In the new casual format of Oathbreaker, you pair planeswalkers with signature spells in the command zone, and everyone starts out at twenty life. And upon seeing a certain previewed mythic from Ikoria, I knew the first card I would have to build around from the land of monsters.

I'm a fan of Vivien. I just finished writing an article declaring she's an Oathbreaker all-star with a locket of Vivien, Champion of the Wilds and Heroic Intervention. In that deck she ambushes opponents with creatures flying at the speed of Arkbow arrows. The new Vivien will rely less on trickiness and more on raw strength. Not only is she always up for watching a monster movie with you, but also she can enable creature combos and recover from board wipes.

As a Future Sight for creatures, Vivien, Monsters' Advocate allows you to overrun your foes with value. Playing her should feel like a marathon of Jurassic Park movies, one huge Green creature after another. Our feature presentation is a deck with only creature spells, and to enable Vivien, some of those creatures will clear the top of our library of lands. After the decklist we'll discuss a budget version, and like my first Vivien article, we'll end with an Elfball special.

Vivien, Monsters' Advocate in Oathbreaker

Monstrous Vivien | Oathbreaker| AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Obscuring Haze
• 1 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate

• Creatures (35)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Courser of Kruphix
• 1 Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1 Dryad Greenseeker
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Eternal Witness
• 1 Fa'adiyah Seer
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Gemrazer
• 1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
• 1 Gigantosaurus
• 1 God-Eternal Rhonas
• 1 Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma
• 1 Great Oak Guardian
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Hermit Druid
• 1 Karametra's Acolyte
• 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Magus of the Library
• 1 Managorger Hydra
• 1 Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Questing Beast
• 1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Somberwald Sage
• 1 Temur Sabertooth
• 1 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 1 Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1 Zoologist

• Lands (23)
• 19 Forest
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

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Why Obscuring Haze as a signature spell? We could play a card like Overrun or a way to protect our creatures, as I had in my previous Vivien lists. My feeling is that Vivien, Monsters' Advocate is strong enough that if she stays on the battlefield we should win. My principle fear is that we will tap out for her only for her to die, and Fog effects can disincentives foes from attacking us. Better than a removal spell, Obscuring Haze face-up in the command zone will encourage our opponents to attack each other. This will give us more freedom to accelerate into Vivien and to attack with all our creatures.

(The first time you cast Obscuring Haze, it's free. After that it costs two colorless then four, taxed two more each time per usual. You shouldn't have to cast it repeatedly. The power of a spell like this is in prevention, that you will get utility out of not casting the spell.)

Yes, Vivien makes her own 3/3's. They will provide some protection, especially if you give them reach or vigilance. I want more, along with the political power a Fog gives you in multiplayer. If you feel differently, not to worry. I will present other options in this article.

Whereas I wanted Heroic Intervention in other Vivien decks, this planeswalker is so strong that I believe she will allow us to recover after any number of board wipes. We can simply play more creatures off the top of our library. Until that is, we come across a land. That's when we'll need some help from one of our trusty guides.

The Sakura-Tribe Elder is always a strong card in Oathbreaker, as it can waste an opponent's attack while ramping you. In our deck the kindly snake is even better, as you can shuffle for another look at the top. If it had been a basic, flip the land directly into play to save time on shuffling. Since we can peek at the top card, we'll know when to activate Fa'adiyah Seer. Courser of Kruphix can also do double duty, and effects that allow us to cheaply draw cards have added utility, like Tranquil Thicket and Hermit Druid.

If you would prefer not to play these kinds of creatures, you could instead pick a signature spell to clear a land off the top. For this I would suggest Enter the Unknown.

Let's talk creature combos. There aren't too many of them in mono-Green, but we don't need anything too fancy to win. If you -2 Vivien and cast Craterhoof Behemoth, you can search your library for Avenger of Zendikar, which will come into play first with a host of Plant tokens. Those creatures will have summoning sickness, but any others you have with the Craterhoof Behemoth will get enormous. Yeah, like rally big. We're talking the size of a kitty with Colossification.

For the second combo, -2 Vivien then cast Great Oak Guardian and tutor up Temur Sabertooth. At this point you can return the Treefolk to your hand and continuously replay it to make your creatures infinitely large, if you have enough mana producers. We're playing some extra-verdant ones, such as Karametra's Acolyte and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary.

You may well want to tutor up these combos. I included Mwonvuli Beast Tracker, which can get Great Oak Guardian or anything else you need (which will mostly be Questing Beast). If you prefer to play more tutors, Fauna Shaman should be your first choice. You could even play Worldly Tutor as a signature spell. It works great with Vivien, Monsters' Advocate, but again I feel if she's in play I'm already winning. And it's not as if we have Splinter Twin level combos here.

What we do have is an endless migration of ferocious creatures. Cast a Gigantosaurus and -2 Vivien to get a Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma, to give your dino trample. Summon a Ghalta, Primal Hunger and get anything you please. Yes, it's appropriate to cheer for these Godzilla-level dinosaurs, as you might for the monsters in a B-movie.

Say you don't own Craterhoof Behemoth or the expensive creature ramp cards like Selvala, Heart of the Wilds. That's fine. You can build a budget version of the deck with whatever Green rares and mythics you have lying around, if they are creatures. For cheaper mana accelerants, play with Leafkin Druid and Llanowar Tribe. And you can clear the top of your deck with Wall of Blossoms and Wood Elves. Instead of Craterhoof, try End-Raze Forerunners. You can even search up the Boars with Mwonvuli Beast Tracker, and the other combo with Great Oak Guardian is still possible with all uncommons and commons.

As I often say, if I've excluded a big Green creature you love from my list, you can and should include it in your casual deck. I picked some of my own favorites. In general, more situational creatures are better in this deck. For that reason, we're playing Prowling Serpopard. If you really enjoy fetch lands, you could also run them as another way to shuffle, but I would never. Vivien, Monsters' Advocate can even clear the top of the deck herself with her -2, and it's not worth it to me on any level to play fetches in a deck that's mono-colored.

If you're still not sure about my defensive pick for a signature spell, you may be more happy with the elfball list. You could include Elvish Promenade or even Glimpse of Nature, but in my opinion, Benefactor's Draught is even sweeter.

One taste of this potion and you can clear the top of your deck and untap all your mana Elves. It will enable some potent turns, as you play creature after creature off the top. I excluded the previous combos from this list. We hardly need them. Our signature spell will get us close to infinite by itself.

Monstrous Elves | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Vivien, Monsters' Advocate
• 1 Benefactor's Draught

• Creatures (36)
• 1 Arbor Elf
• 1 Birchlore Rangers
• 1 Bloodline Shaman
• 1 Copperhorn Scout
• 1 Dwynen's Elite
• 1 Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
• 1 Elvish Archdruid
• 1 Elvish Mystic
• 1 Elvish Vanguard
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Essence Warden
• 1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
• 1 Fyndhorn Elves
• 1 Gaea's Herald
• 1 Heritage Druid
• 1 Immaculate Magistrate
• 1 Imperious Perfect
• 1 Jagged-Scar Archers
• 1 Joraga Treespeaker
• 1 Joraga Warcaller
• 1 Llanowar Elves
• 1 Llanowar Tribe
• 1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
• 1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
• 1 Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1 Priest of Titania
• 1 Quirion Ranger
• 1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
• 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1 Steel Leaf Champion
• 1 Timberwatch Elf
• 1 Wellwisher
• 1 Wirewood Channeler
• 1 Wirewood Symbiote
• 1 Wood Elves
• 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald

• Lands (22)
• 18 Forest
• 1 Castle Garenbrig
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Pendelhaven

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If you have a big mana producer, you may be able to continuously play elves, untap with Benefactor's Draught, and cast more Elves. How likely is this? Well, we have multiple ways to get there. Elvish Archdruid will do it, as will Heritage Druid, Wirewood Channeler, Rofellos, or Selvala with a big elf like Jagged-Scar Archers.

We have uniquely elven ways to keep the top of our deck clear of lands, with Bloodline Shaman, Elvish Visionary, Wood Elves, and the best in Oracle of Mul Daya. You better believe the Elves are inviting Vivien to their ball.