MTG Salvation

I am a huge fan of Naya. Playing Naya Pod in Modern and had some minor fun last standard block with a few random cards (but still had some of the staples) before the latest rotation. I wanted to wait until the rotation before I got serious again about standard. I jumped the gun when the rotation occurred and built a GWR Naya deck. Well to be more specific, Naya Ramp. I felt quiet successful (50/50 against most aggressive decks, but hated UB Control match ups).

Now that I look around at different tournament results, MTGO results, forum reply numbers, etc it seems as if GWR is something fun to try but not as serious/competitive as the other decks.

The Naya Ramp Deck consisted of 4 of Arbor Elf, Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Farseek. No real aggro but late ending bombs. Red involved 2-4 Mizzium Mortars, Pillar of Flame, and 4 Huntmaster of the Fells. The rest are GW bomb staples (Angle, Thrag, Wurm, WW --- no rancor or charm).


I have seen a few decks with 2 Rootbound Crag and 2 Clifftop Retreats with a mountain (or 2) in a build with 2 Huntmasters and 2 burn spells (maybe adding 1 Bonfire and a Zealous Conscript SB). But that few red spells doesn't seem like it is worth the trouble, hassle, or luck of not pulling a red source when you actually need it (and vice versa).

From my understanding, Naya COULD be viable in February when Stomping Ground (and another shock land?) is reprinted. But until then, I feel ...stuck.

GW Midrange? I just need to get 4 Silverblade Paladin then.


Thoughts, questions, concerns? Thank you.

I'm kind of in the same predicament, although I'm still not ruling Naya out. There were a few top 4 lists in states. Im going to try this list for game day and see how it goes.

I haven't play tested too extensively but it's pretty strong against zombies and Junk Tokens. It's not as ramp driven as your list so it has had some slow starts. Never had any mana trouble though.

Still working out sideboard. Any tips?

I don't know, I have to disagree with the Thrag/Huntmaster evaluation... They do two different things. Huntmasters are able to flip back and forth performing different tasks + they have better synergy with Gavony. Bonfire is huge against tokens and pillar just destroys zombies.

well, I am trying to stay away from Bonefire tbh. With the right combination, I have not had any issues with land. I will post my deck shortly.

I think Naya will become a contender once we get Stomping Grounds. Until then, I don't think the consistency for the deck is there. You could play it at FNM, but a tournament with more rounds is going to end up where the deck falls.

It is the same reason that Bant isn't a deck until we get breeding pool. The mana base isn't consistant enough vs aggro decks that will punish you for any kind of stumble.

Interesting article on starcity games http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/25078-Standard-Progression.html

So i like this list more than the standard ramp decks, but im not sure he dosnt get blown out of the water against aggro in game one.

Thoughts on the article?

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how his early game runs against the likes of B/R zombies... Might hobble it together and try and get a fnm in before gameday with it. Interesting theory on the pilgrims.

G/W currently doesn't have great ways to deal with giest of saint traft. Rolling Tremblor & bonfire are in, and lightning mauler gives us speed combined with some of the current standards in the non-ramp decks.

I'm looking forward to stomping grounds.

Actually, G/W has some of the best ways to dealt with GoST. Using the list posted on SCG (And therefore the more controlling midrange) you get some interesting ways to handle GoST. I made some edits to that list so I could fit in Loxodon but the deck itself has good curve out to handle Geist. If you get Farseek on T2 then Huntmaster on T3 is a solid answer to Geist. You have Resto Angel as well off of the Farseek so it's not like you HAVE to get Huntmaster.

I actually like the line of play when you don't have Farseek even more. In this matchup, on T2 and on the draw, playing selesnya charm for the token after they play Geist is one of the best plays you can have. From there you can play out Smiter or Borderland Ranger, both of which resolve and they must now have 2 bounce spells in order to get Geist through. After which you can now replay Smiter without fear of getting it countered, or Borderland Ranger which should also be unabled to be countered based on their available mana. At this point you should be able to stabalize against Geist.

We also get Bonfire for 2 on T4 if we ramp (Which we should be able to) or a possible miracle for 2 on T3 to kill Geist (Less realistic, but still an out). Lastly, Thragtusk dominates that match up if he sticks. On the draw it's hard for him to stick since they can put counter magic up, but on the play it's incredibly easy. This matchup isn't quite as rough for us as everyone thinks.

The thing that actually excites me about this deck is that it seems like it could/should be viable in this meta and it hasn't even gotten any guild support bar Selesnya. In Gatecrash we get access to Boros and Gruul which should bring some nice aggressive/midrange creatures as well as our shocklands for consistency/ability to run arbor elf.

Quote from VulcanFenrir

The thing that actually excites me about this deck is that it seems like it could/should be viable in this meta and it hasn't even gotten any guild support bar Selesnya. In Gatecrash we get access to Boros and Gruul which should bring some nice aggressive/midrange creatures as well as our shocklands for consistency/ability to run arbor elf.

Agreed. I'm running GWu right now, but I think Naya will be the definitive version of the GWx deck archetype when Gatecrash hits. I'll be stocking up on Clifftop Retreat and the like as we approach Gatecrash myself. Even if naya doesn't pan out, I still want to build a boros deck so it works out either way

I ran a Naya build at a local tournament last night and didn't lose a single game! here is the deck list. I played against, Junk Tokens, Izzit Control and Selesnya Aggro. I took the list from starcity and messed around with it, adding in pillars MB and Smiters MB.



The actual mvp of the deck was kessig wolf run... It won me 3 or 4 games!

Naya midrange seems very solid. Playing Centaur Healer, Huntmaster of the Fells, Thragtusk and Restoration Angel will make sure that aggro decks are no problem. But the deck will need something strong against control. We know a RW Gideon will

If we consider Stomping Grounds and Sacred Foundry, Naya midrange is already very solid, and there are still Gruul and Boros to go for some more juicy cards.

If the metagame stays more or less the same after Gatecrash (slow,) then I'd say Naya is on the right tracks to be the better midrange deck.

And don't forget to put in kessig wolf run..+ Zealous in the sideboards! And Pillar for zombies match-up.

Quote from Vegetto91

Just splash some red for Bonfire, huntmaster, mizzium mortars which adds more power and better against aggro decks. The core is GW midrange but with a splash of red. I'll post my deck which i've been testing for a looongg time.

I have been playing GWr Ramp since day 1 of RTR. I have been to 4 FNMs and 1 major tourney (where I got crushed by ZOMBIES with my previous list).

My build right now is well geared up for game 1 vs aggro and I can just board in more firepower in game 2 if I'm against midrange or control decks.

Here's my list:


The 6 Main boarded miracles are my keys against Aggro match up. I also stunt midrange decks by hard-casting a Terminus when they committed too much on the field.

As you can see in my list, It is really a GW shell with a splash of 6 red sources for Bonfire and Huntmaster. I used Mizzium Mortars in my previous list but I just find Terminus to do a better job in what Mortars is supposed to do in this deck, especially not having access to RRR in early
-to-mid game. Having 10 W sources with Farseek and Borderland gives me assurance that I can either have a miracle'd Terminus or Bonfire.

I opted for Primal Hunter over Relentless due to sheer CA and bigger bodies, since GGG is not hard in this deck, having 18 sources of it.

I am aware that when it comes to the mana base, that's where it suffers, since there's no real way of overloading Mortars the way Jund/Izzet/American can (which kept me away from the card, for now).

I also find Bonfire and Kessig + any creature as my win con most of the time. And if the first plan doesn't come out right away, I can just pummel through with blinked Armada Wurms and Huntmasters and go for the traditional Naya beatdown.

I like the deck a lot. I just want to mention how I like Selesnya Charm coming off the boards...it can just exile cards forever from an opponent's triggered Serenity, just like how Ultimate Price and Cyclonic Rift, but with an absolute upside that one of my opponent's Serenity loopers will be gone for good as well.

Bramblecrush is for walkers, of course, unless I really need to destroy a Detention Sphere that's keeping my Garruk.

I hope this deck breaks out, even just in the top 16.

While I personally wouldn't play Naya before Gatecrash (fixing your mana with Borderland Ranger and getting a simple Mountain with Farseek just rubs me the wrong way) I'm still eager to see how those decks perform and will be rooting for them.

I've played solo to see how difficult it was to overload Mizzium Mortars with Stomping Ground and Sacred Foundry. The manabase was:

Also playing 4 Arbor Elf and 4 Farseek. And I don't think there was a single time I reached 6 mana where I wasn't able to overload the mortars.

When Gatecrash releases, I believe mortars will be preferable over Bonfire of the Damned for this deck. Mostly because when hardcasting the bonfire, it's hard to kill creatures with more than 2 toughness, and since the rotation, most of the stuff you need to kill has 3 or 4 toughness.

This is my list so far for scg St Louis. I'm debating between playing Armada Wurm or [Angel of Serenity [/card]. Sure, wurm comes out a turn quicker, but Angel is so good and really functions a lot like bonfire in the creature match ups. Thoughts?

Quote from Itsbrake

MichaelHundred's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
3 avacyn's pilgrim 4 borderland ranger 3 centaur healer 3 huntmaster 4 restoration Angel 4 thragtusk 2 armada wurm	4 farseek 3 pillar of flame 3 bonfire 2 oblivion ring 1 entreat the angels 1 devil's play 4 temple garden 4 rootbound crag 4 clifftop retreat 2 kessig wolf run 1 gavony township 1 mountain 3 plains 4 forest

This is my list so far for scg St Louis. I'm debating between playing Armada Wurm or [Angel of Serenity [/card]. Sure, wurm comes out a turn quicker, but Angel is so good and really functions a lot like bonfire in the creature match ups. Thoughts?

angel of serenity all the way... I played a similar deck on gameday and AoS was so valuable against almost every match-up. It won me 3 games that I would have lost had I drawn an armada wurm. I won game-day by the way. Naya IS a deck.

Quote from MichaelHundred

angel of serenity all the way... I played a similar deck on gameday and AoS was so valuable against almost every match-up. It won me 3 games that I would have lost had I drawn an armada wurm. I won game-day by the way. Naya IS a deck.

That's pretty much what i was thinking. And your right, naya is very much a deck. People argue that the mana is unplayable without gatecrash shocks, but that's not the case. We need them to play aggro with 8 dorks. But we're usually fine not playing anything turn 1. The pilgrims are really just extra Farseeks.

I'm considering taking out the huntmasters, they don't seem to be pulling their weight. For what though is the question. Silverheart? Rancor?

You sort of answer your own question. Huntmaster really isn't good enough if you need to spend T2 on Farseek. He doesn't have a big enough impact on his own. What this makes a greater question is does adding red really do anything significant over any other GW Farseek into late midgame deck. Bonfire for sure, but it's really the sort of same game. If you were investing heavier on red maybe something but you might as well be playing Angel of Serenity. And these sort of ramp decks(red or not) haven't really been quite good enough anyway. Good play and doing powerful stuff is always something but are you doing something uniquely relevant. It might just be as simple as the Farseek that seem so good come at an even greater cost than appears on the surface.

Quote from ryansolid

You sort of answer your own question. Huntmaster really isn't good enough if you need to spend T2 on Farseek. He doesn't have a big enough impact on his own. What this makes a greater question is does adding red really do anything significant over any other GW Farseek into late midgame deck. Bonfire for sure, but it's really the sort of same game. If you were investing heavier on red maybe something but you might as well be playing Angel of Serenity. And these sort of ramp decks(red or not) haven't really been quite good enough anyway. Good play and doing powerful stuff is always something but are you doing something uniquely relevant. It might just be as simple as the Farseek that seem so good come at an even greater cost than appears on the surface.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=49986 this is a pretty good result for a naya deck.

Quote from Numbat

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=49986 this is a pretty good result for a naya deck.

It's pretty tight but I really don't like arbor elf in Naya. Also, I would maindeck 2 Garruk, Primal Hunter. Throw Sigarda in SB.

Hah I didn't see that. That's what I tried tonight basically. Going 8 dorks. The presence is more important than Farseek. It was alright. I had some other cards that weren't good. If I played it again it would be something closer to that. Although I think the reason you play Naya right now is that Cavern of Souls is reasonable in your deck. Most GW decks can't quite justify it. This makes it better in the UWr matchup and the value helps. The only issue is the clock goes down significantly compared to other GW decks and the removal can't quite compensate. I was trying to find ways to remedy that but haven't yet. Still that's pretty good. As commented before the difference between now and Gruul/Boros is likely huge. Very much looking forward to that.

Maindecking conscripts might be the way to go against, well, every single deck in the format now. I've seen boros humans smash various matchups just on the back of that card alone.

I thnk naya would work well with the normal aggressive g/w aggro list, but playing bonfire instead of charms and conscripts instead of silverhearts.