enough to get you the additional lands you need to cast such things as Goldvein Hydra or Vaultborn Tyrant, which can really swing things in your favor.
It can also be very simple to trigger Freestrider Lookout's ramping ability. In addition to all of the targeted removal spells in this deck, there are creatures like Deep-Cavern Bat which allow you to commit a crime while also removing a potentially important card from your opponent's hand. Freestrider Lookout can also crew an Unlicensed Hearse, which will trigger its ramp ability.
Mostly Gruul Dinosaurs
The final deck I have for you is a Gruul deck that has a very small splash of White mana for a single card. Let's take a look at the deck.
Mostly Gruul Dinosaurs | OTJ Standard | MTGA-Assistant-Meta, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (27)
- 1 Bonehoard Dracosaur
- 1 Kogla and Yidaro
- 1 Palani's Hatcher
- 2 Etali, Primal Conqueror
- 2 Gishath, Sun's Avatar
- 2 Intrepid Paleontologist
- 3 Trumpeting Carnosaur
- 3 Vaultborn Tyrant
- 4 Hulking Raptor
- 4 Ixalli's Lorekeeper
- 4 Pugnacious Hammerskull
- Sorceries (2)
- 2 Triumphant Chomp
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 Fight Rigging
- Artifacts (1)
- 1 The Skullspore Nexus
I can't tell you how many times I've lost a game to Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali Primal Sickness or Trumpeting Carnosaur. Both of these big Dinosaur creatures have game-altering abilities that can finish games in a hurry. When you play Etali, Primal Conqueror, you'll be able to cast spells from each player's library for free. Any time you get something for free, you can get such an advantage over your opponent.
Speaking of getting something for free, when Trumpeting Carnosaur enters the battlefield, you get to discover 5. That means that you'll exile cards from the top of your library until you find a card with a mana value of 5 or less, which you can then cast without paying its mana cost. Once again, you're getting something for free, which can be very advantageous for you.
Wrapping Up
Green decks often benefit from having the largest creatures in play or by having multiple +1/+1 counters. As these decks show, even when paired with a secondary color, those benefits remain true.
What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes