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In Context: Green-Red in Mirrodin

Since Onslaught, we have learning something about drafting synergistic decks with the advent of tribal. This is what makes us take a bad elf over a good card. Pros have been making draft decisions based on synergies for years. The best drafters in the world go into a draft saying,”Maybe X card is the best card in the pack, but is it the best card for my deck?”

Mirrodin takes this concept to a whole new level. We have to be extra alert to synergistic cards because sometimes they are disguised as cards of another color. For instance, many people would say Wizard Replica is a fairly Blue card due to its activation cost, even thought it is an artifact. I would argue to say that Wizard Replica is better in a Red-Green deck than it is in a Blue deck! Just to have the very rare ability of flying in a Red-Green deck can have a monumental impact of how well-rounded the deck is. While you might think that Tel-Jilad Archers is the only guy in the line-up that can halt a Skyhunter Patrol, I say what about the Wizard Replica?

When drafting Mirrodin one thing has become frighteningly clear to me. The old system of saying”I drafted (insert two colors)” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Telling you that I drafted Green-Red barely means anything. It means that I probably had some Green cards and some Red cards, but the draft decks of today are composed mostly of the peanut-buttery goodness in-between those two colored slices of bread. It is the little combos, the off color artifacts, the synergy of the cards in the deck.


Since Onslaught, we have learning something about drafting synergistic decks with the advent of tribal. This is what makes us take a bad elf over a good card. Pros have been making draft decisions based on synergies for years. The best drafters in the world go into a draft saying,”Maybe X card is the best card in the pack, but is it the best card for my deck?”


Mirrodin takes this concept to a whole new level. We have to be extra alert to synergistic cards because sometimes they are disguised as cards of another color. For instance, many people would say Wizard Replica is a fairly Blue card due to its activation cost, even thought it is an artifact. I would argue to say that Wizard Replica is better in a Red-Green deck than it is in a Blue deck! Just to have the very rare ability of flying in a Red-Green deck can have a monumental impact of how well-rounded the deck is. While you might think that Tel-Jilad Archers is the only guy in the line-up that can halt a Skyhunter Patrol, I say what about the Wizard Replica?


In this article I will be talking about draft order picks like you have seen in so many other articles, but I will be talking about the order of picks in context of the archetype, hence the name of the article.


I wanted to talk about Green-Red in particular because it is widely accepted as one of the most powerful archetypes, even to the extent that it has been called”what you want to be.” However, after doing several drafts I am convinced that this powerful archetype is actually underdrafted (the Green part, anyhow). I am not sure why, but lots of people are steering clear of Green in favor of Blue or White. I have seen more third-pick Fangren Hunters than I would like to believe possible. The nice thing about Green-Red is that even if it is being overdrafted, the archetype is still so powerful that you will often end up with a good deck regardless.


Green-Red should have this little mantra to help people draft it:


Tempo – Fatties – Removal!


The important things to remember when drafting Green-Red is that you want a lot of Mana accelerators, up to five Myr/Joiner/Talisman. If you have a lot of these, you can get away with playing less land, as little as fifteen. Ideally you want to accelerate up to five mana by turn four, play out a fatty, and stop drawing mana when your reach six or seven lands. You only want Equipment with big effects, like Bonesplitter and Vulshok Gauntlets. These will be great to pop onto your Myr later in the game.


The name of the game is non-artifact attacking monsters. The only big artifact attacker in the deck should be either Myr Enforcer or Hematite Golem. Your monsters of choice are Fangren Hunter, One-Dozen Eyes, Vulshok Berserkers, Ogre Leadfoot, and sometimes Tel-Jilad Archers. Many people think the key to this archetype is Tel-Jilad Chosen – this is false. Mirrodin is the format of 1/3… it is a format where all 2/1’s will falter, even if they are able to swing through many of the 1/3’s hanging around. Don’t get me wrong, having a Chosen in your deck isn’t a bad thing, but I wouldn’t want more than two, ever.


Here is my pick order. I will talk about each of these picks below. Note that I am just including the top thirty picks of the archetype, in order to keep the size of the list manageable and to be able to leave the platinum hits like Seething Song out of my article. Below I will talk about the picks and why they are important to this particular archetype.


1. Spikeshot Goblin

2. Bonesplitter

3. Electrostatic Bolt

4. Fangren Hunter

5. Shatter

6. Tel-Jilad Archers

7. Deconstruct

8. Pyrite Spellbomb

9. Goblin Replica

10. Predator’s Strike

11. Wizard Replica

12. Myr Enforcer

13. Vulshok Gauntlets

14. Hematite Golem

15. Tel-Jilad Exile

16. Any Myr

17. Neurok Hoversail

18. Vulshok Berserker

19. Clockwork Condor

20. Tel-Jilad Chosen

21. Goblin War Wagon

22. Ogre Leadfoot

23. Wurmskin Forager

24. Krark-Clan Grunt

25. Leonin Scimitar

26. Viridian Longbow

27. Viridian Joiner

28. Turn to Dust

29. Battlegrowth

30. Journey of Discovery


I have detailed the top fifteen of these with a short description of why they are good in the archetype.


1. Spikeshot Goblin

I think we can all agree that this card is the Sparksmith of the set. No, he is not as good as Sparksmith. Yes, he’s as good as it gets. While it is never the backbone of any deck, Spikeshot gives the needed support of flexibility. It can kill your opponents’ creatures or your opponent… very flexible indeed. It is very good at letting you attack with all of your guys, and scaring your opponent into not blocking, lest the Spikeshot finish off the blocker. If you are lucky enough to have a Bonesplitter in your deck, this card can simply dominate.


2. Bonesplitter

Here is where we can see the advantage of ranking picks with respect to archetype. Bonesplitter is somewhat of an enigma card for many people. Everyone knows it’s good, but I place it somewhere between Spikeshot Goblin and Fangren Hunter in this archetype. I rank it above Bolt because it is a proactive card rather than a reactive card.


Some people say that Bonesplitter isn’t the absolute best, but those people obviously are the ones drafting too many Protection from Artifacts creatures or not enough creatures in general. You should be drafting a lot of creatures in Green-Red, especially mana producing small fries like Myr and Viridian Joiners. These are great to equip with Bonesplitter and really let you turn them from chump blockers into an attacking force. This makes it a more powerful card in your deck than Fangren Hunter, since you will easily get an extra ten power out of this card versus Fangren’s four.


3. Electrostatic Bolt

This card is powerful, but not quite as powerful as the board dominating effect of Bonesplitter. I take this card over Fangren in this archetype because it is a nice solution to Neurok Spy, Somber Hoverguard, Spikeshot Goblin, and Skyhunter Cub before they get equipped with anything. This deck loses to evasion – remove the evasion creatures and you will find that your opponent will be failing to find ways to break through your wall of Green. Other benefits include killing just about any annoying artifact creature (read: Myr Enforcer) and Tel-Jilad Chosen.


4. Fangren Hunter

A Durkwood Boar with Trample… I couldn’t ask for anything more. Colored fatties are the bread and butter of winning in this format. Fangren Hunter is a force to be reckoned with, and I would play as many as I could get my hands on. Having at least one of these is very important, so I would possibly take him over Bonesplitter or Bolt if it was the third pack and I didn’t have any fat creatures yet.


Note: Malachite Golem does not count as a fat creature.


5. Shatter

You would think that and instant Desert Twister for two mana would be top of the line right? In most other archetypes, Shatter is a first pick. In Green-Red, however, you will likely get a few artifact removal spells even without picking them first due to the large quantity of Green artifact kill spells (Turn to Dust, Deconstruct, Creeping Mold, Viridian Shaman). Granted, you will probably see more Deconstructs in your deck than Shatters, but you don’t want to have too much artifact removal. Contrary to popular belief, an opening hand with three artifact kill spells and one creature is not a winner.


6. Tel-Jilad Archers

If Magic were football, this guy would be the lineman. You aren’t getting past him. Try on the ground, try in the air; but you aren’t getting past him. Sometimes you see this guy in the red zone, but most of the time he is holding off a fierce army all by his lonesome. Creating a ground stall is what Green does best, while following up with big beaters like Fangren Hunter, One Dozen Eyes, and Ogre Leadfoot (or anything with a Bonesplitter or Vulshok Gauntlets on it).


Sometimes people have three of this guy in their deck and think they have the best deck ever; they usually lose after an hour long match. This guy is not the best Green card. He does not win games – he stalls them. He creates an important synergistic effect for the Green-Red deck and helps it get out of tight spots with fliers, but he is light-years worse than Fangren Hunter. Even if I did not have a single way to stop a flier in my deck, I would probably still take Fangren Hunter over him.


7. Deconstruct

Much like Shatter, except instead of a surprise it gains you tempo… it could be argued that Deconstruct is better than Shatter in this archetype, but it is much harder to get Shatters, not to mention that if you pass them, you will likely put your neighbors into Red. You can usually get Deconstruct much later, hence its lower pick value.


8. Pyrite Spellbomb

A lesser removal spell, it has some of the utility of Electrostatic Bolt, but not nearly as powerful. The nice side benefit is that you can pop it for a card is you are mana light. While you might compare it to an old burn spell like Kindle, which was really powerful, Pyrite Spellbomb has the flaw of being printed in a world of 1/3 creatures. It is best saved for evasion creatures like Neurok Spy, Somber Hoverguard, Spikeshot Goblin, and Skyhunter Cub.


9. Goblin Replica

Artifact kill on legs. This card is often a two for one, since you can attack while having four mana available, making your opponent less likely to trade. Usually they have to use some form of removal on it in order to get their goodies out, which lets you still get a two for one, even after it gets a couple hits through. It is really nice to have this guy, because your three-drop count will probably be low, and if you miss playing a Myr on turn 2, you will find your third turn rather lacking.


10. Predator’s Strike

Some people might take this card higher. While it is a good card, it does not add to your board position and can often get stuck in your hand. Sure, you can always cash it in for a little more damage, but unless you are tricking your opponent into double blocking or getting a ton of trample damage through, it is rarely worth the dead card sitting in your hand. Remember, your goal should be adding more power to the table, not hoarding situational cards in your hand! This is the same reason why Battlegrowth is ranked where it is at.


11. Wizard Replica

I was tempted to put the Wizards Replica above Predator’s Strike. Having the ability to block flyers and early game attackers is so important in this archetype, since it allows you to play out your mid game cards without being under too much pressure. If you don’t have any flying defense and it’s getting midway through the draft, I would take this guy much higher, possibly above Pyrite Spellbomb.


12. Myr Enforcer

While this guy is a fatty, it is not the right deck for him – the Enforcer will often be six mana to cast, and has the vulnerability of being an artifact, making it much less attractive. Still, a fatty is a fatty, and if you remember the mantra from earlier, that is what this deck is about!


13. Vulshok Gauntlets

Call it Myr pants if you want. Put it on a Fangren Hunter and I call it Fireball. [Hmm, is Nate foreshadowing Darksteel? – Knut] The huge bonus of this Equipment can often swing the fate of a game before its drawbacks ever come into play. Besides Myr, it is also a nice to equip this to that leftover Wizard Replica from earlier in the game.


14. Hematite Golem

The walking Fireball himself. Have too much mana? Don’t know what to do with it? Chuck it into this guy and watch him get very, very angry! While he is not the best four-drop in the world, later in the game it can flat kill your opponent if left unchecked for a short period of time. Also, he is excellent at breaking a ground stall or to put in a Neurok Hoversail.


15. Tel-Jilad Exile

Probably responsible for most of the ground stalls in the format and similar in function to the Archers, this beefy regenerator can win games easily when you put any Equipment on it. Besides the Berserker, this is probably your best four-drop to accelerate to with a Myr.


16. Any Myr

Myr are the heart-blood of Green-Red. I wouldn’t play more than five (okay, I would, but I really like Manakins – you probably shouldn’t though), but I try to take them pretty aggressively. After the first pack, I want to have two Myr/Talisman/Joiners. The Myr are the best Mana accelerators, but the on-color Talismans are good too. The Joiner is very underrated because it gets you to five mana just as fast as a Myr, and that toughness is more useful than you might think.


Obviously the Green and Red Myr are the best for this deck, but it really doesn’t matter. I would play any – the extra body to equip, plus the mana boost can often put you at a large enough tempo advantage that your opponent will not recover without playing a Myr of their own.


17. Neurok Hoversail

This card is really odd. It is the absolute best card in my deck a lot of the time when I am playing. I just find myself wishing to draw the Hoversail turn after turn. I think that most people take this card too high, but it is very powerful in a deck full of Fangren Hunters, Vulshok Berserkers, and Tel-Jilad Exiles. Once you have two Myr, I would take this card over any more Myr, but I would not want more than one copy of the Hoversail in my deck.


18. Vulshok Berserker

This is another card, like the Hoversail, that you can get really late and has an extremely positive effect on the performance of your deck. I got one fifteenth pick at Grand Prix: Kansas City, due to the niceness of the guy drafting next to me. He wasn’t so happy to see it attacking him in the second round of that draft.


Tempo is in the mantra, and this guy has it! While 2/1 creatures are terrible with all the 1/3 creatures running around, 3/2 creatures become insane! One of the best draws you can get with the deck is turn 2 Myr, turn 3 Berserker, turn 4 Fangren Hunter. Like the Fangren Hunter, I would probably play as many copies of this guy as I could get my hands on. I would rank him higher in the pick order, but he is very easy to pick up late, so there is no sense in taking him high.


19. Clockwork Condor

As with Wizard Replica, fliers round out this type of deck very nicely. The Condor can be great for dealing the last few points of damage or holding off a Skyhunter Patrol. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is as good as regular fliers. The Condor is mostly a defensive card. It is not as powerful in this deck as it is in other decks like Blue-Black. Still, there is something to be said for increasing your flying defense and removing one potential flying threat from the draft.


20. Tel-Jilad Chosen

Ok, I don’t like this guy. Lots of people swear by him, but I think they are still dwelling in the days when people did not know how to draft this format. People don’t make all artifact decks anymore. This guy is not unblockable. If you cast it on turn 2, it will probably deal four points of damage before getting shut down. In most scenarios, he becomes a glorified wall that can only block artifact creatures. Unless you are packing a lot of Predator’s Strikes and Battlegrowths (which makes for a poor Green-Red deck in my opinion), I would try to avoid playing more than one of the Chosen if possible.


21. Goblin War Wagon

The Wagon looks very impressive. A 3/3 for four mana is something that was highly prized in the last block. Goblin Clearcutter was often a first- or second-pick quality card. The Wagon, like the Condor and the Chosen, seems to be playing a trick on us by looking very good, but in reality being a defensive weapon. Having a 3/3 Blocker on turn 4 is nice and all, but when you don’t really want to attack with him on turn 5, the whole quality of the situation falls apart. Even though the untap cost isn’t a lot, it is still pretty harsh – to the point where even though you think you will untap it next turn, it might end up tapped for several turns in a row because you are being forced to do other, more important things with your mana.


In short, if you just are looking for a blocker, this guy fits the bill. However, Green has plenty of those already.


22. Ogre Leadfoot

The Leadfoot is undervalued these days. While it isn’t the best five-drop you can hope for, it is probably the only other one worth playing in a Green-Red deck besides Fangren Hunter and Tel-Jilad Archers. You will find that the 3/3 non-artifact body of the Ogre is harder to deal with than you might imagine, since your opponent needs non-artifact methods of blocking it. The Leadfoot is great to round out the curve, but I would avoid having more than one or two.


23. Wurmskin Forager

The utility belt. When the situation looks grim, the Forager can show up to save the day. There are lots of great targets for the +1/+1 counters, namely Spikeshot Goblin and Fangren Hunter, but the Forager is also a great card to have if you find yourself stuck playing lots of Tel-Jilad Chosens. While a 2/1 Protection from Artifacts guy doesn’t mean much, a 5/4 does.


It is almost always good to have one of these guys in your deck if you are going to play enough mana to support him (I would say twenty mana sources between Myr and lands). On a stranger note, this is one of the few cards that work well with Synods Sanctum in Green-Red.


24. Leonin Scimitar

Yes, Scimitar is a good card. Yes, I’m putting it at number twenty-four. Why? The sword is not great in this deck. Most of your guys should already be fat or too small for the Scimitar to do a whole lot for them anyhow. Make no mistake – Scimitar is much, much worse than Bonesplitter and should not be compared in any way. A 3/1 Myr is a threat that will trade, while a 2/2 Myr is a dork that will bounce off a 1/3.


25. Viridian Longbow

I think the Longbow is generally underrated due to the”hand off” effect that can often kill your opponents’ 2/2’s or larger, depending on how much mana and potential bow-carriers you have. Overall, the bow is not very good in this archetype. You are too often using all your mana to do much more dangerous things than moving a bow and arrow around. This card goes up in value when you have more pinging effects in your deck, like Spikeshot or Granite Shard, since it will be easier to shoot down larger creatures.


26. Krark-Clan Grunt

I think the Grunt may be the most controversial pick order card in the set. It seems that half the people love him, and the other half hate him. Some people compare him to Ogre Leadfoot while others compare him to Atog. Personally, I don’t like playing the Grunt unless I already am playing with some artifact lands in my deck. Even then it is rather annoying when you have him out, but are not willing to sacrifice any artifacts because you need them in order to play the rest of the game without dying immediately.


27. Viridian Joiner

The Joiner is the sleeper hit of Green-Red. It accelerates you to a Fangren Hunter just as well as any other Mana accelerator, and you can get it twelfth pick. I am not ashamed to play multiple copies of this card in my deck if I don’t have enough Myr. Surprisingly, the extra toughness comes up in combat sometimes when you Bonesplitter it up, since it means they will need more than a 1/3 to stop him.


28. Turn to Dust

Turn to Dust has been somewhat of an enigma for me. Its importance level bounces around wildly, depending on how much artifact removal you have and how much Equipment I have seen in the draft. It makes a great sideboard card that can turn into a key part of your maindeck if you are low on ways to deal with Loxodon Warhammer.


29. Battlegrowth

You will see people play Battlegrowth, but more importantly, you will see people play around Battlegrowth. If you are Green and you have mana up you will be amazed at the way people block. The fact that this card exists is almost like having a Welding Jar in play. Generally, I don’t play the card unless I need more playables for my deck. If people are going to play around it without me even having it, that’s good enough for me.


30. Journey of Discovery

Ah, the wonder color-splasher, mana-fixer, do it all. People believe if you play this card, it will make your mana dreams come true. While Journey is by no means a bad card to have in your deck, I feel it is one more card that might be in your hand that does not effect the board position. If you are going to play less land in your deck or plan on playing three or more colors, then it is a good add.


Taking the pick orders and putting them aside for a second, the synergy of the Green-Red decks tends to come from the following cards. If you don’t have these cards in your deck, it will probably perform more poorly than one that does, even if it has double Spikeshot Goblin:


Multiple Fangren Hunters – These guys win you games. Most of the games you will win will involve this creature or a similarly sized men swinging in the direction of your hapless opponent.


Lots of Myr – Tempo can do wonders in this format. Many games come down to who didn’t draw their Myr. I have been playing cards like Steel Wall to some success in this format, simply because tempo is such a huge factor, especially when you are accelerating to quality Green cards. Since they can swing or chump block later, they can also be a big factor later in the race.


Neurok Hoversail – I have said it many times already, flying gives Green-Red the thing it does not have – the ability to thwart evasion creatures and give their fatties evasion. While it is not as crucial as having Myr and Fangren Hunter-ish creatures (One-Dozen Eyes, Trolls of Tel-Jilad), it does add a lot to the depth of the deck.


Vulshok Berserkers – Berserkers attacking on turn 3… it is a blessing that I should wish you all. If you can do this, I can almost guarantee they will start chump blocking at some point in the game.


Deconstruct – Again with the tempo. Yes, Shatter is better, but Deconstruct provides more tempo! If on turn 4 you Deconstruct their golem and play a Vulshok Berserker, they are in a world of hurt!


Electrostatic Bolt – A great fix to any problem you might have. The more the merrier. I had 3 in a deck last night and I always wanted to draw more.


Keep in mind the goal of Green-Red! Tempo – Fatties – Removal!


Have fun and try to bust Grab the Reins!


Nate Heiss

Team CMU

[email protected]