SUMMARY
There's devotion, and there's Epic Devotion. Want to play like you're a spokesmodel for Power Thirst? How about consistently winning Standard games within five minutes? Like leaving your opponent whimpering about no answers even with access to his sideboard? Do you enjoy sending experienced and even superior players to grief counselors, without needing to be a bully? Do you enjoy resiliency against Thoughtseize, weenie aggro, monsters, Lifebane Zombie, and combos? Ever wanted to deal thirty, fifty, or several hundred points of damage in one turn, without your deck being reliant on drawing combo pieces to win? Have you ever dreamed of single-handedly altering the meta in your local tournaments? Would you be amused to play
Worldspine Worm
on turn three, a second
Worldspine Worm
on turn four, and a third
Worldspine Worm
on turn five]]? Best of all, would you like to achieve all of the above in real-life Standard, and do it so originally and unexpectedly that your opponents thank you for a very memorable match, possibly as they are being dressed in straight jackets? If so, give this deck a look.
This is my spin on various Green Devotion decks, taken to the extreme; it's one Hell of a beast. While it is a very fun deck, it is also highly competitive versus the major Standard archetypes, in part because the deck is simultaneously redundant and synergistic, limiting the effectiveness of disruption and spot removal. I consider it simultaneously Aggro, Combo, and Midrange. On more than one occasion, I've swung for thirty points of damage with Trample on turn four (even turn three is possible with an ideal hand), and I've Monstrous-ed
Polukranos, World Eater
with fifty-nine mana, and also dealt over six-hundred damage in a single turn by Monstrous-ing Hydra Broodmaster with fifty-one mana. The most obscene board state I've achieved on tempo is over three hundred points of creature power, all with Trample, at the end of turn four. The most degenerate army I've swung with dealt 35,322 points of Trample damage (not that the Trample mattered after
Polukranos, World Eater
dealt 242 damage to my opponent's defenders), though that was on turn nine.
One of my favorite aspects of the deck is that it is, despite first appearances, exceptionally consistent. Two- and even one-land hands are usually worth keeping, and even in the rare games where the fatties never show up, the deck can usually win as simple weenie aggro. This, combined with tremendous explosiveness and resiliency against almost all the major archetypes, makes the deck very competitive.
Here's where I'd appreciate feedback: I'm enormously satisfied with the MB, and mostly satisfied with the SB. My weakest MTG area is the actual process of SBing. I know what I should board in for virtually every matchup, but I agonize over what to board out for space. Any specific advice is appreciated.
Please +1 and comment; thank you. Hit "Playtest" and try a few rounds; this is probably the most explosive deck I've ever seen.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx + Worldspine Wurm ][ Garruk, Caller of Beasts + Worldspine Wurm ][ Xenagos, God of Revels + Worldspine Wurm ][ Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx + Hydra Broodmaster ][ Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx +
Polukranos, World Eater
MAINBOARD
The primary goal is to pump out Worldspine Wurm as early as possible, either with devotion or with -3-ing Garruk, Caller of Beasts, ideally with Xenagos, God of Revels already in play.
Xenagos, God of Revels serves a couple of roles. Obviously, he allows
Worldspine Worm
to immediately swing for thirty damage with Trample. He can serve other purposes, though, such as allowing a mana dork to provide that key bit of ramp needed in the turn; this is relevant more often than you might expect (granted, it has to wait until after the first main phase).
Polukranos, World Eater
provides excellent blocker removal when Monstrous-ed with sufficient mana.
I always try to run one Rogue's Passage, because it is an outstanding card to top-deck when the board is stalled and especially since it's almost impossible to answer. I've never had the singleton screw up my mana.
Hydra Broodmaster is an outstanding performer; despite skepticism, the absurd mana this deck generates frequently makes it an alternate win condition for games when I face tons of blockers and can't play any evasion (Trample, Rogue's Passage) or mass removal
Polukranos, World Eater
. Playtesting has routinely given me over twelve 12/12 tokens, often with Trample (Nylea, God of the Hunt). In the current list, it replaces the third and fourth copies of
Arbor Colossus
. During the very first live game in which I utilized it (versus Mono-Black Devotion), I survived multiple copies of Pack Rat and loads of removal, ultimately Monstrous-ing Hydra Broodmaster to produce twenty-five 25/25 tokens. On the next turn, I cast and Monstrous-ed
Polukranos, World Eater
to wipe out all blockers, then swung with just the Hydra tokens, reducing my opponent's life total to negative 621.
Nylea, God of the Hunt is there mostly for providing trample to my creatures who may need it to break through; however, her activated ability is excellent for pumping up the lone creature that connects, sometimes even the lowly Elvish Mystic (I've actually used a lone Elvish Mystic to force my opponent to use a second Supreme Verdict. This is particularly handy when your only post-board-wipe creature is small.
Arbor Colossus
is an excellent devotion enabler, as well as the deck's best defense against fliers. While I'd like to find room for four, Garruk, Caller of Beasts goes a long, long ways towards making sure
Arbor Colossus
turns up.
SIDEBOARD
Nylea's Disciple is incredible against aggro and monsters, since the deck can have up to twelve devotion by the end of turn two.
Mistcutter Hydra and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed need no introduction.. I also bring in Ruric Thar, the Unbowed for matches where I can expect lots of enemy fliers, specifically
Herald of Torment
, Stormbreath Dragon,
Master of the Feast
, and Desecration Demon- anywhere I would normally bring in more copies of
Arbor Colossus
.
The fourth
Polukranos, World Eater
is boarded in against aggro, monsters, and creature-based devotion.
Bow of Nylea is brought in to keep up with monsters.
Archetype of Endurance is actually playable in this deck, and provides much-appreciated protection against a vast array of heavy targeted removal, such as Doom Blade, Hero's Downfall, Dreadbore, Detention Sphere,
Chained to the Rocks
, Banishing Light,
Tidebinder Mage
, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Far / Away, Banisher Priest, Azorius Charm, Simic Charm, Harness by Force, and many others.
Sadly, there's nothing my colors can do against full board wipes, but the four copies of Garruk, Caller of Beasts and three copies of Xenagos, the Reveller go a long way towards keeping my board full.
EMBLEMS AND TOKENS
1x Garruk, Caller of Beasts Emblem [M14] ][ 8x Satyr Token [THS] ][ 30x Hydra Token [JOU] (Yes, I really do use thirty)
