Tich's Guide to Green Multiplayer Cards and Strategies
Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Card Elements and Roles • 2a. Persistent Cards • 2b. Destructive Cards • 2c. Scaling Cards • 2d. Defensive Cards • 2e. Trap Cards • 2f. Global Benefit Cards 3. Artifacts and Lands 4. Additional Card Choices 5. Other Colors 6. Synergies and Strategies 7. Cards That Everyone Should Have 8. Sample Decklists 9. Coping with Adversity: Dealing with Green's Weaknesses 10. Conclusion
1. Introduction The purpose of this guide is to aid your transition from regular Magic duels (i.e. 1v1 games) to the substantially different world of multiplayer Magic. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or just getting into the game, multiplayer magic is so completely unique from any other format that it could leave anyone slightly discombobulated. Cards such as Duress and Counterspell have always been staples in their time, however these "sacred cows" will be your undoing in big multiplayer games. The mechanics of multiplayer necessitates that one forgoes cheap and efficient "duel cards" in order to adjust to the increased number of opponents. Do not sink into despair though, for many of the cards most players cherish have close multiplayer brothers. Swapping Calming Verse over Naturalize in your lists will become second-hand nature for you by the end of this. Ultimately I aspire to broaden your general multiplayer card pool knowledge, in the hopes that you'll eventually be able to construct your own solid, multiplayer decks. As we delve into the various card choices that you'll have at your disposal, you'll soon discover just how many cards are nearly broken in the format. Forgotten Ancient has never seen any form of competitive play, but smart deck-builders will pick up on gems like this. Remember, cards are generally balanced for 1v1 play. As this guide progresses, we'll see many occasions where having additional opponents can cause exponential power increases in cards. After I've improved your general understanding of Green's multiplayer card pool, I'll then move on to discuss general synergies and strategies. I'll finish things off by providing some sample decklists to put you on the right track to building your own, as well as briefly covering ways to cope with the color's inherent weaknesses. That way, no matter your budget, card availability, or even personal preference, you should still be able to build some solid multiplayer decks.
Before we begin, I'd like to quickly clear something up. A very big misconception that players have is that multiplayer tactics should differ greatly from duel tactics. A lot of people have gone to a lot of trouble to explain to you how to handle multiplayer politics, and even how to use them to your advantage. In fact, virtually every multiplayer article that I've ever read has merely discussed the mental aspects of the format. There seems to be this preconceived notion that the way to win multiplayer games is through the mental battle and not the cards themselves. I couldn't disagree more with that frame of mind. I believe that while your card pool is different, your overall tactics shouldn't change much (if at all). Multiplayer Magic doesn't differ from duels in the sense that the players who always build the best decks with the strongest cards usually win. If you're having a hard time staying afloat in multiplayer Magic, I'd be willing to wager that the problem lies in your decks and not your tactics. Nothing will take you further in your Magic career than learning how to build a solid deck each and every time that you sit down to play. Before you submit to reading articles about becoming a political powerhouse at your tables, ask yourself if the decks that you're using are even good enough to win to begin with. That is by far and away the best advice I could ever give you. Now that that disclaimer's out of the way, let's start things off by taking a look at what kinds of cards you'll want to be playing in a Multiplayer setting.
2. Card Elements and Roles I'd like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of playing the right kinds of cards in a multiplayer setting. The best way that I can describe a big Chaos game is by comparing it to a marathon. While everyone typically has a strong start to the event, the players who came unprepared for it tend to fall flat during the mid-game stages of the competition. It's the savvy veterans who allocated the time to train and condition themselves that will ultimately see it through to the end. With that analogy in mind, you're primarily looking for cards that will grant you the ability to stay in the game with a chance to win for as long as possible. The 6 generic types of cards that will enable you accomplish that feat are persistent cards, destructive cards, scaling cards, defensive cards, trap cards and global benefit cards. These are all critical effects that can help you go the distance and ultimately take home the win. I'll now be taking a much more in-depth look at each of these roles, as well as showcasing the relevant cards in the color. It's my hope that this will make it relatively easy to extract useful information from this guide, since it should provide you with a fairly good idea on where to turn to get relevant card choices for your decks.
2a. Persistent Cards This sections aims to highlight cards that have resilient, repeatable and/or constant effects. In multiplayer, they are invaluable tools for many reasons. First of all, it's important not to look at resilient cards with the frame of mind: "If I were to lose my permanent, I could pay to keep it/get it back." That's a duel mindset. Rather, you should be thinking to yourself "Since I can protect/reuse this, who would bother depleting resources to temporarily hinder it?" Remember, multiplayer Magic is about taking on many other players. Wasting valuable cards and resources to briefly shut down a threat is neither efficient nor effective. Thus, resilient cards tend to stick around much longer than they probably should. With respect to repeatable and/or constant effects, they bring inevitability to your decks. While cheap and efficient single-shot effects are what you typically see used in duels, they aren't nearly as effective in big, Chaos battles. As discussed earlier, I think of duels as being "sprints" and multiplayer games as being "marathons." You need to be in it for the long haul or you'll just fall by the wayside halfway through. Repeatable and/or constant effects help you go the distance, and that's what you'll need to eventually take down the table. With that in mind, let's take a look at classic examples of persistent Green cards: Persistent CardsShow
Planeswalkers: Garruk Relentless : Any 4 mana Planeswalker who protects himself is playable. He can come down and start jamming bodies to clog the field, or can remove pesky creatures such as Soul Warden that might be making your life difficult. Once flipped, the Deathtouching wolves become great defensive tools, and the Survival of the Fittest effect is never a bad thing to have access to either. His ultimate is "fine," but you'll probably never see it in action. Garruk Wildspeaker : Solid 'Walker to field in ramp decks, especially if Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl are on the menu. His -1 is fine and his ultimate is easy to build up to, so you can realistically fire it off in some games. Overrun isn't spectacular or anything, but it's not nothing either. Garruk, Primal Hunter : The best Garruk by far. He adds loyalty while producing his blocker, and his -2 is amazing in almost any creature-based deck. Drawing 6-8 cards for 5 mana is perfectly fine by me. His ultimate is great, but you probably won't see it very often. Karn Liberated : Green is one of the few colors that can reliably ramp into Karn, and it's also a color that desperately needs the Vindicate effect. Green has historically been terrible at answering pesky creatures, and so this one the few tools at their disposal.
Recursion: Genesis : Every creature-based deck should probably have one of these somewhere in it. He brings so much late-game inevitability to your deck that it's not even funny. Paleoloth
2b. Destructive Cards These are the face-smashers; the cards that pound everyone into the ground and gain you a massive advantage in one fell swoop. Any powerful, temporary, global effect fits into this category, with the "single-shot" attribute being their most distinguishing factor. These are not the kinds of cards that are used to gain you small, incremental advantages over time. Rather, they're trying to immediately bash the table to bits. While their temporary nature doesn't make them ideal when it comes to winning marathons, you're still probably going to have to rely on them to shore up some of your decks' weaknesses. They're a "necessary evil" in that sense. While some of these cards leave you relatively unscathed, a fair number of them wail on you equally as hard as they beat on everyone else. Building around the latter effects should be an important consideration when constructing your decks, since you don't want accidentally become the agent of your own demise. While the volatile nature of these cards makes them somewhat risky, since you can't rely on them to help you out more than once, it's offset by the fact that they provide you with access to some of the strongest effects in the game. Multiplayer, as is self-evident, necessitates that you challenge a great number of foes. It would be arrogant-if-not-stupid to think that you wouldn't find yourself behind at some point in your games, and so cards like these are a great way to keep the other players in check when you find yourself on the back-foot. If peoples' armies, life totals, mana bases, etc. start to get out of hand, then these are the kinds of cards that can level the playing field or even swing things back into your favor. Every color has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to destructive effects, so you'll just have to make due with what you have available to you. Let's take a look at some of the most prominent choices: Destructive CardsShow
Alternate Win: Helix Pinnacle : Useful in Heartbeat of Spring decks and anything that produces a ton of mana extremely quickly. Still, your best bet is probably to go infinite with something and try to win on the spot (more or less). Epic Struggle : Potentially useful in token decks and whatnot, but realistically you should be able to win the game if you have 20 or more creatures in play. I'd probably avoid this card as a general rule of thumb.
2c. Scaling Cards In this section, I'll highlight cards that scale directly off of having more players around. That is, the more players that are in the game, the more powerful that they become. The two types of scaling cards are the "true scalers" which benefit from having more players around and "semi-scalers" which benefit from having many more targets to choose from. An easy way to think about it is that Verdant Force (a true scaler) will produce more creatures every circuit in a 10 player game than it would in a 8 player game, but something like Rise from the Grave ( a semi-scaler) will only ever revive a single creature. You'll always appreciate having a bunch of awesome targets to choose from, but the card doesn't become wildly stronger or anything. These are prime examples of cards that are (generally) useless in duels that have suddenly become incredibly powerful due to the increased number of players in the game. If anyone started to read this guide in order to find the true multiplayer cards that are deliberately designed to be played in big Chaos games, then look no further. These are some of the first cards that you should be looking to invest in, especially if you're just starting to build up a collection of powerful, flexible, multiplayer cards. They'll always be relevant threats, regardless of the number of foes you'll be facing. Keeping all of that into consideration, let's take a look at what we have to work with: Scaling CardsShow
Semi-Scalers: Feral Hydra Keeper of the Beasts Defense of the Heart : This is one of those incredibly powerful cards that we just don't see enough of in decks. I mean, it's a 4 mana Tooth and Nail for all intents and purposes. People should be pouncing on the opportunity to play it! It's a classic example of a card that's always been mediocre-to-bad in duels, but is simply amazing in a multiplayer setting. I can't laud it enough. Avatar of Might
2d. Defensive Cards As the name suggests, these cards ward-off other players, encouraging them to direct their attention elsewhere. Their purpose is to keep you alive for as long as possible by using whatever means necessary. This all stems back to coming prepared to go the distance and completing the marathon, which often entails protecting your own personal space from any would-be delinquents. While many of these cards may seem marginal at first (often times being 1-for-1 trades), it's important to remember the mental aspects of multiplayer. Making the "you gain nothing from attacking me" argument to 4 people, even if it's implicit, essentially makes your defensive cards 4-for-1 trades should they successfully stave off any would-be attackers. The fact that death and/or retaliation is assured goes a long way to protecting you, and shouldn't be underestimated. As you will soon see, the cards listed below range in terms of mana cost and level of protection that they offer. Picking the ones that will work best for your decks should be based off of a combination of their weaknesses and your own personal metagame. That is, try to pick the ones that will protect your deck when it's at its most vulnerable stage of development, given what you expect the other players to be doing at that time. With that general guideline in mind, you should have plenty of options to mull over: Defensive CardsShow
2d. Trap Cards Trap cards punish your opponents for making uninformed decisions, unaware of the impending consequences of their ill-timed actions. Their distinguishing factor is that they typically abuse some sort of instant-speed effect to catch them off-guard and promptly discipline them for their ignorance. A select-few can only come out at sorcery-speed, however the overwhelming majority of them can "get" people at any time. While these cards will rarely-if-ever have a devastating effect on the board, their primary use is to put your opponents off-balance. You're not using these cards because you expect them to win you games; you're using them so that people will stop screwing with you when you appear to be defenseless. The idea is to let them know that you are never open, no matter how little you may appear to have on your side of the table. It's assumed that you're not to be trifled with, since there's no telling what could all be lurking in your hand. This should hopefully set you up later in games to bluff a defense, which means that the effects of trap cards tend to span far beyond the game at hand. Keep in mind that psychological warfare can be an important factor when it comes to consistently winning games in a multiplayer setting, and so every little edge that you can acquire helps. A word of caution though; I wouldn't rely on having your opponents "play scared" against you on a regular basis. Don't assume that just because you blew someone out once that you'll never have to put early-game defense in your decks ever again. If you fail to deliver on your promises too often then you'll quickly become known as the person who "cried wolf." That being said, it'll still sometimes be the best shot that you'll have at winning. Anyways, let's take a look at what awaits our unwitting foes: Trap CardsShow
2f. Global Benefit Cards These are the kinds of cards that benefit everyone at the table. It's that simple. Unlike destructive cards, these ones attempt build players up rather than focus on dismantling them. I typically hate fielding these kinds of cards in a multiplayer setting unless I have a very good reason to include them in my decks. You're almost required to be building around these cards in order to justify their inclusion in my mind. It's simply far too likely that you'll wind-up distributing the wealth equally otherwise. That's just not a spot that most players should aspire to be in. As such, I wouldn't advise investing into these kinds of cards unless you're willing to build around them, or alternatively if you're one of those people who legitimately want to have fun and create crazy board states and help other players win. I'm not trying to sleight those people or that playstyle mind you; it's just not conducive to winning the game. The overall focus of this guide has always been to help you become a more competent deck builder so that you can win more multiplayer games, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone when I express my dislike for overly casual, well-intentioned tactics. I hope it's clear that I'm speaking from a competitive frame of mind with respect to these types of subjects. Anyways, let's take a gander at exactly what we have to work with: Global Benefit CardsShow
3. Artifacts and Lands Each color has its own various strengths and weaknesses, and so one of the best ways to enhance what it already does well or shore up areas where it struggles is to turn to colorless solutions such as artifacts and lands. At the end of the day, even though these types of cards could care less about the color(s) of the deck that they're in, it's still very easy to associate certain artifacts and lands to certain colors. The point here is that I'm not trying to create a blanket list of powerful multiplayer artifacts or anything, but rather to showcase the ones that naturally pair with the color. Everything listed will serve an important role in one way or another, and will hopefully shed light on some powerful synergies and strategies that you may not have previously considered. Keep in mind that many of these cards may not be multiplayer cards in the traditional sense, but they bring such a high degree of consistency and/or power to decks that I feel compelled to mention them anyways. The available options include: Artifacts and LandsShow
Synergistic Lands: 12-Post: Cloudpost , Glimmerpost and Vesuva can all be combined to produce copious amounts of mana. Green is the king of land fetching, and can easily assemble enough of them to produce a nearly unlimited amount ofmana. Tron: Urza's Mine , Urza's Tower and Urza's Power Plant is a weaker yet cheaper ($ wise) version of 12-Post. Eye of Ugin : Since Most Tron/12-Post win using Eldrazi (Emrakul, the Aeons Torn namely), then this becomes an important centerpiece to the deck. Once again, we love Green's ability to fetch the Eye, which typically means that we only need to run 1 of them in our decks. Dryad Arbor : Fantastic 1-of in decks with Green Sun's Zenith . Forbidden Orchard : Oath of Druids was good before this card came to be, but now it's simply insane. Gaea's Cradle : If you can afford them/you're lucky enough to own them, then you can do crazy things with Elf and token decks. Haunted Fengraf : Not the greatest land ever, but you don't need 20 Forests in play most of the time. Being able to trade useless lands for bodies seems like it could be fine some of the time. Maze of Ith , Mystifying Maze : Green is good at tutoring up lands, but it's typically bad at being defensive. Lands such as these help to mitigate that weakness. Mishra's Factory , Treetop Village : Manlands are a great way to increase your deckss overall threat densities and shore up their early game defenses without sacrificing vital spell slots to do so. Mosswort Bridge : Getting 10 power is easy enough, and cheating an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play is never a bad thing. You even cast the behemoth, so you get the extra turn. Scrying Sheets + Snow Lands: Easy draw engine to incorporate into your decks if desired. Oran-Rief, the Vastwood : Awesome land to field as a 1-2 of in your aggro decks. Pendelhaven : Fairly strong in Elf/Token decks as a 1-of. Urza's Factory : I like playing with 1 of these in my generic ramp decks. The constant stream bodies is always appreciated. Winding Canyons : Green loves its creatures, and playing them at instant speed sure beats playing them at Sorcery speed. Wirewood Lodge : Good for Elf decks (obviously). Yavimaya Hollow : Another automatic 1-of in any creature-based deck. It's a fantastic form of protection that you won't even be upset to have kicking around.
Good Artifacts: Expedition Map : Tutors for any land, which is relevant in a world of 12-Post and Tron.
Persistent Artifacts: Orochi Hatchery : This card is absurd in your token-based decks, especially ones with Oran-Rief, the Vastwood . Thousand-Year Elixir : Green more-so than the other colors typically relies on creatures with activated abilities. It has a plethora of mana dorks and whatnot that all have useful effects, but also a fair amount of Imperious Perfect -esque creatures that can benefit from multiple activation. Defense Grid : Control decks tend to be the ones that Green mages fear the most, and cards like Defense Grid can really cause them trouble. Being unable to counter spells or play removal at instant speed is not a position that they want to be in. Colfenor's Urn : It hits on turn 3 (which is relevant in a world full of 4 mana sweepers) and provides you with some decent protection against both spot and mass removal. People will have a hard justifying the temporary reprieve of your threats after all. Staff of Domination : Amazing card to field in ramp decks. It provides card draw, protection, lifegain, and so much more. Weatherseed Totem : Decent accelerant that acts as a late-game win condition if needed. Quicksilver Amulet : Green is the color of fatties, and being able to put them into play (aka making them uncounterable), at instant speed and for 4 mana is just awesome.
Scaling Artifacts: Mind's Eye : While Green has some decent draw engines, none come across as being as powerful as this one is.
4. Additional Card Choices Let's face it; I've only started the list of the playable Green cards. Just because a card doesn't meet one of the arbitrary requirements that I've previously established, that doesn't outright prevent it from being an amazing card to field in a multiplayer setting. I mean, I'm not exactly going to call Ancestral Recall a bad card because it "doesn't scale" or whatever. An amazing card is always going to be worth playing, regardless of the number of opponents that you're facing down. I'm not going to list every playable card in the color here or anything, just ones that I could see myself playing in some decks. I'm still trying to keep you on the right track when it comes to building your decks after all. So, after some reflection, I came up with: Choices, choices, choicesShow
Good cards: Autumn's Veil : One of your few reactive answers to counters/spot removal. It's a very strong card in combo decks that might otherwise get shut down at instant speed. Glimpse of Nature Sylvan Tutor , Worldly Tutor : Cheap tutors are inherently broken, and these are no exception. If you're playing a combo deck that relies on creatures to win the game, there's very little incentive to not run these kinds of effects. Living Wish : It's a Demonic Tutor for creatures and lands, which may as well be any card in most Green decks. It's hard to go wrong with having 4 of these lying around, especially if you have a decently-sized collection. Regrowth Beast Within : One of Green's few "answer-alls." An overlooked upside of the card is that you can often blank the 3/3 Beast with a bigger body, which might trigger it to charge another player instead. Chord of Calling Eternal Witness Harmonize : It's a playable draw spell. Not great, not terrible, just playable. Momentous Fall : Ditto. Natural Order , Pattern of Rebirth : Trading the weakest creature in your deck for the best one is never a bad thing. Summoning Trap : Awesome answer to Control decks trying to counter your key spells. Tooth and Nail : Green has a thousand ways to ramp it out quickly, and creatures have reached new levels of absurdity. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Blightsteel Colossus comes to mind as a pair of creatures that will cause people nightmares. Primeval Titan and Avenger of Zendikar is certainly scary as well. Terastodon and Sundering Titan should thoroughly wreck people's mana bases, so even an oddball combo like that can work.
5. Other Colors As much as I'd like to think that a color can stand on its own, there exist many Gold cards that are tailored for multiplayer play that can often times provide it with some much needed support. Because Gold cards are harder to cast relative to mono-colored ones, you typically get more bang for your buck when you field them. As such these gems will not only enhance the tactics you've already become familiar with, but will likely upgrade the power level of your decks to the next threshold. This is all too important in multiplayer, where you'll constantly be barraged by a horde of powerful threats all barreling down at you from you stiff opposition. It's difficult to express a general use for these kinds of cards, and so I can't give a much more specific description of what Gold cards will bring to your decks. The best advice that I can give you is to simply peruse the list as you build decks of the corresponding colors. You just may find a diamond in the rough. Relevant Gold cards, in my mind, include: Gold CardsShow
6. Synergies and Strategies Now that we've gone over the most prominent multiplayer card choices, it's high time we start piecing some of this information together to start building decks. The goal of this section will be to discuss general synergies that can be applied to various decks/deck types rather than discussing specific combos or interactions in great detail. In multiplayer games more-so than in duels, the sum of the parts has to be greater than the whole. It's the only realistic way to win the game given the incredible opposition that players are likely to be facing. I'm going to be taking simple, easy-to-understand concepts, and start incorporating what I've been discussing into them. That is, I will show you how to put a multiplayer spin on a strategy that you already know and love. Full decklists will come later, since I'm still trying to drive home the idea of thinking about things from a multiplayer perspective at this point in time. You need a solid plan to defeat a large number of opponents, and that won't come intuitively to everyone at first. Ramp StrategiesShow
I'm sure that most people are aware of the fact that the trademark Green strategy is ramping into fatties. No other color can match its ability to flood mana on to the table and proceed to slam down monsters that can off players in 2-3 attacks. The tactic is as old as the game itself, and so it's something that you should become familiar with if you ever want to experience a fair amount of multiplayer success. What I will say is that it's very easy to build a terrible ramp deck that sits around and does nothing all game. Sure, it might get a bunch of lands into play, but then it just kind of sits around and does nothing. Other times, I'll see ramp decks that are great at getting a few key creatures out, but then they just roll over and die at the first signs of removal. One Wrath of God later and they're basically out of the game. These are common pitfalls that you'll have to avoid if you want to be successful, and so I'll do my best to lay out a generic guide to building ramp decks for you.
Your Mana Base Matters The most important aspect of any ramp deck is its foundation (i.e. its mana base). The biggest problem that I typically see with ramp decks is that people put 0 thought into how they lay it out. The quantity and quality of lands that you play is crucial to your deck's success, and that's true even if you're ramping yourself into true monsters. As a general rule of thumb, the more lands you have, the better. Playing 28-29 lands in a dedicated ramp deck with a bunch of 6-9 drops isn't unreasonable at all. You need to hit your land drops in order to win, and your deck won't do much of anything if you start to fall behind. Still, you're not required to durdle around with a bunch of Forests that won't do anything other than tap for a Green mana. Manlands such as Mishra's Factory , Urza's Factory and Treetop Village are all fine additions to your decks. They increase their overall threat density without sucking up vital spell slots. There's also spell-lands such as Oran-Rief, the Vastwood and Yavimaya Hollow that can tap for mana if needed, but usually act as virtual spells that will be useful all throughout the game. Just remember that there's no reason to run a million Forests when your deck runs off of 1-2 Green mana. Don't be shy about loading up on these kinds of cards.
In addition to having access to plenty of man and spell-lands, you can also choose to field combo lands such as Tron (Urza's Tower , Urza's Mine , Urza's Power Plant ) and 12-Post (Cloudpost , Glimmerpost , Vesuva ). Decks using either combo can typically produce much more mana with many fewer lands, which is a very intriguing proposition to say the least. What's important to remember is that Green, unlike most colors, has the ability to easily tutor for any land in its deck. Some fantastic examples off-the-top of my head include Crop Rotation , Expedition Map , Sylvan Scrying , Reap and Sow , Scapeshift and Primeval Titan . There's also cards such as Ancient Stirrings which don't automatically grab you a land of choice, but are typically reliable enough to use. Anyways, the point is that you can easily construct "combo" mana bases that will produce copious amounts of mana, and Green is the perfect color at assembling them.
Finally, I want to touch on the fact that your mana base can also bring inevitability to your decks. A card that comes to mind for that is Eye of Ugin . It's basically a Planar Portal that costs 0, is difficult to remove, and can easily be tutored for (in many Green decks that is). Magic has a wide variety of powerful, colorless creatures, and you can easily construct decks that can rely on Eye of Ugin as an engine to continuously produce threats. Wurmcoil Engine , Steel Hellkite , Sundering Titan , Darksteel Colossus , Blightsteel Colossus , Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and many more all come to mind as fantastic options, but any Eldrazi and/or big dumb beaters would realistically work fine. The key thing to remember is that poorly built ramp decks can have explosive starts but pathetic ends, and so you should try and incorporate as much inevitability to your decks as possible. Cards such as Eye of Ugin ensure that you'll never run out of threats to beat people down with, which is exactly the sort of effect that you'll need to truly compete in a multiplayer setting.
Your Ramp Matters Now that we've tackled the issue of the mana base, I'll move on to the idea of ramping. For the purposes of this section, let's assume that we're building a normal deck with a normal mana base. No Tron, no 12-Post, etc. I've listed the relevant ramp spells for those combo mana bases in the previous section, so feel free to use that as your guide if that's what you're looking to build. Now, in terms of traditional ramp, you're mostly focusing on a few key cards. You're going to want about eight or so 1-2 CMC ramp spells and about four-to-five 4 CMC ramp spells in your decks. The reason for this is that you always to play a 1-2 CMC ramp spell on turns 1 or 2 to ensure that you'll have 4 mana available to you on turn 3. From there you can cast a 4 CMC ramp spell or another 2 CMC ramp spell to hopefully ensure that you'll have 6-7 mana available to you on your 4th turn. Speed is everything in ramp decks because the longer you wait, the less impactful your deck becomes. Casting a 7 CMC creature on turn 7 isn't actually that impressive, especially since your deck has a bunch of ramp effects that become straight up dead draws over time. You need to get some damage in fast and early, otherwise you run the risk of falling too far behind in the long-run. In terms of good ramp spells the use, the best ones are Sol Ring , Joraga Treespeaker , Nature's Lore , Sakura-Tribe Elder , Skyshroud Claim , Explosive Vegetation , Solemn Simulacrum and Oracle of Mul Daya . These are the types of cards that will help you get that 2-4 ramp curve to ensure that you can start applying pressure from the get-go.
Your Threats Matter Now that you have a deck with a solid mana base and a clearly-defined ramp strategy, it's time to focus on the game-enders. One thing that I want to stress is that your deck should have a relatively high density of extremely impactful cards. Note that I say "cards" and not "creatures," because not every threat has to be a body. Lurking Predators is one of my most beloved multiplayer cards, and I feel as though it's at its best in ramp decks. A turn 4 Predators can set you up to flood the field with massive bodies for the rest of the game, especially if a card like Cream of the Crop is kicking around to stack your deck everytime something hits the table. I will say that you'll probably want to opt for "creature ramp" such as Sakura-Tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum whenever possible if you do select that route, since Lurking Predators will trigger on more cards in your deck if you do. Still, there are obviously many more options to pursue. Primeval Titan is easily the best Green creature in the game (from a multiplayer standpoint), and feels right at home in ramp decks. Multani, Maro-Sorcerer is a multiplayer classic, and even has the magical 6 CMC that you can slam on the table on turn 4. Verdant Force is another bomb, as he grows out-of-hand in no time in a multiplayer setting. This is also a great opportunity to start throwing out resilient threats such as Spearbreaker Behemoth and Vorapede , who shrug off removal like it's nothing. There's always "utility" creatures such as Tornado Elemental , Woodfall Primus and Terastodon to consider as well. People can play plenty of cards that can cause a Green mages some headaches, but hopefully creatures like these can provide you with some sort of answer.
Elves are the quintessential Green tribe that can play just about any style under the sun. While most people are aware of the possibilities that their decks hold, I find that very few typically know how to properly harness their power. It's one of those tribes that has gotten so big that I feel as though people have become "paralyzed with choices" when it comes to building their decks. Instead of determining a cohesive strategy and sticking to it, people jam every elf that they can find into their deck and call it a day. I won't come out and say that that's inherently wrong, but that's not how I like to approach the game of Magic. My advice to anyone looking to build an Elf deck is to think about what they're trying to accomplish, and execute it to the best of their abilities. Still, I'll try to give a helping hand by listing some generic synergies and strategies.
Aggro Strategies Let's pretend that you don't care about getting fancy and trying to create some convulted gameplan that will eventually win the game. Let's pretend that you just want to beat down on some nerds. What options do you have at your disposal? Well, it all starts with 2 cards for me; Imperious Perfect and Elvish Archdruid . Elvish Champion was fine back in the day, but the new era of Elf lords has ushered in some gems that will take you a long way to taking home the W. Between the Druid's ability to produce mana and the Perfect's ability to produce bodies, you have the ultimate mix of effects that win games. To support them, I suggest fielding Ezuri, Renegade Leader and Joraga Warcaller . You only need a few copies of each, but man can they ever put that mana and those bodies to use. Beyond that, I highly recommend using Lys Alana Huntmaster and Sylvan Messenger . I love drawing cards and I love making bodies, and creatures like these do those things very well. Masked Admirers is another decent candidate, since he's a card advantage machine that gives your deck some decent inevitability. Elvish Visionary is always a welcome addition, since the body is typically worth much more than a 1/1 chumper and the cantripping aspect is just awesome.
Now that I've outlined a general creature base, you have to think about supporting it properly. For instance, rather than playing a bunch of lands in your deck, you can just play with creatures such as Llanowar Elves , Fyndhorn Elves , Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary and Priest of Titania . They basically fill the same role, and they benefit immensely from the lords, Elvish Archdruid , Sylvan Messenger , and Lys Alana Huntmaster . These cards all care way more about elf creatures than they care about lands after all. As such, you typically want to cut as many lands as possible to make room for more elves. Moving on, you'll probably want some cards that can help seal the game. Biorhythm comes to mind as the most powerful option, since it can end games outright if you have enough creatures out. Trucking people down to 1 or 2 and then swinging in with the team should be more that enough. Hurricane and Squall Line could probably be used as well, although they wouldn't be nearly as strong. A solid draw engine is a different form of inevitability, but it's still highly desirable nonetheless. Sylvan Messenger and Elvish Visionary are great, but they're usually not enough to ensure that you'll always have an army in play. You will need to support them with additional draw.Recycle and Skullclamp come to mind as a pair of amazing candidates, but something like Mind's Eye , Fecundity , Glimpse of Nature an/or Slate of Ancestry could also be used too. A final option would be to consider adding Wirewood Symbiote to the deck as a means of constantly bouncing and replaying your "draw" creatures. This also fuels your Lys Alana Huntmaster , and so there's something to be said about that.
Combo Strategies Elves are a tribe with many cool interactions that are basically combos for all intents and purposes. Nettle Sentinel and Heritage Druid is the most glaring example, and is one that has been abused in eternal formats for the longest time. Glimpse of Nature enables your creatures to cantrip, and since most elves cost 1-2 mana while Heritage Druid produces 3 every time you play one, you can basically draw your entire deck and produce an extremely large amount of mana while doing so. A typical combo elf deck will tutor up some Nettle Sentinel s and a Heritage Druid using Green Sun's Zenith and Chord of Calling , and from there it will seek to play a Glimpse of Nature or two and proceed to play elves until it can "chain up" into a Regal Force (to draw way more cards) and an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn to ultimately end the game.
Another general combo that should be used is pairing Wirewood Symbiote with Elvish Visionary and/or Sylvan Messenger . While the bounce is primarily what we're after, the untapping portion of the effect certainly isn't trivial in a world of Imperious Perfect s, Elvish Archdruid s and Priest of Titania s. The goal here is simply to draw as many cards as possible while also producing a whack of mana. This, again, could easily support a Biorhythm /Hurricane -based strategy that ultimately seeks to burn players out.
When it comes throwing bodies on the table, few colors can match sheer speed and power of Green token decks. While White has been the recent recipient of the best token spells, what Green lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Green also brings much stronger support to its decks, as I'll explain shortly. The real advantage that Green token decks have, in my mind, is that it has some of the best resilient and persistent token generators in the game. As good as a card like Increasing Devotion can be, it's only going to burst some bodies on to the field a couple of times. A few mass removal spells later and you could be out of the game. That's not going to be the case with Green token decks. With that in mind, let's discuss some of the many ways to go about building solid multiplayer token decks.
Choosing the Right Generators When it comes to picking the right token generators for the job, my general advice is to select as many persistent effects as possible. Howl of the Night Pack , Hornet Queen and Mitotic Slime are all good examples of cards that will tide you over for a while, but neither card really has the mettle to take down a long, drawn-out game. You're going to want a fair amount of cards such as Kazandu Tuskcaller , Imperious Perfect , Jade Mage , Ant Queen and Master of the Wild Hunt that continuously make tokens all throughout the game for that. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, but some combination of the aforementioned generators should comprise the backbone of your decks. Another card that I really like for the job is Night Soil . The true power of this card stems from its ability to disrupt graveyard-based strategies while still fueling your "Plan A." That versatility and power will go a long way to winning you games. Beyond that, you'll want some recurring token generators that aren't vulnerable to removal. Wurmcalling , Sprout Swarm and Beacon of Creation all spring to mind as cards that will produce tokens indefinitely. I'd easily play 1-2 of each of them in my decks, since they provide you with so much raw mid-to-late game power. The key here is creating a deck that won't run out of gas; even if people slam mass removal on you all game long. Your goal should be to grind them out and get there eventually.
Taking it to the Max Once you've established a way to generate inevitability and continuous pressure, your goal should be to figure out ways of securing your win. Beastmaster Ascension comes to mind as a classic example of a card that will just crush people instantly once it gets online. Garruk, Primal Hunter is another beast, and will go a long way to taking down the table. Still, the card that deserves the biggest nod is Doubling Season . The card is patently absurd and can be played in just about anything. The thing is that you're not just doubling creature tokens; you're doubling all tokens. Planeswalkers coming down and using their ultimates right off the bat? Check. Graft creatures coming down with double the number of +1/+1 counters? Check. Beastmaster Ascension getting active in half the time? Check. The card makes winning the game so ridiculously easy, and so I highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity to play with them. Now, cards that I don't really like are things like Overrun . They're single-shot effects, they're not guaranteed to win you the game, they're slow and they're stone useless if you've fallen behind. I don't mind persistent effects such as Beastmaster Ascension , but I genuinely dislike anything that might just rot in your hand or do little more than Searing Flesh someone. That's not what you're looking for to take down a big multiplayer game.
Fielding the Right Support Now that you've selected your ways of making bodies and ultimately winning the game, the real question is how to go about finishing the deck. The 2 things that all good token have, in my mind, are untappers and draw engines. By untappers, I mean one of the many Awakening effects that Green mages have at their disposal. I have them all listed in this guide under the "Scaling Cards" section, so you can find the alternatives there if needed. Awakening is the best one so it's the example that I'll use, but they're all viable. Anyways, the key thing to remember is how ridiculously strong untap effects are in the deck. When you have Jade Mage + Wurmcalling + Imperious Perfect , what can't you do with 7+ mana every turn? It's pretty crazy how quickly things can get out of hand. You can go from 0 to 60 and create entire armies after only a few circuits. Finally, you'll want to add a draw engine to the deck. Skullclamp is the obvious choice, but Fecundity , Overwhelming Instinct , Symbiotic Deployment and Recycle could all be used as well. The main thing is, again, to create so much raw inevitability that no one can actually keep you down. You may fall, but you'll pick yourself up so fast that people won't even see you coming.
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
The first thing that you'll want to invest in are some solid ramp spells. The two magic numbers that you want to be aiming for are 2 and 4. Playing a 2 CMC ramp spell on turn 2 and a 4 CMC ramp spell on turn 3 gives you access to 6-7 mana on turn 4. That should be enough to play most of your creatures and/or spells, which is as good a time as ever to try and take control of the game. Now, Sol Ring is still the nuts when it comes to acceleration, so you'll always play that if it's an option. Still, I wouldn't blame people for not buying them/choosing to not play with them. For 2 drops I really like Nature's Lore and Sakura-Tribe Elder , but Joraga Treespeaker isn't bad either. While you can always turn to worse cards such as Explore and Rampant Growth , you typically want to avoid those if at all possible. The exception is playing Explore in decks that have Tron (Urza's Mine , Urza's Tower , Urza's Power Plant ) or 12-Post (Cloudpost , Glimmerpost , Vesuva ) mana bases as they don't really benefit from finding basic lands. As a general rule of thumb you want 8 (or so) 2 CMC ramp spells by your side at all times. In terms of 3 CMC options, the only 2 viable ones are Yavimaya Elder and Worn Powerstone in my mind. The Elder isn't exactly ramp, I realize that, but he's still a 3-for-1 that can block an attacker if needed. He brings a lot of raw "card draw" to your decks, and that's never a bad thing. I'd pick up 4 of him and never look back. Oh, and before anyone asks, I don't think that Cultivate and Harrow are good cards. 3 CMC ramp is very awkward and typically prevents you from maximizing your mana. I don't like playing in general. Finally, we come to the 4 CMC slot. The 2 candidates that normally make my decks are Skyshroud Claim and Solemn Simulacrum , but Explosive Vegetation and Oracle of mul Daya are very powerful options as well. The Oracle is a little bit risky since she isn't guaranteed ramp, but her power ceiling is so much higher than the other cards' that it's still worth running her more often than not. You'll want 4-5 of these kinds of cards (total that is, not 4-5 of each) at your disposal since you really only want to see the one of them on turn 3. Still, you'll always loathe the games where you don't have one, which means that it's almost always worthwhile to include a fair amount of 4 CMC ramp.
Moving on, everyone should be looking to pick up some solid draw spells. Green decks are notoriously bad for not including solid draw engines in my experience, which typically ends poorly for them when it comes to competing in big multiplayer games. Creature-based decks (as Green decks tend to be) are extremely vulnerable to removal and/or disruption, and so you need to come prepared to face a fair amount of adversity. In terms of actual draw engines, cards that come to mind are Mind's Eye , Garruk's Packleader , Lurking Predators , Fecundity , Skullclamp and Greater Good . The obvious multiplayer bombs are Mind's Eye and Lurking Predators , which can typically provide you with more creatures than you can shake a stick at. Fecundity and Skullclamp are awesome in token/elf/swarm decks in general, but any creature-based deck can realistically put Skullclamp to use. Drawing 2 cards every time your creatures die is just amazing. In terms of single-shot effect, cards that I don't mind are things like Harmonize and Momentous Fall . I don't like relying on these kinds of cards in general, since I'd rather consistently draw cards all throughout the game, but at the same time they're still better than nothing. Finally, I highly recommend picking up a Genesis to add to your decks. It will provide your decks with some powerful late-game sustainability, and usually ensures that you'll have inevitability over the other players. While it's not a draw spell per-say, it basically acts as one.
Now that you have a solid set of ramp and draw spells, the next thing on your agenda should be to pick up some powerful creatures. Some of my favorites include Forgotten Ancient , Lhurgoyf , Dirtcowl Wurm , Hydra Omnivore , Multani, Maro-Sorcerer and Verdant Force since they all scale incredibly well in multiplayer. The Hexproof trolls (Troll Ascetic , Thrun, the Last Troll ) are amazing as well since they're great on both offense and defense, and give fits to the Control players at the table. Dungrove Elder is amazing too, since he grows stronger over time and dodges most removal. Other gems that I've come to love are Spearbreaker Behemoth and Predator Ooze since they're so resilient and bring so much raw power to your decks. If people in your area love their sweepers, you know who to call! Otherwise, look for generically powerful creatures such as Primeval Titan (best Green creature in the game), Avenger of Zendikar , Sprout Swarm /Wurmcalling (not creatures per-say but whatever) and Imperious Perfect (it's good even if you're not playing an Elf deck).
The last cards that you'll want to pick up are generic hate cards that you'll need to survive. Whirlwind , Hurricane , Squall Line and/or Tornado Elemental to neuter flier decks, Calming Verse to hose enchantment-based decks, Creeping Corrosion to thwart artifact-based decks, and then something like Dense Foliage or Asceticism to handle Control decks. People like to hate on creature-based decks by fielding a ton of removal, so it's important to fight back as much as possible. Make their job a complete nightmare by using resilient creatures and powerful sweepers. A lot of people tend to associate Green mages as newbs who don't know how to play the game very well, and that's often been true in my experience. It's time to put an end to that stereotype once and for all by showing people how powerful and interactive Green decks can be.
One comment that I constantly receive is that people play in metas where curving out with warm bodies is important to them/vital to their survival. It doesn't matter how big or small the creature is, they simply refuse to play without a fair number of early drops to durdle around and dissuade attackers. While I typically disagree with that mindset, and would rather take a bit of damage early on than play weak cards, I respect the fact that not everyone will agree with that philosophy. In this section, I'll post "cheap" (CMC wise) creatures that can fill your curve, but who also work fairly well in multiplayer. Some will be defensive; some will be offensive, and others a bit of both. This is basically the Coal's Notes of "what to play if anything." While I don't recommend playing some of these cards in general, I'd rather see people put Scute Mob in their decks than Gladecover Scout .
8. Sample Deck Lists The purpose of this section will be to provide readers with an idea of some sample decklists that I have constructed over the years. I'll do my best to highlight the most important interactions and synergies amongst the various cards; which probably means that I won't spend too much time explaining why Lurking Predators is in the deck. They'll be good starting points for anyone looking to make similar decks, by giving you a basic idea of the most obvious card choices. Now, keep in mind that these deck lists will become somewhat outdated and suboptimal as time goes on. I'll do my best to update them as much as possible, but I'm only 1 man. They'll still be useful learning tools however, even if they're not always relevant. Each of these decks brings various multiplayer elements that I've previously discussed into play. Please keep all of this in mind as you read over them.
This is a perfect example of a very linear yet incredibly powerful deck. Your goal will be to stick as manay Posts as you possibly can in order to produce a zillion mana to cast your big, expensive spells. Eye of Ugin is the real backbone of this strategy since it can tutor up amazing creatures such as the Eldrazi. Once you start slamming them on the table, the game should be over in short order. Green Sun's Zenith is a virtual accelerant in this deck since it allows you to fetch up creatures such as Overgrown Battlement , Primeval Titan , or even the good old turn 1 Dryad Arbor . All is Dust and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre are your answers to troublesome permanents, and Beast Within could always be added to the deck if needed. The walls are purposely kept as 0/4s or bigger to blank the 3/3 beast should you ever need to sideboard into some.
The concept of the this deck is simple. Assemble Tron, tutor up an Eye of Ugin , and start going to town with colorless creatures and/or Karns. It features 12 cantripping artifacts that will smooth your draws and provide you with colored mana as needed, in addition to the usual suspects such as Expedition Map and Sylvan Scrying . I've purposely listed the "best" creatures to field in this style of deck, but any colorless beaters will work. The key is to ensure that Eye of Ugin will be your threat-fetcher by keeping your creatures colorless. You don't have to use Eldrazi/Karns/Wurmcoils etc. if you don't want to, but I strongly recommend that you don't use colored creatures as your win conditions. I also hope that it's clear that you can easily replace the Tron lands with the 12-Post ones (Cloudpost , Glimmerpost , Vesuva ) and the deck would still work fine. They're interchangeable as far as this deck is concerned. The point of this deck is mostly to showcase that you don't need cards like Primeval Titan and whatnot to build solid 12-Post/Tron decks. This deck is extremely budget friendly if you exclude the creatures/Karns (which aren't required) and use different win conditions instead.
Once again, this could deck could easily be using 12-Post, Tron, or even basic lands in this instance. You only need 9 mana to "go off," which is fairly reasonable all things considered. The primary difference between this deck and the others that I've listed is the lack of reliance on Eye of Ugin to actually win the game. This deck features Defense of the Heart (which explains why the deck has Forbidden Orchard s fyi) and Tooth and Nail which can both be used to tutor for 2 stupidly overpowered creatures. I chose 4 that I liked, but I wouldn't fault you for selecting others as well. Eternal Witness is a fantastic form of recursion, and typically acts as TnNs #9-12.
Very simple ramp deck that seeks to stick an early Lurking Predators and/or Cream of the Crop to ensure that it plays nothing but creatures for the rest of the game. The listed Creatures all fill various roles ranging from drawing cards, to nailing fliers, to handling troublesome permanents and more. I've listed ones that I personally like, but you can always update the deck to feature what you have on hand. If mass removal is a particular concern for you, then you could always include more draw and/or recursion effects. Greater Good , Momentous Fall , Harmonize and Garruk, Primal Hunter all come to mind as cards that could support Genesis and Regal Force with respect to keeping you in the game. If enchantments start causing you trouble, consider adding Calming Verse to the deck. It won't touch your important permanents, but will thouroughly destroy the boards of anyone trying to clog the field with pesky enchantments. Creeping Corrosion could also be added to handle annoying artifacts, which just goes to show you that a deck like this doesn't have much that it needs to be concerned about. You should always have solid answers to anything and everything that people throw your way. One card that this deck doesn't have (but easily could) is Summoning Trap . The card clearly shines in counter-heavy metas, but even casting it normally is usually fine.
A very powerful tribal Beast deck that is packed to the brim with card advantage engines. This is a perfect example of a true multiplayer Aggro deck in my mind, since it won't ever find itself in topdeck mode trying to dig into some action.
This deck, unlike the other one, isn't nearly as concerned with drawing cards. While it does include a few value engines (Genesis , Lurking Predators ), this deck remains competitive by fielding a large amount of "unanswerable" creatures. Your goal will be to blank as much spot and/or mass removal as possible, while keeping the field clear of troublesome permanents that might otherwise thwart your assault.
This is a very simple beatdown elf deck that seeks to flood the field with small beaters before powering out a Biorhythm using its plethora of mana dorks. From there you should be able to knock the table out in a swing or two, especially if you're outright killing some of the Control/Combo players. Just remember that Wirewood Symbiote is a complete house, as untapping a Priest of Titania or Elvish Archdruid should be more than enough to cast an 8 CMC spell. I also want to point out the fact that you should be bouncing Elvish Visionary and/or Sylvan Messenger as much as possible to draw an insane amount of cards while you're doing so. Skullclamp was added to the deck as a generic draw engine that should hopefully be able to dig you into action, but virtually any draw spell could be used in that slot. Glimpse of Nature and such come to mind as alternatives.
Really fun deck that's mostly trying to showcase all of the amazing token producer's at a Green mage's disposal. The cards are all self-explanatory as far as I'm concerned, since there're nothing really eye-opening or anything. Skullclamp is a brutal draw engine, but Fecundity could easily be used as well. Beastmaster Ascension is your true game-ender, in addition to attritioning people out with Sprout Swarm and Wurmcalling . Night Soil is a meta call, but is awesome at hosing graveyard-based strategies. It could easily be cut for other cards if desired though. Awakening is another key card to this deck, since it's just so abusive with cards such as Wurmcalling and Kazandu Tuskcaller .
This is a fairly straightforward elf aggro deck that's basically looking to beat everyone out of the game. The deck features a ton of draw in the form of Sylvan Messenger , Skullclamp and Slate of Ancestry to ensure that it never runs out of gas. Many lords and token producers are included for much the same reason. Hurricane is used to prevent fliers from soaring over you, but can be always be used a burn spell to truck the table down. Your plan A is to beat everyone senseless after all. Wirewood Symbiote is used to bounce your Sylvan Messenger s, untap your Imperious Perfect s, and fuel your Lys Alana Huntmaster s. The card does work!
This deck is relatively complex compared to the ones that I've been showcasing. It wins by attacking with manlands/producing tokens using Urza's Factory , but that's only scratching the surface of the crazy things it does. What this deck ideally does is land some early Exploration s and Manabond s so that it can start filling the table with lands. Life from the Loam and Realms Uncharted make a perfect engine that will quickly fill your graveyard with everything that you could ever need. Strip Mine does an excellent job of stripping people of vital resources, and will eventually lock the other players at 0 lands. From there, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale will handle everyone's creatures. Ensnaring Bridge could also be used, and I strongly recommend adding it in highly aggressive metas. The other maindeck answer to creatures is Glacial Chasm , which can abuse Exploration /Manabond and Life from the Loam /Crucible of Worlds to prevent people from damaging you. Simply neglect to pay its Upkeep cost and recast the card + another land post-combat/at end of turn using Manabond . If being decked is a concern for you (and it can be), consider adding something like Reito Lantern to the deck.
For this deck I'm more interested in expressing an idea than providing a perfect decklist. While most people think of Red and Black as the global burn colors, Green does its fair share of cards as well. The goal of this deck is to get ahead on life (Glimmerpost , Lifegift ) and then play X spells until everyone else falls to 0. Your creatures are primarily there to protect you, but can also be used to ramp you if needed. In this case I split the roles relatively 50/50, but you could always load up on the ramp cards (Vine Trellis , Primeval Titan ) or cut back on them for more, powerful beaters. The 12-Post tactic isn't necessary by any means, but was included as a means to get ahead on life. You could easily run basic Forests and incorporate some additional lifegain somewhere else.
The goal of this deck is to assemble Melira, Sylvok Outcast , a creature with Persist (Aerie Ouphes , Woodfall Primus ) and some sac outlet (Ashnod's Altar , Blasting Station ) to outright win the game. The deck features a whack of recursive creatures that will recur lost combo pieces, and who all chain up into one another for Birthing Pod . Dosan the Falling Leaf was included for his ability to disrupt Control decks, but utility cards such as that aren't required or anything. Pod decks are extremely customizable, and so you should take every list with a grain of salt. It can always be tweaked to suit your own personal needs, whatever they may be.
This is another simple-yet-powerful deck. Your goal will always be to assemble the Earthcraft + Squirrel Nest combo to produce an arbitrarily large number of angry Squirrels to claw peoples' faces off. Skull of Orm is a decent recursion engine should your vital combo pieces get taken out, and Blasting Station allows you to bypass any Moat effects that might otherwise prevent you from making the killing blow. Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth accelerate your gameplan, while the Enchantress effects and Rites of Flourishing enable you to dig through your deck at an intense rate. Bear in mind that more defense and/or disruption could be added if needed. Defense Grid and Root Maze are great answers to counters/spot removal, and Briar Patch does an excellent job of thwarting small creatures. I chose Elephant Grass and City of Solitude as generic answers to creatures and counterspells, but you could always shift your focus towards one or the other if needed. And, if it isn't already clear, enchantments should be used whenever possible to take full advantage of your Enchantress effects.
This is another prime example of a powerful Green combo deck. Your goal will be to dig through your deck using Glimpse of Nature , Elvish Visionary (who can be bounced by Wirewood Symbiote ) and Regal Force while Nettle Sentinel s and Heritage Druid s provide you with an unlimited source of mana. Eventually the deck will chain itself into an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn , take an extra turn, and win the game with creature beats. The tutors are there to grab your essential combo pieces, and bring a high level of consistency to the deck.
The goal of this deck is to land an early Food Chain and never look back. Most of the creatures in the deck draw one or more cards when they're played, and so the goal is to simply chain up to an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and ride him to victory. It's important to note that you can Evoke Cloudthresher for 4 mana and sacrifice him for 8, which goes a long way cheating out Emmy. Fierce Empath is the tutor of choice for obvious reasons, and ensures that you don't fizzle out before you hit your man. Green Sun's Zenith is there as a decent support card, but virtually anything could be put in that slot. Glimpse of Nature and Chord of Calling both seem like reasonable alternatives for example.
9. Coping with Adversity: Dealing with Green's Weaknesses I'd like to think that I've done an adequate job of explaining the various strengths of Green in multiplayer. That being said, it is a color with some exploitable weaknesses. The most prominent example are Control decks. While Green is going to win virtually every head-on creature battle, it struggles to survive in a world of counters and removal. If you're serious about taking an aggro deck to a multiplayer table, you'll have to come prepared to deal with an incredible amount of adversity. Remember, creatures are the easiest thing in the game to handle. Removal, counters, opposing creatures, defensive artifacts/enchantments and even lands (Glacial Chasm comes to mind) can all be used to shut creatures out of the game. Depending on what your meta throws at you, you'll have to respond by tuning your deck accordingly. I honestly don't believe that you can come in cold and expect to dominate a table with a creature-based deck, but you should be able to throw something after a game or two that will give them fits. Rather than trying to tackle the entire concept of Control decks, I'm going to break them down into their parts and discuss about we can attack each one.
Counters Counters are probably the easiest thing to handle since you're able to field some generically powerful cards against them. One card that I love for the job is Winding Canyons . Most decks can field 4 of them anyways, and they're just plain strong in general. Instant speed blockers and virtual haste are well worth the loss of colored mana after all. Furthermore, Thrun, the Last Troll and Great Sable Stag are 2 solid creatures that you could easily be fielding anyways, and they both do a fantastic job of destroying permission decks. There's also cards like Defense Grid , City of Solitude and Dosan the Falling Leaf which shut counters off on your turn (by and large). City of Solitude is just plain good, so you're not sacrificing much by playing it. Multani's Presence and Eyes of the Wisent won't outright prevent counters like the other cards can, but they will put you ahead if they're played against you. Sometimes discouraging them is all you need.
Spot Removal If it's one thing I hate in multiplayer it's spot removal. I personally think that it's useless 80% of the time, and would basically never maindeck any myself. Still, I've come to accept the fact that most people don't share that point of view. Well, I think it's about time people get taught a lesson about why it's so bad. If people in your area love spot removal, then do yourself a favor and make it useless. Cards like Steely Resolve , Dense Foliage and Asceticism can all completely blank spot removal. Asceticism is a bit slow, but the fact that it only affects you, paired with its ability to regenerate creatures, is just awesome. Otherwise, your best bet is to just play creatures that can't be targeted. Dungrove Elder , Troll Ascetic , Thrun, the Last Troll , Kodama of the North Tree , Multani, Maro-Sorcerer are more are all just plain good cards. Like, I am just happy to have those creatures regardless of what people are playing. If you then go on to tell me that people are relying on targeted effects to handle my creatures, so be it! I'm more than happy with that turn of events. And like, you're not limited to Shroud/Hexproof creatures either mind you. If you're not talking about exile effects, then Predator Ooze and Spearbreaker Behemoth can both do a ton of work. All the Wrath of God s in the world won't save people.
Beyond that, you can just out threat them. Another reason why I hate spot removal is that people will always have way more threats than you have answers. If your deck has Skullclamp and Genesis and whatnot, go ahead and let people 1-for-1 you. You'll come at them with way more beaters than they could ever hope to handle. Still, I know that newer players tend to omit adding draw engines in their decks, which is one of the reasons why I think that people still think that spot removal is effective in multiplayer. I mean, it probably does work fine as long as the aggro players aren't drawing a bunch of cards.
Mass Removal I think that mass removal is the biggest threat to Green decks as a whole. While they typically have amazing answers to counters, spot removal, and permanent-based protection, they usually struggle in groups where the board in Wrathed every other turn. My advice to anyone trying to field a Green deck in similar conditions is to think about how they're going to bring inevitability to their decks. Now, the first thing that you can do is field a bunch of persistent creatures. I've already have those listed at the top of this guide so I'm not going to bother doing it again. Many of them are resilient against most forms of removal, but none of them are impervious to everything. That Final Judgment or whaterver will still get you. Still, part 2 of your solution should include a contingency plan to produce threats indefinitely. Cards like Genesis can recur your lost armies from the grave, and Eye of Ugin can do it from your mana base. One of the reason why I like 12-Post/Ramp decks so much is because they get to field Eye of Ugin and see it consistently. While it's easy enough to just tutor up cood creatures such as Wurmcoil Engine and Steel Hellkite , the real power comes from its ability to tutor up more "durable" threats such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Darksteel Colossus . Creatures like these are very difficult to remove permanently, and have protection effects that make Control mages miserable. The last part of your attack on mass removal should probably come in the form of card advantage. I don't actually like using that term since it's chronically misused in a multiplayer environment, but the point that I'm trying to express is that you just plain need to "out card" the opposition. That Greater Good /Mind's Eye /Skullclamp should be ripping through your deck faster than people can beat you down. For example, one creature that I really like to include into my decks when people are all playing Wraths is Gaea's Revenge . I know that if I play enough of them and draw enough cards that I'll eventually kill people off. From there I can ride a Genesis to victory and I crunch people for 8 every turn. Still, what I'm not doing it sitting back and hoping to draw back into the game 1 card at a time. I'm always doing my best to keep a full grip of threats that I can use to apply pressure with.
Defensive Permanents Permanent-based resistance is definitely manageable for the right deck. Green is privvy to such amazing removal spells as Creeping Corrosion and Back to Nature /Calming Verse , which should leave enchantment and artifact based hate out to dry. While there are some more targeted solutions such as Beast Within , Woodfall Primus and Terastodon , they're either very slow or very weak. The mass removal spells are all fast and effective, and shouldn't be difficult to incorporate into your decks. You may need to swap out an artifact or two, but finding a replacement shouldn't be overly difficult. I'll also throw out the fact that Eternal Witness 's and Regrowth 's stocks both go up when you're worried about someone locking down the table with annoying permanents. Being able to recur any card in strong in general, but it's incredibly important if you might need to re-use that mass removal spell again the near future. And, as you can no doubt imagine, it's very difficult to beat past a Genesis + Eternal Witness + Back to Nature /Seeds of Innocence "lock" if you can't exile one of the cards somehow.
I will admit that it's an uphill battle to compete in Control-heavy playgroups, but the best way to circumvent that weakness is to focus on Green's strengths. Use better tactics and stronger cards to outwit and ultimately outplay your opponents. Make sure that people are reacting to you and not the other way around. By seizing control of the game, it's very possibly to beat decks that would otherwise crush you. That will go a lot further than trying to cram City of Solitude and Dense Foliage into every deck you play out of desperation.
10. Conclusion If you're not overwhelmed, you should be! This is way more information and cards than most players can handle in one sitting. Don't try to learn everything I wrote, just look up the various sections as they become applicable to the deck you're trying to play, and apply it as best you can. My goal for this guide was not to list every card, but to list the best ones. I'm hoping this makes card choices easier on the reader, since the suboptimal ones have been purposely left out. Remember, I'm always patrolling the forums to help out anyone seeking advice on their White decks, so feel free to PM me or make a post and I'll be sure to do as much of the grunt work for you as I can. I would actually prefer to have people not post deck lists in this thread if possible, so please keep that in mind. Finally, I would like to thank you for your time and hope my guide proved to be a useful tool to anyone playing Green in their multiplayer games. My goal was to open your minds to the wide world of multiplayer, and I hope that reading this guide has inspired new decks and strategies in all who've read it.
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
*** An Open Request to Anyone Who's Read This Guide ***
First of all, let me personally thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say. I hope that my guide has steered you in the right in the direction by clearly demonstrating to you what a multiplayer deck should look like. Still, one thing that I would always love to hear is what I could do better. Are there any decks that I should add to my "Sample Decklists" section? I'm not asking for full lists, just general concepts. I do my best to come up with as many as I possibly can, but I'm only one man. Are there are any strategies that I should add to my "Synergies and Strategies" section? Am I showcasing the right kinds of cards in my "Cards Everyone Should Have" section? Did you find the guide too long, too complicated, too boring? Are there any obvious spelling mistakes/broken links? What did you find most useful from reading this? Was there anything that you felt was a total waste of time? Can you apply these concepts to your own deckbuilding process? All these questions and more are things that I would love to hear about. You don't have to answer them all or anything, as I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback. Oh, and by all means, pour on the criticism. Trust me, I can take it. The best responses that I've ever gotten about my guides have been constructive criticism that I've been more than happy to apply to them. Putting it bluntly, I'd rather hear about what I'm doing wrong/what I could do better over what I'm doing right. Your opinion matters a lot to me, even if you don't think it does. I don't want anyone to feel as though they're not qualified to give negative feedback or what have you. I've made this guide for you. If you've read it and didn't find it useful, then believe me, I want to hear it.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
When someone wants to play a multi-color deck Quirion Elves may not be the best card but may come handy.
Channel + Fireball for those who want a cheap (multi-color) but effective combo. Warning, Channel is restricted in Vintage & Classic but Banned in Legacy & Tribal Wars legacy.
Titania's Chosen can be played fast and if you're lucky enough to have an opponent play green, it can grows pretty fast.
Desert Twister is pretty costy, but can destroy a larger-spectrum of cards than most in green.
The help-the-guy-with-whom-you-made-an-alliance: Stream of Life
Same for the other colors guide you made so far I think it's pretty good overall, a few cards aren't showing, some names typos I guess.
Channel + Fireball for those who want a cheap (multi-color) but effective combo. Warning, Channel is restricted in Vintage & Classic but Banned in Legacy & Tribal Wars legacy.
Said combo sounds like a fantastic way to lose the game to be honest. Pay all your life, kill 1 player, die immediately after? If I were going to list anything it would be Exsanguinate , but as I've already said, I'm not going to talk about other colors. There's far too many combos and interactions in the game and I don't want to feel compelled to list them all. I just want to list cards that are strong in general; not ones that require one specific card in another color to be useful. I have no qualms listing on-color combos or anything though, but I'd just like to keep the focus of this guide on Green cards.
Same for the other colors guide you made so far I think it's pretty good overall, a few cards aren't showing, some names typos I guess.
Yeah there's a lot of typos in the names still. It takes me a bit of time to fix them all. Still, a lot of the broken links are actually the display code not working properly, especially if you use deck tags. There are some cards that just won't ever show, but I'm doing my best to fix all the typos over the next few days.
You won't ever find it on the list. I don't consider preventing 1 combat phase from 1 opponent as being a worthwhile effect. Lightning Bolt isn't on my Red guide and won't ever be. Drain Life isn't on my Black guide and won't ever be. These are all prime examples of cards that are fine in duels but are incredibly weak in multiplayer. I would never field them myself, which makes them ineligible to make it into my guides.
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
Yeah these guides are purposely kept with a mono-colored theme in mind. I want to list decks that have easy mana bases that are more-or-less easy to replicate (even if it isn't card-for-card).
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
Heh. I'm still a mono-Black mage at heart for whatever that's worth. Still forcing the archetype in every multiplayer cube draft that I play (until I get passed Earthquake and Molten DIsaster and hate myself for going Black/Red).
My guide to Black multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/18893722?sdb=1&post_num=1#322195706
My guide to Red multiplayer cards and strategies: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/28999213/?sdb=1&post_num=1#517562879
My guide to White multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29011349/?sdb=1&pg=last#517773211
My guide to Green multiplayer cards and strategies http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75842/29034323/Tichs_Guide_to_Green_Multiplayer_Cards_and_Strategies
