Mono-green beastmaster Ascension
Modern is a strange format. In a format that has an card pool of over nine thousand cards (cue joke here), it hosts a wide variety of choices for a player to choose and customize their deck with. But despite this vast toybox we have been given over the years, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks this, a large number of players gravitate towards the same decks, among those decks being Affinity/Robots, Scapeshift, B/W tokens, and the new up-and-comer B/x Eldrazi. In some way, Modern is at the same time wide and vast yet narrow and restricting.
To that, up with I will not put.
To me, the best color of magic is Green, a color that has historically been seen as one of the weak colors due to it's overrealiance of having guys bigger than you. And even with it's slowly growing power level, the only real green deck is Mono-Green Stompy
That's why my go to deck is a bit of a homebrew. Back in Zendikar, I did a little research for a deck I needed for a tournament that was coming up. This deck was the one I found used Beastmaster Ascension and several of the Eldrazi Drones that made tokens when they enter the battlefield to swarm the field and then smash in one boosted.
I fell in love with the deck, keeping it as my go to deck even after Zendikar rotated out of Standard. Now, in a world full of Modern decks that eat wallets for breakfast, Modern needs a deck that can stand up to these titans and not destroy your budget in the process.
Presenting, Mono-green Beastmasters.
-What is this deck?-
This deck is a Aggro/Midrange style with a Token theme that plays Creatures that create Creature Tokens when they enter the battlefield. Then, when we have a small army we cast one of our Overrun effects to pump our team and smash in for damage, putting pressure on our opponent if we don't outright kill them.
Because of this, it can catch your opponent off guard when you start coming in with your dudes when it looks like a Eldrazi Green ramp deck.
-Card Choices-
Lets start by splitting the cards into three categories: Critters, Overruns, and other.
-Critters-
Before we get into the critters, a quick word on what creatures we want to use and why. We want creatures than when they enter the battlefield make a dude. This often means Eldrazi. Other cards that can make dudes can be considered, but in Modern we want to do what we want to ASAP.
Nest InvaderOur mainstay. Nest Invader is a solid 2/2 bear for 1G and makes an Eldrazi Spawn for free. It helps us get to 7 creatures easy. Run 4
Kozilek's Predator/Eyeless WatcherBoth of these titans are similar. They are four mana critters that each make two dudes. That's where the similarities end. Kozilek's Predator is a 3/3 that makes two Eldrazi Spawns, while Eyeless Watcher is a 1/1 that makes two 1/1 Eldrazi Scions. Both provide three power split across three bodies, and the thre bodies is the important part.
Either run a 4/2 split or just 4 of one.
- Scion SummonerBefore Oath of the Gatewatch the only card that made a dude at three mana was Catacomb Sifter, and it needed Black) and Call the Scions (which I did not use but could be used now that I think about it). Now we have Scion Summoner, who is in Green and thus much better. Another 2/2 that makes a dude, only this one makes a Scion so we get three power for three mana.
If you run Chord of Calling, run four of these. If not, run these if you do not use Call the Scions.
- Call the ScionsSimilar to the above, Call the Scions gives us two dudes for three mana. However, it's a socery, not a creature, which kinda goes against our gameplan. The only non-creatures we want are those that get us to the endgame with a Overrun effect.
If you don't run Chord, you could run 4 if you aren't running Scion Summoner. But in my opinion Summoner > Call all day every day. Run 0.
-Overruns-
I am defining an Overrun effect as any card that resembles the origional Overrun. That is, any card that gives creatures you control more power. I would run to many Overruns so aim for no more than 16 give or take, as we want to draw one when it is needed, but not draw to many when we don't have enough of an army to win.
OverrunThe original. It's a very powerful card that can win right then and there. The way I see it, when you cast this you add 3 damage for each creature you have, and when we usually have four or five that can add up to be quite a bit.
Beastmaster AscenionThe namesake of the deck. +5 to everything just screams 'YES PLEASE but at the caveat of needed to see at least seven critters attack before it turns on. Even then, it's a viable stragety to just attack with one or two men to get those counters on before the alpha strike. (This is where Nylea comes in handy). Run 4. Always
Overwhelming StampedeIt costs the same as Overrun, and it's a good card. It's just that it feels swingy to me. Depending on your build, you can easily get more damage out of this than Overrun if you have Leatherbacks or Kozilek's Predator. If not, then it's easily a swing and miss.Run 2 if you must.
Eldrazi MonumentI for one love our Eldrazi Overlords, and this card makes it unfair sometimes. Sure, it's only +1/+1, but that's nothing compared to Flying and Indestructible. It can easily close out a game before the other part is relevant. Speaking off, that effect that says you gotta sac a creature each upkeep or you sac the Monument? It's mandatory. Keep that in mind.
Run no more than 2.
Garruk WildspeakerIn my humble opinon the first Garruk is the Best Garruk because he does what we want. +1 to untap two lands (can be relevant), -1 to get a dude (3/3 beast) and -4 to Overrun? (literally: It's Overrun, word for world). He helps bring the deck together, and for this deck he's the best version of Garruk to use. Run 4.
Nissa, Voice of ZendikarI'll be the first to say it: I'm reaching. Nissa's -2 is by my own definition is an Overrun, and therefore she counts as an Overrun. And because its +1 counters, that is in someways better than an Overrun. But the real reason why I would use her is her +1 to make 0/1 plants. The little guys do everything you need to and are viable/expendable dudes to trigger Ascension. Her Ultimate can also help refuel if you need the cards and life. Run 2 or 3, but put priority on Garruk.
-Other-
These are the cards that are A) non-land and B) are not critters that make dudes and/or Overruns listed above. They do however help tie everything together and should not be overlooked.
- llanowar elfThe trusty original mana dork. Makes a green mana, gets us to Overrun (and everything else) faster without having to sac our dude, what more do we want? Run 4.
(Note: If you have Birds of Paradice, run them instead. Birds are pretty good)
- Boreal Druid...okay, you can stop laughing now. The only reason why I am even remotely suggesting this guy: He taps to add C to your mana pool. And if you run Matter Reshaper (read on for him) then having a way to produce C without sacing a spawn to do so.
Run 0 unless you go with Matter Reshaper. Even then, it's probably a bad idea.
Leatherback BalothThe mighty champion of Mono-green stompy graces us with it's presence. Lets face it, I love this guy. And what's not to love? 4/5 for GGG equals many face stomps. Turn one Elf into turn 2 Baloth adds pressure to the opponent by turn 3. It can also drives Rhinos into a standstill and anything that can annoy Rhinos is viable in my book. Run 3-4.
Nylea, God of the HuntThe green god of Theros is pretty good, no denying that. Huge body for four mana, indestructible, grants the other dudes you control trample, and can turn extra mana into a pump? Yes please. However, without devotion up she's just a pretty enchantment. The trample part is usually only relevant when we Overrun though. Use her as a utility creature, due to being Chordable.
If you must run her, run 1.
- Reclamation Sage/Caustic CaterpillarEven though Splinter Twin is now banned, there are plenty of enchantments and artifacts that can ruin our day. That is why we run our anti enchantment/artifact dudes. Reclamation Sage is our tried and tested, Chord approved answer: Cast Chord in response to nasty things and fetch this guy to make it go boom. If there is a Torpor Orb milling about, we get the Caterpillar instead.
Run 1 of each.
*Matter Reshaper
Saying it again: I'm reaching. But the new Eldrazi can be an interesting card to run if you like Company more than Chord. When it dies, you get a mini Company. It can net you another card draw, or one of your cheaper critters (that may make more citters!). The only drawback is it's cost of 2C, which means that if you do want ot use Matter Reshaper, Boreal Druid is looking better and better.
I alluded to this above, and now we reach the chord. And let's face it Chord helps out in a big way. Being able to hit a Chord for 4 is quite reasonable in this deck considering how the bulk of our creatures are often two or three creatures on a card (thank you Token Deck logic). It can also fetch out our Chord Creatures (Reclamation Sage, etc). Run 4.
- Collected Company.While I would go with Chord, Company does provide value in it's own way. Being able to drop two dudes that drop two or three more dudes if you get both hits on it is pretty sweet. If you go with this, run 4.
-LANDS-
Lands for the land god! Mana for the Mana Throne!
ForestDuh
Windswept Heath/Temple GardenNow, while I use this deck as a Mono-green deck, being able to splash in a color is not outside the realm of possibility. The color I would splash is White, having the best selection of Chord Toolbox creatures such as Kataki, War's Wage and Eidolon of Rhetoric. Even without the Temple Garden, running four fetches helps us out.
Run 4 of each.
Khalni Garden The garden gives us a dude when you play it as your land drop. We want creatures. Why not?Run 4
Dyrad ArborI'm always wary when I see this guy. It's a land that dies to removal at all times. But as it's a man land all the time, it can avoid certain cards such as Thoughtseize, Obliviion Stone, and other can't hit land restrictions. As it's a creature it can be Chorded/Companied.
Run 1
It's very tempting to run this. It can traded in for three Scions, and that's nice to have on a land. But it's six mana. I haven't tested this, but mentioning it was needed.
Run 0 or 1
Right now, I haven't tested this, but I feel that saying that this card exists is in order. Sure it taps for C, but why we want this card is to combat burn with lifegain. A large number of our dudes that includes tokens FYI are colorless. The only non-green Eldrazi are Nest Invader and Kozilek's Predator, but they still make colorless dudes. The other Edlrazi token makers are Devoid and thus colorless, pushing the life gain swing up. Also Matter Reshaper wants it's colorless mana so if you go that route that's another plus for this card.
Run 1 or 2 if you need the advantage over burn.
-SIDEBOARD-
Everyone needs a sideboard, that much is true. But depending on your meta, the card choices will vary. Me? Here is my personal choices.
A 4/4 for four is a fine body indeed. It also gives us a leg up against discard often seen in 8-rack and any deck with Black in it. The four life also lets us live longer against burn, and many burn creatures fold against a 4/4.
Run 2.
- Essence WardenThe green Soul Sister. Helps against token and other creature heavy decks. Also works with us as we often play two or three critters a turn thanks to the EoT triggers.
Run 2
Pesky Storm decks making you want to rethink your life and/or want to life on another planet? Apply Eidolon of Retoric! One spell a turn slows the game down and helps us because we still get more dudes than they do a turn! Is also a creature and thus can be chorded/Companied
Run 1
Pithing Needle is a catch all card. Revoker is along the same lines, but as it's a creature we can Chord/Company for it. With it, we can shut down Grishoalbrand, what's left of Splinter Twin, and any other activated ability that drives us crazy.
Run 2
Because some days we really want to make our opponent question dropping $200 for that Snapcaster Mage that was going to swing the game around. Ooze wins games by eating graves when needed.
Run at most 2
This is an amazing card, and can you believe it's in Green! Sure, they get a 3/3 dude, but would you rather them have that Planeswalker that is about to Ultimate? Run 2
Now that Splinter Twin is banned, Spellskite just lost it's favorite accessory. That being said, Boggles is still a thing, so that can ruin it's day when chorded/companied.
Run 1
- 12 Forest- 4 Windswept Heath- 4 Temple Garden- 4 Khalni Garden- 1 Dyrad Arbor- 4 Llanowar elf- 4 Nest Invader- 4 Scion Summoner- 4 Kozilek's Predator- 1 Reclamation Sage- 1 Caustic Caterpillar- 4 Chord of Calling- 4 Overrun- 4 Beastmaster Ascension- 4 Garruk Wildspeaker- 1 Eldrazi Monument
