Fully updated for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Standard.
Hello Planeswalkers, I am The MTG Hero. As the Standard metagame has settled somewhat, I noticed that one of, if not the most powerful deck prior to Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, has disappeared. Of course, I am referring to Mono Green Stompy. Where did it go? It didn’t lose anything, and even gained a few toys that I am excited to talk about. I have played this deck almost non-stop and it is still my favorite “meta deck”, so let’s dive in.
Cards from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
First thing I want to talk about is the new toys it picked up.
Invoke the Ancients is very powerful, especially in a deck with Esika's Chariot. Remember how players cried for its banning and then disappeared? Well, get ready because the green Invoke is a super charged version of Wrenn and Seven.
Getting 8 power in the form of two bodies for 5 mana is a fantastic rate and I am shocked no one is talking about it. It pairs well with chariot because the tokens are automatically strong enough to crew it and then of course we get free copies of our 4/5s in the process.
Kura, the Boundless Sky has really been overlooked and it is understandable. It is lacking in power compaired to its counterparts in the cycle. It would be perfect as a sideboard card for a deck that uses fight effects and benefits from large tokens… If only that existed… Oh wait, IT DOES!!!
This card breaks creature deck mirror matches. Nothing stands up to it and is a great target for our fight effects and pairs well with Esika's Chariot. I think it is the sideboard card this deck always wanted.
The Deck
This is the 75 I settled on and am currently playing:
Creatures (19)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (2)
60 Cards
$138.38
Sideboard
15 Cards
$12.19
Playing the Deck
This is more of a midrange deck than an aggro deck. Early game, we can set up with an Ascendant Packleader, but it it isn’t game defining if we can’t as it is a creature that scales better a bit later on but getting it early against a control deck is nice. Don’t feel ashamed to just play a land and pass.
After turn 1 we have a bunch of plays we can look to make. Werewolf Pack Leader is a fantastic 2-drop as a 3/3 for two mana is a great rate. Sculptor of Winter is our mana ramp creature of choice for a few reasons:
- It counts as a snow permanent for Blizzard Brawl.
- Untaping snow mana for sideboard cards like Blessing of Frost is extremely useful.
- You can ramp even harder when one of our Snow-Covered Forest is enchanted with Old-Growth Troll.
- It is a 2/2 meaning it is more durable than other options and just generally more useful when it comes to crewing Chariot or triggering pack tactics.
This makes Sculptor of Winter the superior choice over other mana dorks we could be playing. I will always lead on Sculptor when given the option as dropping an accelerated Esika's Chariot, Ulvenwald Oddity, or 2-drop with Snakeskin Veil backup or Blizzard Brawl is great utility.
Ranger Class is a fine spell that can put us way ahead of most decks with minimal investment. Against control decks leveling it all the way up when you have the mana available is never wrong as we can storm off the top of our deck and get back into the game after a sweeper and is basically like drawing an extra card on most turns.
If you can set up the turn three Esika's Chariot or Ulvenwald Oddity, I would go for it as it really puts us ahead. Old-Growth Troll is also a fine 3-drop and has utility even if it dies. On turn four there is nothing to prioritize over chariot unless you really need to remove a troublesome creature with a fight spell. Getting chariot online to begin generating value is all you should be focused on 90% of the time when you are able to.
Now is when our deck looks to really take over the game. Invoke the Ancients is an insanely powerful spell – it combos superbly with chariot and the reason why Mono Green is still so powerful. Creating 8 power for five mana (12 if we can activate chariot) is a rate that most decks just can’t compete with.
Cards Not Included
The Mammoth is a fine card. But it is often clunky and just mediocre. While I love it versus noninteractive decks that don’t clog up the board, it is lackluster everywhere else, and I think its slot is best suited to something else.
This card is powerful in the main deck. To play it, it is generally smart to play all the mana dorks you can to be able to reliably cast it early game to be the most effective. However, you end up with a board of mana dorks with relatively low power and can’t abuse this card to the fullest.
Post-board it just becomes worse as decks bring in better removal and make this a dead card. If you love it, play it, it’s just not for me. I don’t like “win more” cards unfortunately.
Wrenn and Seven is clearly powerful, but it is just worse than Invoke the Ancients in this deck. Two bodies will always be better than 1 slightly bigger one. Not to mention the Invoke tokens have more flexibility in their abilities.
Sculptor of Winter is just a better mana dork. Check out the “Playing the Deck” section for my reasons.
Sideboard Guide
Mono White
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Master's Rebuke | -4 Sculptor of Winter |
| +2 Inscription of Abundance | -3 Ulvenwald Oddity |
| +3 Tajuru Blightblade | |
Izzet Dragons
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Snakeskin Veil | -4 Sculptor of Winter |
| +2 Kura, the Boundless Sky | -2 Inscription of Abundance |
| +2 Blessing of Frost |
Enchantments
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Outland Liberator | -4 Ascendant Packleader |
| +2 Master's Rebuke | -3 Ulvenwald Oddity |
| +3 Tajuru Blightblade |
Mono Green
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Master's Rebuke | -4 Ascendant Packleader |
| +3 Tajuru Blightblade | -2 Snakeskin Veil |
| +2 Inscription of Abundance | -3 Ulvenwald Oddity |
| +2 Kura, the Boundless Sky |
Orzhov
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Outland Liberator | -4 Ascendant Packleader |
| +2 Snakeskin Veil | -2 Inscription of Abundance |
| +2 Blessing of Frost |
Control Decks
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Snakeskin Veil | -4 Blizzard Brawl |
| +2 Blessing of Frost |
Tips and Tricks
- Sculptor of Winter counts as a snow permanent for Blizzard Brawl.
- Tokens created with Invoke the Ancients copied with Esika's Chariot will not have the counter you chose placed on them. They will be Vanilla.
- Leading on Lair of the Hydra is beneficial early but can lead to awkward plays with Blizzard Brawl, so plan accordingly.
- Invoke the Ancients being cast grows Ascendant Packleader, it isn’t just casting permanents.
- With Werewolf Pack Leader, if you plan on growing it to trigger pack tactics, you must activate it before attacks, activating after misses the trigger.
Conclusion
This has been my “go-to” meta deck since Forgotten Realms and that has not really changed. While it may be less popular than it once was, that just makes it so much more dangerous as players probably are inexperienced with the matchup and the power level this deck is capable of. I love this deck and I hope you do to! It is insanely powerful and competes with the best of Standard.
If you enjoyed the article, please feel free to check out my links listed below! Until next time Planeswalkers, Hero out!
