With M15 introducing Nissa Worldwaker and Garruk, Apex Predator and bringing [card]Chord of Calling[/card] back to Standard, this summer is looking pretty green.
The first thought that comes to mind is clearly – what is the most broken, green thing we can do in this two month period of Standard when we still have [card]Burning-Tree Emissary[/card] and [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card] together?
[deck title=Mono-Green Devotion]
[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voyaging Satyr
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
4 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Arbor Colossus
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Nissa, Worldwaker
4 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
2 Setessan Tactics
2 Chord of Calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]
18 Forest
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
[/Lands]
[/deck]
Staying mono-green gives us a clean manabase and allows us to take advantage of Nissa’s Forest-untapping ability. Nissa serves as a bridge between the early mana accelerants and late-game haymakers, is another non-creature threat alongside [card]Garruk, Caller of Beasts[/card], and brings the beats pretty hard. I don’t think she is necessarily a four-of, but two seems like a good starting number.
We’ve already seen that [card]Burning-Tree Emissary[/card] is insane with Nykthos. But [card]Burning-Tree Emissary[/card] is also great with [card]Chord of Calling[/card], thanks to the Convoke ability. It’s too bad that [card]Craterhoof Behemoth[/card] isn’t legal, but Chording up a Nylea and activating it several times per turn is enough to put away games. Also, just imagine if [card]Arbor Colossus[/card] had Flash. Your [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card]s are not safe.
G/B/x Constellation is currently a rogue deck that stands to gain some footing in Standard after the Fall rotation. What if we applied some Chord action to it, and added a massive win condition?
[deck title=Green-Black Constellation]
[Creatures]
4 Brain Maggot
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
4 Doomwake Giant
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Garruk, Apex Hunter
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Mana Bloom
2 Hero’s Downfall
2 Underworld Connections
2 Chord of Calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
4 Llanowar Wastes
6 Forest
4 Swamp
2 Mutavault
[/Lands]
[/deck]
SHAKE AND WAKE! I like the idea of putting the Maggots, Coursers, and Eidolons to even better use by allowing them to produce mana for our X-spell. That’s in addition to them drawing you extra cards and Plague Winding your opponent. The new Garruk seems like a great top-end card comparable to [card]Karn Liberated[/card] to help stabilize the board and, eventually, take over.
The real strength of [card]Chord of Calling[/card], as it’s used in Modern, is to provide you with a toolbox of silver-bullet creatures. What if we applied this concept in Standard?
[deck title=RUG Chord]
[Creatures]
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Reclamation Sage
3 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Arbor Colossus
1 Prophet of Kruphix
4 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
3 Domri Rade
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Turn // Burn
3 Chord of Calling
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Stomping Ground
4 Breeding Pool
4 Steam Vents
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Shivan Reef
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Mana Confluence
4 Forest
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Negate
2 Setessan Tactics
1 Unravel the Aether
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Notion Thief
1 Nylea’s Disciple
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Aetherling
1 Sylvan Primordial
4 Mistcutter Hydra
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
The tricky part about building this type of deck is balancing consistency and flexibility. You don’t want to have creatures that are bad if you draw them naturally. But you also want the ability to Chord for the best possible creature in any given situation. By building off the core of G/R Monsters, we maintain a relatively consistent, proactive gameplan. [card]Chord of Calling[/card] and the blue cards add a whole new dimension to the deck.
If you want to overpower your opponents with Nykthos and the new Nissa, play Green Devotion. The Constellation deck and the RUG Chord deck are more experimental, but I’m looking forward to testing and finding out if there’s any merit to them.
Alex Bianchi
@Gemmanite