So, my only critique of the "stock" list I have been running is that I seem to draw Scapeshift more frequently than i want to.
Thoughts on going to 3 Scapeshift rather than 4? If so, what do I replace it with? Baloth? Another Threat? Ramp?
I haven't had that problem myself, but if I had to go down to 3 Scapeshifts I'll replace the one copy with a Baloth or even Thrun, which has been an allstar for me against all types of decks. He blocks forever, is uncounterable and is a PITA to get rid of. The other day I had a grixis control opponent face palm after I cast it
Round 1 vs. Grixis Control: 2:1
He took game 1 off many horrible top decks by me. Had 8 lands (none of which were valakut) in play and just needed either Scapeshift, Prime Time or Summoner's pact to pull the trigger. Drew ramp/lands 5 turns in a row. Got beat down from 17 to 0 life by a creeping tar pit.
Games 2 and 3 I sided in Thrun which was a superstar. Beat him down with it, Titan for the rest. Game 3 saw a valakut destroyed by Fulminator. He was also able to terminate + surgically extract my Titans. Thrun and Baloth did the dirty work before I drew a Scapeshift.
Round 2 vs. Cheerios: 2:0
Cheerios is so easy for Titanshift to beat. Game 1 depends on whether you draw lightning bolt. Games 2 and 3 depend on whether you have lightning bolt, sudden shock or engineered explosives. So I mulliganed for those and won (off a mulligan to 5 even)
Round 3 v.s UW Control: 2:1
Game 1 I lost after being stuck on 5 lands. As usual, I sided in Thrun which was a huge problem for him. UW control just isn't very good against Titanshift because we have bolts for spell quellers and get the free cast off them after that. Pretty standard ramp -> scapeshift/titan for the wins in Games 2 and 3.
0-2 against Scapeshift
Poor match up. He just had all the answers. Died to Prismatic Omen shift in G1. G2 I had a Primeval Titan remanded twice in a row, and the third time I cast it he had a snap - remand. Fourth time I tried to cast it he had cryptic. Then he scapeshifted me.
2-1 against Cheerios
I feel that G1 is in their favour but G2 and 3 are much better. G1 he got there with a storm count of 30~ and I could only look at the sorcery-speed Anger of the Gods in hand. One turn earlier I had a lethal Scapeshift turned in to a swan. Sided in 3 Sudden Shock and felt much better. G2 I kept a hand with no ramp but 2 bolts and 1 Sudden Shock. Eventually shifted him for 18 after Steve poked him twice. G3 he mull'ed to 4 looking for a good hand (in his words "we mulligan aggressively for cheerios") while I mull'ed to 6 for a Sudden Shock and a bolt in hand. Eventually got there with Prime Time. Cheerios is very beatable post-board, just need to mull for answers. Srams and Paladins die easily enough.
2-0 against UW Control
Uneventful. G1 he flashed in Spell Queller on my Scapeshift but I bolted it and shifted for 18 damage. G2 I sided in Reverberate, Thrun and Baloths. I had a suspended S4T spell-quelled. I then casted a Thrun, the Last Troll and he flashed in Restoration Angel, blinking the Spell Queller (I then get to cast my S4T for free) which then exiled my Thrun on the stack. That interaction was rather interesting to me. But he was left with 1 open mana for his theatrics. Shifted him for 36.
2-0 against Grixis Delver
Rather straight forward. G1 I had a good hand into turn 4 Primeval Titan while he durdled. Ended the game next turn. G2 I had a Sudden Shock for his Young Pyromancer. Built my board and shifted for 18. He only had Mana Leak which I was able to pay for.
Thoughts
After tonight, I am considering Fracturing Gust in the SB as a catch-all. Maybe I'll take out a Nature's Claim for it. Very happy with 3 Sudden Shocks in the SB which have just overperformed all night. I'm not sold on Reverberate at the moment, seeing as the control matchups are easy and if we face the mirror/other Scapeshift variants, it's just a race to 7 lands. Any input on how to improve mirror matchups?
May be testing RG Breach soon, with 1 or 2 copies of Scapeshift.
Thanks for the reply. I am generally able to deal with the pyros, snaps and delvers. A Turn 2 Goyf and Delver though is a nightmare, I couldn't ramp up fast enough to Valukut-bolt them and just got beat down. I'll try out the Pulse of Murasa suggestion, sounds like it would be helpful. I'm also trying to get a few Engineered Explosives at the moment.
What's your take on Thrun, the Last Troll? I've been running him as a one-of in my SB and he's a star at chump-blocking and against blue decks in general. Just wondering if there are replacements which would do his job better.
Hey guys any advice on playing against Delver decks in general (and what to sideboard in)? Been having a bit of trouble with them (both Grixis and Temur variants). Essentially they resolve a Delver of Secrets or Tasigur, the Golden Fang or Young Pyromancer or Tarmogoyf really early and then sit back with countermagic denying me all my spells and I can't get going. Have managed to stabilize a few times but they had Bolt - Snap - Bolt to finish me off. Usually I can deal with insectile aberration or young pyromancer but tasigur and goyfs get too big too quickly
Nothing too exciting happened. Game 1 I was able to scapeshift him on turn 5. Game 2 I resolved Primeval Titan on turn 4 and won the following turn.
SB: -3 KHE (I figured bolts and anger would be of some use), then + 2 Reverberates, 1 Thrun
Match 2 against Grixis Delver: 2-0
Again, uneventful. Game 1 I ramped up and and was happy to see turn 4 Prime Time resolve, after getting beat down by Insectile Aberration for 2 turns. Titan was terminated but I played ramp spells into his dome. Game 2 he had more pressure by resolving a turn 2/3 (can't remember exactly) Tasigur while I had 2 Steves to chump twice. Turn 5 Scapeshift for game while holding up mana for leak (he did have it but it was inconsequential).
SB: -3 KHE, 2 Anger, 1 Bolt, then + 2 Reverberates, 1 Thrun, 3 Baloths (Game 1 he resolved a LotV which surprised me... in grixis delver???)
Match 3 against Bogles: 1-2
This was the crazy match of the night. Game 1 he exploded out with a bogle with 3 or 4 enchantments (luckily, no daybreak coronet) and hit me down to 1 hp before I was able to turn 4/5 (can't remember exactly) scapeshift for the win. Game 2 he had an insane hand and I didn't draw any of my nature's claim/reclamation sage to deal with them. Got eaten alive by a bogle with rancor, coronet, some umbra and ethereal armor.
Game 3 was the game of the night. He had an explosive hand akin to game 2.... I mulled to 5 (first 2 hands had 6 land, then 0 land respectively) and he laid down leyline of sanctity. Oh well. I had 2 tribe elders at least to eat his hits. I resolved Thrun with mana up around turn 5, and was able to regen-block his bogle holding 5 or 6 auras (was a 10/10 with lifelink, vigilance, etc but no trample) for 4 consecutive turns. Eventually, he went up to 54 life before I finally drew my nature's claim with 9 lands on the board. Claimed his leyline (him going up to 58), then scapeshifted saccing 9 lands (3 Valakut and 6 mountains) for 54 damage, but it was not enough. Awesome game. Also, I couldn't have waited another turn because he emptied his hand and had lethal on board.
SB: - 4 bolts, - 1 KHE (on second thought, should have sided out anger), then + 1 Thrun, 2 Nature's Claim, 1 Reclamation Sage
Match 4 against Jund: 2-1
I was rather confident about this matchup since we have access to Baloths and Thrun postboard and most of their removal were useless against us. However game 1 he had a thoughtseize for my SFT then maelstrom pulse for my KHE in game 1 while a gofy beat me into the ground. Didn't draw much ramp. Game 2 I had a good starting hand (3 lands, SFT, Farseek, Explore, Prime Time) while he mull'ed to 6 and scried to the bottom. I ramped up to 7 and shifted him on turn 4. Game 3 he IOK'ed me on turn 1 and groaned when he saw my Baloth. He took my Summoner's Pact but was thereafter unable to apply any meaningful pressure while I ramped up. He saw that I was getting to 7 lands and was forced to take action - Kolaghan's command on my end step let me discard my Baloth onto the board staring down his LotV and it ate a terminate. I untapped and casted Prime Time and was hell bent. It didn't matter, topdecked a mountain and won.
SB: - 2 Bolts, 2 Anger, then + 3 Baloths, 1 Thrun
Thoughts
So far I'm having a blast with this deck, it has a sense of inevitability and awesome top decks. Even if Prime Time eats a removal instantly you still get 2 Valakuts/Mountains. However aggro is still a problem as can be seen from Match 3; maybe I should have mulliganned more aggressively to look for removal/hate in my opening hand. That loss to Bogle made me consider SB'ing Back to NatureorFracturing Gust but I'm not sure if that's too narrow for a less-played deck.
finished 2nd yesterday (3-1-0, lost the final). here a quick report:
round 1: affinity (2-0)
g1: he kept a fairly slow hand. i won turn 5 with Wolfbriar Elemental + 5 token.
g2: i had a really good hand. turn 2 destroyed his cranial plating and turn 4 behemoth closed the game.
round 2: u/b mill (2-0)
my opp both games kept quite questionable hands so it was quite easy.
round 3: dredge (2-1)
g1: it was a very tight game but thanks to primal command that shuffles his graveyard i could buy some time and turn 6 i won with behemoth.
g2: i lost it very quickly. turn 2 cathartic reunion with triple golgari + conflagrate to kill my mana dorks.
g3: he had a really slow start and i win with titan.
Top 4: naya burn (2-0)
MVP of both games primal command
g1: turn 4 he tap out and send me to 3 but with primal command+eternal witness I managed to stabilize.
g2: very similar to g1 a turn 4 primal command helped me to stabilize and next turn i closed the game with behemoth
final: jund (0-2)
g1: i lost this game cause i misplayed with garruk. he had liliana and i didn't create a token but untapped 2 land and next turn i had to cast primeval titan.
g2: I have been a bit 'unlucky. turn 3 i had 5 mana with a titan in hand. in 5 turns i couldn't find another land or mana dork to cast it xd. instead he had 2 dark confidant and buried me in card advantage.
overall the deck is really funny to play. it can be modified as you prefer and i really like this thing.
probably Tuesday i ll play another tourney. I will let you know how it goes
nice, Command + Witness looping has won me so many games as well, to the point that I've gone back up to 4 Witnesses and 3 Commands. Could you post your deck?
Currently playing Lunik's UG Wave deck with slight modifications (- 1 oath, - 1 Selkie, - 1 Genesis Wave, - 1 Bird, + 2 Primeval Titans, + 2 Commands) and it's really consistent. The deck explodes at turn 3 with a good hand and at turn 4 with an average hand.
I'd like advice on handling naya burn and other zoo decks heavy with removal. I'm having quite a bit of trouble as they kill my mana dorks and then me a bit too quickly. I'm thinking of replacing my BTEs with strangleroot geists and increasing the number of coursers. Sometimes primal command comes out too late or at best, it only delays for one turn. And the feeling of turn 2 BTE into nothing is the worst.
I'm running a Gwave deck and would like to keep it that way if possible.
@jaccjacc @CurdBros thanks for the answer! Can't wait to try this deck out on someone. Is there any replacement worthy of Craterhoof Behemoth? I do have dragon atarka / polukranos but they are not hasted
There aren't any direct replacements for Craterhoof. In Wave decks; however, you can play cards like Sarkhan Vol, Temur Ascendancy, or any other Fervor -effect, etc. to give all creatures haste (haste enablers). You don't get the buff; but you do get the benefit of being able to attack (and tap) every creature that came into play that turn.
Craterhoof is pretty much the best finisher we have; but in Wave decks haste enablers can often do the same job (end the game) 8 times out of 10 that Hoof would while maintaining a budget green Devotion deck.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the tip.. . Although I did just pony up $30 for the final piece of the jigsaw today, I will roll with the Hoof
Rather interested in Red/Green cards we can play. I have Xenagos the reveler and dragonlord atarka at the moment. Will consider sarkan vol too
@jaccjacc @CurdBros thanks for the answer! Can't wait to try this deck out on someone. Is there any replacement worthy of Craterhoof Behemoth? I do have dragon atarka / polukranos but they are not hasted
New to MTG after taking a break for 6 years, saw this Nyxwave deck and spent $200 on the spot to build it because it looks awesome. I do have a couple of questions though (I have googled the answers but want to check just to be sure):
If I have a Garruk already in play, and I tap Nykthos for mana, then use Garruk's ability to untap Nykthos and tap it again for more mana, then casting Genesis Wave which reveals an Eternal Witness, a Garruk and a Nykthos, then I understand that:
1. I can put the new Garruk into play (sending the existing one into the graveyard)
2. Return the G Wave to my hand using Eternal Witness
3. Put the new Nykthos into play sending the existing one into the graveyard), tap it for Mana
4. Then use the +1 of the new Garruk to untap the new Nykthos; and
5. Tap the new Nykthos a second time to cast a bigger GWave.
Effectively in this turn, I would have triggered Garruk twice (1x for old, 1x for new), and triggered Nykthos 4 times (2x for old, 2x for new).
Is that correct? If it is..... I am wildly excited. The OP has a "Tips and FAQ to Playing Green Devotion"
section but it is empty.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpvan17/trial-winning-decklists-2017-02-18
See CHRIS NORRIE'S WOLF RUN GREEN.
Love the 4 Prime Times. Going back to basics. Main deck Boseiju and Panglacial Wurm! Sick sideboard too
I've held off Tasigur for multiple turns with block-regen then combo'ed him out. YMMV
I haven't had that problem myself, but if I had to go down to 3 Scapeshifts I'll replace the one copy with a Baloth or even Thrun, which has been an allstar for me against all types of decks. He blocks forever, is uncounterable and is a PITA to get rid of. The other day I had a grixis control opponent face palm after I cast it
Round 1 vs. Grixis Control: 2:1
He took game 1 off many horrible top decks by me. Had 8 lands (none of which were valakut) in play and just needed either Scapeshift, Prime Time or Summoner's pact to pull the trigger. Drew ramp/lands 5 turns in a row. Got beat down from 17 to 0 life by a creeping tar pit.
Games 2 and 3 I sided in Thrun which was a superstar. Beat him down with it, Titan for the rest. Game 3 saw a valakut destroyed by Fulminator. He was also able to terminate + surgically extract my Titans. Thrun and Baloth did the dirty work before I drew a Scapeshift.
Round 2 vs. Cheerios: 2:0
Cheerios is so easy for Titanshift to beat. Game 1 depends on whether you draw lightning bolt. Games 2 and 3 depend on whether you have lightning bolt, sudden shock or engineered explosives. So I mulliganed for those and won (off a mulligan to 5 even)
Round 3 v.s UW Control: 2:1
Game 1 I lost after being stuck on 5 lands. As usual, I sided in Thrun which was a huge problem for him. UW control just isn't very good against Titanshift because we have bolts for spell quellers and get the free cast off them after that. Pretty standard ramp -> scapeshift/titan for the wins in Games 2 and 3.
1-2 against Affinity
G1 he has a good hand and beats me down with Cranial Plating. G2 I had Engineered Explosives, Anger of the Gods, Nature's Claim, Sudden Shock for him and took the game with a Titan. G3 went to the very late game and I was one turn away from killing him when he peeled an Arcbound Ravager off the top, sacced his entire board to it, then sacced it to a lone Ornithopter to take the win in the air. This game I killed 2 Master of Etherium, 3 Arcbound Ravager, 1 Etched Champion (man was that a ***** to kill) but couldn't get there in the end.
0-2 against Scapeshift
Poor match up. He just had all the answers. Died to Prismatic Omen shift in G1. G2 I had a Primeval Titan remanded twice in a row, and the third time I cast it he had a snap - remand. Fourth time I tried to cast it he had cryptic. Then he scapeshifted me.
2-1 against Cheerios
I feel that G1 is in their favour but G2 and 3 are much better. G1 he got there with a storm count of 30~ and I could only look at the sorcery-speed Anger of the Gods in hand. One turn earlier I had a lethal Scapeshift turned in to a swan. Sided in 3 Sudden Shock and felt much better. G2 I kept a hand with no ramp but 2 bolts and 1 Sudden Shock. Eventually shifted him for 18 after Steve poked him twice. G3 he mull'ed to 4 looking for a good hand (in his words "we mulligan aggressively for cheerios") while I mull'ed to 6 for a Sudden Shock and a bolt in hand. Eventually got there with Prime Time. Cheerios is very beatable post-board, just need to mull for answers. Srams and Paladins die easily enough.
2-0 against UW Control
Uneventful. G1 he flashed in Spell Queller on my Scapeshift but I bolted it and shifted for 18 damage. G2 I sided in Reverberate, Thrun and Baloths. I had a suspended S4T spell-quelled. I then casted a Thrun, the Last Troll and he flashed in Restoration Angel, blinking the Spell Queller (I then get to cast my S4T for free) which then exiled my Thrun on the stack. That interaction was rather interesting to me. But he was left with 1 open mana for his theatrics. Shifted him for 36.
2-0 against Grixis Delver
Rather straight forward. G1 I had a good hand into turn 4 Primeval Titan while he durdled. Ended the game next turn. G2 I had a Sudden Shock for his Young Pyromancer. Built my board and shifted for 18. He only had Mana Leak which I was able to pay for.
Thoughts
After tonight, I am considering Fracturing Gust in the SB as a catch-all. Maybe I'll take out a Nature's Claim for it. Very happy with 3 Sudden Shocks in the SB which have just overperformed all night. I'm not sold on Reverberate at the moment, seeing as the control matchups are easy and if we face the mirror/other Scapeshift variants, it's just a race to 7 lands. Any input on how to improve mirror matchups?
May be testing RG Breach soon, with 1 or 2 copies of Scapeshift.
Thanks for the reply. I am generally able to deal with the pyros, snaps and delvers. A Turn 2 Goyf and Delver though is a nightmare, I couldn't ramp up fast enough to Valukut-bolt them and just got beat down. I'll try out the Pulse of Murasa suggestion, sounds like it would be helpful. I'm also trying to get a few Engineered Explosives at the moment.
What's your take on Thrun, the Last Troll? I've been running him as a one-of in my SB and he's a star at chump-blocking and against blue decks in general. Just wondering if there are replacements which would do his job better.
Using the list here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/14-02-16-rg-shift/
MB: -1 Expedition, +1 Bolt
SB: -1 Bolt, +1 Reclamation Sage
Match 1 against UB Faeries: 2-0
Nothing too exciting happened. Game 1 I was able to scapeshift him on turn 5. Game 2 I resolved Primeval Titan on turn 4 and won the following turn.
SB: -3 KHE (I figured bolts and anger would be of some use), then + 2 Reverberates, 1 Thrun
Match 2 against Grixis Delver: 2-0
Again, uneventful. Game 1 I ramped up and and was happy to see turn 4 Prime Time resolve, after getting beat down by Insectile Aberration for 2 turns. Titan was terminated but I played ramp spells into his dome. Game 2 he had more pressure by resolving a turn 2/3 (can't remember exactly) Tasigur while I had 2 Steves to chump twice. Turn 5 Scapeshift for game while holding up mana for leak (he did have it but it was inconsequential).
SB: -3 KHE, 2 Anger, 1 Bolt, then + 2 Reverberates, 1 Thrun, 3 Baloths (Game 1 he resolved a LotV which surprised me... in grixis delver???)
Match 3 against Bogles: 1-2
This was the crazy match of the night. Game 1 he exploded out with a bogle with 3 or 4 enchantments (luckily, no daybreak coronet) and hit me down to 1 hp before I was able to turn 4/5 (can't remember exactly) scapeshift for the win. Game 2 he had an insane hand and I didn't draw any of my nature's claim/reclamation sage to deal with them. Got eaten alive by a bogle with rancor, coronet, some umbra and ethereal armor.
Game 3 was the game of the night. He had an explosive hand akin to game 2.... I mulled to 5 (first 2 hands had 6 land, then 0 land respectively) and he laid down leyline of sanctity. Oh well. I had 2 tribe elders at least to eat his hits. I resolved Thrun with mana up around turn 5, and was able to regen-block his bogle holding 5 or 6 auras (was a 10/10 with lifelink, vigilance, etc but no trample) for 4 consecutive turns. Eventually, he went up to 54 life before I finally drew my nature's claim with 9 lands on the board. Claimed his leyline (him going up to 58), then scapeshifted saccing 9 lands (3 Valakut and 6 mountains) for 54 damage, but it was not enough. Awesome game. Also, I couldn't have waited another turn because he emptied his hand and had lethal on board.
SB: - 4 bolts, - 1 KHE (on second thought, should have sided out anger), then + 1 Thrun, 2 Nature's Claim, 1 Reclamation Sage
Match 4 against Jund: 2-1
I was rather confident about this matchup since we have access to Baloths and Thrun postboard and most of their removal were useless against us. However game 1 he had a thoughtseize for my SFT then maelstrom pulse for my KHE in game 1 while a gofy beat me into the ground. Didn't draw much ramp. Game 2 I had a good starting hand (3 lands, SFT, Farseek, Explore, Prime Time) while he mull'ed to 6 and scried to the bottom. I ramped up to 7 and shifted him on turn 4. Game 3 he IOK'ed me on turn 1 and groaned when he saw my Baloth. He took my Summoner's Pact but was thereafter unable to apply any meaningful pressure while I ramped up. He saw that I was getting to 7 lands and was forced to take action - Kolaghan's command on my end step let me discard my Baloth onto the board staring down his LotV and it ate a terminate. I untapped and casted Prime Time and was hell bent. It didn't matter, topdecked a mountain and won.
SB: - 2 Bolts, 2 Anger, then + 3 Baloths, 1 Thrun
Thoughts
So far I'm having a blast with this deck, it has a sense of inevitability and awesome top decks. Even if Prime Time eats a removal instantly you still get 2 Valakuts/Mountains. However aggro is still a problem as can be seen from Match 3; maybe I should have mulliganned more aggressively to look for removal/hate in my opening hand. That loss to Bogle made me consider SB'ing Back to NatureorFracturing Gust but I'm not sure if that's too narrow for a less-played deck.
Cheers
nice, Command + Witness looping has won me so many games as well, to the point that I've gone back up to 4 Witnesses and 3 Commands. Could you post your deck?
Currently playing Lunik's UG Wave deck with slight modifications (- 1 oath, - 1 Selkie, - 1 Genesis Wave, - 1 Bird, + 2 Primeval Titans, + 2 Commands) and it's really consistent. The deck explodes at turn 3 with a good hand and at turn 4 with an average hand.
Kitchen Finks is an all star
I'm running a Gwave deck and would like to keep it that way if possible.
Thanks for the tip.. . Although I did just pony up $30 for the final piece of the jigsaw today, I will roll with the Hoof
Rather interested in Red/Green cards we can play. I have Xenagos the reveler and dragonlord atarka at the moment. Will consider sarkan vol too
If I have a Garruk already in play, and I tap Nykthos for mana, then use Garruk's ability to untap Nykthos and tap it again for more mana, then casting Genesis Wave which reveals an Eternal Witness, a Garruk and a Nykthos, then I understand that:
1. I can put the new Garruk into play (sending the existing one into the graveyard)
2. Return the G Wave to my hand using Eternal Witness
3. Put the new Nykthos into play sending the existing one into the graveyard), tap it for Mana
4. Then use the +1 of the new Garruk to untap the new Nykthos; and
5. Tap the new Nykthos a second time to cast a bigger GWave.
Effectively in this turn, I would have triggered Garruk twice (1x for old, 1x for new), and triggered Nykthos 4 times (2x for old, 2x for new).
Is that correct? If it is..... I am wildly excited. The OP has a "Tips and FAQ to Playing Green Devotion"
section but it is empty.
Thanks guys.