Northside_Irish could you expand? What would you suggest taking out? Honestly, I don't think it's a matter of having too many different themes, in my mind they all seem to combine to form the "Ramp and Drop Big Creatures Fast" theme, but I really wouldn't mind getting a more in depth second opinion.
December 24, 2013 7 p.m.
Also, potential future deck based on this can be found here:
December 24, 2013 7:17 p.m.
Consistency is a major factor; having two-ofs of many cards instead of playsets of the better ones is detrimental to the deck's consistency.
I suggest what Northside_Irish did: boil it down to the creatures you want to show up the most, and put in 3-4 copies of those instead of just 2.
Gruul Ramp generally wants a playset of Burning-Tree Emissary and at least 2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to start developing devotion ramp.
A pair of Polukranos, World Eater would also give you a chunky 5/5 for 4 that can be a mana sink later on with its Monstrous ability. Same goes with Stormbreath Dragon if you got the dough. The dragon is good with all the devotion provided by the Emissary since she does provide red and green devotion. A second Kalonian Hydra would suffice, it's not necessarily needed at higher amounts from my experience.
Too many mana dorks can also be a problem, I'd settle with 8 just fine in a playset each of Elvish Mystic and Sylvan Caryatid and bumping up lands to 24 (2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and 22 R/G lands)
Upgrading lands to a playset each of Temple of Abandon and Stomping Ground would let you be more stable with the mana base.
December 25, 2013 2:07 a.m.
I feel like the lack of consistency provided by the number of two-ofs in the deck helps add to the diversity of options that I have at my disposal. I suppose I could cut some creatures and bump most of the two-ofs to three-ofs though. What do you think should be cut?
December 25, 2013 2:55 a.m.
The argument behind our point is that "diversity" might get you more options to counter specific things, they're not always going to be there. More consistent results are what you want more than diversity of options in Standard. I'd go with EDH if you want diversity.
Depending on your meta, I'd lose the colossi (Arbor Colossus and Colossus of Akros ) as they're a little too slow.
Karametra's Acolyte is not as needed as you think.
Deathrite Shaman is good, but it does not fit in with the deck; it's more of a dredge/graveyard interaction card.
December 25, 2013 3:34 a.m.
I've been considering dropping Colossus of Akros cuz it's definitely slow, though it can be a game winner if it has the time to get there, but I wouldn't mind finishing a game before then. I thought about replacing it with 2x Sanguine Bond to help make Deathrite Shaman even more relevant. I see Deathrite getting a lot of usage in this deck, just because of the combo with Ember Swallower and even Garruk, Caller of Beasts , and getting to use lands that get tossed by them.
Would it be better to keep Karametra's Acolyte or Sylvan Caryatid ? I guess Acolyte would be better in a more mono-Green deck since the Caryatid offers color-fixing.
December 25, 2013 4:07 a.m.
Also, feel free to look at the Jund deck I'm looking to turn this into, seeing as that has a couple of the changes you have suggested already built in.
December 25, 2013 4:07 a.m.
Turning this into Jund changes EVERYTHING in how the deck can be used. Jund is more known to run Reaper of the Wilds and Stormbreath Dragon as midrange finishers. I'd figure out what play style you want to play depending on your budget because an effective Jund deck needs some expensive cards.
December 25, 2013 4:11 a.m.
Maybe that wasn't the proper nomenclature, I just meant that it would be RBG
December 25, 2013 4:15 a.m.
The Jund colors (R/G/B) offer much more than what you're planning; the extra access to black opens up several options in Abrupt Decay , Hero's Downfall , and Thoughtseize (to say the least), plus the added benefit of having technically two more guilds in hand to work with. If you're planning on making your mana base much less stable by bringing in a third color, I'd support that by bringing along worthwhile cards that justify the addition of black.
December 25, 2013 4:33 a.m.
I'll put together a deck list but I doubt I'll have the money to do a proper build.
December 25, 2013 4:54 a.m.
the.beanpole says... #13
Burning-Tree Emissary is good in these type of decks. He lets you get pretty aggressive in multiples, and if you get lucky enough, you can do lots of crazy things with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . I really like Ember Swallower though! A sweet idea in a quick ramp deck to get ahead and punish slow starts by the opponent.
January 9, 2014 1:54 p.m.
@the.beanpole I've never been able to really get BTE to work because I already have Mystics and Caryatids in the deck for ramp and while a 2/2 body is nice, the Nykthos combo doesn't generally work because I only have one copy of it (and it's only in there because I have it, I rarely ever see it). Thanks for the suggestion though. I'm also waiting on a couple other cards (most of which should be in today) so I'l have to update this again soon.
January 9, 2014 2:07 p.m.
quesobueno123 says... #15
Voyaging Satyr can be good for even more ramp. +1
January 15, 2014 7:03 a.m.
I had them in here in the original build, they weren't bad I feel like I'd almost be venturing into too much ramp because I already have 11 ramp outlets (Mystics, Caryatids and Xenagos)
January 15, 2014 12:01 p.m.
Has Voyaging Satyr ever been used in here? I feel like it can help turbo-ramp you with Nykthos. Just something to consider.
+1.
Northside_Irish says... #1
You have way to many different themes going on here. You need to trim this deck down, put in 3-4 of the cards that you really want. Lots of cards seem like fun or are good, but that doesn't mean that you need ALL of them in your deck. I feel that this deck just plays out way to slow. I faced a deck similar to this last week at FNM and destroyed with my Azorius Agro.
December 24, 2013 9:41 a.m.