There are some joys in life that can’t be adequately expressed or explained. The first truly warm day of spring, rolling up with a new character in D&D, the birth of your first child, Day Two-ing a GP; these simple pleasures, equal to each other, have to be lived to be understood. But let’s be real here: they’re nothing compared to the feeling of drawing extra cards in Magic, right?
With that in mind I revamped my Mono Green EDH deck for Twenty Sided Store’s Commander League on Monday. I stuck with Yeva, Nature’s Herald as my commander, but I added cards that would emphasize the parts of EDH I really enjoy, so my deck this week was kind of bananas (see the full decklist at the end of this article). I ran a Howling Mine and an Otherworld Atlas. My platform was simple: “Don’t mind me, I’m just ramping. Here, have some cards to tide you over while I build a giant army.”
Game 1
In my first game I played against Ed for the second time, and I played with Dustin and Kadar. Kadar, being a personal friend, sat down and said, “Oh awesome, Giaco’s at my table. I can play my fun deck.” This meant a lot to me. I think he was trying to say that I evoke an air of easy competition, that when I’m at the table you can feel free to durdle around a little more. I hope that’s how he felt, because I like that feeling a lot. Ed played Cromat and I like what he was trying to set up. I also love how, during EDH, if board states get too complicated I can always just sit around and wait for someone else to clear it up. We had plenty of board wipes, and I ended the game losing and with no kills, but scoring some minor points.
But the fun of the game came from drawing cards. At one point, between Kadar’s and my machinations, everyone was drawing three cards before their draw step! That was a dream come true for me!
Game 2
I sat down to game two with Jess, Ed (again! awesome!), and a fourth player. I can announce with pride that, off the back of a giant Hornet Queen token, I got my first kill in EDH. It felt…well…it kind of felt guilty (talk about non-competitive, huh?). But I cast Strength of the Tajuru on one of the Queen tokens and swung for 12 in the air. Here’s a pro-tip: try blood rushing your Commander. It’s a cool feeling. I swung with an unblocked Yeva and blood rushed a Skarrg Goliath onto it. It felt very devastating, and it was a truly big hit. After that I was able to nip at Ed until all his blockers with reach were shut down, and then it was just my flying guys finishing him off.
Eventually Jess wiped me out with her awesome enchantments, but I left the table feeling that I had actually played my deck for the first time. I’m still learning what these cards do, it was nice to see some synergy play out.
What to Cut
And because of that synergy, I finally have an idea of some cuts I’m going to make to the deck. At first deck building was a matter of finding cool green cards and fun ramp spells, but now I’m ready to tweak it. Wolfir Silverheart, I’m sorry, but you’re fired. You don’t impact the board enough and I’m never too excited to see you. Skullmulcher, sorry man, but you’re just not doing it for me. In fact, I cared so little about you, I was pretty sure your name was Skullmuncher. That’s how little I paid attention to you when you hit the board. So, seeing as you’re not even munching on skulls, you’re out. Thragtusk, you’re on probation. Either show me you can deliver the goods, or I’m done with you.
What to Add
My main man John H has been really helping me build and fine-tune my deck, and he donated two sweet enchantment sweepers to my growing pool of cards I want to play. But now I have to find a place for John’s donated Hush and Tranquil Path! Oh my life is so hard.
Final Thoughts
So, in summation, drawing extra cards is better than the birth of your first child, and I love big bugs. You get out of this game what you put into it, win or lose, you have to have fun. If I’ve got everyone at my table drawing cards, and we’re all playing and laughing and acting like normal human beings (and not saying mean/nasty shit), then I’m having a blast. Go ahead, wipe the board five times in a row… now let’s all laugh about it and drop 15/15’s.
100 Green Cards
Commander
Yeva, Nature’s Herald
Creatures/Planeswalkers
Skullmulcher
Wolfir Silverheart
Thragtusk
Skarrg Goliath
Vigor
Symbiotic Wurm
Hornet Queen
Omnath, Locus of Mana
Gyre Sage
Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Chameleon Colossus
Sylvan Primordial
Moldgraf Monstrosity
Worldspine Wurm
Acidic Slime
Joraga Treespeaker
Predator Ooze
Oracle of Mul Daya
Seedborn Muse
Garruk’s Horde
Fauna Shaman
Master of the Wild Hunt
Forgotten Ancient
Primordial Hydra
Wild Beastmaster
Bellowing Tanglewurm
Tajuru Preserver
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
Yavimaya Elder
Elvish Piper
Artifacts/Enchantments/Sorceries/Instants
Caged Sun
Gilded Lotus
Howling Mine
Oblivion Stone
Sol Ring
Otherworld Atlas
Lux Cannon
Asceticism
Eladamri’s Vineyard
Boundless Realms
Cultivate
Nature’s Lore
Explore
Explosive Vegetation
Green Sun’s Zenith
Harrow
Rampant Growth
Creeping Corrosion
Rain of Thorns
Awakening Zone
Howl of the Night Pack
Lurking Predators
Genesis Wave
Abundance
Harmonize
Gelatinous Genesis
Praetor’s Counsel
Increasing Savagery
Creeping Renaissance
Krosan Grip
Decree of Savagery
Strength of the Tajuru
Tribute to the Wild
Lands
Homeward Path
Dread Statuary
Treetop Village
Slippery Karst
Arena
Reliquary Tower
Temple of the False God
Mosswort Bridge
Rogue’s Passage
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Strip Mine
24x Forest