For my last article on getting into EDH, I'm going to go with what is probably the most well-rounded colour in the format; Green.
Spontaneous Growth, Epic Proportions, and Relentless Beasts
Green is the colour of natural elements, druidic magic and untamed wilds. Green combines the togetherness of White, with the savagery of Red. Probably why those colours are its allies.
No Weakness in Nature
Green is one of the most well-rounded colours in the game. While not particularly having the MOST utility, it is capable of covering pretty much all of its weak points without the use of artifacts. It's main strengths are the ridiculous amounts of mana you can make in a short time, handling non-creature permanents like nothing, and having lots of potent "x" spells to sink all of that mana in to.
Nature Rarely Turns on Itself
That's probably Green's biggest issue, creature removal doesn't exist in a proper form in this colour. Green instead has to rely on the "fight" mechanic to deal with opponent's creatures. Aside from that, Green doesn't have weaknesses, just things it can't do that other colours can, such as tutoring efficiently or countering spells.
Green Staples
Green is an extremely diverse colour, having almost as much variety of strategies as Black. However, there are a few cards that stand out that most decks will run.
1. Sylvan Library
One of Green's most efficient ways to draw cards, and combined with Abundance can cause some serious card advantage. Abundance replaces the actual drawing of cards off Library, so that you don't have to put any back or lose any life.
2. Seedborn Muse
This thing can cause a serious leap in power for Green decks that have ways to use mana on an opponent's turn, whether it be from something small like making tokens, or pumping the mana into a Helix Pinnacle.
3. Beast Within
One of the most versatile removal spells in the game, and in Green a 3/3 Beast Token is not really that hard to handle.
What Does a Good Green Deck Look Like?
Green likes to make a lot of mana quickly, and have a use for it. Common generals for this purpose are Azusa, Lost but Seeking and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger. However, I'm going to go with someone a little different on this path.
Om-Nom-Nom-Nath
If you have read my other articles, then surely you'll know just how much I love Omnath, Locus of Rage. So today I'm going to go with his younger and less angry incarnation, Omnath, Locus of Mana. Don't let the more relaxed appearance fool you, this guy can pack a serious punch.
Basic Game Plan
Green is excellent at making loads of mana, and Omnath gives you a way to use it without actually using it. With Omnath out you can tap your lands, float the mana, and then just leave it there indefinitely until you need it. Omnath himself also gets bigger for floating the mana, so you can end the game pretty quickly by simply attacking with him. If Omnath himself isn't enough, then the deck runs other ways, such as hydras, the efficiently dump your mana.
Possible Changes
There's a lot of fun things you can add if you have a large budget, from Eldrazi, to Karn Liberated , or if you're feeling particularly wealthy, a Candelabra of Tawnos would just add further insanity to this deck if you have Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger in play.
From Tree to Tree
Thanks for following my series on getting into the EDH format. Green is a great starting point that I'd highly recommend if you're new to Magic in general. With these articles I have given you the foundation for how each colour functions, now it's up to you to decide how to combine them and make different interactions work, you'll find many pairs have new things they can do together that they could never do individually, and that's half the fun. Next week I'm going to give my take on one of the generals from the Commander 2015 product that just came out.
