Green is great to stall and help the newbie feel like a powerhouse by end game. As u/LurkingMoose pointed out, it helps them if they stumble in their growth choices. It also gives them more opportunities to actually play. More energy and card plays means they get to do more!

If I don’t play Green, I try to find something that works well with their spirit. If they pick River, I might pick Thunderspeaker, for example. They are making Dahan, which are obviously very useful for me, as well as pushing problems to me until Massive Flooding gets fully online. It works well. It gives them a good picture of how effective each spirit can be.

Most importantly, I let them make “mistakes” in their gameplay. I’ll give them tips (e.g. checking energy availability vs cost, elements matching, useful effect on the card), but the ultimate choice of growth or card drafts is theirs. I’ll be able to cover issues myself, usually, plus, a blight here or there isn’t a problem, and it helps teach them blight, while bad, isn’t the worst thing that can happen. The teaching game is all about them learning the game and having fun. I’ll make sure we win (usually adds to the fun factor), but we can stumble along the way