DISCLAIMER DECK LIST HAS CHANGED SO THIS PRIMER NEEDS UPDATED
**Mono Green Nykthos Ramp:
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Strategy
This dec was originally built to utilize Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to run out a lot of large trample creatures early. Now with the growth of the Pioneer Green Nykthos Devotion ramp deck, I have pulled some inspiration from that list with more of a focus on ramping to overwhelming trample creatures in the early game, alongside the utility Karn offers in the mid to late-game.
The strategy is simple at its core, in turns 1 and 2 you need to quickly ramp your mana by playing cards like Arbor Elf, Elvish Mystic, Voyaging Satyr, Sculptor of Winter, Utopia Sprawl, Oath of Nissa, and Kiora, Behemoth Reckoner.
There are some early-game ramp synergies to be on the lookout for that really can accelerate your ramp. Any cards that allow you to untap a target land or forest represent a greater ability to scale as the game progresses and you have lands that tap for more mana beyond just a basic Forest. Voyaging Satyr and Kiora, Behemoth Reckoner both can untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nix which can generate a lot of mana once your devotion is high enough so prioritize these cards when possible.
Additionally, we are running all Snow-Covered Forests for our basic lands which allows Sculptor of Winter to untap these forests. Arbor Elf is also able to untap these forests as well, which is important when we are able to equip Utopia Sprawl to a land and then tap that land for 2 mana, untap it, and then tap it again for 2 mana producing 4 mana total in one turn. This scales even further if you are able to equip additional Utopia Sprawls.
Another way to produce some synergies with this tapping and untapping strategy is by playing Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. This turns all lands into Forests which means that you can tap and untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx with Arbor Elf which allows for even further mana ramp.
Finally, when it comes to your mana ramp the most important piece to the deck is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. This land taps and produces mana equal to your devotion to a chosen color. This can grow to very high levels and allow for very explosive early game plays. Turn 3 Khalni Hydras smashing in for 8/8 trample and threatening a 3-turn clock are very common.
So once you have generated all of this mana how do you spend it? We have some great payoffs in the deck in the form of Khalni Hydra, Primalcrux, and Karn, the Great Creator. Depending on our draw we can get all of these creatures out by turns 3 or 4. This puts our opponent on an aggressive clock if we are threatening with Khalni Hydra or Primalcrux, or we may be able to shut our opponents down with our sideboard utility and Karn.
In order to more consistently find these payoff cards we have some helpful spells in the form of tutors such as Mwonvuli Beast Tracker and Summoner's Pact that allow us to grab our large trample creatures, and draw/filter spells like Wistful Selkie and Oath of Nissa that put cards in our hand and also add needed devotion to our board (3 green with Wistful Selkie!).
We also run a full playset of Old-Growth Troll which gives us another tutor target with Mwonvuli Beast Tracker and Summoner's Pact when we are running low on devotion and mana, and also allows us to pressure early for cheap while giving loads of devotion with 3 green in its casting cost.
To round out our deck with our land base we run 11 Snow-Covered Forests, 1 Boseiju, Who Endures, 2 Lair of the Hydra, 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. This land base as previously mentions turns on cards like Arbor Elf and Sculptor of Winter with the snow lands for mana ramp, and ramps with devotion through Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. It also offers a bit of utility with Boseiju, Who Endures which helps deal with matchups that run artifacts and enchantments that may disrupt us. We also add in 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth to smooth out our land base to ensure we can always tap for green, and also allow some of our untap creatures to untap lands they normally couldn't. Finally, we run 2 Lair of the Hydra as another place to dump our mana ramp into when we need to that is harder to remove on board than our creatures and Planeswalkers.
Lastly, much of our sideboard is a toolkit for Karn to tutor when needed depending on the matchup we are against. We also run some creatures for specific color and typing matchups. We are week to targeted removal, and flying creatures so Chameleon Colossus, Eternal Witness, and Hornet Queen all help to deal with targeted removal from black, flying creatures across the board, and to pull back creatures as needed. Lastly, we run Reclamation Sage and Krosan Grip to deal with artifacts and enchantments as needed, with Reclamation Sage having the added bonus of giving devotion to Nykthos.
Ideal Opening
This deck really needs to ramp its mana early to avoid playing from behind. An opening hand containing a Snow-Covered Forset, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, 2x Arbor Elf, Voyaging Satyr, Utopia Sprawl, and Khalni Hydra allows you to play Khalni Hydra turn 3 with 2 mana to spare. Cards like Arbor Elf, Voyaging Satyr, Utopia Sprawl, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nix are all very important to have some collection of to start your hand for your fastest starts.
If you are missing some pieces to your ramp package or payoff then having cards like Wistful Selkie, Oath of Nissa, Mwonvuli Beast Tracker, and Summoner's Pact can all help you draw/tutor into the cards you need.
When considering your hand and then your strategy in the game you need to be constantly thinking ahead to how much mana you will be able to produce turns in advance so you can plan what payoffs you want to build towards.
So to keep it simple, build your mana ramp, grab your payoffs, and smash in to win!
Conclusion/Questions
If you choose to build this deck and run it I hope you have fun! I have always loved this devotion strategy in green since Nykthos was printed and now that it is seeing play in Pioneer, I hope to put together something competitive in Modern.
Ramp some mana and smash through with your big green monsters and have fun! Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to offer up suggestions for changes!
