I was thinking about the Ghalta idea some more; and wondered if one could make a Primalcrux list with this in mind. Obviously, you don't get the ability to cast it for only 2-mana if you have 10 power on board...but it can quickly be larger than 12/12 and more importantly it isn't legendary.
Primalcrux is the OG Devotion card...so I thought why not make a fun list with it as well. Obviously Primalcrux differs from Ghalta in many ways; but in the only 4 games I've played thus far it gets VERY large very quickly
I think Oghhr’s use of Avatar of the Resolute is due to its ability to be a very large trampler with Aspect of Hydra (while also adding Devotion and being able to block flyers).
If your Devotion is 6 (not difficult considering Avatar is 2 of this already) and you have your Xenagod without Ghalta...he can cast Aspect making Avatar 9-power and then utilize Xenagod’s ability to make it an 18-power trampler.
I haven’t tested Aspect or Avatar extensively so I can’t really say how each plays; but i do Like the idea.
You got it! Been doing some playtesting and its working quite well. Would probably just go back to ballista for less yolo times if things dont pan out longer term
Funny, Ghalta existed before! Yeah, I don't see why Primalcrux wouldn't be a fine substitute, if not better. I'll have to test it.
I think people love Blitz Devotion because everyone loves smashing face, and this deck smashes hard.
I just won a match vs. U/R Breach 2-0, and in game 1 they Breach-Emrakuled leaving me with no permanents except for a Garruk, COB and three life. Next turn I -3 for Ghalta, and they can't deal with it and I win in 1 hit.
LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
Funny, Ghalta existed before! Yeah, I don't see why Primalcrux wouldn't be a fine substitute, if not better. I'll have to test it.
I think people love Blitz Devotion because everyone loves smashing face, and this deck smashes hard.
I just won a match vs. U/R Breach 2-0, and in game 1 they Breach-Emrakuled leaving me with no permanents except for a Garruk, COB and three life. Next turn I -3 for Ghalta, and they can't deal with it and I win in 1 hit.
It’s so true! There is something I think we Devotion players especially love about a massive hasty creature :). It just feels like the purest form of ramp! The Blitz decks are just really really fun to play.
_____
Haha! Those crazy games where you win are the times I tell my brother. “I wish this was on camera”.
Yep! I remember those days. And you’re right that Orimalcrux/Xenagos was a thing then. Primalcrux even spiked in price for a bit because of Devotion. Michael Jacobs kinda put the hurt on the card saying it was bad in Devotion (but he says everything is bad in everything ). It is tough to compete with things like Primeval Titan and even Primal Command that have immediate effect on the board...but nothing feels better than doubling a 13/13 and attacking right through your opponents Gurmag Angler, Realty Smasher, etc.
My question is, in terms of competitive comparison to other devotion decks, is it really better? Hornet Queen into Overrun from Garruk or ramping into Craterhoof etc. might just be as fast or faster, as well has more defensive and harder to disrupt, but I'm sure Devotion Blitz has some advantages over those versions.
Regardless, it's definitely decently competitive, and I haven't spent as much time tuning it. I do think Primalcrux might be better, because if you don't have much of a board presence it will be easier to cast, therefore it's a better card if you need to make a comeback.
I think if Primalcrux is solidified in the fatty slot over Ghalta, the deck name should change to Green Chroma Blitz!
LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
I love the name :). That’s what is so awesome about our community. Ideas get discussed and built upon. You are right that it is really tough for any Pact list to be better than something like Anthony S’s as cards like Hornet Queen and Craterhoof are just so powerful all on their own. Craterhoof is really the best finisher in Green Devotion by a pretty good margin.
It is nice; however, to have decks ready that (a) may be more fun to play at times, (b) attack from an angle the opponent may not be ready for, or (c) work. Enter in particular metas...so I always keep viable decks. Granted I’ve only brewed a total of four decks i would say are actually viable in as many years; but a lot that were good in specific metas/situations...and more that were not quite as competitive but were a blast to play
______
P.S. Just finished a Match against Tron where I won through two Karns, a Wurmcoik Engine, two All is Dust, and an Endbringer. The Jund Superfriends deck wins more slowly (it’s extremely explosive getting permanents on the board; but the permanents tend to be more controlling/ interactive. It’s performing very well.
There are so many variations of Superfriends that it will take a while though:). I think there will likely be at least two versions though. One token/Counter/overrun based (like the Selesnya and Grull versions) and one more “interactive” with black, Karn, etc.). I’m testing as much as I can and the board is coming together better now. I’ll oost findings ASAP.
Isn`t Leatherback Baloth something for Ghalta. 3 Devotion, 4 mana discount, enables Rhonas.
I feel that Push hurt him way too hard. He was a excellent "Removal Magnet" back then and baited out your Opponents Path to Exile,clearing the way for your other, more important Fatties and Finishers or, if they didn't have one of their four copies in Hand, stuck around and pressured the Board. Think Budget Tarmogoyf. But with 8 Maindeckable, easy to trigger 1 Mana Removal Spells in the Format the odds of him sticking around or dying without any payoff are stacked against good old Leatherback. (Path at least gives you an additional Land)
Troll Ascetic just doesn't have enough punch or durability (you really don't want to have to use mana to attack or block), owing to two toughness). Leatherback Baloth may be susceptible to Push, but it has enough upside to be worth it (we also tend to saturate opposing removal).
Good eye on Primalcrux basically being Ghalta for us. It's probably a drop smaller, but dramatically easier to cast.
Troll Ascetic is definitely a sweet 3-drop. Good vs. Supreme Verdict and O-Stone, unfortunately not good vs. Ugin or All is Dust or Living End. Finks is generally better.
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LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
Maybe one of the fastest ways to get Ghalta out would be abusing BTE+Hidden Herbalist+Myr Superion. Maybe not though...
Interesting thought. If you go turn 2 Fetchland into Herbalist into BTE into Superion, you can slam a Ghalta turn 3! Not bad. The real nuts would be to add turn 1 Arbor Elf with Utopia Sprawl in hand to that setup and then you can slam Ghalta on turn 2!
That's 22 power over 4 bodies with 12 trampling on turn 2 lol.
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LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
I mean, these decks won't be consistent I don't think, but I'm all for testing.
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LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
LEGACY: Soldier Stompy WW // Blue Stompy UU // Fit Variants BGRW // Sol Land Brews BGRUWC MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
You're right on cage, I never liked it with nissa but I still like her +2 and ult. We had a huge influx of chord decks running a while back but theyve all switched to 5c humans, could probably switch back to relic.
Chalice outright wins a lot of matchups. And makes a lot of matchups in our favor imo. I run barely any two drops so it doesn't really affect me on that - and matchups where I can place on one, after t1 I don't mind not dropping mana dorks if they're hurt by it more. At worst, it can slow down deck's that have to deal with it - and our deck is an absolute monster the longer the game goes. I think its honestly a must have unless you're running tons of 2 drops.
off the top of my head, plenty more:
Infect (1), burn (1)(2), storm (1)(2), lantern(1), deathshadow (1), jund (2), affinity (0)(2), junk (1)(2), zoo (1)(2), living end (0), ad nauseam (1), rack (1), tokens (2), g tron (1), some control decks (1)(2), anything where I really want to get past path, push, thoughtseize etc. (1)
On your list: I think you might wanna axe oath: the more non-lands/non-creatures you're running the more you hurt your channelers/kruphix's upsides. As many fetches as you're comfortable with gets you quite a bit of scry action for them (I always let fetches sit until I want to changeup whats on top or absolutely need to crack) - kind've filling oath's role. Another pact/land/creature and you're probably set imo.
On SB against aggro: I actually keep nissa in against a lot of aggro deck's that.. who knows maybe I shouldn't? - In general I look at t2 Nissa as something they have to deal with or essentially lose (like burn), so she usually gives me a turn to ramp as she takes some focus to kill. I take her out if the deck I'm against is a little more mid-rangey but still has easy ways to remove her (ie: fliers). I also pretty much always t2 nissa over t2 courser/kruphix, but there are some specific matchup exceptions.
I also miss bloodmoon but carnage tyrants + stubbyD have been holding down the fort against tron quite well, and I definitely don't miss how much it slows down nykthos and fetches.
Whisperwood Elemental has always been a card I like but never played with, gonna need a report!
Let us know how it goes! In general I think adding blue gives us good access to landing hosers and an even faster clock against non-interactive style decks: I've geared the majority of the deck to my meta to that end, carnage tyrant for jeskai/tron/whateverhe'sbig, and chameleons (who I think is worth running a 1 of mainboard if you have kessig) for shadow/grixis. It makes the deck a little weaker to RNG and plays a little differently aggainst aggro because of it - I think chalice of the void and firespout are important SB adds to deal with those types of decks. I tried bonfire but it ended up always being mis-timed for me and I would have rather just had the early spout reliability.
Something like:
4x Arbor Elf
2x Birds of Paradise
3x Burning-Tree Emissary
3x Tireless Tracker
3x Primalcrux
2x Xenagos, God of Revels
1x Acidic Slime
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Surrak, the Hunt Caller
1x Rhonas the Indomitable
3x Walking Ballista
4x Utopia Sprawl
3x Oath of Nissa
Planeswalkers (6)
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
2x Garruk, Caller of Beasts
Instant/Sorcery (2)
2x Summoner's Pact
Land (21)
6x Green Fetch
7x Forest
3x Stomping Ground
1x Kessig Wolf Run
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Chameleon Colossus
2x Abrade
3x Blood Moon
2x Carnage Tyrant
5x Variable (untested list)
Primalcrux is the OG Devotion card...so I thought why not make a fun list with it as well. Obviously Primalcrux differs from Ghalta in many ways; but in the only 4 games I've played thus far it gets VERY large very quickly
You got it! Been doing some playtesting and its working quite well. Would probably just go back to ballista for less yolo times if things dont pan out longer term
Funny, Ghalta existed before! Yeah, I don't see why Primalcrux wouldn't be a fine substitute, if not better. I'll have to test it.
I think people love Blitz Devotion because everyone loves smashing face, and this deck smashes hard.
I just won a match vs. U/R Breach 2-0, and in game 1 they Breach-Emrakuled leaving me with no permanents except for a Garruk, COB and three life. Next turn I -3 for Ghalta, and they can't deal with it and I win in 1 hit.
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
It’s so true! There is something I think we Devotion players especially love about a massive hasty creature :). It just feels like the purest form of ramp! The Blitz decks are just really really fun to play.
_____
Haha! Those crazy games where you win are the times I tell my brother. “I wish this was on camera”.
Yep! I remember those days. And you’re right that Orimalcrux/Xenagos was a thing then. Primalcrux even spiked in price for a bit because of Devotion. Michael Jacobs kinda put the hurt on the card saying it was bad in Devotion (but he says everything is bad in everything ). It is tough to compete with things like Primeval Titan and even Primal Command that have immediate effect on the board...but nothing feels better than doubling a 13/13 and attacking right through your opponents Gurmag Angler, Realty Smasher, etc.
Us old farts...
Regardless, it's definitely decently competitive, and I haven't spent as much time tuning it. I do think Primalcrux might be better, because if you don't have much of a board presence it will be easier to cast, therefore it's a better card if you need to make a comeback.
I think if Primalcrux is solidified in the fatty slot over Ghalta, the deck name should change to Green Chroma Blitz!
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
It is nice; however, to have decks ready that (a) may be more fun to play at times, (b) attack from an angle the opponent may not be ready for, or (c) work. Enter in particular metas...so I always keep viable decks. Granted I’ve only brewed a total of four decks i would say are actually viable in as many years; but a lot that were good in specific metas/situations...and more that were not quite as competitive but were a blast to play
______
P.S. Just finished a Match against Tron where I won through two Karns, a Wurmcoik Engine, two All is Dust, and an Endbringer. The Jund Superfriends deck wins more slowly (it’s extremely explosive getting permanents on the board; but the permanents tend to be more controlling/ interactive. It’s performing very well.
There are so many variations of Superfriends that it will take a while though:). I think there will likely be at least two versions though. One token/Counter/overrun based (like the Selesnya and Grull versions) and one more “interactive” with black, Karn, etc.). I’m testing as much as I can and the board is coming together better now. I’ll oost findings ASAP.
It is. I think there likely a Ghalta Stompy deck.
I feel that Push hurt him way too hard. He was a excellent "Removal Magnet" back then and baited out your Opponents Path to Exile,clearing the way for your other, more important Fatties and Finishers or, if they didn't have one of their four copies in Hand, stuck around and pressured the Board. Think Budget Tarmogoyf. But with 8 Maindeckable, easy to trigger 1 Mana Removal Spells in the Format the odds of him sticking around or dying without any payoff are stacked against good old Leatherback. (Path at least gives you an additional Land)
Aggressive as you can freely swing with it (given you can regenerate it), provides 3 power towards Ghalta and two devotion towards Green.
Good eye on Primalcrux basically being Ghalta for us. It's probably a drop smaller, but dramatically easier to cast.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
Interesting thought. If you go turn 2 Fetchland into Herbalist into BTE into Superion, you can slam a Ghalta turn 3! Not bad. The real nuts would be to add turn 1 Arbor Elf with Utopia Sprawl in hand to that setup and then you can slam Ghalta on turn 2!
That's 22 power over 4 bodies with 12 trampling on turn 2 lol.
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
t2 hidden herbalist, hidden herbalist, aspect of hydra -> ghalta
is also a route.
The more I play with this the more I think aspect is an absolute bomb with tramplers, devotion and xenagos. turn 3 ghalta's icing on the cake.
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
I really liked the look of your G/u/r deck and I made my own version although I'm still working on it, haven't played it much.
1x Acidic Slime
4x Arbor Elf
3x Birds of Paradise
1x Carnage Tyrant
2x Chameleon Colossus
3x Courser of Kruphix
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Hornet Queen
1x Eternal Witness
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1x Scavenging Ooze
3x Walking Ballista
3x Mul Daya Channelers
1x Breeding Pool
2x Kessig Wolf Run
5x Forest
2x Stomping Ground
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
Planeswalker (6)
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
3x Nissa, Steward of Elements
Other (7)
3x Summoner's Pact
4x Utopia Sprawl
2x Abrade
1x Carnage Tyrant
3x Chalice of the Void
3x Firespout
1x Fracturing Gust
2x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Stubborn Denial
My version is below
G/r/u Devotion
// 23 Creature
1 Acidic Slime
4 Arbor Elf
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Walking Ballista
3 Courser of Kruphix
3 Mul Daya Channelers
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Hornet Queen
1 Whisperwood Elemental
1 Wolfbriar Elemental
// 7 Enchantment
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Oath of Nissa
2 Summoner's Pact
// 21 Land
1 Breeding Pool
1 Kessig Wolf Run
6 Forest
2 Stomping Ground
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heat
// 6 Planeswalker
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Blood Moon
2 Abrade
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Bonfire of the Damned
Btw, you have Grafdigger's Cage in your sideboard but that's a nonbo with Nissa, SoE.
Why do you like Chalice so much?
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
Chalice outright wins a lot of matchups. And makes a lot of matchups in our favor imo. I run barely any two drops so it doesn't really affect me on that - and matchups where I can place on one, after t1 I don't mind not dropping mana dorks if they're hurt by it more. At worst, it can slow down deck's that have to deal with it - and our deck is an absolute monster the longer the game goes. I think its honestly a must have unless you're running tons of 2 drops.
off the top of my head, plenty more:
Infect (1), burn (1)(2), storm (1)(2), lantern(1), deathshadow (1), jund (2), affinity (0)(2), junk (1)(2), zoo (1)(2), living end (0), ad nauseam (1), rack (1), tokens (2), g tron (1), some control decks (1)(2), anything where I really want to get past path, push, thoughtseize etc. (1)
On your list: I think you might wanna axe oath: the more non-lands/non-creatures you're running the more you hurt your channelers/kruphix's upsides. As many fetches as you're comfortable with gets you quite a bit of scry action for them (I always let fetches sit until I want to changeup whats on top or absolutely need to crack) - kind've filling oath's role. Another pact/land/creature and you're probably set imo.
On SB against aggro: I actually keep nissa in against a lot of aggro deck's that.. who knows maybe I shouldn't? - In general I look at t2 Nissa as something they have to deal with or essentially lose (like burn), so she usually gives me a turn to ramp as she takes some focus to kill. I take her out if the deck I'm against is a little more mid-rangey but still has easy ways to remove her (ie: fliers). I also pretty much always t2 nissa over t2 courser/kruphix, but there are some specific matchup exceptions.
I also miss bloodmoon but carnage tyrants + stubbyD have been holding down the fort against tron quite well, and I definitely don't miss how much it slows down nykthos and fetches.
Whisperwood Elemental has always been a card I like but never played with, gonna need a report!
Let us know how it goes! In general I think adding blue gives us good access to landing hosers and an even faster clock against non-interactive style decks: I've geared the majority of the deck to my meta to that end, carnage tyrant for jeskai/tron/whateverhe'sbig, and chameleons (who I think is worth running a 1 of mainboard if you have kessig) for shadow/grixis. It makes the deck a little weaker to RNG and plays a little differently aggainst aggro because of it - I think chalice of the void and firespout are important SB adds to deal with those types of decks. I tried bonfire but it ended up always being mis-timed for me and I would have rather just had the early spout reliability.
For sure, ghalta seems super yolo. It's fun!