Green is one of the three colors I rarely play on its own. So, most of the green cards I've collected over the years have been outstanding support cards like Regrowth and Sylvan Library.
That's not going to cut it.
My objective is to build a representative cube for Commander deckbuilding, and that means I need enough green cards to build a good, mono-colored deck with a strong theme, but with enough range to play nicely with the other colors.
Let's take a look at the green cards I recently added to the cube:
Garuuk's Horde
A 7/7 with trample for 7 mana seems fine, but that's not why this guy is here. I'm going for green having a "play from the top of the library" theme in this cube, but I still need to pick up a few more cards. For now, Garuuk's Horde is bringing his buddies to the party. Playing creatures off the top is a great, green-theme way to get ahead on the board.
Tranquil Thicket
This land is here to complete the cycle, one for each color. Although I hate lands that come into play tapped, I like to think of the lands in this cycle as a card that replaces itself for one mana that can played as a land in a pinch. These lands are also great with Life from the Loam.
Increasing Savagery
It's sorcery speed, but giving a 5 power and 5 toughness boost for 4 mana is fun. Plus, it gives the boost in the form of +1/+1 counters, so there are lots of ways to interact with that. The flashback is what makes this card worth running, though. It plays nicely with self-mill strategies or anything that cares about lots of power (double strike, Xenagos, Greater Good).
Soul of the Harvest
Harvester of Souls has a green brother. Green needs ways to draw cards that are in-theme. This guy does that, with a not-too-shabby 6/6 trample for 6 mana body to boot. Drawing cards for doing the thing I was going to do anyway? Don't mind if I do.
Wolfbriar Elemental
A 4/4 for 4 mana is fine and all, but check out the multikicker on this guy. In lots of games, this guy will show up to the party with at least 4 of his 2/2 wolf buddies in tow. There are lots of ways to pump creatures / tokens, especially with white. But even without that, putting this guy out there with a few wolf tokens can give you an army on demand.
Bow of Nylea
It's a toolbox. Lots of options with this work with lots of other strategies in the cube. It's also nice that it gives all of your creatures deathtouch. Tokens will like this, as will strategies that revolve around adding counters.
Ant Queen
Flooding the board with tokens is what this creature is all about. This has nice synergy with any of the token strategies in the cube, or works just fine at pumping out blockers to mess with combat math.
Rampaging Baloths
Another 6/6 trampler for 6 mana, but this time with a token-producing landfall trigger. Getting free creatures for something I was going to do anyway is a great deal. Besides, green is pretty darn good at putting additional lands into play.
Terastodon
It's a huge creature with an in-theme green way to blow stuff up. I like it!
Mold Shambler
For 4 mana, you get a 3/3. Not great, but fine in a pinch. For an additional 2 mana, you can kick this guy to blow something up. I like the flexibility and it's a in-theme green way to handle pesky permanents.
Oran-Rief Recluse
I'm on the fence about this guy, but he's in for now because I want some spiders in green (check!) and he is an in-theme green way to destroy a flyer (check!). There seems to be no end of juicy targets for this guy to prey upon, but paying 6 mana to get there seems steep, even though it leaves a little spider behind.
Spawnwrithe
This guy can be utterly out of control in the right situation. He has to be killed right away, or a couple of turns later the board will be swarmed. Hey, they don't always have spot removal or a sweeper in hand to take care of the problem. This guy punishes that situation. It's fun to watch them squirm as they try to topdeck removal.
Wall of Roots
What we have here is a defensive ramp creature near the bottom of the curve. Especially in the early game or after a board wipe, having a blocker may buy you some time. This one happens to bump your mana up, too.
Spike Feeder
Options. I do love options. This guy can block and gain you life. He can screw up combat math by moving counters around. If you have a way to put counters on him, there are all kinds of fun things you can do with that. He plays nicely with lots of strategies.
Hermit Druid
If you play this guy fair and square, you get to rip basic lands from your library for only one green mana. That's a good deal. But, that's not what this guy is here for. Milling yourself can set up all kinds of interesting plays, supporting almost every color. Using Replenish to put all your enchantments into play can be a nasty move. Spells with flashback create lots of options. Life from the Loam is a potent draw engine that can be turned on with this guy. The list goes on.
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