My first experience with the post M13 standard came last Saturday at a Louisville PTQ with my new favorite deck - Mono Green. The deck has had some notable finishes prior to the new core set (Todd Anderson and Carrie Oliver both spring to mind.) but it has easily reached the top tier with the addition of Rancor. As powerful as Dungrove Elder and Thrun are without the 1 mana enchantment, chump blockers are still an issue. Giving these already overpowered monsters trample and +2/+0 doesn't seem fair.  Here is the list (with an updated SB) that I piloted to 5-0-2 to top 8 the PTQ only to lose to very unfortunate draws in the top 8.

Get 'Er Dungrove

 

Creatures 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Strangleroot Geist 4 Dungrove Elder 2 Thrun, the Last Troll 1 Viridian Corrupter 1 Thragtusk 1 Wolfir Silverheart 1 Ulvenwald Tracker  22cards Other Spells 4 Rancor 4 Green Sun's Zenith 2 Dismember 2 Sword of War and Peace 2 Revenge of the Hunted 14 cards

Lands 24 Forest 24 cards Sideboard 2 Revenge of the Hunted 2 Sword of War and Peace 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Crushing Vines 2 Garruk, Primal Hunter 1 Ratchet Bomb 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1 Viridian Corrupter 1 Prey Upon 2 Thragtusk 15 cards

In my opinion there are 48 core cards in the deck which you shouldn't change at all. The other 12 cards can be adjusted based on what you expect to play, but these numbers have worked pretty well for me.

The Core

Forests  -  No other lands pump Dungrove, so don't play anything else. You can possibly go to 23, but I like 24 to help cast Revenge of the Hunted turn 5/6 consistently.   Mana guys - There are arguments to replace Birds of Paradise with Arbor Elf, but if you play swords I like birds better, plus being able to block fliers could be relevant. Whichever you decide you want 8 mana guys and Llanowar Elves should always be a 4 of.    Rancor - A few people were playing 2 or 3 of these, which makes no sense to me. This card is very powerful in the deck and never bad in multiples.   Dungrove Elder - The reason to play the deck, 4 is a must and this guy should usually be your Green Sun's Zenith target.    Green Sun's Zenith - Gives you the option of playing several handy 1 ofs, and essentially 8 copies of Dungrove.    Strangleroot Geist - Some pod decks have been cutting Strangleroot Geist, possibly because of his weakness to Blade Splicer and restoration angel. I think he fits in this deck much better than in pod due to the aggressive nature of this deck, and should always be a 4 of.

The Other Cards

 

Ulvenwald Tracker - This guy is a very strong 1 of, It's nice to GSZ him against decks that manage to get better board position than you.   Dismember - Being one of the only removal cards you have access to in mono green you at least want some in your SB. 2 main deck seems to be pretty common and worked out well for me, you don't want to draw it all the time but there are plenty of situations where it's good.      Viridian Corrupter - I was so glad to have 1 of these maindeck, acidic slime costs way too much to GSZ for, and killing an artifact is an important option in standard. Some extras in the SB really help as well.     Thrun, the Last Troll - When this guy was printed people thought he was way overpowered. But he has seen little play thanks to how easily he succumbs to chump blockers or undercosted clones. When you throw a rancor on him he gets real powerful, and I think he fits into the curve of the deck nicely. I only had room for 2 main deck, but he performed very well all day.    Wolfir Silverheart - This guy is too powerful of a GSZ target not to play 1 but since he is so susceptible to vapor snags and doom blades he really doesn't warrant more copies in the deck.      Ulvenwald Tracker - This guy is a very strong 1 of, It's nice to GSZ him against decks that manage to get better board position than you.   Dismember - Being one of the only removal cards you have access to in mono green you at least want some in your SB. 2 main deck seems to be pretty common and worked out well for me, you don't want to draw it all the time but there are plenty of situations where it's good.      Viridian Corrupter - I was so glad to have 1 of these maindeck, acidic slime costs way too much to GSZ for, and killing an artifact is an important option in standard. Some extras in the SB really help as well.     Thrun, the Last Troll - When this guy was printed people thought he was way overpowered. But he has seen little play thanks to how easily he succumbs to chump blockers or undercosted clones. When you throw a rancor on him he gets real powerful, and I think he fits into the curve of the deck nicely. I only had room for 2 main deck, but he performed very well all day.    Wolfir Silverheart - This guy is too powerful of a GSZ target not to play 1 but since he is so susceptible to vapor snags and doom blades he really doesn't warrant more copies in the deck.

Thragtusk - This guy was amazing, and real handy as a 1 of to fetch up. I thought about taking out Thrun and playing 3 of this guy, but Thrun just fits in the curve better. This guy spews value against other aggressive decks and is also a pretty miserable vapor snag target.  If you only play 1 maindeck put 2 in the SB at least.       

Revenge of the Hunted/Sword of War and Peace - I like 2/2 of split between these pumpers, they both take similar roles while being better in different situations. Revenge of the Hunted seems better against Pod and other decks that win based on producing a bigger army than you. Sword is better vs delver, because vapor snag doesn't shut it down completely.  With this split you can throw in 2 of each in the SB as well, and switch them out in situations where one is better than the other. One list from SCG Vegas had 4 Revenge of the Hunted and 2 Swords which may not be a bad option if you can find the room.  

Sideboard

Crushing Vines - This just seems better than naturalize or any other options because of its versatility.  A lot of games when you board in artifact specific removal it ends up being stuck in your hand because you opponent never plays an artifact.  Hopefully this is never the case when you can shoot down fliers as well.  

Garruk, Primal Hunter - This guy goes a long way when battling slower control decks.  He ended up getting cut from the maindeck thanks to revenge of the hunted and the new 5 drops taking his spot in the curve, but he still deserves a spot in the sideboard.                  
 

Prey Upon/Beast Within -   Both serve as some extra removal that don't share the annoying life loss that comes with Dismember (often only 2 life with Birds of Paradise out.)  Beast Within gives you the option of getting a 3/3 out of your mana guys or forests but it will generally end up giving your opponent a 3/3.  I think most of the time Prey Upon does the job you need it to and gives you plenty of leftover mana to throw down some monsters.  

Sword of Feast and Famine - Does a lot of work against zombies and green based decks. You don't want too many swords/revenges in your 75, so I ended up just playing one of these in the sideboard.

Ratchet Bomb - Great against all the token decks and has a multitude of uses vs Delver. 

Melira, Sylvok Outcast -  This guy completely shuts down infect based strategies while only requiring a 1 of slot in the SB and there are plenty of infect decks floating around on MTGO.  

How to Sideboard

This is how I would recommend sideboarding vs these popular standard builds. 

RG Aggro 

In - 2 Thragtusk, 2 Revenge of the Hunted, 1 Prey upon, 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 

Out - 2 Dismember, 2 Thrun, 2 Sword of War and Peace

The life loss of Dismember hurts too much, Thrun is ok if they aren't playing metamorph but I like Thragtusk better. 

Pod

In - 1 Viridian Corrupter, 1 Prey Upon, 2 Revenge of the Hunted

Out - 4 Strangleroot Geist

Strangleroot Geist just gets trumped by blade splicer tokens, plus I like having 4 revenge and 2 swords against pod. 

Delver

In - 1 Ratchet Bomb, 2 Crushing Vines, 2 Sword of War and Peace

Out - 2 Dismember, 1 Ulvenwald Tracker, 2 Revenge of the Hunted

Dismember is pretty lackluster, and Revenge just eats a vapor snag.  Ulvenwald is ok if they are playing blade splicers and restoration angel, but I really don't think he makes the cut. 

Zombies

In - 2 Thragtusk, 2 Revenge of the Hunted, 1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Out - 2 Dismember, 2 Sword of War and Peace, 1 Viridian Corrupter

Sword of War and Peace is decent in this matchup, but I'd rather have Revenge of the Hunted. 

Esper Control

In – 1 Ratchet Bomb, 2 Garruk, 2 Revenge of the Hunted

Out - 2 Dismember, 2 Sword of War and Peace, 1 Viridian Corrupter  

This could be one of your worst matchups, It's difficult to beat them before they get titans out without over extending into a wrath. 

 Conclusion

I was really happy with my version of the deck, it seemed like every match up was in my favor. There were countless times that I gazed at my starting 7 and wondered how any deck in the format could beat this.  Like most mono colored decks this one is very consistent, I only mulliganed a few times the whole day.  Most decks in the format have a real hard time dealing with a Dungrove Elder, especially being aided by a Revenge of the Hunted, Sword, or Rancor. 

Since a lot of these cards won't be legal in October their value has decreased significantly.  If you were on a tight budget you could cut the swords and just play 4 Revenge to have a top tier deck for around 50 tickets.  If you've never played mono green before I advise you pick up a play set of Dungrove Elders while you can and crush some dailies for the next 3 months. 

Thanks for reading, feel free to contact me on magic online or the comments below!

Andy Burden (AndyBurden on MTGO)