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 or Elvish Mystic, which pair perfectly with Badgermole Cub
Badgermole CubWhen 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 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 or Old-Growth Troll in this deck’s midrange slots. Instead, this shell relies on Hexhaven Invigorator to bridge the gap between your early plays and game-breaking monsters.
Not only does this card pair perfectly with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, 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 into massive ramp elements.
With all the excess mana, your goal is to find Craterhoof Behemoth
Craterhoof BehemothHaste
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 to take over the game. Even if you don’t draw these payoffs naturally, you can always tutor them with Nature’s Rhythm or find them with Vastlands Scavenger. 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 from Mono-Red Aggro or Lightning Axe 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, 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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