Is mono green strong enough is todays standard?
Standard forum
Posted on Feb. 20, 2014, 8:47 p.m. by VegetaWins_015
I haven't played standard in awhile so thoughts on a good green deck?
GoldGhost012 says... #3
That's also a god hand.
Mono-green is generally not a very strong strategy for top tiers. It's just fine for FNM and such- I'm having an absolute blast running my MGD-, but G/R Monsters is probably the closest thing to mono-green that'll ever see Tier 1 play.
February 20, 2014 9:09 p.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #4
to refill my hand I could use Warriors' Lesson
February 20, 2014 9:09 p.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #5
I just play FNM and casual not interested in grand prix or starcitygames opens
February 20, 2014 9:10 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #6
Just be aware that removal heavy decks are going to annoy the shit out of you. Most of green's beaters lack any sort of built-in protection.
February 20, 2014 9:14 p.m.
Nah not really. Green is a bit of a back-up colour at the moment. Standard is so ridiculously removal heavy with mono-B and azorius / esper control running around. Even GR monstrous is running a lot of burn and Pit Fight effects. Most dekcs these days seem to follow a control archetype and some sprinkle in larger threats around the 4cmc area.
February 20, 2014 9:16 p.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #8
Ok what if I splashed in red or black what cards will that open me up to? other than Abrupt Decay Hero's Downfall Magma Jet Lightning Strike
February 20, 2014 9:24 p.m.
GR is really meta. Look up GR monstrous decks on mtgtop8.
February 20, 2014 9:26 p.m.
It's very popular and is shaping the way in which the game is played.
February 20, 2014 9:39 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #13
The mono Green shell is good, but it needs a second color to back it up. As others have said, removal is very strong in Standard, so ramping into a couple big creatures doesn't do the trick very often. It doesn't help that the best threats Green has don't really protect themselves in any way. You generally need some noncreature threats and/or card advantage to combat decks with strong removal. Since Garruk, Caller of Beasts is the only good card advantage option Green has, you have to branch out.
GR is certainly the most popular, as they have access to Domri Rade , Chandra, Pyromaster , and Xenagos, The Reveler , plus Stormbreath Dragon which offers a little protection and Haste.
GU is probably the second best of the mono Green variants, as you get the strongest array of card advantage options with Prime Speaker Zegana and Jace, Architect of Thought , along with Cyclonic Rift for a great win con. I have been playing a deck like that for a few months- My Prophet, Your Loss (Top 4 FNM)
GB and GW are viable as well, tho those decks generally resemble something much different than mono Green, with the other colors making up half or more of the deck.
February 20, 2014 11:14 p.m.
AndyReveler says... #14
monogreen is good but not on its own, it needs a splash of red for just Domri Rade and Xenagos, The Reveler or blue for Prophet of Kruphix and whatever else blue/green plays
February 20, 2014 11:23 p.m.
Bile Blight kind of hurts the BTE strategies. I think there is some interesting potential with B/G though, although without the scry land Idk how consistent it would be right now.
February 21, 2014 12:19 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #18
Just call her Bettie for short...
Green is a very strong colour, but as stated has a lot of issues by itself - the main being card advantage.A big issue is that the Ravnica block has a lot of removal - and I mean a lot. This is why I love Witchstalker (although not the art).
Mono green hydras are pretty tough but again it's lack of card advantage fails. Gruul here does something brilliant with Domri helping Garruk give you fuel while Xenagod can give a constant stream of 2/2s or let you ramp out bigger things.
If you want to go Green Black, play Reaper of the Wilds - she is awesome.
February 21, 2014 3:29 a.m.
hungerwolf says... #19
Well, I've played against it, and I have to say- I don't really get how removal is supposed to slow that roll. With the potential for huge beaters extremely early, removal doesn't do too much. The most obvious removal is, of course, black. Doom blade is really bread and butter for that, but it costs 2 manna. That's basically turn 2. You're tapped out to do it. Meanwhile, mono green on turn two can easily have 3-4 creatures between Burning-Tree Emissary cheating. You obviously attempt to remove the biggest threat, but there's still BTE swinging for 2 a turn. Remember, you're probably tapped out from removing one thing. If they have Nykthos, they functionally have unlimited mana. I've seen 20-something mana on turn 3. Next turn they're going to be able to drop even more heavy beaters, especially if they run hydras. So your option is to remove the turn 2 beast that will kill you in 2 turns, or remove the emissary which grants devotion (which is probably a bad move). Meanwhile, your board is likely empty as you had one turn to prepare your rectum, and one turn spent tapping out to not die on turn 3.
Basically, my issue is that removal rarely seems "worth it" against green, as when you cast it, green rarely needs to respond. They can often just cheat in something bigger next turn. You're really just delaying your death a turn. Your options are "Put something on the board which you will lose due to blocking, or tap yourself out delaying the wincon by a turn".
February 21, 2014 9:29 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #20
hungerwolf - the issue with this point is you need BTE in your opening hand and or a mana dork. plus, black now has Bile Blight , bile blight is amazing.
Generally speaking removing an emissary is almost always a good move, Gruul Monsters loves its powerful devotion with Nykthos etc...
Plus, I think you forget Thoughtseize , never forget Thoughtseize. Plus, green can be very hit and miss. I play green a lot and it can stomp, but you can also draw into nothing but mana dorks and land, trust me when I say this leaves you feeling sad.
February 21, 2014 9:47 a.m.
VegetaWins_015 says... #21
so standard is much more expensive than I first realized which is a bummer.
February 21, 2014 12:36 p.m.
hungerwolf says... #22
Exactly. I can't really afford Thought Seize. Though I realize it's good, it's not an investment I can make, so I'm stuck with the more common removal like doom blade and aetherize as opposed to Supreme Verdict and the pro-quality removal.
I suppose my issue could then be distilled to "I'm playing against a 400 dollar deck with a 25 dollar deck made from card shop bargain bin scraps. How does win?"
almerican says... #2
I would say MGD ft. Burning-Tree Emissary has the potential due to its ability to cheat out Worldspine Wurm turn 3 using Garruk, Caller of Beasts
It ends up being a risky strategy because you do end up dumping your entire hand. That's just my thoughts though
February 20, 2014 8:54 p.m.