With every new draft format, I always find some color combination that I just force myself into. With Odyssey, it was White/Blue soldiers taking as many Daru Stingers as possible; in Mirrodin, it was Affinity just like everyone else; in Kamigawa Block it was Red/White samurais, and in Ravnica I used to think it was the Boros Guild. However, throughout my many drafts on Magic Online, I have discovered that the Selesnya Guild is so much better. The Boros Guild has almost no late game, while the Selesnya Guild has pump effects and cards that are meant to break the stalemate. I do think that Boros Guild decks have potential to be more insane, but I have never had a bad deck drafting White/Green in this format. It’s is also a lot safer to draft because if your first couple of picks are green, you can always opt into Green/Black or Green/White splashing Black or Red, but you can’t really legitimately splash anything if your main colors are Red and White.
Green/White has traditionally been looked down upon in other draft formats — partially because of its inability to deal with large creatures and pingers, but mainly due to its inability to finish games. But that has all changed now because of one card:
I take this first pick over everything including Galvanic Arc, Golgari Rotwurm, and even Last Gasp. There’s no better common for Green/White. It doesn’t disrupt your mana at all in the early game and it powers up convoke. It also works very well with cards like Wojek Siren and Elvish Skysweeper. The Green/White mirror match is all about whoever gets more Evangels or whoever Faith’s Fetters their opponents Evangel. There are so many good White and Green commons in this set that it makes rating the top ten commons very hard — but anyway, here are my pick orders for the commons, uncommons, and rares of the Selesnya Guild.
The Commons:
1. Selesnya Evangel:
Like I said before, this guy can win a game by itself. It has so much synergy with all of the other cards in Green/White that you cannot afford to pass it at anytime during the draft. If you can back it up with a Gather Courage on turn 2 to save it from Galvanic Arc or Last Gasp, you should be able to win easily. Passing this card is probably going to force someone to the left of you into Green/White, which is the last thing you want.
2. Faith’s Fetters:
This one actually comes pretty close to the Evangel in power level. It stops so many cards that you can’t deal with, like opposing Evangels, any of the Guildmages, regenerators, Viashino Fangtail, Stinkweed Imp, Vedalken Entrancer, Thundersong Trumpeter, and usually Golgari Rotwurm. Take it high, because you don’t see these late.
3. Fists of Ironwood:
This and Scatter are very close. You normally can’t play this on turn 2 because you need a one-drop, which there are not many of. However, two mana for two tokens basically gives you two guys and two mana because of convoke, and there are cards that work really well with Fists, like Auratouched Mage and Dousing Shaman.
4. Scatter the Seeds:
Scatter can possibly be lower on the list if you don’t have as many guys to convoke out. Getting three tokens for five mana doesn’t seem that great, but the real power of the card is that it is an instant so it can serve as a trick as well. I usually find myself Scattering on turn 3, then convoking out a Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi or Siege Wurm on turn 4. If your opponent looks like they are flooded and plays nothing on turn 4 or 5, they usually have this — so don’t attack Trumpeters into it.
5. Veteran Armorer:
This is so much better in Green/White than it is in Red/White because of the number of tokens you can generate. Four 1/2s are a lot harder to deal with than four 1/1s – and also, because you are Green/White, you are short on tricks so anything that can pump your creatures is a major plus. It is even a 2/2 for two to boot, which is always playable. This is very important to get in Green/White-on-Green/White (or Red/White) matchups.
6. Siege Wurm:
Was Myr Enforcer good in Affinity? Yeah, well, this is the exact same thing. In the early game, you have token generators that make it so you can usually play this around turn 5. If you can back it up with cards like Seeds of Strength or Gaze of the Gorgon, it’s going to be hard for you to lose.
7. Conclave Equenaut:
Basically the same way Siege Wurm acts as Myr Enforcer, this acts the same way that Somber Hoverguard did. Decks like Green/Black cannot deal with this (aside from their black removal spells, of course) because they have literally zero flyers.
8. Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi:
This costs a bit too much for what it does, but if you can get a quick draw with multiple Scatter the Seeds or Fists of Ironwood, he can become a major problem for your opponent. Setting up an early Guardian will put you in a good position in the Green/White, Green Black, and Red/White matchups.
9. Gather Courage:
The only reason I like this card so much is because it saves your Evangel on turn 2 from Galvanic Arc and Last Gasp. Yes, Evangel is that important to your deck. It’s a fine trick in the late game also, because weaker opponents will generally play right into it. Stronger opponents will also usually play around it even when you are tapped out, so just having one in your deck can change they way your opponent has to play the game.
10. Griffin and Siren
I’m going to give the final spot to a couple of cards. Screeching Griffin is a four-mana 2/2 flyer, which is never a bad thing to have. It doesn’t really fit in Green/White, but it’s still good.
Wojek Siren can also be insane in this deck, but it all depends on the number of token generators you can draft. Seeds of Strength will always make the cut, but I like Wojek Siren over it because of the number of tokens generators you end up getting.
The Uncommons:
1. Selesnya Guildmage:
The best possible card you can have besides Glare of Subdual or maybe Tolsimir Wolfsblood. I don’t even need to explain why this is so good. It even adds a Green or White mana when convoking out monsters!
2. Moldervine Cloak:
All of your creatures are generally small, so having an enchantment that cannot be killed that gives any guy +3/+3 for three mana will usually win you the game. This card is good enough to splash in any deck.
3. Bathe in Light:
This card is so underrated. I get them all the time on Magic Online fourth to sixth pick, and there aren’t many cards I would take over it. It can save a guy from a removal spell, kills creature enchantments your opponent controls, and, combined with a card like Wojek Siren, can easily end the game in one turn.
4. Trophy Hunter:
He shines against Blue/Black and can straight-up win you the game against a flyer-heavy draw from a White opponent. He also deals with Stinkweed Imp very well, which is a major problem for Green/White normally.
5. Overwhelm:
Whenever I see this card I take it, and then just take as many token generators as possible after that. It usually wins you the game when you cast it and combined with Bathe in Light that just AIS. In a game at Worlds, I drew about four creatures and nothing else. My opponent all in’d to put me at one, and then I just won by casting it and attacking with my four guys.
Other cards that deserve mention would be Sandsower and Watchwolf. Sandsower is insane with all of the token generators you can draft in Green/White. Watchwolf is obviously good, being a 3/3 for two, although sometimes it is hard to cast on turn 2 because drawing both a forest and a plains is sooooooo hard for me to do.
The Rares:
1. Glare of Subdual:
It wins games by itself. I don’t even know what to say aside from, “Don’t pass it.” Oh yeah and open it in the third pack in Green/White like I did at Worlds.
2. Tolsimir Wolfblood:
A lot of your guys will get +2+2 from this, especially the free 4/4 that you get the turn after you cast it. Another great card when combined with tokens.
3. Ursapine:
If your opponent has no removal for it, they will be losing very shortly.
4. Loxodon Gatekeeper:
This is probably the most underrated rare in the set. I said it in my Boros article, too. In the early game your opponent is set back by at least two turns because they cannot cast their spells because their lands come into play tapped… And then they cannot block your creatures when they eventually get to cast creatures themselves.
Some other rares are worth mentioning: Twilight Drover can become insane in decks with many ways to get tokens. Hour of Reckoning is insane for obvious reasons, especially in Green/White. Loxodon Hierarch is not as good as Baloth was in draft, but it is still obviously a bomb.
Some Tips On Playing The Deck
If you play a turn 2 Evangel and a turn 3 two-drop with a mana up, make the token main phase so you can convoke Gather Courage in case they have Arc or Last Gasp for Evangel.
Treat Evangel like it’s your life, because it is the best card in your deck. Don’t let it die, and don’t ever pass it during the draft.
Get Siege Wurm into play fast as possible. It is so hard to deal with if you can back it up with anything.
Blue/Black is usually a bad matchup because you can’t kill them faster than they can deck you. Suppression Field is a bomb in this matchup, however, because they usually can’t activate Entrancer and play a spell in the same turn – so if you see Field in the draft, take it over rare drafting.
Don’t go Green/White if you are in front or behind me.
Next up is my Worlds article, where I draft a good example of a Green/White deck, which led me to 3-0 my pod.
Thanks for reading,
The Cak