i find these teams once again would be mostly good for newer players.

Yes, these lists are aimed at newer players, who are trying to get into the game. I'm trying to help them find a list that'll work, for cheap, at the sub-1,000 point range, and still work quite decently at the 1,000-2,000 point range.

As for Cyclops, as I pointed out, you generally have mana to spare in this current format, and while it has a low speed, it's not really that much of an issue, honestly. Furthermore, it comes, at level 1, with 2 ranged attack, which is quite useful with all the Shields I think you will face.

As for the "Green List," I'd like to note it's not a list per se, but a schematic.
You are correct, sometimes your first melee monster will get beaten, and having a second one then can be useful. But there's a downside to that - until your first monster falls, those are points spent that do nothing.

While trying a bunch of these lists and others, with a single melee tank, I beat every single player who had 2 melee monsters and ranged behind them, with my single melee monster. The only loss came to an opponent with Hydra, but that's not really a close fight, with me using sub-$2 teams.

So in general, you want the least amount of melee monsters. I find having one, at the very least in the low ranks these lists are designed for, to be far superior to having two melee monsters and one ranged monster less. And switching out the Cyclops for a Centaur diffuses your damage, and is too punishable by a monster with Shield in the rear.

But yes, these are all valid points! I just happen to disagree :)