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Double Mint Week!

Ok just kidding.... but seriously we're seeing double here today as we take a look at the green piece of the color wheel.  We all have come to know and love green spells for their ability to make our creatures fantastically big, provide us with some extra lands, or many other impressive things.  This week we get double the fun.  Not only do you get two decks, but what maybe my first really effective, budget friendly deck!  So let's get started.

We don't often consider green enchantments because a lot of the time we get spells that do similar things, for example Naturalize and Seal of Primordium.  There are many examples of enchantments that green uses to help gain mana advantage fast.

These green enchants were greatly impacted by the mana burn changes in M10.  Things like Upwelling were now less important because of the fact that unused mana no longer hurts a player.  On the other hand things like Vernal Bloom got a bit better because when you tap for mana you don't have to use it all and there is plenty to choose from.  In similar form we've got a handful of landimators.

These have been often used in combination with some nasty creature kill in order to create a form of land destruction, not to mention a number of Landstill variants.  Then we have the multitude of creature buffs.

Several of these are targeted enchantments or an aura, but Muraganda Petroglyphs, for one, was a blast in draft play.  In limited formats you often have to fill creature spots with bears and other such creatures with no extra abilities and with this enchantment they become a bit harder to fight.  Finally there are a number of different tutoring enchantments.  Things like Oath of Druids, Abundance, and Wild Pair work great and give you abilities to search out lands or creatures.  Wild Pair was considered good enough to be included in Wizards' constructed sliver deck and we all know too well the power of Oath of Druids in Classic constructed games.  Green enchantments can be considered incredibly powerful if one takes the time to really look at them.  Any number of them can be seen as old favorites from draft play or even small additions to former Tier 1 decks.  Not to mention Enchantress's Presence, which is one of the best enchantments out there, and Blanchwood Armor, perhaps the most played enchantment in casual.  As you sit and look at what enchantments are out there you could really go on and on about them the same as you would do with white.  There is a reason there is so much enchantment love in those colors like Sterling Grove.

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Before the current version of the MTGO Client came to us I was an active player with a different account name and one of my favorite things to play was a mono green deck.  This had Gemini Engine in it, which was one of my favorite creatures because even if you blocked one you may not be able to block both of them.  A player can have all kinds of fun with token copies; just ask anyone who's ever kicked a Rite of Replication.  So in order to maximize this I added Doubling Season.  This means when I would attack with Gemini Engine I could put multiple token copies of it into play.  I had a lot of fun with this deck so I wanted to try and rebuild it.

 

In order to really get the mana needed to be able to drop some of these things earlier then turn 5 or 6 I added a mana base that builds really fast in Cloudpost and Vesuva.  In case this isn't enough I added Temple of the False God (Though after playing the games you might want to just switch these out for the Urza set because it could ramp better and save you from being stuck with Temple of the False God when you don't have enough lands).  I'm trying to keep the deck focused on the single enchantment instead of weighing it down and use Oblivion Stone and Duplicant as my removal options since there aren't any really in green.  Most of the choice are pretty self-explanatory in my opinion, but let's take a brief look.  Solemn Simulacrum acts as a tutor for more land to really get going fast and Wurmcalling along with Beacon of Creation create troubling tokens to really capitalize on Doubling Season.  Let's see how it ran.

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Game 1
Opponent: dragonfae0704
Deck Type: GW Saprolings

Opening Hand:

Usually you would mulligan this hand, but I get a bit wary about mana screw, a foolish thought when most of your lands produce more then one mana.  My opponent starts off with a turn 2 Thallid Shell-Dweller and I top deck a playable land in a Forest so I can play Fierce Empath fetching Gemini Engine.  Turn three my opponent plays Selesnya Evangel (leaving him at 2 mana) and Sprout Swarm followed by a turn four Heartstone.  Not much I can do, but I entwine Reap and Sow to destroy his Selesnya Sanctuary and get a Cloudpost.  With all my mana I cast Oblivion Stone and am able to set it off in the same turn to clear the board.  Turn 8 I play two Gemini Engines and my opponent's remaining turns will consist of making three saproling tokens and pumping them with two Echoing Courages.  This drops me to three life, but in the end my Gemini Engines take the game.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 1 - 0

Game 2
Opponent: WyteNight
Deck Type: Elves

Opening Hand:

This was a pretty good hand land wise because two Cloudposts get big mana early and a Forest for paying for colored spells.  My opponent starts with Essence Wardens on turn 1 and 2 followed by Llanowar Elves.  On turn 2 I draw Doubling Season, which I get to play on turn 3.  Unfortunetly it doesn't last long.  On my opponent's turn 3 he plays Heritage Druid, Imperious Perfect, and Wren's Run Vanquisher.  Now there is a need to set off Oblivion Stone, but since I don't have enough mana yet to cast it and use it I instead play a Solemn Simulacrum to get a land and chump block whatever comes my way.  On turn 4 my opponent plays a second Wren's Run Vanquisher and Elvish Promenade, which makes him 7 elf tokens.  Things are in my favor now because my opponent has no cards in hand and I clear the board with the Oblivion Stone while having enough mana left over to cast Beacon of Creation for three insects.  On my turn 6 I am able to cast Deadwood Treefolk fetching back Solemn Simulacrum and then cast it in addition to another that was in my hand.  I attack on turn 7 and my opponent plays Gilt-Leaf Ambush in order to block and kill an insect token and the Deadwood Treefolk.  Afterwards my opponent is still at 38 life thanks to his early Essence Wardens, but I know I can easily overcome this as I cast Gemini Engine.  Turn 8 I get to tap out and make a 13/13 wurm token thanks to Wurmcalling.  The buyback on Wurmcalling keeps the big wurms on the field despite a few deathtouching elves and I eventually swing through for the win.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 2 - 0

If only I had a dollar for every elf deck I played in Classic.  What is it with people that they can't find something better to play?  I want to kill myself every time I see turn 1 Llanowar Elves, turn 2 Wellwisher.  Please people find something new.

Game 3
Opponent: rushmore11
Deck Type: RW Braid

Opening Hand:

This wasn't an ideal hand, but it has playable lands, which is important.  In the first two turns I cycle through my two Tranquil Thickets and use a turn three Fierce Empath to fetch a Gemini Engine to go with the Doubling Season that's in my hand.  My opponent builds up some lands and plays a morph card on his third turn.  Turn 4 I am stuck to three mana because my Temple of the False God hasn't come online yet so I play Oblivion Stone with hopes of using it to save some of my stuff in addition to killing my opponents' creatures.  Finally on turn 5 I play Vesuva copying my temple and can then play a Solemn Simulacrum.  On my opponent's turn he plays a kicked Orim's Thunder to destroy my Oblivion Stone and do fatal damage to Solemn Simulacrum.  The morph beats continue, but I don't get a chance yet to see what it is.  With another Temple of the False God I entwine a Reap and Sow and cast a second Solemn Simulacrum.  Finally on my opponent's turn 7 I'm guessing he doesn't have a kill for the Solemn Simulacrum and doesn't want to lose the morph so he turns it and reveals Akroma, Angel of Fury.  Thankfully I have Duplicant so the angel is no issue as well as enough mana left over to cast Doubling Season.  In a last attempt to hold me at bay my opponent drops a Moat, but unlucky for him I have Seal of Primordium in hand.  I remove the Moat turn 8 and cast a Wurmcalling to get two 6/6 wurms.  My opponent then makes a very familiar move and casts Obsidian Fireheart followed by Enlightened Tutor fetching Braid of Fire.  Hmm I do believe that not only have I been there done that, but there's an article to prove it!  Hats off to fellow player who recognized the love between Obsidian Fireheart and Braid of Fire.  However the Obsidian Fireheart isn't enough to slow the onslaught and the wurms eventually get the win.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 3 - 0

Game 4
Opponent: SCVrush
Deck Type: RWU Stuff

Opening Hand:

Well this wasn't a very good hand to start, but it held the opportunity to at least start copying Temple of the False God over and over.  After a couple of bad draws I decide that it's in my best interest to Vesuva a Forest on turn 3 so I can play Fierce Empath on turn 4 to get a Gemini Engine.  While I'm doing this my opponent plays some card draw with Impulse and Concentrate.  I have to play Temple of the False God on turn 4 because I don't have any other land option and luck out a little with a Cloudpost draw on turn 5, activating the Temple of the False God.  On my opponent's turn 5 he played Nevinyrral's Disk so I know I'm going to have to draw him into using it.  I cast Reap and Sow to fetch Vesuva in order to keep up the pressure with big plays, my first of which is a 6/6 Wurmcalling.  On turn 7 I make the swing thinking the disk is done, but my opponent just blocks and sacrifices his Bottle Gnomes so I'll have to bring on the heat more.  I tap out in order to play Harmonize, Beacon of Creation for three, and Gemini Engine.  Finally I had done it and my opponent uses his Nevinyrral's Disk when I try to attack with them, but at this point I have five Cloudposts.  I first cast Deadwood Treefolk fetching back Gemini Engine and stop there in order to test what my opponent can do.  I was right because on his following turn he casts Wrath of God, but I do get the Gemini Engine back.  I try to clear more wrath effects by casting two Gemini Engines on my next turn and one of them meets a Disintegrate.  On turn 10 I swing with the Gemini Engine that remains as well as tapping out to make two 15/15 wurms with Wurmcalling.  In a last ditch attempt my opponent casts a Sower of Temptation to steal a wurm token, but this will be canceled by my Duplicant targeting his Sower of Temptation.  After I do that my opponent burns down my Gemini Engine, but with my remaining mana I cast Deadwood Treefolk, which returns Deadwood Treefolk, which I cast to return a Gemini Engine.  Now staring down two 15/15 wurms, two Deadwood Treefolk, and a Duplicant my opponent realize its game and concedes.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 4 - 0

Game 5
Opponent: theblueghost
Deck Type: Angels?

Opening Hand:

This was one of the better land hands I drew into with double Cloudpost.  To make things better my opponent also drops a Cloudpost on his first turn.  On my opponent's turn 2 he doesn't drop a land so he can discard Firemane Angel and then does the same thing on turn 3.  I'm not sure if he really just wanted the double Firemane Angel in the grave, but if that is the case I'm not sure holding to one land is really the good play... though his one land taps for 4 mana thanks to my Cloudposts.  Because of all these Cloudposts I get to play Doubling Season on turn 4.  Finally my opponent plays a second land and casts Breath of Life to bring a Firemane Angel into play.  Now I'm just dying to FINALLY get my Gemini Engine into play with a Doubling Season, but figured it was best to get rid of the angel when I could and cast a Duplicant.  This helps by eliminating the graveyard abilities of the angel so I have to capitalize on it while I have the opportunity.  In response to the removal effect my opponent concedes.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 5 - 0

Ok what?  So what did I do wrong here?  Creature removal/kill isn't fair?  Is it because he had no other plays and only two lands?  Wasn't my choice to play lands that way.  It really is amazing how often people concede when winning a game.

At this point I'd like to add a small bit of information.  When play testing I run a few games to work out some initial issues with the deck and then play out all 10 before writing them up while adding notes based on what I was thinking during the game.  At this point I'm sitting 5 - 0 and feeling pretty good about this deck.  However, the next 5 games I lost due to slow land issues and a lack of removal.  So I'm confused at this point as to whether there was just some issues with bad luck and play a few more games.  I lost most of the other games I played.  This deck is just clunky.  Sure it's fun to attack with a Gemini Engine when Doubling Season is in play, but out of all the games I played it only managed to happen that way 2-3 times.  It doesn't seem like a very successful idea when it never happens now does it?

So I was torn.  Should I really talk about a deck that is this clunky?  It really seemed like I could do a better job of showcasing green enchantments then what I was doing with the current deck.  So I decided that hey we're going to double everything this week!  Not just tokens in our first deck, but now we're going to double the number of decks as well!

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So I sat down to look again at what the green enchantments offered us.  Sure there was creature pump and land fetch, but what could I really do with these cards?  I wanted a way to use some under-loved enchantments in a way that was successful and smooth running.  So I came to one card that had always made me smile.

This is a card that isn't used, for obvious reasons, so it meets my requirements.  This card is almost like the original graft mechanic.  So I set forth to look at what graft offers in green and there is quite a bit.  Here are the guys I singled out though...

And so it built from there.  There were others, but I didn't like them as much.  Instead I search through creatures that used +1/+1 counters so that they could be pumped off of the Cytoplast Root-Kin.  Here they are...

Spike Feeder: The spikes were my first option here because they do great things with +1/+1 counters and when you have the ability to give the spikes more counters then they become that much stronger.  Unfortunately I don't own a lot of the spikes (something I'm going to fix asap) so the feeders were the best add I could have.

Vigor:  What can be said?  With a bit of mana ramp you can get this bad boy out and continue to pump your counter creatures while keeping them alive.

Scute Mob:  This guy has become a new favorite of mine recently.  He gets big fast when you have 5 lands and he also adds a turn 1 play so I have to use him.

Fungal Behemoth:  When using creatures who all love +1/+1 counters you also have to add this guy.  He gets bigger for each counter on those creatures and when you have 0/0s who get their power entirely from counters then the Fungal Behemoth gets big really fast.

So I had my creature base down and I wanted to fill it in with some other great enchantments.  Seal of Primordium is an obvious choice since it's the same as a Naturalize.  For land fetchs I decided to also go the enchantment route and use Khalni Heart Expedition, which can be a little slower then a Rampant Growth, but when it goes off it gets much more land.  Finally I added another enchantment that is rarely used, but with the land that you can grab it works out.  Shape of the Wiitigo.  So let's take a look at the rest of what I was thinking.

 

 

The Harmonizes are clearly the best card draw you can ask for in mono green and if I had room I probably would have added more.  Also four Llanowar Reborns are a MUST for this deck.  When you have a creature like Fungal Behemoth or Vigor or even an early Scute Mob in play without a counter on it the Cytoplast Root-Kin doesn't pump it more.  With a land that has the graft ability you can bypass that small detail.  Oran-Rief, the Vastwood does a similar thing, but I only owned one and really wasn't totally sold on it because unlike the grafting from Llanowar Reborn you have to play to pump the creature.  Finally the Horizon Canopy may seem like an odd choice, but in addition to the Tranquil Thickets I wanted to get a much card draw out of this as possible in a green deck.

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Game 1
Opponent: miseth
Deck Type: UB Decker

Opening Hand:

Ok this was a pretty nice starting hand.  I have an early drop in Scute Mob, Vigor for a game seal, and while there isn't any land fetch there is two Harmonize to replenish my hand.  I of course start with Scute Mob and luck into a turn 2 draw of Khalni Heart Expedition.  On my opponent's turn 3 he starts with Glimpse the Unthinkable and knocks 10 cards off the top.  On turn 4 I draw a second Khalni Heart Expedition and with a Terramorphic Expanse next turn I fill and break both expeditions.  On my opponent's turn 4 he played Mind Funeral, but only managed to knock out 6 cards with it despite the current land thinning.  On turn 6 my Scute Mob gets it's extra counters and is now a 5/5.  With my 10 land I cast Vigor and graft it from my Llanowar Reborn so that if I get to a Cytoplast Root-Kin it will help Vigor as well.  Then I play two more Scute Mobs and have mana enough left over to activate Oran-Rief, the Vastwood.  All my opponent can do is play a Dimir Cutpurse and when my turn 7 rolls around he's facing down a 9/9 Scute Mob, two 6/6 Scute Mobs, and a 8/8 Vigor.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 1 - 0

Game 2
Opponent: GraphikVilence
Deck Type: Birds

Opening Hand:

This is a great hand with two early drops and two card draw spells.  My opponent starts off on turn 2 with Soulcatchers' Aerie and I draw out a Khalni Heart Expedition for my turn 2.  A second Soulcatchers' Aerie comes into play on turn 3 and I get a few quick counters with Terramorphic Expanse as well as opening with Aquastrand Spider.  My opponent's first creature comes next turn and it's Soulcatcher, a great compliment to the double enchantments that pumps birds.  On my turn 4 I'm able to pop the Khalni Heart Expedition and play Scute Mob in addition to Afiya Grove.  I hesitate for a minute on attacking through the Soulcatcher, but decided that I wanted to get a head start on creature advantage.  Then the control steps in as the Aquastrand Spider is hit with Shackles.  Thanks to the extra land from last turn my Scute Mob gets pumped and I use Afiya Grove to make it 6/6.  With three cards in hand I start digging through my deck with Harmonize hoping to find a Seal of Primordium to either free my spider or cut back on the creature pump.  What works in my favor is that my creatures are getting big fast so my opponent has to use his mana to deal with them instead of casting birds.  My soon to be 10/10 Scute Mob illustrates this point when my opponent shuts it down with Pacifism.  I don't let this slow me and keep digging for my seal to free my big Scute Mob.  What I get instead is two Cytoplast Root-Kin and I'm just as happy to see those.  With my remaining mana I cast a second Scute Mob and add a counter from a Llanowar Reborn.  My opponent passes his turn 7 and it's pretty much game.  I cast the first Cytoplast Root-Kin and then the second.  My opponent is now staring down a shut down 6/6 Aquastrand Spider, a shut down 16/16 Scute Mob, a 8/8 Scute Mob, and two 5/5 Cytoplast Root-Kin, not to mention the Shape of the Wiitigo I have in my hand.  Against these odds there is nothing left to do, but concede.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 2 - 0

Game 3
Opponent: shadowburst
Deck Type: 5c Stuff

Opening Hand:

Ok this hand looked O-K, only two lands, but it also has a turn 2 creature drop so I was hopeful for a third on a draw in order to have a turn three play as well.  What would happen is hands down one of the best games this deck could probably have so I'm going to break it down turn by turn.

Turn 1
Sin: Terramorphic Expanse fetching Forest
shadow: Plains, Necrogen Spellbomb

Turn 2
Sin: Draw Forest, Forest, Aquastrand Spider
shadow: Island, Scrabbling Claws

Turn 3
Sin: Draw Fungal Behemoth, Forest, Spike Feeder without grafting, attack with Aquastrand Spider (18 life), shadow uses Necrogen Spellbomb to draw a card
shadow: Forest, Kodama's Reach putting a Swamp in play and grabbing a Mountain

Turn 4
Sin: Draw Llanowar Reborn, Llanowar Reborn, attack with both creatures (14 life), suspend Fungal Behemoth with 1 counter
shadow: Mountain, Pyrite Spellbomb, uses Pyrite Spellbomb targeting Spike Feeder, I remove counters killing the feeder (24 life), Scrabbling Claws removes the only 2 cards in my graveyard

Turn 5
Sin: Fungal Behemoth comes into play and I add it's counter to Aquastrand Spider making it 3/3, the Llanowar Reborn triggers and I graft Fungal Behemoth making it 5/5, Draw Afiya Grove, play Cytoplast Root-Kin which adds counters to both creatures in play making the Aquastrand Spider a 4/4 and the Fungal Behemoth 12/12 (four counters on the Aquastrand Spider, two counters on the Fungal Behemoth, four counters on the Cytoplast Root-Kin... 4+4+2+2=12), attack with my two active creatures for 16 damage

Even stuck with only four lands you really couldn't have asked for much better.  I almost didn't suspend the Fungal Behemoth for one because I was thinking that I wanted to get more counters out of it.  Well I guess I made the right choice because with the added graft from Llanowar Reborn it was enough for me to get a win much faster then I had expected from this deck.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 3 - 0

Game 4
Opponent: Nagisa_Kaoru14
Deck Type: Green Aggro

Opening Hand:

Well this hand got better with a turn 1 draw of Khalni Heart Expedition.  One thing I might have done different was my opening land.  I started with a Terramorphic Expanse, but with two Forests in hand and Khalni Heart Expedition it may have been a smarter move so that I could get that going faster.  The other thought is to play it first so I can make my Spike Feeder on turn 3.  That's the route I went.  My opponent's turns 2 and 3 consited of Llanowar Druid and Wall of Blossoms.  On turn 4 I get a second Khalni Heart Expedition and put it into play followed by Afiya Grove.  On my opponents next turn he continues to fetch out lands with a Wood Elves.  With a Llanowar Reborn I am able to use both Khalni Heart Expedition and follow it with the Cytoplast Root-Kin.  I keep using my Afiya Grove to pump the Spike Feeder so if I have to sacrifice it for life I can.  On turn 6 I get Vigor into play and graft it from the Llanowar Reborn as well as playing a second Afiya Grove.  Now all my opponent's weenie green blockers just go to pump up my creatures when they block.  On turn 7 I draw a second Vigor and even the Treefolk Seedlings can't block through my creatures.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 4 - 0

Game 5
Opponent: Chrell
Deck Type: 5c Big Deck

Opening Hand:

This time around I start with Llanowar Reborn instead of Terramorphic Expanse so that I could get Khalni Heart Expedition going faster.  On my opponent's following turn he played Naturalize to stop that plan.  Hmm.  That's annoying.  So instead I had to go with Plan B, Aquastrand Spider.  On turn 4 my opponent plays Walking Desecration and I'm thinking I'll see some deathtouch along the way.  I don't get a fourth land for Cytoplast Root-Kin on my turn 4 so instead I just cast a Afiya Grove.  Well instead of deathtouch I see Fists of the Demigod giving the Walking Desecration wither, which is quite the problem for all my counters.  I decide to play a Fungal Behemoth hard cast on turn 5 instead of the Root-Kin in order to maximize the counters I get.  On turn 6 I topdeck Seal of Primordium and use it to get rid of the Fists of the Demigod while still having enough land left to play my Cytoplast Root-Kin.  This leaves me with a 5/5 Aquastrand Spider and a 13/13 Fungal Behemoth that gets chump-blocked by a Birchlore Rangers.  On turn 7 I play a Spike Feeder and attack with the 5/5 spider, the 5/5 Cytoplast Root-Kin, and the now 17/17 Fungal Behemoth.  The behemoth is chump blocked and in a last attempt Mind Controled during my opponent's turn.  Because the Fungal Behemoth was tapped from attacking it stays tapped when my opponent gains control and then I swing for the game.

Winner: JustSin
Record: 5 - 0

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I have to say that I am much happier about how the Grafty deck worked in comparison to the Doubling Season one.  When looking back I think there could have been a change in the land base as I mentioned before.  There were several times where Temple of the False God became troublesome so in exchange for those and the Cloudposts I might switch to the Urza set.  Also I think that the deck might be better suited for a Classic FFA game instead.  In FFA games you can fly under the radar building up mana until you get a Doubling Season and start cranking out Wurmcalling or Beacon of Creation.

As for the Grafty deck it was a ton of fun to play.  The creatures get big fast and with the addition of Vigor they have the power to stick around for awhile.  This deck does lack any kind of creature removal, but what while it lacks in removal it makes up for in big creatures that can act as virtual walls.  Not to mention the fact that you can get out to a fast start as shown with that turn 5 win.  Oh and here's a bonus.  I've always said look with care because while my decks are built for casual they aren't budget friendly.  Well people guess what?  Graft can be put together for about $16 if you need to buy the whole deck.

Afiya Grove - $.6
Aquastrand Spider - $.08
Cytoplast Rootkin - $3.8
Fungal Behemoth - $.48
Harmonize - $1.5
Horizon Canopy - $2
Khalni Heart Expedition - $.32
Llanowar Reborn - $.8
Scute Mob - $2.4
Seal of the Primordium - $.15
Shape of the Wiitigo - $.2
Spike Feeder - $.24
Terramorphic Expanse - $.2
Tranquil Thicket - $.24
Vigor - $2.7

Total - $15.71 (at the time this article was written)

Yes so not only is the deck fast and effective, but it can be put together for under $20.  I know.  I'm just as shocked as you are.

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Well I hope you got double the fun out of this week's article, I know I did because I found my favorite Classic Casual deck in Grafty.  Next week we move to the final color in our examination of the enchantments in Magic, Blue.  I have to say I'm not even sure just yet what I'm going to be doing with blue, but it'll be fun I garuntee it!  So I hope you join me as we get one week closer to the finale of the Enchantment Cycle.

-JustSin