Prophet of Kruphix is an amazing card. I've been trying to fit it into a Simic ramp deck after my pre-rotation success with the extremely fun Simic Elfhoof? Believe it, but had the idea on the backburner since the ramp in the initial version wasn't quite consistent enough (Elvish Archdruid was a big loss). I liked the idea of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx providing ramp, but its Legendary status made me skeptical about running 4 in a deck, and running less would obviously reduce the deck's consistency. However, after seeing some of the mono Green Devotion decks in action, you can say that I've been converted. I worked in Nykthos and added in some of the other ramp elements from that shell, and this deck is now at the insanity level I prefer.
Like the mono Green deck, the idea here is to ramp quickly by playing dorks and building Devotion, then drop big creatures like
Polukranos, World Eater
and use card advantage engines like Garruk, Caller of Beasts to find more. But the Prophet and other Simic twists add a lot of extra elements for the opponent to worry about. Here's the lineup:
CREATURES
Elvish Mystic: Ramps for one mana. Nuff said.
Sylvan Caryatid: The best dork in Standard with its 3 toughness and hexproof. It's even more important here for helping with the splash of Blue.
Kiora's Follower: Can be used to untap an Island (or Temple of Mystery) for some Blue mana or give a creature pseudo-vigilance but the obvious reason it's here is to untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx for truly ridiculous turns.
Courser of Kruphix: With only 22 lands, this guy helps to hit land drops while providing a little card advantage. The life gain and 4 toughness help against aggro decks as well.
Boon Satyr
: A flexible option that provides high devotion. He can be used to take on an early Loxodon Smiter or other attackers at instant speed, or Bestow onto some appealing targets such as an attacking Kalonian Hydra, or a Master Biomancer if you feel like a 7/7 Elvish Mystic is appropriate. The Bestow also curves nicely into big draws from Prime Speaker Zegana and makes casting her a less risky play, as even a
Quicken
'd Supreme Verdict won't stop you from getting 5 cards.
Polukranos, World Eater
: Lives up to his Monstrous billing in a ramp deck. The ridiculous amount of mana that can be attained here makes both him and his ability playable on the same turn. Or you can just untap with Prophet of Kruphix and blow out your opponent's army on their turn. And of course, there are few creatures Prime Speaker Zegana is happier to see than a Monstrous World Eater.
Master Biomancer: Finally, some Simic flavor. At this point, I've tried this guy in quite a few different builds (including the Elfhoof deck), so I can say with confidence that he is at his best when surrounded by dorks and card advantage. Both are here in droves. While half of the creatures sprayed out by mono Green will never see combat, every creature in this deck suddenly becomes a threat when the Bromancer is on the table. But even the big guys here get a boost- Kalonian Hydra gets at least 2 more counters (and everyone else's) to double, Prophet of Kruphix doesn't die to
Lightning Strike
or Anger of the Gods, and Prime Speaker Zegana goes for at least 2 more cards. I say "at least" because things can get quite out of hand with two of these guys out and/or a Bestowed
Boon Satyr
.
Nylea, God of the Hunt: Trample for the team is a huge boost in aggro matchups, and the indestructibility is a thorn in the side of midrange and control. The pump, while inefficient, is a nice outlet for excess mana, especially if the target is Master Biomancer.
Prophet of Kruphix: With all the creatures, card advantage, and ramp here, all of its abilities are maxed out, meaning that my board state can go from decent to insane in the span of a turn or two. It also protects high-value creatures from kill spells and keeps creature decks on their heels since they have to anticipate any possible blockers and counterattacks.
Kalonian Hydra: Most of the mono Green decks use
Arbor colussus
as their 5-drop bomb, and there is certainly a Polukranos-esque argument to be made for the Monstrous ability in a ramp deck with Prophet of Kruphix. But there is no replacement for the Hydra when it comes to a threat that has to be dealt with immediately thanks to the built-in trample. When that threat can be Flashed in during the opponent's end step with some Master Biomancer counters to double, it's just too mean to pass up.
Prime Speaker Zegana: When playtesting mono Green, one thing I've noticed is that they are quite dependent on having a Garruk, Caller of Beasts out to keep the threats coming. That's especially true here since the Prophet of Kruphix and the ramp will allow us to dump our hand pretty quickly, and Master Biomancer craves a hand full of creatures. The Prime Speaker helps the deck have more consistent card advantage options while also providing a beefy creature. I also like how the Prophet turns her into a Simic Sphinx's Revelation.
PLANESWALKERS
Jace, Architect of Thought- He doesn't hit as hard as Garruk or Prime Speaker, but he also doesn't cost 6 mana. Also provides a distraction and useful plus against aggro.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts: Does serious work in these kind of decks. The ramp makes a t3 or t4 drop very possible, and the creature count means an additional 2.5 creatures per turn on top of the normal draw. The plus ability will be the likely use most of the time, but the cheat-in has useful applications against decks with counterspells and can be used to drop Prime Speaker Zegana for simultaneous tempo and card advantage.
INSTANTS
Simic Charm: The main use here is to protect permanents- including Garruk, Caller of Beasts- from kill spells or
Detention Sphere
, but I always try to make room for this in Simic decks because the pump and bounce options mean that this card will always find a useful application, from straightforward to more creative. For example, with the amount of ramp here, pumping Master Biomancer before dumping a bunch of creatures or using it to turn Prime Speaker Zegana into 3 more cards can be devastatingly crafty.
Cyclonic Rift: Bouncing an entire army is the first thing that comes to mind with this card and gives the deck a win con not found in mono Green, but it is also extremely useful against the popular Red and Black Devotion decks that depend on big hits from Fanatic of Mogis and Gray Merchant of Asphodel or blitz decks that depend on Auras.
SIDE
Curse of the Swine: Handles other Devotion decks, Gods, flyers like those found en masse in Mono Blue, and high-value creatures. Also, if I am sick of my dorks and have Master Biomancer on the table, they can turn into 4/4's.
Arbor Colossus
: Against mono Blue or decks that use Stormbreath Dragon, his Monstrous is nutty.
Bow of Nylea: A Swiss Army knife. Midrange decks with high-value creatures won't be thrilled about having to block dorks with Deathtouch, the life gain and Shock to flyers locks down decks that use
Chandra's Phoenix
, and the noncreature Devotion and +1/+1 counter are good options in some control matchups for working around Supreme Verdict and giving creatures higher value. Also works great with
Polukranos, World Eater
's Monstrous.
Unravel the Aether: Great against Gods and annoying Enchantments like
Detention Sphere
. Shuffling into the library is basically the same as removing, so this is clearly better than
Fade into Antiquity
.
Essence Scatter: Slows down aggro like Red Deck Wins and takes out the heavy hitters of similar Mono Green decks.
Jace, Memory Adept: Since Simic doesn't have mass Indestructible or Regenerate for dealing with Supreme Verdict, you have to win with savvy play and card advantage through Planeswalkers to stay aggressive. The extra Garruk helps with this, and this version of Jace does as well while providing an alternate win con with its milling.
Nylea's Disciple
: Totally underestimated this card at first, but it simply wins games against aggro decks by gaining huge chunks of life.
Pithing Needle: It's on everyone's sideboard.
Primeval Bounty
: A Value-machine against midrange and Control. It's especially useful vs. Mono Black, since their targeted removal will never keep up with all the Beasts, and the life gain helps avoid cheap losses from Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
