Coldstone: Continuing MDV’s look into Magic 2010 (M10), Sir Streetz and I are going to be bringing you some opinions and impressions on M10 cards from the wacky color full of big things and bears with runes on them. At a quick glance it appears that Green was given some extremely flavorful cards this time around, a variety of excellent reprints, and some interestingly designed replacements. Lets get right into that new stuff now, shall we?

Streetz: Wow! Sir Streetz! Thanks, Coldstone. I don't know that I'm deserving of Sir quite yet as I thought that was reserved for old people and royalty. At the moment, I'm neither.

Before we get into all of the new cards, I wanted to mention just a few of the reprints in M10 Green that I'm personally happy to see in the set. Included in my favorites are Garruk Wildspeaker, Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Overrun, Giant Growth, and Giant Spider. For the two aforementioned Giant spells (Spider and Growth), I'm excited mostly because they are still Core Set Survivors.

Core Set Survivors are cards that have been in every Core Set since the very beginning (Alpha/Beta). They have survived the many changes, goal shifts, color pie modifications, and R&D mindsets since the beginning of Magic. That's quite a feat, if you ask me. There were 16 Core Set Survivors prior to M10.

Now there are only eight survivors left. Remaining Core Set Survivors include: Air Elemental, Bog Wraith, Drudge Skeletons, Giant Growth, Giant Spider, Howling Mine, Nightmare, and Rod of Ruin. Cards eliminated as of M10 from the Core Set Survivors include: Fear, Goblin King, Grizzly Bears, Orcish Artillery, Regeneration, Samite Healer, Scathe Zombies, and Wrath of God.

With that little informational tid-bit out of the way, I think this introduction is coming to an end. Coldstone, you can start!

Acidic Slime 3GG
Creature - Ooze
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can divide this creature's combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or blocked by it.)
When Acidic Slime enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact, enchantment, or land.
2/2

Coldstone: A
Well, we start off with nice little bugger now don't we? Five mana for a Creeping Mold on a stick? Yes sir, I will take it. Deathtouch is just a nice little add-on to boot. Having two power also makes this Reveillark-able, so until that guy rotates, I would expect to see this making some play in that deck build too. This is a nice addition to the Green family.

Streetz: A+
Every time I go to a tournament I always attempt to play a land destruction deck. Thanks to this amazingly efficient creature, I will be attempting one again! Question is: Green-Red... or Green-Black? I already have a decklist posted in the MDV Tournament Decklists Forum. Check it out and offer your opinions!

Ant Queen 3GG
Creature - Insect
{1}{G}: Put a 1/1 Green Insect creature token onto the battlefield.
5/5

Streetz: A
I'm not sure if I would play this over Verdant Force in my casual token swarm deck, but this is still a great card. Being able to maximize your mana usage every round and generate lots of 1/1 tokens is a great thing. Especially when there are a million and one ways to boost their power and toughness, thanks to the various Lieges in Standard. Outside of Standard, you have Kaysa, Muraganda Petroglyphs, and Gaea's Anthem, just to name a few. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any Insect boosters in Magic's arsenal. I hope they make one soon. *evil grin*

Coldstone: B
To be honest, when I first read this I thought "Eh", but after some time (and playtesting) with it, she's actually not too bad. The whole 5-5-5 deal is also very nice, and being able to spurt out chump-blockers makes it that much nicer. As far as playability goes, if Ant Queen DOES manage to get into the Standard environment, I'd bet on some sort of ramp deck taking her on a test run. I don't have to say that she's not too shabby in Limited either.

Awakener Druid 2G
Creature - Human Druid
When Awakener Druid enters the battlefield, target Forest becomes a 4/5 Green Treefolk creature for as long as Awakener Druid is on the battlefield. It's still a land.
1/1

Coldstone: C+
I like effects such as these, but they're always tricky to really take advantage of for any length of time. I think if this had two toughness, I could have given it a B, as it wouldn't die to pinger effects. I think you can take a bit more advantage of this in Standard, since you can give Mr. Druid here more protection, and even the animated Forest has a very relevant creature type for another few months. In Limited, as I said, this dies very easily to ping effects, so you'll have to exercise caution.

Streetz: B+
I say play it and love it! Who cares about taking caution when playing this, when you can be attacking with a 4/5 the same turn this comes into play? Coldstone is right about this being very fragile, but even Royal Assassin is fragile. Find another way to protect it if you need to, or go on the offensive with your own removal to rid your opponent of pingers.

Borderland Ranger 2G
Creature - Human Scout
When Borderland Ranger enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.
2/2

Streetz: B-
I'll always choose some of the older land searching "comes into play" creatures over this, but on the plus side it has excellent new art and flavor. Mana fixing and “land confirmation” (where you ensure your land drops for current and future turns) are good things and always will be. Thus I can't give this a bad grade. Still, nothing tops Yavimaya Elder - my all-time favorite.

Coldstone: C+
Eh... I think all of us recognize Civic Wayfinder here, the difference being the lack of a relevant creature type and the major upgrade in artwork. Mana-fixing will, nine times out of ten, be picked somewhat highly in Limited, so he accomplishes that job well. For Constructed however, I think the deck slot filled by Borderland Ranger's predecessor will not be taken up by this fellow.

Bountiful Harvest 4G
Sorcery
You gain 1 life for each land you control.

Coldstone: C
Life gain in Limited is always tricky to debate over, and even more so with this card. Five mana is a wee bit steep, but at the most you're getting five life from this (barring you pulling out some crazy mana-acceleration tricks), so I suppose if you really had to, you could pull this out of your Limited sideboard for some late game help. Constructed just passes, in favor of much cheaper (and quicker) spells that do the same thing.

Streetz: F
Filler. Waste of cardboard. Almost the worst Green life gain card ever. Can you tell I don't like this card? It may be really good after you have ten lands, but I'd rather just play Stream of Life over this card any day. Coldstone is right that this might be marginally useful in Limited, but I wouldn't put this in any of my casual decks. Ever. Even pauper...

Bramble Creeper 4G
Creature - Elemental
Whenever Bramble Creeper attacks, it gets +5/+0 until end of turn.
0/3

Coldstone: D+
If this creature wasn't so terrible on defense, I'd have upgraded this score a little bit. +5/+0 is nice and all, but five mana is a bit expensive for that, especially if you have to attack with something that has no base power in the first place. If this was the same for defense too, then we'd have something here. Not awful, but really nothing special either.

Streetz: F+
The name, flavor and art are great, and this card makes sense. However, it's still a bad card. It's useful only in Limited to fill a needed creature slot. Might be useful in a Bramble theme deck...

Centaur Courser 2G
Creature - Centaur Warrior
Rules Text:
3/3

Coldstone: C
This isn't bad, I suppose. Decent stats compared to its casting cost, so he fills your three-drop slot nicely, should you need to have something there. In Constructed, you pass in favor of.... um... well, better, non-vanilla things.

Streetz: C
Muraganda Petroglypghs... That's all I have to say on this one.

Cudgel Troll 2GG
Creature - Troll
{G}: Regenerate Cudgel Troll. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)
4/3

Streetz: A+
Skyshroud Troll and Albino Troll were two of my favorite regenerating creatures that helped to shape my love for the color Green. This guy is a much better Skyshroud Troll so it's no surprise I would grade this an A+. Excellent stats combined with a easy to activate Regeneration ability equals a fantastic Uncommon card in my book!

Coldstone: A
This guy is an absolute star in Limited. Drop him turn four, and your opponent basically has to kill him that next turn, or REALLY be stumped as to how the crap to get rid of it. Great aggro creature, here.
In Constructed, I've been back and forth a few times as to where he can see some play. I think he will, honestly, it's just a matter of who wants to test him out. So look forward to seeing many Trolls trying to beat you over the head with cudgels over the next few months.

Deadly Recluse 1G
Creature - Spider
Reach (This creature can block creatures with flying.)
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can divide this creature's combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or blocked by it.)
1/2

Coldstone: C
Ah Spiders. A man's uh... weird best friend. The Spider series of creatures have always been pretty decent in Limited, and this guy's pretty cheap and effective (especially with a Magebane Armor on it - don't ask me how that happened). (I bet you played and equipped a Magebane Armor on a Deadly Recluse. - Ye Olde Editor) Sadly, Spiders very rarely see any Constructed play, and I think the Recluse here will follow the line.

Streetz: A+
Maybe I'm being crazy here, but I LOVE this card. Deathtouch and Reach for only two mana? This is much better outside of Limited than you think, Coldstone. Let's think beyond Constructed and Limited and think "the kitchen table." I'll be running this card a lot. And it's only Common! Pauper is going to love this card.

Elvish Archdruid 1GG
Creature - Elf Druid
Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1.
{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool for each Elf you control.
2/2

Streetz: A+
All this is missing is "Cannot be targeted by spells controlled by your opponents..."

Coldstone: A
I had to read this several times to make sure I was seeing it correctly. Elvish Champion and Priest of Titania were good cards by themselves, but why not combine them both into one creature? If anyone reading this has had a chance to play against the current Elfball lists (like this one), you'll know how crazy this guy is in there. It warrants a removal spell almost instantly, really. It's a little tough to use in Limited, given how there are fewer Elves there, but most times you're going to use this there anyway. Expect this to make some waves at least until October.

Emerald Oryx 3G
Creature - Antelope
Forestwalk (This creature is unblockable as long as defending player controls a Forest.)
2/3

Coldstone: C
Eh, more Limited fodder here. A bit costly, but he at least has a good landwalk type. If you really need guys at this slot, I suppose you can give him a whirl, but otherwise you can just pass. If you're running more than 40-cards, then absolutely pass.

Streetz: C
With all of the elegant power/toughness to mana cost going on, I'm surprised this isn't a 4/4 for four. Though I jest. This isn't a good card. Nor is it a bad card. It's one of those filler Limited cards that has really has beautiful art. Good job, Mr. Bader! And thank you, Wizards, for another Antelope!

Entangling Vines 3G
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant tapped creature
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.

Streetz: C-
Another card designed just for Limited purposes. Also, this isn't my favorite Baxa art of all time, but it's fitting and uses an interesting perspective.

Coldstone: C+
This thing has saved many a game for me in Limited. "Eliminates" your opponent's biggest, non-shrouded threat. Also a very nice flavor card, given its artwork. For all non-Limited players, you're probably just going to want to destroy the thing outright, so you can pass over this for sure.

Great Sable Stag 1GG
Creature - Elk
Great Sable Stag can't be countered.
Protection from blue and from Black (This creature can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or Black.)
3/3

Coldstone: A
Wow. Talk about a beatstick. I think this guy's probably up there in the "Best Anti-Control" cards category. Faeries decks absolutely despise this thing, as they have virtually ZERO ways to get rid of it, short of tapping it down with Cryptic Commands. Giving it protection from two very relevant colors is also very nice. It's very vulnerable to Red, but given what this does, I suppose that's a small price to pay. Great for all formats.

Streetz: A+
Here we see a more elegant mana cost to power/toughness ratio. It's a 3/3 for three with three abilities. I like this, even though it fits the category of anti-control creatures on crack. I was also lucky to obtain eight of them in all of my M10 pack opening. i would have rather opened four of these and more of the dual lands, but I can't complain.

Kalonian Behemoth 5GG
Creature - Beast
Shroud (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
9/9

Streetz: D
Despite this being terribly efficient for it's mana cost, it's just a big beatstick that can be chump blocked all day and can't even be targeted by your own Rancor, equipment, and similar spells. I'd rather play a number of other seven mana spells in Green over this.

Coldstone: C+
He's big... wow. Really really big. Having shroud makes it nearly impossible to get rid of, short of blocking with an army full of creatures. I've seen this wreak havoc at Limited tables, thanks to its enormous size and shroudy-ness. If a competitive Naya Behemoths deck ever takes shape, I'd expect this guy to get a little bit of play. Otherwise, he'll just remain a nice little Limited bomb. And did I mention he's really, really big?

Lurking Predators 4GG
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card, put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, you may put that card on the bottom of your library.

Coldstone: D+
I really really wanted to like this. I really did. The effect and everything is absolutely perfect, but the cost of this is just high enough to really make it too cumbersome to play easily. Maybe in Limited, where there's fewer counters and lightning-quick aggro builds, but even then I might be wary of it. It's sad to have to pass on this, but for now, I think Lurking will be sitting in the trading books.

Streetz: B-
Putting creatures into play for free? What's not to love?! I agree with you Coldstone in that the mana cost can be daunting, but just think about the dangerous stuff you can do with a little bit of Library Manipulation.

Master of the Wild Hunt 2GG
Creature - Human Shaman
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 2/2 Green Wolf creature token onto the battlefield.
{T}: Tap all untapped Wolf creatures you control. Each Wolf tapped this way deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power divided as its controller chooses among any number of those Wolves.
3/3

Streetz: A-
I love the design and concept of the card. Not only is it extremely flavorful, but you you can sick them on one of your opponent's fliers! Wait a minute. Everything else on the card was flavorful, except for that little bit about sicking your Wolves after an opponent's flier. How does that work?

Coldstone: B+
Well, I've been thinking about how to classify this little number. Free token producers are usually a nice hit, even more so if it can help remove other things from the board for free. I think the problem is going to be the same one that Sarkhan Vol faced when he came out: What deck can I go in? For Constructed matters, I think we'll just have to wait and see where he goes. In Limited, he's a very nice bomb to have.

Mist Leopard 3G
Creature - Cat
Shroud (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
3/2

Coldstone: C+
This guy is very annoying in Limited. Most times you'll have to just commit a blocker to him that you didn't really want to. 4-mana is a smidge steep, but giving him Shroud makes up for a little of the slack. If you need another beater, go ahead and use him. For Constructed, you have too many other choices that are twice as effective, so you don't have to worry about using him there.

Streetz: C
Coldstone, I agree with everything you said. This is just one of the cards that makes Limited fun and challenging. But for my Casual kitchen table, I'll pass on this.

Mold Adder G
Creature - Fungus Snake
Whenever an opponent casts a blue or Black spell, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Mold Adder.
1/1

Streetz: B
The Snake tribe has come a long way since it's first, the Naf's Asp. This one is a perfect turn one drop and especially painful against your control players. Combine with a hammer, sledge and/or cloak and go to town!

Coldstone: B
Quirion Dryad's little uh... pet I should probably say. It's a bit limited to the colors that put counters on it, but then again those colors are played pretty often. For Limited, he'll probably come in more after sideboarding, as it's much tougher to call what colors you'll be encountering. I'd also call him better as a sideboard card in Constructed decks. Boarding him in along with the Great Stable Stag will put a nice bit of pressure on those winged Fae people (as if they didn't have enough already now), should you encounter them. All in all, a decent "grow" creature.

Nature's Spiral 1G
Sorcery
Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. (A permanent card is an artifact, creature, enchantment, land, or planeswalker card.)

Coldstone: B
I actually like this. It’s a bit more narrow than cards like Naya Charm and Recollect, but not every ‘regrowth’ variant can be efficiently versatile. I figure most times you'll be using this to bounce back a creature card anyhow. If your Limited deck can support it, I don't see why you wouldn't want to give this a go. I'd have to really take a guess as to what Standard deck would be playing a few copies of this. Perhaps Elfball, should it feel so inclined.

Streetz: A
My favorite target? Acidic Slime. Second Favorite: Garruk Wildspeaker!

Oakenform 2G
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+3.

Streetz: D
I'll play Moldervine Cloak over this any day. Not only does the Cloak have Dredge, but it has much better artwork too.

Coldstone: C+
Creature pump enchants are usually dangerous to run, as that potential two for one always looms over your head. But Oakenform still isn't bad. It's not heavily costed, so you're not always going to be stuck, should a shortage of mana happen to you. You avoid it for Constructed of course, but it's very nice to have for an aggro Limited pool.

Prized Unicorn 3G
Creature - Unicorn
All creatures able to block Prized Unicorn do so.
2/2

Coldstone: C
Ah, the games I've seen won on the back of Taunting Elf... Well, this is certainly not Taunting Elf, but kinda works as its relative. A wee bit expensive cost wise, but can definitely can be game-breaking should it stick around long enough for an alpha strike, tying up all your opponent's blockers for ya. I doubt this will make the transition into Standard decks, given how vulnerable it'll be to all the burn getting tossed around lately, but it can definitely be worth the attempt in Limited.

Streetz: D
It's great for Limited. But I would play Taunting Elf over this every time. Unless, of course, I was building a Unicorn theme deck. I am excited that they gave us a new Unicorn. Zebra Unicorn is no longer the only Green Unicorn in existence. Let's rejoice! *furrows brow*

Protean Hydra XG
Creature - Hydra
Protean Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it.
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is removed from Protean Hydra, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the next end step.
0/0

Streetz: C-
Ah! It's the Phytohydra complex! I'm a little mad that this is a Mythic, but the X in its mana cost makes up for that, I guess. Fatal Attraction seems fun on this. So does Doubling Season.

Coldstone: C+
I'm unsure of what to make of this guy. I liked Feral Hydra, since it could continually grow based on the amount of mana you wanted to feed to it. Protean's upside is that he combats burn and small creatures somewhat well, should you be able to make him a decent size (I think a 4/4 or better). The downside is that with all the "destroy" and "exile" effects in Standard, ramp decks will be hard pressed to make him stick around for too long.
Not the same for Limited of course, as you can probably make him work a lot longer there than other places.

Regenerate 1G
Instant
Regenerate target creature. (The next time that creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)

Coldstone: C-
Eh, pretty boring, here. You'll use this whenever you need to save a critical blocker/attacker for another turn. Constructed decks will just plain not care about it.

Streetz: D
Great Limited trick. Otherwise, not a good card. I'm a little shocked this doesn't cost one Green mana instead of 1G.

Runeclaw Bear 1G
Creature - Bear
Rules Text:
2/2

Streetz: F
Meh. Stop killing the CORE Set Survivors.

Coldstone: C
Okay, if you're NOT going to reprint the old favorite Grizzly Bears, don't just do it anyways but give it a different name/artwork (even though said artwork is pretty awesome). Boo to you Wizards, boo to you.

That being said, what else can I really say about Grizz - I mean Runeclaw here? 2/2 for two mana. Works great as a two-drop for Limited, as they always have.

Stampeding Rhino 4G
Creature - Rhino
Trample (If this creature would deal enough damage to its blockers to destroy them, you may have it deal the rest of its damage to defending player or planeswalker.)
4/4

Coldstone: C+
I've liked big guys with trample, as they do bad things to people in Limited. Mr. Rhino here is no exception. I think he's one of the three or four guys with Trample in the entire set, actually. Five mana for a 4/4 trampler suits me just fine, so if I can run it, I'm doin' it.
Constructed... eh, I think I can find some cheaper guys with Trample.

Streetz: C
I like the fact that I get another creature for my Rhino Tribal deck. And this will go well along side Crash of Rhinos. Interesting and yet completely useless fact: of the 17 Rhinos in Magic, there are only three Rhinos with toughness higher than four: Ebony Rhino, Rhox, and Rockcaster Platoon.

Windstorm XG
Instant
Windstorm deals X damage to each creature with flying.

Streetz: B
It's an instant Hurricane without the player pain. I would usually choose Hurricane over this, because Hurricane can actually win you the game by dealing the last few points of life. However, this card gives you flexibility, if you just want to be aggressive against a heavy-flying decklist and not kill yourself in the process.

Coldstone: C
Well, it's not quite the impact card its brother Hurricane was, but I think I'll take this anyway.
There's not a whole lot to say about this. It's cheap, effective, and Uncommon. It's usage will of course be based on the amount of fliers you're going to see (in either Limited OR Constructed), though not being able to ding the opponent to the dome is kind of a downer.

Coldstone: That'll wrap up all of the newly printed cards for Green. Overall, Green is not too shabby. I think there is definitely some cards here that will be used quite heavily in the near and distant future. Go ahead and tear into it at your leisure.

As a little extra bonus, I've got some stuff to keep an eye on for a few of the top reprints in Green's neighbor color and battle rival, White:

1) Ajani Goldmane - One of the bigger reprints, I think. Keeping him around ensures mono-White aggro's will see play over the course of this Standard format, at least until Lorwyn megablock rotates in October.

2) Celestial Purge - This doesn't affect Green a WHOLE lot, but as Greeb oftens partners with Red or balck in the multicolor spells used in some aggro builds, you might have to keep a watchful eye on it.

3) Righteousness - This didn't get a whole lot of play back when it was a rare, and I'm still just a tad unsure if it will now, but given all the aggro in the format these days, I can't say I'd be shocked to see it come in against some aggro mirrors.

4) White Knight - Again, this doesn't affect Green quite as much as it would Black, but don't forget how Green is still paired up as a part of some big multicolor aggro creatures. White Knight os a nifty little guy that should take up Knight of Meadowgrain's slot after its rotation.

5) Soul Warden - Both Green and White gain life, though Green has since lost its counterpart to this chick (Green had Essence Warden). Life gain always loves to counteract the ferocious actions aggro likes to perform, and I've seen multiple copies of these annoy aggro players to no end.

Well, that wraps up everything here for Streetz and Coldstone. Until Zendikar, folks!

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
Find other articles by Coldstone here.
Find other articles by Streetz here.
Find other articles from this series here.

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