I have built a Mono Green Rapid Growth 60 Card Deck. It plays well and I have alot of fun with it but I would like to get some feedback on how to make it aggro faster as well as what I should use in a sideboard. I'm new to magic (only been playing for 4 months) and looking for any good ideas on how to better build decks. My deck is built as follows:

http://deckbox.org/sets/380482

Don't mind the inventory. It says I don't have enough cards but I do. I'm still updating the site with an accurate list of the cards I have.

I'm not sure if your trying to keep this in standard format but i'll give you some non standard options (don't play it) and tips

I would say the most important thing about building a deck is to have a vision in mind of what you want the deck to do and make sure the cards you choose synergize well with each other to accomplish that goal. Looking at your deck i see you have sort of a +1+1 counter theme going on so thats good. there are a few card choices i wouldn't run though because they take away from what you are trying to accomplish (how to win).

The changes i would make would be:
-4 fog +4 Strangleroot geist
-2 predator's rapport +4 Dungrove elder
-3 serene remembrance +1 eternal witness
-1 giant adephage (preferance) +1 Ant Queen

I took out fog and predator's rapport because this deck seems like it wants to beat down more than play passive and sometimes those cards are just dead cards and will sit in your hand and do nothing for the whole game. I replaced them with strangleroot geist and dungrove elder for cheap, resilient, early pressure.

I took out serene remembrance because the card doesn't actually do anything. This is a common trap that newer players/deckbuilders make. While it seems decent think about what you get when you cast this card. Your down a card in your hand because you cast this spell. You shuffle 4 cards total into your library somewhere possibly never to even draw any one of them again. It just puts you behind. If your facing heavy removal or are looking for a similar effect i added an eternal witness. Not only does it let a card go back into your hand so you can cast it again, it's a 2/1 body in itself.

I took out giant adephage just because i think ant queen fits in your deck better. They are both relatively large creatures but with the token production of ant queen you may be able to go a little crazy with some ivy lane denizens in play. But i can understand if you want to play with the adephage instead because who doesn't like to play with bombs :D


As far as a sideboard goes, there's just way too many options to list. The best advice i can give you is to ask yourself why you lost everytime you lose. Maybe it's because your not fast enough that game or maybe it's because your playing against control and can't land too many threats. Then when you can answer why you lose, look for cards that will help in the future against the same situation

Thanks for the ideas. I am trying to keep the deck in standard format. The reason I lose is because I am always waiting on getting my Primordial Hydra. Sometimes but not often I'm waiting on mana. I dont know how to make my +1+1 counter deck any faster which is why I added Fog, Predator's Rapport and Serene Remembrance. Fog to by time, Predator's Rapport for life gain, and Serene Remembrance for a deck 'reset' hoping to increase my chances in drawing Primordial Hydra by reshuffling my deck.

Drknative wrote:Thanks for the ideas. I am trying to keep the deck in standard format. The reason I lose is because I am always waiting on getting my Primordial Hydra. Sometimes but not often I'm waiting on mana. I dont know how to make my +1+1 counter deck any faster which is why I added Fog, Predator's Rapport and Serene Remembrance. Fog to by time, Predator's Rapport for life gain, and Serene Remembrance for a deck 'reset' hoping to increase my chances in drawing Primordial Hydra by reshuffling my deck.

As much as I like the card, Primordial Hydra is a pretty shaky win-con on its own without some sort of protection or backup. To that end, you definitely want to up the count of Hydras to 4x if that's your primary means of attack. Then you'll need a way to protect it. This can be done in a variety of ways, but the best bet would be to give it hexproof - you can achieve this via Sheltering Word, Ranger's Guile, or even Alpha Authority if you're looking for a more permanent solution.

Then the question becomes, are the hydras your main objective? If so, then you can play purely defensively for them. Then you would keep Fog, Deadly Recluse, Ambush Viper, Druid's Deliverance/Terrifying Presence/Moonmist to play defensively. But then all your apples are in one basket - typically not a good idea.

As such, I would suggest going to more of a mono-green aggro strategy that INCLUDES the hydras, but doesn't rely on them nearly as much. If that's the case, you'll want as many value green creatures as possible. Experiment One, Strangleroot Geist, Arbor Elf (ramping never hurts!), Primordial Hydra, Deadbridge Goliath, Thragtusk and items of the like.

With the Hydra, remember, it's better to play it for X=1 than to wait a turn to play it for X=2.

Now I will tell you that Predator's Rapport is worthless. It costs too much to really be effective, replace them Giant Growth. That being said, also ditch all of the enchantments. They are taking up space that could be better used. Replace four of them with Rancor, Four of them with Strangleroot Geist, and the last two with with two more forests. 20 lands isn't quite enough in a deck with no mana acceleration.

I tried to keep my suggestions cost effective, as I don't know the kind of budget you're working with. I assume since you're new that you don't have a whole lot to work with yet. Hopefully, that helps.

TyWooOneTime- Thanks again for the suggestions. I like the idea of adding Deadbridge Goliath and Thragtusk. I worry about mana cost. I'm still learning how to balance creatures to mana to other spells. Big creatures are nice and cause alot of threat but they mean nothing if i cant get them out or if I do just get blown up the moment they make it to the field but I think i will try by taking out the enchantments i have and switching them with those suggested.

drgolovacroxby- I like these ideas. They are similar to TyWooOneTime ideas so ill give theses a try and see how they run.

Also i have a rather large collection. Im still updating it to my page so if you check periodically you'll see what i have available.

Drknative wrote:TyWooOneTime- Thanks again for the suggestions. I like the idea of adding Deadbridge Goliath and Thragtusk. I worry about mana cost. I'm still learning how to balance creatures to mana to other spells. Big creatures are nice and cause alot of threat but they mean nothing if i cant get them out or if I do just get blown up the moment they make it to the field but I think i will try by taking out the enchantments i have and switching them with those suggested.

The key when considering higher casting cost creatures is to think about the value you're getting out of them. Thragtusk, for example, might cost five to play, but in almost no scenario is he not a major play. He gives you five life and is a 5/3 beater. If they blow him up immediately, you still get a 3/3 beast token requiring another kill spell. As a result the card almost always effectively goes 2-for-1, can turn your life total around, AND offers card advantage.

Obviously Deadbridge Goliath doesn't achieve the same feat by any means, but a 5/5 for four that you can then scavenge onto something a few turns later is never a bad exchange. Consider the strength of green as a color, dropping creatures that, on average, will simply be bigger and stronger than the opponent - no tricks necessary. Think about the number of threats that are legal in standard which would win in combat with said Goliath? Desecration Demon is pretty much the only one that comes mind that you would see frequently that would outright win the exchange. Nevermind if you put Rancor on said Goliath...

Beyond that, obviously there are a lot of options, but you need to consider that most decks aren't sitting on more than maybe 10 removal options (if even that many). Part of the beauty of things like Tusk and Goliath is that they'll require a response from the opponent unless they're ready to start taking a beating. This is nice because you also want to run 4x Primordial Hydras as some additional must-answer threats. So those three cards alone create 12 threats that require them to address. Slide in 4x Strangleroot Geists, Predator Oozes, Champion of Lambholts and 4x Rancors and now the opponent literally won't have answers for everything hitting the board. That's not to say you'll be unbeatable by any means, but you'll definitely be making some noise.

I actually think Melissa De Tora had an article not that long ago (after GTC about a mono-green build that was performing pretty well). You can read her article at: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11065

I would imagine there are updates from DGM that might be useful too. Keep diggin with it and you'll get somewhere.