Welcome back to Tuesday Deck Tech, riot crew. We’re halfway through the Avatar: The Last Airbender Standard meta and the format is finally settling in — but there’s still plenty of room to break it open. This week, we’re zooming in on a deck that just put up an 11-0 finish in the MTGO Standard Showcase Challenge on April 26: Mono Green Landfall, piloted by Xerk. With Izzet Prowess sitting on top of the meta at 16.56% and everybody and their dog jamming counterspells, going under it with a one-mana 1/1 that becomes a one-mana 4/4 by turn three is, frankly, hilarious — and it works.
Why Mono Green Landfall Right Now
The pitch is simple: every creature in the deck is a landfall payoff, and every land drop is an event. Xerk’s 60 lean hard into the Avatar: The Last Airbender earthbend mechanic — turning lands into creatures — and pair it with the explosive ramp from Final Fantasy and Edge of Eternities. The result is a deck that can present a 12-power board on turn four and trample over anything Mono Green isn’t supposed to beat.
The Decklist (Xerk, 11-0, MTGO Standard Showcase Challenge #12840500)
Mainboard (60)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Sazh’s Chocobo
- 4 Badgermole Cub
- 4 Keen-Eyed Curator
- 4 Mightform Harmonizer
- 4 Icetill Explorer
- 2 Esper Origins
- 4 Earthbender Ascension
- 4 Meltstrider’s Resolve
- 14 Forest
- 4 Fabled Passage
- 4 Escape Tunnel
- 3 Ba Sing Se
- 1 Promising Vein
Sideboard (15)
- 4 Sapling Nursery
- 3 Mossborn Hydra
- 2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter
- 2 Pawpatch Formation
- 2 Heritage Reclamation
- 2 Origin of Metalbending
Card-by-Card: How the Engine Works
The deck stacks landfall payoffs at every point on the curve. Turn one, you’re playing a one-drop mana dork. Turn two, you’re playing a one-mana payoff that scales every turn. Turn three, you’re either earthbending your own lands into 0/0+counter creatures or popping off Earthbender Ascension’s quest counter trigger.
Sazh’s Chocobo is the deck’s MVP. A one-mana 1/1 that grows every time you drop a land — by turn four, this bird is a 5/5 swinging in for half the opponent’s life total. Combine it with Meltstrider’s Resolve for a one-mana fight spell that doubles as a permanent buff, and you’ve got the cleanest tempo play in the format.
Badgermole Cub is the value engine that keeps your lands alive. Earthbending a land into a creature with haste means every Forest you draw is a potential threat — and the second ability adds an extra green every time you tap a creature for mana, which goes silly with Llanowar Elves and the Earthbender’d lands.
Mightform Harmonizer is the finisher. Doubling a creature’s power every time a land enters means a turn-four Fabled Passage crack with a Chocobo on the table is suddenly a 10-power one-shot. The warp cost gives you a flash threat option when you need to play around removal.
Icetill Explorer is the glue. Extra land drops + lands from the graveyard means landfall triggers don’t stop coming, and the mill helps fuel Keen-Eyed Curator, who turns into a 6/6 trampler the moment you exile four card types out of any graveyard.
Manabase-wise, Fabled Passage and Escape Tunnel double-trigger landfall the turn you crack them, Ba Sing Se gives you a late-game mana sink that earthbends for two, and Promising Vein rounds out the utility slot.
Sideboarding Notes
Against control and slower decks, you transform into a midrange ramp pile: Sapling Nursery comes in as a hard-to-kill token engine that floods the board, and Mossborn Hydra is the haymaker for grindy matchups. Surrak, Elusive Hunter punches holes in counterspell decks. Against aggro mirrors, Pawpatch Formation and Heritage Reclamation answer their early threats, while Origin of Metalbending covers artifact and enchantment removal slots.
How to Play It
Mulligan aggressively for a one-drop and three lands. Your worst hands are the ones that miss on turn one — without a Llanowar Elves or Chocobo, the deck is just a slow ramp pile. Lead with the bird, follow with Earthbender Ascension or Badgermole Cub, then start slamming lands and watch the math get out of hand. Against Izzet Prowess, play around Lightning Strike by holding Meltstrider’s Resolve until you can deploy it as a combat trick.
Build It at Mana Riot Games
The whole list rings in cheap on paper — most of the engine pieces sit under $4, and the manabase is basically Forests. We’ve got Avatar: The Last Airbender, Final Fantasy, and Edge of Eternities singles in stock right now, plus sealed product if you want to build it the fun way. Stop by the shop, grab a Tuesday Standard seat, and bring the Chocobos. We’ll see you at the tables.