It appears that B/g Devotion is the new deck to beat in Standard, with Temple of Malady providing the means and Abrupt Decay providing the motive. The opportunity, however, is ours. Black devotion decks have long been weak to hyper-aggressive strategies that can put out more threats than they have removal spells. However, we can do even better than that. How about an aggressive deck in which many of the best threats are immune to removal? It almost sounds too good to be true, but green has the answer.

Mono-Green Aggro ? Journey into Nyx Standard | Mike Cannon

• Creatures (34)
• 2 Bassara Tower Archer
• 2 Boon Satyr
• 4 Burning-Tree Emissary
• 4 Dryad Militant
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Kalonian Tusker
• 4 Reverent Hunter
• 4 Witchstalker
• 2 Nylea, God of the Hunt

• Spells (6)
• 2 Ranger's Guile
• 4 Aspect of Hydra

• Lands (20)
• 20 Forest

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The Creatures

Experiment One starts off as a lowly 1/1 for 1 mana, but it will almost always be a 3/3 by turn three, making it more than worth the investment. Unfortunately, Reverent Hunter won't trigger evolve, but the Ooze can still reach 4/4 with the help of Boon Satyr or Nylea, God of the Hunt.

Dryad Militant is another powerful 1-drop to start the damage pouring in early. Although it doesn't have much in the way of fancy abilities, a 2/1 for 1 is good enough for any aggressive deck.

Kalonian Tusker is Watchwolf reincarnated, and it's even better here thanks to its mana cost. Generating two devotion for 2 mana is sweet, and it's a feat most other devotion decks have trouble with. It doesn't hurt that the Tusker can attack for more damage than most other creatures at its cost.

Although Swordwise Centaur's 3 power is tempting, in the end, its 2 toughness steered me toward Bassara Tower Archer. For the most part, the two die to the same creatures, but although it loses 1 power, the Archer is immune to removal spells, making it a prime target for Aspect of Hydra or a bestowed Boon Satyr.

Witchstalker is a decently sized creature that can't be targeted by removal spells. Putting a Boon Satyr on this makes it large enough to take your opponent from 20 to 0 in three attacks. In addition, it forces your opponent to use all that instant-speed removal on his own turn or else give your hexproof creature even more power.

Boon Satyr is vulnerable to removal, but it does boast 4 power for only 3 mana, and it can be cast during your opponent's end step for a nasty surprise. But its real power is in its bestow ability. Enchanting a hexproof creature with +4/+2 at instant speed is pretty great, and it turns even a little Bassara Tower Archer into a huge problem.

Nylea, God of the Hunt is a bit expensive for this kind of deck, but she will almost always be an indestructible 6/6. In addition, giving trample to all your creatures allows you to cast Aspect of Hydra for even bigger blowouts, killing a blocker and trampling over for massive amounts of damage. The pump ability is expensive, but it can be useful if you run out of spells to cast, which happens frequently in this deck.

The Spells

Ranger's Guile is really a 1-mana counterspell here, giving a creature hexproof in response to a removal spell and boosting its power as well. I've played this card to great effect in decks with power-pumping spells before, and it always feels great to save your best guy after your opponent spends all his mana trying to kill it.

Playtesting

B/g Devotion – Game 1

I drew and cast Witchstalker and attacked with everything. Lifebane Zombie blocked Witchstalker, and I cast Aspect of Hydra on Elvish Mystic to drop my opponent to 3. I passed the turn. My opponent played Mutavault, cast Pack Rat, and ended his turn.

I attacked with everything, and he blocked the two 3/3s to stay alive at 2. He played another Mutavault and another Pack Rat, and I attacked with everything again. He blocked the 3/3s, and I cast Ranger's Guile to pump up Elvish Mystic for the win.

Game 2

He played a Pack Rat, and I cast Kalonian Tusker, evolving the Ooze. I attacked for 2, and he took the damage. I ended my turn.

My opponent played Mutavault and a second Pack Rat before passing. I cast a second Kalonian Tusker, evolving the Ooze again, and attacked with the pair of 3/3s. My opponent activated his Mutavault and blocked each with a 3/3 Pack Rat. I passed the turn.

My opponent played a land and ended his turn, and I attacked with Kalonian Tusker. He killed it with Hero's Downfall, and I cast Burning-Tree Emissary and Dryad Militant before passing the turn.

My opponent cast another Pack Rat and passed back. I attacked with both creatures, and he activated Mutavault, trading his two creatures for mine. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Thoughtseize, and I cast Boon Satyr in response. He took Nylea, God of the Hunt again before passing the turn. I attacked for 4 with the Satyr and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Underworld Connections, using it to draw a card. I just played a land again, and my opponent drew an extra card with Connections before casting Lifebane Zombie, which failed to reveal a creature. I had no play on my turn, and my opponent hit me for 3 with the Zombie before activating Connections and playing a land. I drew another Forest, played it, and passed.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel dropped me to 10, and Lifebane Zombie knocked out another 3 life points. With my opponent back up to 15 with plenty of cards in hand, I conceded.

Game 3

I cast two copies of Burning-Tree Emissary and passed the turn. My opponent cast Thoughtseize, taking Witchstalker, and he played another Temple and ended his turn.

I attacked for 5, cast Bassara Tower Archer, and passed. My opponent cast Lifebane Zombie, exiling Boon Satyr.

I attacked with everything. Lifebane Zombie traded with the Tower Archer, and my opponent took 5. I cast another Tower Archer and ended my turn. My opponent played a tapped Overgrown Tomb and passed.

I attacked with everything, and he cast Hero's Downfall on Burning-Tree Emissary, dropping to 3. I cast Witchstalker and ended my turn. My opponent cast a pair of Abrupt Decays to kill my non-hexproof creatures, and I attacked for the win on my turn.

Wrap-Up

This deck certainly comes out swinging, and it has a lot of game against the best decks in the format. Witchstalker as often a nightmare for black devotion, and Reverent Hunter is big enough to survive combat with almost any card you'll run into when playing against creature decks. If you want to attack the top dog of Standard, or if you just love playing green, give this deck a shot.