female mage in green robes walking in a very green woods next to a creek with the sun shining down, representing mtg green tutor cards

Best Mono Green Tutor Cards in MTG Magic: the Gathering

Most Magic: the Gathering players recognize green's prowess in tutoring for lands, commonly known as ramp or fetch. However, the capabilities of green tutor cards extends beyond just fetching lands; it's a powerhouse in tutoring for creatures too. Whether you're crafting a deck for commander or a 60-card format, understanding the breadth of green tutors is crucial.

Green may not have the tutor for “any card” options of black tutor cards (Diabolic Tutor,) it won't give you an instant response like blue tutor cards (Mystical Tutor,) or the artifact and enchantment utility of white tutors (Enlightened Tutor,) but in the world of MTG tutors, green stands alone in both creature and mana fetch tutors.

Need the best tutors for your blue, red, or white decks? Our write-up on mono blue tutors can be found here, mono black tutors here, mono red tutors here, and mono white tutors here. Colorless tutor cards are great for any color or combination!

Let's delve into the world of green tutors, covering not only well-known options but also less obvious yet equally impactful choices.

Understanding Green's Role in MTG

The Philosophy of Green Mana

As a mono-green enthusiast, the appeal of green mana for me lies in its embodiment of nature, growth, and strength. Green mana represents harmony with the natural order and harnessing it for strategic advantage. It's the color of robust creatures, efficient mana ramp, and impactful spells.

Green's core lies in balance and synergy. Green decks often build a formidable board presence while maintaining resource health. This balance requires strategic mana usage and card draw, especially relevant when utilizing green's diverse tutors.

Key Strengths of Mono-Green Decks

When it comes to mono-green decks, there are a few key strengths that make them stand out from other colors.

First and foremost, green is great at mana ramp. This means that green players can often play their big, powerful spells earlier than their opponents. This can give them a huge advantage in the early game, allowing them to establish a strong board presence before their opponents have a chance to react.

Another strength of mono-green decks is their focus on creatures with trample. Trample allows creatures to deal excess combat damage to a player or planeswalker after they have dealt lethal damage to all blocking creatures. This means that green players can often deal a lot of damage to their opponents even if their creatures are blocked. Beefy trample creatures or cards that bestow trample are some of the most powerful cards in the game.

large 6 legged monster trampling over smaller creatures in a field

Green is a powerful and versatile color that offers a lot of options for players who enjoy big creatures and explosive spells.

If you're looking to build a creature-based mono-green deck (that's not say, elf tribal,) areas of focus should be mana ramp, creatures with trample, and tutors to get exactly what you need to pull off your win conditions.

The Toolbox of Green Tutor Cards

Wooden case containing magical green cards, on a table surrounded by glowing green candles

As a mono-green player, having access to a variety of tutor cards can be the key to success. Whether you need to fetch a specific creature or land, or simply want to dig through your library for answers, there are plenty of green tutor cards to choose from. In this section, I'll cover some of the best mono-green tutor cards, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

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 Best Mono Green Mana Fetch Cards

One of the most important things for any green deck is to have access to enough mana. Fortunately, several different green tutor cards can help with this. The most popular of these are Kodama's Reach and Cultivate, which allow you to search your library for two basic lands. One will go onto the battlefield tapped, the other into your hand.

These cards are great for ramping up your mana early in the game, and can help you get ahead of your opponents. They're some of the most efficient tutors in the game.

Another great mana-fetching card is Nature's Lore, which allows you to search your library for a Forest and put it onto the battlefield untapped. This card is great for fixing your mana, and can be especially useful if you're running any non-basic Forest lands, allowing you to grab a utility land.

One last mention is Sakura-Tribe Elder. This creature is a great early blocker that turns into instant speed land fetch. Even if you sacrifice him before damage, once he's declared a blocker the creature remains blocked. A similar ability to Diligent Farmhand, but without needing to pay mana for activation.

Worldly Tutor and Its Kin

When it comes to creature-based decks, having access to creature tutors can be a game-changer. The most popular of these is Worldly Tutor, which allows you to search your library for a creature card and put it on top of your library. This card is great for finding specific creatures that you need for your strategy, and can be especially useful if you have a lot of creatures with synergy.

Other creature tutors worth considering include Green Sun's Zenith, which allows you to search your library for a green creature with converted mana cost X or less and put it onto the battlefield, and Chord of Calling, which allows you to search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost X or less and put it onto the battlefield.

Expanding Beyond the Basics

While cards like Green Sun's ZenithWorldly Tutor, and Natural Order are staples, green's tutoring extends into more specialized territory:

MTG Natural Order card

These cards, among others, offer a range of options for various game situations, from early setup to late-game finishers.

Specialized Green Tutors

Finally, several green tutor cards are more specialized, but can still be incredibly useful in the right deck. For example, Sylvan Scrying allows you to search your library for any land card and put it into your hand, which can be great for finding specific lands that you need for your strategy.

Another great specialized tutor is Defense of the Heart, which allows you to search your library for up to two creature cards and put them onto the battlefield if an opponent controls 3 or more creatures. This card can be especially useful in commander where you have multiple opponents to trigger it, and can help you quickly build a board presence.

Having access to a variety of green tutor cards can be incredibly useful for any mono-green player. Whether you need to ramp up your mana, find specific creatures, or search for specific lands, there are plenty of options to choose from. By including some of the best green tutor cards in your deck, you can increase your chances of success and outmaneuver your opponents.

Top Mono-Green Tutor Cards

female mage sitting on a hill in a very green woods reading a book, with the sun shining down on her and the path next to her

I've been playing Magic long enough to know the importance of having an answer any situation. One of the best ways to ensure that your deck is ready for anything is by including tutor cards. Here are a few more of the top mono-green tutor cards that every MTG player should consider.

Tooth and Nail, Entwined!

Tooth and Nail is a game-changing card that can quickly turn the tide of any match. This card allows you to search your library for two creature cards and put them into your hand. The entwine cost of this card allows you to pay an additional 2 to put them into play tapped instead.

When this card first made its way into tournament decks the classic combo was to grab a Platinum Angel and a Darksteel Colossus, forcing players to deal with the threat of the colossus while you were safely protected by the angel. There are of course better pairs to search for now, but this combo is still potent!

Survival of the Fittest

Survival of the Fittest is a classic green tutor card that has been a staple in many mono-green decks for years. You'll need to discard a creature card to search your library for another creature card and put it into your hand. This ability can be used repeatedly, making it an incredibly powerful card for finding the creatures you need to win, or throwing a bunch of creatures in your graveyard for reanimation strategies.

Finale of Devastation

Finale of Devastation is a newer card that has quickly become a favorite among MTG players. This card allows you to search your library and/or graveyard for a creature card of mana value X and put it onto the battlefield. Additionally, if x was 10 or greater, creatures you control gain +X/+X and haste until end of turn, where X is the mana value of the card you searched for. The creature you need, from library OR graveyard, and a pump for all your stuff on the board. What's not to like about this green tutor card?

These three cards are some of the best tutors green has to offer. Each card has its own strengths and weaknesses, but they all offer incredible flexibility and the ability to search for the cards you need to win. Whether you're a seasoned MTG player or a novice just starting out, these cards are a great addition to just about any mono-green deck.

Synergies and Combos with Green Tutors

2 green mage cards with swirling green magic clouds all around

Green tutors allow for a number of just plain nasty combos to go off. For instance, a well-timed tutor plus Elvish Piper can allow you to play a big fattie for next to nothing. Let's take a look at a few more combo possibilities with green tutors.

Natural Order and Craterhoof Behemoth

One of the most devastating combos in mono-green is Natural Order and Craterhoof BehemothNatural Order allows you to sacrifice a creature to search your library for a creature card and put it directly onto the battlefield. Craterhoof Behemoth, on the other hand, is a creature that gives all of your other creatures +X/+X and trample until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.

By sacrificing a creature with Natural Order to search for Craterhoof Behemoth, you can instantly give all of your creatures a massive boost in power and trample over your opponent's defenses. This combo can easily end the game in one turn and is a staple in many green decks.

Birthing Pod Chains

Another powerful combo with green tutor cards is Birthing Pod chains. Birthing Pod is an artifact that allows you to sacrifice a creature to search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost one higher than the sacrificed creature and put it onto the battlefield. By repeating this process, you can create a chain of creatures that get progressively stronger and more valuable.

MTG Birthing Pod card

You could start with a low-cost creature like Llanowar Elves and sacrifice it to search for a slightly more expensive creature. Keep repeating this process until you eventually find a creature like Avenger of Zendikar, which can create an army of powerful plant tokens that can overwhelm your opponent.

Unlocking Potential Through Smart Tutoring

Green's tutoring strength isn't just in fetching individual cards but in creating powerful combos and synergies:

  • Time of Need: This is one of my favorite green tutor cards. 2 mana, go get a legendary creature, right into your hand.
  • Traverse the Ulvenwald: Land fetch with an interesting Delirium component for later game.
  • Uncage the Menagerie: A strategic choice for decks with several different creatures of the same mana cost.

Understanding these synergies is key to maximizing the impact of your tutor cards.

Green tutor cards are incredibly powerful and can help you find the exact card you need to win the game. But by combining them with the right synergies and combos, you can create unstoppable strategies that will leave your opponents reeling.

Deck Building with Green Tutors

green robed female mage with green cards magically floating around her above the table

Green tutor cards are some of the most powerful tools in a mono-green deck. However, it's important to use them strategically and thoughtfully to get the most out of them. In this section, I'll share some tips on how to build a deck with green tutors.

Strategic Inclusion for Maximum Impact

When building your deck, consider the following:

  • Balance Tutor Targets: Include a mix of high-value creatures and lands, ensuring you have targets for every situation.
  • Mana Curve Considerations: Ensure your deck supports the mana costs of your tutor targets. Even if you don't tutor for them, you want to be able to cast them!
  • Specialized Tutors: Incorporate tutors like Threats Undetected or Shared Summons for specific strategies.

By thoughtfully including a range of tutors, your mono-green deck can adapt to various game states and opponent strategies

Balancing Tutor Targets

When building a deck with green tutor cards, it's important to balance the number of tutor targets with the number of tutors. Having too few tutor targets can make your tutors useless, while having too many can dilute the effectiveness of your deck.

One way to strike a balance is to include a mix of tutor targets that serve different purposes. For example, you might include creatures and lands that help in various common situations, as well as a few that pull off your win condition(s). This will give you flexibility in how you use your tutors, and ensure that you always have a useful target to search for.

dirt path in a very green woods with the sun shining through

Mana Curve Considerations

Another important factor to consider when building a deck with green tutor cards is your mana curve. Green tutors can help you find the cards you need, but they won't always help you cast them if you don't have the mana to do so, since many go on top of your library or into your hand.

To make the most of your tutors, it's important to have a well-balanced mana curve that allows you to play the cards you search for. This means including balanced a mix of low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost cards, and ensuring that you have enough mana sources to cast them all.

Group Hug and Tribal Tutors

  • Weird Harvest: This specialized tutor can be considered a group hug. The key here is to know you have nastier creatures in your deck with ways to play them quickly, as you let all players search for X creatures and put them into their hand.

  • In the realm of mono-green, elf tribal decks stand out for their synergy and speed. Enhancing these decks with specialized elf green tutor cards can elevate their efficiency and consistency. Include Wirewood Herald and Elvish Harbinger to make sure you have the right elves for any occasion. You could even fetch a tribal sorcery card such as Elvish Promenade if the board state called for it!

Cards that replace one permanent with another: Protean Hulk or Crop Rotation may be incredibly useful, based on your deck or meta environment.

By keeping these considerations in mind, you can build a powerful and effective mono-green deck. With the right balance of tutor targets and a well-balanced mana curve, you'll be able to search for and cast the cards you need to dominate your opponents.

Enhancing Tutor Effects

As a Mono Green player, I know how important it is to have access to the right cards at the right time. It can be the difference between having that creature to finish your combo, or that hurricane to deal with all the flyers on the board.

That's why I always make sure to include powerful tutor effects in my deck. However, simply having access to these cards isn't enough. To truly maximize their potential, I've found that there are a few key strategies that can help enhance their effectiveness.

Magical green leaves growing from a book on the ground in the woods, the sun is shining down on it

Maximize Card Advantage

One of the biggest advantages of using tutor effects is the ability to consistently find the cards you need. However, it's important to remember that each time you use a tutor, you're essentially trading one card in your hand for another. 

To make sure you're getting the most value out of your tutors, it's crucial to focus on maximizing your card advantage. Cards like The Great Henge and Sylvan Library can be incredibly powerful in this regard.

The Great Henge not only provides a consistent source of card draw, but also offers additional mana ramp and life gain. Sylvan Library allows you to draw extra cards each turn and even manipulate the top of your library to ensure you're drawing the right cards at the right time.

Leverage Utility Lands and Artifacts

In addition to maximizing card advantage, it's also important to consider how you can leverage utility lands and artifacts to enhance your green tutor cards' effects.

Cards like Exploration can help you ramp up your mana quickly, giving you more resources to work with each turn.

Similarly, powerful artifacts like Sensei's Divining Top can help you manipulate your library and ensure that you're always drawing the cards you need.

Elvish Reclaimer can help you find just the right land (though you'll lose one you currently have in the process.

Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest can be used for repeated tutoring, enhancing deck consistency. But you'll throw a lot of your guys straight in the trash to do so. What if you need them later?

One of my favorite cards to use in this regard is Eternal Witness. This powerful creature not only allows you to return a card from your graveyard to your hand, but also provides a solid body on the battlefield.

By combining Eternal Witness‘ graveyard recursion with Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest you can create a deck that's incredibly consistent and can adapt to a wide range of situations.

With a focus on maximizing tutoring strategy, card advantage, and leveraging powerful utility lands and artifacts, you can take your mono green deck to the next level and truly enhance your green tutor cards' effects.

Meta Considerations for Green Tutors

As a green mage on many a Friday night, I understand the importance of having a toolbox of spells at my disposal. That's why I always include a few tutor cards in my deck to make sure I can find just the right tool for the job.

Choosing the right tutor can be tricky, especially in a competitive meta. Let's discuss some meta considerations for green tutor cards and recommend some less common mono-green tutor cards in MTG.

The hands of a mage over a table filled with green magical cards and some tokens

Adapting to the Competitive Landscape

When building a green deck, it's important to consider the competitive landscape. Are your opponents playing fast combo decks or slow control decks? Are they running a lot of removal or counterspells? What specific card types do you keep running into? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you choose the right tutor cards for your deck.

In a fast combo meta, you'll want to include tutors that can fetch your combo pieces quickly, or your ways to dusrupt your opponents'. In a slow control meta, you'll want to include tutors that can help you grind out value over time and protect your board from controlling effects. Or just quickly stomp the control deck(s) so you don't have to worry about it. And if your opponents are running a lot of removal or counterspells, you'll want to include tutors that can help you prepare for or recover from those setbacks.

And if your primary color is green, you'll most likely want mana dorks and ramp tutors to get ahead of your opponent on mana.

Make a wish

Living Wish is a versatile tutor that allows you to search your sideboard for a creature or land card and put it into your hand. Not so helpful in Commander where you don't generally run a sideboard, but a very personal tutor card allowing you to stuff a sideboard full of hate for the decks that you need that extra mmph against.

MTG Living Wish card

Planar Portal

Planar Portal is an artifact that can tutor for any card. A rare option for mono green, and mono green may also be one of the few colors that can make decent use of it with its high mana costs.

MTG Planar Portal card

What green tutor helps win your games? Let us know in the comments.

Check out our write up on the top 100 mono green commanders!

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Bryan - MCM
Author: Bryan - MCM

Magic player since Revised in 94. Still remember opening boosters of Revised, the Dark, and Arabian Nights as a kid. Watching it be a big deal (and then let down) when Fallen Empires dropped. Then Magic got it right again and really took off. While the current state of Wizards is debatable, I still enjoy playing with friends and my kids. I don't do tournaments much these days but I've played Draft, Sealed, Standard, Extended (not a thing anymore,) Pre-Release, Grand Prix, States Qualifiers, and Teams tournaments. Though I'm not a judge, I'm the one the friends turn to when there's a rules question, and if I don't know it, I find it. Please, ask me anything, comment on posts, and share Magic with your friends and family!

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