Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Theros Beyond Death where today I’ll be continuing a series of articles during preview season looking at what each colour brings to the table when it comes to devotion. I want to focus today on cards from a certain colour that already exist in Standard that could start to see more play thanks to possible devotion decks for that colour. Today that focus in on green. In my opinion, green has always been setup the best for sets with devotion as it often has cards with the most coloured mana symbols. I remember building devotion decks in Theros Standard and it always came around to green having the most tools to make it succeed. Does this hold true for Theros Beyond Death Standard? Before I talk about a new devotion card from Theros Beyond Death, let’s have a look at the best cards available right now for a devotion deck using green in Standard.
Barkhide Troll – Two mana, two devotion creatures are always needed for devotion decks, and this one provides a 3/3 creatures that can protect itself to boot.
Oakhame Ranger – Nothing like providing a quick 4 devotion and the ability to pump up all your creatures. Heck, if you want you can even get a few 1/1 creatures beforehand.
Cavalier of Thorns – This was already one of the better creatures in Standard, and it gets even better thanks to its three-devotion count in its casting cost. It can also help you get lands to ramp and fill your graveyard. [See importance of this later :)]
Deathless Knight – This could be a great 1-2 punch of swinging in for four damage while also adding four devotion to the battlefield. You can even get it back later in the game when needed.
Feasting Troll King – One of the few mono-coloured four devotion creatures in Standard. It can provide you some nice Food tokens and recur itself making it more likely you will have its four devotion on the battlefield to use.
Leyline of Abundance – I think this will be one of the key cards in green devotion decks in the coming months. Being able to potentially add some free permanents onto the battlefield at the start of the game that can synergize with cards in your deck, will make deck builders scream with glee!
Nightpack Ambusher – I’ve added this card for its ability to instantly add devotion onto the battlefield. This could surprise your opponent by turning on or adding more value to existing devotion cards on the battlefield.
Syr Faren, the Hengehammer – One of only 2 two-mana, two devotion creatures running around Standard currently. It’s a great early creature to have on the battlefield and can help your other creatures get in for some large attacks.
Vivien, Arkbow Ranger – As if I needed another reason to play this amazing planeswalker, but along comes devotion into the mix. It’s abilities on top of the 3 devotion it adds to the battlefield, will make it hard for you not to have her in your Green devotion decks.
Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig – This legendary creature just wants you to play green all-day long. It will get larger throughout the game and reward you with 3 ticks in your devotion count while doing it.
Now that we’ve seen what’s already in Standard, I want to talk about one of the new Gods in Standard that could take advantage of what green has to offer when it comes to devotion count. Here is Klothys, God of Destiny.
I was always a fan of the Theros Block Gods and I’m glad to see them return to there original God form. A card with large stats, a devotion drawback and an enchantment like ability that will still provide you value when you don’t have the devotion for it to be a creature. At first glance, you see a 4/5 indestructible for only 3 mana, which seems a little too powerful. The drawback though is that it won’t be a creature unless you have a devotion count of 7 (5 more than what it itself brings to the table). As you have seen above, it won’t be too difficult for you to get up to seven devotion with all the wonderful green (and red) cards in Standard. With potential of Leyline of Abundance providing an early and free two to your devotion count, there is a chance with cards like Gilded Goose you could have Klothys, God of Destiny attacking as early as turn three which is nuts! Even if you can’t turn it into a creature that quickly, its static ability is strong as well. At the start of each precombat main phase (the key here is NOT the turn it enters the battlefield), you can start to remove cards from graveyards to either gain some extra mana or drain your opponent for two damage. Removing cards from your opponents’ graveyard could be key if they have any Jump-Start spells or any cards from the new set with the Escape ability on them. Be aware though that this isn’t a “may” ability and you could be forced to remove your own cards from your graveyard.
There you have it folks! The start of a white devotion deck in Standard. I look forward to seeing what other mono-coloured devotion decks I can start building for Standard. Thanks again for joining me on the Daily Dose of Theros Beyond Death. Join me again tomorrow as we delve into more talk about the new set!
