Is there any reason why we wouldn't want to use Cryptic Command in the UW version of the deck? I can see having a bit of trouble with the triple U casting requirement, but other than that it seems good..
With the price hovering around 20 dollars now that Iconic Masters has been out for a bit, I was thinking of picking up a few copies.. or does that move it too far in the direction of regular UW control?
Hello everyone, I have barely been playing any Modern latley (been sidetracked by pauper and EDH), but I am looking to play in a local tourney tonight with my devotion deck. I decided to update my list on tappedout this morning so that I could post my decklist here and get some feedback. I know the meta has changed quite a bit since I last played in a tournament..
I find the deck to be very strong in casual play with friends, but pretty bad (vulnerable to removal and too slow) in a tournament setting when I'm constantly up against tier 1 net deck lists. The competition is very strong here (Seattle area, Mox Boarding House specifically which is the home of www.cardkingdom.com) and people aren't really ******* around when they come to play at FNM and other weekday tourneys. I hate to say it but I've netted better results just playing plain ol stompy while playing competitively thus far.
As an aside, I really hate that tappedout organizes the deck alphabetically every time I post it up here I have to put it into categories.. lol. Does anyone know how to get around having to do that every time? Do you just save it in a text file and paste it or what?
Thanks in advance! Any feedback would be appreciated.
Hey guys! Sorry for the triple post, but was also wondering if everyone currently active on the thread could post their most recent decklist, if they have easy access to it?
I am currently tweaking my list after buying some new devotion "staples".. wondering what everyone's take on the is deck currently? I will post my list over the weekend as well, but it'd be nice if we could have a bunch of lists close to each other, rather than 5 or 10 pages apart since this thread has been so active lately
Regarding Biorhythm.. I think if you are looking to win the game on the spot and want to do so by casting an 8 mana sorcery, why not just play Tooth and Nail entwined (just 1 more mana)? You don't have to already have lots of creatures on the board that way either. If you cast Hornet Queen, or Wolfbriar kicked, you probably already won the game anyways and Biorhythm would just be "win more" at that point. Seems like a fun card to play in casual circles just for kicks, but if you want to compete I wouldn't play it personally. To add to the comments above, I also think it could easily backfire in many matchups with opponents that have damage spells or a planeswalker that deals damage. I like the ideas though.. keep them coming
I've played with it a bit, and if you are already behind, playing a 4 mana enchantment and doing nothing for another turn isn't going to help. At that point you've probably lost already if you are playing competitively. I think the general consensus here is that there are really no good enchantments for devotion other than Oath of Nissa. I think it's a great card for casual games, group play, or a commander deck. Otherwise.. nah (IMO)
Just curious , if you were playing in a modern tourney, how were you playing against/countering Treasure Cruise? It's banned in Modern (and legacy for that matter), and has been for a long time.
Otherwise, seems like an awesome take on devotion! Glad you had fun.
Definitely a good devotion shell - I realize you are going for a budget list but I do have a few recommendations if you'd like.
I'm not sure if you are aware, but Primal Titan is being reprinted in Iconic Masters, and is going to be at the lowest I've ever seen it once the set comes out (it's showing at around 7 dollars a piece right now and should go even lower a bit after the Master's set releases). Having at least one of those would fit perfectly in your shell, IMO. Craterhoof Behemoth is another card that is around the 10 dollar range that would increase the power level of your deck substantially. I'm not sure if you are competing in tournaments or just casual circles with friends, but I don't really see the need for 4x Relic of Progenitus, even if you are facing a graveyard heavy meta.. especially since it is a total nonbo if one of your main win-cons is the E-wit/Primal Command lock. If you are looking for relatively cheap graveyard hate, I would recommend Scavenging Ooze, perhaps. I also found Temur Sabertooth to be lacking and too slow to really do anything of value in most games. I just recently took mine out of my deck and I don't miss it at all. Having at least some kind of mana sink would also be nice - most decks would be using Kessig Wolf Run but that means needing fetchlands and duals, which are definitely NOT budget. A more budget option that is a great mana sink is going to be Nylea, God of the Hunt, which will allow you to pump your other creatures (as well as give them trample).
There are other recommendations/changes I would recommend for a mono-green sideboard, but I think that is probably enough ideas for now
These are all just friendly suggestions (off the top of my head) for the future when/if you end up wanting to sink a few more bucks into your deck. You will definitely notice a big difference!
Thank you very much for the feedback CurdBros and lord_darkview
I think I am going to use some of my funds to buy 2x Blood Moon for the SB as they are relatively "cheap" right now due to it's Modern Masters 2017 reprint. I also believe another fetch or two couldn't hurt. Other than that I haven't quite made up my mind.
Anyone else have additional thoughts?
Excited to get back into modern with my favorite deck
I used to run a few Geist. They are OK for devotion as a two drop but unless he's in my opening hand or I draw him second turn, the opponent usually has something to block with and the haste is underwhelming. I'd rather have more creatures that draw cards or more birds. It can do work, but I found it too inconsistent and a rather bad draw later in the game. That is just my personal preference though. The undying can be nice in a removal heavy meta, I will admit. I think 4x geist is a must for any stompy deck with Aspect of Hydra but not great in a devotion deck. Just IMO from my own experience.
*edit* - just read your decklist and can see your running a more low to the ground build. Geist may be a bit better in your deck than mine. I've never run BTE in a devotion deck.
I just updated my decklist online and was hoping I could get some feedback. I mentioned earlier this week that I had not played modern in a few months, and have about 100 dollars to spend on cards (in paper) to update my deck.
Some cards that I had in mind:
1 (or 2?) more green fetches (wooded foothills)
1 (or 2?) more Ballista
2 more chords
1 Ruric Thrar
another 1 or 2 Birds of Paradise
Another planeswalker (Nissa?)
But I am really not sure. I'm hoping to bring the deck to local FNM and not lose horribly bad. I don't expect to win the tourney or anything, just want to be able to compete and have fun. When I last played at my local game store, I did worse against, and was consistently losing to the linear combo decks (Titanshift, Counters Company) as I couldn't race them - sometimes I'd be 1 turn too late, others they would completely demolish me before I could get any kind of board presence at all. It seems in general the deck, even a few months ago, was just a bit slow in general. Prior to that, my hand was getting ripped apart by discard effects when jund and other thoughtseize decks were running rampant.
I was going for the toolbox style deck, but I'm not completely set on that (obviously, if you look at my decklist I'm lacking direction :P)
I am looking for any recommendations for cards to remove, cards to add, ect. I have a pretty large collection of green staples already, but as I mentioned I am willing to purchase a few cards as well. I also feel as if my sideboard is lacking, and have no real direction regarding where to go with it. I was thinking of splashing for white so I can access some better SB options (and Elesh Norn seems fun) but.. I'm not really a modern expert and am relying on your guy's advice
Thanks in advance! Any advice would be super helpful, I know my deck is more "old school" as it hasn't been updated in a long time other than adding Ballista and a few other things and realize it may need several updates. Promise I won't take any offense to your recommendations
I don't understand how a list with 4x BTE did so well? I wish someone could find the dude and have him give us a breakdown/recap of his matches and his thoughts.
As far as I was concerned the consensus was that BTE really isnt any good in devotion core?
Can someone explain - other than having BTE in opening hand or first draw I don't see it being that good.
This being said, I know all about the power of BTE- I play pauper extensively on MTGO and the downshift of BTE to common twisted the entire format
I just don't see it fitting in this type of deck.. must be missing something
Thanks for the replies so far. I'll have time to post my list on Thursday after Mid terms are over, hopefully I can get some feedback/recs on how to update my deck to current meta as I have about $100 to spend on new cards
Also, something I thought you green players would appreciate that I found on reddit the other day:
Are there still any devotion players using Chord in their deck? I am still running Primal Command and Chord in my deck, but I see tons of Summoner's Pact now. I haven't played modern in a few months but I want to start playing at the local tournament again. I'll come up with my list in a few days and post it here but any thoughts on the performance of the more toolbox variety of devotion in today's meta?
With the price hovering around 20 dollars now that Iconic Masters has been out for a bit, I was thinking of picking up a few copies.. or does that move it too far in the direction of regular UW control?
I find the deck to be very strong in casual play with friends, but pretty bad (vulnerable to removal and too slow) in a tournament setting when I'm constantly up against tier 1 net deck lists. The competition is very strong here (Seattle area, Mox Boarding House specifically which is the home of www.cardkingdom.com) and people aren't really ******* around when they come to play at FNM and other weekday tourneys. I hate to say it but I've netted better results just playing plain ol stompy while playing competitively thus far.
Here's the list:
4x Arbor Elf
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
4x Utopia Sprawl
Creatures
2x Courser of Kruphix
2x Eternal Witness
3x Elvish Visionary
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
1x Primeval Titan
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1x Tireless Tracker
3x Walking Ballista
1x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1x Oath of Nissa
Instants/Sorceries
3x Chord of Calling
3x Primal Command
Lands
7x Forest
1x Kessig Wolf Run
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2x Stomping Ground
1x Treetop Village
4x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
1x Acidic Slime
1x Banefire
2x Blood Moon
2x Chameleon Colossus
1x Choke
2x Creeping Corrosion
2x Firespout
2x Obstinate Baloth
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
As an aside, I really hate that tappedout organizes the deck alphabetically every time I post it up here I have to put it into categories.. lol. Does anyone know how to get around having to do that every time? Do you just save it in a text file and paste it or what?
Thanks in advance! Any feedback would be appreciated.
I am currently tweaking my list after buying some new devotion "staples".. wondering what everyone's take on the is deck currently? I will post my list over the weekend as well, but it'd be nice if we could have a bunch of lists close to each other, rather than 5 or 10 pages apart since this thread has been so active lately
Regarding Biorhythm.. I think if you are looking to win the game on the spot and want to do so by casting an 8 mana sorcery, why not just play Tooth and Nail entwined (just 1 more mana)? You don't have to already have lots of creatures on the board that way either. If you cast Hornet Queen, or Wolfbriar kicked, you probably already won the game anyways and Biorhythm would just be "win more" at that point. Seems like a fun card to play in casual circles just for kicks, but if you want to compete I wouldn't play it personally. To add to the comments above, I also think it could easily backfire in many matchups with opponents that have damage spells or a planeswalker that deals damage. I like the ideas though.. keep them coming
Regarding Abundance:
I've played with it a bit, and if you are already behind, playing a 4 mana enchantment and doing nothing for another turn isn't going to help. At that point you've probably lost already if you are playing competitively. I think the general consensus here is that there are really no good enchantments for devotion other than Oath of Nissa. I think it's a great card for casual games, group play, or a commander deck. Otherwise.. nah (IMO)
Just curious , if you were playing in a modern tourney, how were you playing against/countering Treasure Cruise? It's banned in Modern (and legacy for that matter), and has been for a long time.
Otherwise, seems like an awesome take on devotion! Glad you had fun.
He has no Regisaur Alpha in his deck - you may be looking at the wrong list
Definitely a good devotion shell - I realize you are going for a budget list but I do have a few recommendations if you'd like.
I'm not sure if you are aware, but Primal Titan is being reprinted in Iconic Masters, and is going to be at the lowest I've ever seen it once the set comes out (it's showing at around 7 dollars a piece right now and should go even lower a bit after the Master's set releases). Having at least one of those would fit perfectly in your shell, IMO. Craterhoof Behemoth is another card that is around the 10 dollar range that would increase the power level of your deck substantially. I'm not sure if you are competing in tournaments or just casual circles with friends, but I don't really see the need for 4x Relic of Progenitus, even if you are facing a graveyard heavy meta.. especially since it is a total nonbo if one of your main win-cons is the E-wit/Primal Command lock. If you are looking for relatively cheap graveyard hate, I would recommend Scavenging Ooze, perhaps. I also found Temur Sabertooth to be lacking and too slow to really do anything of value in most games. I just recently took mine out of my deck and I don't miss it at all. Having at least some kind of mana sink would also be nice - most decks would be using Kessig Wolf Run but that means needing fetchlands and duals, which are definitely NOT budget. A more budget option that is a great mana sink is going to be Nylea, God of the Hunt, which will allow you to pump your other creatures (as well as give them trample).
There are other recommendations/changes I would recommend for a mono-green sideboard, but I think that is probably enough ideas for now
These are all just friendly suggestions (off the top of my head) for the future when/if you end up wanting to sink a few more bucks into your deck. You will definitely notice a big difference!
I think I am going to use some of my funds to buy 2x Blood Moon for the SB as they are relatively "cheap" right now due to it's Modern Masters 2017 reprint. I also believe another fetch or two couldn't hurt. Other than that I haven't quite made up my mind.
Anyone else have additional thoughts?
Excited to get back into modern with my favorite deck
I used to run a few Geist. They are OK for devotion as a two drop but unless he's in my opening hand or I draw him second turn, the opponent usually has something to block with and the haste is underwhelming. I'd rather have more creatures that draw cards or more birds. It can do work, but I found it too inconsistent and a rather bad draw later in the game. That is just my personal preference though. The undying can be nice in a removal heavy meta, I will admit. I think 4x geist is a must for any stompy deck with Aspect of Hydra but not great in a devotion deck. Just IMO from my own experience.
*edit* - just read your decklist and can see your running a more low to the ground build. Geist may be a bit better in your deck than mine. I've never run BTE in a devotion deck.
I just updated my decklist online and was hoping I could get some feedback. I mentioned earlier this week that I had not played modern in a few months, and have about 100 dollars to spend on cards (in paper) to update my deck.
Some cards that I had in mind:
1 (or 2?) more green fetches (wooded foothills)
1 (or 2?) more Ballista
2 more chords
1 Ruric Thrar
another 1 or 2 Birds of Paradise
Another planeswalker (Nissa?)
But I am really not sure. I'm hoping to bring the deck to local FNM and not lose horribly bad. I don't expect to win the tourney or anything, just want to be able to compete and have fun. When I last played at my local game store, I did worse against, and was consistently losing to the linear combo decks (Titanshift, Counters Company) as I couldn't race them - sometimes I'd be 1 turn too late, others they would completely demolish me before I could get any kind of board presence at all. It seems in general the deck, even a few months ago, was just a bit slow in general. Prior to that, my hand was getting ripped apart by discard effects when jund and other thoughtseize decks were running rampant.
I was going for the toolbox style deck, but I'm not completely set on that (obviously, if you look at my decklist I'm lacking direction :P)
I am looking for any recommendations for cards to remove, cards to add, ect. I have a pretty large collection of green staples already, but as I mentioned I am willing to purchase a few cards as well. I also feel as if my sideboard is lacking, and have no real direction regarding where to go with it. I was thinking of splashing for white so I can access some better SB options (and Elesh Norn seems fun) but.. I'm not really a modern expert and am relying on your guy's advice
Thanks in advance! Any advice would be super helpful, I know my deck is more "old school" as it hasn't been updated in a long time other than adding Ballista and a few other things and realize it may need several updates. Promise I won't take any offense to your recommendations
10x Forest
1x Treetop Village
4x Windswept Heath
2x Stomping Ground
1x Kessig Wolf Run
4x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
ramp
4x Arbor Elf
2x Birds of Paradise
4x Utopia Sprawl
4x Garruk Wildspeaker
instant/sorcery
2x Chord of Calling
4x Primal Command
2x Courser of Kruphix
2x Elvish Visionary
1x Wistful Selkie
1x Tireless Tracker
3x Eternal Witness
other stuff/finishers
1x Predator Ooze
2x Primeval Titan
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Wolfbriar Elemental
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
2x Walking Ballista
1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
1x Acidic Slime
1x Banefire
2x Chameleon Colossus
1x Choke
2x Creeping Corrosion
2x Firespout
2x Obstinate Baloth
1x Reclamation Sage
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
***update: put cards into categories. not sure why tappedout brings them over alphabetically..
As far as I was concerned the consensus was that BTE really isnt any good in devotion core?
Can someone explain - other than having BTE in opening hand or first draw I don't see it being that good.
This being said, I know all about the power of BTE- I play pauper extensively on MTGO and the downshift of BTE to common twisted the entire format
I just don't see it fitting in this type of deck.. must be missing something
Also, something I thought you green players would appreciate that I found on reddit the other day:
Have a great day everyone!