HERE, WE SAY NO!

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Introduction:

It'll probably take longer than anyone would like, but WotC will probably eventually get off their lazy butts and ban these two brain-dead cards. This was my own personal experiment in trying to see where the archetype might go and maybe demonstrate there are other possibilities yet to be tried.

The NetDecking Hivemind's concensus MonoGreen deck is incredibly tight (57-58 Main Deck slots locked; 12-13 Sideboard slots locked), but is the group-think path actually optimal? Is there room to innovate? Let's find out!

The Price Of Splashing Colorless:

Did you know that MonoGreen is secretly a two color deck? Yep! It's actually Green and Eldrazi colored.

Now you might be asking: "What's this nutcase mean MonoGreen is two colored?". Well, I'm glad you asked~

Nothing comes for free and there are some very real costs associated with running Karn and Nykthos in your deck.

• Nykthos only produces colorless mana so unless you've hit 3+ devotion, it's a glorified Legendary Wastes.
• Karn might be a great way to spend your mana, but he has no green mana pips so nothing he does on his own really helps you accrue the explosive levels of resources he himself needs to be worthy of his place in the deck.
  • The Wishboard is designed to have "one generically good option for every one scenario you're worried about". If you happen to waste one of your slots on something you'll never encounter or the one thing you do fish up isn't good enough? ...Well, shucks.

When I was playing test games of NetDeck MonoGreen to get a feel for the deck I not-infrequently struggled with situations like the following:

• Turns 1-3 drawing 2+ Nykthos's sucks.
• I'd want to play a Troll/Polukranos or double-spell out mana accelerants, but I couldn't because I had this derpy Colorless producer instead of a green source, I'd have to delay a full turn.
• I'd get Karn down on Turn 3 or whatever, but...
  • There wasn't really anything good to fish out of the Wishboard since...
    • I didn't have the 5+ mana I needed.
    • I was facing down a wide board.
  • Karn was destined to die before I could do the whole Liquimetal Coating nonsense.

 So what if instead we went with an All Green Producing mana base and freed up our sideboard for more situational but powerful cards?

Main Deck:

Normally, I like to discuss the mana base second since it's less flashy, but here the main attraction is the mana base so let's go!

The Mana Base:

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• 4x Sunken Citadel: WotC has yet to learn the lesson that lands that tap for more than one mana break the fundamental rules the game is balanced around and cause problems... Well, at least we get to benefit from their stupidity this time.
  • Fuels Castle Garenbrig
  • Fuels Lair of the Hydra
  • And yes, I realize this would actually prove a powerful tool for fueling Nykthos. But again, Nykthos isn't free. Here's what happens when you inject Nykthos alongside the Citadel.
    • If we went down to 8-9 Forests we couldn't play Utopia Sprawl and would instead need to play 8 Elves, this leaves our acceleration far more exposed in the early turns while re-introducing the whole "Legendary Wastes" problem we were trying to avoid in the first place. Overall, not a fan.
    • Despite the drawbacks however, you do end up with (and this is almost impossible to believe) an even more explosive endgame mana base... But whatever. That's lame and uncool and stuff. Whatever.
• 4x Castle Garenbrig: This plus Citadel can result in Primeval Titan, Titan of Industry or stupidly huge Voracious Hydras on Turn 3. Yes, Turn 3. This is beyond what even Nykthos can do that early and is borderline broken as hell.
  
  • There is a deckbuilding cost with going Garenbrig as you must spend the mana on Creatures but you're in Green... What the hell are you doing if you're not playing Big Creatures when you're in green?
  • Remember: Nothing says you can't play Colorless Creatures, so Wurmcoil Engine and cards of that ilk are options if you want them.
• 2x Lair of the Hydra: This thing gets HUGE and serves as a fantasic secondary threat.
  • I usually fish up 1xLair + 1xCitadel with my first and second PrimeTime triggers.
  • NOTE: Garenbrig mana does not count.
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures: We already have a lot of Disenchant effects, but somehow we could always use more.
• 12x Basics: Rounding things out so the final land count is 23.
  • Wouldn't go below 11 basics if you still want to be playing Utopia Sprawl.

Threats:

• 4x Primeval Titan: Bigger, badder Cavalier of Thorns. Garenbrig and friends being able to power this out on Turn 3 is not something most decks can beat.
  • Hollowhenge Wrangler is an interesting alternative, but really isn't as good.
• 3x Titan of Industry: You always get the 4/4 so that's 11 power/toughness. The Disenchant or Gain 5 is plain demoralizing while the rider Reach and Trample text is aneurysm inducing. 
  
  • Directly competes with World Breaker. Go with the Eldrazi if your meta is literred with MonoGreen and/or Gates.
  • Would be 4xToI if not for our next card...
• 1x Kogla, the Titan Ape: Sometimes you just want a Green Terminate. The Disenchant when you connect doesn't come up very often, but is always nice to have as a looming consequence.
  
  • Takes the place of 1x Titan of Industry. Either way works extremely well so it's fine.
• 4x Voracious Hydra: Remember how I said you sometimes just want a Green Terminate? Well, this is that too. The body  left behind can be anywhere from a 1/2 to a 12/13, so, yeah, to say it scales is an understatement.
  • Fueled by Garenbrig.
  • 2xCounter mode when against Control or the board has otherwise stalled out.
• 1x Vorinclex // The Grand Evolution: He's like a cross between PrimeTime and Titan of Industry. He's here mostly for the raw efficiency, but facing a 6/6 Reach Tramper is rarely a trivial affair for our opponents. The Saga side shouldn't be forgotten either but that's mostly gravey.
• 2x Polukranos Reborn // Polukranos, Engine of Ruin: Fills a more defensive role here which is why it beats out Old-Growth Troll (the more aggro option). Reach and the psuedo-Wurmcoil Engine backside make sure you live to cast your other threats.

Card Draw:

• 4x Up the Beanstalk: The Invoke Elementals demonstrated how busted this card is within the Modern context, but it sure as hell feels busted in Historic too when you're drawing more action off of each of your bombs.
• 4x Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner: We're not untapping Nykthos or anything broken like at, but Citadel is no slouch.
  
  • You can draw twice off of Titan of Industry... That's a fun think to do...
• 2x Generous Ent: "Draws you a land" ...No? Okay, this is kinda of loose, but these 2 slots should be dedicated to something that finds you what you need.
  • I started out with Invasion of Ixalan // Belligerent Regisaur since we don't have access to Oath of Nissa but I found that 2 mana for the dig effect wasn't really worth it.
  • Other alternatives:
    • Bushwhack - Fight club, baby~
    • Adventurous Impulse - Doesn't find Kiora, but otherwise same as Oath of Nissa
    • Abundant Harvest - High variance, but will definitely find something.

Ramp:

• 4x Llanowar Elves/Elvish Mystic: The 2x2 split is technically correct as a dodge to Legion's End or The End/"remove {XYZ} from your deck" style effects.
• 4x Utopia Sprawl: Creature removal resistent version of our Elves.
• 4x Wolfwillow Haven: Sprawls 5-8. The creature token as never really come up for me, but it's there.
• Kiora

Sideboard:

• 4x Tyrranax Rex: For Control, Gates or anywhere else you just need 'em dead fast.
• 4x Scavenging Ooze: Nomnom goes the graveyard.
• 2x Cityscape Leveler: Control, the MonoGreen mirror or anything that involves troublesome permanents.
• 1x Titan of Industry: When you just gotta have that 4th copy.
  
  • Alternatives: Kogla, the Titan Ape, Polukranos Reborn // Polukranos, Engine of Ruin, World Breaker, Hornet Queen
• 2x Fade from History: When you want ever Enchantment/Artifact dead and doing it one at a time isn't good enough.
• 2x Hornet Queen: UR Wizards/Phoenix. RW Convoke. How on in the world do they beat this card?

Other options:

• Arasta of the Endless Web: Vs UR Phoenix or any of the spell-slingery style deck.
• Stone of Erech: If you've got Cat Combo of any variety or Yawgmoth running around in your meta.
• Unlicensed Hearse: Vs Self-mill. 
  
  • Vs UR Pheonix style decks, just get more Hornet Queens.
• Skysovereign, Consul Flagship: Vs Elves or Goblins. Mostly Elves.
• Tranquil Frillback: Each mode is relevant but the body left behind is small in context of this deck.