This is the first iteration of one of your elf decks that I've really loved. (The other ones are not bad, I'm just not super into elves.) But I really like this deck. I was/am just as hype as you about Nissa, Worldwaker and am thrilled to see it in such a strong green deck. I've slacked a bit in making sure my devotion deck stays up to par, sadly. I've been working on a lot of new EDH decks simultaneously. But glad to see you are still at it and going strong! Great deck!

Thanks Midwest! It's great to hear from a fellow green mage again. Yeah, this has turned out to be the best green devotion / elf deck I've built to date (for the current meta at least). With all of the Anger of the Gods and Pyroclasm 's now in the format; it's tough to count on generating mana through Elvish Mystic , Heritage Druid , and Joraga Treespeaker .

Funnily enough, this didn't start out with Elves in mind. It was just the culmination of all of my testing with green devotion builds and my "rules" for green devotion. I can't deny I have a bias though :) I won't re-hash all of the "green devotion rules" because (a) you already know them all (as you were there from the early brews and were a big part in developing them!) and (b) it would be boring for most :) but I literally started with "what are the best green devotion cards?"

Because the Arbor Elf , Utopia Sprawl , Garruk Wildspeaker combo is a must, Arbor Elf is the one drop of choice. Given my findings that you need a TON of card draw in devotion decks to build the speed and resource advantage needed to compete in Modern; in my opinion Coiling Oracle is the best two drop. Then comes Abundant Growth and Elvish Visionary .

From there, however, I tested Courser of Kruphix , Wistful Selkie , Carven Caryatid , Eidolon of Blossoms and several others in the next "slot" instead of Elvish Archdruid ....this really is the slot that can be switched up. Courser of Kruphix is GREAT and Wistful Selkie works too. I just found that Elvish Archdruid ended up being the best fit. With that, of course I added a 1-of Ezuri, Renegade Leader (for the obvious reasons).

From there, it was pretty simple...it's just the most broken green cards made yet (Primeval Titan and Craterhoof Behemoth :)

And you are 100% right about Nissa, Worldwaker !!! I was literally AMAZED when I saw the article when it was released. I couldn't even imagine they would print a walker that was tailor-made for green devotion decks!!! I was ecstatic :) I can only imagine you felt the same way. It is a green mage's dream :) After the very elf-centric version (that unfortunately was a 2-loyalty 4-drop!) I was surprised they gave us such an overpowered version.

It is SUPER tough to maintain a deck for an extended period of time (especially when you have a couple of them). It takes a ton of time. You deck is super strong though....other than Nissa, I don't know if there is anything that needed added or subtracted since I saw it last.

Hope everything else is going great! Hope you have a blast with the new Nissa as well! Its going to be a great Standard and Modern season! It was great hearing from you again. Thanks for the kind words and the +1 !!

Not tonight but this may have inspired me enough to give my Modern deck a good look over. I remember that I was toying with the idea of Chord of Calling instead of Summoner's Pact because Summoner's Pact cannot fetch my singleton Emrakul, the Aeons Torn . But rather than ranting about my deck on your deck's page, I'll work on it and then keep you updated! Great job, you're really getting this deck optimized. Have you ever tried it at an open of some kind?

Ummm hi. I was thinking of trying something similar once nissa was spoiled and I would like to ask, what do you feel about Prismatic Omen? It allows nissa and arbor elf to untap Nykthos, plus it can prevent someone from bloom-Titan-ing you with hive mind and pacts.

Dragoon65....I actually LOVE that idea. I even bought a foil Prismatic Omen (with the hope of finding a second) just in case there was a little more hate in the meta for non-basics and/or enchantments (both of which I believe will pick up given the greedy mana-bases and the numerous decks utilizing enchantments now between Blood Moon , Courser of Kruphix , the U/W echantment decks, Boggles, etc. ). Of course, the fact that Nissa and Arbor Elf can then untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx crossed my mind too! I put a one-of in the deck for one night...and to be honest it was a great effect when I drew it; but didn't seem powerful enough to use just yet. I may not have given it a chance for long enough, however.

I hadn't, however, even really thought about the Hive Mind plays! Fortunately, with Abundant Growth and often setting my first Utopia Sprawl at "blue" for Coiling Oracle ; I have got out of it before....but that is a GREAT thought I hadn't even taken into account. That's a really smart thought.

I had worried that Merfolk would get too big of an advantage; but it's not a huge portion of the meta now (and is not one of our toughest match ups).

But to answer your question, yes....I think there are definitely times when Prismatic Omen would be a great addition to this deck. It may even be a good addition now. I will test with it in again tonight. Very good suggestion!

It's soooooo tempting to get into Standard as well (given Nissa, Worldwaker , Genesis Hydra , Market Festival , Sylvan Caryatid , Elvish Mystic , Courser of Kruphix , and a set of cards that just scream "Green Devotion!".) Seems like mono-green Nykthos was an archetype they definitely wanted to see in Standard this time around :)

Not sure I could really add anything to the deck though (as it seems like there are just a perfect set of cards for green devotion/ramp deck in standard). Can't wait to see it grow and be played in Standard though! Maybe it will bring more attention to Green Ramp/Devotion in Modern!

CurdBrosBrewingCo - thanks for the deck list. I actually bought the mainboard :) I love the synergies of the ramp/devotion and draw. Then 'waving' to your opponents goodbye. Nissa is an insane card - I hope there is a deck that can ramp loyalty counters after you 'wave' it. Wave Doubling Season perhaps with Contagion Engine + Hammer of Purphoros or Domri's ultimate :) ?

Thanks nomadic!!

And you are on to something with Contagion Engine and walkers....proliferating twice is ridiculous! You could even run Thousand-Year Elixir for the "haste"...you get the haste you need to proliferate AND if you have the mana, you can untap the Contagion Engine for 1 mana and do it again!

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for putting this deck up. I've actually been keeping up with the updates since the first day, and was able to trade my way into building most of the mainboard (missing one Misty Rainforest and two Cavern of Souls ). Recently, I was able to take the deck up to a small, local tournament and won the whole thing with it, so I definitely wanted to let you know! I beat Tron in the last round, which felt amazing!

About the sideboard, I was wondering why you had Seal of Primordium instead of something like Sundering Growth .

Thanks again, and I hope you keep up the amazing work!

Oops, I meant Nature's Claim not Sundering Growth .

That is truly awesome bingsoo711! That is great news! That is why TappedOut is so great. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a deck do great in the "real world" :) Of course, your victory probably has more to do with how good your are rather than how good the deck is! That's awesome. Hopefully it can continue to grow and green devotion can become a top tier deck. If I can find the time, I'm going to start playing dailies on MTGO as well so I can provide some more testing outcomes that way too.

Right now, I've been trying out Seal of Primordium over Nature's Claim just to see if how they compare. I liked the idea of being able to cast the Seal when I wanted to and not having to hold up mana while also getting another green symbol on the board for devotion....having said all of this, however, it's pretty darn tough to beat Nature's Claim ; and you're right that Nature's Claim is most likely the best choice.

First, +1 for just foiling this entire deck out! It looks great! Second, I too play a (mono-green) devotion deck called Prime Time for Big Monsters and was wondering if you could take a look at it, maybe make some suggestions, and maybe even +1 the deck if you like it?

Inanely fast, definitley faster than Tron, +1

Thanks PrecintSix6Six! You are right...it can be super fast! I've won a substantial portion of my games on turns 3-5. In Modern, most of the time you either have to be super fast or be able to answer everything :) That was really my only slight concern with the "traditional" green devotion deck. In some match-ups, it seemed just a turn or so too slow. The Eternal Witness / Primal Command lock is REALLY cool; but it also seemed like kind of a way to "stall' until you win (it didn't win the game itself) and it gave your opponent time (as the opponent still gets to untap and play whats in their hand).. often the deck ran out of cards and was in "top deck mode" for a couple turns. But I could be wrong. I've seen so many neat ideas with green devotion (one splashing white for Restoration Angel , Path to Exile , and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite in their main board, one with a bigger use of Red with main-board Blood Moon 's, etc.). Such a great and open archetype! This version just fits my play preference better (as I prefer to move as fast as I can when ramping and to overwhelm the opponent with card advantage). I'm glad you like it too!

You are right as well. On average, we are faster than Tron. We have some really great match ups (based on my testing) including Tron, Rock, Pod, Affinity, Boggles, Zoo etc. Anything "fair" gets run over. I'm having less and less trouble with pure control decks now as well. The one match-up I still want to improve upon in the board is Twin. Granted, our speed does help us win games by simply out-racing them (if we win on turn 3 or 4 on the play there's not a whole lot they can do); but I want to be able to ensure a 70/30 match-up post board (since there are many match ups we don't really have to board at all against). Of course, the board will always change as decks rise and fall in popularity. I'd love to hear what others play in their side boards.

I run the Primal Command and Eternal Witness combo in my version of this deck (Prime Time for Big Monsters) and I feel like it wins games on turn 3-5 pretty consistently too. Your version of the deck does ramp harder and has more card draw then my deck does but all that ramping is going to be useless unless you hit your Craterhoof Behemoth , Kessig Wolf Run , Genesis Wave , or Ezuri, Renegade Leader . With Eternal Witness you can return any card that a Thoughtseize , Inquisition of Kozilek , or Ghost Quarter could try to get rid of and these seem to be some of the most popular cards in the meta ATM. Also Primal Command can crush America Control and Twin decks by messing with their draws and mana. The decks that I seem to do the worst against are Infect, Affinity, and Storm. These decks can just out race you and go off on turn 2-3. If you have been having any problems with any of these decks too please let me know, and take a look at my deck too so we might be able to find the answers to them together!

Hey DatOneGuy! I apologize it took me so long to respond (was out for a few days).

Prime Time for Big Monsters is AWESOME! I had +1'd it a while ago, and it is a great green devotion list for sure. I'm not surprised that it wins between turns 3-5 as well!

I do agree with you that Eternal Witness and especially Primal Command can be great against Control and Twin. These are the match-ups I side the most in against (and I simply race them and/or try to overwhelm them in game one); and I would bet you fair better than I do against these decks pre-board.

I had tested mainly a version very similar to Michael Jacob's when testing prior and found (a) that I was running out of cards more than I would like and (b) that some of the lines felt slower than I wanted when ramping. Obviously, for players who have honed the deck like you and for many, Primal Command is a GREAT card (as is Eternal Witness ) as they are extremely powerful both apart and together. Eternal Witness can even string Genesis Wave s, get back another card, etc. I'm not typically one to say that one style of deck is inherently "better" than another (especially when you get into specialized decks on the more competitive end like this). They are just better against different match-ups and different metas. Sideboards can be a huge function of this too (i.e. if you can narrow down your match ups where the build struggles).

In terms of my ramping...you are right in the fact that I need to hit either a Craterhoof Behemoth , Primeval Titan , Kessig Wolf Run , Genesis Wave , Garruk Wildspeaker , Ezuri, Renegade Leader ] or Chord of Calling to win the game (i.e. these are the main win-cons). Nissa, Worldwaker can also take over games (those 4/4's add up quick) but she tends to shine in more grindy match-ups like Rock, Pod, or Control. I don't consider her a "stand-alone" win-con (but she's awesome :). While the above are only 16 (27%) cards in the deck, with the card draw in the deck I typically will hit at least 2-3 win cons in each game. You are absolutely right though. It is an extremely delicate balance. At one point I was running Courser of Kruphix (as I like his interaction with Coiling Oracle ) and Eidolon of Blossoms and I basically cycled and ramped all day without doing anything else! Ha. I think I'm pretty close to the correct balance now though.

I have, however, thought of adding in a Nylea, God of the Hunt in the place of one of the 1 or 2 drops however. She is a spectacular mana sink and often will be a 6/6 creature as well. I need to test this for sure.

Yeah, Storm can be really tough game one. We essentially just have to race them. There's no other way around it (as that's the point of Storm). There is a good amount of hate that is awesome against Storm though (and they don't have enough to slow us down) so we can really tilt the match up in our favor in games two and three. Infect I don't tend to have a huge problem with. I may not have tested against the right builds; however I tend to win a turn or two before they can. We have enough blockers and they often have to move off their plan and block so they don't die. I did run Melira in the board for a bit; but took it out. It's not a huge portion of the meta right now anyways; but I haven't found it to be one of the tougher match-ups. I'll try to think of some interesting cards to deal with the match up (and I'll test some more against it to ensure I'm not missing something as I haven't tested against it enough).

Generally Affinity can be beat. Especially if you run Creeping Corrosion and other graveyard hate in the board. If you chump block them through the first few turns; you'll quickly get over the top of them. And in your version; the 7 life you can gain from Primal Command can be huge (as it can give you another turn to beat them).

It's so interesting to talk to you (given your expertise with your deck) and to see the difference in the match ups that are difficult for each build. Where you have better match-ups against twin and control , I have slightly better match-ups against "fair" (creature based) decks. That's really interesting. There are a ton of similarities too. You are absolutely right that we could figure out a lot together. I'm currently trying out Boil over Choke ; so we'll see how that goes. I'd especially love to hear how sideboard cards have fared against certain decks for you (as in Modern, the sideboard can be everything). Both of our builds don't like to side too awful much in for any match-up (so as not to screw the synergy up); so each card has to pay off. This is gonna be great! Thanks for posting and for all your help!

Thank you very much for all your suggestions, compliments, and the +1 for my Prime Time for Big Monsters deck. And yes I agree that we can definitely make our decks better by working together. So let's get to work!

I still like Choke over Boil . First off, Choke costs less than Boil , Choke also lasts more than one turn, and you cast Choke off a Genesis Wave . Plus it also adds to your devotion. I've found that enchantments seem to work better for these decks because you can hit them with your Genesis Wave . Although I do run Creeping Corrosion , Back to Nature , and Beast Within in my sideboard to deal with decks like Affinity, Boggles, and cards like Gaddock Teeg . So you'll have to let me know what you think after you test it out.

CurdBrosBrewingCo - I just got all the cards in the mainboard today. And I am happy to announce that this deck demolishes Smokestack + Tangle Wire combo - 3 - 0! I am amazed. At turn 5, I wish I had a fireball with me :p I can produce 36 mana after the wave with just the Nykthos + Garruk.Yeah, I have been thinking of accelerating planeswalkers with good ultimates via proliferate and Doubling Season and tutoring them via wave :) I might use this decks ramp and draw core as base.

I forgot to mention that I didnt have the budget to buy the 3 Misty Forests - I have put one Boseiju, Who Shelters All , another Breeding Pool plus 2 Hinterland Harbor . The Titan hitting the field is amazing - my friend hesitated to even play Armageddon - he didn't expect it to ramp up and put things out so fast!

im just gonna sit here and wait till a hydra is put in... nope take your time it'll happen eventually...

Ha! I'll make it work somehow evilclown5609! They just made Genesis Hydra so that's not much of a stretch :).

I do love hydras too! I can't believe I've made a green deck without one...I have been thinking of adding one Mistcutter Hydra to the board...would that count?

nomadic that's awesome!!! We got past a legacy combo. :). Well, YOU got past a legacy combo!

I would love to see your list with Doubling Season , proliferate, and ramping. We tried a superfriends build in the past; and I've always loved the idea. PLEASE link me if and when you post the deck . I'm excited to see the deck!

And you can get away without fetch lands...they help more consistently fix your mana; but with all of the enchantment-fixing in the deck you probably would only notice a difference in 1/20 games.

Okay, let me just say that this is a deck with enough math that even if I didn't already like the concept (I do, rest assured :), I would still have to try it out and bring my abacus to count on! Such ramp, many green... +1 for sure.

Anywho, I really like this! All the synergy made my head spin for a bit, and the anecdotal +42/+42 sounds like something that would get a lot of people, ah, removed from their LGS eheh. This does seem, though, to be similar to a combination of two of my decks. What Cloudpost? and Rhapsody in Blue/Green have similar purposes and mechanical uses to this, and I think that's kinda neat.

By the way, if you're interested, Rhapsody could use some tinkering. My own " Glimpse of Nature " type Elves deck.

As for suggestions... I'm utterly blank. Everything looks to be wound tight. I honestly have no idea how this could be improved. And for that, you've certainly earned every +1 on this! Keep up the good work! (Although, in the pictures, you have two Breeding Pool and one Stomping Ground , while in the decklist, you have the opposite configuration O.o)

CurdBrosBrewingCo - I would certainly post it once I get my hands on Doubling Season and Contagion Engine and also do a little play test. The engine would also serve as sweep for a single opponent once it hits the field. So I am thinking to play 2-of those. I don't think I need more because when the Primeval Titan s and Craterhoof Behemoth hit the field, at least on a few games that I played, is already a wrap. Even if the creatures they have survived the infection (-1 counters) from the engine, it will definitely not survive the titans and behemoths.The lovely aspect of this deck is that, it is very consistent to get big things out early on turn 4 or 5 on average - you guys have thought it out very well.

I browsed the super friends deck as well. Very well thought out again. I will continue with a different set of walkers. Justice league? :p

thuzra - I browsed your deck, you would certainly need Genesis Wave .

nomadic - Uh, which deck, why, and what do I take out? A patch fixes nothing if you can't find the hole. You should probably comment on the deck to tell me, rather than use CurdBros' space, it's just impolite.