Hey man, welcome to Modern!

I'm not too sure how big a place Devotion really has as a mechanic in Modern, but it does exist (usually in conjunction with elvish ramp). Let me walk you through the basics.

The ramp:

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - This is a major part of your ramp potential. If monogreen devotion is your thing, I would include a set. They aren't even too expensive either, so yay!

Ramp combo 1: Arbor Elf + Utopia Sprawl Why this combo? The enchantment not only gives you more mana, but it counts as 1 for devotion purposes, woot!

Ramp combo 2: Arbor Elf + Garruk Wildspeaker + Utopia Sprawl Having this combo in your opening hand can allow you to cast Garruk for free on T2! (T1, arbor, T2, second land, use second land to slap Utopia on first forest, double tap with Arbor, cast Garruk and untap both.)

Ramp combo 3: Arbor Elf + Elvish Archdruid + Elvish Visionary +any other elf. Fairly self-explanatory.

Now, what to do with all this mana? Well, you could summon an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn on T3-4, or use Khalni Hydra to beat down your opponent while throwing your devotion through the roof, or cast Genesis Wave or Chord of Calling .

Here's a good primer for you to look through:

Whoops, I linked that wrong. Here: Primer

Strangleroot Geist could be good in here, he could replace Kalonian Tusker .

I would -2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller for sure and put 1 Thrun, the Last Troll

This was my list until like 1 month ago Stompy is easy, stompy is life.. Switched the Prey Upon for Dismember.. Probably my sideboard is not set in stone and I could place Prey Upon on burn heavy meta.

List look OK.. Still not sold on Dungrove Elder unless you are in a heavy removal meta, which is not my case..

@metalemmanuel

why no Surrak, the Hunt Caller?

Also, IDK what the meta will be like as this is the list for the first modern deck I'll be putting together.

Fun deck! Got my evolve deck down to two life before I could catch up! I managed to come back in the end, but it was a close one! +1 for a strong mono-green, those are rare these days.

I would go aggro with Young Wolf and more Strangleroot Geist, Experiment One, and Dryad Militant. The goal should be to keep the opponent's combat force on their heels until you drop Aspect for +5/+5 or more as a finisher.

Dungrove Elder is too slow. Without any way to play multiple land a turn, its power is limited to the turn you are on. That's unimpressive for 3 mana in Green. (Contrast Witchstalker, Predator Ooze.)

I actually like lists like these very much. I'd max out on Leatherback Baloths before adding the 1st Surrak though for the sake of consistency (sometimes you don't get your 4th land on time). Also I'd start thinking about a sideboard. Obstinate Baloth, Skylasher, Spellskite (if you can afford it), Wild Defiance, Oxidize, Nature's Claim, Choke, Creeping Corrosion, Thragtusk, and Bow of Nylea are some that come to mind.

Wolfbitten Captive  ^Flip

@ evergreenboy8900

Wolfbitten Captive  ^Flip seems underwhelming... His natural pumps cost more than I'd care to pay in comparison to my pump spells, me or my opponent are likely to cast enough spells to flip him into a human and lock him from going wolf mode, and I lose his devotion while he is flipped should I want to cast Aspect of Hydra

What about swapping Pit Fight out for Ulvenwald Tracker?

The problem I see with Ulvenwald Tracker is the fact that it is a creature. In this case he must be on the board, and therefore prone to being hit by Lightning Bolt and the like. In addition to that, he must be untapped for me to be able to use him to fight, therefore bringing himself out of usable combat where it really matters, swinging face. Third, is you can't bluff with him unlike Pit Fight to sway your opponent into making less favorable decisions.

So while I see the value he tries to add with repeatable fight abilities, I believe he is too fragile to be worth switching over to.

Yeah, that's kinda my experience with him, too. He's also significantly slower, too, even though you get the repeatable hits (and the +1 devotion). I was just curious about how you saw it coming out in the balance.

Hey man great build. I'd consider swapping out the Primal Bellows for more creatures though considering your low mana-base. Perhaps Avatar of the Resolute or Kalonian Tusker. Just a thought though. You can check out my build - Modern Mono Monster Mash - if you want some new ideas, although I play stompy a bit differently.

@kchedges

Primal Bellow is something I want to try out. I have seen plenty of times that it would be beneficial. Often times, I have found that I am casting Aspect of Hydra for a Giant Growth by double Rancoring a Dryad Militant. I have had several times where I dump 3 of them from my hand for game like that.On the other hand, I have also had plenty of grindier games vs midrange and control and I can't consistently punch through. At those points, the Primal Bellows may be able to pump more damage as well as give me another quick cheap trick to fake a trade.

Unfortunately, none of my LGSs have them, so my thoughts are unproven.

Avatar of the Resolute I am still unsure of and would need to test. I do not like how he does not work as efficiently as Strangleroot Geist as a turn 2 play, nor is he as good in the long game as Scavenging Ooze. In addition to that, he does not get a +1/+1 counter from a turn 1 Experiment One so on curve he is just a 3/2 who is prone to be Path to Exiled or Lightning Bolted. If I had more consistent starts like 3 Experiment Ones out for a turn 3 play of him, that would be different.

You also happened to post just as I shifted cards around to reflect what I am playing vs what I was previously considering.

i am just going to say this now. this deck does really bad when it comes to tournaments, at my lgs it does horrible and all people who play it usually end up in last. i understand you are on a budget, but green stompy is just really bad. infect is a more budget way to go.

I have generally done fairly well at FNMs and such with this. That being said, I am working on collecting cards for an infect deck that is posted.

infect is just much better, and your fnm mus not be too competetive, or must have a really bad meta.

bah-bammmm I totally resent the stompy hate. Whoever is playing it at your LGS is probably just bad at it. I rock stompy. Went 4-0 in the last two modern nights with it and I see pro tour quality decks every time.

Then again I'm not on a budget.

Really, one of the biggest things I've learned is to play conservatively. This seems counter productive to the deck, but I have had better luck holding pump spells for a finish instead of using them early. In addition to that, I have noticed that I main moard more removal than most stompy decks, which gives me more chances to win game 1 vs other creature oriented decks.

Is this a surefire win? No, but neither is any other deck. I have responses to most decks I've played against and I just need to tailor the SB a bit more based on which venue I'm at.

I think 3+ Avatars of the Resolute would be a great addition, considering you've got scooze, experiment one, and strangleroot geist to provide counters. what you could remove is the bow of nylea, the revenge of the hunted, and maybe one vines.

@Kala

Like I said in the description, I'm still unsure of the Avatar of the Resolutes as they don't always work. I can try them, but I am currently acquiring them (don't want to buy online). Experiment One would be the most surefire way of getting the counters, being that Strangleroot Geist is prone to Path to Exile and Scavenging Ooze is prone to Lightning Bolt and Terminate.

I do know that I will never not play a playset of Vines of Vastwood as it is my MVP non creature running triple duty stopping combo, saving my creatures from removal, and pumping damage. Revenge of the Hunted I am still testing, but it seems to do a good job at being a blowout when it happens, or uses up an opponent's counterspell for . Bow of Nylea I have yet to play in a game, so it is also under testing, but the deathtouch + trample is definitely a killer.

I would say a 3/2 trampler is worth it over anything else in my opinion. The fact it can get even bigger is crazy. I would put 3-4 Avatar of the Resolutes in.

I'm going to agree with EverythingIsK, Avatar of the Resolute even as just a 3/2 with reach and trample is great. Being able to drop him as a 5/4 or even 6/5 later is just insane. It will give the deck a lot more speed and power.

i hate this deck, but Avatar of the Resolute does make it better.