Years ago, mono-green aggro was a solid budget option in Modern. Combining beefy, efficient beaters like Kalonian Tusker with pump spells gave you the chance to compete with some top tier decks.
In a world of power creep and Modern Horizons sets, things have changed significantly. However, it appears a similar beatdown archetype with a bunch of major upgrades is back in the picture. Boasting an undefeated Magic Online Modern League run, this assertive green deck with a Devotion theme and a black splash is capable of winning games as early as turn three.
Big Threats
The goal behind this archetype is to quickly put a lot of pressure on the opponent with hard-hitting creatures. To facilitate this gameplan, Noble Hierarch and Ignoble Hierarch both make an appearance as four-ofs. Accelerating into your three-drops is essential and Exalted goes a long way in letting you close games in short order.
In the event you don’t have a Hierarch to play on turn one, you can always cast Green Sun’s Zenith for X=0 to grab Dryad Arbor. Green Sun’s Zenith is super flexible, essentially increasing your density of mana dorks and finishers at the same time.
As for your beaters, both Old-Growth Troll and Steel Leaf Champion serve as massive three-drops to cast on turn two. Both creatures are difficult to chump block. As four-toughness creatures, they both outsize Lightning Bolt. Old-Growth Troll even has the upside of coming back to the battlefield as an aura in the event it dies to something like Fatal Push.
Alongside these two monsters, Frenzied Baloth and Keen-Eyed Curator are fine plays to make on turn two as well. In some games, you’ll get to put two Hierarchs alongside Frenzied Baloth onto the battlefield by turn two and already start swinging for five damage. This extra mana can then be used in conjunction with Green Sun’s Zenith to put Groundbreaker into play on the following turn and attack for a boatload of damage! As long as you keep your opponent on the backfoot, you’re in good shape.
Pushing Damage
As a mono-green deck (at least for the purposes of game one), you don’t have access to much in the way of removal. Bridgeworks Battle and Dismember show up to give you some outs to problematic creatures, but you’re primarily just looking to race.
With this in mind, you need additional ways to push damage. Luckily, a forgotten pump spell is here to save the day! By simply playing creatures to the board, you’re naturally raising your Devotion to green quite a bit. In fact, none of your maindeck creatures feature any generic mana in their mana costs at all.
This enables Aspect of Hydra to be one of your scariest cards. Before you know it, this super cheap pump spell will be giving your Trampler +7/+7 and beyond. Aspect of Hydra is the card that can set up turn fast kills if you’re lucky, so make sure to get the most out of it.
Aspect of Hydra shines in creature matchups and against decks with damage-based removal. However, it can be a bit difficult to set up a window to resolve it unscathed versus decks with Fatal Push or Solitude. To prevent you from getting blown out, you’ll also find a full playset of Vines of Vastwood in the mix.
At minimum, Vines of Vastwood acts as a protection spell for your best threat. It also doubles as a sizeable pump spell in its own right if you have access to enough mana.
Notably, Vines of Vastwood can even be used to fizzle an opponent’s spell or ability that targets their own creature. This won’t come up super often, though against Izzet Prowess, stopping a Violent Urge can be the difference between winning and losing. Similarly, if your opponent tries to use Hanweir Battlements to Haste up their Primeval Titan, Vines of Vastwood can prevent this and buy you another turn. Keep neat interactions like these in the back of your mind while playing.
The Casual Side
All things considered, this strategy is definitely a more casual option in the Modern landscape. There are a handful of combo matchups, such as Ruby Storm, where you have little recourse if your opponent has a fast draw. Unless you draw specific sideboard cards, your lack of disruption may come back to bite you in certain spots.
However, other archetypes may struggle to deal with your mix of big creatures and pump spells. Against Azorius control, for example, jamming and protecting Frenzied Baloth so that all of your creature spells are uncounterable gives you a good shot to steal games. Landing a couple three-drops and resolving Culling Ritual against Boros Energy or Affinity may give you an insurmountable lead as well.
Perhaps this deck’s most appealing feature is the price. The manabase and a playset of Green Sun’s Zenith add up, but altogether, playing a deck under $350 in Modern is a steal. If you’re willing to give up Culling Ritual out of the sideboard, you can forgo the Fetchland package and save more money.
Playing with Aspect of Hydra, Vines of Vastwood, and other sweet cards that don’t have much of a home in Modern anymore is fun. This deck can still put up a fight versus other top archetypes, so if you want an excuse to break out your burly attackers, you’ve got one.
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