Running a Green deck in Magic can come with many advantages and disadvantages. Among the many well-known disadvantages of running a Green deck would be having rather expensive creatures to cast. Considering that one way to get the upper hand in a game is to get an early lead, Green decks are at a disadvantage because of how long it can take you to get creatures on the field.
Despite having creatures with a high mana cost, you get what you pay for with these large Green creatures. Most of the time, these creatures come with high attack and defense, which can make it harder for your opponent to take them down. Sometimes, your Green creatures even have abilities and effects that make them worth casting your mana for.
Another advantage for these color decks would be their ability to ramp mana–something Green decks are very well known for. As a result, they can help double the usable mana you have, so it can take you less time to get larger creatures on the field. In turn, this will level the playing field for you and even give you an advantage.
Knowing all that, running a Green deck doesn’t sound so bad at all. Fortunately, it’s true! Sometimes you just need to know how to run it. However, one other thing you can do to help would be to get the right cards. In this case, getting the right creature cards could work wonders for any prospective Green deck you want to run.
So, with that in mind, what are some of the best Green creatures MTG?
Allosaurus Shepherd (1 Green land)
While Green decks are known for their large creatures with expensive mana costs, there’s a handful of Green creatures that are cheaper to cast. Allosaurus Shepherd is one of them. However, aside from its cheap mana cost, it also comes with a good set of abilities and effects.
For starters, Allosaurus Shepherd can’t be countered. So, your opponent can’t negate this monster when you cast it. What’s more, with this card in play, any succeeding Green spells you play, or control can’t be countered too. So, this can help make it easier for you to play your other spells without the worry of your opponent foiling any plays you had in mind.
In addition to that, for the cost of 6 lands, you can transform any Elf creatures you control into a 5/5 Dinosaur type monster ’til the end of your turn. So if you happen to run an Elf deck and have several Elf creatures in play, this can work to your advantage.
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (6 land + 2 Green land)
Vorinclex is a creature that packs an impact as large as its casting cost. Despite it costing a total of 8 land to cast, it’s well worth the wait. For starters, he’s a 7/6 creature with the Trample ability. This makes it no match for any small creatures your opponent has in play.
Another of Vorinclex’s effects would be to double the mana you cast for every land you tap for mana. This makes Vorinclex a perfect creature to help you ramp up the available land you have to increase your mana pool. As a result, you can cast more spells during your turn.
What’s more, Vorinclex also makes it hard for your opponent to get any moves done during their turns. Its additional effect is to prevent your opponent from untapping any land they’ve used for mana in their next untap step. This essentially makes it harder for them to cast the spells as their mana pool is reduced.
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary (2 Green land)
For a card to be banned from a game format that allows you to play any card throughout the entire Magic franchise only means one thing: that it’s too powerful and unfair to use. That’s precisely what Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary is. Playing this card in the Commander format essentially “breaks the game”.
Rofellos is powerful for two reasons. First, it’s cheap to cast. Second, its effect is just way too powerful. When you tap Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary, you add one Green mana to your mana pool for each Green land you control. Your mana pool gets doubled. Suppose you play Rofellos in the early stages of the game. In that case, you give yourself a mana advantage enough to cast more spells. From there, you can basically take control of the game and win within the next few turns.
Tarmogoyf – (1 land + 1 Green land)
Despite the funny name, the Tarmogoyf is another Green creature to be reckoned with. For starters, this only costs two mana to cast. What’s more, it has an effect that can make this a mighty creature to have on the field.
This creature’s power is equal to the number of card types found in the graveyards of all players. By card types, this means things like “Creatures”, “Enchantments”, and what have you. Add the number of card types each player has in their graveyards, and you can rack up some high numbers. If that wasn’t enough, the toughness of the Tarmogoyf is equal to the number of card types found in all the graveyards plus one. Imagine how much damage this can do in the late game!
These are just some of the most amazing Green creatures in the Magic franchise. There are still loads more, many of which have valuable and powerful effects. However, with this list so far, you can see how much potential Green creatures have to make for a powerful deck! Despite their high mana costs, the ramping capabilities of these cards can make up for it!
So, if you’re thinking of building a Green-based deck, let this be the reason you go for it! All you need to do is do a little more research and find out what combinations work, and you’ll have a powerful Green deck in your hands!