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Budget Decks Part 3: Green Aggro September 20, 2009

Posted by James in : all , trackback

The easiest budget green deck to make is an aggro (aggressive) deck. This can be a manaramp deck where you play mana acceleration and large monsters, but green weenie is also pretty easy to pull off. I will list three categories of budget green cards: Good, better, and best. Most of these cards should be worth $1 or less. Here are the best budget green cards:

Good

These fourteen cards are worth considering playing in a green deck, but they aren’t the best cards you can use. If you can’t enough cards on the “better” and “best” lists, then these cards can do the job instead.

Wall of Blossoms and Constant Mists in particular are powerful, but they aren’t the best cards to use in an aggressive deck.

Better

dryad sophisticate

Dryad Sophisticate isn’t my favorite 2 drop, but it is decent against most competitive players.

mire boa

Mire Boa is one of the best two casting cost creatures ever made.

river boa

See above.

thornweald archer

Thornweald Archer is still one of the best two drops.

nettle sentinel

Nettle Sentinel is one of the best one drops in green. There’s not a lot of 2/2 or 2/1 green creatures for one G.

quirion ranger

Quirion Ranger is one of the best one casting cost creatures. Returning a Forest to your hand is a great way to generate more mana. If you had no other land to play that turn, you can tap the forest for mana, return it to your hand, then play it again untapped to get extra mana. On top of all that, you get to untap a creature.

blastoderm

Blastoderm is still one of the best four casting cost green creatures of all time.

phantom centaur

Phantom Centaur is probably even better than Blastoderm. I like creatures that have to die three times. Protection from black doesn’t hurt either.

Best

llanowar elves

Llanowar Elves is still one of the best one casting cost creatures of all time. Mana acceleration on a stick.

fyndhorn elves

See above.

overrun

Overrun is the most important card to get for a budget green aggro deck. A few creatures in play and an overrun can easily win you the game.

Expensive Cards

Jungle LionIf you want to invest more money in a green aggro deck, or if you want to slowly improve your budget green deck, here are some of the cards you will want:

You can think about taking out Overrun for Plow Under; Phantom Centaur and Blastoderm for Deus of Calamity and Oversoul of Dusk; Garruk for Overrun; Rancor for Dryad Syndicate; and Jungle Lion for Thornweald Archer.

Tarmogoyf can also be a good card, but it is best used when you can put different card types in the graveyard. In other words it is good with discard, Wastelands, instants, sorceries, Nameless Inversion, and planeswalkers.

Example Deck

Here is a budget deck using all of my favorite cards:

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Overrun
4 Phantom Centaur
4 Blastoderm
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Thornweald Archer
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 River Boa
4 Mire Boa
4 Dryad Sophisticate
16 Forest

Comments»

1. michael - September 22, 2009

The deck is nice and streamlined, but it doesn’t take into account what others may be playing. A well timed Night of Souls’ Betrayal (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/133.html) can ruin the deck…which can come out as early as turn 2 with Dark Ritual (or 1 with double ritual now that there isn’t mana burn).

Same thing with Flamebreak (http://magiccards.info/ds/en/61.html). It is only good if it hits before the big beaters land.

The black deck probably has more answers than the red deck, but the problem of a deck filled with 1 toughness creatures remains.

2. James - September 22, 2009

My type 1 elf deck is full of more 1 toughness creatures than this deck but I just figure most people don’t play anti-1 toughness creature decks. No one can beat every deck anyway.

Flamebreak isn’t a very popular card. Volcanic Fallout is played in most decks instead, so regeneration can help.

However, I must admit that the budget red and blue decks are probably the best, which is why I discussed them first.

3. Bob The Builder - September 23, 2009

seeing as you one on of superstars 1ks with a rdw could please do an article on what b/r or rdw looks like after zendikar?

4. James - September 23, 2009

Bob the Builder,

I will keep that in mind, but I’m not sure what to say about it yet. We should probably get a complete list for Zendikar first. I suspect red goblins would be a good idea if Warren Instigators are worth playing.