Last week, I hinted that I’d either be writing about some new Commander 2013 cards or covering a five-colored Gods tribal deck. Well, at the time, I didn’t know I’d have the privilege of previewing Acidic Slime’s non-Ooze progenitor in the form of Bane of Progress. And at least for this week, I guess that means I’ll be able to hit both of those predictions. Since I covered the new Commander card on Monday, that leaves Five-Color Devotion for today.

Now, devotion currently comes in five types—white, blue, black, red, and green—and a deck featuring the mechanic is typically mono-colored of the appropriate devotion color. That means a five-colored devotion deck is, let’s say, atypical.

The other aspect of today’s experiment deck is God tribal. God is a new creature type introduced in Theros, and the expansion brought only five creatures with the type. Of course, Mistform Ultimus and its changeling compatriots from Lorwyn have now been promoted to godhood, meaning we could build a God deck featuring just Woodland Changelings, Amoeboid Changelings, and the deific Chameleon Colossus. While I did once build a Volver tribal deck (starring one of my favorite cards Necravolver), since we won’t be cheating with changelings, we just have five creatures of our type to work with, thus making our tribal deck, again, atypical.

Of course, I do enjoy building atypically.

Building up Devotion

However, we’re going to play all five Gods. That means we need devotion to all five colors—preferably simultaneously. Three of the deity cards from Shadowmoor and/or Eventide (such as Overbeing of Myth and Divinity of Pride) could fulfill our Gods’ devotion with their many hybrid mana symbols; however, we’d have to draw the correct combination of these creatures and hope we had the matching God or Gods at the same time.

Instead, I’ve assembled a hodgepodge of permanents that cost . With four of these, any and all Gods will provide that fifth pip of colored mana to complete their own devotion. The ideal board state for this deck will be all five Theros Gods and four permanents. With the Gods as givens, let’s take a look at the options.

Despite the theme, there isn’t a ton of room for a slew of 5-mana, five-colored spells, but a few Fusion Elementals will help us become devoted. We’ll also have a few powerful one-ofs in the form of Maelstrom Archangel, Cromat, and Genju of the Realm.

Making Gods Matter

Karona, False God pumps all our Gods when she attacks, bringing our 5- and 6-powered attackers up to 8 and 9, giving us plenty of overkill. Of course, if we have multiple opponents, that damage could really come in handy. Also, assuming we have our ideal board state, remember that our creatures other than Heliod, God of the Sun will have vigilance and that our creatures other than Nylea, God of the Hunt will have trample. Let’s just hope we don’t lose any points for bringing a False God to a Gods deck.

Casting Five Colors

Another card I really like is Explosive Vegetation. However, it requires a bunch of basic lands, so for us this week, I’m using Ranger's Path instead—we can fetch Forests rather than Forests. That means we can use plenty of green-based shock lands and find whatever colors we need with our Paths.

And with a deck full of cards costing , we can’t skip over Channel the Suns. In addition to the massive fixing it provides, it’s also a ritual effect, meaning it generates more mana than it costs. With a Sylvan Caryatid, we can potentially cast a turn-three Maelstrom Nexus off a Channel the Suns. That’s big game.

Finally, we have the lands. Twenty of the lands I’ve included generate green, ensuring we’ll be able to cast Sylvan Caryatid, Channel the Suns, or Ranger's Path to further fix our mana. The remaining lands are scry lands to help this somewhat clunky deck find its way through the variance.

"Five-Color Devotion God Tribal"

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Maelstrom Archangel
• 3 Fusion Elemental
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid
• 1 Cromat
• 2 Erebos, God of the Dead
• 2 Heliod, God of the Sun
• 2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 3 Karona, False God
• 3 Thassa, God of the Sea

• Spells (13)
• 4 Channel the Suns
• 1 Genju of the Realm
• 4 Ranger's Path
• 4 Maelstrom Nexus

• Lands (24)
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Temple of Mystery

Buy This Deck

This casual list contains a high number of rares and mythics, including some high-profile, expensive names from Theros. However, if you like the God cards and manage to pick up even one of each (I know that’s my goal)—perhaps for your Commander lists—this deck is playable with even just one. I’d consider the fourth Fusion Elemental and perhaps a Mistform Ultimus for some of the emptied spots.

Andrew Wilson

@Silent7Seven

fissionessence at hotmail dot com