Liquimetal Coating + Splinter combo was always a bit fragile, as you had no way to recover if the coatings were removed/extracted. However, after seeing the last line of
Karn, the Great Creator
's wish ability, I decided to give it a dry run for this past FNM. The Meta at my FNM tends to be several flavors of control (Teferi, Delver, Rock, Faeries), more than a couple Storm players, and some form of burn-y/beat-y types in between. Minus the games where my opponent combo-ed off early or spread the board with dudes I could not deal with, I really had a blast (zone) with a deck I made as an aside the night before.
Yes, I saw the "Mono-Red Prison" deck that seems eerily similar to this one. That was after the fact. I went a match against essentially that deck, minus the Karns/Coatings. Here's why I like Green better:
~All removal doubles as enchantment/artifact removal : Stony Silence would pose a problem for the red version
~Rec Sages become "Get Rekt" Sages, or Ravenous Chupacabras
~Playing Green control is novel and unexpected; That's my jam.
Deck functions exceptionally well (better than I expected). Turn-2 Karn that wished for just the right thing happened almost 3 times in a 5-round night of games: two times, it happened, the last time it was Spell Pierced. Areas where I want to improve it deal with wide-board aggro and being able to selectively draw/tutor the right cards at the right time (instants/sorceries).
I tend to side out the Beacon along with a copy of Noxious/Blessing. The Stags are a personal choice. With the meta I face, they have won me games by themselves just by being elusive beaters.
Open to all manner of crazy suggestions and experimentation. For now, I would like to try and keep it Mono-green.