[Official Archtype]: Mono-Green Aggro Home of Aggressive Evasion and Variants A deck begun by Mr. Clam-I-Am, basically all credit goes to this man. Taken care of by kidsmokin. Post your decklists here!
B = Good cards to use in a budget version (though they can still be used in non-budget) The Deck's PurposeShow
The "Aggressive Evasion" deck has a relatively simple purpose. It aims to overwhelm by pumping weenies with evasion, such as Dryad Sophisticate and Silhana Ledgewalker . Beating face isn't hard when your creatures are mostly unblockable. Untargetability makes sure your creatures stay around, and a reclaim can always get back anything that's been killed. Recurring pump in the form of Moldervine Cloak will not let you down.
Silhana Ledgewalker B This little guy's ability allows you to pump him while keeping him safe from most things an opponent can throw at you. His near-unblockability doesn't hurt either. An auto-include in your deck.
Dryad Sophisticate B Evasion is good. Especially in a time where near all decks have a dual or painland in them. This will almost always hit for two, although it is very often targeted by removal because it is so dangerous.
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk B When carrying a Blanchwood Armor , it's nigh unblockable and hits for a lot of damage as well. Also, if it becomes blocked, cast a might of oaks or giant growth and swing like there's no blocker.
Llanowar Elves B Just your average accel. Still good here and can be pumped as well if needed.
Birds of Paradise If you have it, use it in place of any elves. Remember, it flies so Blanchwood Armor attacks with birds are more likely to go through than with any elf.
Scryb Ranger B A beast against anything running blue. 4-of regardless. Too many Dralnu decks around to NOT run it. You can also choose to run Part Deux, Spectral Force. See below.
Whirling Dervish A solid sb choice if your meta sees a lot of black.
Giant Solifuge This may not be the best choice as it can't be pumped but some may choose to use it just as a beater. Great in the anti-control slot. Run this now. In the control-meta heavygame, it's pretty God now.
Yavimaya Dryad Accel or evasion, you pick. Thins the deck a bit as well. Mostly for the Spectral Force variant.
Spectral Force IF you want to run Ranger/Force combo, this is the second part. For MGAE variants, look NO further. The key card in the Spectral Force variant.
Timbermare Decent finisher, unblockable 5 damage, unless your opponent happens to have removal on hand it can't get removed. Also can serve as the Alpha Strike with Ledgewalker. It's up to you to pay the Echo, but the rule of thumb is if you can handle it BOTH mana-wise and tempo-wise, there usually shouldn't be a problem paying the Echo (unless you know your opponent is running a lot of point removal, in which case I'd let it die anways). Only really good with Scryb out to untap another critter to swing for the win. Hasty Green staple.
Uktabi Drake Dispensable Shock, Hasty flier. Good with what it does. Worst comes to worst, if you can't draw a Ledgewalker, slap a pump on this dude and let him run free. Follow the Echo guidelines I mentioned before. Decent pick, but watch out for that board position. Hasty Green staple.
Mire Boa Basically the new River Boa . Except now that Black has some new goodies, we have a great weapon against them. SB at worst, in my opinion.
Groundbreaker Some think it's the hottest tech around, some think it's garbage. Use as you will. Decent as 2-3 of, but be wary of when you play it as to not lose board position. Hasty Green Staple.
Primal Forcemage Useful in Hasty Green, makes everything huge. Removal magnet, though.
Moldervine Cloak B Very, very good here. The dredge lets you get it back if your creature dies.
Blanchwood Armor B Since you're only using forests, the armor becomes dangerous quickly and gives the weenies a chance to do huge damage. This is your top Aura dog.
Loxodon Warhammer The life gain can be beneficial, though artifacts (especially equipment) tend to be more vulnerable than Auras/enchantments. A little too slow for the deck but it's ok.
Stonewood Invocation New MoO, it can actually stop them from killing your targetable creatures (i.e. Pit-Skulk, Sophi). This is the point pump of choice.
Might of Old Krosa This is an interesting evolution of Giant Growth. Running this is based on choice, and is also somewhat meta-dependent.
Wildsize B I think this is ok, much because of the fact that it can replace itself with another pump spell after use. Not used often.
Giant growth B A weaker Might of Oaks . It's still a solid choice since printed since Alpha. This card is more reactive than proactive than MoOK. I personally endorse this card.
Gaea's Anthem I think this is a solid card, at least for more Stompy-oriented MGAEs. Makes your Pit-Skulks less blockable while increasing damage output. If White Weenie can run this to great effect, it's hard to see how it won't do so here.
Call of the Herd IF you need the extra elefantes, use this. Nice aggro stopper, plus it also helps vs. control, post-Wrath, if you get there. Personally I like to see 4-of in EVERY Green deck, I don't care if you're control or aggro.
Serrated Arrows With the rise of Fortune Thief t3ch it is imperative that we SB this to deal with the pesky annoyance. It also eliminates Bob and 3/4 of WW. Success!
Hail Storm Got a BDW problem? This solves it better than aspirin. The only downside is that you might kill off your accel, but that's not that big of a problem.
Land
Umm.. Forest? :D
IF you can run 1 Pendelhaven . It's strictly better than Forest, but as a one-of. It can save that Ledgewalker or Soph before you slap the Cloak/Armor on.
Now that Kami has rotated out, this section will be under contruction...
One of the best things about this deck is how well it can work as either a budget or more competitive non-budget deck.
As posted on the Ledgewalker thread. W/updates.
Update log! (for kidsmokin only, for bookkeeping purposes, unless you want to see what changes have been made recently?)Show
2006.11.05 - it begins. some changes (Matchups overhauled, Spectral Force added, added skeleton build and 1 champs build (Spectral Force variant). added other spells, descriptions for some creatures. 2006.11.06 - champs decklists updated, added other spells. added Skeleton. since we have Force variants creeping in, this will probably end up being THE sole mono-green aggro thread. Consolidated Pro decks into one larger category to keep the thread slightly compact. 2006.11.16 - added a decklist to Champs. 2006.11.17 - changed pre to official in the heading.. 2006.11.21 - added a card to Other Spells. 2006.12.14 - changed the MGAE accepted deck. 2007.01.24 - updated PC, MGAE accepted deck. 2007.02.11 - b splash added 2007.02.17 - updated generally accepted, 100% less PC, 100% less crappy. 2007.03.16 - adding stuff, changing stuff, prepping for the new wave, NOTICE: 2007.03.22 - changed one thing. 2007.03.25 - the jitte is not legal. 2007.04.14 - updated MGAE accepted.
THANKS to: 1. MR. Clam for the original thread, which I basically copied and pasted except for a few changes/additions. 2. Taishaku for the primer (below) 3. ALL YE PLAYERS OF MONO-GREEN AGGRO. REJOICE!
Reborn...again!
NOTICE: 1. Hey, I need splash info. Do we need splash info? 2. I need matchup info. Like hardcore.
Taishaku's Primer: For More In-Depth examinationsShow
The first and foremost question when constructing a Mono Green Aggro deck is "which one?" Thanks to a massive cardpool of viable cards and playing styles, many variations of the deck can be constructed. But what are the most optimal variations? To explore this problem, I have prepared this text.
The text is a codex developed by my playtesting of this deck. Use Ctrl + F to find the items that you wish to read.
Table of Contents
I. The Archetype and Cardpool
Ia. Land
Ib. Creatures
Ic. Instants/Sorceries
Id. Enchantments/Artifacts
II. The Dedicated Sub-Archetypes
IIa. Evasion
IIb. Snow
IIc. Force
IIe. Hasty
IIf. Elves!
III. The Hybridized Sub-Archetypes
IIIa. Evasion-Hasty
IIIb. Evasion-Force
IIIc. Snow-Evasion-Force
IIId. Snow-Evasion-Non-Force
IIIe. Hasty-Force
IV. Splashing Color
IVa. UG Scrub Force
V. Conclusion
VI. List of Terms
I. The Archetype and Cardpool
The archetype Mono Green Aggro is a very broad genre of decks. Generally speaking, an aggro deck is any deck that wins through focused and quick damage dealing, generally with creatures and spells. Seeing as how MGA gets its name from being “only green,” one can assume that we are talking about a genre of decks running only or predominantly green cards to quickly kill another player.
Ia. Land
Where would a deck be without land?
Forest - We all know what this does. Right?
Mouth of Ronom - This card is sometimes used in the sideboard of Snow decks as a way to refuse threats such as Fortune Thief. It is generally too expensive to be considered for aggro play, and does not synergize well with the deck, diluting Blanchwood Armor and lessening the chance of pulling off a turn two Groundbreaker.
Pendelhaven - Turns your 1/1s into potential 2/3s. It doesn't hurt to have one, as it produces green mana; it might hurt to have two, as it is legendary; players need to have a lot of 1/1s to justify using more than one.
Desert - Some Force decks like to use this card to prevent weenies from attacking them. I personally dislike this card because it doesn't produce green mana.
Scrying Sheets - Essential to have two to three for Snow decks; it is the deck's card-drawing engine.
Ib. Creatures
Traditionally, green's strongest features have been its quick and efficient mana production, massive and single-minded creatures, and explosive growth spells. This section goes in-depth on the creatures that have been determined as viable for deck construction, sorted by mana cost and alphabetical order.
Birds of Paradise - It produces green mana. It has evasion. It can be used as both beater and blocker, provided you have growth.
Boreal Druid - It produces snow mana. It is a snow creature. Usually used as a chump blocker.
Elves of Deep Shadow - It produces black mana with pain. Usually used as a chump blocker.
Essence Warden - Not very common today, but 4 Essence Warden were effectively used during the Dragonstorm scare following the 2006 World Championships.
Skarrgan Pit-Skulk - He has Bloodthirst 1. He is unblockable when he is growthed.
Uktabi Drake - It has Flying, Haste, and is a 2/1. It has an Echo cost of 1GG. It can be used as a Maginot Line, as opponents wish for you to pay its Echo.
A discussion of Skarrgan Pit-Skulk versus Uktabi Drake will be provided later in the Evasion-Hasty section (search Drake vs. Skulk).
Ashcoat Bear - It is a 2/2 with Flash. He is in budget decks' sideboards as a means to bypass Dralnu permission.
Dryad Sophisticate - She is a 2/1 with Non-Basic Landwalk. She saw her heyday during the release of Ravnica, thriving in a multicolor environment, though with the increasing number of monocolored decks and better creature choices, she is slowly phasing out of competitive play. She synergizes with Yavimaya Dryad .
Kavu Predator - It is a 2/2 with Trample. It has an ability that makes it bigger when the opponent gains life; it is a Maginot Line. Although it was originally incorporated into many decks to face MartyrTron, it has mostly become a sideboard card due to its reactive nature and the decline of MartyrTron.
Mire Boa - It is a 2/1 with Regeneration. It has Swampwalk. It is compared to its planeshifted counterpart, River Boa . However, it is subpar in comparison to River Boa, as black has many ways to deal with Mire Boa whereas blue did not have many ways to deal with River Boa. Scryb Ranger - She is a 1/1 with Flying, Flash, and Pro-Blue. She is vital in the permission matchup, as she cannot be Repealed and she can be played at the end of their turn. She has an untap ability that can be used to do mana tricks when one misses a land drop (by returning tapped Forests and replaying them untapped). She protects Forests from land destruction. She protects your late-game hands from discard such as Ravenous Rats .
Sheltering Ancient - It is a 5/5 with Trample. It has a cumulative upkeep that places a counter on a creature of your choice that an opponent controls. It is important to note that one can choose not to pay Sheltering Ancient's cumulative upkeep, thus killing it. It is also important to note that the cumulative upkeep does not target a creature, so one can pay it on an untargetable creature. The card is usually relegated to the sideboard against other aggro decks, but possesses extraordinary tactical potential. It is a 5/5 body that can be played on turn two, provided that they have played a creature. It forces the opponent to make a decision: to give up two turns of creature-drops to deal with this threat (the turn following his play, the turn following his block), to initiate a damage race, or to remove it using a removal spell. The first two choices are favorable to a MGA player, the latter is not. Silhana Ledgewalker - She is a 1/1 that can only be blocked by creatures with Flying and cannot be targeted by spells an opponent controls. She is the single most important card in the Evasion sub-archetype. She is evasive, has a fast clock, and cannot be easily removed. She determines victory or defeat in many matchups.
Whirling Dervish - It is a 1/1 with Pro-Black. It grows bigger as it hits opponents. Whirling Dervish is generally preferred over Mire Boa in mono black matchups, as it cannot be removed by Deathmark[CARD] or [CARD]Darkblast , black's most common answers for MGA, as well as the majority of black's conventional removal spells. It is still not widely used however, due to the fact that mono black is not widely popular and still has ways other ways to deal with Whirling Dervish, such as Damnation , Smallpox or Cruel Edict , and artifact creatures.
Zodiac Monkey - It is a 2/1 with Forestwalk. Generally used in budget decks for mirror matches.
Carven Caryatid - It is a 2/5 wall. It has no net card loss and often initiates staring contests. It saw its heyday against Zoo and Gruul, but is generally out-of-use today.
Elvish Champion - She is a 2/2 that gives other Elves +1/+1 and Forestwalk. She is generally used in budget Elves! decks or in mirror matches.
Golgari Brownscale - It is a 2/3 that gains 2 life whenever it Dredges. Regarded as an excellent tech option against Boros Deck Wins, Golgari Brownscale deters weenie decks and is resilient to removal. It is still used in sideboards today. Groundbreaker - It is a 6/1 with Haste and Trample that must be sacrificed at the end of turn. It is the most efficient source of damage in a single turn that MGA has. It makes for an excellent topdeck, and it can be played turn two with the assistance of a mana producer. However, proper usage of Groundbreaker is essential; it is like a big, reversed burn spell, you must used it early against control and late against aggro.
Loaming Shaman - He is a 3/2 that shuffles an opponent's graveyard into his library. He saw his heyday against Solar Flare.
Primal Forcemage - He is a 2/2 that gives other creatures +3/+3 when they come into play. Vital for the dedicated Hasty Green deck.
Spike Feeder - It is a 0/0 that comes into play with 2 +1/+1 counters that can either be transferred to other creatures to used to gain life. Some budget decks used this alongside Graft creatures. It was also used during the Dragonstorm scare. Trained Armodon - It is a vanilla 3/3. Used in budget decks as a beater.
Unyaro Bees - They are a 0/1 with the shade ability. They are green's only source of non-specific direct damage.
Viridian Shaman - She is a 2/2 that destroys an artifact as she comes into play. She saw her heyday during Kamigawa as a way to counter Umezawa's Jitte .
Yavimaya Dryad - She is a 2/1 with Forestwalk that puts a Forest into play tapped under either player's control. If one has non-basic Forests in his deck, it creates synergy with Dryad Sophisticate .
Emperor Crocodile - It is a 5/5 that requires an anchoring creature. Although vulnerable, it has potential in mirror matches.
Dodecapod - It is a 3/3 that comes into play with 2 +1/+1 counters when discarded. It is used to discourage discard cards such as Ravenous Rats and Hypnotic Specter , as well as saving creatures from Smallpox .
Scragnoth - It is a 3/4 that cannot be countered and has Pro-Blue. It is used against permission decks, but falls short of most expectations, seeing as how most most permission decks run a second color for removal.
Silklash Spider - It is a 2/7 that can block creatures with Flying as though it had Flying. Hard to get past, it is often used in the mirror.
Spectral Force - It is an 8/8 with Trample. It can untap only once every other turn if the opponent controls no black permanents. It synergizes with Scryb Ranger to make their namesake deck. It can be used as a Maginot Line; do not ever swing with Spectral Force without a Scryb Ranger on the field unless it wins you the game or will directly contribute to winning immediately. Thran Golem - It is a 3/3 that gets +2/+2, Flying, First Strike, and Trample when it is enchanted. Often used in budget decks as a heavy-duty beater, it is too mana costly for competitive play.
Ic. Instants/Sorceries
Spells often determine life or death for MGA's creatures. Although most decks are built with a degree of redundancy, growth spells are commonly used not only for
Avoid Fate - Stops instants and Auras from removing your creatures. A very popular sideboard card.
Giant Growth - +3/+3. Used to save creatures from most conventional burn and to kill bigger creatures. Best for conservative playing styles.
Might of Old Krosa - +4/+4 main phase, +2/+2 elsewhere. Dedicated to adding damage to a creature's attacks. Can be used to save creatures from smaller burn spells and closer trades. Best for hyper-aggro playing styles.
Reclaim - Instant speed recovery card; comes at the cost of losing a draw, but it is great in a pinch.
Evolution Charm - Instant speed creature recovery card. Also can make creatures evasive and search for land.
Life From the Loam - General purpose land recovery spell with Dredge. Best used in decks with low landcount.
Call of the Herd - Creates a 3/3 token and flashes back for 3G to create another token. Used to create a board position against aggro and to pressure control. Dralnu decks have trouble handling it due to its two-for-one nature. Popular as a maindeck feature in Force decks, it is more like a sideboard card in Evasion.
Krosan Grip - Destroys an artifact and enchantment in a Split Second. Bread-and-butter utility spell.
Harmonize - Allows you to draw three cards. Although not an aggro-orientated spell, it is useful in Hasty decks to replenish fuel.
Might of Oaks - +7/+7. Better than Stonewood Invocation in dedicated aggro metagames, though it has fallen far behind in popularity. Stonewood Invocation - Split Second +5/+5 that makes your creatures untargetable as well. Used like a counterspell during your attack phase and upkeep phase. More popular than Might of Oaks due to the control-orientated metagame.
Chord of Calling - Allows you to search your deck for a creature and put it into play at instant speed. It has Convoke to reduce the casting cost. It was most commonly used to find a Ledgewalker, a card that has defined the Evasion deck sub-archetype. But it has declined in popularity due to the expansion of the cardpool.
Squall Line - Deals X damage to creatures and players at instant speed. Used to counter Skeletal Vampire. Sometimes used like a Fireball .
Id. Enchantments/Artifacts
Where sorceries and instants give you short bursts of power or fuel, permanents provide staying power and are generally more efficient, albeit more vulnerable.
Keen Sense - Allows you to net one card every hit your creatures make. Offers great recovery abilities against Dralnu or Rack decks, but players generally prefer to use hyper-aggro cards.
Moratorium Stone - Allows you to remove cards in a graveyard from the game. If you have Scryb Ranger and Birds of Paradise, you can use its lobotomy ability to remove threats from the game.
Defense Grid - Forces players to pay 2 more for spells played outside of their turns. Usually better than Leyline of Lifeforce due to the fact that it keeps your growth spells safe in addition to your creatures; also prevents them from using instant-speed removal.
Blanchwood Armor - +X/+X, pending on the number of Forests you control. In order for it to be better than Moldervine Cloak , one needs to draw four Forests in four turns, which is very rare. If people run less than 8 Armor, then Blanchwood Armor is usually the item that is cut, as it is more vulnerable to two-for-one trades and cannot be recovered after losing it to permission. Moldervine Cloak - +3/+3 and has Dredge. This card is the favorite against Dralnu, as they cannot counter it forever. Also doesn't depend upon getting Forests. It has the virtue of letting a player win by simply drawing one of these, with creatures.
Greater Good - Sacrifice big creatures to draw cards. It allows Hasty Green to have a card-drawing engine.
Leyline of Lifeforce - Strictly a sideboard card, it stops creatures from being countered, which is Hasty Green's biggest problem. However, drawing more than one makes it a dead draw.
II. The Dedicated Sub-Archetypes
These are the non-budget versions of the major sub-archetypes of MGA. An optimized (but not necessarily the best) decklist will be provided for each, followed by an in-depth analysis of the mana curve, creature choice, spell synergy, and metagame role.
IIa. Evasion
Lands (20)
19 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (24)
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Boreal Druid
4 Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
3 Uktabi Drake
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Scryb Ranger
3 Yavimaya Dryad
Spells (16)
4 Giant Growth
4 Stonewood Invocation
4 Blanchwood Armor
4 Moldervine Cloak
Sideboard (15)
4 Sheltering Ancient
4 Giant Solifuge
3 Krosan Grip
2 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Moratorium Stone
The original Evasion genre evolved into this pure form shortly before the release of Planar Chaos. After the introduction of hasting creatures, hybridization became more common, and the pure form was pretty much abandoned.
The deck runs 4 Skulks and 3 Drakes (which replaced Sophisticates). The deck basically begins with a Skulk or 1cc mana producer and then seeks to obtain three mana sources. It then uses Dryad to obtain the fourth mana necessary to use SWI and Solifuge; there are 20 land, so it's not worrisome to miss the third or fourth land drop, provided you drew a mana producer.
This deck is the easiest budget deck to construct in Standard, with the maindeck costing roughly $30.
By: Paul Jaynes (3rd Place, Indiana)
Land (20)
20 Forest
Creatures (24)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Dryad Sophisticate
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Ohran Viper
4 Giant Solifuge
Spells (16)
4 Call of the Herd
2 Giant Growth
2 Stonewood Invocation
4 Blanchwood Armor
4 Moldervine Cloak
Sideboard
2 Silklash Spider
3 Scryb Ranger
3 Avoid Fate
3 Squall Line
4 Naturalize
This deck is higher budget and favors efficient, but non-evasive, beaters such as Ohran Viper and Call of the Herd rather than[CARD]Uktabi Drake[CARD] or Skarrgan Pit-Skulk . However, it is not as versatile as the prior build, lacking the amazing Scryb Ranger and using the waning Dryad Sophisticate ; to be fair, the Time Spiral metagame was a lot more multicolored than Planar Chaos's. I just thought people would like to see a less dedicated Evasion build to illustrate the variety that can be had with this deck.
IIb. Snow
Lands (20)
16 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Mouth of Ronom
Creatures (24)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Boreal Druid
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Ohran Viper
4 Phyrexian Ironfoot
Artifacts (2)
2 Loxodon Warhammer
Spells (14)
4 Call of the Herd
3 Giant Growth
3 Stonewood Invocation
4 Moldervine Cloak
Sideboard (15)
4 Sheltering Ancient
4 Giant Solifuge
4 Krosan Grip
1 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Moratorium Stone
Despite never making quite as big a splash as Evasion or Force, Snow was a very popularized deck idea during the release of Coldsnap. There is no definitive decklist, seeing as how most attempts at it were abandoned (so I made up my own as an example), but the deck was distinct.
The deck was, foremost, the most defensive of them all. With 20 land and 8 mana producers, it sought to drop a creature such as Viper or Ironfoot on turn two to hold down the fort while they dug for more land and one of the Warhammers or MVCs. They would win by swinging a buffed creature with evasion; sometimes they used Birds. If they drew Viper and MVC or Giant Growth, then they could go on the offensive early. The deck performed fairly well against BDW, Zoo, and Gruul.
IIc. Force
By: Yuuichi Miyazaki (3rd place, 2006 Aichi Standard Champs)
Utilizing the Scryb and Force combo, the original Force decks were built as Evasion-Force hybrids. Pure Force variants were rare, but not unheard of.
The deck, which is pretty much the textbook, runs only 21 land, but enough mana producers to get Yavimaya Dryad, which fetches land. The deck used 8 Armor to make Scryb and Birds evasive beaters. Force and Call of the Herd held the board and could be used to beat as well. Solifuge handled post-Wrath scenarios. A relatively minor tweak would be to change out an Armor for another SWI.
IIe. Hasty
Land (22)
21 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (28)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Uktabi Drake
4 Groundbreaker
4 Primal Forcemage
4 Timbermare
4 Giant Solifuge
Spells (10)
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Evolution Charm
2 Greater Good
Sideboard (15)
4 Avoid Fate
4 Reclaim
4 Defense Grid
3 Krosan Grip
The dedicated Hasty Green deck is something that came out of Planar Chaos. Now that MGA had a large pool of creatures with Haste (and amazing damage potential) and cards that took advantage of it, it was a natural progression to mash them together to make a deck.
Admittedly, this deck is elegant and dangerous looking. But that's how it looks on paper. This deck is actually quite inconsistent and requires extremely good luck in order to win its tougher control matchups.
IIf. Elves!
Lands (20)
19 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (28)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Boreal Druid
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Essence Warden
4 Elvish Warrior
4 Elvish Champion
4 Giant Solifuge
Artifacts (4)
4 Coat of Arms
Spells (8)
4 Gaea's Anthem
4 Harmonize
Sideboard (15)
4 Avoid Fate
2 Moratorium Stone
4 Krosan Grip
4 Squall Line
This is a straightforward tribal deck. It runs 12 mana producers to power out a turn 3 Coat of Arms against aggro, smacking them upside the head for 9 to 12 on the following turn. Otherwise, Champion and his friends can swamp them. Against control, the deck is more conservative, fielding one creature at a time to attack. This deck can use Harmonize quite well, seeing as how it does run 12 mana producers.
I'm sure anyone can modify this deck to their liking. Adding Groundbreaker and Call of the Herd aren't bad ideas, and they won't make the deck any less-Elfish.
III. The Hybridized Sub-Archetypes
With the release of Planar Chaos, a completely distinct sub-archetype was created: Hasty. In this section, various elements of MGA are mixed together to make more versatile decks.
IIIa. Evasion-Hasty
This deck is currently the most popular Evasion build. There are many ways of running it, and they focus around running either Skulk or Drake.
Lands (22)
21 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (24)
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Birds of Paradise / Boreal Druid
4 Uktabi Drake / Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Scryb Ranger
3 Groundbreaker
3 Giant Solifuge
Spells (14)
3 Might of Old Krosa / Giant Growth
3 Stonewood Invocation
4 Moldervine Cloak
4 Blanchwood Armor
Sideboard (15)
4 Sheltering Ancient
1 Giant Solifuge
1 Stonewood Invocation
3 Utopia Vow
3 Krosan Grip
3 Squall Line
Drake vs. Skulk
As far as Drakes/Skulks go, you can run 4/0, 3/2, 2/3, or 2/4 (cutting Birds of Paradise/Boreal Druid to fit). The reasoning is that four is a “must have every game,” three is a “good to have most of the time,” and two is “I might want this in a tight spot.” And you don't want equal chances of drawing Drake or Skulk in tight spots when you need one but not the other; by running 2/3 or 3/2, you have peace of mind of which is more likely. You cut Birds of Paradise because they don't activate Bloodthirst for Skulks and you don't need them to set up a turn two combo, so you might as well have 2 Drakes in their stead for the odd draw; you can run 2 Boreal Druid instead, as they can activate Bloodthirst. Rule of thumb: you need mana producers for T2 Drake, but you need creatures that can activate Bloodthirst for Skulk; theoretically, you can run all three, but that would detract from the Hasty elements, making this an Evasion deck.
Skulk is inherently more unblockable than Drake but requires a growth spell to be so. Without a growth spell, Skulk is useless. However, if you're the type that can stand waiting, Skulk can be played on turn one and ignored for the rest of the game, usable as a chump blocker or surprise killer with SWI. Also, very important: DO NOT IGNORE BLOODTHIRST IF YOU CAN HELP IT!
Drake, contrary to popular belief, is just as efficient as Skulk in dealing damage. Due to his Haste, paying for Drake's Echo after the first hit is like comparable to putting a MVC on a Skulk, except you distribute the damage over two turns instead of one (which is good) without the loss of a second card if it is removed (which is very good). Drake is a self-sufficient creature, being able to swing for 2 without fear of being blocked except by other fliers (and not many things fly that won't kill you anyways… like Akroma, Angel of Wrath , Lightning Angel , and Stinkweed Imp ; if you see these creatures, DON'T ATTACK AND START PRAYING). The downside to Drake is that they are awfully inflexible early game, requiring three mana sources to pay its Echo during the following upkeep.
I run 6 mana producers (4 Elves and 2 Birds) so that I can run 4 Drakes and 0 Skulks, which synergizes better with the Hasty hybridization theme. Turn two Groundbreaker is a lot more likely with 6 mana producers rather than 4; if you play Skulks, you only need the 4 mana producers to activate Bloodthirst and to even out mana problems; it is not as important to have three mana on turn two.
My sideboard handles the threats Skulk usually can deal with better than Skulk himself. Grip for Glare of Subdual and Sacred Mesa , Squall for Skeletal Vampire , and Vow for flying fatties/pests.
Might of Old Krosa is just as good as Giant Growth, it just depends on your playing style. I use MoOK because it saves your Drake from Char during the main phase, where all smart aggro players try to get two-for-one kills.
IIIb. Evasion-Force
Lands (22)
21 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (24)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Uktabi Drake / Skarrgan Pit-Skulk
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Scryb Ranger
3 Giant Solifuge
3 Spectral Force
Spells (14)
3 Giant Growth
3 Stonewood Invocation
4 Blanchwood Armor
4 Moldervine Cloak
Sideboard (15)
1 Giant Solifuge
4 Avoid Fate
1 Stonewood Invocation
3 Squall Line
3 Krosan Grip
3 Moratorium Stone
Evasion-Force decks seem to be the second most popular deck type online. They combine the powerful board position of Force with Evasion creatures. Generally, the Evasion creatures soften the opponent up and a big Force delivers the final blow.
By: Taisuke Ishii (Trial #9 Winner, 2007 Grand Prix Kyoto)
Land (19)
1 Pendelhaven
15 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Stomping Ground
Creatures (30)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Groundbreaker
4 Yavimaya Dryad
4 Giant Solifuge
2 Spectral Force
Spells (11)
2 Call of the Herd
3 Harmonize
2 Stonewood Invocation
4 Blanchwood Armor
Sideboard:
2 Serrated Arrows
3 Gaea's Anthem
4 Sulfur Elemental
2 Krosan Grip
4 Blood Moon
This deck is an Evasion-Force deck with a good measure of Hasty thrown in; it has an emphasis on swarm tactics rather than utilizing Armor. The game plan is to drop weenies to produce mana until you can use Harmonize to refill your hand. It was very effective against control decks at GP Kyoto because the deck had not been scouted yet, and the permission based decks had trouble removing every creature. I believe the deck did not make it too far because it could not churn out enough damage per creature, eventually being beaten by the clock. Remember, control decks only grow stronger as time goes on.
The sideboard includes the popular Sulfur Elemental , which is a 3cc creature that kills most Boros weenies, cannot be countered or responded to, and can be played at the end of a player's turn. It also includes Blood Moon to stop the abundant Tron decks floating around (Tron gets shut down by Ghost Quarter and Extirpate, but fortunately, there was not as much black as people feared).
The tournament consisted mostly of Miss America/Angelfire/Good Color Control, Project X, Body Double, Dralnu, Pickles, Chord, Dragonstorm, and Tron (Izzet and Cell) decks. Note that none of these are dedicated control decks.
See the Elves! deck for a similar swarm tactics deck.
IIIc. Snow-Evasion-Force
By: Yasuhiro Toyonaga (8th place, 2006 Kagoshima Standard Champs)
Land (20)
11 Forest
6 Snow-Covered Forest
3 Mouth of Ronom
Creatures (24)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Yavimaya Dryad
4 Spectral Force
Spells (16)
4 Giant Growth
4 Call of the Herd
4 Blanchwood Armor
4 Stonewood Invocation
Sideboard
4 Krosan Grip
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
2 Squall Line
2 Moldervine Cloak
2 Gaea's Blessing
1 Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
This is pretty much a textbook Snow-Evasion-Force deck. You can tool the sideboard in whatever way you'd like, I suggest more MVCs for control matchups and another Squall Line; cut Jolrael, Empress of Beasts and Gaea's Blessing .
IIId. Snow-Evasion-Non-Force
By: Joe Hurley (3rd Place, Newfoundland)
Land (23)
19 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Scrying Sheets
Creatures (23)
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Boreal Druid
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Boreal Centaur
4 Ohran Viper
4 Yavimaya Dryad
Artifacts (2)
2 Loxodon Warhammer
Spells (12)
4 Call of the Herd
2 Squall Line
3 Stonewood Invocation
3 Blanchwood Armor
Sideboard (15)
4 Krosan Grip
4 Giant Solifuge
4 Crash Landing
3 Carven Caryatid
Snow without Force is quite rare. This deck, however, did well in Newfoundland. I would advise cutting Boreal Centaur for Scryb Ranger and a Scrying Sheet, a Snow-Covered Forest, and both Squall Lines for four Moldervine Cloak.
IIIe. Hasty-Force
Lands (23) 22 Forest 1 Pendelhaven
Creatures (25) 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Birds of Paradise
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Groundbreaker
4 Giant Solifuge 2 Timbermare
3 Spectral Force
Spells (12) 4 Call of the Herd 4 Might of Oaks 4 Stonewood Invocation
This deck is actually quite a radical departure from the other decks. It favors getting consistent land drops and using anything it can draw as a weapon. With 8 4cc pump spells to make mana producers monsters and 10 hasty creatures to do the coup de grace, it consistently beats other aggro decks, especially in the mirror, due to the lack of removal.
The deck sideboards in Defense Grid against Dralnu. Being unable to Mana Leak until turn five really puts a damper on things, as they can do a Might of Oaks on turn four. It sideboards in Ancients to deal with faster aggro.
IV. Splashing Color
Splashing color generally dilutes the deck's aggro tendency in favor of more control elements. By delaying Wrath of God or Dragonstorm, one seriously improve matchups in that area.
IVa. UG Scrub Force
By: Jan-Moritz Merkel (5-1 Day One, 2006 World Championships)
Land (22)
4 Breeding Pool
4 Yavimaya Coast
8 Forest
5 Island
1 Pendelhaven
22 land
Creatures (22)
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Scryb Ranger
4 Ohran Viper
4 Spectral Force
2 Mystic Snake
Spells (16)
4 Call of the Herd
4 Remand
4 Mana Leak
4 Stonewood Invocation
Sideboard (15)
4 Giant Solifuge
4 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
4 Repeal
2 Trickbind
1 Biorhythm
This is a textbook UG Scryb Force deck. It focuses on dropping beaters and then using permission to delay the Wrath-effects and removal. The Vesuvan Shapeshifter in the sideboard copies Force for big hits, copies Ohran Viper before damage is applied for a card, and generally allows you to run 8 of any creature in the deck.
V. Conclusion
In conclusion, MGA is an awesome and relatively inexpensive way to bring those decks that cost an entire month's paycheck down to their knees.
I'll leave you with three bits of advice:
1) Never overcommit your creatures.
2) Never rely on the topdeck. Always go for the safer win.
3) Never panic when you're losing, MGA has a habit of surprising both players.
VI. List of Terms
Armor - Blanchwood Armor or Moldervine Cloak.
Board Position and Board Presence - They are different, the subtle difference being that board position means that one controls which creatures attack or block while a board presence means that one controls a creature that can attack or block. Tapped creatures do not have a board position (unless you have two mana open, then it does because you MIGHT have a Scryb Ranger in your hand to untap it), but do maintain a board presence. Control can have a board position by keeping mana open for removal without a board presence.
Buff - A sorcery-speed Growth spell. Ex: Blanchwood Armor.
Growth - Any spell that makes a creature bigger.
Maginot Line - A series of fortifications built on the French-German border before WWII. Although successful in preventing the Germans from directly attacking the border, it was ultimately a failure, as the Germans went around it.
A Maginot Line is a term I use to define using something as a psychological deterrent to attack, despite it not being its optimal usage. It's usually used as a tactic to buy time. Ex: One can play a Giant Solifuge and not attack, forcing the opponent to keep a creature untapped at all times or to attack only with more expendable creatures in an attempt to lure your Solifuge into blocking without damaging loss; since those creatures end up doing more damage than your Solifuge would if you made it attack, it helps you more by not attacking until you can regain the advantage. Opponents vary though, so it is advised that you exercise discretion when choosing to do something like this.
Pump - An instant-speed Growth spell. Ex: Giant Growth.
Textbook - The most standardized deck construction template available. It is generally the most optimal, approved of, or proven build.
Tech - A usually-overlooked card that can be an answer to multiple metagame threats. Ex: Golgari Brownscale is tech against any aggro deck because it is almost impossible to remove and gains life when it is, despite appearing to be an inefficient creature.
Tool - Tweak to fit your local metagame or playing style.
1 good strategy against Dralnu- Leyline of Lifeforce is your friend. Hope to have it in opening hand but don't sacrifice the good hands for it. It may take time, but a ledgewalker on the field is as good as gold when it swings in for 6 for four turns. I took on two build of Dralnu, one the traditional, the other a build that splashed white for Sacred Mesa and condemn . The traditional build went down easily once a Ledgewalker resolved. A steady poke for one while they try and set up their combo brought them too low by the time they got started and put them in range of a SWI'd ledgewalker for the kill. The Mesa combo worked a bit harder as he would get 4 tokens every time I attack with a ledgewalker. Eventually I got overwhelmed by these little 1/1's and Teferi swinging in every turn. For this build, Your Krosan Grip would be a nice addition, destroying their Sacred Mesa and preventing that chump block option. Tradtional Dralnu against my build- 2-0-0 Splashed White pre sideboard- 0-0-3
Hierarchy- A decent matchup if you can get that ideal quick hand. It is possible to beat it on turn 4 as I found out. But after this turn, they begin to put their foot in the ground. Groundbreaker attacking on turn 2 is nice for early game damage. Ledgewalker Can indeed swing in for the win, but this is a battle as they constantly gain life. I haven't decided on what a good sideboard for this would be. Hierarchy- 2-0-2
Martyr Tron- Woo! A long match this was. Turn one Martyr for them followed by a gorgeous hand from me. Ledgewalker with two blanchwood and a cloak over 4 turns eventually beat them down before the full combo could be reached. Second game, they got the combo locked down and I was left with egg on my face, swinging for 34 the turn before decking out. Game 3 ended with the aggro race winning out over time, eventually swarming out with topdecked Groundbreakers and a ledgewalker that just wouldn't stop. MartyrTron - 2-0-1
All in all, I hoped to have that Ledgewalker out and trying to whittle them down as I build up momentum. The sophisticate helped as it walked over their nonbasic land, but it was susceptible to removal.
@Grimm Angel: Did Uktabi Drake do anything for you? I tested him and hated him. This deck doesn't need a Shock .
-4 Drake +2 Scryb Ranger: too good against too many decks to run less than 4, also provides nice tricks with Elves +1 Stonewood Invocation: wins games +1 Pit-Skulk or Call of the Herd: depending on your meta
