CallMeCrazySam - You do make some great points, And I have the Damnation in there for a just in case, because aggro is a big thing at my LGS, Alot of time i'll just spend early turns disrupting their hand and drop damnation to clean the board and put them behind while I drop my big guys that they can't deal with. (tis why I only run it as a 1 of)

And I love mono-green, I just love it even more with a splash of blue and red :P

But as I said, Vampire Hexmage would be a total SB option for Gatekeeper of Malakir in those tough matchups.

Just a tip, based on your description of your meta, you NEED Torpor Orb . Also Vampire Hexmage is absolutely terrible unless your using it in a combo. Hero's Downfall is also really bad in modern.

You should also run a total of 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . For consistency. Depending on your tastes, Smallpox could be ok.

No offence CallMeCrazySam, but your advise of removing Torpor Orb for Vampire Hexmage is probably the single most retarded piece of advise I've read all week. Losing the etb on your guys may be annoying, but it's not a big deal. Other than Gray Merchant of Asphodel , the other etb abilities are just win-more. They aren't really necessary. Torpor Orb can literally WIN YOU GAMES. Vampire Hexmage does nothing. Ok, it kills planeswalkers, sure. Other than that, it does NOTHING.

ScorprixFor the record, no offense but you are an idiot and need to read. Doesn't really make the comment inoffensive, does it? Four Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is going to kill him. Most of his creatures are solid black, that means that he NEEDS the swamps and if the opponent is removing his devotion, then Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is going to tap for a colorless, it looks kinda bad. It really is just a win more card. With a low land count like that, he can't dilute it even more, it just won't work. There are fourteen BB cards in the mainboard. He needs the colors.Vampire Hexmage may not be the best card, but it sits there and gives devotion until you want to use it. I like it and therefore I suggested it. Vampire Hexmage is more than something that kills planeswalkers, as I said, it gives more devotion and it is a 2-1 first striker for 2, which is not bad.Also, I did not suggest dropping the Torpor orbs in favor of Vampire Hexmage , I suggested dropping them for more Surgical Extraction s if he decides to add Inquisition of Kozilek . Furthermore, Hero's Downfall is NOT horrible in modern.
The Torpor Orb disabling Gray Merchant of Asphodel if a problem. Gary is a finisher. The deck has a great mid range backup plan but Gary can just end it. Ending the game is great if you didn't know, especially with all the combo decks running around.I'm not finding where he is describing his meta, maybe you can show me?Also, black decks with forced discard plan to eat combo before it has a chance to combo off so oftentimes Torpor Orb is irrelevant. If you play it at the right time it might do work, but he should be killing their combo before it becomes a problem.

Forgot about Fulminator Mage , he/she might be decent in the board, depending on your meta.

CallMeCrazySam//Scorprix Alright let's settle down there boys.

No need for hasty words.

I know how to play the game quite well (I would hope) and the only things that are changing now is the SB.

Vampire Hexmage makes alot of sense to me, In matchups where superfriend's (and my LGS owners Affinity deck) it works wonders, It'd never be mainboarded unless needed, much like Torpor Orb .

I think the deck functions quite well in this state on it's own, Even without an SB it's potent.

Also, Hero's Downfall is a pretty great removal spell, In standard it crushes and I think in modern it's underestimated.

ah man i want to brawl too! rabble! rabble rabble!

for the record, i think Hex Parasite trumps Vampire Hexmage .

Right again scrotality

Hahahaha.

What does reading have to do with this? If you're trying to incite a flame war, it's not working. That's also not permitted on this website. I was not insulting YOU, I was insulting the comment. I even said that. I also already recommended Fulminator Mage , but he figured it was too expensive.

Dude, the entire point of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is to draw it, play it, and get ton's of mana. That's why OP runs 6-drops. I have already suggested Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth , so I shal do it again. He junst needs to use it as a 3 or 4-of.

If you go back to one of the comment clean-ups, you will see he said his meta consists highly of zoo, naya/kiki-pod, and melira-pod. Etb is HUGE in pod type decks. So yea, you NEED Torpor Orb . His meta also has NO tron. I envy him. Tron is a pain in the ass.

"Vampire Hexmage may not be the best card..."

You said so yourself. It's not very good. There are much better cards for the same cost.

Hero's Downfall .

Destroy target creature (Victim of Night and Dismember accomplish that for less mana.)

or Planeswalker. (I'd rather just use Pithing Needle or some other good card.)

You were Saying?...

Also, Shadow of Doubt is definitely worth keeping. It hurts pod and other stuff.

Have you ever read Torpor Orb ? It kills so many modern combo decks it's ridiculous. When I said "Torpor Orb can literally WIN YOU GAMES.", I wasn't lying. What you do is you side out Gary for the second game and after. You say "...oftentimes Torpor Orb is irrelevant". Do you even play modern?

I also have some ideas. How good is Bile Blight in your modern meta? Lashwrithe ? Vampire Nighthawk ? Snow-Covered Swamp ? I would also add more Inquisition of Kozilek , but they aren't SB cards. You shouldn't really keep them in the SB. They should always be kept in the MB or not used at all.

Opps! Didn't see your comment Caligula.

No worries mate, Just keep the comments to a debate rather than boil down to assumed insults.

But I like it, It provides options for defending card choices and explaining why they work the way they work. Just gotta keep it healthy.

and scrotality said it right Hex Parasite >Vampire Hexmage . I realize that it isn't affecting my devotion, but it makes a potential 2 for 1 scenario which is key for card efficiency.

I still don't think any of them are necessary. But that's just me. : )

But how do you feel about +2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx +3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth +14 Snow-Covered Swamp -19 Swamp ?

Why snow-covered? Just curious. I can see it in Skred red

@scrotality: 99.99% because they look really cool. 0.01% because of Extraplanar Lens decks.

Scorprix but I don't wanna give up my full art lands =(

THEY"RE FULL ART? KEEP THEM! KEEP THEM!

I'd still add the nykthos's and urborgs though...

Yeah Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth would work great as a 1 of. But with this decks mana base only really being Swamps it loses its effect really and would only effect the mana production of 1 of his lands because he can't have 2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx in play. If he wanted to get more bang for his buck from a Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth he could add some Tectonic Edge or Ghost Quarter to deprive his opponents of the lands they need and still produce the Swamps he needs. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is more iffy to me I think 2 are fine, but if you want to see it more consistently maybe play 3, but I don't see the need for a play set. I wouldn't run more than 2 myself though. They're great cards that can help but you never want to see more than 2 of them in a game really.

@rksherman3: Never thought of it that way... But that sounds brilliant! So maybe add 2 Urborg and 1 Nykthos?...

i like activating one nykthos then floating the mana, sac'ing the first to drop a second, then activating that one. glass cannon, baby!!

That's an option, but that would be something for later game and something I wouldn't want to do early in the game or forced to deal with early game. The Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Hail Mary would be a site to see though.

@scrotality: I have a modern green devotion beats deck, and I have do that so much it stops being funny... :P

@Scorprix Yeah full art > Snow covered any day. =P

@rksherman3 : That would be pretty damn cool, but If I don't draw into that Urborgs then I'd be in a pretty messy situation if I'm drawing into those non-basics.

@scrotality I actually never thought of even doing that, That's pretty fun.

If you wanted land destruction as an option and keep building devotion Fulminator Mage is an option. I put that as a 3 of in my SB in my BUG deck. But I know it is a slightly costly card and I know you're trying to keep costs down.

I could always keep some Rain of Tears in the SB for the targeted land destruction

Yeah, I thought of that but since you are working with devotion I thought I'd give you an option that could serve both purposes, plus it puts some pressure on them too. But for cost effectiveness the Rain of Tears probably is just as good.