Modern is a format that’s all about efficiency. You either play a deck that’s as low to the ground as possible, or you look for ways to cheat on mana and do something big. Some of the more common ways to do that involve creatures like Noble Hierarch or artifacts like Mox Opal, but there are ways to go bigger. Every couple of months we see a new and exciting take on Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. The newest take I’ve seen is this one built by Uegjo:

Green-Black Devotion - Modern | Uegjo, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (22)
• 1 Courser of Kruphix
• 1 Hornet Queen
• 1 Polukranos, World Eater
• 1 Primeval Titan
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Vizier of Remedies
• 1 Walking Ballista
• 2 Birds of Paradise
• 2 Tireless Tracker
• 3 Eternal Witness
• 4 Arbor Elf
• 4 Devoted Druid

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Garruk Wildspeaker

• Instants (3)
• 3 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Primal Command

• Enchantments (7)
• 3 Oath of Nissa
• 4 Utopia Sprawl

• Lands (20)
• 4 Forest
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 2 Overgrown Tomb
• 3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 3 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Bonfire of the Damned
• 1 Chameleon Colossus
• 1 Choke
• 1 Creeping Corrosion
• 3 Crumble to Dust
• 1 Dragonlord Atarka
• 2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 2 Nature's Claim
• 1 Scavenging Ooze
• 1 Shapers' Sanctuary

Buy This Deck

The other angle of attack that this deck traditionally has access to is Primal Command. This card lets you gain a bunch of life against aggressive decks or set your midrange opponents back a land or key permanent, all while tutoring up the best creature to follow up with. Frequently, that’ll be Primeval Titan to threaten to close out the game or Eternal Witness to chain Primal Commands and put more Green mana symbols in play.

The most interesting development for this deck is the inclusion of Devoted Druid and a singleton Vizier of Remedies. Devoted Druid is a reasonable card for this deck on its own, serving as one card that accelerates you up to 2 mana. Having a singleton Vizier to go find with Primal Command gives you the ability to do all manner of degenerate things, like casting all your Primal Commands in one turn, making lots of clues with Tireless Tracker and Primeval Titan, or just killing your opponent with Kessig Wolf Run and infinite mana.

The interesting thing about this deck is the number of colors it’s playing. Green and Red is typical, so that you have access to Kessig Wolf Run and Ancient Grudge. White for Vizier of Remedies seems like a reasonable step, particularly since it gives you access to all of the powerful sideboard cards out of White. Uegjo has gone a step further to add Fatal Push as another way of fighting Death's Shadow and Tarmogoyf.

If you’re looking for a powerful, proactive ramp strategy in Modern, maybe this is the combination of early interaction, explosive acceleration, and combotastic potential you’re looking for.