Green Devotion/Elves Combo (Infinite)
Modern* Devotion Elves Infinite Combo Mono-Green Ramp RUG (Temur)
Sideboard
Enchantment (4)
Creature (6)
Land (1)
Maybeboard
Sorcery (1)
Planeswalker (1)
Creature (2)
This is my current Elf Devotion list. I've been playing Elves since I began playing magic...and when Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx was spoiled, I immediately said, "I've got to make an elf devotion list!"
Since that time, I've actually built many "iterations" of Elf Devotion decks; (builds with Mirror Entity, Gilt-Leaf Archdruid, Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Freed from the Real, and many, many, more win cons :) ) Both "aggro" and "combo" ...I've made many elf decks I've loved (and still play to this day).
This list has seen a few changes...but it is the list I'm most proud of. It came about due to a "mini-epiphany" that occurred when I watched past videos of Matt Nass's 2010 Elf list in Extended....watching that masterpiece reminded me that:
Elf decks work best when there is an infinite combo always available...the "oops, I win!" Games can't be won any other way.
The infinite combo works best with a 1-of copy of potential win-cons (I.e. 1-of Eternal Witness and 1-of Primal Command or 1-of Purphoros or Kessig Wolf Run)
The Win-Cons have to function on there own outside of the combo (to promote a well rounded deck...)
Nass's deck ran 1-of copies of Eternal Witness & Primal Command (which I already played in my Green Devotion decks anyways!)...from there my goals were to (a) get to the combo as quickly and consistently as possible, and (b) exploit it to win the game as many ways as I could.
The deck; however, didn't really go over the top until the addition of Purphoros, God of the Forge. Now all of the loops and bounces that could be generated extremely quickly were a potential win-condition. The layers and layers of synergy now led to a point where nearly any assortment if cards was strong; and the deck could win with infinite mana, infinite card draw, or just infinite "loops".
This list takes some of the best benefits of green devotion and the awesome Elves combo and mashes them together to make for a deck I actually think is competitive in the current Modern meta. It can win by turn 3; but is traditionally a turn 4-5 deck.
On the play; the deck plays about as fast as a splinter twin deck (i.e. Uninterrupted the deck will "go off" on turn 4 a majority of the time). Fortunately, thanks in large part to all of the card advantage built into the deck; the deck is also extremely resilient. On to the deck...
Deck Strategy
The deck strategy is actually pretty simple...you just want to overwhelm the opponent with an army of elves until you hit one of the many win-cons (of course the main one being the infinite combo). The deck ramps so fast and draws so many cards that the opponent can't answer everything thrown at them.
One of the more "unorthodox" ways this deck wins is through abusing ETB triggers. It's something growing i popularity in the Green Devotion "community" (mainly with the printing of Temur Sabertooth)....Cloudstone Curio and Temur Sabertooth both allow you to "bounce" and re-cast (aka "loop") creatuers. When ETB triggers begin allowing you to draw cards, deal damage, and recur cards...it can very quickly become a HUGE source of advantage. This is a very important portion of this deck.
The deck's power relies in its synergy. When every card has multiple uses and each card makes the others stronger; a deck can take on the "good stuff" decks of Modern.
It was extremely important to me, however, that the deck be able to win whether you hit the infinite combo or not...I'm actually a fan of "glass cannon" decks; but I wanted this deck to be more than just another combo elf deck...It needed to be able to win with or without the combo and it had to win through heavy disruption and hate...fortunately, the "devotion" mechanic and tools allow for this...
The Combo
For anyone that doesn't know how the Elf Combo works; it requires a total of four cards (the three above and one additional Elf. Here's a simplified explanation of how it works.
With Cloudstone Curio, Heritage Druid, and Nettle Sentinel on the battlefield, if you cast any other elf you can:
- Tap all three elves at instant speed (via Heritage Druid's activated ability) for 3 green mana (3G)
- Because you played a "creature" you can return a "creature" to your hand (via Cloudstone Curio's trigger. This can be done after tapping the elves for mana.
- Returning the Heritage Druid to your hand, you then re-cast it for 1 green mana. This leaves you with a net of 2G.
- Because you cast a "green spell" Nettle Sentinel's ability triggers and he untaps.
- You've played another "creature" and therefore Cloudstone Curio triggers again. This time you return the remaining tapped elf to your hand.
- You now play that elf again for 1 green mana; leaving you with a single green mana remaining...but all three elves are untapped. This means you can tap them again and continue the process (netting you 1-mana each time).
If, however, that additional Elf is an Elvish Visionary, you will not net mana each "loop" of the combo (as Visionary costs 2-mana so you break even); but you will be able to draw out your entire deck! This allows you to find an additional 1-drop elf with which to develop infinite mana.
From there all it takes is finding your favorite mana sink (in our case Kessig Wolf Run, Joraga Warcaller and/or Ezuri, Renegade Leader in the board) and/or drawing out the entire deck (via [[Elvish Visionary or Genesis Wave), for the infinite Witness/Command lock...
The easiest win, however, is through ETB triggers. Regardlesss of whether the combo is infinite mana, or infinite draw, or just infinite "loops" (of which there are over a half dozen)...you have infinite triggers! It is simply a matter of playing Purphoros, God of the Forge and/or Outpost Siege and just "loop" creatures until you've dealt lethal damage).
The remainder of the deck, thus, is built around allowing you to "go off" as quickly as possible while allowing you play through a reasonable amount of disruption.
There are NUMEROUS different combos and loops in this deck that are not infinite; but often times will be more than enough to do lethal damage, draw out 10+ cards, etc. If you would like a list of them; please feel free to PM me.
Witness/Command Lock
This is somewhat of a well known combo; however the below is a small summary:
To begin, you have to have a Cloudstone Curio on board (or at minimum in hand to cast). Traditionally, since you will already have the combo; this is a given...
- You play Primal Command tutoring for Eternal Witness and putting one permanent back on top of the opponent's library.
- You then play Eternal Witness, grabbing the Primal Command from your library. Pick up an Elf (due to Cloudstone).
- Play the Primal Command again, putting a permanent on top of opponent's library and tutoring for an elf (although at this point you can kinda pick any second choice).
- Play an Elf, picking up the Eternal Witness.
- Play Eternal Witness, returning Primal Command to your hand.
Continue this cycle until the entire board (save creatures) is on top of the opponent's library. To be safe, you can also gain infinite life with the loop as well. In many situations, you will be able to attack with one or more large elves at this point; but worse case scenario (if all elves are summoning sick); you pass and the opponent gets to play another turn 1 :)
The best part about playing these cards as a potential "infinite win-con" is that the cards are spectacular on their own; and each has additional synergies with other cards in the deck (i.e. you can tutor up part of a combo, string Genesis Waves with Witness, gain life against burn, reshuffle graveyards against graveyard/mill strategies, bring back a combo piece, and on and on....)
Elf Core
Many of my Elf Devotion builds have started with what I call the "Elf Devotion Core". This one is slightly different (as you want more card draw). The core is:
- Arbor Elf
- Heritage Druid
- Nettle Sentinel
- Elvish Visionary
- Coiling Oracle
You want to be a close to full sets of all of the above as you possibly can be (although most likely 2-3 Coiling Oracles is best).
This core allows you to both ramp and draw cards at a ridiculous rate. I start most decks with this core (although Nettle Sentinel only shows up in the combo versions) and in more "traditional" elf decks is replaced with Elvish Archdruid).
In "traditional" elf-builds you would also see Elvish Mystic and/or Llanowar Elves. In this particular build, however, they have been replaced with Utopia Sprawl. This is due to the amazing interaction that Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Garruk Wildspeaker have in devotion decks (explained below). You can literally cast Garruk on turn two, untap lands to cast a 3-drop and have access to 20+ mana on turn 3.
This core not only ensures you have tons of mana early, but create numerous synergies with nearly every other card. The amount of ETB triggers that can be abused with Cloudstone Curio and Temur Sabertooth are unreal...
Devotion Core
My "devotion core" includes three cards seen in nearly every devotion deck as well as one card that I personally consider a devotion staple:
- Arbor Elf
- Utopia Sprawl
- Garruk Wildspeaker
- Abundant Growth
- Eidolon of Blossoms
The top three are pretty much standard in green devotion deck 4-of's (with the fourth being "standard" in my devotion decks). Simply put, nothing ramps faster than Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Garruk Wildspeaker. Some devotion decks go even further with cards like Overgrowth and Fertile Ground; however I've found that with four Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and elves to generate additional mana that neither is needed. In this build, however, I am down to 3 copies of Garruk Wildspeaker. The only reason for this is the card draw. I found myself having too many copies too quickly; so 3 it is!
Abundant Growth may not be seen in every devotion build; but in my opinion it should. It adds devotion, draws a card, and fixes your mana all for 1-mana. In this deck, however, Abundant Growth goes one step further. Just as you can bounce Elvish Visionary back into your hand with Cloudstone Curio, the same can be done with Abundant Growth ...but for only 1-mana!
Eidolon of Blossoms is not typically considered a "core" devotion card (i.e. it is not in many devotion decks); however here it is especially useful. It of course draws a card upon ETB (which is great for any creture in this deck); but where it gets REALLY out of hand is when you begin playing Utopia Sprawl or Abundant Growth....for every Utopia Sprawl you draw a card and for every Abundant Growth you draw TWO cards! It is especially useful in a situations where you hit an "enchantment loop" and can draw two cards for 1-green mana!
This "devotion core" when added to the "elf core" leads to a deck that ramps into large sums of mana rather quickly while also drawing enough cards to ensure you don't burn through your entire hand (and so you can dig to your win-conditions). One of the most important aspects to the devotion core, when compared to utilizing more elves (like Mystic, Llanowar Elves, etc. is that the deck is far more resilient. Cards like Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, and creature removal are not nearly as destructive to this deck as they would be to "traditional" Elf decks.
Card Draw, Sabertooth & Curio Loops
What separates this deck from many other Elf combo decks is the resiliency of the deck. This resiliency comes directly from the amount of card draw that has been built-in to the deck as well as the power of Temur Sabertooth and Cloudstone Curio in a devotion deck.
Between Elvish Visionary, Coiling Oracle, Eidolon of Blossoms and Abundant Growth , and Eternal Witness, 12 of the permanents in the deck draw you a card when resolved...when this is added to Genesis Wave, Primal Command, and Garruk Wildspeaker you get a green deck with substantial card advantage built in. Since we are constantly 2-for-1'ing or more; the deck can play through a ton of removal.
Also, the card draw enables you to hit the combo much faster....because you get to dig through the deck so quickly; you often see multiple copies of each of the combo pieces.
Temur Sabertooth also allows you to continually trigger ETB effects by bouncing creatures like Witness, Visionary, and Oracle. It is perfect when the opponent takes away your Cloudstone Curio's (which is why it's in the board). Where the deck get's crazy, however, is with it's "card draw loops". with Cloudstone Curio...
With a Cloudstone Curio on the board; you can have a multitude of assortments of cards to begin drawing through your deck. These include:
1. Enchantment Loops
- With two Abundant Growth 's you can draw out your deck at the cost of 1-green mana per card.
- With an Abundant Growth and a Utopia Sprawl you can draw cards at the cost of 2-green mana per card.
- With Eidolon of Blossoms both of the above loops draw an additional card on each trigger (i.e. 2-card for 1-mana and/or 2-cards for 2-mana)!
- You can loop Eidolon of Blossoms and either Abundant Growth and/or Utopia Sprawl; however it will cost approximately 2.5-mana per card (for Utopia Sprawl) or 1.67 mana per card.
2. Creature Loops
- With any one creature and one Elvish Visionary you can draw out your deck at the cost of 3-green mana per card.
- With Heritage Druid and another creature that is not Nettle Sentinel, the cost is 1-green mana per card. Or course with Nettle Sentinel you would draw out your whole deck for free.
These loops are amazingly powerful (especially after a board wipe). To be able to draw 5+ cards in the late game AFTER an Anger of the Gods...it changes the way an Elf deck can play.
There are literally over a dozen different loops this deck can generate (it gets really crazy when you start looping Garruk Wildspeaker and Eternal Witness...) but I won't bore you with all of them. If you would like a list of them (or a more detailed write up) please message me.
Win-Cons
The final piece of the deck is the Win-Conditions. While Genesis Wave is technically not a win-con (as it can also be cast for "value" to simply simultaneously draw and play 3-7 cards) ; in the majority of games you cast a Wave for X=8 or more you are going to win (and most likely on the same turn it is case).
Garruk Wildspeaker pulls double duty here. This is what makes him such a devotion all-star. He ramps with his "+1", can protect you in games you are grinding in (and/or trying to get to the combo) with his "-1" 3/3 Beast Tokens; and he can also provide an Overrun for your army of elves literally the turn after he is played.
Purphoros, God of the Forge is a great win-con for any deck that can "bounce" or "loop" multiple creatures. Obviously, infinite bounces means infinite damage; but in a deck where you often play 5+ elves each turn; you can see how quickly the damage adds up!
Outpost Siege - This was recently added to the sideboard based on a discussion I had that led to a really neat understanding. I always contemplated running a second Purphoros in the board; however Outpost Siege provides a couple "pros" that Purphoros can't (while Purphoros does things Outpost Siege can't).
The biggest is that Outpost Siege works THROUGH a torpor orb. So the "loop combos" still end up winning the game despite the best hate card you can have for them. Because the ability is a LEAVE the battlefield effect, the damage still occurs with a Torpor Orb on board.
Outpost Siege also hits creatures (and thus can be used as removal...especially for pesky creatures like Eidolon of the Great Revel). The downsides are that it cannot be tutored for, is not indestructible, doesn't have an additional mana-sink, and is only damage at a time.
The best part is that you can start with the "draw a card" option, gaining huge card advantage until you hit the combo; then "bounce" and "flip" the Siege with the use of another enchantment (like Utopia Sprawl or Abundant Growth). The fact, however, that it can be used as removal and can win through a Torpor Orb make this a must-have addition to the deck.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader is the win-con that sees the most use as it can (a) simply pump a small army of 3-4 elves for the "beatdown" win or make 1 or more infinitely large elves with the combo. (Currently in the board for "beatdown" transformation).
Kessig Wolf Run is pretty self explanatory. It pretty much gets a slot in every G/R ramp deck in Modern. Just a great mana sink that can turn any elf into a trampling threat.
The Eternal Witness / Primal Command lock was explained above....often times when you get the "infinite draw" combo you will actually use BOTH this lock as well as Ezuri to ensure the opponent can do nothing to stop the attacking elf.
- There are also other potential options including... *
Craterhoof Behemoth has seen it's way in and out of this deck as well. I found I was casting it 90% of the time when I already had the combo anyways...so it came down to whether I cast it outside of the combo enough (which didn't seem often enough to warrant an 8-drop). There's every chance, however, it may make it's way back in (as it is simply one of the best Elf win-cons in the history of the game).
Joraga Warcaller also has found his way in and out of this build from time to time...but it take such a delicate balance of ramp, card draw, and win-cons that we can only play so many win-cons...that's the problem with elf decks and devotion decks...we have too many choices! I often like to play Warcaller in the board (for when I side into more of a "beatdown" strategy.)
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid - This is a very interesting card in a deck that can "loop" creatures. By constantly bouncing and re-casting (i.e. "looping") Druids (including Hertiage Druid, Coiling Oracle, Arbor Elf, etc.) he becomes quite the card-drawing engine...but once you have 7-Druids on board; Gilt-Leaf Archdruid allows you to steal all of your opponents land (which in 95% of cases will end the game on the spot) at instant speed! Just as with Warcaller, I often find meta's in which Gilt-Leaf Archdruid is a perfect sideboard card for "grindy" match-ups.
Genesis Wave
Oddly enough, the single most powerful spell in the entire deck doesn't really fall into any of the above categories. If this deck could run 8 Genesis Wave's it would :) The spell is amazing. It can be cast extremely quickly, nearly always will hit a loop, in most cases will end up in one of the infinite combos; and is the single most powerful card-advantage spell in green. Simply put, the deck wouldn't be nearly as competitive without it. It could easily be considered a "win-con" simplly because a majority of the time you cast a Genesis Wave, you will win the same turn you cast it.
Sideboard
The sideboard has been "innovated" to deal with sweeping, drastic changes. In combo decks like this; you don't get to side out/in a lot of cards to deal individually with threats...so it is better to have broader answers. While not all of the below make the board at all times; I've found the below list to be the best choices for the board. The cards were chosen for the following reasons:
Spellskite - Simply the best sideboard card in Modern. It is devastating to Twin, Infect and Burn (all of which are the only "tough" match ups we have in game one); but is great against countless other decks (Bloom Titan's utility lands for Prime Time, Zoo's pump spells, etc.). I honestly thought about running a full set; but three ended up being enough in testing.
Echoing Truth - This is a great card to deal with literally any problem permanent. We only need one turn to "go off"; so most times it is far better to have an answer that can deal with any and every permanent for a turn than one that destorys/exiles one specific type of permanent for good. This card also is especially strong in the deck because we can use it as "protection" (bouncing our own creatures).
Pact of Negation - Just a great card for any combo deck. Keeps my combo going when the opponent responds with a removal. Protects me from board wipes. Allows me to continue to be proactive without the worry of a devastating spell/combo to follow my turn....It also can deal with wonkier decks like Tron or Amulet if they play a card I don't like :). Just a great all around answer that still allows me to aggressively tap my mana.
Leyline of Vitality - This is a GREAT devotion sideboard card. It is basically a game ender against Burn or any creature-based deck (like Zoo, Merfolk, B/W Tokens, etc.) as we often gain 20+ life just off of casting and looping creatures. Also, we start with 2 devotion before the game starts which usually speeds us up by a turn! While it allows for an "infinite life" combo; this is just an added bonus. Also the +1 toughness goes a long way to protecting our elves!
Choke - This card is kind of a "standard" green sideboard card in Modern. In devotion it is even better (as it adds 1-devotion to your count). Against decks like Scapeshift, Jeskai Control, Merfolk, and Twin it can be extremely powerful (as it essentially "turns off" half of their lands. I have preferred Boil in the past (as it is much more devastating for Twin and Scapeshift decks); however it costs one more and does not add to devotion...so Choke wins out.
Cavern of Souls - This allows us to make all elves (and often Ruric Thar) uncounterable in control match ups. Also, in longer, grindy matches; it's nice to have an extra land to ensure you hit your land drops. With two already in the main, we really only need one in the board.
Seal of Primordium - This is the only dedicated removal I tend to keep in every devotion deck. It removes Splinter Twin, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Torpor Orb, and any other problem enchantment/artifact. And because it is an enchantment; it adds devotion and can be played before we need it (so we can trigger it at instant speed later). Just great defense for a devotion deck.
Beast Within - Just good "catch all" for any annoying permanent. This is also great against Tron for destroying a tron land. Same goes for any deck with Inkmoth Nexus.
Fracturing Gust - A spectacular spell to deal with Affinity, Boggles, and some of the Enchantment "lock" decks out there in the meta. This goes in and out with the meta.
Primal Command - This is just another copy of a very versatile card. It gains life against burn, can tutor for any creature, can shuffle graveyards vs. Living End and/or Goyro's Vengeance decks (and/or mill decks); and it can bounce a Tron land...just too good not to have another copy available in certain match ups.
Pithing Needle - This is a pretty well known sideboard card. It can name anything with an activated ability (including planeswalkers) which is huge in several match ups (especially Tron). Also goes in and out with the meta.
Other cards that move in and out of the board are Joraga Warcaller, Gilt-Leaf Archdruid, Sowing Salt , Bonfire of the Damned, and Beast Within...as with all decks, the sideboard is dependant on the meta.
This deck is fast; but it has very little interaction/disruption. For this reason, we need a steadfast ways to deal with other decks...thus far, this board seems to deal with nearly every deck I've ran into. It's taken hundreds of games of testing; but I do feel that the board allows us to play essentially three "styles" of our deck depending on the match up.
Summary
This is my favorite devotion build yet. It can win through straight "beatdown" , direct damage, win with an army of elves (after a wave for 5 with an "overrun" Garruk the next turn), or win through its many infinite combos...
While it is pretty darn complicated to play (and takes some time to get really proficient with); once you do you will realize that you can play around and through many more obstacles than most elf deck can (simply due to the card draw and "loops" that you have at your disposal. Even board wipes can be played through.
The deck is fast, but not so linear that you can "turn the corner" against it (i.e. the board just keeps getting bigger...which is exactly what devotion decks want). I still have a TON of playing and testing to do with the deck to tune it perfectly; but I'm extremely happy with where it is now. As always, however, I would love and appreciate any feedback, comments, critiques, ideas, or thoughts you may have.
This community is the smartest MTG minds on the planet; so I can't wait to hear the ideas you have in store. I hope you enjoy the deck as much as I do.
Example "Gold Fish" Turn 3 Wins
The question I get the most is "Can you show me how the deck wins on turn 3?" so I figured I would provide two examples. These are not the only ways to get there by turn 3; but they are the two most common.
Turn 3 Combo Win
Turn 1:
Turn 2:
- Play Misty Rainforest fetching Breeding Pool
- Cast Utopia Sprawl enchanting Forest
- Cast Nettle Sentinel (floating 1G)
- Cast Cloudstone Curio
Turn 3:
- Play Heritage Druid
- Play Elvish Visionary or Genesis Wave
From here you have infinite mana and infinite cards
Turn 3 Win with Genesis Wave
Turn 1:
Turn 2:
- Play Stomping grounds
- Cast Utopia Sprawl enchanting Forest
- Cast Garruk Wildspeaker
- Trigger Garruk to untap both lands
- Cast Coiling Oracle (draw a card)
- Cast Abundant Growth (draw a card)
Turn 3:
- Play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- Trigger Nykthos with enchanted Forest for 6G
- Use Garruk Wildspeaker to untap both lands.
- Cast Heritage Druid
- Cast Elvish Visionary (draw a card)
- With 3G remaining, use 2G to re-trigger Nykthos for 8G (9G total floating.)
- Tap enchanted Forest and Stomping Ground for 3G more (12G total)
- Tap Arbor Elf to untap enchanted Forest for 2G more (14G)
Cast Genesis Wave for X=11 hitting 4 more elves, Eternal Witness, Cloudstone Curio, and Garruk Wildspeaker, and another Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
From here, you return Genesis Wave to your hand, utilize Nykthos and Garruk (untappumg Nykthos) to cast another wave for X=20+ and draw into the combo/lock and or Ezuri beat down.
From here, you lock the opponent .
While a majority of games are won on turn four (and many beyond depending on disruption); the ability to win on turn 3 goes a long way to help compete in Modern (as you often race decks regardless of what they do).
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 9 years |
| Last updated | 5 years |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 7 - 1 Mythic Rares 25 - 8 Rares 1 - 5 Uncommons 23 - 1 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.00 |
| Tokens | Ashaya, the Awoken World, Beast 3/3 G |
| Folders | ?, folder 1, Combo Time, Other's Decks, decks to build, Build, Fun Deck, deck ideas, look at later, Liked |
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