The Commons of M14 - Green

This is part of a series of posts about drafting our brand new set, Magic 2014. I'll discuss each of the five colors, and rank each common card from that color as I would expect to take them in a limited format. Check my recent posts to see the other colors.

Green

Tier 1 - Potential pack one, pick one:
1. Rumbling Baloth
2. Rootwalla
3. Deadly Recluse
4. Verdant Haven
5. Elvish Mystic

Rumbling Baloth isn't exciting at all, but a 4/4 for four mana is a big advantage. Rootwalla can be a dangerous creature, attacking or blocking. Deadly Recluse isn't much of an attacker, but as a blocker, it's basically a piece of removal. Verdant Haven is ramp, fixing, and a little health bump. Elvish Mystic sounds more appropriate flavor-wise than Llanowar Elves, though obviously they're the same card. Regardless, the speedy ramping is very useful.

Tier 2 - Potential pick one in pack two or three, after my colors are established:
6. Giant Spider
7. Predatory Sliver
8. Hunt the Weak

Giant Spider is a really nice card both in flavor and balance...which explains why it's been reprinted a billion times. Predatory Sliver is like Timberpack Wolf except pretty much exclusively better. Hunt the Weak is the standard green removal this set. Sorcery speed, creature-based, but it often works.

Tier 3 - Solid cards to fill out the color:
9. Giant Growth
10. Trollhide
11. Advocate of the Beast
12. Gladecover Scout

Giant Growth is one of the prototypical green cards, and I'm always glad to see it. Trollhide gets a bump over a normal enchantment because it gives you a way to avoid the troublesome two-for-one situations. Advocate of the Beast seems good, but there are only a few beasts in the whole set, so mostly it's a 2/3. Gladecover Scout is an unassuming 1/1, but in an enchantment-heavy set, there are ways to make it a real problem for your opponents.

Tier 4 - Not exciting, but playable cards in color:
13. Sporemound
14. Brindle Boar
15. Ranger's Guile
16. Naturalize
17. Plummet

Sporemound makes you hate drawing lands late less, but, only a little bit less. Brindle Boar would be miles better if the life were awarded upon the Boar's death, and not just when you sacrifice it. Still, a 2/2 creature has a use. Ranger's Guile is a limited kind of counterspell ability, but you'll almost never use it for the +1/+1. Naturalize, again, in an enchantment-heavy set, might be a reasonable main-deck choice if you're lean on cards. Plummet fills a similar role, though like Naturalize, it's a better fit for a sideboard.

Tier 5 - Cards I have a hard time seeing myself play:
18. Lay of the Land
19. Groundshaker Sliver
20. Fog

Lay of the Land can help with mana-fixing, but doesn't ramp, so it's a marginal card. Groundshaker Sliver is dumb outside of a slivers deck; seven mana for a 5/5 trample is too much, especially in green. Fog might be the best worst card in any color. If you have a gimpy deck and want a trick to try to sneak a win, it's not the worst.