For quite some time now, Legacy players around the world have been toying with the notion of assembling a single-colored green deck with various lock components such as Chalice of the Void and Trinisphere. To be sure, there are several decks in existence that function in this nature but none seem to have had a tremendous impact on the general Legacy meta game. Don't be fooled, however: This is not a Stax variant due to the absence of cards like Smokestack and Tangle Wire (both of which have been staples of this archetype for many years).

The basic history surrounding this particular hybrid of Mono Green Chalice Aggro came about in a crude attempt to dismantle decks that rely both heavily on Islands and lower-costing spells. After several months of tinkering, here is ultimately the list I settled on for the debut at Jupiter Games' Forty Dual Land Draft on July 25th, 2009:

Mono Green Chalice Aggro
by Michael Keller

Main
[4x] Llanowar Elves
[4x] Elvish Spirit Guide
[4x] Chalice of the Void
[4x] Tarmogoyf
[4x] River Boa
[4x] Trinisphere
[4x] Natural Order
[3x] Cold-Eyed Selkie
[3x] Umezawa's Jitte
[3x] Garruk Wildspeaker
[2x] Wickerbough Elder
[1x] Progenitus

Land
[9x] Forest
[4x] Ancient Tomb
[4x] Wasteland
[2x] Pendelhaven
[1x] Dryad Arbor

Total: 60 Cards.

Sideboard
[4x] Choke
[3x] Krosan Grip
[3x] Tormods Crypt
[3x] Snakeform
[2x] Sword of Fire/Ice

Total: 15 Cards

At First Glance; Choice Reasoning
This was the list I played that placed 3rd out of 59 players. As great as the list worked out, there are some visible flaws (but we'll get to that in a while). First and foremost, here is an analysis of each card and what purpose it serves in the deck:

Llanowar Elves
Well, what is there to say about this creature that hasn't already been said. For his cost to effectiveness comparison, he is extraordinarily useful in the most critical of circumstances. Most people argue that, perhaps, cards such as Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch would work better because of their inherent flying or exalted utilities. This might be true in some instances, but in most cases, Llanowar Elves (or Fyndhorn Elves, if you choose so) can deal one point of damage to anything it blocks without having to be tapped. Creatures such as Goblin Lackey and Dark Confidant remain on the defensive until you are fully prepared to make even more things happen with acceleration.

Elvish Spirit Guide
Fact of the matter is, Elvish Spirit Guide seems more useful as a dormant counter for Daze rather than acceleration. To be sure, E.S.G. has the ability to help power out first turn devastation such as Trinisphere, Chalice set at one, etc. Because of the importance of being able to do these things (and that it remains a 2/2 body if need be), it is imperative to include such a multilateral and strategical wonder to the overall strategy of the deck.

Chalice of the Void
It might be difficult to comprehend why a card with such a permanent capability such as countering lower-cost spells would find its way into an archetype hellbent on playing creatures to begin with. The beauty of Chalice is that is punishes so many other decks for running cards at premium prices. You have the ability to set it at whatever you choose, against whatever you're specifically playing. It is a permanent control element that in most cases cannot be dealt with in game one's where it can mean the difference between winning and losing. Against Aether Vial on the play, case in point.

Tarmogoyf
It might not seem like there are many ways to get Tarmogoyf big in a hurry, but that proved to be a fallacy at the big event. Fact is, green does have few ways to deal with other creatures up front. With instants targeting your creatures early, Brainstorms, discard spells, fetches, your Planeswalkers, etc.,Tarmogoyf can get large in a hurry. And with equipment like Jitte and Sword of Fire and Ice he can also be particularly overwhelming. He is the ultimate green creature, and he serves as a good fit as aggro's finest weapon.

River Boa
This was a difficult choice when I first conceptualized the deck. I don't mean it was hard to include River Boa, it was hard not to include River Boa. He is very efficient: For a colorless and a green, we get a 2/1 Islandwalker with the extra-added bonus of being able to heal itself. I pondered exactly how good he would turn out against Merfolk, and he was excellent, especially with Jitte. Being able to sneak by and maintain a constant lock on an opponent without them being able to block is a strong game-plan in itself. He is a one-man wrecking crew in a deck with cards weaved through the interior dead-set on winning games fast.

Trinisphere
This card, paired with Wasteland, serves as probably the best lock component in the entire deck. Against combo, you can sit and breathe normally knowing your opponent has been shut down (at least temporarily until you either combo out with Natural Order or drop Chalice, etc.). Against other decks like Zoo and the sort, it causes serious issues with smaller mana bases and can win the game by itself. Half of the spells you run cost three or more anyways, so it should rarely if ever be a backfired problem.

Natural Order
This is the card you'll need to go find Progenitus; a hideously large creature (10/10) that has protection from everything. It is a well-known fact once the card is successfully cast, your opponent will have their hands full, essentially putting them on a two-turn clock (or less).

Cold-Eyed Selkie
Without being too fervent here, I can't really say I liked Selkie that much here. I hardly ever saw it in action at the tournament, so to say he was good is very misleading. For what he does, he is outstanding. His cost to power ratio remained an issue, and we'll discuss why later.

Umezawa's Jitte
When you have the ability to do just about anything from gaining life to pumping creatures through a simple artifact, you know you're in good shape. Jitte is a fantastic card that works wonders in combat. You're more apt to force an opponent into contemplating their next move (and subsequently causing errors) than they would normally be used to doing once a creature equipped with Jitte goes to combat. Very effective.

Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk is the heart and soul of this deck. For what he is able to do, he can get just about anything going. Being able to get creatures and untap lands to cast more spells is critical when you consider how important it is to overwhelm an opponent. He can hit play realistically as early as turn two. If he does, that could be the game-breaker. Use your E.S.G.'s to protect him off the hard-cast to counter-act Daze. This could potentially leave your opponent with one mana less in play and you being able to go nuts.

Wickerbough Elder
The more and more I play this creature, the more and more I want more. Unless an opponent has an absurd amount of land in play to cast and activate both Pernicious Deed or Vedalkan Shackles, you have essentially created a serious problem where an opponent now has to wait until it is absolutely necessary to cast either of those spells. In addition to that, he wrecks Counterbalance single-handedly. At four to cast, he is a little harder to counter. Once becoming a 4/4, he can stand toe-to-toe with just about every other relevant creature in the format and win. If a situation ever arose where you absolutely, positively needed to remove one of your own artifacts from play, he can do that too.

Progenitus
The ultimate win condition with Natural Order. Once he hits play, the game is generally over.

Wasteland
A very useful land capable of shutting down an opponent's ability to cast key spells. Under Trinisphere, this can often flat-out win you the game. It kills Factories and Mutavaults; a definite plus.

Pendelhaven
The one card in definite question. Is it necessary to include this with so few 1/1's? And even then, two of them? What happened here was I found myself wanting to draw more off Selkie because I actually played Selkie in the deck. In my newest version (which I'll post later), he is now defunct - and so is this land which completely opens me up to Waste and Moon hate.

Dryad Arbor
The only one in the deck proved to be important when I needed it most, and not so important when I was lower on land. I think the trade-off is worth it and a singleton to supplement Natural Order would continue to work just fine.

Choke
It beats out Tsunami because an opponent may recover from Tsunami quicker than you think. This is also very easily cast-able within the first two turns. Once it hits play, it forces an opponent to weigh their options very early in the bout.

Snakeform
With green's inability to generate spot-removal, I found this to be a nice touch that even cantrips. It kills just about everything relevant in the format when you have blockers on the table. Green doesn't have many flyers, so being able to stop Tombstalker is good as well. It also shrinks opposing Goyfs, making yours live and plucking a card to boot.

Tormod's Crypt
A lot of people would argue for Relic of Progenitus over Tormod's Crypt. I, personally, would like to keep my Goyfs at a relatively good power and toughness, thank you very much. At zero cost, I think it is still the best graveyard hate ever printed.

Sword of Fire and Ice
After what happened with this card this past weekend, it would be hard to argue against its usefulness in such a critical situation. I can't say enough about how this card rocks against decks incapable to handle it once it goes active. It is devastating and it really can turn the tides and win you games. It also provides card advantage to ridiculous levels and intercepts cards like Humility.

How the Deck Plays
I'd really like to point out how smoothly Mono Green Chalice Aggro plays out. There was rarely a time I didn't like my opening hand because of the acceleration factor.

Applying pressure early with Trinisphere or Chalice can keep an opponent off his or her heels. If you have either of these artifacts out, chances are you've slowed your opponent down some enough where you can begin establishing your own threats like River Boa and Tarmogoyf before Garruk hits the table.



Natural Order is where the power lies. If you can get this spell off (and you'd be surprised how often you do), you have an excellent chance of winning the game. Progenitus is next to impossible to kill.

Use your Jitte counters to full-effectiveness. Know when it is necessary to remove them and for what. You have some evasive creatures like River Boa, so take advantage of that whenever you can. The deck plays pretty straight-forward. Just play to the state of the game and know what to play when you're either on the play or drawing first.

What Makes Mono Green Chalice Aggro Worth Playing?



This deck has an uncanny capability of being able to get a good match against just about every competitive deck in the format. Unlike decks like Dragon Stompy, Mono Green Chalice Aggro has the ability to put a 10/10 Protection from Everything into play without the ridiculous amount of card disadvantage and fragile mana base these other decks are susceptible to.



Keep in mind, you have the ability to do a lot of things with this deck without having to over-extend your hand. The sideboard is generally wide open because of the answers main-deck (cards like Wickerbough Elder). You can: Stand toe-to-toe with the best aggro, wreck and hose Control, Chalice and life-gain off Jitte against Mountains and opposing Forests, punk Plains and Swamps by shutting down cards like Swords, Path, Enlightened Tutor, Figure of Destiny, Orim's Chant, Duress, Thoughtseize, Dark Ritual, etc. Chalice by itself effectively shuts down these cards without having to do any additional work. Pretty darn effective.



I highly recommend this deck to anyone who really enjoys playing aggro-control variants. I would be hesitant to say the deck is in its infancy due to the copious amounts of previous decks listed in the older forums on the board. This current version was battle-tested and tweaked to fit the minimum standards necessary to combat every viable deck in the format. It has an answer to almost everything, which makes it so multilateral. There are cards like Tarmogoyf and Wasteland which are essentially universal in the nature of Legacy.

With some more work, this deck will truly wreak havoc as it did in Binghamton this past weekend. It disposed of some of the most prolific decks currently in the format, including: Ichorid, T.E.S., Merfolk, and Counter-Top. By getting it over that hump, I hope I've convinced at least some people that this archetype was just waiting for the right time to explode onto the scene, and I capitalized on the opportunity.

Now let's make this work, together.

**Note: More to come, including: Match-up Analysis and Breakdown, Mulligan Strategy, and New and Alternate Card Choices.