Root Maze Parfait

This deck is a dirty monster. I haven't tested it yet but it goldfishes like a champ.

The deck is all-in mana denial boasting 28 main deck mana denial slots. There is zero removal. We're depending on not allowing the opponent to cast spells by aggressively dropping mana-denial-dorks and closing out the game fast with quick heavy beats.

The key is to take advantage of Root Maze by not running fetchlands ourselves all the while punishing opponents who do. This strategy seemingly should be good in a UR Delver meta.

If we don't get a first-turn Root Maze we have Elvish Spirit Guide which can power out a turn one Leonin Arbiter and/or Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. Both of which as you probably already know are insane with Root Maze. ESG also helps us power through our own Root Maze by allowing us to cast Root Maze and a mana-dork on turn one.

With mana-dorks, we can easily establish a turn two Trinisphere, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Sanctum Prelate, and/or Anointed Peacekeeper. Turns three, four, and/or five we have the nails in the coffin with Armageddon.

Steel Leaf Champion is probably the flex slot however his usual drawback of ggg is not a drawback here and he can close out games fast with the backup of a little mana denial. As far as big beat-sticks go I think he is the best option by far. Tarmogoyf in theory shouldn't get too big if our deck is working correctly. My thoughts are to run SLC in the main-deck and side him out based on game-one information.

There are a bunch of other synergies that pop up such as Anointed Peacekeeper giving you information for Sanctum Prelate, Noble Hierarch buffing dudes, Peacekeeper's vigilance, SLC's evasion, ESG is an extra body late game, etc..

Everything synergizes very well together and there isn't much in the way of nombos.

I'm thinking that the sideboard should be running some form of removal in the vein of Skyclave Apparition, Karakas, Cathar Commando and STP.

Other cards come to mind such as Winter Orb and Suppression Field but I'm not that impressed versus cards that do similar things but also have legs and a body to close out the game.

Here's the deck:

Root Maze Parfait:

Beatz / Denial: 23
4x Steel Leaf Champion
4x Anointed Peacekeeper
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Sanctum Prelate
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

More Mana Denial:
4x Root Maze
3x Trinisphere
2x Armageddon

Ramp: 12
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Elvish Spirit Guide

Land:
4x Savannah
4x Brushland
4x Razorverge Thicket
4x Temple Garden

Sideboard:
???

EDIT: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is really really good when almost every card in the deck is a creature.

I wouldn’t call this parfait since it’s missing any hallmarks of it. It feels more like maverick with different parts.

Cool idea.

Horizon Canopy seems better than Brushland.

It's a shame you can't run Land Grant, because that would work well with the no-fetch all-dual strategy, instead of playing Tier 3 duals. Land Grant is still good on Turn 1 but bad later with Leonin Arbiter, so maybe that's why you aren't playing it? The usual suspects like Green Sun's Zenith and Elvish Reclaimer don't work for the same reason.

I think Trinisphere is awkward in a deck that tops out at 3 and runs no sol lands. You can't abuse the asymmetry like most 3sphere decks. Maybe Thorn of Amethyst (Thalia 5-8) or Sphere of Resistance would be better.

Playing 0 removal is risky. Even if you have the ESG, what if you lose the die roll? They get to resolve threats before any mana denial is online. T1 OTP Dragon's Rage Channeler or T1 FoW your lock piece T2 Murktide/other threat could sneak under. Solitude seems strong. It lets you regain tempo through all the mana denial and isn't slowed down by Thalia/Thorn. Maybe March of Otherworldly Light and Force of Vigor in the SB too. Pitch removal seems strong for you, letting you trade cards for tempo if they snuck out an early board presence.

Endurance is very strong in any green deck. If you don't have multiple maindeck, there should be 3-4 in the SB.

Sylvan Library seems good too.

I don't know about Geddon. You don't have a recovery plan to break the symmetry like Geddon decks do (Flagstones, Crucible, Cosmic Intervention). What about Wasteland?

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Originally Posted by Weapon X

I wouldn’t call this parfait since it’s missing any hallmarks of it. It feels more like maverick with different parts.

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Oh that's too funny. I meant to call this deck Root Maze Taxes but had just been reading the Parfait thread and just randomly typed what was fresh in my mind.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Cool idea.

Horizon Canopy seems better than Brushland.

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Yes, Horizon Canopy should be here. Good call.

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Originally Posted by FTW

It's a shame you can't run Land Grant, because that would work well with the no-fetch all-dual strategy, instead of playing Tier 3 duals. Land Grant is still good on Turn 1 but bad later with Leonin Arbiter, so maybe that's why you aren't playing it? The usual suspects like Green Sun's Zenith and Elvish Reclaimer don't work for the same reason.

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Yes, that's exactly why I opted not to play tutors. If you happen to remember my old Winter Maze deck I did explore a tutor route with GSZ and Natural Order. But yeah, I feel like Cat Jesus is too strong with Root Maze to run cards that tutor.

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Originally Posted by FTW

I think Trinisphere is awkward in a deck that tops out at 3 and runs no sol lands. You can't abuse the asymmetry like most 3sphere decks. Maybe Thorn of Amethyst (Thalia 5-8) or Sphere of Resistance would be better.

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I've ran Sphere of Resistance in the past in other decks and I really don't like it outside of decks like Lands. Thorn is much better. I do like Trinisphere though. With mana dorks it can be dropped turn 2 and most of the cards in the deck are already 3 drops so it doesn't punish me much. The only drawback with Trinisphere in my opinion is that it taps to Root Maze the turn it comes into play, but other than that it's really good.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Playing 0 removal is risky. Even if you have the ESG, what if you lose the die roll? They get to resolve threats before any mana denial is online. T1 OTP Dragon's Rage Channeler or T1 FoW your lock piece T2 Murktide/other threat could sneak under. Solitude seems strong. It lets you regain tempo through all the mana denial and isn't slowed down by Thalia/Thorn. Maybe March of Otherworldly Light and Force of Vigor in the SB too. Pitch removal seems strong for you, letting you trade cards for tempo if they snuck out an early board presence.

Endurance is very strong in any green deck. If you don't have multiple maindeck, there should be 3-4 in the SB.

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I agree and I like your style. Solitude / Endurance seems not shitty at all. Probably best in the SLC slot.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Sylvan Library seems good too.

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I'm not sold on Sylvan Library. Seems like I don't want to be dropping anything that doesn't follow the "attack the mana" game plan. Theoretically I should drop prison dudes the first few turns and close out the game with beats.

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Originally Posted by FTW

I don't know about Geddon. You don't have a recovery plan to break the symmetry like Geddon decks do (Flagstones, Crucible, Cosmic Intervention). What about Wasteland?

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I don't like Wasteland with Root Maze. It's too slow to set up and at the cost of a land drop it has poor tempo.

I do like Geddon though. Although there's no Flagstones or Crucible recovery plan I do have the mana dorks plan and they stick around after Armageddon is cast. So really, that's my recovery plan however, the real plan with Geddon is to close out the game by having bigger/better/heavier beats like the ol' Vintage Ernhamgeddon decks.

Some of my inspiration comes from ErnhamGeddon but some of it also comes from the old Vintage Nether Void decks that just dropped big cheap fatties into play then slapped down a Nether Void to lock out the opponent and secure the win.

I'm going to test this deck out with the following tweaks.

-1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
-3x Trinisphere

+4x Thorn of Amethyst

-4x Brushland

+4x Horizon Canopy

I'm going to keep the Steel Leaf Champions in. The thought is that they can close out the game in 4 turns if not checked, the evasion is nice. I can always side them out game two for Solitude or Skyclave Apparition.

Thorn of Amethyst seems really good. It's probably better than Trinisphere here, especially since I'm running 34 creatures and only 10 non-creature spells.

New list:

Root Maze Taxes: 60

Creatures: 34
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Anointed Peacekeeper
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Sanctum Prelate
4x Steel Leaf Champion
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Birds of Paradise

Non-Creatures: 10
4x Root Maze
4x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Armageddon

Land: 16
4x Savannah
4x Horizon Canopy
4x Razorverge Thicket
4x Temple Garden

Sideboard: 15
3x Choke
2x Collector Ouphe
3x Solitude
2x Skyclave Apparition
3x Endurance
2x Cathar Commando

The sideboard needs more suggestions for sure, but I think this is a good start.

Deafening Silence if you already play so many dorks?

Have you tested some MUs or have an idea what bad MUs are?

Containment Priest could be help vs S&T if that's a problem.

How does Amulet of Vigor interact with Root Maze?

I like Thorn much better here. You can play it on turn 1 and it doesn't tax you. 3sphere is turn 2-3 and taxes half your cards. The good 3sphere decks can consistently play it Turn 1 (Mox + Dark Rit + Sol Land in Curses, Mox + SSG + Sol land in Moon Stompy). Thorn seems a better fit.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

Sideboard:
2x Cathar Commando

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I would make that 3 Force of Vigor.

Consider the opponent playing things like Turn 1 Blood Moon OTP, Turn 1 Trinisphere OTP, or a well-timed Back to Basics. Your manabase can get blown out by 1 card, so the SB disenchant should cost 0 mana.

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Originally Posted by Zoid

Deafening Silence if you already play so many dorks?

Have you tested some MUs or have an idea what bad MUs are?

Containment Priest could be help vs S&T if that's a problem.

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Deafening Silence maybe in the sideboard for the combo match-ups but it seems like we're already fairly good against most of those. Root Maze and or Thalia/Amethyst should, in theory, limit most combo decks from going off.

Not sure about the match-ups yet. I'm mostly focusing on stopping Izzet Delver since according to MTG-Top-8 UR Delver is 16% of the meta.

In theory I would think Show & Tell should already be a decent match-up, same with Reanimator. I'm running a lot of combo hate already, but if it ends up becoming a problem maybe it would be a good addition.

Thanks for the suggestions!

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Originally Posted by Purple Blood

How does Amulet of Vigor interact with Root Maze?

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I don't think that Amulet interacts with enough of the deck to validate it's inclusion. If it interacted with 30-50% of the deck then I might consider it, but really it only interacts with Root Maze.

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Originally Posted by FTW

I like Thorn much better here. You can play it on turn 1 and it doesn't tax you. 3sphere is turn 2-3 and taxes half your cards. The good 3sphere decks can consistently play it Turn 1 (Mox + Dark Rit + Sol Land in Curses, Mox + SSG + Sol land in Moon Stompy). Thorn seems a better fit.

I would make that 3 Force of Vigor.

Consider the opponent playing things like Turn 1 Blood Moon OTP, Turn 1 Trinisphere OTP, or a well-timed Back to Basics. Your manabase can get blown out by 1 card, so the SB disenchant should cost 0 mana.

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Good points!

I was goldfishing with Amethyst in the 3ball slots and it was much less awkward, plus easier to put into play. Everything you mentioned about it, including that it can be dropped turn one makes more sense. 8 Thalias seems really good.

Force of Vigor is perfect. Great suggestion!

Every single one of your lands produces W mana. How often are you relying on Birds of Paradise for W mana? It goes against my finer feelings to say this, but if you don’t need Birds of Paradise for the W mana, then Ignoble Hierarch lets you hit the opponent harder.

Edit: Never mind, just run 8 copies of Birds of Paradise, I’m sure the judge will understand.

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Originally Posted by Zoid

Deafening Silence if you already play so many dorks?

Have you tested some MUs or have an idea what bad MUs are?

Containment Priest could be help vs S&T if that's a problem.

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On second thought you might be right with Containment Priest. Maybe main deck and in the Thalia Cathar slot. I freaking hate playing online, but I did play two games yesterday. Game one was against Burn and I smashed my opponent.

Game two however, I played against a Lands variant that was running Minsc & Boo. I went first but my turn one wasn't great. The opponent slapped down Mox Diamonds then Minsc & Boo, which slapped me around for a couple turns, then he plopped out Marit Lage and I scooped.

My thoughts are that Containment Priest would have been nice against both M&B and Marit Lage. Also, Mox Diamonds are not nice. Maybe, I should consider squeezing in a couple Collector Ouphes as well. Perhaps cut a couple Thorn of Amethyst?

Also, Winter Orb for the Lands match up seems not shitty. Plus, it is incredibly strong with Root Maze in play.

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Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise

Every single one of your lands produces W mana. How often are you relying on Birds of Paradise for W mana? It goes against my finer feelings to say this, but if you don’t need Birds of Paradise for the W mana, then Ignoble Hierarch lets you hit the opponent harder.

Edit: Never mind, just run 8 copies of Birds of Paradise, I’m sure the judge will understand.

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That actually seems like a good idea. I'd still have 20 sources of white mana counting Nobles. If that doesn't turn out to be enough maybe I could do a 50/50 split between Bop and Ignobles.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

Game two however, I played against a Lands variant that was running Minsc & Boo. I went first but my turn one wasn't great. The opponent slapped down Mox Diamonds then Minsc & Boo, which slapped me around for a couple turns, then he plopped out Marit Lage and I scooped.

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Don't take that too personally. Lands is a nightmare matchup for Spheres.dec, since they don't cast many spells and play more lands than any other deck. Sometimes they have their own SB spheres too. Geddon helps, but you have to turn off Loam first (i.e. remove Mox Diamond, remove graveyard, or keep them off new green sources). At this stage of development, you should feel comfortable expecting to lose that match and focus on other ones. If you bend over backwards trying to fix one bad match now, you won't even get to see how the concept does against other decks.

How did it do in other games?

Winter Orb does seem strong. Edit: Also Suppression Field.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

My thoughts are that Containment Priest would have been nice against both M&B and Marit Lage.

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Containment Priest says "nontoken". It does not help with either M&B or Marit Lage. Priest is for things like Show and Tell, Reanimate and Aether Vial.

Removal like Solitude/March of Otherworldly Light/Swords to Plowshares would help against threats like M&B or Marit Lage.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

That actually seems like a good idea. I'd still have 20 sources of white mana counting Nobles. If that doesn't turn out to be enough maybe I could do a 50/50 split between Bop and Ignobles.

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If you're cutting back on white sources, I would first think about replacing some duals with Boseiju, Who Endures before turning Birds into Ignoble. Boseiju is uncounterable removal and plays well with Leonin Arbiter and legendary Thalias.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Don't take that too personally. Lands is a nightmare matchup for Spheres.dec, since they don't cast many spells and play more lands than any other deck. Sometimes they have their own SB spheres too. Geddon helps, but you have to turn off Loam first (i.e. remove Mox Diamond, remove graveyard, or keep them off new green sources). At this stage of development, you should feel comfortable expecting to lose that match and focus on other ones. If you bend over backwards trying to fix one bad match now, you won't even get to see how the concept does against other decks.

How did it do in other games?

Winter Orb does seem strong. Edit: Also Suppression Field.




Containment Priest says "nontoken". It does not help with either M&B or Marit Lage. Priest is for things like Show and Tell, Reanimate and Aether Vial.

Removal like Solitude/March of Otherworldly Light/Swords to Plowshares would help against threats like M&B or Marit Lage.



If you're cutting back on white sources, I would first think about replacing some duals with Boseiju, Who Endures before turning Birds into Ignoble. Boseiju is uncounterable removal and plays well with Leonin Arbiter and legendary Thalias.

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Very good advice! Thank you.

I won't be testing online, but I should be playing a proxy version in paper next week against a friend of mine. I hate playing online. I will let you know how it holds up. We pretty much have the entire gauntlet to test against so thats good. Lands sucked but other match ups seem like they should be often favorable. Sanctum Prelate on it's own wrecks half the decks out there. Not to mention Thalia and/or Root Maze against greedy mana bases.

Winter Orb seems really good on it's own against Lands and I know already that it is good in conjunction with Root Maze. The only draw back is that the turn it comes into play it gets turned off due to Root Mazes ability. After the first turn though they are monsterous together! Can't remember the name but there is a 2/2 white creature at 2WW that is essentially a walking Winter Orb. I'm wondering, since creatures aren't 'turned off' by Root Mazes ability (like Winter Orb is) maybe he'd be a good fit, and if so, maybe he should be in the Armageddon slots main deck.

How did I not think of Boseiju? Yes, 1-2 main deck would be good.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

Can't remember the name but there is a 2/2 white creature at 2WW that is essentially a walking Winter Orb.

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Probably Hokori, Dust Drinker?

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Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise

don’t need Birds of Paradise

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Never thought I would see the day.

What about Aether Vial instead? Since you have so many creatures? It plays well with Winter Orb and does not mind being ETB tapped with Root Maze.

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Originally Posted by snugar_i

Probably Hokori, Dust Drinker?

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Yes, that it is. Thank you! I think Armageddon is still probably better but I like it's synergy with creatures that tax and especially with Root Maze. All by itself it's a bad Winter Orb, but it doesn't get "shut off" to Root Maze the turn it comes into play and you do get a 2/2 body to attack with. He's also good with mana dorks on the table. Plus at 4 mana it could fit into the Armageddon slot. Still I think Geddon probably better.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Never thought I would see the day.

What about Aether Vial instead? Since you have so many creatures? It plays well with Winter Orb and does not mind being ETB tapped with Root Maze.

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Not sure why I didn't think about that. I still think I like it better with the BoPs because of the tempo. There's some advantages such as uncounterable dudes etc.. but if the opponent wants throw away two cards to FoW one of my guys I'm not super disappointed. And it would come at the loss of tempo as there wouldn't be any more turn 2 Peacekeepers, Prelates, and Champions.

I'm not against testing it out though. What's the general consensus on this?

Should Skyclave Apparition or Endurance be in the Steel Leaf Champions slot?

New list to test, just a couple of changes:

Main deck:

-2 Temple Garden
+2 Boseiju, Who Endures

Sideboard:

-2 Cathar Commando
+2 Force of Vigor



Root Maze Taxes 1.5: 60

Creatures: 34
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Anointed Peacekeeper
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Sanctum Prelate
4x Steel Leaf Champion
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Birds of Paradise

Non-Creatures: 10
4x Root Maze
4x Thorn of Amethyst
2x Armageddon

Land: 16
4x Savannah
4x Horizon Canopy
4x Razorverge Thicket
2x Temple Garden
2x Boseiju, Who Endures

Sideboard: 15
3x Choke
2x Collector Ouphe
3x Solitude
2x Skyclave Apparition
3x Endurance
2x Force of Vigor

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

Not sure why I didn't think about that. I still think I like it better with the BoPs because of the tempo. There's some advantages such as uncounterable dudes etc.. but if the opponent wants throw away two cards to FoW one of my guys I'm not super disappointed. And it would come at the loss of tempo as there wouldn't be any more turn 2 Peacekeepers, Prelates, and Champions.

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Fair point. Birds is better tempo for powering out turn 2 threats. I guess green creature decks usually play mana dorks and no Vials. Birds also pitches to FoV and Endurance, so it's less bad as a topdeck.

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Originally Posted by Laser Brains

Should Skyclave Apparition or Endurance be in the Steel Leaf Champions slot?

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Probably. As cute as Steel Leaf Champion is, Endurance and Skyclave are both proven Tier 1 cards. They also answer things your maindeck can't otherwise answer.

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Originally Posted by FTW

Probably. As cute as Steel Leaf Champion is, Endurance and Skyclave are both proven Tier 1 cards. They also answer things your maindeck can't otherwise answer.

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I think you're right. I'm really liking Endurance in this slot for stopping Delvers, stalling Murktide and being a sizable body. He's also good against a bunch of other decks too. He's probably the correct dude here.

I've been looking more closely at the latest builds for Tier 1 green decks these days.

GW Depths
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 4 Crop Rotation, 4 Knight of the Reliquary
In 75: 3 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

GreenPost
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 4 Crop Rotation, 4 Once Upon A Time, 2-3 Expedition Map
In 75: 4 Endurance, 4 Force of Vigor

Elves
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 3 Once Upon A Time, 4 Fiend Artisan
In 75: 4 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

In the lower tiers there's Maverick
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Knight of the Reliquary, maybe Once Upon A Time
In 75: 3 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

Whether maindeck or SB, you have to be on 3-4 Endurance. SB Force of Vigor too.

Tutors are the way most green decks go. They reduce variance and open up powerful toolbox answers to problems, letting green have a chance without Brainstorm. If you're not on that plan, you need powerful hate for it to stop opponents' consistency engines. 4x Leonin Arbiter is good. You may want to boost that with 4 Suppression Field too (more tutor & fetch hate). Suppression Field will also slow down Depths and M&B.

Edit: Maybe that looks more like this


//Lands: 16
4 Savannah
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Horizon Canopy
2 Temple Garden
2 Boseiju, Who Endures

//Other Mana: 12
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Noble Hierarch

//Prison: 24
4 Root Maze
4 Suppression Field
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Sanctum Prelate

//Other Creatures: 8
4 Endurance
4 Skyclave Apparition

//Sideboard: 15
3 Solitude
3 Force of Vigor
2 Collector Ouphe
2 Containment Priest
2 Armageddon
3 Spirit of the Labyrinth


Turned Birds/Ignoble into Mox to get more turn 1 prison pieces. Suppression Field seems much more flexible than Peacekeeper. Cut back on 3-mana "you can't cast noncreature spells" (Prelate, Peacekeeper) to make room for more interactive 3-drops (Endurance, Skyclave). This assumes opponent has done relevant things in the early turns and you need to interact with those things more than slow down cards in hand. It also frees up SB space for more interaction.

Edit2: Needs a real finisher.
Maybe -1 mana -1 Skyclave +2 Shifting Ceratops? Questing Beast? Something else?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FTW

I've been looking more closely at the latest builds for Tier 1 green decks these days.

GW Depths
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 4 Crop Rotation, 4 Knight of the Reliquary
In 75: 3 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

GreenPost
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 4 Crop Rotation, 4 Once Upon A Time, 2-3 Expedition Map
In 75: 4 Endurance, 4 Force of Vigor

Elves
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, 3 Once Upon A Time, 4 Fiend Artisan
In 75: 4 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

In the lower tiers there's Maverick
Tutors: 4 Green Sun's Zenith, 4 Knight of the Reliquary, maybe Once Upon A Time
In 75: 3 Endurance, 2 Force of Vigor

Whether maindeck or SB, you have to be on 3-4 Endurance. SB Force of Vigor too.

Tutors are the way most green decks go. They reduce variance and open up powerful toolbox answers to problems, letting green have a chance without Brainstorm. If you're not on that plan, you need powerful hate for it to stop opponents' consistency engines. 4x Leonin Arbiter is good. You may want to boost that with 4 Suppression Field too (more tutor & fetch hate). Suppression Field will also slow down Depths and M&B.

Edit: Maybe that looks more like this


//Lands: 16
4 Savannah
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Horizon Canopy
2 Temple Garden
2 Boseiju, Who Endures

//Other Mana: 12
4 Chrome Mox
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Noble Hierarch

//Prison: 24
4 Root Maze
4 Suppression Field
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Sanctum Prelate

//Other Creatures: 8
4 Endurance
4 Skyclave Apparition

//Sideboard: 15
3 Solitude
3 Force of Vigor
2 Collector Ouphe
2 Containment Priest
2 Armageddon
3 Spirit of the Labyrinth


Turned Birds/Ignoble into Mox to get more turn 1 prison pieces. Suppression Field seems much more flexible than Peacekeeper. Cut back on 3-mana "you can't cast noncreature spells" (Prelate, Peacekeeper) to make room for more interactive 3-drops (Endurance, Skyclave). This assumes opponent has done relevant things in the early turns and you need to interact with those things more than slow down cards in hand. It also frees up SB space for more interaction.

Edit2: Needs a real finisher.
Maybe -1 mana -1 Skyclave +2 Shifting Ceratops? Questing Beast? Something else?

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Your list is looking tight! I've always really liked Suppression Field with Root Maze. I'm thinking your list is looking a bit better than mine. Leonin Arbiter with Root Maze plus Suppression Field is dirty. If I can get a day off of work I'll test it or at least something very close. Keep ya posted. If you get a chance to test it please post here.

EDIT: Only had the time for short reply. Here's the rest.

I'm liking your list. As I posted above, I'm really liking the Suppression Fields. No Armageddon seems good. If anyone has looked at my decks they can see I'm stuck in the ol' Vintage days. Sometimes that can be good though and can break the mindset of a lot of newer players, especially players that port over from Modern. Old tricks do work sometimes and old deck building styles can still pull some weight.

That being said, I'm sure you're right about cutting the Champions and Geddons for better creatures Apparitions/Endurance and Suppression Fields. Mox Chrome originally I wanted to play here. Aside from the card disadvantage, I didn't like how it doesn't plays under Root Maze and Trinisphere but now that Trinisphere is gone it only has bad synergy with Root Maze.

Now that 3ball is gone there's 4x Leonin, 4x Thalia, 4x Amethyst and 4x Suppression Field, 16 two drops, to draw with Mox opening hand. That's great! I think this deck can go a long way.

I do feel that the flex slot here is Thalia, Heretic Cathar. She's good but not that good if Root Maze is already in play. I'm thinking maybe -2 Cathar +2 Sanctum Prelate. Prelate shuts down a lot of cards, especially one drops which this deck barely has at all. It shuts off Plows, Bolts, Vials, Brainstorms, Rituals, Ponders, Reclaimers, Reanimate, Crop Rotations, Thoughtseize, Entomb, etc..