Here's my new list...
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Heartwood Storyteller
4 Ohran Viper
4 Timbermare
2 Harmonize
4 Might of Old Krosa
2 Stonewood Invocation
4 Stampeding Wildebeests
4 Citanul Woodreaders
4 Llanowar Reborn
1 Hurricane
1 Overrun
18 Forest
I had 4 Harmonize but went down to 2 to shove in a couple of alternate win conditions. I have been playing MGA since I noticed the delightfully dirty interaction between Skarrgan Pit-Skulk and pump spells (Might of Oaks). Go right ahead, block my 8/8. What's that? You don't have anything with a power of 8? Sorry about that. This was in like April 2006. I discovered shortly thereafter it wasn't all that original an idea, and most of the tuned builds that did well online ignored the Pit-Skulk thing but hey, what can you do? MGA got some great new tools with Scryb and Force and was a metagame player for a while but it appears to have fallen by the wayside in favor of multicolor builds with more reach (R/g Tarmogoyf), more card drawing (Suicide Sligh or R/B aggro) or both (U/G Tarmogoyf).
I look at the current field and wonder if there isn't a build of monogreen that can hang with these players and gain the advantage of consistency. Keep in mind that the Tier 1 field is very open, and one generally isn't going to have a hugely favorable matchup against a vast swath of it. What I am looking for is fun, power and consistency. It's also nice not to have to leave Remand mana up once in a while.
So I start with the classic MGA package of 8 one mana accelerators. Then I ignore the 2 drop slot. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the 3 drop. This is where your MGA lists win or lose the game, because it is in all likelihood, your turn 2 play. The problem with my MGA lists in the past has been a lack of reach after the initial rush. I get a good board position, do 10-15, then the board stalls or is cleared, and I lose. So I decided to go with card drawing instead of true aggro in those slots. Ohran Viper is a damn house. Ophidian is good I hear, and people played Stinkweed Imp in Standard as well. Heartwood Storyteller is amazing. At the very least, he's card advantage when they burn him out. If he picks up a graft counter, Incinerate can't touch him.
The third three mana dude is Citanul Woodreaders, and this is the obvious pull in favor of Troll Ascetic. So why go with Woody?
(1) 1/4 is good. Kills little stuff, bounces off big stuff.
(2) Doesn't tie up my mana. Troll Ascetic needs regeneration mana to be a credible threat. I do not want to leave mana open unless I am representing pump.
(3) Can be returned for huge effect in the late game. You know what seems good to me? Returning my wall to my hand when I have a 5/4 (or 6/5) trampler on the board and recasting it for 2 more cards in hand. A slow green Gush, that's what it is.
(4) Troll Ascetic does not trample. Even if I can pump him, he can just be chumped by any old thing (Goblins).
The four mana slot is where this deck shines. Timbermare is everything from a turn 3 Lava Axe to a turn 8 14/14 tap all yr dudes and swing for the win. Lovely. Stampeding Wildebeests, is also amazing. Why yes, I will pick up my one mana dude and swing for 5 (trample!) on turn 4. Some (The Fugitive and 2S) would argue the Harmonizes are slow or unnecessary. I say that your only problem is running out of threats and quick recovery from Wrath is really hard without this.
Hurricane is there because direct damage is nice and honestly, who plays around Hurricane? Plus I have an Ice Age one, so pbthht.
The pump is nice, but you don't wanna go overboard on it. I think 6+the Overrun is right. I might go back to four Stonewood Invocation. Sometimes that just sits in hand though.
It might also be tempting to go 20 forest, no Llanowar Reborn and pick up 2 more spells. I think this is a mistake. You have the card drawing to pull you out of a land glut and while you'd rather see spells, you do have good uses for the land you have. Plus, it's nice not to be completely wrecked by pyroclasm.
The sideboard is not complete so I am not going to list one. There's the possibility of going aggro-er with Gaea's Anthem+Uktabi Drake. Probably should fit Naturalize in there given the environment. Graveyard hate might be okay depending on how popular Aggro Loam is in your area. Or maybe anti discard/control with Quagnoth. I'll have to think about it some more.
It's nice that aggro still has its place a year after Jitte and this one definitely has some explosive draws combined with a bit of staying power. I like it.
-CBG
3 comments:
Aggro still has it's place because no one has taken the time to come up with a viable, consistent control deck. It's time to revisit the old ways.
Also, with LLanowar Reborn, Troll Ascetic dodges Pyroclasm and you don't have to leave regen mana up often, as most duders have a 2 power. Unless they hit with a Tarmogoyf, at which point what would you rather topdeck, Troll Ascetic, or something else?
If they hit with a Tarmogoyf, I'd rather topdeck a Timbermare.
I agree with the fugitive that regen mana for ascetic is only an issue if your game plan is gone terribly awry already (e.g. you are forced to block). Pyroclasm is the only non-targeting spell worth keeping the mana open for. Wrath already kills it, so that's moot. The viper and story teller are much better choices for card draw then woodreaders because they will get in there at least a little bit. There is no downside to blocking the 1/4 with almost anything, and if he sits back waiting to be recast then you have already admitted defeat (i.e. used your very important three drop slot to cast a guy who only wants to be returned to hand or block). He is nigh useless as a three drop in this aggro deck. I love wildebeasts, and they should be in the deck, but you want to bounce a one or two drop. There will be times you want a two drop anyway (*cough* tarmagoyf, or at least kavu predator or riftsweeper if you want to go rogue).
Post a Comment