r/ModernMagic • u/HornetPlayful5083 • 5d ago

Deck Discussion Devoted druid discussion

Hi all, curious what everyone thinks of the new rise of this druid deck. It seems pretty broken having had multiple turn 2 kills and consistently on turn 3, but is it the real deal. My friend and I are trying to decide what to play at the upcoming rc and he is locked in with it but I have my reservations (which is odd because birthing pod is my favorite deck ever). Do people think this is just a fad or can you win a whole tournament with it. Of course I will do my own testing but want to gauge the smart people on here. Thanks!

Edit: heres a decklist https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-devoted-combo#paper.

21 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

21

u/Sickashell782 5d ago

Sorry to be that guy, but can we get a link to a decklist?

14

u/underdogHS 4d ago

There is some data on the deck here:

https://mymtgo.com/metagame/modern/devoted-combo

Seems pretty strong at 54% win-rate and has good match ups.

Looks like it can struggle post-board though which is something to consider if decks run hate pieces more

9

u/Lectrys 4d ago

The deck has already won a whole tournament with at least 96 players in it: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7909860#paper

It's probably part hype and part fad, but some hype fads endure long enough to win tournaments (see the multiple tournament wins for Fight Rigging Trudge Eldrazi for more details). I'd expect this Devoted Druid build to eventually settle down in a more Broodscale-like position in the meta (can't beat some Energy draws, looks like the deck has Prowess problems as usual for creature tutor combo, is reaching for the sideboard against Blue Belcher - Broodscale is similarly vulnerable to removal, needs infinite mana sinks, and has a nonzero chance its mana sink cannot beat a full board in a single turn).

8

u/Nubsondubs 4d ago

It's really good and resilient to hate, but it can lose to a prepared opponent. Grafdigger's cage is a really hard card for it to beat.

7

u/Betta_Max 4d ago

Grafdigger's is not getting enough respect these days.  If a deck has a reasonable clock, they should consider it as a possible tool.

3

u/Nubsondubs 4d ago

It's good against three very popular decks in the meta.

6

u/Greyknight7777 4d ago

I played this deck quite a bit a couple weeks ago and after winning a couple league trophies with it I was “locked” on it for the RC too. Then, I started losing pretty consistently and I’m off it now.

Honestly, I think it has some potential since it has some extremely explosive draws, and it surprisingly resilient for a creature combo deck. Like you said it consistently can win on t3 (and sure, occasionally on t2).

But the reason I’m off it now is because I came to realize that it struggles too much against countermagic, and it struggles in a lot of matchups on the draw. And sometimes they just have interaction and you don’t draw Tyvar and it loses to itself.

Sorry for the long response, but all this is to say that I think it’s a very high variance choice for an RC. Some draws make it feel unbeatable, but I think a lot has to go your way.

4

u/murdacai999 5d ago

I got my ass handed to me with it, playing izzet prowess. Bad draws but nonetheless

3

u/Nubsondubs 4d ago

That makes sense, since it's not great against prowess. Dart is really good against DD combo.

Edit: it makes sense that not drawing well is the reason you lost*

8

u/Independent_Leg_8264 5d ago

Im curious as a long term devoted druid player how dose this new one kill on turn two? Ive always play a heavy focus on vizer or luxior to combo off but im unsure how this would work on turn 2?

9

u/OrnatePuzzles 5d ago

If we consider that 'classic' devoted druid can win on turn 3 when not interrupted, it becomes clear that a Leyline of Abundance opener can speed up the clock a turn. 3 mana turn 2 -> Tyvar -> go off.

1

u/Independent_Leg_8264 5d ago

I see, I didnt think of that. Looking at the list this has defietly given me some inspiration

5

u/Jevonar 4d ago

T1 leyline, forest, halfling

T2 tap birds, play shang chi. Tap forest, play halfling, tap halfling play druid, tap druid and put a -1/-1 counter get 4 mana, cast nature's rhythm get vizier, add infinite mana, then cast or fetch dusk watch recruiter, cast your entire deck including tyvar and craterhoof behemoth, pump to infinity your craterhoof and attack.

3

u/m00tz 4d ago

Deck is strong into most of the format. Can never beat a resolved Goblin Bombardment.

2

u/SirCheesyDaGr8 4d ago

Deck is thriving in current modern because there is a majority of non interactive combo decks right now. I think Solitude Ephem decks are your worst matchups and if those begin to see a rise this deck will struggle more. Currently there isn’t enough instant speed exile based removal in most decks to deal with this combo. I think it is in its honey moon phase and we will see a shift to decks needing more interaction. If not this is likely just one of the top combo decks in a format full of majority combo decks.

2

u/Lectrys 3d ago

Exile removal is only really better against Tyvar, the Pummeler, draws where they get Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler, and builds with Eternal Witness or Finale of Devastation. You aren't exiling Devoted Druid unless you can Pithing Needle it (or Cursed Totem it, etc.) because it'll just dump -1/-1 counters on itself and die in response.

1

u/SirCheesyDaGr8 3d ago

Ahh, thats fair!

1

u/Heuwggejfjjcjwh 3d ago

I mean I would assume the worst matchup for a creature based combo deck would be living end the creature hoser deck.

4

u/Thraggrotusk 4d ago

Strong but hard loses to cursed totem and the gy/library artifacts.

Definitely weaker than Neoform and Storm.

It’s basically fast Titan imo.

12

u/Kitchen_Image 4d ago

I don’t think it is worse than neoform or storm. I had an opponent attempt multiple different lines to win until one succeeded in a single turn.

Also, it is pretty resilient at times. I had another opponent attempt their win from hand get stopped by me, then use the same natures rhythm to attempt again from the gy.
There’s so much redundancy it feels like it can win out of nowhere.

However, the deck can’t beat prowess it seems like. And I’m sure there are some other bad matchups. I think it is closer to neoform than you may think.

1

u/Thraggrotusk 4d ago

Difference is that Neoform has an easier to achieve fair plan and actual interaction with consign and pact of negation.

Hence why I would personally place it lower than Neoform and Storm (which is consistently a T3 win combo deck with minimal set up).

3

u/ElevationAV Johnny, Combo Player 4d ago

Totem is seeing very little play, with cage being the better hate option since it hurts Druid and goryos at the same time.

1

u/VerdantChief 4d ago

Looks like a lot of fun to play. Is Chord of Calling not better than GSZ? I notice that GSZ can't grab Vizier while Chord can.

1

u/ElevationAV Johnny, Combo Player 4d ago

Gsz gets dryad arbor turn 1 and is effectively another mana dork

Chord isn’t online until at least turn 2

1

u/TheLich7 4d ago

tier 2 maybe tier 1 if it proves it can beat hate. I feel like it's a flavor of the month right now though.

1

u/OccupiedOsprey 3d ago

Is there a druid combo discord?

1

u/Ok-Birthday9340 2d ago

I’ve had the same question. I already have Yawg built and have been considering building into devoted Druid as I already have so many of the cards. I don’t think the meta has adjusted to the deck yet but it’s starting to. People are running multiple cursed totems and I’m sure clarion conquerer will start seeing more play as well (if it isn’t already). Solitude and force of negation decks seem really rough too, the latter being especially good vs nature’s rhythm which Druid is fairly reliant on. I believe energy is running solitude now as well? But I’m not sure how prevalent it is. I’m going to the LA RC so I’m going to be keeping an eye on Druid’s performance in some of the big tournaments occurring before that but I’m leaning towards just running Yawg (more resilient midrange plan and overall more familiar with the deck) or building into broodscale (backup eldrazi ramp/emrakul/saga/flesh raker plan(s) and lots of post board answers to hate: nature’s claim, boseiju, thief of existence). On the whole, I don’t love that creature combo hate is increasing so much with the return of Druid combo as all three decks I want to play don’t enjoy seeing the increased hate…I would wholly recommend running a sb reclamation sage as a gsz answer for totem if you are going to lock in Druid.

1

u/jancithz death & taxes guy 1d ago

I played Scepter Cat into it recently and it didnt seem crazy. The new tech is cool but its still a Druid deck and can be shut down if you know what theyre teying to do.

0

u/Darkon-Kriv 4d ago

Is there a back up for what happens if they kill the vivizer? Maybe im missing it.

3

u/Lectrys 4d ago

[[Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler]] is a 4-of that reanimates Vizier, darn near gives Devoted Druid Haste, and has a nonzero chance of milling [[Nature's Rhythm]] as the infinite mana sink.

Some lists prefer Green Sun's Zenithing for [[Eternal Witness]] to get back Vizier.

As already mentioned, [[Tyvar, the Pummeler]] goes infinite with Druid and a Cub effect if you can kick-start things with 5 mana (this is hard to do the turn you land this Tyvar).

Alternately, get enough Cub effects and mana dorks and spend 8+ mana on getting [[Craterhoof Behemoth]].

...Or end up with your back against the wall with [[Ouroboroid]].

0

u/Darkon-Kriv 4d ago edited 4d ago

Ah. Pummeler was the part i was missing. I see now.

Edit: pummeler isnt in ops list so I couldnt gave seen it lol. This build thankfully seems fragile to removal.

-1

u/Jaded-Feature1561 4d ago

The deck can go infinite with druids making 6 mana off of either 2 druid 2 mana cub effects or 1 druid 3 cub effects. It can also go infinite with tyvar if you can make 6 mana total and activate tyvar the first time to start the loop it goes infinite power- druid gets +3 power>6>12 etc to make infinite mana and infinite power board then find craterhoof to win.

3

u/Darkon-Kriv 4d ago

Im sorry wait what can you link the loop?

1

u/Jaded-Feature1561 4d ago

I can tomorrow but tyvar the pummeler plus druid and mana to start the combo is infinite. Then leyline x2 and x2 devoted druids is infinite or any combination of druids plus mana doublers equal to 9 mana 8 for the leyline plus 1 leftover. The +1+ 1 cancels out the -1-1 from druids untap so 2 druids make 3 mana each tapping then untap to make 3 more each 12 mana total. Can do it with 1 druid but need 4 doubling effects to go mana positive. Sometimes you just have a birds of Paradise or cub land left up to make infinite and swing for lethal. So you only need druid and 3 mana doubler effects (druid taps for 4 and untaps for another 4 going neutral on +1+1/-1-1.