I’ve learned A LOT in my testing this weekend thus far. A few important things:
1. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is better than I thought. There is a lot of synergy with all of the things we like to do (untapping lands, ramp, etc.
2. Llanowar Tribe is fragile, but extremely powerful. Even though I’ve been trying to test Leyline as much as possible; I still like to test my Karn Combo deck too. The turns where Tribe wins are WAY different from those without it. I do worry that Jund, Prowess, Burn, Phoenix, etc mean a LOT of bolts in the meta...but I guess having a “must kill” is ok.
3. Playing more dorks does help make for smoother turns. 12+ is actually reasonable.
I’ll post more on each list once I’ve finished testing both lists.
Yes Llanowar Tribe is good. But i think he is better in the Unbound Flourishing Deck. With my Layline Deck, Most time he is in my hand i wish i have more 1 manadorks. He is impressiv when he lifes... Nissa, Who Shakes the World makes a great job with the Leyline.
Yes Llanowar Tribe is good. But i think he is better in the Unbound Flourishing Deck. With my Layline Deck, Most time he is in my hand i wish i have more 1 manadorks. He is impressiv when he lifes... Nissa, Who Shakes the World makes a great job with the Leyline.
I totally agree. I think it is one or the other. You either play a Leyline Core or what I call a "Sprawl Core" (that includes Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Llanowar Tribe...). They ramp in very different ways; but both get out of hand quickly.
I was thinking about it (and I will test tonight); but isn’t a Leyline, Devoted Druid, and an Ezuri, Renegade Leader and infinite combo as long as you have one additional mana?
I’ll test it to make certain; bytbif so Devoted Elves would be a very strong deck.
Very Nice, that all all Walls and Wiskful let you draw a card (11 cards in sum)
Looked fun! Yeah..I’m a huge fan of card draw in Devotion. We spend so much mana it’s nice to keep filling up.
I think Devotion works well as a combo deck...so this could actually work. I don’t think this list is optimal; but that’s to be expected on he first go at it.
Greetings everyone. Recent sets introduced many new cards and as a T&N player I found some of them to greatly benefit this strategy so the brewing has begun. Decklist that proved to be most consistent is below along with some explanation.
First of all ramp. Cheap mix of creatures and auras are responsible for ramping because it's quick and very dangerous if left unaswered. Garruk is out of the game because Llanowar Tribe is just a cheaper Garruk. Intense testing brought me to conclution that although Primeval Titan is a great card, it's not the card that T&N wants. Use of Primeval Titan in other dedicated decks is much more focused. Here it just grabs 2 lands and those don't kill by themselves unlike in Valakut and Amulet. Moreover there are no lands powerful enough to change the state of the game when behind. It's easy to win when everything goes according to plan but it doesn't alwyas go as planned. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Kessig Wolf Run need a proper setup to work. Blast Zone was tested too with great results but during the transition to cheap ramp there are less universal untappers. It's much weaker because it's less likely to be charged and sacrificed during one turn. A little combo worth noting here was to cast Titan, tutor Nykthos and a bounce land, replay Nykthos and tap it for more mana (I used it two or three times, not really that relevant. Bouncelands had synergy with universal untappers and Tireless Trackers). I tried manlands but they were not impactful enough, all of them. Those lands are toys, not tools. When Titan ramps but there are no payoff cards and it gets killed, it most likely means game over. Thus there is no Primeval Titans in my list. The only regret I have is a gap left in CMCs at 5 and 6. Sometimes when tight on mana it would be convenient to be able to tutor something big with Primal Command and cast it next turn. Now it's Eternal Witness most of the time.
Alongside Titans I played Tireless Trackers. Great synergy, no doubts. They are much better than Harmonize - there's plenty of cards that have minor impact when in need of a payoff. Drawing a land and 2 ramp cards doesn't help at all. Tireless Tracker is a creature that turns excessive land drops into cards or more lands to fuel itself and it grows so even when luck is not on your side you still have a big growing creature. The problem I had with Trackers was that they were very polarized in their outcomes. If on the battlefield and there was no lands to be played it was as miserable as it could be - vanilla creature for 3 mana. Even situations where he created 1 or 2 Clue tokens were often unfavorable because roughly 2/3 of the deck is bad when on the mercy of topdeck. Being restrained on mana was rough because it was spent on drawing cards, not playing them.
Verdict: Titans won't be played and as a consequence Trackers are out too.
Back to the topic of manlands. What I relized was that without Titans they can't be fetched. The only land showing some promise was Frostwalk Bastion because it could block a big creature for 2 turns. Unfortunately it taps for colorless and Llanowar Tribe likes color a lot. My manland of choice is now Panglacial Wurm. Can be cast at instant speed, surprise blocker, threatening 9 power and available to cast with every fetchland or other search effect. That's like 9 manlands. Nobody expects it. With london mulligan if it's in opening hand just send it to the bottom.
The Big Elephant is here in place of every other creature that was destroying things. Unlike others it can destroy planeswalkers which is relevant. It says "up to three" so there is always freedom of choice in selecting number of targets. Very often destroying 1 land is barely relevant against most decks, but 3? That's a strong blow - denying access to colors or casting spells altogether creating 3 littlephants that will most likely trade with the big one. That's marvelous. In emergency it can be 18 power for 8 mana.
Why play blue at all if there are almost no blue cards in the deck? Shimmer of Possibility and Drawn from Dreams are new additions and are here for digging - solid card selection - luxury that green doesn't have. I've examined nearly every digging and drawing spell and those stood out above all the other. In T&N there is hardly any difference between instant and sorcery. They may seem expensive for an ordinary fair deck that plays 1 land a turn and wants to have as cheap spells as possible but in a ramp deck there is a lot more mana to spend so mana cost isn't as restricting. Those are the most effective and efficient tools that get you what you want. There is no restriction on what cards you can get. There is no restriction on what cards you can get. I said it twice because it's that relevant. Sideboard can now contain actual answers instead of semiviable creature replacements that need to be tutored. Oh, there are also Eternal Witnesses so yeah, make a connection between those and digging cards.
Glen Elendra Archmage is a card I like and if you don't think it's the best card in the deck you're the dumbest guy ever.
Llanowar Tribe is by far the best card in the deck. It's better than Overgrowth which are now reserve copies of it. Great thing to have 2 different cards that have similar effects. Those 2 together provide resilience and speed to ramping. Tribe is a creature that can do stuff creatures do, like attacking and blocking. Overgrowth has no such capabilities. 3 devotion is a wink towards Xenagos, unless devotion is high enough so he is a creature and dies to something before Emrakul gets haste. Hasn't happened to me yet. And lastly Tirbe can be untapped by both big Kiora and Kiora's Follower.
Sideboard could have some love just for UW control because it has become a tough matchup when it was swarmed with planeswalkers. Maybe Veil of Summer. On a side note I'm still wondering if Hydroid Krasis is reasonable. It has on cast trigger which is huge against control until you realize they play Narset, Parter of Veils. It may be decent enough against other decks though.
Format is too fast for Scavenging Ooze so there are Grafdigger's Cage instead. Rest of the sideboard is basic.
I like that list, but I was wondering, since you are looking for blue card selection, would Search for Azcanta fit in the deck? It's a proven tool that also ramps in the late game, the downside being that a creature-heavy deck doesn't utilize the backside's ability very well.
How has Elderscale Wurm been for you? Thinking about picking one up.
~
Anyway, more adventures in trying to figure out whether Eladamri's Call T&N is actually good, or just fun.
Combined record with this pile so far is 7-8. I don't have any useful insight about whether it's good or not, because the record is pretty middling, but I know it's not tuned and I made some play mistakes in there.
Eladamri's Call is still great, but I need to figure out what is the best suite of creatures, especially larger top-end creatures. None of the non-prime-time ones have been super impressive so far. World Breaker is a nice utility piece, but also doesn't put on as much pressure as I'd like for a 7-drop. Thragtusk has felt generally low-impact, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed too slow in matchups where I need him, and Gaea's Revenge is solid against grindy midrange decks but not the anti-UW control force I need him to be. As for the Cataclysmic Gearhulk, I haven't drawn it much. I used it once to great effect vs Elves, but I'm worried it's too hard to set it up so I don't get hurt too much by the symmetric effect.
Most of my success with Call comes from the small creatures. Magus, Ouphe, and Walking Ballista in particular have been amazing at 5-6 copies in the deck. Maybe it's correct to just play a bunch of hatebears, and lean on Prime Time and Tooth to actually close games.
I like that list, but I was wondering, since you are looking for blue card selection, would Search for Azcanta fit in the deck? It's a proven tool that also ramps in the late game, the downside being that a creature-heavy deck doesn't utilize the backside's ability very well.
I'm not looking for blue card selection. I've tested every digging spell out there and found it. Those 2 in my list are far ahead of other.
Azcanta is teribble and dodesn't have a place in Devotion or T&N. Shortly, it's the downside you pointed out, inability to fill up graveyard in a resonable time and only few relevant targets (impactful planeswalker, Primal Command, Tooth and Nail).
How has Elderscale Wurm been for you? Thinking about picking one up.
Do so if you want a way to buy yourself time to combo off. There are many decks that have troubles bypassing it. Those with burn spells must dig to find enough direct damage to kill it and that takes many turns compared to 7 power trampler. There are also decks that run Path to Exile. (Peronally I despise this card. 1 mana, instant, unconditional, exiles and let's be real - no drawback unless it's used on turn 1). To the point. If they have it, they have it. Otherwise they must wait for it because it's most likely a creature based deck with very little card draw / selection (outside of UW control and let's call them Jeskai tempo decks). Opponent's creatures will probably be big enough to block the wurm and the board stagnates until they find removal or you combo.
I pondered which creature was most suitable for extending my expected durability. I decided to play Elderscale Wurm over platinum titans: Angel and Emperion. Emperion and wurm are better at what they do than Angel. Opponent has to first kill them and then me, order is reversed when playing Angel. Emperion prevents fetching but that wasn't a problem with mainboard Blood Moons. It is an issue in UG version because it makes fetchlands a dead card.
During time of RG T&N there was no Llanowar Tribe (so Overgrowth was more valuable) and there were mainboard Blood Moons. Naturally players sided in enchantment hate and some of it could also destroy artifacts and Platinums got hit by ricochete. I can be the case now too.
Story time: it was also time of Grafdigger's Cage popularity and people were sideboarding it in against me which of course didn't work against T&N but was stopping my sideboard Madcap Experiment combo. Another common threat was Kolaghan's Command. Some frustration has built up.
There are some situations of increased risk for the wurm (being below 7 life and for instance Skullcrack in response - wurm's trigger is classified as gainig life so you stay below 7 and wurm's second ability does nothing). For this reason I played a single Sapseep Forest in RG T&N. It is a Forest so it could be fetched and untapped by Arbor Elf and other untappers but nowadays creatures or generally aggro is too massive to care about recovering 3+ life a turn. It also comes into play tapped. Another interaction undermining the wurm is "lose life" effect, although not popular but still present (like Shaman of the Pack). Fetchlands also make you lose life so be sure not to fetch when at 7 without a way to gain life.
From perspective of UG T&N I prefer Elderscale Wurm. 3 devotion, trample, 1 less mana, functioning fetchlands for surprise, surprise and mana.
Eladamri's Call is still great, but I need to figure out what is the best suite of creatures, especially larger top-end creatures. None of the non-prime-time ones have been super impressive so far. World Breaker is a nice utility piece, but also doesn't put on as much pressure as I'd like for a 7-drop. Thragtusk has felt generally low-impact, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed too slow in matchups where I need him, and Gaea's Revenge is solid against grindy midrange decks but not the anti-UW control force I need him to be. As for the Cataclysmic Gearhulk, I haven't drawn it much. I used it once to great effect vs Elves, but I'm worried it's too hard to set it up so I don't get hurt too much by the symmetric effect.
Turn World Breaker into Terastodon. I wrote a paragraph on it. Change Thragtusk for Wurmcoil or move it to sideboard and name it Weather the Storm. No idea what to do with Ruric Thar, the Unbowed without blue (Glen Elendra Archmage and Negate). If you are in Naya colors Cataclysmic Gearhulk can be exchanged for Dragonlord Atarka or Caldera Hellion (Hellion can eat your dorks, get big and survive it's own ability).
Gaea's Revenge is a medicore anti UW control card. It doesn't have trample, it's immune to Kessig Wolf Run, dies to Snapcaster + Vendilion Clique / Timely Reinforcements. I prefer Carnage Tyrant because it has 1 more toughness, trample and costs 1 mana less. Panglacial Wurm is fine too because it can be cast at instant speed. Other than that I would suggest Fry... No, for real this time. The best would be Carnage Tyrant (be afraid of Settle the Wreckage - who though one sided instant speed wrath was a good design?), Eternal Witness and Veil of Summer (protects from counterspells, Vendilion Clique, targeted planeswalkers' abilities). With Eladamri's Call you can try Gaddock Teeg, Dosan the Falling Leaf, Grand Abolisher or go full Timmy with Akroma, Angel of Fury. Against control Hornet Queen is fine too. On a gameplay note - side out some dorks, they will Path your stuff a lot.
If you have any questions regarding T&N ask them now. I'm eager to discuss.
Here is a promising prototype from me that is suprisingly explosive.
It's like Simic Devotion Elementals Combo and a very strange one, too. Risen Reef into Master of Waves get you Lands direct on the battlefield or nonlands in the hand , that you can re-invest with a bit luck in a copy of Master of Waves in the same turn. 10 damage isn't unusal with Omnath, Locus of the Roil at this moment, and after this you can copy Omnath for the next 10 damage.
You can copy Risen Reef that is at minimum 2 cards that is nice in the early game, that is still value itself.
With the devotion Wistful Selkie is the glue of this deck, and make the devotion part working.
The best of all, even you can't combo of, multiple Master of Waves kills your opponent, too.
My goldfishing test lead to a turn 4 win very often. Not bad at all and nearly every card replacing itself, so most of the time you don't run out of gas.
Beware if you have mutiple Risen Reefs out und you play Master of Waves - for example: 4 Reefs (copys count, too) into Master of Waves that make 5 blue elementals are 20(!)cards.
Here is a promising prototype from me that is suprisingly explosive.
It's like Simic Devotion Elementals Combo and a very strange one, too. Risen Reef into Master of Waves get you Lands direct on the battlefield or nonlands in the hand , that you can re-invest with a bit luck in a copy of Master of Waves in the same turn. 10 damage isn't unusal with Omnath, Locus of the Roil at this moment, and after this you can copy Omnath for the next 10 damage.
You can copy Risen Reef that is at minimum 2 cards that is nice in the early game, that is still value itself.
With the devotion Wistful Selkie is the glue of this deck, and make the devotion part working.
The best of all, even you can't combo of, multiple Master of Waves kills your opponent, too.
My goldfishing test lead to a turn 4 win very often. Not bad at all and nearly every card replacing itself, so most of the time you don't run out of gas.
Beware if you have mutiple Risen Reefs out und you play Master of Waves - for example: 4 Reefs (copys count, too) into Master of Waves that make 5 blue elementals are 20(!)cards.
I’ve had to change a few things just due to the sheer amount of Bolt, Path, Wren and Six, Lava Dart, etc. in the format. This includes the use of a lot of Defenders (wall of Blossoms, Carven Caryatid, Sylvan Caryatid, etc.). I may up shaving a few eventually; but right now it plays well.
The deck is super simple. You ramp as draw until you hit 9-12 mana...then you cast Tooth and Nail or Finale to grab your beater...but simple sometimes is best
The deck is super simple. You ramp as draw until you hit 9-12 mana...then you cast Tooth and Nail or Finale to grab your beater...but simple sometimes is best
If you're using defenders for draw/ramp what do you fetch with Finale at x=10 ? Ulamog?
The deck is super simple. You ramp as draw until you hit 9-12 mana...then you cast Tooth and Nail or Finale to grab your beater...but simple sometimes is best
If you're using defenders for draw/ramp what do you fetch with Finale at x=10 ? Ulamog?
Hey there! Sorry for the delay (life/baby stuff). I tried a couple things (original Kozilek, Ulamog, Craterhoof, etc.) Craterhoof is still an incredible card. For some reason i just haven’t played it much. It’s fun to grab one with Finale and have both trigger (often times he’s lethal all by himself).
The deck was SOO much fun...I really want Leyline to be a thing for Devotion. I don’t think I’ve made the best build yet (as it still has a worse win % than my superfriends deck)...I just kinda feel like a crappy deck builder using Karn like everyone else 😢. He is so good though!
EDIT:
Not playing Arbor Elf and Utopia Sprawl allows the deck to have non-forest utility lands. That's a big plus.
Would be really nice if they completed the Horizon Land cycle soon, so I can play 4 of a R/G Horizon Land. Any other utility lands I should include?
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
Pretty much the same stuff I've been doing for a while, but with some tweaks to the toolbox and the addition of Fiery Justice as a removal spell. It is definitely unorthodox and taxing on my mana, but I was impressed with the card all night. For a WRG deck that doesn't care about the opponent's life total, The card offers huge flexibility at taking down creature swarms, early mana dorks, and planeswalkers alike.
I switched back to Garruk over Kiora and Tribe to give myself a little more grind. It worked out pretty well for me.
There were only 4 people there, so we all played each other.
R1 vs Tron
G1 was long and back-and forth, and I almost threw it away misplaying an Emrakul, the Promised End trigger, but I managed to get back in the game by reanimating World Breaker. I used my Giver of Runes to keep the big eldrazi alive for long enough to finish the game.
G2 An early Magus of the Moon slowed him down. I played a Titan, let him spend his turn using O-stone on it and the magus, then Entwined a T&N.
2-0, 1-0
Generally felt pretty happy with my side boarding for this match. Between 3 Damping Spheres and an assortment of Call targets, it it hard for a tron player to keep their lands assembled in post-board games.
R2 vs UW control
G1 I stuck an early Garruk and made a few beasties for value. The fun part was Fiery Justice killing a Teferi, Time Ravelerand Wall of Omens. Opponent was not expecting that, and eventually died to the unanswered Garruk.
G2 Got locked out by Teferi + Knowledge Pool. Oof.
G3 was long and complicated, and one of the funnest games I've played in a while. Early in the game, I lost a counter war - Garruk>Dovin's Veto>Veil of Summer>Force of Negation pitching Supreme Verdict, but the fact that my opponent had used so many cards allowed me to land a titan, get wolf run, and attack him down to 4 before the titan got hit with another verdict. Later this game I justice'd his Teferi, got it countered by a hardcast force, so I just threw a second justice and cleared the walker. Won that game with Gaddock Teeg and Kessig Wolf Run, with my opponent out of answers.
4-1, 2-0
This is not the best matchup for me, but I retooled the deck to fight it better. Veil of Summer is very good, and Garruk over Kiora or Tribe helps here. Whether this was a fluke or a sign that this is a better matchup, I can't tell yet.
It should be noted that I cast Thrun in game two, and he got eaten by Spell Queller.
R3 vs Bant value Tooth and Nail
This is the first time I've run into another T&N player in the wild, though his approach was much different from mine. He had Xenagos+Aeons Torn, but also Iona+Painter's Servant out of the board, Knight of the Reliquary, Countermagic, Primal Command+Ewit, and Grand Architect+Pili-pala. I like the idea of playing a value-oriented game, but this list felt like it had too many 2-ofs and needed some focusing.
G1 I die to fast Tooth and Nail.
G2 He dies to fast Tooth and Nail.
G3 we did standard green devotion stuff for the first few turns. After his 3rd turn he had Arbor Elf, Sprawl, Garruk, and a beast token. I justice'd away the Garruk and Elf, but he plays another Garruk. I landed a Garruk of my own, then called Knight of Autumn to get rid of the Sprawl and stop him from going off. My next draw was Hydra, which was a 15/16 and ate his only creature. GG.
Not a lot to mention in this matchup, which is obviously not one I prepared for. I brought in two Veils because I knew he would board in counters, but never saw or needed them in the other games.
6-2, 3-0.
Post-game thoughts:
1) Calling a creature generally means that it will come down one turn after it would if drawn naturally, so Call is better finding hatebears than big beaters, as cheap creatures can still be deployed reasonably quickly. The highest CMC I played in my call-board tonight was 4, and I relied on Titan (and Ravenous Hydra) to bring the heavy hits.
2) I didn't see Nissa all night. She fills two roles in the deck: reanimator and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means she should probably just be an eternal witness. I could put a haste creature like Ravager Wurm or something in the sideboard.
3) Fiery Justice was crazy good. Strains my mana, yes, but i'm not sure I care.
4) Creatures I liked: Voracious Hydra, World Breaker, Knight of Autumn, Giver of Runes.
Creatures I'm not sure about: Loaming Shaman, Thrun, Gaddock Teeg.
Anyway, let me know with any comments or suggestions.
Also, not sure it was talked about yet, but Veil of Summer is a seriously good card. Green Devotion has had issues with control in the past, and this card is a BIG middle finger to all control players.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Always wear protection kids, sleeve up your deck.
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
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Haha! I think you are on to something though. Just having the “oops I win” option as early as turn 2 is crazy.
1. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is better than I thought. There is a lot of synergy with all of the things we like to do (untapping lands, ramp, etc.
2. Llanowar Tribe is fragile, but extremely powerful. Even though I’ve been trying to test Leyline as much as possible; I still like to test my Karn Combo deck too. The turns where Tribe wins are WAY different from those without it. I do worry that Jund, Prowess, Burn, Phoenix, etc mean a LOT of bolts in the meta...but I guess having a “must kill” is ok.
3. Playing more dorks does help make for smoother turns. 12+ is actually reasonable.
I’ll post more on each list once I’ve finished testing both lists.
Nissa, Who Shakes the World makes a great job with the Leyline.
I totally agree. I think it is one or the other. You either play a Leyline Core or what I call a "Sprawl Core" (that includes Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Llanowar Tribe...). They ramp in very different ways; but both get out of hand quickly.
I’ll test it to make certain; bytbif so Devoted Elves would be a very strong deck.
Mono Green Wakeroot Devotion Combo by Meryn
https://youtu.be/uFPQZCuxexo
Decklist: https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/freeform/meryn/wakeroot-devotion-combo/1356524?utm_source=merynmtg&utm_medium=merynmtg&utm_term=&utm_content=magic&utm_campaign=affiliate
Infinite Mana: Wakeroot Elemental + Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx + " 6x G on board "
Very Nice, that all all Walls and Wiskful let you draw a card (11 cards in sum)
Looked fun! Yeah..I’m a huge fan of card draw in Devotion. We spend so much mana it’s nice to keep filling up.
I think Devotion works well as a combo deck...so this could actually work. I don’t think this list is optimal; but that’s to be expected on he first go at it.
4 Windswept Heath
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Stomping Ground
2 Breeding Pool
8 Forest
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Kiora's Follower
4 Llanowar Tribe
3 Overgrowth
2 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Hornet Queen
1 Panglacial Wurm
1 Terastodon
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
2 Shimmer of Possibility
1 Drawn from Dreams
3 Primal Command
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Elderscale Wurm
1 Carnage Tyrant
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Trinisphere
2 Weather the Storm
2 Negate
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Grafdigger's Cage
First of all ramp. Cheap mix of creatures and auras are responsible for ramping because it's quick and very dangerous if left unaswered. Garruk is out of the game because Llanowar Tribe is just a cheaper Garruk. Intense testing brought me to conclution that although Primeval Titan is a great card, it's not the card that T&N wants. Use of Primeval Titan in other dedicated decks is much more focused. Here it just grabs 2 lands and those don't kill by themselves unlike in Valakut and Amulet. Moreover there are no lands powerful enough to change the state of the game when behind. It's easy to win when everything goes according to plan but it doesn't alwyas go as planned. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Kessig Wolf Run need a proper setup to work. Blast Zone was tested too with great results but during the transition to cheap ramp there are less universal untappers. It's much weaker because it's less likely to be charged and sacrificed during one turn. A little combo worth noting here was to cast Titan, tutor Nykthos and a bounce land, replay Nykthos and tap it for more mana (I used it two or three times, not really that relevant. Bouncelands had synergy with universal untappers and Tireless Trackers). I tried manlands but they were not impactful enough, all of them. Those lands are toys, not tools. When Titan ramps but there are no payoff cards and it gets killed, it most likely means game over. Thus there is no Primeval Titans in my list. The only regret I have is a gap left in CMCs at 5 and 6. Sometimes when tight on mana it would be convenient to be able to tutor something big with Primal Command and cast it next turn. Now it's Eternal Witness most of the time.
Alongside Titans I played Tireless Trackers. Great synergy, no doubts. They are much better than Harmonize - there's plenty of cards that have minor impact when in need of a payoff. Drawing a land and 2 ramp cards doesn't help at all. Tireless Tracker is a creature that turns excessive land drops into cards or more lands to fuel itself and it grows so even when luck is not on your side you still have a big growing creature. The problem I had with Trackers was that they were very polarized in their outcomes. If on the battlefield and there was no lands to be played it was as miserable as it could be - vanilla creature for 3 mana. Even situations where he created 1 or 2 Clue tokens were often unfavorable because roughly 2/3 of the deck is bad when on the mercy of topdeck. Being restrained on mana was rough because it was spent on drawing cards, not playing them.
Verdict: Titans won't be played and as a consequence Trackers are out too.
Back to the topic of manlands. What I relized was that without Titans they can't be fetched. The only land showing some promise was Frostwalk Bastion because it could block a big creature for 2 turns. Unfortunately it taps for colorless and Llanowar Tribe likes color a lot. My manland of choice is now Panglacial Wurm. Can be cast at instant speed, surprise blocker, threatening 9 power and available to cast with every fetchland or other search effect. That's like 9 manlands. Nobody expects it. With london mulligan if it's in opening hand just send it to the bottom.
The Big Elephant is here in place of every other creature that was destroying things. Unlike others it can destroy planeswalkers which is relevant. It says "up to three" so there is always freedom of choice in selecting number of targets. Very often destroying 1 land is barely relevant against most decks, but 3? That's a strong blow - denying access to colors or casting spells altogether creating 3 littlephants that will most likely trade with the big one. That's marvelous. In emergency it can be 18 power for 8 mana.
Why play blue at all if there are almost no blue cards in the deck? Shimmer of Possibility and Drawn from Dreams are new additions and are here for digging - solid card selection - luxury that green doesn't have. I've examined nearly every digging and drawing spell and those stood out above all the other. In T&N there is hardly any difference between instant and sorcery. They may seem expensive for an ordinary fair deck that plays 1 land a turn and wants to have as cheap spells as possible but in a ramp deck there is a lot more mana to spend so mana cost isn't as restricting. Those are the most effective and efficient tools that get you what you want. There is no restriction on what cards you can get. There is no restriction on what cards you can get. I said it twice because it's that relevant. Sideboard can now contain actual answers instead of semiviable creature replacements that need to be tutored. Oh, there are also Eternal Witnesses so yeah, make a connection between those and digging cards.
Glen Elendra Archmage is a card I like and if you don't think it's the best card in the deck you're the dumbest guy ever.
Llanowar Tribe is by far the best card in the deck. It's better than Overgrowth which are now reserve copies of it. Great thing to have 2 different cards that have similar effects. Those 2 together provide resilience and speed to ramping. Tribe is a creature that can do stuff creatures do, like attacking and blocking. Overgrowth has no such capabilities. 3 devotion is a wink towards Xenagos, unless devotion is high enough so he is a creature and dies to something before Emrakul gets haste. Hasn't happened to me yet. And lastly Tirbe can be untapped by both big Kiora and Kiora's Follower.
Sideboard could have some love just for UW control because it has become a tough matchup when it was swarmed with planeswalkers. Maybe Veil of Summer. On a side note I'm still wondering if Hydroid Krasis is reasonable. It has on cast trigger which is huge against control until you realize they play Narset, Parter of Veils. It may be decent enough against other decks though.
Format is too fast for Scavenging Ooze so there are Grafdigger's Cage instead. Rest of the sideboard is basic.
Edit: Typos
I like that list, but I was wondering, since you are looking for blue card selection, would Search for Azcanta fit in the deck? It's a proven tool that also ramps in the late game, the downside being that a creature-heavy deck doesn't utilize the backside's ability very well.
How has Elderscale Wurm been for you? Thinking about picking one up.
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Anyway, more adventures in trying to figure out whether Eladamri's Call T&N is actually good, or just fun.
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Overgrowth
4 Llanowar Tribe
3 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
3 Primeval Titan
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Walking Ballista
1 Thragtusk
1 World Breaker
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
8 Forest
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Thragtusk
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
2 Gaea's Revenge
3 Damping Sphere
2 Winds of Abandon
Combined record with this pile so far is 7-8. I don't have any useful insight about whether it's good or not, because the record is pretty middling, but I know it's not tuned and I made some play mistakes in there.
Eladamri's Call is still great, but I need to figure out what is the best suite of creatures, especially larger top-end creatures. None of the non-prime-time ones have been super impressive so far. World Breaker is a nice utility piece, but also doesn't put on as much pressure as I'd like for a 7-drop. Thragtusk has felt generally low-impact, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed too slow in matchups where I need him, and Gaea's Revenge is solid against grindy midrange decks but not the anti-UW control force I need him to be. As for the Cataclysmic Gearhulk, I haven't drawn it much. I used it once to great effect vs Elves, but I'm worried it's too hard to set it up so I don't get hurt too much by the symmetric effect.
Most of my success with Call comes from the small creatures. Magus, Ouphe, and Walking Ballista in particular have been amazing at 5-6 copies in the deck. Maybe it's correct to just play a bunch of hatebears, and lean on Prime Time and Tooth to actually close games.
Cards I want to try out
Elderscale Wurm
Knight of Autumn
Eidolon of Rhetoric
Restoration Angel
Veil of Summer
A few questions for you guys: Any suggestions for creatures to include? Especially those that would help vs control?
Has anyone tested Vivien, Champion of the Wilds?
Azcanta is teribble and dodesn't have a place in Devotion or T&N. Shortly, it's the downside you pointed out, inability to fill up graveyard in a resonable time and only few relevant targets (impactful planeswalker, Primal Command, Tooth and Nail).
Do so if you want a way to buy yourself time to combo off. There are many decks that have troubles bypassing it. Those with burn spells must dig to find enough direct damage to kill it and that takes many turns compared to 7 power trampler. There are also decks that run Path to Exile. (Peronally I despise this card. 1 mana, instant, unconditional, exiles and let's be real - no drawback unless it's used on turn 1). To the point. If they have it, they have it. Otherwise they must wait for it because it's most likely a creature based deck with very little card draw / selection (outside of UW control and let's call them Jeskai tempo decks). Opponent's creatures will probably be big enough to block the wurm and the board stagnates until they find removal or you combo.
I pondered which creature was most suitable for extending my expected durability. I decided to play Elderscale Wurm over platinum titans: Angel and Emperion. Emperion and wurm are better at what they do than Angel. Opponent has to first kill them and then me, order is reversed when playing Angel. Emperion prevents fetching but that wasn't a problem with mainboard Blood Moons. It is an issue in UG version because it makes fetchlands a dead card.
During time of RG T&N there was no Llanowar Tribe (so Overgrowth was more valuable) and there were mainboard Blood Moons. Naturally players sided in enchantment hate and some of it could also destroy artifacts and Platinums got hit by ricochete. I can be the case now too.
Story time: it was also time of Grafdigger's Cage popularity and people were sideboarding it in against me which of course didn't work against T&N but was stopping my sideboard Madcap Experiment combo. Another common threat was Kolaghan's Command. Some frustration has built up.
There are some situations of increased risk for the wurm (being below 7 life and for instance Skullcrack in response - wurm's trigger is classified as gainig life so you stay below 7 and wurm's second ability does nothing). For this reason I played a single Sapseep Forest in RG T&N. It is a Forest so it could be fetched and untapped by Arbor Elf and other untappers but nowadays creatures or generally aggro is too massive to care about recovering 3+ life a turn. It also comes into play tapped. Another interaction undermining the wurm is "lose life" effect, although not popular but still present (like Shaman of the Pack). Fetchlands also make you lose life so be sure not to fetch when at 7 without a way to gain life.
From perspective of UG T&N I prefer Elderscale Wurm. 3 devotion, trample, 1 less mana, functioning fetchlands for surprise, surprise and mana.
Turn World Breaker into Terastodon. I wrote a paragraph on it. Change Thragtusk for Wurmcoil or move it to sideboard and name it Weather the Storm. No idea what to do with Ruric Thar, the Unbowed without blue (Glen Elendra Archmage and Negate). If you are in Naya colors Cataclysmic Gearhulk can be exchanged for Dragonlord Atarka or Caldera Hellion (Hellion can eat your dorks, get big and survive it's own ability).
Gaea's Revenge is a medicore anti UW control card. It doesn't have trample, it's immune to Kessig Wolf Run, dies to Snapcaster + Vendilion Clique / Timely Reinforcements. I prefer Carnage Tyrant because it has 1 more toughness, trample and costs 1 mana less. Panglacial Wurm is fine too because it can be cast at instant speed. Other than that I would suggest Fry... No, for real this time. The best would be Carnage Tyrant (be afraid of Settle the Wreckage - who though one sided instant speed wrath was a good design?), Eternal Witness and Veil of Summer (protects from counterspells, Vendilion Clique, targeted planeswalkers' abilities). With Eladamri's Call you can try Gaddock Teeg, Dosan the Falling Leaf, Grand Abolisher or go full Timmy with Akroma, Angel of Fury. Against control Hornet Queen is fine too. On a gameplay note - side out some dorks, they will Path your stuff a lot.
If you have any questions regarding T&N ask them now. I'm eager to discuss.
It's like Simic Devotion Elementals Combo and a very strange one, too. Risen Reef into Master of Waves get you Lands direct on the battlefield or nonlands in the hand , that you can re-invest with a bit luck in a copy of Master of Waves in the same turn. 10 damage isn't unusal with Omnath, Locus of the Roil at this moment, and after this you can copy Omnath for the next 10 damage.
You can copy Risen Reef that is at minimum 2 cards that is nice in the early game, that is still value itself.
With the devotion Wistful Selkie is the glue of this deck, and make the devotion part working.
The best of all, even you can't combo of, multiple Master of Waves kills your opponent, too.
My goldfishing test lead to a turn 4 win very often. Not bad at all and nearly every card replacing itself, so most of the time you don't run out of gas.
Beware if you have mutiple Risen Reefs out und you play Master of Waves - for example: 4 Reefs (copys count, too) into Master of Waves that make 5 blue elementals are 20(!)cards.
2 Breeding Pool
4 Chord of Calling
4 Coiling Oracle
6 Forest
4 Island
4 Master of Waves
4 Mirror Image
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Omnath, Locus of the Roil
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Risen Reef
1 Stomping Ground
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wistful Selkie
1 Incandescent Soulstoke
1 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
1 Repudiate / Replicate
4 Veil of Summer
Before you play this deck just get a feeling for this deck and make a goldfish test. for example here: ( http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/elementals-devotion/ press "playtesting" , have fun )
about the Sideboard, some humble thoughts:
Veil of Summer: is set to protect your combo and again draw a card
Repudiate / Replicate : just a sort of counter for example to disabled the bounce effect of Thing in the Ice or that from a Planeswalker
Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer: Not sure. She can doing a big 4/4 flying Elemental.
Incandescent Soulstoke: It's a Lord, that let survive Elementals from the Wave. did thoughts about Creeping Trailblazer but thats too much i think and push only the attack. Maybe Murkfiend Liege or Leyline of Vitality.
This is awesome. You get to play Devotion to 2 colors
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I’ve been finding success lately with Finale of Devastation. Will post more a little later today.
I know it may sound a little strange; but I’ve been playing a Leyline of Abundance with Tooth and Nail and two copies of Finale of Promise
I’ve had to change a few things just due to the sheer amount of Bolt, Path, Wren and Six, Lava Dart, etc. in the format. This includes the use of a lot of Defenders (wall of Blossoms, Carven Caryatid, Sylvan Caryatid, etc.). I may up shaving a few eventually; but right now it plays well.
The deck is super simple. You ramp as draw until you hit 9-12 mana...then you cast Tooth and Nail or Finale to grab your beater...but simple sometimes is best
If you're using defenders for draw/ramp what do you fetch with Finale at x=10 ? Ulamog?
Hey there! Sorry for the delay (life/baby stuff). I tried a couple things (original Kozilek, Ulamog, Craterhoof, etc.) Craterhoof is still an incredible card. For some reason i just haven’t played it much. It’s fun to grab one with Finale and have both trigger (often times he’s lethal all by himself).
The deck was SOO much fun...I really want Leyline to be a thing for Devotion. I don’t think I’ve made the best build yet (as it still has a worse win % than my superfriends deck)...I just kinda feel like a crappy deck builder using Karn like everyone else 😢. He is so good though!
I've been working on this deck.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Walking Ballista
2 Vizier of Remedies
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Hornet Queen
1 Acidic Slime
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
Spells (4)
4 Chord of Calling
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Leyline of Abundance
3 Oath of Nissa
Lands (21)
3 Forest
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Nurting Peatland
1 Waterlogged Grove
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Abrade
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Force of Vigor
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Knight of Autumn
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Relic of Progenitus
Notes:
Devoted Druid is great with Leyline, since you can make 4 mana with only Druid on turn 3. The combo is also great since Leyline is a mana sink.
Dryad Arbor is also sweet with Leyline, but I decided not to include it since i’m Only running 21 lands having a non hasty land is a liability.
It hurts me to not have the Utopia plus Arbor Elf package. Garruk is a bit worse in this deck without Sprawl
I don’t want to build the deck so that it fails if Leyline is not in the opening hand.
I’m considering testing the new Vivien, Arkbow Ranger, though I think it would fit best in the Glittering Wish deck.
EDIT:
Not playing Arbor Elf and Utopia Sprawl allows the deck to have non-forest utility lands. That's a big plus.
Would be really nice if they completed the Horizon Land cycle soon, so I can play 4 of a R/G Horizon Land. Any other utility lands I should include?
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC
Yes. Leyline seems like a natural fit for Devotion. If we can make a “better” Leyline deck than the combo decks out there we are in great shape!
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Overgrowth
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Nissa, Vital Force
3 Primeval Titan
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
4 Eladamri's Call
1 Giver of Runes
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voracious Hydra
1 World Breaker
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
8 Forest
Side
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Veil of Summer
3 Damping Sphere
Pretty much the same stuff I've been doing for a while, but with some tweaks to the toolbox and the addition of Fiery Justice as a removal spell. It is definitely unorthodox and taxing on my mana, but I was impressed with the card all night. For a WRG deck that doesn't care about the opponent's life total, The card offers huge flexibility at taking down creature swarms, early mana dorks, and planeswalkers alike.
I switched back to Garruk over Kiora and Tribe to give myself a little more grind. It worked out pretty well for me.
There were only 4 people there, so we all played each other.
R1 vs Tron
G1 was long and back-and forth, and I almost threw it away misplaying an Emrakul, the Promised End trigger, but I managed to get back in the game by reanimating World Breaker. I used my Giver of Runes to keep the big eldrazi alive for long enough to finish the game.
G2 An early Magus of the Moon slowed him down. I played a Titan, let him spend his turn using O-stone on it and the magus, then Entwined a T&N.
2-0, 1-0
Generally felt pretty happy with my side boarding for this match. Between 3 Damping Spheres and an assortment of Call targets, it it hard for a tron player to keep their lands assembled in post-board games.
R2 vs UW control
G1 I stuck an early Garruk and made a few beasties for value. The fun part was Fiery Justice killing a Teferi, Time Ravelerand Wall of Omens. Opponent was not expecting that, and eventually died to the unanswered Garruk.
G2 Got locked out by Teferi + Knowledge Pool. Oof.
G3 was long and complicated, and one of the funnest games I've played in a while. Early in the game, I lost a counter war - Garruk>Dovin's Veto>Veil of Summer>Force of Negation pitching Supreme Verdict, but the fact that my opponent had used so many cards allowed me to land a titan, get wolf run, and attack him down to 4 before the titan got hit with another verdict. Later this game I justice'd his Teferi, got it countered by a hardcast force, so I just threw a second justice and cleared the walker. Won that game with Gaddock Teeg and Kessig Wolf Run, with my opponent out of answers.
4-1, 2-0
This is not the best matchup for me, but I retooled the deck to fight it better. Veil of Summer is very good, and Garruk over Kiora or Tribe helps here. Whether this was a fluke or a sign that this is a better matchup, I can't tell yet.
It should be noted that I cast Thrun in game two, and he got eaten by Spell Queller.
R3 vs Bant value Tooth and Nail
This is the first time I've run into another T&N player in the wild, though his approach was much different from mine. He had Xenagos+Aeons Torn, but also Iona+Painter's Servant out of the board, Knight of the Reliquary, Countermagic, Primal Command+Ewit, and Grand Architect+Pili-pala. I like the idea of playing a value-oriented game, but this list felt like it had too many 2-ofs and needed some focusing.
G1 I die to fast Tooth and Nail.
G2 He dies to fast Tooth and Nail.
G3 we did standard green devotion stuff for the first few turns. After his 3rd turn he had Arbor Elf, Sprawl, Garruk, and a beast token. I justice'd away the Garruk and Elf, but he plays another Garruk. I landed a Garruk of my own, then called Knight of Autumn to get rid of the Sprawl and stop him from going off. My next draw was Hydra, which was a 15/16 and ate his only creature. GG.
Not a lot to mention in this matchup, which is obviously not one I prepared for. I brought in two Veils because I knew he would board in counters, but never saw or needed them in the other games.
6-2, 3-0.
Post-game thoughts:
1) Calling a creature generally means that it will come down one turn after it would if drawn naturally, so Call is better finding hatebears than big beaters, as cheap creatures can still be deployed reasonably quickly. The highest CMC I played in my call-board tonight was 4, and I relied on Titan (and Ravenous Hydra) to bring the heavy hits.
2) I didn't see Nissa all night. She fills two roles in the deck: reanimator and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means she should probably just be an eternal witness. I could put a haste creature like Ravager Wurm or something in the sideboard.
3) Fiery Justice was crazy good. Strains my mana, yes, but i'm not sure I care.
4) Creatures I liked: Voracious Hydra, World Breaker, Knight of Autumn, Giver of Runes.
Creatures I'm not sure about: Loaming Shaman, Thrun, Gaddock Teeg.
Anyway, let me know with any comments or suggestions.
MODERN: Pure Pili-ness GU // Red Devotion RR // Green Devotion Variants GRWUG // U/G Emerge CGU // Lots and Lots of Brews BGRUWC