GB Devotion by Michael Flores (Standard)

This deck is obviously templated off of Ross Merriam's Top 8 deck from that same Open; I basically swapped out a card I generally dislike ( Nissa, Worldwaker) for a card I think is very good [and is also trump] ( Garruk, Apex Predator). Garruk gives the deck an important way to interact with dangerous permanents like Stormbreath Dragon; Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker; or somebody else's Doomwake Giant.

I also added one copy of Bow of Nylea as a singleton; it can gain life (I anticipated some aggression from Jeskai or Boros across the tables), but also has a cute combo with Polukranos. You can gain deathtouch by attacking, then “spray” tons of the opponent's potential blockers with one-point pings.

Like I said, I anticipated aggro being something I had to beat, so built a heavily anti-aggro sideboard with Nylea's Disciple and Whip of Erebos (try Whipping out some Nylea's Disciples). After two tournaments with Devotion based decks, I can tell you that four copies of Setessan Tactics is probably one too many.

Will Elvish Mystic / Sylvan Caryatid / Courser of Kruphix continue to be the best foundation for a Standard deck?

I guess we'll find out this weekend!

Thanks for reading.

LOVE
MIKE