Curating a mono-green deck for the commander format? Let’s dive deep into the essence and nuances of the green cards in MTG.
The MTG Color Spectrum
Magic: The Gathering unfolds over five distinct colors, each echoing unique sentiments and attributes. Players often find themselves resonating with the ideologies of their chosen colors, making the gaming experience deeply personal.
Understanding Green
In MTG’s rich tapestry, green stands as the epitome of nature. It advocates for a world left undisturbed, allowing nature its sovereign reign. Green’s philosophy hinges on the belief that every entity, whether predator or prey, has its rightful place in the grand ecosystem.
While white champions order and structure, green accentuates community and mutual reliance. This interdependence is glaringly evident in iconic cards like Gaia’s Cradle and the recurrent elf sub-theme intrinsic to green.
Survival Instincts of Green
Green channels primal instincts. It symbolizes growth, adaptation, and an unwavering bond with nature’s cycles, ensuring survival through unity and strength.
The Growth Paradigm
Green epitomizes boundless growth – whether it’s the collective prosperity of a community or the unbridled expansion of nature. Cards like Gaea’s Revenge, Thragtusk, and Krosan Cloudscraper are a testament to green’s emphasis on board development and flourishing.
Green’s Prowess
Green’s hallmark lies in its unmatched vigor. Its decks house the mightiest creatures, formidable combat tricks, and unparalleled force. With green, everything scales to grandiosity, echoing its core ethos of ceaseless growth.
Green’s Vulnerabilities
However, green’s inherent passivity can sometimes be its Achilles heel. While it might be proactive in dismantling artifacts or enchantments seen as aberrations of nature, it rarely disrupts the natural order. Direct confrontation in the form of creature removal is scarce; green prefers the more organic ‘fight’ approach, as seen in cards like Wild Instincts and Savage Punch. The key? If you’re wielding a green deck, ensure your creatures tower over adversaries. For green believes in direct, power-packed confrontations, embracing the true essence of nature.
#10. Birds of Paradise
Clocking in at number 10, we have the unassuming yet formidable Birds of Paradise. While it might seem simple at first glance, its prowess among green cards is undeniable. This card finds its place in nearly every green-inclusive deck, save for the strictly mono-green ones. In such cases, a Llanowar Elves would be more apt. The ability to tap for a mana of any color underscores the importance of mana-fixing in Commander.
The Sky-Dwelling Exceptions in Green
Green is not renowned for its flying entities, yet it holds unparalleled mastery over countering them. Canopy Claws serves as a prime example, stripping creatures of their flight for a turn. The arsenal further expands to include cards that target flying adversaries by damaging, destroying, or penalizing opponents for deploying them.
Green’s limited roster of flying beings predominantly consists of birds, insects, and other diminutive creatures. Cards like Birds of Paradise, Killer Bees, and Uktabi Drake might lack in sheer power but compensate with their invaluable abilities.
Birds of Paradise: More Than Meets the Eye
One oft-overlooked facet of Birds of Paradise is its role as a flying sentinel. Its presence in the airspace is understated yet crucial. Though merely a 0/1, its potential as a chump blocker, especially against fliers, is invaluable, particularly in the game’s early phases. While its design may seem straightforward, Birds of Paradise encapsulates elements that are fundamental to MTG and its formats.
Mana fixing and mana ramp?
It does both. When you have a card that is multi-purpose like this, it’s always going to see play in this format across many different decks. Birds of Paradise is a wonderful card and our number 10 best green cards in commander format.
#9. Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth is a staple in creature-centric decks, and deservedly so. With an arsenal of creatures at your disposal, this card can be your ticket to victory. It bestows all your creatures with a bonus to their power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you command, and gifts them trample for the turn. Imagine, with the behemoth and five other creatures on your side, each one gets a formidable boost of +6/+6 and trample. That’s a game-changer.
For those orchestrating token strategies, pairing with Craterhoof Behemoth often spells doom for the opposition. The triggered ability magnifies your army’s might, and the added trample is the icing on the cake. It’s a game-ending move. And if you manage to flicker the behemoth? The results are even more devastating.
#8. Doubling Season
Doubling Season is the best doubling season type effect because it only applies to your cards. If you enter a planeswalker onto the battlefield they enter with double the loyalty counters. Your opponent’s don’t get double the loyalty counters for their Planeswalkers. Their creatures don’t get double the +1/+1 counters, which is very different from cards like Primal Vigor.
It does more than Parallel Lives because it also deals with +1/+1 counters rather than just doubling tokens. The fact that Doubling Season also double’s tokens is awesome too.
Doubling Season doubles tokens as well
Which is why you’ll see this card being played in a ton of different decks because a lot of players enjoy working with counters and they love working with tokens.
It is a bit expensive though, which is why you don’t see a ton of people playing it. If it were cheap, more people would definitely play it. Just a very good card to have overall and is our number 8 best green cards in commander format.
#7. Tooth and Nail
Our number 7 spot is occupied by Tooth and Nail. The description of this card should read “pay 9 mana and win the game,” because essentially, that’s what it does. This card allows you to pull two creatures from your deck and tutor them up to your hand. You do pay 7 mana BUT if you pay just two more mana, you get to put two creatures onto the battlefield!
Win the game with unbeatable pairs
With Tooth and Nail you can team your Craterhoof Behemoth and another token producing card to get a huge buff on all your creatures. This will allow you pretty much win the game.
Mana production
Green is the top color of mana production and acceleration. It has in its arsenal; land tutors like Harrow, Sylvan Ranger and Sakura-Tribe Elder. Some creatures that produce mana are Birchlore Rangers, Birds of Paradise and Gemhide Sliver. Enchantments that increase their lands mana production are Heartbeat of Spring, Overgrowth and Wild Growth. Also, Green can break the “play one land each turn” rule with certain cards.
#6. Oracle of Mul Deya
Oracle of Mul Deya is a very consistent card. It sees play in control decks, creature decks and a ton of other decks. It’s a very consistent and powerful card. What it does is allows you to look at the top card in your library which is making your hand size 8, if you have no maximum hand size. If the top card on your deck is a land, you get to play it, which is great.
Allows you to play more creatures
Oracle of Mul Deya is super-efficient and that’s what you want in green cards. You want efficiency paired with the ability to play your creatures, getting extra land drops allow you to do that you and you get more mana to work with.
Lands choice and mana production
Because you get to select which lands you do and do not want, you won’t be top decking lands. You’re able to select the lands that you don’t want and put them onto the battlefield. You also get to play two lands a turn. If you are playing a deck where you want to get off to a quicker start this is a great choice.
She is four mana but, she is capable of giving you a ton of mana over the course of the game. You’re getting an extra land drop, you’re looking at your top decks and you’re deciding whether or not you want to play the land. Oracle of Mul Deya is a solid choice for the 6th best green commander card to have in your deck.
#5. Krosan Grip
Krosan Grip is Really the only removal that stands apart from the rest. Yes, it can only destroy artifacts and enchantments however, the fact that it has Split second means it’s unlike any other removal in the green deck.
It can deal with target artifacts or enchantments without being responded to. It shuts down combos, which makes it one of the best keywords in the whole game. You get to use this card on cards like Mind over Matter, when they try to combo. Overall, a great card to utilize.
Capable of solving almost any problem
Split second is capable solving so many problems and so many potential problems in this format. It’s just an amazing card and extremely undervalued. Definitely worthy of the number 5 best green commander card spot on this list.
#4. Eternal Witness
Number 4 is Eternal Witness. Another one of those Birds of Paradise types of cards which is why it’s on the list. It’s a very simple card. When you play her, you get a card back from your graveyard and into your hand. You have so many Green cards with this effect. You get to bring cards, whether it’s creatures or just cards period back from your graveyard to your hand. Eternal Witness gives it to you on a body, which is unlike any other effect.
Eternal Witness is played by many
She does see a ton of modern play. The fact that you get to flicker her over and over again means that she combos with cards like Eerie Interlude. Furthermore, the fact that you can get anything back from your graveyard is always a huge benefit.
She sees play in creature decks to get creatures back. She’s been playing in control decks to get counter spells, kill spells or just anything back from your graveyard. Very good card that is fundamentally sound. It’s what you want in a ton of decks. In fact, there is not a single green deck in the format that shouldn’t consider playing her. Getting things back from your graveyard is always good, it helps you recover, helps you stabilize, she’s just great to have.
#3. Cultivate
Our number three spot is Cultivate. Which is pretty much the same card as Kodama’s Reach. They do exactly the same thing with the only difference being that Kodama’s Reach is in Arcane so you get Arcane synergy.
However, getting two different basic lands one on the battlefield tapped and one to your hand means that you are technically both ramping and mana fixing. In multicolored decks these cards reign superior over the rest because you get to secure a land drop for future turns, you also get to ramp, you get to mana fix, they’re perfect.
Get off to a great start with Cultivate
Most green decks play this card. In fact, it’s one of the most played card in the entire format because it’s so good at ramping. For only three mana you can stabilize and get your land drops. Get off to a great start with Cultivate.
#2. Survival of the Fittest
Number three is Survival of the Fittest. It’s very specific towards the creature based decks but its power is undeniable in this format. Paying a green and pitching a creature to the graveyard enables you to tutor up a creature. This sets up so many graveyard strategies in the format. The fact that it only costs 2 mana is another great feature to this card.
Create a variety of creature combo’s
In commander, there are a lot of combos based off of creatures. With this card you can tutor up creatures to your hand and combo out all day. Or you can simply put creatures into your graveyard, use something like a Living Death and bring them back. This strategy offers so much versatility and options for your during game play.
Unlike Worldy Tutor
Survival of the Fittest isn’t like Worldly Tutor where you have to put it on top of your deck. With this card, it goes straight to your hand. It’s a devastating, powerful and must have card for any green deck.
#1. Sylvan Library
Coming in at the number one spot is Sylvan Library. You’re allowed to draw three cards which is great. The catch? You have to pay four life for each extra card that you decide to keep beyond the first one. So, that is a big downside. However, in green, the lack of card draw and the lack of consistency, beyond just mana ramp, is quite noticeable.
Keep the engine going with Sylvan Library
Whenever you’re playing a mono green deck you’ll eventually run out of steam. You’ll have all this mana to work with and creatures to play but you won’t have finishers. You have to draw through all the lands or draw through all the weaker creatures to get to them. Sylvan Library is the engine that can help a mono green deck going.
Sylvan Library essentially offers something that green decks struggle with, consistency. It is one of the few enchantments that is capable of giving you a way of fixing the top deck. It is not just good in green, it is considered one of the best cards in the format.
From a young age, Matt dove deep into sports card valuation, turning to esteemed price guides like Beckett and Tuff Stuff. Eventually he extended to Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. With a vision to sustain and nurture the hobby he loved, Matt established the ‘Graded Card Investor’ YouTube channel and website. He aims to foster a healthy community and offer invaluable insights to those entering the world of sports cards and TCGs. His depth of understanding, from the card market’s 2020 pinnacle to its 1990s valleys, is consistently fortified by meticulous research.
