The adding more lands I agreed with after a few more games of trying my deck out. I went ahead and just cut the See the Unwritten as it was only helping after I was already winning.
A little surprised as to the Darksteel Citadel being random. Some of my best games were when I made an indestructible 4/4 Elemental with trample targetting Darksteel Citadel with Nissa, Worldwaker's 1st activated ability. Actually my revision of the deck was -2 See the Unwritten and +1 Forest / +1 Darksteel Citadel.
I'm still enjoying the Gr Devotion list. A few thoughts:
1) When you can arrange to Crater's Claws your own Hornet Nest, the Jeskai matchup improves considerably for us. I have been considering removing Anger of the Gods from the SB because our creatures block so well against Red Aggro.
2) We are not fast enough, nor do we have enough removal, to deal with the Jeskai Combo deck. I think it is worth dedication some SB slots to Destructive Revelry to counter this deck (even if Destructive Revelry comes in against nothing else). I've considered Polis Crusher, but think it is too slow to address this problem (even if it might be a good card in other circumstances).
3) I tried G/bu devotion early in the Standard, but felt from my limited playing that the come into play tapped lands meant that it was far less likely to be able to play an Elvish Mystic on Turn 1 which in turn lost us a temp. But, if we can play out four drops on Turn 3 (with a turn 2 Elvish Mystic or Caryatid or Voyaging Satyr) maybe this isn't so much of a problem. So, maybe G/xx Devotion isn't as terrible as I first thought.
3a) I don't feel compelled to add a 3rd color, I actually like very much the current 2 colors; Crater's Claws finishes games out of nowhere (I love it when I create a lot of mana and my opponent sighs and says "Crater's Claws?" only to be "relieved" when I play a big Genesis Hydra), and Xenagos does lots of work adding extra mana (and I've actually ultimated Xenagos a couple of times which is fun).
4) GR Monsters (and Temur Monsters) must have game since they are appearing in Top 8 lists, but I still feel favored whenever I face them (and results have validated the feeling). We're pretty even until we find Nykthos or Hydra and land two creatures (relative fatties) in a turn.
5) I played Jeskai to a 1-1-2 match draw yesterday. Deflecting Palm meant we both took lethal at the same time in game 2, we didn't have enough time to play game 4. I blundered by using Crater's Claw to send a Mantis Rider to the graveyard when I could have targeted my own Hornet Nest (something I've done multiple times to great effect, have no idea why I "missed" it this time). He played another Mantis Rider the following turn and rode it to game 3 victory.
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I'm still enjoying the Gr Devotion list. A few thoughts:
1) When you can arrange to Crater's Claws your own Hornet Nest, the Jeskai matchup improves considerably for us. I have been considering removing Anger of the Gods from the SB because our creatures block so well against Red Aggro. Agreed. Being able to run Stormbreath Dragon also meanst that Mantis Rider somehow is not so scary either.
2) We are not fast enough, nor do we have enough removal, to deal with the Jeskai Combo deck. I think it is worth dedication some SB slots to Destructive Revelry to counter this deck (even if Destructive Revelry comes in against nothing else). I've considered Polis Crusher, but think it is too slow to address this problem (even if it might be a good card in other circumstances). I've been on 4 Lightning Strike, 3 Destructive Revelry for a while. It's still a horrible matchup for us if the opponent is patient.
3) I tried G/bu devotion early in the Standard, but felt from my limited playing that the come into play tapped lands meant that it was far less likely to be able to play an Elvish Mystic on Turn 1 which in turn lost us a temp. But, if we can play out four drops on Turn 3 (with a turn 2 Elvish Mystic or Caryatid or Voyaging Satyr) maybe this isn't so much of a problem. So, maybe G/xx Devotion isn't as terrible as I first thought. I think that Genesis Hydra as a 4-of is being phased out in favour of more interactive 4-5 drops. That lowers the curve and marginally reduces the number of clunky hands we have with dead cards. I think that Hornet Queen is really the only card we want to run that costs more than 5, since there are more than enough powerful things at 4-5 mana, making us more consistent.
3a) I don't feel compelled to add a 3rd color, I actually like very much the current 2 colors; Crater's Claws finishes games out of nowhere (I love it when I create a lot of mana and my opponent sighs and says "Crater's Claws?" only to be "relieved" when I play a big Genesis Hydra), and Xenagos does lots of work adding extra mana (and I've actually ultimated Xenagos a couple of times which is fun). Agreed.
4) GR Monsters (and Temur Monsters) must have game since they are appearing in Top 8 lists, but I still feel favored whenever I face them (and results have validated the feeling). We're pretty even until we find Nykthos or Hydra and land two creatures (relative fatties) in a turn. Yeah, I think devotion is favoured over other Gx build, since we are already just a tiny bit bigger than them.
5) I played Jeskai to a 1-1-2 match draw yesterday. Deflecting Palm meant we both took lethal at the same time in game 2, we didn't have enough time to play game 4. I blundered by using Crater's Claw to send a Mantis Rider to the graveyard when I could have targeted my own Hornet Nest (something I've done multiple times to great effect, have no idea why I "missed" it this time). He played another Mantis Rider the following turn and rode it to game 3 victory. Yeah, Hornet Nest is quite good vs them. I was testing out Goblin Rabblemaster but it seems like everyone and their dog are prepared for that card right now.
Has anyone been running Purphoros in their Gr Devotion list. I tried it briefly and abandoned it before I could get a real feel for the one-of, but am thinking about replacing one Nylea with one Purphoros. I know it is a combo that can't really be counted upon, but I would like to Crater's Claw my own Hornet Nest while Purphoros is on play, or add a Satyr with Xenagos, or put two creatures into play with Genesis Hydra. It just seems like there is a lot of potential to get multiple Purphoros triggers in a turn.
What do you think? Am I weakening the deck by adding a fragile win condition, or am I onto something that could work well?
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Has anyone been running Purphoros in their Gr Devotion list. I tried it briefly and abandoned it before I could get a real feel for the one-of, but am thinking about replacing one Nylea with one Purphoros. I know it is a combo that can't really be counted upon, but I would like to Crater's Claw my own Hornet Nest while Purphoros is on play, or add a Satyr with Xenagos, or put two creatures into play with Genesis Hydra. It just seems like there is a lot of potential to get multiple Purphoros triggers in a turn.
What do you think? Am I weakening the deck by adding a fragile win condition, or am I onto something that could work well?
Purphoros seems really bad. The situations you describe where it would be useful are all 'win more', and in the average case it would be a dead card.
Even Nylea is a fringe card, since her purpose was to be a persistent threat through creature removal, but Crackling Doom, Perilous Vault and the infinite number of ways white has to exile a creature/enchantment means he's just bad too. Plus, the thing we really needed Nylea for (getting past Elspeth) has been completely taken over by Hornet Queen. I don't think we want or need gods in our lists.
I'm currently fiddling with three different lists that I can't work out which is the best:
1. Gr dev with planeswalkers for threat diversity
2. GR dev with Stormbreath aggro
3. Gb enchantress with Whip of Erebos
All of them seem better than a 'standard' GR or BG list. The Enchantress list does a great job at surviving through disruption, having more removal, and Murderous Cut is *great*, it's the spot removal we need to go toe to toe with other decks. The lack of Polukranos and Hydra mean it doesn't go as fat as the other builds though.
The two GR lists are similar, but the hasty one matches up with Jeskai much better since you can just burn them out with Dragons, Craters Claws and Lightning Strikes.
I'm currently fiddling with three different lists that I can't work out which is the best:
1. Gr dev with planeswalkers for threat diversity
2. GR dev with Stormbreath aggro
3. Gb enchantress with Whip of Erebos
All of them seem better than a 'standard' GR or BG list. The Enchantress list does a great job at surviving through disruption, having more removal, and Murderous Cut is *great*, it's the spot removal we need to go toe to toe with other decks. The lack of Polukranos and Hydra mean it doesn't go as fat as the other builds though.
The two GR lists are similar, but the hasty one matches up with Jeskai much better since you can just burn them out with Dragons, Craters Claws and Lightning Strikes.
I'm finding I like Stain the Mind as a main and sideboard option.
I've been running 1 main and 2 sideboard a lot more and it's contributed to several wins against problem children like Combo or pulling a rabble red's teeth on even game 1 by taking away Stoke or Rabblemaster.
I am playing a GR deck slanting toward Devotion, so that I might use both Nissa and Sarkhan in the main, along with Xenagos. Since I'm playing Nykthos and Nissa, would Satyr Wayfinder be the better choice over another dork like Rattleclaw Mystic, since I can use the satyr to untap a land that I tapped to cast Nissa and subsequently turned into a 4/4 elemental?
Also, a few of the GR decks actually do use Rabblemaster, which somewhat surprised me. Is the Rabbler indeed a good way to draw out an opponent's removal spells, or is it a legit means of winning a game?
Genesis Hydra: this seems like a good way of protecting Stormbreaths from Crackling Doom, ramping up so that it comes in as a 5/5. Thoughts?
My thoughts are that you are trying to do too much.
1) Gr Devotion thrives on Green devotion, so Sarkhan and Stormbreath are a bit counter to the plan.
2) Rabblemaster also doesn't work toward Green devotion. It's a threat that if left unchecked can easily win a game.
3) It has been my experience that Nissa is better against Control-ish decks (I would drop some dorks or Coursers for Nissa) where you want every card you play to be a threat that must be addressed; the creature path is better against non-control decks. As a result, I have dropped Nissa from the main board, I think you will find that this is common amongst both Gx Devotion and GR Monsters decks.
4) Voyaging Satyr is (I think) the "untap land" creature you are thinking about. When there is potential to untap Nykthos with Voyaging Satyr, I think that tips the scales in favor of Voyaging Satyr. Even without that, Voyaging Satyr's 1/2 is a little better suited to defending (against Rabblemaster Tokens, for instance) than Rattleclaw's 2/1. If the plan is to beat them down with either of these creatures, we're usually in trouble. In a GR shell (instead of a Gr Devotion shell), Rattleclaw may be better because of the ability to produce Red mana.
5) Genesis Hydra is just plain good cause it gets two creatures into play off of one card.
As an aside, I did once beat a Black Aggro deck by attacking with three Elvish Mytics and a Voyaging Satyr into their creatures that can't block. There was also 4 damage from Thoughtseize. But, I just won the race with my 1 power attackers. Wouldn't want to depend on that very often!
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This is the list that turned me on to going Gruul Devotion instead of GR Monsters. This deck seems better positioned to take advantage of Polukranos, and Genesis Hydra is quite nice in testing as you have stated. Thank you for clearing up my uncertainty toward Satyr vs Rattleclaw, as well as the pros and cons of the two styles of GR. I will replace main Nissa with more Genesis Hydra and see how it works.
I think if you look through lots of tournament results, you will find the Sarkhan, Rabblemaster, and Nykthos are an uncommon combination. In fact, most GR lists that have done well are not devotion lists at all (no Nykthos). The most common Gx Devotion list is the Gb Devotion lists that run Doomwake Giant and Eidon of Blossoms. I realize that my preference for Gr Devotion is not main stream. Sorry if I sounded more "authoritative" rather than just expressing some of my opinions.
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That list was pretty uncommon among the Green Devotion list, which what attracted me to the deck and is why I wondered what role Rabblemaster could play in this kind of deck. No need to apologize; the deck is your specialty, you can discuss it however you like. Again, thank you for the advice and suggestions.
Respectfully, I and the tournament results disagree with countering the plan: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=8359&d=248030&f=ST That looks like a Devotion manabase ramping into monsters creatures. The big omission is Polukranos, he needs to be at least a 3-of there.
This is the list that turned me on to going Gruul Devotion instead of GR Monsters. This deck seems better positioned to take advantage of Polukranos, and Genesis Hydra is quite nice in testing as you have stated. The deck you cited isn't even running Polukranos! I really like Stormbreath and Sarkhan, but that list as a whole has way too many 5s. I would swap out the Satyrs for Rattleclaws (it gets you to 5 mana if you can make it as a morph), And add AT LEAST 3 Polukranos, coming in at the expense of Nissa, Hydra and Colossus. And I'd probably run the 3rd Xenagos over the 4th Sarkhan. Even Hornet Queen is a bit out of place in this list, since it's a 7 that the list won't be able to ramp up to as easily.
Thank you for clearing up my uncertainty toward Satyr vs Rattleclaw, as well as the pros and cons of the two styles of GR. I will replace main Nissa with more Genesis Hydra and see how it works.
I think if you look through lots of tournament results, you will find the Sarkhan, Rabblemaster, and Nykthos are an uncommon combination. In fact, most GR lists that have done well are not devotion lists at all (no Nykthos). The most common Gx Devotion list is the Gb Devotion lists that run Doomwake Giant and Eidon of Blossoms. I realize that my preference for Gr Devotion is not main stream. Sorry if I sounded more "authoritative" rather than just expressing some of my opinions.
I agree. BG devotion is the one putting up the results (such as they are) and the constellation engine is a big part of that. GR monsters is also putting up results, largely on the back of ramping into 5 mana hasty dragons. The more traditional 'planeswalker' version of GR devotion can be more sillyridiculous than the dragon version, but it's also less consistent. And it isn't as resilient as the BG dev version. So for me GR dev is the worst of the three alternatives right now.
I am playing a GR deck slanting toward Devotion, so that I might use both Nissa and Sarkhan in the main, along with Xenagos. Since I'm playing Nykthos and Nissa, would Satyr Wayfinder be the better choice over another dork like Rattleclaw Mystic, since I can use the satyr to untap a land that I tapped to cast Nissa and subsequently turned into a 4/4 elemental? I think that running 5 mana dragons is great at making your deck more consistent, but paradoxically, it makes Nykthos much *less* so, since you're much less likely to explode with 10-15 mana. So I wouldn't run Stormbreaths and Voyaging Satyr in the same deck.
Also, a few of the GR decks actually do use Rabblemaster, which somewhat surprised me. Is the Rabbler indeed a good way to draw out an opponent's removal spells, or is it a legit means of winning a game? I too was very interesting to see rabblemasters. From my limited testing, I think that the metagame has adjusted to the presence of rabblemaster, so it's not as amazing as it would be before the pro tour. It can win games, but I suspect that the opponents a rabblemaster beats you were going to beat with your other cards anyway.
Genesis Hydra: this seems like a good way of protecting Stormbreaths from Crackling Doom, ramping up so that it comes in as a 5/5. Thoughts? It seems good, but I like a cheaper deck instead. Maybe as a SB option?
Mistcutter Hydra was good in the previous meta because the control deck didn't run spot removal and even some of it's creature removal was blue. It's not good now because the deck you want it against (UB control) has infinite spot removal spells that kill it with a tempo gain.
Comments on the list: Completely eschews Nylea's Disciple in the SB, which gives much better game vs control, and the lifelink from Whip makes it less necessary. Nissa on lands helps dodge Perilous Vault. I think I'm going to switch from Bluhon's to this list now. Now I just need to work out my substitution plan for when I want Arbor Colossus, and over what (I guess Jeskai and Stormbreath Dragon?).
The other two decks that made the top 8 don't seem as good:
Comments: I've been trying out Brain Maggot since it was in Lucas Bluhon's list and it hasn't seemed that great to me. I think I'd rather have another Doomwake and Whip like Brendon has.
Comments: Far more of a devotion deck than a whip deck. This deck just seems worse to me than the others since while it has fatties, Murderous Cut is absolutely incredible. This almost looks like a list that predates the pro tour. Lots of card choices that seem really odd to me.
You don't like Xenagos, the Reveler? I find him to be almost mandatory in GR.
Your list looks very similar to the GR list I started with with all the chord targets.
The Colossus of Akros is something I was tinkering around with and found him to be really good in the slower midrange mirrors, particularly when you can Chord of Calling for 8 on your opponent's end step, and then monstrous and swing on your turn.
A local player is playing Terra Stomper (8/8 uncounterable, trample, for 3GGG). He's enjoying success with it. But, it seems to me that trample is a bit redundant, especially in a deck where you can Chord in Nylea.
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The adding more lands I agreed with after a few more games of trying my deck out. I went ahead and just cut the See the Unwritten as it was only helping after I was already winning.
A little surprised as to the Darksteel Citadel being random. Some of my best games were when I made an indestructible 4/4 Elemental with trample targetting Darksteel Citadel with Nissa, Worldwaker's 1st activated ability. Actually my revision of the deck was -2 See the Unwritten and +1 Forest / +1 Darksteel Citadel.
RGWNaya BurnRGW+++RGWKiki ComboRGW
UGInfectUG+++++++++.++++++++UGMerfolkUG
GGNykthos WaveGG++++++++++GGStompyGG
BRVampiresBR+++++++.+++++++BRGoblinsBR
WGBogglesWG+++++++++++++CRSkred RedCR
UBRGDredgeUBRG++++++++++BB8 RackBB
URWJeskaiURW+++.++UBRGrixis DelverUBR
URStormUR++++++++UWGBant CompanyUWG
WUBRGHumansWUBRG+CCEldrazi TronCC
We'll see if any get Top 8 and hopefully we can get some decklists.
3 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
Graveyard
3 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Commune with the Gods
3 Murderous Cut
3 Whip of Erebos
Enchantments
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
4 Doomwake Giant
2 Reaper of the Wilds
3 See the Unwritten
3 Hornet Queen
4 Temple of Malady
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Jungle Hollow
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
8 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Murderous Cut
3 Unravel the Æther
2 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Thoughtseize
4 Nylea's Disciple
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
Graveyard
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Murderous Cut
2 Whip of Erebos
Enchantments
2 Brain Maggot
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Doomwake Giant
3 Hornet Queen
6 Forest
2 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Temple of Malady
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Swamp
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Thoughtseize
4 Arbor Colossus
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Dark Betrayal
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
Lukas's deck seems a little more focussed, with both more graveyard things and more enchantments.
1) When you can arrange to Crater's Claws your own Hornet Nest, the Jeskai matchup improves considerably for us. I have been considering removing Anger of the Gods from the SB because our creatures block so well against Red Aggro.
2) We are not fast enough, nor do we have enough removal, to deal with the Jeskai Combo deck. I think it is worth dedication some SB slots to Destructive Revelry to counter this deck (even if Destructive Revelry comes in against nothing else). I've considered Polis Crusher, but think it is too slow to address this problem (even if it might be a good card in other circumstances).
3) I tried G/bu devotion early in the Standard, but felt from my limited playing that the come into play tapped lands meant that it was far less likely to be able to play an Elvish Mystic on Turn 1 which in turn lost us a temp. But, if we can play out four drops on Turn 3 (with a turn 2 Elvish Mystic or Caryatid or Voyaging Satyr) maybe this isn't so much of a problem. So, maybe G/xx Devotion isn't as terrible as I first thought.
3a) I don't feel compelled to add a 3rd color, I actually like very much the current 2 colors; Crater's Claws finishes games out of nowhere (I love it when I create a lot of mana and my opponent sighs and says "Crater's Claws?" only to be "relieved" when I play a big Genesis Hydra), and Xenagos does lots of work adding extra mana (and I've actually ultimated Xenagos a couple of times which is fun).
4) GR Monsters (and Temur Monsters) must have game since they are appearing in Top 8 lists, but I still feel favored whenever I face them (and results have validated the feeling). We're pretty even until we find Nykthos or Hydra and land two creatures (relative fatties) in a turn.
5) I played Jeskai to a 1-1-2 match draw yesterday. Deflecting Palm meant we both took lethal at the same time in game 2, we didn't have enough time to play game 4. I blundered by using Crater's Claw to send a Mantis Rider to the graveyard when I could have targeted my own Hornet Nest (something I've done multiple times to great effect, have no idea why I "missed" it this time). He played another Mantis Rider the following turn and rode it to game 3 victory.
What do you think? Am I weakening the deck by adding a fragile win condition, or am I onto something that could work well?
Purphoros seems really bad. The situations you describe where it would be useful are all 'win more', and in the average case it would be a dead card.
Even Nylea is a fringe card, since her purpose was to be a persistent threat through creature removal, but Crackling Doom, Perilous Vault and the infinite number of ways white has to exile a creature/enchantment means he's just bad too. Plus, the thing we really needed Nylea for (getting past Elspeth) has been completely taken over by Hornet Queen. I don't think we want or need gods in our lists.
1. Gr dev with planeswalkers for threat diversity
2. GR dev with Stormbreath aggro
3. Gb enchantress with Whip of Erebos
All of them seem better than a 'standard' GR or BG list. The Enchantress list does a great job at surviving through disruption, having more removal, and Murderous Cut is *great*, it's the spot removal we need to go toe to toe with other decks. The lack of Polukranos and Hydra mean it doesn't go as fat as the other builds though.
The two GR lists are similar, but the hasty one matches up with Jeskai much better since you can just burn them out with Dragons, Craters Claws and Lightning Strikes.
I'm finding I like Stain the Mind as a main and sideboard option.
I've been running 1 main and 2 sideboard a lot more and it's contributed to several wins against problem children like Combo or pulling a rabble red's teeth on even game 1 by taking away Stoke or Rabblemaster.
How would you fit Stain the Mind in there? Over Brain Maggot?
Edit: This is a pretty good writeup of the BG Enchantress deck.
Also, a few of the GR decks actually do use Rabblemaster, which somewhat surprised me. Is the Rabbler indeed a good way to draw out an opponent's removal spells, or is it a legit means of winning a game?
Genesis Hydra: this seems like a good way of protecting Stormbreaths from Crackling Doom, ramping up so that it comes in as a 5/5. Thoughts?
1) Gr Devotion thrives on Green devotion, so Sarkhan and Stormbreath are a bit counter to the plan.
2) Rabblemaster also doesn't work toward Green devotion. It's a threat that if left unchecked can easily win a game.
3) It has been my experience that Nissa is better against Control-ish decks (I would drop some dorks or Coursers for Nissa) where you want every card you play to be a threat that must be addressed; the creature path is better against non-control decks. As a result, I have dropped Nissa from the main board, I think you will find that this is common amongst both Gx Devotion and GR Monsters decks.
4) Voyaging Satyr is (I think) the "untap land" creature you are thinking about. When there is potential to untap Nykthos with Voyaging Satyr, I think that tips the scales in favor of Voyaging Satyr. Even without that, Voyaging Satyr's 1/2 is a little better suited to defending (against Rabblemaster Tokens, for instance) than Rattleclaw's 2/1. If the plan is to beat them down with either of these creatures, we're usually in trouble. In a GR shell (instead of a Gr Devotion shell), Rattleclaw may be better because of the ability to produce Red mana.
5) Genesis Hydra is just plain good cause it gets two creatures into play off of one card.
As an aside, I did once beat a Black Aggro deck by attacking with three Elvish Mytics and a Voyaging Satyr into their creatures that can't block. There was also 4 damage from Thoughtseize. But, I just won the race with my 1 power attackers. Wouldn't want to depend on that very often!
This is the list that turned me on to going Gruul Devotion instead of GR Monsters. This deck seems better positioned to take advantage of Polukranos, and Genesis Hydra is quite nice in testing as you have stated. Thank you for clearing up my uncertainty toward Satyr vs Rattleclaw, as well as the pros and cons of the two styles of GR. I will replace main Nissa with more Genesis Hydra and see how it works.
I agree. BG devotion is the one putting up the results (such as they are) and the constellation engine is a big part of that. GR monsters is also putting up results, largely on the back of ramping into 5 mana hasty dragons. The more traditional 'planeswalker' version of GR devotion can be more sillyridiculous than the dragon version, but it's also less consistent. And it isn't as resilient as the BG dev version. So for me GR dev is the worst of the three alternatives right now.
Good spotting. This was the results, and these were the 3 decks that made top8: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t[C1]=1&start_date=11/1/2014&end_date=11/1/2014&start=1&finish=16&event_ID=19
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Murderous Cut
3 Whip of Erebos
3 Hornet Queen
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
3 Doomwake Giant
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Windswept Heath
6 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Arbor Colossus
1 Doomwake Giant
2 Bile Blight
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
3 Nissa, Worldwaker
4 Thoughtseize
Comments on the list: Completely eschews Nylea's Disciple in the SB, which gives much better game vs control, and the lifelink from Whip makes it less necessary. Nissa on lands helps dodge Perilous Vault. I think I'm going to switch from Bluhon's to this list now. Now I just need to work out my substitution plan for when I want Arbor Colossus, and over what (I guess Jeskai and Stormbreath Dragon?).
The other two decks that made the top 8 don't seem as good:
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Commune with the Gods
4 Murderous Cut
2 Whip of Erebos
3 Hornet Queen
2 Brain Maggot
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Doomwake Giant
2 Swamp
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Temple of Malady
2 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Arbor Colossus
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Dark Betrayal
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
4 Thoughtseize
Comments: I've been trying out Brain Maggot since it was in Lucas Bluhon's list and it hasn't seemed that great to me. I think I'd rather have another Doomwake and Whip like Brendon has.
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voyaging Satyr
1 Whip of Erebos
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Genesis Hydra
1 Arbor Colossus
2 Hornet Queen
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
3 Eidolon of Blossoms
4 Doomwake Giant
1 Swamp
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Temple of Malady
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Mistcutter Hydra
4 Nylea's Disciple
3 Setessan Tactics
1 Garruk, Apex Predator
4 Thoughtseize
Comments: Far more of a devotion deck than a whip deck. This deck just seems worse to me than the others since while it has fatties, Murderous Cut is absolutely incredible. This almost looks like a list that predates the pro tour. Lots of card choices that seem really odd to me.
Your list looks very similar to the GR list I started with with all the chord targets.
A local player is playing Terra Stomper (8/8 uncounterable, trample, for 3GGG). He's enjoying success with it. But, it seems to me that trample is a bit redundant, especially in a deck where you can Chord in Nylea.