The answer is yes, this can be competitive. Not with nemesis of mortals though, the nemesis is more for a golgari self-discard / scavenge decks.Your CMC is also extremely high. You can speed up the deck by replacing the nemesis and sylvan primordial with lower cost, higher value creatures such as, Polukranos, World Eater , Kalonian Hydra , Ghor-Clan Rampager , or Boon Satyr .Karametra's acolyte just isn't good in my opinion. I picked up a playset of promos and they just sit in my binder because they are so unplayable. Elvish Mystic is a much stronger card than the acolyte. I understand you may be on a budget, but these are just some suggestions. Good luck! :]

Yeah... that Nemesis of Mortals ... I first looked at it and thought "cool", now after play testing a bit, I'm much less entranced with the idea. I originally had Satyr Hedonist s and Burnished Hart s and thought, well, if I'm throwing them in my own graveyard, why not. The idea of Commune with the Gods went through my head for filtering and populating graveyard too... But shrug just didn't go for it.

The nice thing about Karametra's Acolyte is that it survives an Anger of the Gods , So I'd be a little hard pressed to remove that. I have a playset of Boon Satyr , but I didn't throw them in due to not surviving an Anger... But would definately bring down my mana curve which is crazy high, and I'll likely be using them as enchaments anyway.

I'm pretty much on the same page as you about the Elvish Mystic s. My mana curve just needs to come down, or get more support for early game.

The World Eater might be a replacement for Utvara Hellkite . More curve reduction. (I've only got one of either.)

What's your take on the Archtype of Endurance? Global Hexproof for my creatures ain't bad... I've got a play set of them.

Savageborn Hydra and Mistcutter Hydra went through my head too for bringing down curve and/or getting some protection from blue..

Karametra's acolyte costing 4 makes it really hard to play in my opinion. Mistcutter > savageborn, in all cases regarding r/g devotion. Boon satyr is mainly a flash blocker. So it dying to anger is not an issue.

Sylvan primordial, while a huge bomb in other formats, is not a game winner in standard. So it can be replaced with 2x kalonian hydra, and 2x polukranos when you take out the utvara hellkite.

I took this deck to first place in two tournaments last weekend, so check it out if you'd like. Monstrosity XXX-Rated [Competitive]

Oh, and you can't forget the lovely Burning-Tree Emissary

Ok, so I've made a few tweeks. @Dozing How do you feel about Nessian Demolok s? I'd still like the come into play blow up a land effect. Kinda' goes with the Monstrosity of the Ember Swallower s. I'm wondering if I could go further with land destruction... (Probably a silly un-viable thought, but it's there none the less.)

Nope I dont like that one! It gives your opponents the choice of what to do which doesn't end up turning out too well usually. Take @Dozing's advice and use the Burning-Tree Emissary and then but in Nykthos. I'm pretty sure (although I might be wrong) that the only reason Arbor Colossus is even played is because of its 3 donation to devotion.

Arbor Colossus is played because it is a 6/6 for 5 and shits all over nightveil specter and desecration demon. The 3 devotion is just icing on the cake.

Here is my version of Gruul standard if you would like to have a look

Domri Rade seems like it would have a place here... maybe in place of Ember Swallower .

@dravinwolf, I went with the Anger of the Gods over Lightning Strike with the thought that I might get a little more bang for my buck. +1 red mana and I get a creature sweeper... 'figured with the exile effect I could at least keep the Grey Merchant from showing up a second time or try to cope with Elspeth's token creatures.

@BoromirOfGondor, I do like Domri Rade ... just not so keen on the $$. I may work my way up there.

I've got 2 more emissary's and a 4th Hammer of Purphoros I think I'm going to add in. I've had someone say that I was shooting for a glimpse deck, but I think this is a little more like Future Sight , just with big stompy creatures.

I am not a huge fan of Ember Swallower in any deck except for maybe a limited deck. I am a huge fan of Stormbreath Dragon Domri Rade and Kalonian Hydra . For low drops Fanatic of Xenagos is pretty good and for burn I really like Searing Blood and Magma Jet . Magma Jet works really well with Domri's +1.

@CptMcBiggns I'm just not sold on the Fanatic of Xenagos . It seems as if there are better cards for this deck. I'm not quite convinced yet that Ember Swallower is a bust. The one opportunity I've had to play this deck against a Gruul mirror-ish deck, it was bringing ember swallower into play, immediately going monstrous and attacking with haste that won me the game. I was able to blow up their lands, so they couldn't respond during combat to an attack. I am really liking Magma Jet though... It's probably a better idea than splashing black for Erebos's top deck manipulation. Domri... Still too cheap to buy a couple. I'm hoping to make due with Garruk's Horde's ability to just keep playing the card on top of my deck as new ones are revealed.

Domri Rade with the corsair is one of the most overpowered combos in standard right now, I would definitely switch out a few of the hammers for him.

@Wolfsage13 Would that be called a combo in the strict sense of the word? "Extremely useful synergy" might be a better fit. ...Domri Rade is cheap and with Courser in play, you know what you are getting, or conversely you are getting a second chance to top deck a land if you need your land drop for the turn. Either is good by itself, giving card advantage; but together they potentially give you double the card advantage and options for play sequence giving you better odds to top deck what you want. When I'm getting options instead of a defined result, I tend to think of it as something other than a combo.

Anyway, enough of the soapbox. I've broken down and bought at least one Domri, :).

was definetely going for combo:a small jazz, rock, or pop band ;P I seem to be having this discussion a lot as of late (combo vs synergy). They games I've seen played out tho, it strait up wins games (3 draw steps op).

What about Hellraiser Goblin instead of Hammer of Purphoros ? It's a creature, not an artifact or enchantment so I can cast/draw with Domri...Still gives all my guys haste, and I want to beat down on my opponent anyway. My mana dorks will be tapped, so no big deal there... or is it just too much of a risk that i'll be sending the cattle to slaughter?

4 Garruks horde is too much. Lower the count to two and raise the Gyre Sage to at least 3. I'd also lower the Arbor Colossus count by maybe 1 to fit in another Xenagod.

You're early game is where you're not consistently strong. Hoping for explosive turns will only yield consistent loses. I'd look around for some 1-2 drops for aggro that appeal to you. Control won't be able to stabilize well if you swarm them first.

Cards that will go a long way in this deck: Rakdos Cackler Kalonian Tusker Archetype of Aggression

If you feel the control matchup is rough in your area: Mindsparker + Witchstalker will be your best friends.

Good luck on the deck!

@rapterz I think you're right about the 1-2 drops, most of the time when i get tripped up in a game it's because I was short my third land, or an elvish mystic. I'm leaning mostly towards Kalonian Tusker for it's contribution to devotion.

Been mulling it over. I'll try -1 Horde, +1 Tusker... and if I can make myself spend the money -1 Arbor Colossus, +1 Xenagos, God of Revels. That should lower my curve a bit. Still pondering 1-2 drops, though I have a few Legion Loyalist s.

Legion Loyalist is perfect for a Gruul deck. The trample it offers is essential for you larger creatures to do any damage.