The Name of the Game
The name of the deck comes from this trope , but long story short, the Iron Buttmonkey is someone who just. Won't. Die. Like, well, most of this deck. The deck is based around resilient, aggressive creatures with a late-game midrange stance. Without further ado, here's the breakdown.
The Buttmonkeys
Young Wolf and
Blisterpod
get the ball rolling, followed by Strangleroot Geist and Kitchen Finks. These guys are all value-- when they die, you get another body. In half of those cases, the body is bigger to boot.
But, to get the most value out of these guys, we're playing Evolutionary Leap. We can get our guys out of a bad block, dodge Path to Exile, and dig for threats on the other player's end step. Life's Legacy is less versatile, but provides more value.
Honorary mention to Experiment One, who doesn't play nice with Evolutionary Leap of Life's Legacy but can still be hard to get rid of. Bonus points for using +1/+1 counters, which are an important theme of the deck.
Monkey See, Monkey Do
Because 12 of the creatures discussed so far deal in +1/+1 counters, we're going to make the most of it, primarily through Hardened Scales and Avatar of the Resolute. Hardened Scales makes Undying and Evolve much more profitable,and buffs our determined Avatar as well.
Bioshift also interacts nicely with our +1/+1 counters theme, giving an Undying creature or Kitchen Finks an extra life, giving Experiment One enough counters to regenerate, taking counters from Expy One to let it evolve, or spreading the love so that Avatar of the Resolute enters with more counters. Hardened Scales will even increase the number of counters placed on the second target.
Non-Mokey-Related Stunts
Aether Vial
speeds up the clock, allowing us to play creatures beyond the limitations of our mana on the early turns.
Aspect of Hydra
is a must in any mono-Green aggro deck. With so many double-devotion creatures, you'll more often than not be squeezing four or more damage out of that one-mana instant.
Finally, Kessig Wolf Run grants inevitability, providing a mana-sink and granting evasion. In my opinion, it's worth splashing Red for, even if we aren't using Lightning Bolt.
