Thanks for the prompt response. Bigger Elves does sound fun, and I'm more of a Timmy than a Spike. I do like how adaptable the sideboard is and that I can get away with running 1-ofs to fight matchups. I think I'll proxy up a couple different ones and playtest them with my wife before dropping any money.
@lord_darkview
Edit: thank you as well for the input. I didn't see your post, as I was busy typing this reply, lol. I'd like to give it a try at least via proxy. It looks like a ton of fun.
your list does inspire me to theory craft. especially with the steel leaf champion. I've never quite been able to find a home for Bloodthorn Taunter, but talk of collected company got me thinking. I'm just theory crafting at the moment with the list below.
I don't think the build really packs enough worthwhile targets for CoCo. I feel like I'd be disappointed if I didn't hit two of Rhonas, Witness, Tracker, or Champion, and the odds are you hit one at most.
More pointedly, I really am not a big fan of Bloodthorn Taunter as the haste-mechanism. I feel like Surrak, the Hunt Caller is a respectable creature on his own, and with just a bit more grants his Haste effect. Alternatively, Lightning Greaves trades the Taunter's fragile but overrun-boosting body for a harder to remove permanent type, the ability to move it on subsequent turns, and protection for Ghalta.
Still, this approach is pretty clever. Here's a quick list I put together:
Sometimes it still gets those crazy openings. Surrak often start punching right away. The Tracker tutors up whatever, and Surrak can send it into the red-zone. And of course, we still have Garruk's overrun potential. Funny point: a Garruk overrun with 3 creatures guarantees a 2-mana Ghalta, which might actually be relevant even when you couldn't make a lethal alpha strike.
Hey dude. Welcome to the club of getting abused by non-tournament playing Devotion dudes. BTW, you are right. I play a different devotion build simply because the BTE with Arbor Elf and Utopia vow version gets Two-Zeroed by any deck with heavy spot removal and land D via Ghost Quarter or spreading seas. ANy one on this thread who says otherwise is in denial.
The last guy who regularly makes a good placing here is the Summoning Pact player who goes all out for the mechanics of big mana explosive win cons and ran a playset of the Monstrosity creature that has reach.
Spot removal heavy decks wipe us out and in any tournament situation, the deck really is easy to play against.
I'm thinking of using Reaper King as a nuke-all toolbox with the requisite Devotion build since RK is a vindicate anything once Arcane Adaptation is in play. You can even change the loop with the second Adaptation you play being called for Allies for the infinite Wolves. RK is 9 CmC.
My deck is built on Defender Mana ramping as a secondary mana flood device if Nykthos is negated and is more reliable than Utopia Vow and Arbor Elf and Nykthos by themselves. There are non creature devotion sources too like using Privileged Position maindeck to protect the entire board.
My finishers are Terrastodon, Primeval Titan, or making a Primalcrux stick it up their nose. The deck is rather slow and isn't as explosive as BTE is against permission decks but the resilience should tide it out.
The infinite combo Turntimber Ranger build, I will test by next weekend in a local tourney. This Primalcrux build has almost won me two games had I not screwed with crucial plays like going for the kill before they played the Miracle Hallowed Burial.
Getting greedy as a Timmy player kinda bites back. But this build is more resilient against Skred and goblin hatching decks.
looking at discussions and event results, it doesn't seem to perform reliably.
Just a small consideration
If you look top-8 decks, you see mostly other T1 Decks, and very rarely devotion ones.
Considering most of those events are hundreds of people strong, if you have a 100 ppl event with 30 Jund and 1 Devotion, chances to see a Jund in Top 8 are "a bit" higher than seeing the lone devotion deck.
Speaking out of personal experience...i've been playing Green Devotion..starting from Wave devotion to my latest list you can see few pages back, for quite a few years, and by playing 30-60 people events, i've played against a mirror only ONCE (in at least 3 years).
That means opponents usually are not prepared to face your deck, have no particular hate against it....but still....seeing top 8 results when there are like 1-2 Devo decks out of 200 people is very hard
The key thing everyone needs to consider is that when expecting a highly interact meta, build for consistency. Oath of Nissa, Jadelight Ranger, Tireless Tracker...all of these help in that respect.
@MirageJenius
Let us know how your combo deck works this weekend!
The key thing everyone needs to consider is that when expecting a highly interact meta, build for consistency. Oath of Nissa, Jadelight Ranger, Tireless Tracker...all of these help in that respect.
The meta right now is full of interactive, highly disruptive opponents. A devotion deck that is explosive when the opponent does nothing to stop it but full of individually weak cards otherwise will not see much in the way of success.
This deck is built to grind, more of a midrange deck with a combo finish than a true combo deck, which i think is a better choice right now. Kitchen Finks was the last piece of the main deck to fall into place, and it has been fantastic. It hits hard, blocks very well, and gains life, all while coming down on turn 2 and adding 2 devotion that isn't easy to get rid of. Resetting it with Nissa's -1 is game-winning against certain decks.
Ill post here about how the GP goes, and if my theories hold any water.
So i know i don't really participate in the discussions here except when tooth and nail comes up. I just don't have time or money IRL to explore too much of the different versions/iterations of the deck. That said, even if I'm a bit of a lurker, discussions here have really helped me get off the ground. I've only been playing Magic for a few years and I'm going to my first GP.
Thanks all of you all for being here, this thread is cool.
Hey man, thanks for being a part of the community We all have other priorities, life isn't just about magic haha. I don't spend as much time as other people I'm sure, but we all contribute what we can for the archetype we love!
Hsving played some amount of T&N in the past, I'm a big fan of your list. Super tight, lots of grind potential. My only ideas would be to consider a boseiju or Dragonlord Atarka. I know Ballista functions very similar so it might not be necessary, but i would let you make that distinction.
How did your tests go with this deck? (i assume you tested it a lot before bringing it to a GP)
I tried the Tooth and Nail variant for a w hile, but got extremely annoyed when i kept having a mono-emrakul in my hand every time without being able to cast it.
I'm also interested in the 4 Primeval Titan. In devotion decks i've seen people going for 2 titans max, while you're going with a full set. Considering it doens't rly do much by itself in this deck, and that with the same mana cost you could have a Woodland Wellower that with so many 3-drops could be rly great...why the choice?
Many of us who only play 1-3 Titan also have tutoring effects we expect to use in order to find it, if need be. Generally, the first Titan is great, the second is sometimes okay, and the third is pretty bad.
@Aethelianmage Really love your list, hope you don't face too many control list
I've been thinking about it and Nissa, Steward of Elements is a really cool pay off card while also not being overly costed for some scry action early game, couple with Tireless tracker you could easily scry 2 and draw for 2 mana which is pretty good, while obviously requiring a set-up it could help in making a really consistent and grindy list. For 8 or 9 mana you can ult and you can still cast her for less and have some chance of ramping/dropping creature for free on the board.
I'm slowly moving away from Nykthos since it's not a play style I enjoy.. think I've overplayed it.I'll wish you good luck on the building process and might come back post dominaria to help set-up a new list with news cards, there is still a lot that isn't revealed maybe we are getting some new toys.
I agree that there could be some new options in Dominaria...there is still a good portion of the set left to spoil.
Good luck with your list as well.
______
Green Devotion can absolutely win against everything in the current meta. It is just harder for us because (a) we don’t have a defined list (there are so many options) and (b) sideboards can be difficult given the variance in lists. I do think, however, we need a more succinct primer (Im trying) that outlines each big archetypes and how they differ...strengths/weaknesses...and how to board with each so players can come; get a sense of which speaks to them; and then play it. We also need a “best cards” list to give people a sense of where to start.
Green Devotion tends to take a LARGE time investment and most people don’t have that kind of time.
i totally agree that we do have lists that are all over the place. when i started posting again last december in general, I knew i wanted to play something that had a lot of ramp power that I hadn't played before, which lead me here. I never followed any real established list but easily the best non-tron ramping in modern is in this deck type. (also copied by ponza currently)
I won a Last Chance Trial at the GP today. Now I have 2 byes! I'm pretty happy with how my deck has performed and how I built it.
Round 1: Tribal Allies (2-0). His deck has synergy, but can't handle the power of Tooth and Nail. 1-0
Round 2: 4c Traverse Shadow (2-0). The grindy side of the deck pulls me through here. Large non-tramply dudes don't do so well against Nissa + Finks holding the fort. 2-0
Round 3: Mono G Tron (2-0). I steal game 1 somehow, then Blood Moon + World Breaker + Needle on O-stone gets me there game 2. 3-0
Round 4: Hollow One (0-2). Opponent says he doesn't need the byes before the round, and give me the win. We play it out, and i am promptly destroyed.
3-1 but technically 4-0 *shrug* Got 2 byes at least.
I'm felling pretty good about tomorrow.
On the subject of Primeval Titan, I cant speak for all builds of devotion, but in T+N, I think that playing any less than 4 is a mistake. Prime Time is a game-winning threat on it's own, and bigger than the biggest threat many decks can muster. It also ramps you closer to the magical 9 mana. Furthermore, an ETB pile of Kessig Wolf Run and Treetop Village still presents a 1-2 turn clock even if the Titan is removed immediately. That said, shaving titans post-board in favor of more specialized creatures is definitely a good option.
Control is not great but it is winnable. Sneaking a 3-drop under their shields is very viable, and the 3-drops are very strong. Post board, World Breaker and Emmy Promised End do quite a number on them.
The key thing everyone needs to consider is that when expecting a highly interact meta, build for consistency. Oath of Nissa, Jadelight Ranger, Tireless Tracker...all of these help in that respect.
The meta right now is full of interactive, highly disruptive opponents. A devotion deck that is explosive when the opponent does nothing to stop it but full of individually weak cards otherwise will not see much in the way of success.
This deck is built to grind, more of a midrange deck with a combo finish than a true combo deck, which i think is a better choice right now. Kitchen Finks was the last piece of the main deck to fall into place, and it has been fantastic. It hits hard, blocks very well, and gains life, all while coming down on turn 2 and adding 2 devotion that isn't easy to get rid of. Resetting it with Nissa's -1 is game-winning against certain decks.
Ill post here about how the GP goes, and if my theories hold any water.
So i know i don't really participate in the discussions here except when tooth and nail comes up. I just don't have time or money IRL to explore too much of the different versions/iterations of the deck. That said, even if I'm a bit of a lurker, discussions here have really helped me get off the ground. I've only been playing Magic for a few years and I'm going to my first GP.
Thanks all of you all for being here, this thread is cool.
A well built list. Going for the max. 12 Ramp cards and high impact 3 drops. Walking Ballista for Interaction. I like it a lot.
I have been going to 4x Tireless Tracker as well in my list, have been advocating the card for grindier versions of the deck. I do think it's the best card advantage engine we can play right now.
Congratulations for your results so far. Hollow one is almost a coin flip deck, not much you can do when they run well.
Well played and good luck going forward, we're rooting for you!
Here is an updated versions of my GB Walker List:
Pretty Sure I should put Primeval Titans back in there and needs some more streamlining in the top end threats.
i totally agree that we do have lists that are all over the place. when i started posting again last december in general, I knew i wanted to play something that had a lot of ramp power that I hadn't played before, which lead me here. I never followed any real established list but easily the best non-tron ramping in modern is in this deck type. (also copied by ponza currently)
So, I wouldn't quite say that everyone follows our specific approach, but others have certainly latched on to the Sprawl-Elf combo. Nykthos and Garruk Wildspeaker are less frequently used. Though we certainly are the second-best big-mana deck in the format, and there are some advantages that we have over the other choice.
I'm not crazy about the Resonator deck--it's a generic big-mana deck focused on Titan, where Strionic Resonator is really a win-more card. Let's face it: 1 trigger of Titan usually gets you enough mana, and 1 trigger of an Eldrazi is usually enough to seal the game.
I won a Last Chance Trial at the GP today. Now I have 2 byes! I'm pretty happy with how my deck has performed and how I built it.
Round 1: Tribal Allies (2-0). His deck has synergy, but can't handle the power of Tooth and Nail. 1-0
Round 2: 4c Traverse Shadow (2-0). The grindy side of the deck pulls me through here. Large non-tramply dudes don't do so well against Nissa + Finks holding the fort. 2-0
Round 3: Mono G Tron (2-0). I steal game 1 somehow, then Blood Moon + World Breaker + Needle on O-stone gets me there game 2. 3-0
Round 4: Hollow One (0-2). Opponent says he doesn't need the byes before the round, and give me the win. We play it out, and i am promptly destroyed.
3-1 but technically 4-0 *shrug* Got 2 byes at least.
I'm felling pretty good about tomorrow.
On the subject of Primeval Titan, I cant speak for all builds of devotion, but in T+N, I think that playing any less than 4 is a mistake. Prime Time is a game-winning threat on it's own, and bigger than the biggest threat many decks can muster. It also ramps you closer to the magical 9 mana. Furthermore, an ETB pile of Kessig Wolf Run and Treetop Village still presents a 1-2 turn clock even if the Titan is removed immediately. That said, shaving titans post-board in favor of more specialized creatures is definitely a good option.
Control is not great but it is winnable. Sneaking a 3-drop under their shields is very viable, and the 3-drops are very strong. Post board, World Breaker and Emmy Promised End do quite a number on them.
Well done, and congratulations. I'm not really a big TnN player, but I do like your list. It represents not just a TnN kill, but also a powerful grinding element.
I do agree that 4 Titans in TnN decks is probably the right call. While other decks can use Summoner's Pact or some other form of tutoring, in TnN the Titan may be ramping up to the namesake spell. For this reason, it is important to not have to spend mana tutoring up Titan.
I was also a huge fan of Titans with multiple Treetops, which often could be a lot more threatening than anything else and tough to answer. The trouble is fitting more than one Treetop in the aggro builds, but a more grindy take focused on Tracker with Titan could probably do a lot more.
Lately, I am putting more emphasis on Nykthos as a potential +2-3 mana land than the hypothetical big returns.
The key thing everyone needs to consider is that when expecting a highly interact meta, build for consistency. Oath of Nissa, Jadelight Ranger, Tireless Tracker...all of these help in that respect.
The meta right now is full of interactive, highly disruptive opponents. A devotion deck that is explosive when the opponent does nothing to stop it but full of individually weak cards otherwise will not see much in the way of success.
This deck is built to grind, more of a midrange deck with a combo finish than a true combo deck, which i think is a better choice right now. Kitchen Finks was the last piece of the main deck to fall into place, and it has been fantastic. It hits hard, blocks very well, and gains life, all while coming down on turn 2 and adding 2 devotion that isn't easy to get rid of. Resetting it with Nissa's -1 is game-winning against certain decks.
Ill post here about how the GP goes, and if my theories hold any water.
So i know i don't really participate in the discussions here except when tooth and nail comes up. I just don't have time or money IRL to explore too much of the different versions/iterations of the deck. That said, even if I'm a bit of a lurker, discussions here have really helped me get off the ground. I've only been playing Magic for a few years and I'm going to my first GP.
Thanks all of you all for being here, this thread is cool.
A well built list. Going for the max. 12 Ramp cards and high impact 3 drops. Walking Ballista for Interaction. I like it a lot.
I have been going to 4x Tireless Tracker as well in my list, have been advocating the card for grindier versions of the deck. I do think it's the best card advantage engine we can play right now.
Congratulations for your results so far. Hollow one is almost a coin flip deck, not much you can do when they run well.
Well played and good luck going forward, we're rooting for you!
Here is an updated versions of my GB Walker List:
Pretty Sure I should put Primeval Titans back in there and needs some more streamlining in the top end threats.
The key thing everyone needs to consider is that when expecting a highly interact meta, build for consistency. Oath of Nissa, Jadelight Ranger, Tireless Tracker...all of these help in that respect.
The meta right now is full of interactive, highly disruptive opponents. A devotion deck that is explosive when the opponent does nothing to stop it but full of individually weak cards otherwise will not see much in the way of success.
This deck is built to grind, more of a midrange deck with a combo finish than a true combo deck, which i think is a better choice right now. Kitchen Finks was the last piece of the main deck to fall into place, and it has been fantastic. It hits hard, blocks very well, and gains life, all while coming down on turn 2 and adding 2 devotion that isn't easy to get rid of. Resetting it with Nissa's -1 is game-winning against certain decks.
Ill post here about how the GP goes, and if my theories hold any water.
So i know i don't really participate in the discussions here except when tooth and nail comes up. I just don't have time or money IRL to explore too much of the different versions/iterations of the deck. That said, even if I'm a bit of a lurker, discussions here have really helped me get off the ground. I've only been playing Magic for a few years and I'm going to my first GP.
Thanks all of you all for being here, this thread is cool.
A well built list. Going for the max. 12 Ramp cards and high impact 3 drops. Walking Ballista for Interaction. I like it a lot.
I have been going to 4x Tireless Tracker as well in my list, have been advocating the card for grindier versions of the deck. I do think it's the best card advantage engine we can play right now.
Congratulations for your results so far. Hollow one is almost a coin flip deck, not much you can do when they run well.
Well played and good luck going forward, we're rooting for you!
Here is an updated versions of my GB Walker List:
Pretty Sure I should put Primeval Titans back in there and needs some more streamlining in the top end threats.
This is extremely similar to my “competitive” deck (the one I play when playing seriously rather than testing a new idea/card). I really like what you’ve done here...but I am biased toward Walker builds :). Looks awesome.
Thanks for the prompt response. Bigger Elves does sound fun, and I'm more of a Timmy than a Spike. I do like how adaptable the sideboard is and that I can get away with running 1-ofs to fight matchups. I think I'll proxy up a couple different ones and playtest them with my wife before dropping any money.
@lord_darkview
Edit: thank you as well for the input. I didn't see your post, as I was busy typing this reply, lol. I'd like to give it a try at least via proxy. It looks like a ton of fun.
your list does inspire me to theory craft. especially with the steel leaf champion. I've never quite been able to find a home for Bloodthorn Taunter, but talk of collected company got me thinking. I'm just theory crafting at the moment with the list below.
2x birds of paradise
2x Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
4x Steel Leaf Champion
2x eternal witness
2x Kitchen Finks
3x ghalta, primal hunger
1x ruric thar, the unbowed
3x Bloodthorn Taunter
4x collected company
4x Utopia Sprawl
2x Beast Within
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
Land
7x Fetch Land
7x Forest
3x Stomping Grounds
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Kessig Wolf Run
maybe it needs more 5/x creatures to make Bloodthorn Taunter effective. the next best choice might be Wayward Swordtooth and 1x more Rhonas the Indomitable. ( haven't forgotten about tarmogoyf)
I don't think the build really packs enough worthwhile targets for CoCo. I feel like I'd be disappointed if I didn't hit two of Rhonas, Witness, Tracker, or Champion, and the odds are you hit one at most.
More pointedly, I really am not a big fan of Bloodthorn Taunter as the haste-mechanism. I feel like Surrak, the Hunt Caller is a respectable creature on his own, and with just a bit more grants his Haste effect. Alternatively, Lightning Greaves trades the Taunter's fragile but overrun-boosting body for a harder to remove permanent type, the ability to move it on subsequent turns, and protection for Ghalta.
Still, this approach is pretty clever. Here's a quick list I put together:
3 Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
4 Leatherback Baloth
3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Primeval Titan
1 Carnage Tyrant
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
4 Arbor Elf
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
Other
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
6 Forest
Sometimes it still gets those crazy openings. Surrak often start punching right away. The Tracker tutors up whatever, and Surrak can send it into the red-zone. And of course, we still have Garruk's overrun potential. Funny point: a Garruk overrun with 3 creatures guarantees a 2-mana Ghalta, which might actually be relevant even when you couldn't make a lethal alpha strike.
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
Hey dude. Welcome to the club of getting abused by non-tournament playing Devotion dudes. BTW, you are right. I play a different devotion build simply because the BTE with Arbor Elf and Utopia vow version gets Two-Zeroed by any deck with heavy spot removal and land D via Ghost Quarter or spreading seas. ANy one on this thread who says otherwise is in denial.
The last guy who regularly makes a good placing here is the Summoning Pact player who goes all out for the mechanics of big mana explosive win cons and ran a playset of the Monstrosity creature that has reach.
Spot removal heavy decks wipe us out and in any tournament situation, the deck really is easy to play against.
Having said that, there are ways to sneak in a win condition like Arcane Adaptation and Turntimber Ranger built in.
I'm thinking of using Reaper King as a nuke-all toolbox with the requisite Devotion build since RK is a vindicate anything once Arcane Adaptation is in play. You can even change the loop with the second Adaptation you play being called for Allies for the infinite Wolves. RK is 9 CmC.
My deck is built on Defender Mana ramping as a secondary mana flood device if Nykthos is negated and is more reliable than Utopia Vow and Arbor Elf and Nykthos by themselves. There are non creature devotion sources too like using Privileged Position maindeck to protect the entire board.
My finishers are Terrastodon, Primeval Titan, or making a Primalcrux stick it up their nose. The deck is rather slow and isn't as explosive as BTE is against permission decks but the resilience should tide it out.
2x Wall of Roots
2x Carven Caryatid
4x Sylvan Caryatid
2x eternal witness
2x Genesis Hydra
1x Polukranos, World Eater
1x Xenagos, God of Revels
1x Primeval Titan
4x Primalcrux
1x ruric thar, the unbowed
1x Terrastodon
2x Primal Command
3x Oath of Nissa
1x Nissa, Steward of Elements
4x Kiora, Master of the Depths
Land
13x Forest
2x Stomping Ground
1x Hinterland Harbor
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Kessig Wolf Run
The infinite combo Turntimber Ranger build, I will test by next weekend in a local tourney. This Primalcrux build has almost won me two games had I not screwed with crucial plays like going for the kill before they played the Miracle Hallowed Burial.
Getting greedy as a Timmy player kinda bites back. But this build is more resilient against Skred and goblin hatching decks.
Just a small consideration
If you look top-8 decks, you see mostly other T1 Decks, and very rarely devotion ones.
Considering most of those events are hundreds of people strong, if you have a 100 ppl event with 30 Jund and 1 Devotion, chances to see a Jund in Top 8 are "a bit" higher than seeing the lone devotion deck.
Speaking out of personal experience...i've been playing Green Devotion..starting from Wave devotion to my latest list you can see few pages back, for quite a few years, and by playing 30-60 people events, i've played against a mirror only ONCE (in at least 3 years).
That means opponents usually are not prepared to face your deck, have no particular hate against it....but still....seeing top 8 results when there are like 1-2 Devo decks out of 200 people is very hard
@MirageJenius
Let us know how your combo deck works this weekend!
The meta right now is full of interactive, highly disruptive opponents. A devotion deck that is explosive when the opponent does nothing to stop it but full of individually weak cards otherwise will not see much in the way of success.
This is what im taking to GP Phoenix tomorrow:
4 Arbor Elf
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Primeval Titan
4 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
3 Walking Ballista
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
4 Tireless Tracker
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Windswept Heath
3 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Treetop Village
7 Forest
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Abrade
1 World Breaker
3 Blood Moon
2 Obstinate Baloth
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
This deck is built to grind, more of a midrange deck with a combo finish than a true combo deck, which i think is a better choice right now. Kitchen Finks was the last piece of the main deck to fall into place, and it has been fantastic. It hits hard, blocks very well, and gains life, all while coming down on turn 2 and adding 2 devotion that isn't easy to get rid of. Resetting it with Nissa's -1 is game-winning against certain decks.
Ill post here about how the GP goes, and if my theories hold any water.
So i know i don't really participate in the discussions here except when tooth and nail comes up. I just don't have time or money IRL to explore too much of the different versions/iterations of the deck. That said, even if I'm a bit of a lurker, discussions here have really helped me get off the ground. I've only been playing Magic for a few years and I'm going to my first GP.
Thanks all of you all for being here, this thread is cool.
Hsving played some amount of T&N in the past, I'm a big fan of your list. Super tight, lots of grind potential. My only ideas would be to consider a boseiju or Dragonlord Atarka. I know Ballista functions very similar so it might not be necessary, but i would let you make that distinction.
Good luck at the GP and let us know how it goes!
I tried the Tooth and Nail variant for a w hile, but got extremely annoyed when i kept having a mono-emrakul in my hand every time without being able to cast it.
I'm also interested in the 4 Primeval Titan. In devotion decks i've seen people going for 2 titans max, while you're going with a full set. Considering it doens't rly do much by itself in this deck, and that with the same mana cost you could have a Woodland Wellower that with so many 3-drops could be rly great...why the choice?
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
I mean, it grabs ANY two lands. cascading cataracts to cast a splashy bomb? Yes please
I've been thinking about it and Nissa, Steward of Elements is a really cool pay off card while also not being overly costed for some scry action early game, couple with Tireless tracker you could easily scry 2 and draw for 2 mana which is pretty good, while obviously requiring a set-up it could help in making a really consistent and grindy list. For 8 or 9 mana you can ult and you can still cast her for less and have some chance of ramping/dropping creature for free on the board.
I'm slowly moving away from Nykthos since it's not a play style I enjoy.. think I've overplayed it.I'll wish you good luck on the building process and might come back post dominaria to help set-up a new list with news cards, there is still a lot that isn't revealed maybe we are getting some new toys.
I agree that there could be some new options in Dominaria...there is still a good portion of the set left to spoil.
Good luck with your list as well.
______
Green Devotion can absolutely win against everything in the current meta. It is just harder for us because (a) we don’t have a defined list (there are so many options) and (b) sideboards can be difficult given the variance in lists. I do think, however, we need a more succinct primer (Im trying) that outlines each big archetypes and how they differ...strengths/weaknesses...and how to board with each so players can come; get a sense of which speaks to them; and then play it. We also need a “best cards” list to give people a sense of where to start.
Green Devotion tends to take a LARGE time investment and most people don’t have that kind of time.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/against-the-odds-mono-green-resonator-modern
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@curdbros
i totally agree that we do have lists that are all over the place. when i started posting again last december in general, I knew i wanted to play something that had a lot of ramp power that I hadn't played before, which lead me here. I never followed any real established list but easily the best non-tron ramping in modern is in this deck type. (also copied by ponza currently)
4x arbor elf
4x utopia sprawl
4x garruk wildspeaker
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Xx land and wincondition
I won a Last Chance Trial at the GP today. Now I have 2 byes! I'm pretty happy with how my deck has performed and how I built it.
Round 1: Tribal Allies (2-0). His deck has synergy, but can't handle the power of Tooth and Nail. 1-0
Round 2: 4c Traverse Shadow (2-0). The grindy side of the deck pulls me through here. Large non-tramply dudes don't do so well against Nissa + Finks holding the fort. 2-0
Round 3: Mono G Tron (2-0). I steal game 1 somehow, then Blood Moon + World Breaker + Needle on O-stone gets me there game 2. 3-0
Round 4: Hollow One (0-2). Opponent says he doesn't need the byes before the round, and give me the win. We play it out, and i am promptly destroyed.
3-1 but technically 4-0 *shrug* Got 2 byes at least.
I'm felling pretty good about tomorrow.
On the subject of Primeval Titan, I cant speak for all builds of devotion, but in T+N, I think that playing any less than 4 is a mistake. Prime Time is a game-winning threat on it's own, and bigger than the biggest threat many decks can muster. It also ramps you closer to the magical 9 mana. Furthermore, an ETB pile of Kessig Wolf Run and Treetop Village still presents a 1-2 turn clock even if the Titan is removed immediately. That said, shaving titans post-board in favor of more specialized creatures is definitely a good option.
Control is not great but it is winnable. Sneaking a 3-drop under their shields is very viable, and the 3-drops are very strong. Post board, World Breaker and Emmy Promised End do quite a number on them.
A well built list. Going for the max. 12 Ramp cards and high impact 3 drops. Walking Ballista for Interaction. I like it a lot.
I have been going to 4x Tireless Tracker as well in my list, have been advocating the card for grindier versions of the deck. I do think it's the best card advantage engine we can play right now.
Congratulations for your results so far. Hollow one is almost a coin flip deck, not much you can do when they run well.
Well played and good luck going forward, we're rooting for you!
Here is an updated versions of my GB Walker List:
Pretty Sure I should put Primeval Titans back in there and needs some more streamlining in the top end threats.
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Oath of Nissa
CMC 3
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Nissa Voice of Zendikar
1 Eternal Witness
1 Ramunap Excavator
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Garruk Relentless
1 Polukranos
CMC 5+
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Hornet Queen
1 Genesis Hydra
8 Green Fetch
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
8 Forest
So, I wouldn't quite say that everyone follows our specific approach, but others have certainly latched on to the Sprawl-Elf combo. Nykthos and Garruk Wildspeaker are less frequently used. Though we certainly are the second-best big-mana deck in the format, and there are some advantages that we have over the other choice.
I'm not crazy about the Resonator deck--it's a generic big-mana deck focused on Titan, where Strionic Resonator is really a win-more card. Let's face it: 1 trigger of Titan usually gets you enough mana, and 1 trigger of an Eldrazi is usually enough to seal the game.
Well done, and congratulations. I'm not really a big TnN player, but I do like your list. It represents not just a TnN kill, but also a powerful grinding element.
I do agree that 4 Titans in TnN decks is probably the right call. While other decks can use Summoner's Pact or some other form of tutoring, in TnN the Titan may be ramping up to the namesake spell. For this reason, it is important to not have to spend mana tutoring up Titan.
I was also a huge fan of Titans with multiple Treetops, which often could be a lot more threatening than anything else and tough to answer. The trouble is fitting more than one Treetop in the aggro builds, but a more grindy take focused on Tracker with Titan could probably do a lot more.
Lately, I am putting more emphasis on Nykthos as a potential +2-3 mana land than the hypothetical big returns.
I also like this build quite a bit. I wish I'd grabbed Trackers before they shot back up in price.
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
Congrats! 🎈🎊🎉
This is extremely similar to my “competitive” deck (the one I play when playing seriously rather than testing a new idea/card). I really like what you’ve done here...but I am biased toward Walker builds :). Looks awesome.
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Arbor Elf
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tireless Tracker
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
2 Primeval Titan
Enchantment
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Oath of Nissa
1 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Treetop Village
6 Forest
Instant
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Summoner's Pact
Planeswalker
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Blood Moon
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Roast
2 Bonfire of the Damned
Not nearly as explosive as some others, but grinds pretty well.
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