Mono-Green Devotion had long been the boogeyman of the Pioneer format, generating absurd amounts of mana and dominating games with brutal haymakers. While bans and metagame shifts eventually caused the archetype to take a step back, it’s now back in the spotlight thanks to a Reality Shift mythic. Boasting a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge win and another top eight finish, this deck is the real deal.
Absurd Amounts of Mana
Unsurprisingly, during the first couple turns of the game, this ramp deck is looking to build up both a mana advantage and Devotion count. Your best draws start with either
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
{T}: Add {G}.
or
Elvish Mystic
Elvish Mystic
{T}: Add {G}.
, which pair perfectly with
Badgermole Cub
Badgermole Cub
When this creature enters, earthbend 1. (Target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land. Put a +1/+1 counter on it. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)
Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional {G}.
as a follow-up. With the inclusion of
Spider Manifestation
Spider Manifestation
Reach
{T}: Add {R} or {G}.
Whenever you cast a spell with mana value 4 or greater, untap this creature.
for extra redundancy, you have a very consistent game plan.
Unlike previous iterations of Mono-Green Devotion, however, you won’t find any copies of
Outcaster Trailblazer
Outcaster Trailblazer
When this creature enters, add one mana of any color.
Whenever another creature you control with power 4 or greater enters, draw a card.
Plot {2}{G} (You may pay {2}{G} and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)
or
Old-Growth Troll
Old-Growth Troll
Trample
When Old-Growth Troll dies, if it was a creature, return it to the battlefield. It's an Aura enchantment with enchant Forest you control and "Enchanted Forest has '{T}: Add {G}{G}' and '{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this land: Create a tapped 4/4 green Troll Warrior creature token with trample.'"
in this deck’s midrange slots. Instead, this shell relies on
Hexhaven Invigorator
Hexhaven Invigorator
Vigilance
Whenever this creature is dealt damage, you may search your library for up to that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
to bridge the gap between your early plays and game-breaking monsters.
Not only does this card pair perfectly with
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
{T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Choose a color. Add an amount of mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color. (Your devotion to a color is the number of mana symbols of that color in the mana costs of permanents you control.)
, but it also tutors for the premium land when it’s dealt damage. This makes this card the ultimate roadblock, while simultaneously turning fight spells like
Tail Swipe
Tail Swipe
Choose target creature you control and target creature you don't control. If you cast this spell during your main phase, the creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Then those creatures fight each other. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
into massive ramp elements.
With all the excess mana, your goal is to find
Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof Behemoth
Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
or
Titan of Industry
Titan of Industry
Reach, trample
When this creature enters, choose two —
• Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
• Target player gains 5 life.
• Create a 4/4 green Rhino Warrior creature token.
• Put a shield counter on a creature you control.
to take over the game. Even if you don’t draw these payoffs naturally, you can always tutor them with
Nature’s Rhythm
Nature’s Rhythm
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
Harmonize {X}{G}{G}{G}{G} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its harmonize cost. You may tap a creature you control to reduce that cost by an amount of generic mana equal to its power. Then exile this spell.)
or find them with
Vastlands Scavenger
Vastlands Scavenger
Deathtouch
This creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
. The fact that Rhythm can first find Invigorator and then grab a bomb later via Harmonize makes the sorcery a particularly important piece of the puzzle.
The Missing Link
As you might expect from a ramp deck, this Mono-Green Devotion variant lines up exceptionally well against Pioneer’s midrange decks. Despite their array of kill spells for your mana dorks, getting one simple fight in with Invigorator completely undoes the opponent’s progress. Eventually, landing Titan will put you in a commanding position.
This deck gets its biggest edge, however, against pre-Reality Fracture red decks. Invigorator makes even the biggest burn spells, like
Scorching Shot
Scorching Shot
Scorching Shot deals 5 damage to target creature.
from Mono-Red Aggro or
Lightning Axe
Lightning Axe
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or pay {5}.
Lightning Axe deals 5 damage to target creature.
from Izzet Phoenix, look embarrassing. Attacking into it is also rarely a favorable trade.
Invigorator and Tail Swipe aren’t perfectly foolproof, though, as these cards line up poorly against Azorius Control. Not only are there no strong creatures to target, but Azorius decks also have plenty of answers to the 6/6. Losing cards that generate value when they enter or die, like
Cavalier of Thorns
Cavalier of Thorns
Reach
When this creature enters, reveal the top five cards of your library. Put a land card from among them onto the battlefield and the rest into your graveyard.
When this creature dies, you may exile it. If you do, put another target card from your graveyard on top of your library.
, is also an unfortunate deckbuilding cost in this matchup.
Given the dominance of Izzet Prowess and Mono-Red Aggro, however, this deck is currently a strong metacall. Mono-Green Hexhaven Invigorator’s Challenge win and top eight performance in just the last two days showcase its ability to compete, and it’ll be interesting to see if its dominance continues.
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