Core 2019 Set Review - Green

We've reached the end of the week days which marks the start of the Green cards from Core 2019. Don't despair though as we have a nice ride ahead of us and the weekend to come, so let's jump right in to the flora and fauna.



Blanchwood Armor

Blanchwood Armor is a powerful aura but in a narrow colour deck. I’m not saying you have to solely play green but obviously if you do Blanchwood Armor is going to be much better than in a three colour deck. In limited it’s always worth playing as even if you only have three Forests the enchanted creature still gains +3/+3. It is annoying if you only have one because it does feel like you’re paying over the odds but it’s a bonus anywhere.

Bristling Boar

Great creature, sits on the middle of the curve and has a useful ability. This is the type of creature that would be double blocked in the early game to get rid of it quickly but the fact that Bristling Boar hinders that play keeps it as a viable mid game threat. I like a couple Bristling Boar in limited but I wouldn’t want to clog up my deck around the four drop slot.

Centaur Courser

Standard. 3/3 for three is always playable in limited and could do a lot of work.

Colossal Dreadmaw

Copy paste what I said about Centaur Courser and replace the 3/3 with 6/6 and three mana for six mana. The creature type Dinosaur is relevant thanks to Ixalan but that’s pretty negligible.

Colossal Majesty

I like this card because it can give bigger creature based decks a bit of longevity getting into the late game. Usually with these types of decks you have some early to mid game plays and then you start to run out of gas, Colossal Majesty bypasses that and, given enough turns go by, can bring you back into the game with the card advantage. I’ve seen this type of card played in constructed but I feel that it’s confined to limited.

Daggerback Basilisk


Great limited early drop creature that will make light work of most creatures in combat.

Declare Dominance

The perfect card to seal out a game. Pick a creature, any creature. That creature could now have the potential to trade with one or more blockers or even take the game for you. If it doesn’t I’m sure all of your other creatures that have gone unblocked will happily take a whack at it. I like one in limited in a small, rush kind of deck, multiples can get clogged up in your hand given that it’s a five mana spell.

Druid of Horns

Druid of Horns rewards you for playing auras, sometimes they can be two-for-one traps but with this four drop creature they can help improve your board position. The body is fine for the mana cost, Druid of Horns is fine blocking in the early game but will need some help getting into the late game with more and more big creatures running around. It could turn out to be a limited player but not for constructed.

Druid of the Cowl

It’s Druid of the Cowl, it blocks well early one and accelerates you. Great in limited.

Dryad Greenseeker

Dryad Greenseeker is almost like Druid of the Cowl, both give you access to additional mana. Dryad Greenseeker is more permanent though as it allows you to dig out the lands on top of your library, which in turns lets you find more gas. I love this guy in limited and even in multiples as they sit well on the low end of your curve.

Elvish Clancaller

As a lover of elves I have high hopes for this two mana lord. The cost is a commitment to green but when playing elves that’s not too hard to achieve early on, because of its cheapness though Elvish Clancaller is understandably fragile so it will need some protecting. One way to do that is by using its ability to tutor up another Clancaller, your elves get additions power and toughness and your two mana lords becomes 2/2’s. Maybe Elvish Clancaller could see limited play but it depends how many elves you open or if you end up having multiples. As for constructed, I’m jamming as many as possible into modern elves as we speak; unfortunately though there isn’t a place in standard for this unless elves get a huge helping hand in the months to come.

Elvish Rejuvenator

Was Wood Elves too good? Because by comparison this guy sucks. You’re not guaranteed to hit a land and you run the risk of pushing utility spells or bomb creatures to the bottom. Limited playable but I don’t think I’d be happy about it.

Ghostbark Twins

This is your end game creature right here, it’s costly, it tramples and it’s great in defence as well. One of in limited because of the high mana cost but when you find it and drop it without a removal spell Ghostbark Twins can take over combat.

Ghirapur Guide

Ghirapur Guide is a decent aggressive creature with an ability that plays nicely in creature based decks. It’s better in the early game when your opponent’s creatures are smaller but it can still lend a hand in the late game, blocking for example.

Giant Spider

The old spider is back in its natural environment, the Core Set. Giant Spider is easy to splash and does well on defence, it especially helps if your opponent has a few flyers that you otherwise are finding a hard way of dealing with.

Gift of Paradise

If you’re looking to splash a colour in limited and you’re base green then this is the card to do it with. Plus it nets you life, what else do you want?

Gigantosaurus

It’s all there in the name, this guys is massive and if left unchecked will win you the game. It’s a big commitment to green but the 10/10 pay off is worth it. You may find it hard to cast in limited in a two or three colour deck but I could even see this guy breaking into standard along side Steel Leaf Champion, plus with Gigantosaurus you’re only two green away from casting Ghalta. Two dinosaurs working together.

Goreclaw, Terror Of Qal Sisma

The stats on this guy are nuts, it’s easy to splash and it a four mana 4/3. That would probably be enough to play him in limited and the fact that he makes all of your bigger top end creatures cheaper really helps getting into the late game. To top it all off Goreclaw makes combat a nightmare for your opponent if you’ve managed to drop enough 4 power or greater creatures. This guys needs to meet a removal spell quick or he takes over a game. I don’t think we’ll see this Bear in constructed as it’s a tad slow and has no immediate impact on the game unless you can utilise him right away.

Greenwood Sentinel

Bears are good, a bear with Vigilance is really good. Play this all the time in limited because it gives you options both attacking and defending.

Highland Game

This is a great limited blocker, Highland Game allows you to stem some combat damage while also netting you some life back.

Hungering Hydra

You’re going to want to put some work into Hungering Hydra so it’s not too fragile that it dies right away. If you can pump enough mana into it then it can be very hard to deal with and start taking chunks out for your opponent’s life total. Probably a limited card but I’ve seen hydras make it to constructed before so only time will tell.

Naturalize

Great sideboard card and will do work in limited when you need it

Oakenform

This is a very aggressive aura, you really want to put this on a creature with Trample or First Strike in order to create a very big threat. It’s cheap so if you get off to a quick start you can throw this into a creature and really apply some pressure but it does come with the typical aura down, the dread two-for-one, so be careful.

Pelakka Wurm

All the sevens here. This seven mana 7/7 that gains you seven life when it enters the battlefield is a limited powerhouse. Pelakka Wurm can bring you back into a game with its abundant life gain and if it’s not dealt with quick the 7 power and Trample will start to make light work of your opponent’s creatures. And it replaces itself when it dies, now isn’t that nice. Way to costly for constructed unless you can cheat it out some way but even then, the utility side of this makes it a sideboard card for me.

Plummet

There are a lot of Flying creatures flying around so a card like Plummet is situated well. For just two mana you can take down a Lyra or Resplendent Angel at instant speed, because of the value that can gain I’m sure we are going to see Plummet in green sideboards. It’s not as effective in limited but in the right spots it can do a decent job, again probably just in the sideboard for games two and three.

Prodigious Growth

If your opponent can’t deal with the creature you’ve slapped this on they will lose. Even with the aura problem Prodigious Growth is worth playing in limited, the sheer power is good enough.

Rabid Bite

Decent, if a bit slow, conditional removal spell. Conditional in the sense that you need to control a big enough creature. Rabid Bite is worth playing if your deck goes big quickly but apart from that it’s not the best of spells to have.

Reclamation Sage

It’s Naturalize attached to a 2/1 body. Fragile but useful and easy to splash.

Recollect

Regrowth was the same effect but for two mana, turns out a two spell that rebuys things is too powerful so three mana it is. I like Recollect in limited to get back a utility card or bomb creature that may have met its demise too early, maybe only one though as they are dead cards when you have nothing of note to return. This effect may look good for constructed but three mana is too much even if you are able to get something back, mainly because you’re probably going to want to cast the returning card in the same turn and that may be difficult.

Rhox Oracle

Five mana to draw a card?! And Rhox Oracle is fragile to boot. I’m not a fan of this card, sure it’s got a lot of power and it replaces itself but it’s not what I want to be doing in limited.

Root Snare

Haven’t had a decent fog in a while. Root Snare is good for those match ups where you’re facing down a tonne of creatures and need to get to the late game, pick you spot with this and it could buy you an extra turn with which you could find an answer. It’s not good to run multiples in limited unless you have too, they become dead card quite quick. Constructed doesn’t need Root Snare but I’ve seen some weird things happen.

Runic Armasaur

This is going to be a constructed stand out. It’s a three mana creature that won’t do much on the offensive side but does much work on the defensive side. So a great early game blocker, but wait it has an effect. Activated abilities on creatures or lands for you opponent now come with a downside, do they activate them and let you draw a card? The answer is almost certainly yes but Runic Armasaur could allow you to get a lot of card advantage this way. Multiples in play at the same time would be insane which is why they probably restricted it to abilities on creatures and lands. This will be a limited all star and I’m putting my money in a constructed player.

Scapeshift

I think the only reason Scapeshift has seen a reprint is to knock the price down a bit - the Mornindtide version is $30. Right now I’m struggling to think of a standard application and I think this may be a trap in limited. It does fix your mana so that’s a plus.

Talons of Wildwood

A cheap aura with its own buyback clause, I love it. Play this in limited in your aggressive creature based decks, it could even have some play in slower decks that you can chump with creatures to survive and bring Talons of Wildwood back and start all over again, making combat awkward for your opponent.

Thorn Lieutenant

Thorn Lieutenant is above the curve with extra stuff tacked on. You do have to rely on your opponent targeting it but if you can protect Thorn Lieutenant you could end up getting a small army of elves out of the spell trade. It’s nice that Thorn Lieutenant has some play in the late and if you have the mana to sink into it, making it a 6/7 is great in combat and unopposed spells danger for your opponent. Because of the big mana cost for the ability I don’t think Thorn Lieutenant will see constructed play, it would be nice to get a decent number of elves but with Abrade and Lightning Strike running around that may prove harder than first thought.

Thornhide Wolves

Pretty straight forward, a five mana 4/5. Great at the top end of creature based limited decks.

Titanic Growth

Great combat trick for the amount of mana you’re paying for Iran’s at instant speed.

Vigilant Baloth

This is another situation of poor naming. Giving something called Vigilant Vigilance is lazy but it’s not to say this creature is bad. Five mana for a 5/5 Vigilance creature is really good and you should play it in limited.

Vine Mare

This could well be the best of the “Mare” cycle. A four mana 5/3 would be limited playable but giving that creature Hexproof seals the deal, black creatures not being able to block it is something too, with all the zombies running around and especially with the amount of power Vine Mare has.

Vivien Reid

Wow. This is value all over. Vivien digs through your deck and let’s you consistently find mana or creatures, takes out Lyra and give you a powerful ultimate all for five mana. The five starting loyalty means that she isn’t far away from getting to that swingy ultimate either, making her proactive. A bomb in limited and if I was asked to choose between this and Nissa for standard, I think Vivien would take it.

Vivienne’s Invocation

This is asking for a lot of mana but the effects are pretty substantial. Vivienne’s Invocation allows you to dig quite a way into your deck and find a creature and it also doubles up as possible removal. You do want to be finding a decent sized creature for the effect but at worst it can bolster your board position.

Wall of Vines

A little disappointing to end on but the card fall how they fall. It’s a cheap defender with reach, it’ll help in the early to mid game but not much further.

The Green cards are done and dusted and you all know what that means, yes it's time for all of the Multicoloured cards from Core 2019! Head back tomorrow as we start to make our way through the end of the Core Set, we have some interesting cards to take a look at and as always some not so interesting ones. Remember to keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news, updates and set reviews and remember to check us out on Twitter at @gcgamingtank, let us know what you think of the set.