Green + Card Advantage = DEATH

Hello world! As we have come quite accustomed to by now, each color on the pie have inherant strengths and weakness. For example, blue has great card advantage, but it lacks the raw power to go over the top. Red has efficient spells, but lacks strength the longer the games go on. Green is mono-dudes, which lends itself to a whole array of issues, like that there Day of Judgement. One of the reasons I like enemy-colored decks is because what each color lacks, you can usually find on the other side of the wheel, so the colors capitilize on their inherent strengths to create an ideal deck (read: Eventide is crazy!). Right now, the current Standard mana screams ally colors only, as the only enemy colored "duals" are Zen fetches, compared the the 12 good dual lands, and the 4 additional Refuge duals in case you are casting all triple colored spells.

So I want to make an epic G/x deck, but the mana isn't solid enough for GB or GU (note: my GB infect deck is mono-black splashing green for Garruk, Putrafax, and Gigantiform. Updated list will be at the end). So now we have to choose between GW and GR. Before we get into splash colors, let me talk about why I am so set on having a G/x deck:

Vengevine
Fauna Shaman
Garruk Wildspeaker
Thrun, the Last Troll
Green Sun's Zenith
Lead the Stampede

Yeah, you know the cuteness that is Vengevine + Fauna Shaman, and we already saw Thrun for all his epicness, and Green Sun's Zenith makes the deck even more consistant, but what is this Lead the Stampede?

Yes, that basically reads: 2G draw 3-5 cards. One of the problems with Vengevine is that you need 2 creatures to activate, and green doesn't have any card draw to allow multiple recursions. However, with Lead the Stampede, we can get our Veggies right back in no time! Right now, the only deck that Vengevine is played in is GW/Bant Quest, so I'm going to start by looking at White:

Squadran Hawk
Stoneforge Mytic + Living Weapon (not creature spells, but more pressure = more fun)
Kor Skyfisher
Mirran Crusader
Hero of Bladehold

I think Quest is far too inconsistant of a decent plan for your deck to use as a win condition, so I am going to cut Glint Hawk, Ornithopter, and Memnite for now, although Memnite may make it back in if we have some extra slots. Here's a sample list:

4x Vengevine
4x Fauna Shaman
3x Thrun, the Last Troll
4x Kor Skyfisher
4x Squadran Hawk
4x Mirran Crusader
4x Hero of Bladehold

3x Garruk Wildspeaker
4x Lead the Stampede
2x Journey to Nowhere

4x Razorverge Thicket
3x Stirring Wildwood
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Tectonic Edge
5x Plains
4x Forest

With 27 guys in the deck, that means 45% of our deck is dudes. In terms of Lead the Stampede, that's 2.25 creatures per use. Even though we will only get 2 cards in hand, which makes this more Divination than anything else, we do also get to ship lands we don't need to the bottom. In addition to Lead the Stampede, we have good ol' Squadran Hawk and Kor Skyfisher to bring bak Vengevine all by themselves. This curves out at 4, although it is pretty heavy up top. Here is the curve:

1 - 0
2 - 14
3 - 8
4 - 14

Obviously this is a completely untested deck, but I like all the 4 drops, so maybe adding Birds of Paradise can make the deck curve out faster. Even without Vengevine online, the other 4 drops in this deck are all scary. Basically this deck is all threats, all the time. Day of Judgement obviously hurts, but here is where we get even more card advantage: Vengevine comes back as always, and Thrun never dies, so they can Day, and we can just keep on entering the Red Zone.

On the flip side of the coin, we have GR, which I feel will be a much more aggressive version of the deck, although it will not make as great use of Vengevine without the fliers. Here are some red cards for the deck:

Goblin Wardriver
Goblin Guide
Goblin Bushwacker
Goblin Shortcutter
Lightning Bolt

I was on the fence about listing the Shortcutter, but his ETB ability can be such a blowout if a control deck hopes their Wall of Omens/Sea Gate Oracle will buy them enough time to start dropping Titans. Imagine T3: Shortcutter, Guide, bring back Vengevine, attack for 6? Now I don't know how the Vengevine got into the bin, but work with me here, this is Magical Christmasland! Here is a list:

4x Goblin Guide
4x Goblin Bushwacker
4x Goblin Wardriver
4x Fauna Shaman
4x Vengevine
3x Thrun
4x Goblin Shortcutter

4x Lead the Stampede
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Burst Lightning

4x Copperline Gorge
4x Rootboung Crag
4x Raging Ravine
2x Tectonic Edge
5x Mountain
4x Forest

This version has a much lower curve which looks like this (Bushwacker is considered a 2-drop)

1 - 10
2 - 16
3 - 4
4 - 7

Becausse this version has a much tougher chance at coming back after Day of Judgement, it is less preferable. However, if aggro takes over, this is the faster of the 2 options, so I feel it would be preferred. But that is something that I will have to look into in the coming weeks.

Random notes:
For the Knights deck: a reprint of Leonin Skyhunter has been confirmed, which is a 2/2 flying Knight for WW. Definitely an auto-include (and the new art looks almost exactly the same as the original)

Current Infect deck I am running:

4x Plague Myr
4x Plague Stinger
4x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Putrafax
3x Skittles
4x Phyrexian Vatmother

3x Garruk
2x Gigantiform
2x Contagion Clasp
3x Doom Blade
3x Inquisition of Kozelik

4x Verdant Catacombs
3x Terramorphic Expanse
11x Swamp
6x Forest

Right as I am about to sign off, the midnight threshold was passed, so I might as well talk about the new spoilers for a moment. In Flores's article, he previewed a land that is going strait in as a 4-of into the infect deck about 4 lines up ^^. That card is so sick! Now we have an infect manland! The Knowledge Pool is nutty and crazy, so I have no idea what to say about it, akthough playing Doom Blade in response to a crazy spell and pulling out Mana Leak sounds very fun!

Until next time, stay clasy!