Standard Naya Devotion

By Melissa DeTora

Melissa is a former Magic pro player and strategy writer who is now working in R&D on the Play Design team.

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx has been one of the most impactful cards to come out of Theros Block. The card almost single-handedly enabled Devotion decks in blue, black, red, and green (sadly, mono-white devotion never really caught on). With Return to Ravnica block rotating out of Standard last year the only Devotion deck that really stuck around was Mono-Green.

Green Devotion comes in different forms. Some versions splash red for Dragonlord Atarka and Xenagos, the Reveler, some splash white for Mastery of the Unseen and Valorous Stance, and some just stick to green and rely on mana consistency and power to get the job done. Each version of Green Devotion has its strengths and weaknesses and there is no version of the deck that is necessarily "correct" to play.

For today's deck, Tyrel Smallen decided to splash two colors instead of one in his Green Devotion deck. It seemed to work out for him as he was able to finish in the Top 32 at SCG Dallas, which was pretty impressive in a field of 746 players.

Playing both white and red in your green creature deck gives you access to some great tools. You get white's removal for big creatures, something that red doesn't have, and red's powerful finishers, something that white doesn't have. Tyrel took it one step further and is even playing Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. He definitely has the late-game haymaker part of his deck covered.

This deck's mana base is slightly worse than its two color counterparts, especially when you consider that there are four copies of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, which is just a colorless land when you have nothing on the battlefield. However, playing three colors definitely gives you some power that other Green Devotion decks lack.

Tyrel Smallen’s Naya Devotion

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Planeswalker (4)

1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion 2 Xenagos, the Reveler

Creature (31)

2 Dragonlord Atarka 1 Dragonlord Dromoka 4 Whisperwood Elemental 2 Genesis Hydra 4 Courser of Kruphix 4 Voyaging Satyr 4 Sylvan Caryatid 1 Arbor Colossus 4 Polukranos, World Eater 4 Elvish Mystic 1 Hornet Queen

Instant (2)

2 Dromoka's Command

Land (23)

2 Temple of Plenty 2 Temple of Abandon 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 3 Windswept Heath 4 Wooded Foothills 6 Forest 1 Plains 1 Mountain

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Dragonlord Atarka 1 Dromoka's Command 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 1 Arbor Colossus 1 Xenagos, the Reveler 1 Hornet Queen 3 Mastery of the Unseen 2 Nissa, Worldwaker 4 Nylea's Disciple