I call this deck Wrigley Field because it is a Monument to the Cubs.
This custom brew started as a mono-green deck with the intent of abusing the combo of Greenbelt Rampager + Longtusk Cub + Rhonas's Monument
. With those three cards assembled, you can simply pay and cast Greenbelt Rampager twice which will net you , and 2 activations of Rhonas's Monument for +4/+4 and trample. Target Longtusk Cub with the Monument triggers, eat the with the same Cub, and our little kitten is now +5/+5 and trample (and the +1/+1 counter stays). You can repeat this loop as many times as you'd like, since the Greenbelt Rampager will never stick to the battlefield. Aether Hub and Servant of the Conduit work nicely with this combo to provide critical mana fixing as well as an additional sink to the Elephant's energy generation.
I then added Lifecrafter's Bestiary, since you can activate its second ability each and every time you cast the Elephant (hooray green card draw!). Then came the best friend of +1/+1 counters and symbol:enery, Winding Constrictor. Since I had planned on at least splashing a second color thanks to the Servant and Hub, adding black wouldn't be a problem. This also gives me access to Fatal Push and many sideboard options.
For the rest of the deck, most of what I was looking to add in the remaining slots still sees a lot of play in BG Constrictor decks, so that gave me a lot of options. I liked some of the BG Explore decks, but with the Cub and Elephant this deck really wants to focus on energy in spite of the recent loss of Attune with Aether. So welcome Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Walking Ballista, and Verdurous Gearhulk.
In the end, you can either look at this deck as a BG constrictor watered down with my Monument package, or a mono-green Monument deck with a splash of black. Either way, it's done really well in my gold-fishing for quickly putting large threats on the board, mana consistency, and card advantage.
I haven't fixed the sideboard yet, so for now I have a list of all the spells I am considering. I'll have to take the deck to a few Standard Showdowns and FNM's to see what is shaking out at my LGS. I anticipate the biggest threats (in general, not just to this deck) are going to be Hazoret the Fervent, The Scarab God, Glorybringer, and possibly God-Pharaoh's Gift. Token and tribal flood decks will also probably pop up their heads as well.
Here are a few of the decks I used for ideas, especially in the sideboard:
- SCG - Team Constructed Open - Dallas, 2nd place: Andres Campion
- SCG - Team Constructed Open - Dallas, (17-32) place: Robert Vaughan
- SCG - Team Constructed Open - Dallas, (17-32) place: Forrest Welling
- MTGO Competitive Standard League, 2018-01-18, 1st place: nathansteuer
- MTGO Competitive Standard League, 2018-01-18, 3rd place: Searzist
- MTGO Competitive Standard League, 2019-01-22, 1st place: CNewman
- MTGO Competitive Standard League, 2019-01-23, 2nd place: RiffMaxx
- MTGO Competitive Standard League, 2019-01-23, 4th place: ThePotatoKid
