Valentin, a highlander staple from Turku, starts off a multi-part article series of midrange staple cards in European Highlander. In this seventh part, he will go through green.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Colorless
Part 3: White
Part 4: Blue
Part 5: Black
Part 6: Red
Part 7: Green
Part 8: Multicolor
One of the weaker colors by itself, but one of the best colors when splashing. Best cards in green are the multicolored ones, so this section will be relatively small.
Ramp
The importance of manaramping is an interesting question in european highlander. On one hand, playing threats turn earlier is very strong. On the other hand ramping is kinda useless past turn 3 (with a few exceptions). If there is no way to utilize them properly, they become dead draws. High number of manadorks for one mana also lets you skimp on running 2 drops and run more 3 drops, though it also makes you more susceptible to removal. In general, I have found that you either want to run 1-3 or go all-in. The first option is good for when you want to be more consistent, while the latter is good when you run Gaea’s Cradle and different ways to utilize small unnecessary creatures.
Deathrite Shaman (A+)
Best manadork in the game. A pseudo planeswalker on a one-drop. A good reason for having a light black splash in any green deck.
Delighted Halfling (A)
Make life miserable for blue players. It always feels like it is mandatory to kill it. I wouldn’t say it’s necessary in every green deck, but it’s very close. You want to have the best threats in midrange, which means you usually play a lot of legendary cards. The bigger question is usually how many slots are you ready to spend on manadorks.
Birds of Paradise (B+)
This is as much manaramping as it is manafixing, so mainly useful for when playing 3+ colored decks.
Fanatic of Rhonas (B)
2 mana is a lot, but this is able to generate a huge amount of mana and sidesteps the standard manadork problem with the ability of being a 4/4 threat. It is surprisingly easy to get a 4+ power creature into play to get a huge mana advantage and having 4 toughness makes it hard to kill.
Utopia Sprawl, Wild Growth (C)
This is a manaramping option for decks that do not want to take risk of manadorks being killed. It is much harder to utilize this than small creatures later in the game, but on the other side it is virtually free (for when you can attach this to untapped land), and it has good combo with creatures untapping lands (Arbor Elf and Garruk, Wildspeaker come to my mind).
Noble Hierarch, Ignoble Hierarch (C+)
Manadork that helps you be aggressive. The typical limitations of manadorks apply, but I would generally play these when they actually fix my colors, but even then there is usually not enough room in the deck.
Molt Tender (C)
The mana is a bit inconsistent, but is compensated by the ability to play around with grave synergies. Mainly worth consideration for decks that want mana-fixing from their manadorks but are in colors where neither Noble Hierarch nor Ignoble Hierarch provide all the colors.
Arbor Elf (C)
The downside is that sometimes you do not have the forest, which is when this is useless. The upside is that if you run Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth, this ramps a lot.
Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Fyndhorn Elves, Avacyn’s Pilgrim, Elves of Deep Shadow, Boreal Druid (C)
Basic manadorks. Not strong enough for midrange by themselves, but allow for fast and big threats when the deck is built correctly.
Gilded Goose (C-)
A one-time use manadork is weak, but the option of being lifegain that is combined with artifact synergies makes this an interesting option to remember.
Sakura-Tribe Elder (C-)
A staple at one time is not strong enough unless you are focusing on ramping.
Into the North (C-)
A notable ramp card when Dark Depths combo is in the deck. Not worth it otherwise.
Tinder Wall (C-)
Technically this is more of a fast mana than ramping, but this does allow you to play 4-drop on turn 2 by itself, which is very powerful, so have to mention this.
Wall of Roots (C+)
Can be used only 5 times, but the format is fast enough that other manadorks do not produce more mana than this. The fact that it can give mana on the same turn and even generate 2 mana in one turn cycle still keeps this as one of the better manadorks in the format…
Sylvan Caryatid (C-)
Manadork that fixes mana and cannot be killed by spot removal is good. A manadork for 2 mana is a bit slow and it can’t even help in getting initiative/monarch back, which is why I haven’t seen this in a while.
Devoted Druid (C-)
Slow and weak, but part of an infinite combo, so have to mention this.
Twitching Doll (C-)
Seemed like it would be a good manadork+threat during the spoiler season, but it’s a bit too slow (2 mana and it takes long until it can generate enough tokens), so wouldn’t recommend playing it unless being an artifact is relevant for synergies.
Lotus Cobra (C+)
Ramps for 2 mana with fetches, which is a big mana advantage. Not a lot of utility and costing 2 makes it harder to fit into the deck than one-drop manadorks, but sometimes the amount of mana it generates is just that important.
Gaea’s Cradle (B-)
Sometimes it gives no mana. Especially bad in slower and grinder matchups. On the other hand when combined with 2+ cheap creatures, this starts generating absurd amounts of mana that can win you the game by itself. When it’s good it’s an S rank card and C- when it doesn’t work. Better fit in decks with lots of manadorks as the effect is multiplicative and wouldn’t run in average midrange strategies.
Threats
Monogreen threats tend to either have high cost or be vanilla, but best are multicolored.
Tarmogoyf (C+)
A 2 mana vanilla creature that is big tends to be a bit weak in European Highlander, but it’s still a strong beatstick. Especially strong when combined with Pyrogoyf.
Six (A)
Everything you want from a 3 drop: body that is hard to kill, allows for recursion (especially strong when combined with life from the loam, but good enough by itself), good utility in blocking flyers and provides value when attacks.
Generous Ent (B)
With green manaramping it is easier to cast than in other colors. The body is decent, making this a versatile manafixer. It’s also important to remember that these basic-cyclers allow getting the corresponding basic even when Moon-effect is already in play.
Disciple of Freyalise (C)
Not the best of the new MDFCs, but has decent utility. Would play in the green deck if not running 2 MDFCs already.
Undermountain Adventurer (B+)
Not the best initiative creature, but still one of the top tier 4-mana threats. Vigilance with manaramping are also relevant surprisingly often.
Questing Beast (C)
An okay threat. Doesn’t generate value and is not as strong as other 4-drops, but has some good corner-cases where this can deal a lot of damage to an unsuspecting opponent.
Springheart Nantuko (B)
A 2 drop that generates a constant stream of creatures is already strong, but when you can bestow it onto something, the value it generates is huge. This is a bit restrictive in that it requires you to have something in play to provide full value, but this is plenty strong even when you do not have anything in that it provides chump blockers and sacrifice fodder.
Bristlebud Farmer (B+)
I like this for all the value it generates and the size of the body. The fact that it also generates food is surprisingly relevant, making this very annoying against aggressive decks. There are plenty of 4-drops that are stronger, but this has high versatility so a good option for decks that value milling, artifacts and lifegain.
Sentinel of the Nameless City (B+)
A 3 drop that generates value all the time with good stats. The card is strong, but competition for 3-drop slot is very high and this loses out against many of the other good 3-drops, which is why this doesn’t see as much play.
Nissa, Resurgent Animist (C-)
There are plenty of elves and elementals for this to generate card advantage from fetches. The problem is that this is a 3-drop that requires fetch-lands to generate value and the mana it generates is not as important after turn 3.
Titania, Protector of Argoth (C)
A very strong 5-drop for a format where manacurves tend to end at 4. Usually cards that cost 5+ mana are either discarded or played for cheaper cost. This is one of the few that I could consider playing simply due to the fact that green has some ramping, allowing you to cast it sometimes. This is decent enough by itself, but at its best in a deck with Zuran Orb.
Primeval Titan (C)
5 mana is a lot and 6 is unrealistic. The payoff is there, but you need to be more of a ramp deck than a midrange deck for this to make sense.
Vaultborn Tyrant, Titan of Industry (C)
Good payoffs for ramping, reanimation or Oath of Druids. Too high of a cost to see play in midrange, but with enough of the ramping or reanimation, these become decent considerations for the deck.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer (C-)
Searching for a land when you already have 3 mana is a bit questionable in midrange. I could see some ramp-oriented decks wanting to do this, but it feels as if this was left under the bus of powercreep.
Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator (B)
One has lifegain, the other grows quicker and is easier to activate. Both are good 2 drops that work as a gravehate. You don’t usually have room for both, but running one as a tutor target is good, so the question is whether it’s easier to have 2 green mana on turn 2 or multiple green mana to activate ooze late in the game. Scavenging Ooze has the lifegain, but from what I saw in the games, Keen-eyed Curator felt like a more powerful card. Overall it just feels harder to deal with due to trample and bigger stats.
Elvish Reclaimer (B-)
A one-drop that grows quickly and allows you to tutor for some broken lands. The downside is that it requires mana to use and to actually have lands that you want to tutor. Generally speaking this feels a bit inconsistent or slow in the current format. The decks that want to run this are either aggressively oriented decks that want one-mana beatsticks (and that have something like Urza’s Saga or Karakas to tutor.) or decks where wincons are more oriented on lands such as Dark Depths and Field of the Dead.
Nimble Mongoose (C)
One of the threats that got powercrept. Getting and keeping a threshold is not as easy and the payoff is not that great. It’s still playable for when you are desperate for aggressive one-drops, but usually there are more consistent options.
Ranger Class (C)
A passable body early and card advantage later on in the game. Good synergy with cards that trigger from +1/+1 counters (hello Emperor of Bones). Usually there are more efficient options than this. You need to have a high creature count in the deck and invest additional mana to get proper value from this. If the deck fulfills those conditions, this becomes quite a strong inclusion.
Frenzied Baloth (C+)
Haste, good stats and interesting abilities. Unfortunately that is not enough by itself to make the cut in current format, but still a strong card if the abilities fit the deck well.
Utility
Analyze the Pollen, Traverse the Ulvenwald (B)
Searching for a basic land is a good baseline and with all the milling in the format it is surprisingly easy to collect evidence or get delirium. The versatility is high and opportunity cost is low. Notable how it helps playing around nonbasic hate and that it can search for strong non-basics when needed such as Boseiju, Who Shelters All.
Abundant Harvest (B)
A cantrip where you choose manasource or spell. Good versatility when you have room in the deck for such an effect.
Abundant Growth (B)
A good way to fix mana for any deck that runs 4+ colors. Redundant for 1–2 colored decks. For 3 color decks this can work when needed, but the effect is not as strong as something more proactive.
Wall of Blossoms (C)
Defensive cantrip creature. Good for decks that need creatures in play or to sacrifice, but not proactive enough for standard midrange decks.
Birthing Pod (C)
A good value engine for the decks that have some combos, but costs a bit too much mana/life. This is a good way to utilize manadorks, but wouldn’t play it in decks that don’t have an excess of creatures to sacrifice.
Life From the Loam (C)
With all the gravehate in the format, this is not as strong as it used to be. It’s just so easy to get stuck with this in hand and no lands to return. On the other hand, in decks with a lot of lands and self mill, this provides a lot of value and utility. Requires a bit of building around and even then it is slow, but has a lot of good synergies (first thing that comes to my mind is Mox Diamond and Channel-lands)
Sylvan Library (A)
Still as broken as it was before. This makes all lifegain and shuffle effects stronger than they would be in other colors. Not sure it is ever correct to cut this from a green deck.
Green Sun’s Zenith (B)
As time goes by this gets more and more good targets to tutor for. With Delighted Halfling and Deathrite Shaman in the deck, you don’t even need Dryad Arbor to justify running this. Strong versatility and low cost. Doesn’t fit all decks but is generally strong and especially in decks with creature-combos.
Boseiju, Who Endures (B+)
A land and a versatile removal. This is just so good.
Dryad Arbor (C)
A land drop that is killed a bit too easily. There is not as much value in fetching this as before. Some decks might want this, but generally this feels just a bit too weak.
Chord of Calling (C)
Even with convoke, this is a bit too expensive. If you run this, Wall of Roots starts looking much better than it already does. Due to how expensive this is, it’s generally good enough only for decks that have some creature-combo to tutor.
Finale of Devastation (C+)
Has nice versatility, but the fact that it has 2 green mana in cost means that it is a bit too expensive for any purely value-based deck, so needs a creature combo to be good.
Haywire Mite (B-)
Very strong disenchant-option for any green deck and is a good tutor target for creature tutors and Urza’s Saga. Is also one of the better ways to answer an opponent’s Urza’s Saga.
Sylvan Safekeeper (C)
Not a value card. Only when you need to protect your creature-combo.
Malevolent Rumble (C+)
Essentially a 1 mana cantrip spell. There is the element of ramping for this as well. The card has good versatility, but does require the deck to run a lot of creatures or other permanents. Due to the requirement of paying 2 mana and slight inconsistency in digging, this is not seen as often, but a very strong filtering spell.
Birthing Ritual (B-)
A good way to utilize manadorks or to dig for silver bullets. The more I play against this card, the stronger it feels. The caveat is that the deck needs to have a good curve and a lot of etb creatures or something that it is ready to sacrifice.
Fiend Artisan (C)
Can be big and works as a tutor. Feels a bit slow and restrictive as it needs creatures to sacrifice and creatures in grave to be big. Overall this is more of a combo-tutor than a value card, but it’s strong enough that it’s worth remembering.
Eldritch Evolution (C-)
Only for creature-combo decks. Too much of a disadvantage otherwise. Not exactly a midrange or value oriented card but allows getting the strong expensive threats out of the deck. Generally not strong enough in midrange decks except when there is a combo to tutor or high amount of cards with delve, prototype and/or warp in the deck.
Endurance (C+)
A gravehate that has a decent body and good versatility. I am not that big a fan of this card as it does not generate value and there are plenty of other good gravehate options, but it also seems that I have a bias against this card as many people consider this to be semi-mandatory in green decks. Would definitely add into the deck when needing gravehate, but I tend to favor something that generates more value for a 3 drop.
Shifting Woodland (C)
High versatility, but does not produce mana on turn one. I like the card but would only play when I have good combos with it (attack with this as a big creature, copy Nadu/Shuko to go off or become Marit Lage) and when I have room in the manabase for it.
Eternal Witness (C-)
Was a staple, but in current meta 3-drop needs to do a lot more. A good target that adds versatility for decks with a lot of creature tutors, but a bit too weak in more value-oriented midrange decks.
Veil of Summer (B)
Requires meta to be full of black and blue decks as otherwise this is a dead card in a color that does not have ability to utilize it that well. On the other hand when it works, it wins the games with all the value it generates. I tend to cut this from green decks to be more consistent, but lately I have been feeling like it is a mistake.
Invasion of Ikoria // Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria (C)
A tutor with failsafe mode of being 8/8 unblockable reach for 4 mana is… Okayish? Needs Vampire Hexmage in a deck, but a tutor with upside is a decent value card. Feels a bit expensive, but with all the versatility it has, it is a good card.
Sowing Mycospan (C-)
Ramping on a 4 mana card is only viable in ramp strategies, but this has 2 good uncounterable abilities, so would not discount this card in midrange decks that want ramping or have multiple land-based combos.
Archdruid’s Charm (C)
For any deck capable of producing triple green consistently, this is a very versatile option. Not as good as the blue counterpart since no mode provides card advantage, but instant speed search for any land is a very unique effect, which is quite potent. Unfortunately, with how restrictive the cost is, I haven’t yet seen a midrange where this would fit that well.
Land Grant (B-)
This is essentially in the land slot and is a good way to fill the grave while fixing your mana. The downside of revealing a hand is sometimes relevant, but versatility outweighs that.
Once Upon a Time (C+)
Not as strong as in 60-card formats, but it’s free often enough and offers a good selection of cards for a midrange deck. There is a slight inconsistency for the card, which is why I don’t rank it as high, but it just feels correct to run it in most green midranges.
Altanak, the Thrice-Called (C)
Returning Wasteland or Urza’s Saga is pretty big value. That by itself is not too strong (the few times I saw Restore being played, it was not in midrange decks), but the option to play it as a big creature from ramping or reanimation adds a lot of versatility, which makes this card an interesting option for decks that can utilize it.
Webstrike Elite (C-)
A bit of a unique disenchant-effect that is uncounterable (except by Stifle-effects). The biggest benefit from this uniqueness is the ability to destroy humility with a card that can be tutored by most green creature-tutors. Another big use case is destroying Urza’s Saga and its tokens. On the other hand when it’s used as a creature or when destroying cards with cost 2+, the result is quite inefficient, so generally not worth the slot unless Humility is an important part of consideration.
Dredger’s Insight (C)
This is notably weaker than Malevolent Rumble, but it hits a lot of stuff and can give a reasonable amount of life over the course of the game. It also is useful that this is an enchantment for stuff like delirium and Lhurgoyfs.
Nature’s Rhythm (B)
The base mode is a bit overcosted, but the option to harmonize is a very strong compensation. Unlike other harmonize cards, this does not need many big creatures to be good. Not only does this provide a creature by itself, but it is also notable that harmonizing for X=2–3 is still a very good value, so the real question with this is how easy it is to generate 4x green. A green deck with Gaea’s Cradle and manadorks can do it easily, but without either of those, it can be a bit too challenging.
Icetill Explorer (C+)
Even outside lands decks, this is a good threat that grants card and land advantage and enables wasteland lock. The biggest issue that it costs 4 mana, so a bit hard to justify running this, but still a worthy consideration for midrange decks that have land synergies.
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