I agree that value is important, I'd preferably use Tracker and Gideon over Voice though since they either gain value right away or are not as susceptible to boardwipes in the case of Gideon, that was my observation :).
Magus, Gaddock and the like are for decks which can goldfish as fast as us like KCI/Amulet/Storm, I don't consider that we slap those decks but see them rather as close MUs which are often won by small margins/playdraw. I believe these bullets go up alot in value since we play 2 Shalai main to protect them. There are quite a few locks you can achieve, basically turning into a semi prison deck v alot of close MUs while not diluting your combo and mantaining speed. For example, Gaddock+Shalai+Skite/Selfless Spirit/Burrenton is insanely hard for KCI to beat, There are very similar "locks" v Amulet,Storm and the like. This deck is built for metagames lacking interaction so I'd focus on combo'ing and 1 ofs as much as possible, then dedicate around 4/5 slots to Tracker/Gideon.
Speaking of Plan Bs and Value, has anyone tested Gavony in these lists yet? I realize it's harder to include due to the low land count and we have access to such an effect in Shalai, but with such a high number of dorks I reckon it would still be solid v BGx and the like.
Anyways, I believe that with Incubation being printed we will likely be able to drop the paths or reduce them to 1/2, so we'll have more SB slots to dedicate to both value and bullets can't wait.
Edit:
The Deputy looks sweet, If there were 2 triggers then It'd be even sweeter but that's asking for too much ^^.
You do make good points about how you can kind of "Humans" them by eliminating all outs, I think we probably have different sideboard philosophies. I'd be interested to see how the sideboard plans work. It's always a challenge for me to balance staying proactive while being reactive enough postboard to not get ran over. I tend to sideboard lightly against removal light, linear decks personally.
I have not played Gavony. I generally see people opt for Horizon Canopy in flex land slots.
I'm really looking forward to trying out these new cards as well. Anyone have other blue cards they're looking to play? I've only seen Geist or Reflector Mage myself.
Powerful spoiler today. Boils down to Detention Sphere on a 1/3. Many people have played a Fairgrounds Warden in their sideboards in the past, and there's an incentive to play a Breeding Pool already for the back half of Incubation.
What are everyone thoughts? Looking to try this out?
After seeing this deck in action, I am starting to lean more towards this than "regular" Abzan Company. I haven't played Company for a while now and it does have its advantages against interactive decks, but this one seems wonderful in a not so interactive meta.
That sums up the reason to choose Abzan Company or Druid Evolution pretty concisely.
As a former avid Abzan Company player I had given up on the deck for competitive play for the last months/year but this version has definitely caught my eye. I'm waiting for the full spoilers to then finish the deck, hopefully some decent versatile simic creature is printed since the new commune with nature looks very good, maindeck removal is great for this deck, both freeing SB slots up and taking care of problem cards like TiTi.
Out of the lists posted above Rulleborens with his mentioned changes (as well as - 2 Pacts - 1 Sin Collector + 3/4 of the new commune) is the most enticing list for me, having a 1 of Seer and Finks with all of our tutors is great to be able to go off at instant speed, seer and lunge also gives us some pretty sweet lines.
I reckon his metagame is pretty grindy looking at his SB, I'd at least drop the Voices and add Gaddock Teeg/Skite/Magus of the Moon. Gaddock + Skite for example is insane v KCI, They need multiple Glav Blast or Claim+Blast since EE is turned off, and Magus gives us free wins v iffy MUs like Amulet Bloom/Tron. Tracker and Gideon seem like by far the best value options, Evo Leap is pretty mediocre and mana intensive, without Finks/Voice and the full 8 dorks it doesn't seem good enough, while CoCo only has around 12/13 MD hits which aren't mana dorks so it also looks pretty mediocre.
Anyways, I haven't tested the deck yet but look forward to do so, lets pray for some versatile Simic creature to follow Knight of Autumns example. I'll likely post a list once the spoiler season is over and I'm able to get some testing in.
I'd be interested to hear more about what people think of maindeck Seer and Finks. I found in my testing Finks was valuable mostly as a fine card versus midrange and obviously a great card to evolve into for Burn. I don't remember combo'ing once with Seer in a couple weekly events. That combo is a lot slower and so I'd generally either kill early with Druid or have a lot of trouble actually assembling it given the slim number of slots and the fact that the decks you think you'd value it against are holding up removal at all times anyway.
I think you'll find when you can sleeve up Druid Evolution the sideboard slots dedicated to Voices, Trackers, Gideons, etc are pretty important for difficult matchups while Teeg and Magus are bullets for decks Druid Evolution already slaps.
With the large differences between the more traditional Abzan Company and the new combo heavy list featuring Evolution and Postmortem Lunge, I figured I'd plug the Druid Evolution primer in the Deck Creation section. Take a look if you're interested.
Wonderful to see this finish help put this deck on the map. I'm a fan of dropping some of the flex slots like Fauna Shaman, second Shalai, etc and jamming a set of Commune with Nature and 4th Lunge. That allowed him to drop the 4th Recruiter as well, which has always felt lackluster personally.
Shortly after this finish, a new spoiler debuted that surely fits in lists like this one.
Incubation should read familiar, as it's functionally the same card as Commune with Nature. Incongruity is the interesting part, and boils down to an exiling Pongify/Rapid Hybridization. I see three roads one can take to utilize this new card.
Swap out Communes, 0 Breeding Pool: At first it might seem pointless to play the card without a Blue land, but remember Noble and Birds can produce Blue mana. While Incongruity is only getting cast maybe 1 in every 10 games at best, it's still an upgrade.
Swap out Commune, 1 Breeding Pool: Playing a Breeding Pool not only makes it easier to cast Incongruity reliably, but opens you up to Blue sideboard options. I have seen a list play Blue for Geist before, but there are other noteworthy options like Reflector Mage, Spell Queller, you could try out Knights and Coralhelm, countermagic, etc.
Play 8 Commune effects: We've all seen instances when adding an additional 4 copies of a card can really push a deck to the next level, such as in Storm and Cherri0s. This might make more sense for lists that are even more all in, like the Turbo Druid list with 4x Hall of the Bandit Lord that can turn 2. Given this is a split card with two different card types, this is really a whole lot better than Commune in the Turbo Druid variant because they also play Traverse (this new card adds 2 types to the yard).
What are you guys’ thoughts on the new incubation//incongruity ? It allows to have removal maindeck without compromising the combo. The blue splash doesn’t seem that difficult since all of our dorks already taps for blue.
Anyone playing the Evolution variant with Commune with Nature should play this instead. Even without a Breeding Pool, you can still generate Blue off of Birds and Noble. It's strictly better, and it's nice to be able to tag dangerous creatures like rival Druids, Baral, Titans, Lavamancer, etc.
I've been on the heavy combo build for at least a couple months and I'm telling you guys you need to ditch the coursers, trackers, knights and even the oozes. I only play mtgo but the meta has shifted to super linier (obviously).
I played the finks/seer combo religiously, but once you go the commune with nature, evolution, lunge, NO COCO route you will never look back. My list is almost card for card with the Portland list but I run sb chameleon collosus and mirron crusader to shore up he GDS and GBx mu. Also throw in 2 ensnaring bridge for surprise effect. My biggest spice addition is 2 Mark of Asylum I think k they're called the will save your *** against anything red.
Someone said dredge was a hard mu? That's crazy I don't think I ever lost to dredge with this build. And I don't run a single piece of grave hate in my 75.
If you plan on having any chance against UW/Jeskai/anything mid-range you need to run 4 Lunge you will get so many "oops I won" and trust me... opponents never see it coming
Sorry have to go to sleep now...
Have you tried Mystic Enforcer for BGx? I found myself preferring it to Colossus with how much better it plays against Goyf.
I've been wondering if splashing black is truly worth it for a Sin Collector. It's definitely a great effect to have access to given matchups like Jeskai or Burn are difficult.
Looking at other splashes, I've meaning to try a red splash for the traditional Magnus of the Moon, but also Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard (I like to play one Rallier in my lists). The power level is pretty bland but access to a tutorable kill spell would be handy, it could potentially just replace a Path in the side.
It reminds me a lot of Pridemage given how well the two synergizes with the deck. Two drops that sac themselves work fantastic with Evolution, Rallier, and Lunge. Many games I'm flooded I'll look to fetch Arbor and Evolve it to mitigate the two for one a bit. Rallier obviously loves all twos, but the fact that you can trigger Revolt with the ability to get two activations in one turn is real nice. Lastly, it being a sac ability means Lunge doesn't exile it, and you can keep rebuying it off Witness, Rallier, and more Lunges.
May be incorrect but my gut is telling me the lists not playing arbor are just wrong. There will be times where you have an evolution in hand with a combo piece. Any green fetch gets arbor and then you evo it into thr missing piece.
Also the fact that if it's in the yard and you are a mana short of whatever play you are thinking of making you can always pay 2 life to lunge it out and then get an additional mana out of it. That won't come up nearly as often as the first situation but I bet it could matter here or there.
Not playing Dryad Arbor is definitely a mistake. The ability to threaten more early Druids often is invaluable. Arbor is also a way to mitigate flooding a bit, making Evolution feel like less of a two-for-one.
A question I had for you all is how you're adapting to the surge in GBx with the printing of Assassin's Trophy? GBx and Mardu are definitely the toughest matchups by far in my experience. Assembling a three card creature combo where one part needs to sit in play for a turn is difficult to say the least against discard, removal, and pressure.
I've been testing the straight GB matchup a bit have a passable plan, but wanting to know what has worked for you all. Here's my current list and how I've been siding.
Plan for GB Rock
Out
-4 Chord of Callings
-3 Birds of Paradise
-2 Vizier of Remedies
In
+3 Tireless Tracker
+3 Path to Exile
+1 Spellskite
+1 Selfless Spirit
+1 Mystic Enforcer
Still experimenting, but I've been mostly happy with this. Goyfs and rival Bobs makes you bring in removal. Not sure if Spellskite is really worth it, but I do like Selfless Spirit in the matchup. I've been happiest with Tracker for matchups that slow down. Card advantage and a big body in one is exactly what the deck wants when the combo isn't at its best.
I do think dedicated slots for midrange is important. I could see anything from the Mystic Enforcer I'm playing, to Chameleon Colossus, Gideon AoZ, Batterskull, or Dusk//Dawn. Mystic Enforcer is some old Turbo Druid tech I've been liking. Thrun is definitely overplayed in this slot, the role I see it wanting to play is stabilizing the board while also making the beatdown plan better. Maybe Swiftfoot Boots could be it, those on Sahali is pretty entertaining.
Knight of Autumn deserves a place maindeck, probably over a Rallier.
Would Fauna Shaman's old partner in crime, Squadron Hawk, be a consideration in this deck? It's +CA and you have Shaman or Evolution to turn 1/1 birds into real cards. Another fun thing you can do with it is flip Duskwatch Recruiter and drop 4 birds for 4 mana. It's a 4-or-0 card like Rune Snag and feels bad to draw 2 though.
That would be a neat idea to try out of the sideboard. I'd be interested to see if that plan has any legs. It is even an ETB so you could Evolve or Chord into it.
I'll be interested to see where Knight of Autumn ends up. Reclamation Sage was never the ideal choice in my head as Pridemage synergizes with the deck much better. You can Evolve Dryad Arbor into it, Rallier brings it back while also providing Revolt, and saccing it makes it so you don't exile it with Lunge. While I do value the two-for-one from Sage/KoA, Pridemage feels much better against a deck where timing is important like KCI or Hardened Scales.
I would guess the increased utility with KoA means you can just dedicate two slots in the 75 if you weren't already. Easy to agree that KoA makes for a better maindeck card between it and Pridemage.
Hey all, I've also been grinding this deck recently.
The biggest weakness of this deck is its matchup VS control or push/bolt decks. without cards like COCO, we lose a lot of value needed to grind these decks out. In short, the beatdown plan of this deck is much worse. So far I've been testing Steel Leaf Champion as a singleton target that hopes to close the game quickly.
The deck really gets hurt when they have a hand full of spot removal. Without cards to generate card advantage, I feel like we stand no chance vs BGX or mardu pyro.
Any thoughts or solutions? lets talk about this terrible matchup.
My favorite option is Tireless Tracker. Voice of Resurgence could be good as well. Splashing Black would give you access to Sin Collector or Pharika. SFM would be nuts if WotC ever unbans it. I've found inherent two-for-ones work better than hard to answer threats.
UW Control specifically has been fine. They don't have much cheap removal, and you can kill Druid in response to Path, Terminus, Oust. I generally just focus on combo'ing early, and don't side much. Chord is better when the opponent doesn't have discard, since you can trap them, similar to Infect in postboard games. It's difficult for them to win if pass with a Druid in play, the option to chord another, with Lunge in hand.
Jeskai and Mardu are pretty close to unwinnable it seems. Best way to win especially bad matchups is to capitalize on bad keeps or mulls, then present the combo turn after turn. If these decks are popular around you, Counters Company is a better option I'd think.
I got my cards today so im gonna start testing with my playgroup.
Im looking to pick up some fauna shamans, is the card performing and worth playing? Just wondering since Jaspers list didnt include them. I do like having another turn 2 play that feels good and that can fetch a druid.
I ended up playing a Coco version with 4 SSGs and 4 Buglers instead at my WNM and managed to 4-0!
this was the list i played if anyone is interested:
That list looks like a fun one to try. Bugler is a card I've been wondering about, I haven't tried out SSG myself. Neat to see you 4-0'd with it, any turn 2s?
Seeing Fauna Shaman in lists is what made me want to go from testing the deck out to actually picking it up. I always thought the Lunges were a bit exotic, but it has a better floor once Shaman is in the deck. Shaman also adds a third consistency tool, which I value in pre-board for more regular T4 wins, and post-board it's great with all the silver bullets.
Dude you are great! Im going to test this list tomorrow if i get my cards i ordered in time, only changes will be -1 overgrown tomb, -1 misty rainforest, -1 sin collector, +2 Horizon canopy, I havent decided what i should replace the sin collector with yet but some kind of silver bullet, it might just be a spellskite.
Ive also been interested in trying a list with Aether vial but i dont know if we can utilize it well enough for it to be worth it. It kind of delays the combo for a turn if we want to endstep Druid.
How have you been liking the black splash? I'd be curious to know how often you end up winning with the Finks combo? It seems valuable that you can make a play like T2 Vizier, T3 Druid, they kill Druid and tap out, then you T4 find Seer + Finks. Not sure how much better it is than just Lunging Druid back, but you are maxed out on Lunge.
I personally have only briefly tested Vial, and felt it wasn't worth playing. Dorks just felt like better T1 plays especially with Shalai in the list, but obviously a Vial on 2 makes it hard for the opponent to tap out.
The primary distinction between Druid Devastation and most Druid combo decks is that Druid Devastation foregoes alternate combos or reliable beatdown plan Bs and instead puts its focus on winning on turn 3 and 4 as often as possible. It achieves this with tutors like Finale of Devastation, Eladamri’s Call, and Eldritch Evolution to consistently see its combo pieces, and increases resiliency to spot removal with cards like Giver of Runes and Postmortem Lunge.
History
As the Modern metagame became increasingly degenerate in 2017-2018, Druid Devastation started showing up in League results. The primary distinction between this iteration of Druid Devastation and its Viscera Finks comboing cousins was greater turn 3 and turn 4 kill consistency with 4x of Eldritch Evolution and Commune with Nature.
At the end of 2018, two players put the deck on the map with GP top 8 results.
With the release of Modern Horizons and War of the Spark, several new cards broke onto the Druid combo scene. Most notable of the bunch were the creature tutors Eladamri’s Call and Finale of Devastation. These two cards make it possible to put a Druid into play early nearly every game for reliable turn 4 wins without two-for-one’ing yourself.
A flood of other creature toolbox staples broke onto the scene at this time as well. Most notably, Giver of Runes happens to be the perfect way to protect a T2 Druid, and Ranger-Captain of Eos is a three drop mana sink (its ETB can grab Ballista) that has some extra utility in its sac ability.
Post MH1 and WAR, the biggest result this archetype has seen is a 12-3 finish for a modest 10th finish at GP Birmingham.
Compared to Druid Devastation's closest relative Abzan Company, this deck trades Company's flexibility and grind power for a more focused and lethal gameplan.
For those with GWx staples, Druid Devastation is the ideal deck in your arsenal when a go wide beatdown plan start to look like less and less of a good idea. Druid Devastation is best when you need to threaten a fast goldfish, and feel that sideboard one ofs are especially important.
Those new to GWx Vizier will be attracted by the combination of a high baseline power level paired with modest flexibility thanks to an, albeit anemic, beatdown backup plan combined with sideboard silver bullets. That and sometimes you just open on some lands, Giver, Druid, Vizier, a mana sink, and Lunge. It’s always great to have a near unbeatable nut draw.
Consistency Tools
The majority of game ones are won through comboing. If you don't see a Druid, Vizier, and mana sink, you're probably losing. Druid Devastation therefore loves anything that allows for tutoring or cantripping with selection because they add virtual copies of combo pieces. After sideboard, these same cards make it easy to find one-of bullets to shut opponents out.
Finale of Devastation
Finale of Devastation is easily the most complex tutor in our deck. Let’s start out by considering the most basic use case of searching the deck for a creature with CMC = X.
Starting at 0, getting Ballista isn’t very impressive but those of you with Dryad Arbor in your deck will be pleased to know that this is a nice way to ramp. GG for a pseudo Rampant Growth isn’t the most powerful, but definitely comes up from time to time.
Up next at CMC = 1, this is also another way to ramp with a mana dork instead, but most commonly this is a way to get a protection creature like Giver or Burrenton-Forge Tender. A line of dork into T2 Finale for one is common in slow matchups. Ranger-Captain of Eos and Finale give a little more incentive to run marginal one drops like Caustic Caterpillar or Hexdrinker.
The bread and butter comes at CMC = 2. You’ll be wanting to do this often to get a Devoted Druid in play, or to threaten infinite mana with Vizier. It’s crucial to not tunnel vision on what you plan to get when you cast it. If the opponent kills your Druid in response, well just get a second one!
At CMC = 4, you’re generally getting haymakers like Shalai or a sideboard bomb like Chameleon Colossus. Remember! If you can afford to overpay, do it. If you have Druid on the table you’re plan A is usually to get Vizier, but if the opponent kills your Druid with Finale on the stack and you’re short on resources, it’s often better to grab Shalai.
Lastly, X = Graham’s Number. WotC won’t let us say infinity technically, but this is when you’ll be murdering people with Ballista, putting your deck in your hand with Duskwatch, or pumping your team to a googolplex of power with Shalai.
Finale has two important clauses on it to be aware of.
When casting Finale for greater than 12, you pump your team equal to X and give them Haste. If you somehow get to 12 mana naturally, this could be a way to win after getting Surgical’d, but normally we care about the fact that Ballista no longer dies when put into play off Finale. Outside of that, if the opponent has something to prevent you from searching for a win con such as Grafdigger’s Cage, Finale is all you need for the W if you have more attackers than their blockers. This can also be relevant if you don’t play Shalai and the opponent has a white Leyline or Witchbane Orb.
You can also search the graveyard! This is probably most important in sideboard games, but it allows you to get bullets in play a second time or reuse your Ballista when at infinite. If you have copies of a card in your library as well as copies in your graveyard, sometimes you might want to grab the one from your yard to increase your chances to draw more copies, or to play around future Surgicals.
Chord of Calling
The best part about this one is Chord’s ability to be cast at Instant speed. This allows you to dodge Sorcery speed removal and tutor up something like a Burrenton Forge-Tender postboard in response to an Anger. It also encourages an opponent to tap out thinking they're safe, only to get combo'd out after an EoT Chord for Druid. If the opponent smells something is up and decides to hold up mana, casting Chord on their end step can demand two kill spells in one turn if you have Lunge to back it up.
If you expect creatures to die a lot, you may want to cut Chords postboard because you'll rarely be getting the Convoke discount unless your creatures stick around.
Finale has mostly replaced the 4 copies of Chord, but if you find yourself valuing the Instant speed, feel free to take Chord for a spin (although at that point you maybe are better off playing Company too). Just remember not casting a spell and not attacking does heavily telegraph a Chord.
Eladamri’s Call
Eladamri’s Call does one thing other tutors don’t: it puts the card in hand. This is valuable for a card like Ballista, and is useful in that compared to tutors like Chord and Finale, you can pay for the cost in two parts. Paying in parts makes it easier to get more expensive cards in play. Putting a creature in hand as opposed to on the battlefield can also can be useful when trying to sculpt a hand.
The one frustrating part about Eladamri’s Call is the fact that it demands white mana. This can lead to some awkward situations where you may be unable to combo due to insufficient white mana. For instance, a T2 Druid with 2 Eladamri’s Call in hand would require triple white to combo.
Eldritch Evolution
Tutors in Druid Devastation fall into two camps. Tutors like Finale, Chord, and Call have more utility, but Evolution and its brother Neoform offer something they don’t in exchange for a creature. The difference between threatening a turn three and turn four win can immense in certain matchups. Evolution in conjunction with a T1 mana dork allows us to threaten a goldfish as fast as a hand with a naturally drawn Druid in it.
Another advantage with Evolution in postboard games is that you can put your bullet in play on T2. This is quite big on the draw, and it allows us to drop a key sideboard creature before the opponent’s turn 3. Against Storm or Infect, we’d easily just be dead without interacting early.
A couple notes. Because of how priority works and the fact that the creature is sac’d as an additional cost, if you put a creature in play, you are able to immediately sac it without offering the opponent a chance to remove it.
Another one to remember is If you’re wondering why Dryad Arbor is in a lot of Druid Devastation lists, Evolution is the reason. The ability to turn a fetchland into Evo food is imperative when you're staring at your lowly Druid and no other creature in hand to turn an Evo into a Vizier. One line to keep in mind in regards to Arbor is if the opponent taps out on their second turn and you have land and fetch on the table with land and Evo in hand, you may want to EoT fetch Arbor. This way, Arbor can "dig its own grave" the following turn by producing mana for a third turn Evolution grabbing a two drop.
Neoform
Neoform is mostly Eldritch Evolution copies 5-8. The major differences are the requirement of blue mana, no “or less” clause, and the requirement for a three mana win con such as Ranger-Captain or Ezuri. More often than not, Neoform is going to be cast on turn 2 sacrificing a mana dork to get Druid.
Needing a blue splash seems like a big ask, but do remember Birds and Noble produce blue. However, you still need Breeding Pool in your deck for Neoforming summoning sick creatures, and when you have to turn a Druid/Vizier into a win condition without a dork ready to make blue mana.
While Neoform is mostly worse than Evolution, you can combo off easier with just one land. Neoform into Druid doesn’t need a T2 land, and Neoform putting a +1/+1 counter has some neat synergy with Druid by allowing it to produce 3 mana in one turn.
Incubation//Incongruity
Incubation is by no means a stellar card, but it works great as filler and most notably can be played T1 to help dig to a second turn Devoted Druid. It is also very useful postboard to help find bullets, such as an answer to Grafdigger's Cage. While it doesn’t dig straight to the card like Call, it does at least dodge search hate like Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.
Incongruity isn't the most efficient card, but the ability to kill cards like Thing in the Ice, Goblin Electromancer, rival Druids, Puresteel Paladins, etc. can be the difference between a win and a loss, especially on the draw. While we’re rarely casting Incongruity, it is nice to have the option for removal without committing hard to it like playing a maindeck Path.
One note is you don’t necessarily have to play a blue source. Because Incongruity isn’t cast often and Birds/Noble produce blue, you can get away without a Pool in your manabase, but it is recommended.
Postmortem Lunge
Consistency tools ensure Druid Devastation routinely sees its combo pieces, but a major issue with the Druid combo has always been that it give opponents a very clear window to disrupt the combo. A second turn Devoted Druid is the biggest lightning rod in the format.
While the Finks combo has the luxury of going to infinite life any time its threecombopieces hits the table, Devoted Druid has to stick around for a turn before actually comboing.
Any way to threaten the combo without exposing Druid in the opponent's main phase is very powerful as it encourages the opponent to tap out at best or demands either holding up removal or risk get Ballista'd for a billion.
I've seen everything from Aether Vial as another way to give Druid pseudo Flash, to Lightning Greaves to give Haste. Lunge has become a mainstay for allowing you to jam Druid on turn two and still turn three if the opponent manages to remove it. Lunge also has a couple of neat hidden modes to it as well. Check out some more off the wall use cases for certain cards.
Walking Ballista: zero mana Revolt trigger for those that like to play Renegade Rallier.
Birds/Noble: A way to filter Green mana into White or Blue, sort of like Wild Cantor. Important to remember when you need double white when comboing with Shalai.
Devoted Druid: Outside of the obvious, you can actually combo out in another interesting way. You can play Druid, immediately kill it with its untap ability, then Lunge it back to give it haste to go off on one turn without having a Druid in the yard. Suiciding Druid is pretty common as well in response to Path, Terminus, etc. Another rare but interesting line with Druid on the table, Evolution and Lunge in hand, but no other creature around or in the graveyard, is to evolve Druid for Vizier then Lunge back Druid.
Fauna Shaman: A common line is to cast a Fauna Shaman T2 even with Druid in hand against removal heavy decks. They either kill it to hopefully open the window for Druid, or they don't and you can potentially go off still by pitching Druid for a missing combo piece, then Lunging it back to give it haste. I'm not overly impressed by a Sorcery that reads 2G, take 2, discard a creature, tutor a creature, but could be useful when you have infinite mana with no sink.
Duskwatch Recruiter: Can be brought back after assembling infinite mana for the win. I suppose you could kill someone at 2 or spend 5 mana for a look at a creature as well.
Vizier: Bringing it back with a healthy Druid for infinite mana
Rallier: Allows you to back back a creature for good, instead of just for one turn.
Eternal Witness: Bring back any card from the grave for 3 mana and 2 life.
Shalai: Similar to Duskwatch, but could be useful against something like a Bolt when you have a Druid in the yard along with a second Lunge.
Creatures with sac abilities (Qasali Pridemage, Burrenton Forge Tender, Selfless Spirit, Remorseful Cleric, etc): These cards are pretty neat in that because they sac themselves, you can keep rebuying them with Witness, Rallier, or more Lunges. Ranger-Captain is probably one of the most impressive on a combo turn, given it equates to 3 mana, pay 2, tutor Ballista and Silence.
Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge doesn't necessarily synergize with the combo but does offer a reliable and realistic beatdown plan. This section will expand as the card matures in the format, but it has been promising so far.
Druid combo that foregoes Collected Company almost always is a dog to heavily interactive decks like black Midrange and blue Control. Stoneforge's unban has thrown a potential wrench in this paradigm by allowing our deck to potentially grind when needed with Batterskull and friends
It's difficult to say as of now if the card is truly a Druid Devastation combo staple, but the early results say yes. Whether you'd like to play just one SFM and Skull to tutor for when needed, or a full set with multiple equipment in the main, the card has a lot to offer.
Swords
Looking at the swords and the matchups we're looking to fix with SFM, Light and Shadow is generally the safest pick if you'd like to play a sword in the main or side. The protections allow the wielder to dodge Push and Path, and equipping it to an X/2+ makes it Bolt immune. Giving a creature pseudo-hexproof and +2/+2 is already fairly strong in fair matchups, but that combined with some lifegain and a Raise Dead really allows this plan to work.
Past Light and Shadow, there's a defensible reason to consider really any of the other playable Swords. Fire and Ice is great in creature mirrors, Feast and Famine has great protections with a powerful midgame on hit trigger, and Sinew and Steel is a fantastic option out of the sideboard or even mainboard in certain metagames.
War and Peace, Body and Mind, and Truth and Justice don't quite work as well now, but easily could make more sense in the future.
Combo Friendly Equipment
The neat part about adding Stoneforge is that it actually can synergize with the combo should you chose to pack certain equipment.
Lightning Greaves happens to be a card people sometimes played already in Druid combo pre-SFM unban. The ability to give Druid haste makes tapping out a big risk for the opponent when Greaves are on the table, which can generate a lot of tempo over the course of the game. Late game, it can allow for a win out of nowhere by casting Greaves and Druid in the same turn.
Greaves only costing 2 to put in play combined with a powerful 0 equip cost makes this a nice SFM target in the early game. Greaves on a Druid is the baseline usecase, but tossing them on a Giver of Runes is like a build-your-own Kira, and suiting up Shalai can be lights out for many decks such as Burn, Scapeshift, or Mill.
Longbow definitely raises some eyebrows, but starts to look pretty powerful when one considers that Druid + Vizier + Longbow is a win. Playing 4 Stoneforge main is a lot easier to justify when it is effectively an infinite manasink. One last aspect that might push it over the edge for some is that Rhonas and Plague Engineer have Deathtouch which can prove to be a game ending combo in creature matchups.
High Level Strategy
Step one is get Druid in play early
Druid Devastation's strategy in a nut shell is to drop a Devoted Druid on turn 2 or 3, attempt to combo the following turn, and continually put Druid in play until you've exhausted opposing interaction. The first part in accomplishing this goal is keeping hands that can present an early Druid.
If you can only take one thing away from this primer, it's if a 7 or 6 card hand do not possess a path to drop Druid turn 2 or 3, it is a mulligan.
Examples of ways to turn two a Druid include a naturally drawn Druid and a mana dork + Evolution. If killing turn 4 is acceptable, the number of lines opens up for turn three Druid. Finale or Call + mana dork are the main ones, but 2 land, fetchland, Evolution also works. Hands hinging on Incubation for Druid are generally unacceptable on 7, but can be okay in strong 6s and any hand at 5 or less.
Demanding versus asking opponents interact
In playing Druid Devastation, you will come to realize the most powerful thing you can do is drop a Druid on turn 2. Even if you are missing other combo pieces, your opponent does not know that. They see a creature that needs to be dealt with, or there's the potential to simply lose the next turn. Here's what washed up MTG writers label "the Twin effect."
Turns 2 and 3 are undeniably the pivotal turns for Modern. When many decks can turn 4 or even turn 3, the opponent may not even need to interact if they can simply race our turn 4 win; the earliest a third turn Druid can combo to win. The difference between a Druid on turn 2 and turn 3 or later is often the difference between demanding an opponent interact versus giving them the option.
Don't be afraid to hold combo pieces
Oftentimes it's a bad idea to run out a non-Druid combo piece if you do not have duplicates.
Picture this sequence. You go turn two Druid, they kill it. You open on turn three with nothing to do, so you play a Vizier. They kill it, and tap out with another play. On your turn four, you draw Postmortem Lunge with a mana sink in hand. Oops. See the mistake? If we simply hold Vizier, they may still tap out and we would have the combo, but because we cast the Vizier, we gave them the opportunity to disrupt us.
Remember that this deck isn't beating down often and with ideal sequencing, Druid is the only combo pieces that can be killed to any effect. If Vizier hits the table with a sober Druid in play, you can respond to any removal by activating Druid again to keep looping. Same story with a mana sink, we simply activate again in response.
The Druid Combo Deck for an Increasingly Degenerate Format
This primer is a work in progress, but is much easier to rationalize working on with an active ongoing discussion. If you're a weekly Druid Devastation pilot or just a lurker of Modern Deck Creation, consider asking a question, leaving a tournament report, posting your 75, or discussing card choices.
If there’s something you’d like to see in the primer, send a comment or message to AcademyRuins/Tarmogoofy.
You do need to cast a non Station piece that turn, or get an extra Station trigger. I could have missed something, correct me if I'm wrong.
Cast Memnite, trigger Station, sac Memnite to Station, untap Station, sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler. Cast Memnite, which pulls Sword to play, then loop.
Stirring is a pretty great card, would you pay 1W for copies 5-8? The bulk of the deck are Legends or artifacts. Basically just misses on non Inventor's Fair lands, which were a miss with Stirring already. What do you think?
I have not played Gavony. I generally see people opt for Horizon Canopy in flex land slots.
I'm really looking forward to trying out these new cards as well. Anyone have other blue cards they're looking to play? I've only seen Geist or Reflector Mage myself.
What are everyone thoughts? Looking to try this out?
I'd be interested to hear more about what people think of maindeck Seer and Finks. I found in my testing Finks was valuable mostly as a fine card versus midrange and obviously a great card to evolve into for Burn. I don't remember combo'ing once with Seer in a couple weekly events. That combo is a lot slower and so I'd generally either kill early with Druid or have a lot of trouble actually assembling it given the slim number of slots and the fact that the decks you think you'd value it against are holding up removal at all times anyway.
I think you'll find when you can sleeve up Druid Evolution the sideboard slots dedicated to Voices, Trackers, Gideons, etc are pretty important for difficult matchups while Teeg and Magus are bullets for decks Druid Evolution already slaps.
Druid Evolution Primer
3 Forest
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (24)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Devoted Druid
1 Dryad Arbor
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Walking Ballista
4 Chord of Calling
4 Commune with Nature
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Postmortem Lunge
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
3 Path to Exile
1 Sin Collector
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Worship
Wonderful to see this finish help put this deck on the map. I'm a fan of dropping some of the flex slots like Fauna Shaman, second Shalai, etc and jamming a set of Commune with Nature and 4th Lunge. That allowed him to drop the 4th Recruiter as well, which has always felt lackluster personally.
Shortly after this finish, a new spoiler debuted that surely fits in lists like this one.
Incubation should read familiar, as it's functionally the same card as Commune with Nature. Incongruity is the interesting part, and boils down to an exiling Pongify/Rapid Hybridization. I see three roads one can take to utilize this new card.
Swap out Communes, 0 Breeding Pool: At first it might seem pointless to play the card without a Blue land, but remember Noble and Birds can produce Blue mana. While Incongruity is only getting cast maybe 1 in every 10 games at best, it's still an upgrade.
Swap out Commune, 1 Breeding Pool: Playing a Breeding Pool not only makes it easier to cast Incongruity reliably, but opens you up to Blue sideboard options. I have seen a list play Blue for Geist before, but there are other noteworthy options like Reflector Mage, Spell Queller, you could try out Knights and Coralhelm, countermagic, etc.
Play 8 Commune effects: We've all seen instances when adding an additional 4 copies of a card can really push a deck to the next level, such as in Storm and Cherri0s. This might make more sense for lists that are even more all in, like the Turbo Druid list with 4x Hall of the Bandit Lord that can turn 2. Given this is a split card with two different card types, this is really a whole lot better than Commune in the Turbo Druid variant because they also play Traverse (this new card adds 2 types to the yard).
I've been wondering if splashing black is truly worth it for a Sin Collector. It's definitely a great effect to have access to given matchups like Jeskai or Burn are difficult.
Looking at other splashes, I've meaning to try a red splash for the traditional Magnus of the Moon, but also Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard (I like to play one Rallier in my lists). The power level is pretty bland but access to a tutorable kill spell would be handy, it could potentially just replace a Path in the side.
It reminds me a lot of Pridemage given how well the two synergizes with the deck. Two drops that sac themselves work fantastic with Evolution, Rallier, and Lunge. Many games I'm flooded I'll look to fetch Arbor and Evolve it to mitigate the two for one a bit. Rallier obviously loves all twos, but the fact that you can trigger Revolt with the ability to get two activations in one turn is real nice. Lastly, it being a sac ability means Lunge doesn't exile it, and you can keep rebuying it off Witness, Rallier, and more Lunges.
A question I had for you all is how you're adapting to the surge in GBx with the printing of Assassin's Trophy? GBx and Mardu are definitely the toughest matchups by far in my experience. Assembling a three card creature combo where one part needs to sit in play for a turn is difficult to say the least against discard, removal, and pressure.
I've been testing the straight GB matchup a bit have a passable plan, but wanting to know what has worked for you all. Here's my current list and how I've been siding.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Vizier of Remedies
3 Fauna Shaman
2 Renegade Rallier
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (11)
4 Chord of Calling
4 Eldritch Evolution
3 Postmortem Lunge
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
4 Forest
1 Plains
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Path to Exile
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Spellskite
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Mystic Enforcer
I do think dedicated slots for midrange is important. I could see anything from the Mystic Enforcer I'm playing, to Chameleon Colossus, Gideon AoZ, Batterskull, or Dusk//Dawn. Mystic Enforcer is some old Turbo Druid tech I've been liking. Thrun is definitely overplayed in this slot, the role I see it wanting to play is stabilizing the board while also making the beatdown plan better. Maybe Swiftfoot Boots could be it, those on Sahali is pretty entertaining.
I'll be interested to see where Knight of Autumn ends up. Reclamation Sage was never the ideal choice in my head as Pridemage synergizes with the deck much better. You can Evolve Dryad Arbor into it, Rallier brings it back while also providing Revolt, and saccing it makes it so you don't exile it with Lunge. While I do value the two-for-one from Sage/KoA, Pridemage feels much better against a deck where timing is important like KCI or Hardened Scales.
I would guess the increased utility with KoA means you can just dedicate two slots in the 75 if you weren't already. Easy to agree that KoA makes for a better maindeck card between it and Pridemage.I haven't tried 4, but I could see it being correct if you aren't into playing as many bullets in the main. I've only tested 3.
UW Control specifically has been fine. They don't have much cheap removal, and you can kill Druid in response to Path, Terminus, Oust. I generally just focus on combo'ing early, and don't side much. Chord is better when the opponent doesn't have discard, since you can trap them, similar to Infect in postboard games. It's difficult for them to win if pass with a Druid in play, the option to chord another, with Lunge in hand.
Jeskai and Mardu are pretty close to unwinnable it seems. Best way to win especially bad matchups is to capitalize on bad keeps or mulls, then present the combo turn after turn. If these decks are popular around you, Counters Company is a better option I'd think.That list looks like a fun one to try. Bugler is a card I've been wondering about, I haven't tried out SSG myself. Neat to see you 4-0'd with it, any turn 2s?
Seeing Fauna Shaman in lists is what made me want to go from testing the deck out to actually picking it up. I always thought the Lunges were a bit exotic, but it has a better floor once Shaman is in the deck. Shaman also adds a third consistency tool, which I value in pre-board for more regular T4 wins, and post-board it's great with all the silver bullets.
I personally have only briefly tested Vial, and felt it wasn't worth playing. Dorks just felt like better T1 plays especially with Shalai in the list, but obviously a Vial on 2 makes it hard for the opponent to tap out.
Welcome
Druid Devastation is a creature combo deck that utilizes the combination of Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies to generate infinite green mana and win the game immediately through a mana sink (Walking Ballista, Shalai, Voice of Plenty). The Druid Vizier combo is not exclusive to Druid Devastation and has been slotted into a plethora of different shells: Counters Company, Elves, Knightfall, various more value/beatdown oriented GWx Company decks, and less established decks like Green Devotion and turbo Hall of the Bandit Lord builds.
The primary distinction between Druid Devastation and most Druid combo decks is that Druid Devastation foregoes alternate combos or reliable beatdown plan Bs and instead puts its focus on winning on turn 3 and 4 as often as possible. It achieves this with tutors like Finale of Devastation, Eladamri’s Call, and Eldritch Evolution to consistently see its combo pieces, and increases resiliency to spot removal with cards like Giver of Runes and Postmortem Lunge.
History
As the Modern metagame became increasingly degenerate in 2017-2018, Druid Devastation started showing up in League results. The primary distinction between this iteration of Druid Devastation and its Viscera Finks comboing cousins was greater turn 3 and turn 4 kill consistency with 4x of Eldritch Evolution and Commune with Nature.
At the end of 2018, two players put the deck on the map with GP top 8 results.
4 Windswept Heath
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Forest
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
Creatures (24)
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
4 Commune with Nature
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Chord of Calling
4 Postmortem Lunge
3 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Sin Collector
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Worship
4 Windswept Heath
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Botanical Sanctum
2 Horizon Canopy
Creatures (26)
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
4 Eldritch Evolution
2 Collected Company
4 Chord of Calling
4 Postmortem Lunge
2 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Knight of Autumn
4 Reflector Mage
1 Collected Company
A flood of other creature toolbox staples broke onto the scene at this time as well. Most notably, Giver of Runes happens to be the perfect way to protect a T2 Druid, and Ranger-Captain of Eos is a three drop mana sink (its ETB can grab Ballista) that has some extra utility in its sac ability.
Post MH1 and WAR, the biggest result this archetype has seen is a 12-3 finish for a modest 10th finish at GP Birmingham.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (16)
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
3 Veil of Summer
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Plaguecrafter
1 Plague Engineer
2 Path to Exile
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Hexdrinker
1 Collector Ouphe
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
Compared to Druid Devastation's closest relative Abzan Company, this deck trades Company's flexibility and grind power for a more focused and lethal gameplan.
For those with GWx staples, Druid Devastation is the ideal deck in your arsenal when a go wide beatdown plan start to look like less and less of a good idea. Druid Devastation is best when you need to threaten a fast goldfish, and feel that sideboard one ofs are especially important.
Those new to GWx Vizier will be attracted by the combination of a high baseline power level paired with modest flexibility thanks to an, albeit anemic, beatdown backup plan combined with sideboard silver bullets. That and sometimes you just open on some lands, Giver, Druid, Vizier, a mana sink, and Lunge. It’s always great to have a near unbeatable nut draw.
Consistency Tools
The majority of game ones are won through comboing. If you don't see a Druid, Vizier, and mana sink, you're probably losing. Druid Devastation therefore loves anything that allows for tutoring or cantripping with selection because they add virtual copies of combo pieces. After sideboard, these same cards make it easy to find one-of bullets to shut opponents out.
Finale of Devastation
Finale of Devastation is easily the most complex tutor in our deck. Let’s start out by considering the most basic use case of searching the deck for a creature with CMC = X.
Starting at 0, getting Ballista isn’t very impressive but those of you with Dryad Arbor in your deck will be pleased to know that this is a nice way to ramp. GG for a pseudo Rampant Growth isn’t the most powerful, but definitely comes up from time to time.
Up next at CMC = 1, this is also another way to ramp with a mana dork instead, but most commonly this is a way to get a protection creature like Giver or Burrenton-Forge Tender. A line of dork into T2 Finale for one is common in slow matchups. Ranger-Captain of Eos and Finale give a little more incentive to run marginal one drops like Caustic Caterpillar or Hexdrinker.
The bread and butter comes at CMC = 2. You’ll be wanting to do this often to get a Devoted Druid in play, or to threaten infinite mana with Vizier. It’s crucial to not tunnel vision on what you plan to get when you cast it. If the opponent kills your Druid in response, well just get a second one!
CMC = 3 is when you’re wanting to get a utility creature like Eternal Witness, Ranger-Captain, or various sideboard bullets like Kambal, Consul of Allocation or Deputy of Detention.
At CMC = 4, you’re generally getting haymakers like Shalai or a sideboard bomb like Chameleon Colossus. Remember! If you can afford to overpay, do it. If you have Druid on the table you’re plan A is usually to get Vizier, but if the opponent kills your Druid with Finale on the stack and you’re short on resources, it’s often better to grab Shalai.
Lastly, X = Graham’s Number. WotC won’t let us say infinity technically, but this is when you’ll be murdering people with Ballista, putting your deck in your hand with Duskwatch, or pumping your team to a googolplex of power with Shalai.
Finale has two important clauses on it to be aware of.
When casting Finale for greater than 12, you pump your team equal to X and give them Haste. If you somehow get to 12 mana naturally, this could be a way to win after getting Surgical’d, but normally we care about the fact that Ballista no longer dies when put into play off Finale. Outside of that, if the opponent has something to prevent you from searching for a win con such as Grafdigger’s Cage, Finale is all you need for the W if you have more attackers than their blockers. This can also be relevant if you don’t play Shalai and the opponent has a white Leyline or Witchbane Orb.
You can also search the graveyard! This is probably most important in sideboard games, but it allows you to get bullets in play a second time or reuse your Ballista when at infinite. If you have copies of a card in your library as well as copies in your graveyard, sometimes you might want to grab the one from your yard to increase your chances to draw more copies, or to play around future Surgicals.
Chord of Calling
The best part about this one is Chord’s ability to be cast at Instant speed. This allows you to dodge Sorcery speed removal and tutor up something like a Burrenton Forge-Tender postboard in response to an Anger. It also encourages an opponent to tap out thinking they're safe, only to get combo'd out after an EoT Chord for Druid. If the opponent smells something is up and decides to hold up mana, casting Chord on their end step can demand two kill spells in one turn if you have Lunge to back it up.
If you expect creatures to die a lot, you may want to cut Chords postboard because you'll rarely be getting the Convoke discount unless your creatures stick around.
Finale has mostly replaced the 4 copies of Chord, but if you find yourself valuing the Instant speed, feel free to take Chord for a spin (although at that point you maybe are better off playing Company too). Just remember not casting a spell and not attacking does heavily telegraph a Chord.
Eladamri’s Call
Eladamri’s Call does one thing other tutors don’t: it puts the card in hand. This is valuable for a card like Ballista, and is useful in that compared to tutors like Chord and Finale, you can pay for the cost in two parts. Paying in parts makes it easier to get more expensive cards in play. Putting a creature in hand as opposed to on the battlefield can also can be useful when trying to sculpt a hand.
The one frustrating part about Eladamri’s Call is the fact that it demands white mana. This can lead to some awkward situations where you may be unable to combo due to insufficient white mana. For instance, a T2 Druid with 2 Eladamri’s Call in hand would require triple white to combo.
Eldritch Evolution
Tutors in Druid Devastation fall into two camps. Tutors like Finale, Chord, and Call have more utility, but Evolution and its brother Neoform offer something they don’t in exchange for a creature. The difference between threatening a turn three and turn four win can immense in certain matchups. Evolution in conjunction with a T1 mana dork allows us to threaten a goldfish as fast as a hand with a naturally drawn Druid in it.
Another advantage with Evolution in postboard games is that you can put your bullet in play on T2. This is quite big on the draw, and it allows us to drop a key sideboard creature before the opponent’s turn 3. Against Storm or Infect, we’d easily just be dead without interacting early.
A couple notes. Because of how priority works and the fact that the creature is sac’d as an additional cost, if you put a creature in play, you are able to immediately sac it without offering the opponent a chance to remove it.
Another one to remember is If you’re wondering why Dryad Arbor is in a lot of Druid Devastation lists, Evolution is the reason. The ability to turn a fetchland into Evo food is imperative when you're staring at your lowly Druid and no other creature in hand to turn an Evo into a Vizier. One line to keep in mind in regards to Arbor is if the opponent taps out on their second turn and you have land and fetch on the table with land and Evo in hand, you may want to EoT fetch Arbor. This way, Arbor can "dig its own grave" the following turn by producing mana for a third turn Evolution grabbing a two drop.
Neoform
Neoform is mostly Eldritch Evolution copies 5-8. The major differences are the requirement of blue mana, no “or less” clause, and the requirement for a three mana win con such as Ranger-Captain or Ezuri. More often than not, Neoform is going to be cast on turn 2 sacrificing a mana dork to get Druid.
Needing a blue splash seems like a big ask, but do remember Birds and Noble produce blue. However, you still need Breeding Pool in your deck for Neoforming summoning sick creatures, and when you have to turn a Druid/Vizier into a win condition without a dork ready to make blue mana.
While Neoform is mostly worse than Evolution, you can combo off easier with just one land. Neoform into Druid doesn’t need a T2 land, and Neoform putting a +1/+1 counter has some neat synergy with Druid by allowing it to produce 3 mana in one turn.
Incubation//Incongruity
Incubation is by no means a stellar card, but it works great as filler and most notably can be played T1 to help dig to a second turn Devoted Druid. It is also very useful postboard to help find bullets, such as an answer to Grafdigger's Cage. While it doesn’t dig straight to the card like Call, it does at least dodge search hate like Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.
Incongruity isn't the most efficient card, but the ability to kill cards like Thing in the Ice, Goblin Electromancer, rival Druids, Puresteel Paladins, etc. can be the difference between a win and a loss, especially on the draw. While we’re rarely casting Incongruity, it is nice to have the option for removal without committing hard to it like playing a maindeck Path.
One note is you don’t necessarily have to play a blue source. Because Incongruity isn’t cast often and Birds/Noble produce blue, you can get away without a Pool in your manabase, but it is recommended.
Postmortem Lunge
Consistency tools ensure Druid Devastation routinely sees its combo pieces, but a major issue with the Druid combo has always been that it give opponents a very clear window to disrupt the combo. A second turn Devoted Druid is the biggest lightning rod in the format.
While the Finks combo has the luxury of going to infinite life any time its three combo pieces hits the table, Devoted Druid has to stick around for a turn before actually comboing.
Any way to threaten the combo without exposing Druid in the opponent's main phase is very powerful as it encourages the opponent to tap out at best or demands either holding up removal or risk get Ballista'd for a billion.
I've seen everything from Aether Vial as another way to give Druid pseudo Flash, to Lightning Greaves to give Haste. Lunge has become a mainstay for allowing you to jam Druid on turn two and still turn three if the opponent manages to remove it. Lunge also has a couple of neat hidden modes to it as well. Check out some more off the wall use cases for certain cards.
Dryad Arbor: basically an Elvish Spirit Guide. Pretty sweet.
Walking Ballista: zero mana Revolt trigger for those that like to play Renegade Rallier.
Birds/Noble: A way to filter Green mana into White or Blue, sort of like Wild Cantor. Important to remember when you need double white when comboing with Shalai.
Devoted Druid: Outside of the obvious, you can actually combo out in another interesting way. You can play Druid, immediately kill it with its untap ability, then Lunge it back to give it haste to go off on one turn without having a Druid in the yard. Suiciding Druid is pretty common as well in response to Path, Terminus, etc. Another rare but interesting line with Druid on the table, Evolution and Lunge in hand, but no other creature around or in the graveyard, is to evolve Druid for Vizier then Lunge back Druid.
Fauna Shaman: A common line is to cast a Fauna Shaman T2 even with Druid in hand against removal heavy decks. They either kill it to hopefully open the window for Druid, or they don't and you can potentially go off still by pitching Druid for a missing combo piece, then Lunging it back to give it haste. I'm not overly impressed by a Sorcery that reads 2G, take 2, discard a creature, tutor a creature, but could be useful when you have infinite mana with no sink.
Duskwatch Recruiter: Can be brought back after assembling infinite mana for the win. I suppose you could kill someone at 2 or spend 5 mana for a look at a creature as well.
Vizier: Bringing it back with a healthy Druid for infinite mana
Rallier: Allows you to back back a creature for good, instead of just for one turn.
Eternal Witness: Bring back any card from the grave for 3 mana and 2 life.
Shalai: Similar to Duskwatch, but could be useful against something like a Bolt when you have a Druid in the yard along with a second Lunge.
Creatures with sac abilities (Qasali Pridemage, Burrenton Forge Tender, Selfless Spirit, Remorseful Cleric, etc): These cards are pretty neat in that because they sac themselves, you can keep rebuying them with Witness, Rallier, or more Lunges. Ranger-Captain is probably one of the most impressive on a combo turn, given it equates to 3 mana, pay 2, tutor Ballista and Silence.
Stoneforge Mystic
Stoneforge doesn't necessarily synergize with the combo but does offer a reliable and realistic beatdown plan. This section will expand as the card matures in the format, but it has been promising so far.
Druid combo that foregoes Collected Company almost always is a dog to heavily interactive decks like black Midrange and blue Control. Stoneforge's unban has thrown a potential wrench in this paradigm by allowing our deck to potentially grind when needed with Batterskull and friends
It's difficult to say as of now if the card is truly a Druid Devastation combo staple, but the early results say yes. Whether you'd like to play just one SFM and Skull to tutor for when needed, or a full set with multiple equipment in the main, the card has a lot to offer.
Swords
Looking at the swords and the matchups we're looking to fix with SFM, Light and Shadow is generally the safest pick if you'd like to play a sword in the main or side. The protections allow the wielder to dodge Push and Path, and equipping it to an X/2+ makes it Bolt immune. Giving a creature pseudo-hexproof and +2/+2 is already fairly strong in fair matchups, but that combined with some lifegain and a Raise Dead really allows this plan to work.
Past Light and Shadow, there's a defensible reason to consider really any of the other playable Swords. Fire and Ice is great in creature mirrors, Feast and Famine has great protections with a powerful midgame on hit trigger, and Sinew and Steel is a fantastic option out of the sideboard or even mainboard in certain metagames.
War and Peace, Body and Mind, and Truth and Justice don't quite work as well now, but easily could make more sense in the future.
Combo Friendly Equipment
The neat part about adding Stoneforge is that it actually can synergize with the combo should you chose to pack certain equipment.
Lightning Greaves happens to be a card people sometimes played already in Druid combo pre-SFM unban. The ability to give Druid haste makes tapping out a big risk for the opponent when Greaves are on the table, which can generate a lot of tempo over the course of the game. Late game, it can allow for a win out of nowhere by casting Greaves and Druid in the same turn.
Greaves only costing 2 to put in play combined with a powerful 0 equip cost makes this a nice SFM target in the early game. Greaves on a Druid is the baseline usecase, but tossing them on a Giver of Runes is like a build-your-own Kira, and suiting up Shalai can be lights out for many decks such as Burn, Scapeshift, or Mill.
Longbow definitely raises some eyebrows, but starts to look pretty powerful when one considers that Druid + Vizier + Longbow is a win. Playing 4 Stoneforge main is a lot easier to justify when it is effectively an infinite manasink. One last aspect that might push it over the edge for some is that Rhonas and Plague Engineer have Deathtouch which can prove to be a game ending combo in creature matchups.
High Level Strategy
Step one is get Druid in play early
Druid Devastation's strategy in a nut shell is to drop a Devoted Druid on turn 2 or 3, attempt to combo the following turn, and continually put Druid in play until you've exhausted opposing interaction. The first part in accomplishing this goal is keeping hands that can present an early Druid.
If you can only take one thing away from this primer, it's if a 7 or 6 card hand do not possess a path to drop Druid turn 2 or 3, it is a mulligan.
Examples of ways to turn two a Druid include a naturally drawn Druid and a mana dork + Evolution. If killing turn 4 is acceptable, the number of lines opens up for turn three Druid. Finale or Call + mana dork are the main ones, but 2 land, fetchland, Evolution also works. Hands hinging on Incubation for Druid are generally unacceptable on 7, but can be okay in strong 6s and any hand at 5 or less.
Demanding versus asking opponents interact
In playing Druid Devastation, you will come to realize the most powerful thing you can do is drop a Druid on turn 2. Even if you are missing other combo pieces, your opponent does not know that. They see a creature that needs to be dealt with, or there's the potential to simply lose the next turn. Here's what washed up MTG writers label "the Twin effect."
Turns 2 and 3 are undeniably the pivotal turns for Modern. When many decks can turn 4 or even turn 3, the opponent may not even need to interact if they can simply race our turn 4 win; the earliest a third turn Druid can combo to win. The difference between a Druid on turn 2 and turn 3 or later is often the difference between demanding an opponent interact versus giving them the option.
Don't be afraid to hold combo pieces
Oftentimes it's a bad idea to run out a non-Druid combo piece if you do not have duplicates.
Picture this sequence. You go turn two Druid, they kill it. You open on turn three with nothing to do, so you play a Vizier. They kill it, and tap out with another play. On your turn four, you draw Postmortem Lunge with a mana sink in hand. Oops. See the mistake? If we simply hold Vizier, they may still tap out and we would have the combo, but because we cast the Vizier, we gave them the opportunity to disrupt us.
Remember that this deck isn't beating down often and with ideal sequencing, Druid is the only combo pieces that can be killed to any effect. If Vizier hits the table with a sober Druid in play, you can respond to any removal by activating Druid again to keep looping. Same story with a mana sink, we simply activate again in response.
The Druid Combo Deck for an Increasingly Degenerate Format
This primer is a work in progress, but is much easier to rationalize working on with an active ongoing discussion. If you're a weekly Druid Devastation pilot or just a lurker of Modern Deck Creation, consider asking a question, leaving a tournament report, posting your 75, or discussing card choices.
If there’s something you’d like to see in the primer, send a comment or message to AcademyRuins/Tarmogoofy.
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Cast Memnite, trigger Station, sac Memnite to Station, untap Station, sac Sword to Station, return Memnite to hand with Trawler. Cast Memnite, which pulls Sword to play, then loop.
Stirring is a pretty great card, would you pay 1W for copies 5-8? The bulk of the deck are Legends or artifacts. Basically just misses on non Inventor's Fair lands, which were a miss with Stirring already. What do you think?