This deck was built after my months and months of testing every Green and Elf Devotion deck I could think of :) It is the current culmination of the synergies I've found while playing.
Fortunately for me, two cards in M15 are perfect fits and improve this deck...
Nissa Worldwaker and Reclamation sage! The new Nissa literally fits PERFECTLY in a ramp/devotion build like this...I couldn't have been more excited :) In this build Nissa Worldwaker is Nissa Revane and Reclamation Sage is Viridian Shaman (until added to Tapped Out)
If you would like to know the exact synergies/ "core ideas" I've found in my testing pertaining to devotion decks, please feel free to private message me; but I won't waste more space on here :)
There are a few differences between this and my other decks; but the biggest is the increased play-ability of the deck via the addition of Chord of Calling . This drastically changes how you can play with an elf deck....
The overall plan is a simple one:
Use elves and devotion to ramp as quickly as you can into a HUGE creature or army by turn 3-4 in order to deal 30+ damage :)
WIN-CONS
Craterhoof Behemoth - This isn't a new win-con for an elf deck :). It's simple. You either "Chord" him in or cast him and with 2-5 creatures on the board; he and your army deal 30+ damage easily.
Primeval Titan - One of the more broken green cards ever printed; Prime Time is a beast on his own; but his ability to grab any two lands (including Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and/or Kessig Wolf Run ) put him in an even higher category.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader - Most likely the most powerful win-con in this deck (and I may want three); Ezuri quickly turns a small group of 1/1 elves into a lethal army of 10/10 Tramplers. His regeneration ability is nothing to sneeze at either. Truly awesome Elf.
Kessig Wolf Run - This is a great addition in any mana-ramp deck. It is a utility land that turns any single creature into a trample threat. While only a one-of; Primeval Titan helps tutor this land up in many matches.
TUTORS
This deck is slightly different than my other builds in its use of Chord of Calling and Primeval Titan to tutor other cards (creatures and lands). I also consider Genesis Wave as somewhat of a tutor (as your goal in most games is to hit one of your win-cons). The tutors are:
Chord of Calling - The newest addition to my Elf/Devotion toolbox; this card is amazing in any deck that both ramps and utilizes bunches of small creatures. It takes the most advantage of Coiling Oracle and Elvish Visionary by turning them into "mana-dorks" as well. You can easily tutor for a Craterhoof Behemoth on turn 3 for the win. It has a thousand other uses I won't get into in depth (Ezuri, Renegade Leader for regeneration at instant speed, Elvish Archdruid
for mana and +1/+1 pump instantly, etc.) I have also been working on a 1-of Elvish Piper and Progenitus combo that can be "Chorded" into.
Primeval Titan - This obviously tutors for any two lands; most importantly Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Kessig Wolf Run .
Genesis Wave - Many people know this is a crazily powerful card in devotion/ramp builds; but the main goal of this card is to hit a win-con to pump your non-summoning sick creatures to a point of lethal damage (of course Craterhoof Behemoth 's haste allows him to attack as well). Primeval Titan grabs Kessig Wolf Run and Garruk Wildspeaker will untap two lands (usually Nykthos and Wolf Run to pump someone), etc.
The trick is to make sure that you win the same turn you hit any big "Wave".
The sum of the Tutors should allow you to mold the game to suit the opponent a little better (and especially come in handy when you board in specific creatures against specific archetypes).
RAMP CORE
Obviously, this deck ramps A TON. It can actually ramp more quickly than Tron. The ramp core includes:
Arbor Elf
Utopia Sprawl
Garruk Wildspeaker
Nissa Worldwaker
Elvish Archdruid
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Coiling Oracle (when pulls land off the top).
You will see from the "Example Goldfish" example that it is possible to have 15+ (I think it maxes out at 22) mana by turn 3 with this core.
DRAW CORE
Green decks have a tendency to run through their hand quite quickly (especially when ramping like we do). For this reason, all good green devotion decks require card draw. Fortunately for us, there are elves and devotion enablers that meet this criteria:
Elvish Visionary
Coiling Oracle
Abundant Growth
Genesis Wave *
The first three are simply cantrips. They replace themselves and add devotion (as well as an elf body in two cases). In some games; you will simply use Genesis Wave as a means to fill the board and trigger a few card draw triggers in the process).
While I've had more cantrips in the past (Horizon Canopy , Eidolon of Blossoms, etc.); I simply could not fit more into this deck, and 12 cantrips along with 4 Garruk Wildspeaker 's and 3 Genesis Wave 's should be ample "resource" advantage (not to mention each Primeval Titan adds two additional lands!). Also, when you are drawing and ramping quickly; you have to make sure you have enough win-cons to finish the game so you aren't simply cycling 20+ cards into nothing. It's a balance that can be difficult to keep. This deck feels pretty darn close if not perfect on this front.
The remainder of the description is an "Example Gold Fish" and sideboarding discussion; so please don't feel obligated to read further unless you are interested in a more in-depth analysis of the deck.
Example Gold-Fish Game
Turn One
Play Misty Rainforest fetching untapped Breeding Pool
Cast Arbor Elf
Turn Two / Devotion (1) Cards in Hand (6)
Play Forest
Cast Utopia Sprawl enchanting Forest
Tap Enchanted Forest for 2-green mana (2G)
Use Arbor Elf to untap Enchanted Forest.
Tap for 2G more (4G total)
Cast Garruk Wildspeaker
Use Garruk's +1 to untap both lands.
Cast second Utopia Sprawl on same Enchanted Forest.
Tap Enchanted Forest for 3G
Cast Elvish Visionary (draw a card)
Cast Utopia Sprawl (draw a card) enchanting Breeding Pool
Turn Three / Devotion (7) Cards in Hand (3)
Play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Tap Enchanted land for 3-G
Trigger Nykthos for 2G (float 1G) to add 7G to pool (8G total)
Use Garruk to untap both lands and do again for total of 16G.
Cast Genesis Wave for X=13
I won't list every card, but below I'll outline the important points.
An additional Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx was found.
One Craterhoof Behemoth was found.
One Ezuri, Renegade Leader was found.
4 cards were drawn off of Elvish Visionary , Abundant Growth , and Coiling Oracle triggers.
Another Garruk Wildspeaker was found.
A Nissa Worldwaker was found.
3 additional lands were found.
7 Total creatures on board (5 have summoning sickness)
Back to the turn....
Use two new lands to trigger new Nykthos. Devotion is 24 after Genisis Wave so this creates 24G.
Use new Garruk to untap enchanted Forest and Nykthos. Trigger again for 25G (49 total).
Use Nissa Worldwaker to untap Enchanted land and three other Forest cards for additional 6-G. (55 total).
Tap remaining open lands for 2G (57G total)
Cast Chord of Calling for 11G to grab second Craterhoof Behemoth .
Use remaining 46G to tigger Ezuri, Renegade Leader 9-times.
You now have two elves (not summoning sick) and two Craterhoofs that can attack (as they have haste).
Each elf is +27/+27 from Ezuri, +1/+1 from an Elvish Archdruid , +7/+7 from first craterhoof, and +8/+8 from second for total of +43/+43
One Craterhoof Behemoth is +15/+15 from both triggers and the other is +8/+8 from single trigger. In sum...
You Attack for 121 Trample Damage on Turn 3
While this is not a 100% "God Hand" (you can have an additional Utopia Sprawl Early. your wave can hit a few other better cards, etc.); it is close enough to show what the deck does at its best un-interrupted.
Sideboard
Because of the ample card draw and the use of Chord of Calling ; the sideboard can be utilized more as a "toolbox" than a "general" side board. You can run "one-of" creatures that can nuke other decks (like Phyrexian Revoker , Spellskite , Magus of the Moon , and Elderscale Wurm .) Card's I'm also testing with are Aegis of the Gods , Eidolon of Rhetoric , and others...
I won't go crazy in-depth and I'm not completely finished with it; but the following is the reasoning behind some of the card choices:
Scavenging Ooze - This card is great as dedicated graveyard hate in this deck as well as just a great creature! He can quickly eat up entire graveyards and is sided in against Living End, and Snapcaster Mage decks, and basically any deck that utilizes the graveyard.
Magus of the Moon - Our version of Blood Moon . This can steal games, and is great against decks like Scapeshift, Tron, and any deck that doesn't run Red :) This is a tough one; as it turns off our Utopia Sprawl 's, Kessig Wolf Run and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx after it is played; so you have to side and play accordingly (fetching basic Forests, siding out Utopia Sprawl , etc. Abundant Growth comes in quite handy here :)
Polukranos, World Eater - Oddly while I'm not a huge fan of this card in standard , I am currently using this in my board as my green "sweeper". Against decks like affinity, tokens decks, Zoo, UR Aggro, Jund, and Merfolk, you can quickly clear the board with his Monstrous ability. Also, as this deck has trouble with flyers, his ability can deal with them as well.
Spellskite - the "go-to" sideboard card in Modern. Great against control. Turns of Splinter Twin , destroys Boggles. Just all around GREAT card in modern. There is a lot of hate out there for him; but he is still great against many decks.
Viridian Shaman - This will be replaced with Reclamation Sage from M15 when it is released; however this is just basic artifact/enchantment removal As an elf, it can also synergize with other things such as Elvish Archdruid and Ezuri, Renegade Leader .
Elderscale Wurm - This is a powerful win con against any deck that deals damage to win (Storm, Scapeshift, Affinity, any fair deck, etc.). Even a Splinter Twin deck with 1 million pertermites can't do anything with them until they deal with the Wurm :) This is sided in quite a bit.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed - Great against Storm, Control, Boggles, and U/W enchantments (as well as Rack decks). Really, it's good against any non-creature based deck.
Phyrexian Revoker - great chord option to turn off any artifact or creature ability you don't like (Splinter Twin, Birthing Pod, and Affinity are all effected as well as numerous other cards...if its not a land and has an activated ability (less mana abilities); you can turn it off!
Privileged Position - The only non-creature card...this simply protects everything...my creatures, my lands, and my enchantments...in a very permanent-heavy deck; this is a great card. And it adds three devotion to boot!
The rest are either pretty straightforward, are "standard" Modern sideboard cards, or are not entirely "sure fits' yet. There are several slots that are "rotating slots" (i.e. when infect gets popular Melira comes in, Dosan when control is super popular, etc.) I literally have 30+ different sideboard options that vary as decks gain and fall in popularity :)
Summary
While there are many similar cards to my other builds; this deck does differ enough from my prior elf builds (which revolved around infinite mana counts and planeswalkers as win-cons) that I felt I should post it.
I also posted it simply because it is the deck I am currently playing in Modern and I feel it may be the best Green Devotion / Elf deck I've built to date. There's certainly more detailed play and more "lines of play" to think about (especially post board) Dreno33 and others will be happy to see that I went back to Arbor Elf over Elvish Mystic (as the number of elves is less important without Heritage Druid , etc....but I digress....)
As always, suggestions and comments are ALWAYS welcome; as are +1's! We can't thank everyone enough for your continued help in making our decks that much better. ^-^