Green Devotion (with BANEFIRE!)

Modern HaazdaGerfson

SCORE: 6 | 41 COMMENTS | 2842 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS


Finally put this together! —Dec. 14, 2014

I just got all the mainboard cards finally and put this thing together! I haven't ordered anything for SB yet, so that is still open to suggestions! I'll update again when I see some play results.

HaazdaGerfson says... #1

Thanks for the comment! I actually really like the Primordial Hydra ; I think I'm going to swap both Vastwood Hydra 's out for that.

September 26, 2014 12:52 a.m.

Add Solidarity of Heroes and Gyre Sage to double your counters and get more mana!

November 23, 2014 5:11 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #3

Great suggestions! I'm going to replace Increasing Savagery with Solidarity of Heroes. Gyre Sage looks great, but after some playtesting I've done with the deck, mana isn't too much of a problem right now.

November 23, 2014 5:18 p.m.

ImpeyBarbicane says... #4

Maybe Torpor Orb in your SB?
What about a Staff of Domination for infinite mana?

November 23, 2014 5:41 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #5

Ah, yeah I really need to develop a sideboard eventually.. probably will consider Torpor Orb in that, although it hurts Reverent Hunter quite a bit.

Staff of Domination requires that I have an Arbor Elf down and a forest that is producing 4 mana, which only keeps tapping and untapping the staff and elf. Unless I had more than 4 mana production off an enchanted forest (which is possible), then it's a hard situation to come by. Plus, if I can get 5 or more mana off of one "super enchanted" forest, then with an arbor elf, 10 mana is plenty. Cool thought for sure though! Am I missing anything obvious in my reasoning? If so please let me know cause my brain is on about half function right now.

November 23, 2014 11:36 p.m.

ImpeyBarbicane says... #6

If you had a bunch of green devotion (at least 5+), and had Karametra's Acolyte out, then you could eventually net out mana with Staff of Domination:

1) Tap Acolyte to get 5 mana
2) Tap Staff for "3, T: Untap target creature". You have 2 mana, but you have untapped Acolyte.
3) Pay 1 mana, and untap Staff. You now have 1 mana in your mana pool.
4) Tap Acolyte for 5 mana. You now have 6 mana in your mana pool.
5) Repeat.

November 24, 2014 1:56 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #7

I see what you're saying, it would just be a dead draw unless I had met that condition already. Honestly, if I have enough forest enchantments out and/or the Acolyte with 5+ devotion, I will have already attained a huge advantage. At that point, my concern would more-so be focused on getting card draw (Which is why I put in Hunter's Insight).

November 24, 2014 2:02 p.m.

ImpeyBarbicane says... #8

Got it...
What about Reclamation Sage in side instead of Seal of Primordium?

November 24, 2014 11:01 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #9

Interesting idea! There are pro's and con's to both, but as I think about it more, the Sage does seem to fit better! Good suggestion, I'll make that switch!

November 25, 2014 2:09 a.m.

What does Thrun, the Last Troll do in your SB?
Also, your deck can destroy Affinity, but what about some lifegain against Burn? Predator's Rapport, perhaps? And how do you protect the creatures?

November 25, 2014 11:56 a.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #11

Might take Thrun down to one (he is good though against control/discard). Scavenging Ooze is great lifegain. Could also consider Kitchen Finks, Obstinate Baloth, or Thragtusk for lifegain. I think having the Baloth would make me able to take that place of Thrun.

Also considering Skylasher against any control or blue variant.

November 25, 2014 1:03 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #12

Ok, made some updates. I think against burn, I've got some pretty good resiliancy:

Scavenging Ooze, Obstinate Baloth in SB for lifegain against direct burn. But in MB, most of my creatures can take a bolt: Kalonian Hydra and Karametra's Acolyte both have 4 toughness, Nylea, God of the Hunt and Predator Ooze are indestructable, Primalcrux takes at least 2 bolts if not way more (hopefully), and Strangleroot Geist comes right back for another bolt (which is half their bolts, well kinda).

What do you think of the SB now as a whole against all matchups?

November 25, 2014 1:23 p.m.

SB seems good so far, but what does Skylasher do???
Have you thought about splashing in blue?

November 25, 2014 3:02 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #14

Skylasher goes in very well against blue control of any kind, whether that be UW control/midrange or UWr control or even combo decks with blue counterspells like Splinter Twin decks etc.

Also goes well against any deck with blue creatures or even just flyers. This isn't a super common threat in modern, except for well, oh, just Delver of Secrets  Flip which is coming back so strong. Because it has protection from blue and is uncounterable, it can freely block, not get blocked, or get removed by any blue sources.

But to clarify, it doesn't have to do with me playing blue, but rather it's a reaction card for when my opponent is (that's what sideboarding is about).

November 26, 2014 3:54 a.m.

Sorry, I meant that did you want to splash in blue or white for more potential? Blue gives you unblockable/hexproof/counterspells, White gives you Archangel of Thune and Path to Exile.

November 26, 2014 12:40 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #16

Believe me, I've considered just about every color splash, and there are two big problems with all of them:

1) There isn't much outside of green that fits with the theme quite as well (mostly the fact that I'm trying to build up devotion, so having a white/blue/etc. permanent doesn't do any good there).

2) Land base for multi-color... For competitive in modern it's super expensive. It would likely double this deck's cost.

As much as I would love to utilize some other colors, I just can't see it working out. Although I do have some other pretty good multi-colored decks on my page if you wanna check em out!

November 27, 2014 3:57 a.m.

In that case, Archetype of Endurance by any chance? You do need some from of protection...
Also, would Courser of Kruphix help you?

November 27, 2014 11:08 a.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #18

I agree, having protection is needed. That's why I chose a lot of resilient creatures with indestructible or undying. Archetype of Endurance would be wonderful to drop, but the problem is that I likely won't be able to drop him until about turn 4-5 if ramping goes really well. If I have enough mana to drop him, I would rather just drop something on them that's game ending ya know?

Courser of Kruphix is an amazing card! My only hesitation against it initially was the price, but I realize that I have some other expensive creatures in here already so I may see if I can squeeze some in. Could be a good replacement to Hunter's Insight! If I do that, then I'll need less lifegain in the SB, and I would switch -1 Obstinate Baloth for +1 Scavenging Ooze since the ooze is lower drop and also acts as graveyard hate.

I think I will do that actually; good suggestion!

November 27, 2014 12:27 p.m.

ijc2671 says... #19

I would run Craterhoof Behemoth instead of Primalcrux. I like Primalcrux but Craterhoof can easily win you the game as soon as you play it. I use it as a finisher in my Mono Green Devotion Deck. Mono Green Devotion Rampage

November 27, 2014 2:04 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #20

I'll run that instead of Primordial Hydra. I definitely like the Behemoth, and I think it'll end games better than the 2nd Hydra. Kalonian has a lot of synergy with all of the +1/+1 counter creatures.

November 27, 2014 2:28 p.m.

Up Craterhoof Behemoth to 2x, because it is a finisher. Finishers are always 2x; extras are 1x.
That aside, this deck is way more competitive than a month ago. Good luck, man!

November 27, 2014 3:45 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #22

+1 Craterhoof Behemoth -1 Primalcrux. Thanks for all the help!

Sideboard look good?

November 27, 2014 4:37 p.m.

No problem!
But what about aggro decks? Very fast ones?

November 27, 2014 10:44 p.m.

HaazdaGerfson says... #24

Bigger beefier creatures and ones that are hard to kill!

Strangleroot Geist quick, undying, Predator Ooze is great, Courser of Kruphix big blocker. Then there's combat tricks with Aspect of Hydra and Solidarity of Heroes.

I can SB in Dismember against tough creatures, the Obstinate Baloth for another beefy guy who gets me life back. My matchup vs. fast aggro should be fine if it's creature based. My creatures are larger and I should have the ramping to get to them just as quickly. In a pinch, could also use Garruk Wildspeaker's -1 for 3/3 chump blockers.

We discussed matchup vs. burn.. Skylasher would wreck Delver.. Scavenging Ooze is great against Living End, Loam, and all the new decks using Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time. I dunno, does that sound reasonable or am I being optimistic?

November 28, 2014 2:53 p.m.

In those match-ups, you may then want to increase some of your card counts. What archetypes do you see at FNM?
Also, relying on a single card is not a good idea, especially against control. You are being way too optimistic!
You need to prioritize your SB... what can go?

December 1, 2014 10:04 p.m.