Ambuscade
Removal at common is becoming a lot more...well...common. Ambuscade is a great example of a great removal spell for green. It's three mana so it's fairly cheap, it's instant speed, it pumps your creature so you have a little bit extra when dealing combat damage and it can take out an opposing creature, making the pump even more relevant. You will always get your mileage out of Ambuscade in limited every time you play it and it's easily splashable.
Beneath The Sands
Rampant Growth was a little too good at two mana, allowing you to skip ahead a turn and get a lot of advantage out of it. Beneath The Sands allows you to search for a basic land but costs one more mana then Rampant Growth which is going to be fine most of the time but for those times it isn't, it also comes with Cycling for two mana giving you a slimmer chance of finding a land or just something with a little more impact on the situation. Like I said, it's fine for limited at three mana but there is a lot going on at three in constructed making it a little pushed out.
Bitterbow Sharpshooters
A good green top end creature for limited. It's not mana intensive so it's easy to splash, it blocks well on the ground and in the air and attacks decently as well.
Devotee Of Strength
Devotee Of Strength is a great mana sink in limited, it may be five mana to activate but being able to save a creature of your choice from combat or maybe even just to trade with another will be worth it, and you can always use its ability to get those final points of damage through. In the late game you could even use Devotee's ability multiple times which would just make combat almost impossible to navigate. As I said in limited it's brilliant, constructed not so much as it has no immediate impact and is quite a mana devotion, no pun intended.
Dune Diviner
Not a big fan of this card, it's a fine creature as a 2/3 for three but the effect is awful. If you really need the one life then go for it but you are spending two mana for one life and you have to have a Desert to tap as well. Obviously only for limited.
Feral Prowler
A great blocker and it nets you a card, what more could you want. Dropping Feral Prowler on turn two makes the next few turns of combat a little awkward as it will probably need a couple of creatures or a creature and a removal spell to deal with it. It's just a bit out of Magma Spray range, which is good otherwise it's effect wouldn't be any good, but other than that your opponent probably won't want to waste a better removal spell on it. Feral Prowler will do some work in limited and in multiples could be good card advantage.
Frilled Sandwalla
Basking Rootwalla's back, albeit without Madness, in all it's glory. The effect is fine in limited even though you can only use it once per turn but that does mean you can use it once in your turn and once in your opponents, providing you can untap it or give it Vigilance.
Gift Of Strength
A two mana Giant Growth with the addition of giving the creature Reach. I like this card because it can be used as just a normal pump spell to save your creature, trade with another or as extra points of damage to win or as a combat trick to get their flyer. I'm sure you'll play this all the time in limited and it could even see constructed play.
Harrier Naga
It's a three mana 3/3, you're going to play it in limited if you have nothing better and at worst it's a fairly aggressive creature.
Hope Tender
Bears with upside are great. A two mana 2/2 is playable pretty much every time in limited and when it can untap some lands that's a good ramp strategy right there. Even if you're not going to use the ability it's still an on curve creature. Hope Tender will see a bit of play in limited and I could even see it breaking into constructed as it allows you to go from turn two to turn four fairly nicely.
Hour Of Promise
I think Hour Of Promise is going to be a big hitter in both limited and constructed. Obviously it's massive advantage in limited, gaining you two lands and providing you with two 2/2 bodies, but If you can hear your deck a bit more towards in for constructed it could end up being in a top tier deck. Keep in mind that Hour Of Promise doesn't specify basic lands, so you can go and get dual lands or utility lands, mainly though you can go and get Deserts to enable to second half of Hour Of Promise giving you two 2/2 zombies. I can see so much potential with this card especially because it only requires one green mana, so you can splash it really easily. I am going to keep my eye on this and definitely try it out in constructed over the next couple of months.
Life Goes On
Meh, this card is fine I guess, not the best, not the worst. The problem with life gain spells is that you could always be doing something more, even if it was just a vanilla creature, that's still more proactive than prolonging your life for another turn. Costing one mana does make it a little better in limited but I think Life Goes On is going to be cutable every time.
Majestic Myriarch
What a creature. OK, so on it's own it's a five mana 2/2 with no abilities but the minute you one more creature, hopefully with an ability like Flying, it becomes a 4/4 with Flying. Add a creature with say First Strike and it's a 6/6 with First Strike and Flying and so on. Majestic Myriarch is a bomb in limited just because of the versatility and I could see an argument for it in constructed however I think the lack of immediate impact could keep it on the bench.
Nissa's Defeat
Nissa's Defeat is the last in the "Defeat" cycle of cards and arguably the weakest of them. It's a three mana sorcery meaning it's already fighting the three spot with a lot of other things and it's not even fast, but beyond that the effect isn't very powerful obviously restricting you to green for a start and only allowing you to hit a forest, green planeswalker or green enchantment. Now if you do hit a Nissa planeswalker you do get to draw a card but I think it's a little bit of a hoop to jump through just for a card when you have other card that can draw you more than one card for less mana. If Nissa becomes a more played planeswalker then it could be a good sideboard card but I don't see this being played in constructed or even limited.
Oasis Ritualist
This is a great ramp creature for limited, yes it's four mana but being able to jump from four to seven is going to be a real thing in limited and it fixes your mana for those times when you're splashing a third or maybe even fourth colour. Oasis Ritualist also blocks really well and can deal with the odd creature in combat now and again. Great in limited but not for constructed unfortunately.
Overcome
It's Overrun but easier to cast and because of that it gives you one less power and toughness. It's fine, you're going to play it in limited as it can just close a game out most of the time but it won't see play in constructed as it's a lot of mana and could be countered or your creatures could just be dealt with more consistently.
Pride Sovereign
Cat tribal could be a real thing with a creature like Pride Sovereign. It's not a lord but it does provide you with the ability to gain two more cats, with Lifelink, every other turn making Pride Sovereign a real threat. A bomb in limited as it needs to be dealt with or it could get out of control and I would love to try this in constructed because it gives you a fair bit of value, no immediate impact but still something to worry about.
Quarry Beetle
Most of the time I think you're coming to be casting Quarry Beetle in limited as a five mana 4/5 which is really good; hard to block and survive and great on the offense. With all the Cycling deserts in Hour Of Devastation, I'm sure you will have a land in your graveyard to get maximum value out of Quarry Beetle, and keep in mind the land doesn't enter the battlefield tapped, so you could even more value by being able to cast an additional spell. Probably not for constructed as it's pretty costly.
Rampaging Hippo
It's a hippo; it's big, sits on your top end and will be great in combat. Just in case you don't think you can get to six in time however, it also Cycles allowing you to find something a little easier to cast.
Ramunap Excavator
Crucible Of Worlds on legs. Hopefully you will get some value out of Ramunap Excavator before it dies, and it will probably die quickly as being able to get even just one land out of your graveyard gets you some card advantage. It's easier to remove creatures than it is to remove artifacts and for that reason I think Ramunap Excavator will see a little constructed play but I think will ultimately get squeezed out, in limited it's brilliant because not only is it possible advantage, the body is more relevant as well.
Ramunap Hydra
There is a lot going on with this card; Vigilance, Reach and Trample and that's just for starters. All of these keywords make Ramunap Hydra a very aggressive attacking and blocking creature, but it gets better. Just for having a Desert in play, and I'm sure you will, Ramuap Hydra gets +1/+1 turning it into a four mana 4/4 Vigilance, Reach and Trample which you will always play, and then for having another Desert in your graveyard it gets another +1/+1 sending it more above the curve. You play this in limited all the time and I could see an argument for it in constructed, though it has no immediate impact it does give you a lot of board presence.
Resilient Khenra
So as a 2/2 for two with abilities, Resilient Khenra is above average. Being able to give a creature +2/+2 in addition to having a 2/2 body is good and if you can find a way to either return it to your hand or blink it then you can get a lot of value out of it making your creatures big enough to survive combat situations. When you Eternalise it though it gives you a 4/4 and a creature +4/+4 which could easily be enough to close out a game and just for six mana. I think it's going to do a lot of work in limited and could see a one or two of play in constructed but it's very aggressive and does need another creature in play to get maximum value out of it.
Rhonas's Last Stand
In my opinion, the most powerful of the "Last" cycle of cards. Rhonas's Last Stand is the only one that you want to play early and would be happy to not play a turn three because you have a 5/4 for two mana, although with the loss of your turn three it does essentially cost four mana five if you don't have a one drop. I think Rhonas's Last Stand could be good for a midrange deck that's looking for value cards or in a deck that can play it off of artifacts or creatures to save the lands from not untapping and even then it does mean you can't play anything else in that turn. A bomb in limited as it's just a hard creature to deal with in combat.
Rhonas's Stalwart
This value bear is great in limited because it gets around a lot of the early creature drops and hits for three damage, that is every other turn but it's going to add up and in multiples Rhonas's Stalwart could make light work of your opponents life total.
Sidewinder Naga
More value creatures. Sidewinder Naga is a good three drop 3/2 as it is on curve and just for having a Desert in play, or in your graveyard, it becomes a 4/2 with Trample, making it harder to block and more likely to trade up. You're gonna love this in limited but no space for it in constructed.
Sifter Wurm
First things first, it's a big creature in green and the perfect one for your top end in limited. Additionally you're going to play this because not only does it stop ground attackers nicely but it could also buy you another turn or two and nets you more information. Scrying 3 is a powerful effect as you can manipulate the top three cards of your library meaning for example, if you find another high cost spell you can put it to the top and gain a bunch of life. If that's not what you're after though you can put something on top suitable for next turn and maybe gain less life. Ultimately you can Scry them all to the bottom and go in blind which might sound like you're back at square one but you have just put three duds on the bottom of your library, increasing the chance of drawing something more useful. You play this in limited almost always as your one top end card but it's too highly costed for constructed even though the immediate impact could be valuable.
Tenacious Hunter
This is a fantastic creature for limited. A four mana 4/4 with no drawback is already more than good enough to make the cut, but one that also gains Deathtouch and Vigilance is just insane. And the sweetest part of all, the -1/-1 counter required to enable to Vigilance and Deathtouch doesn't have to be on itself, hell it doesn't even have to be on a creature you control, just a general creature. Tenacious Hunter is going to do work for your in limited as it makes attacking really difficult while also allowing you be a bit more aggressive.
Unchanged The Menagerie
This card is just crying out Combo! Weird Harvest let both players do this without the restriction of the creatures having different names for the same mana cost, yes it might be a bit of a hindrance in theory but you gear your deck to deal with that by playing enough similar effects on creatures with different names. In limited it's a card advantage bomb, being able to pay three mana just to tutor up a creature is amazing and it just gets better from there.
Nissa, Genesis Mage
Planeswalkers are fine, they're fairly powerful just because you get to abuse another resource every turn. The intro deck planeswalkers tend to be a little but weaker, being intended to be the big top end or star player of the intro decks. Nissa's first ability is good, netting you two extra mana and giving up to two creatures you control sudo Vigilance, her second ability is powerful but I think it could have been pushed a little more and given the creature Trample. Lastly, she gives you free creatures and lands, untapped, by digging through the top ten cards of your library which is very powerful but it does come at the cost of ten loyalty, so you have to use the first ability three whole times to get anywhere near it and that's providing she hasn't been attacked or taken damage. As I said, planeswalkers are powerful but on the scale of them, Nissa, Genesis Mage isn't high up.
Avid Reclaimer
Another card to appear in the intro deck, Avid Reclaimer quite nicely helps you get to Nissa. And when you get there you can start gaining two life a turn as long as Nissa stays in play helping you survive long enough to get to her ultimate. At two mana Avid Reclaimer would be a little too good and be constructed playable, but as it is it's a functional, flavorful card.
Brambleweft Behemoth
A six mana 6/6 with Trample. It's big, it hits hard and gives you so much board position, not much more to say.
Finally,
Nissa's Encouragement
Nissa's Encouragement gives you a nice bit of card advantage for the intro deck. It's five mana, so it's fairly easy to get to cast, and it can bet you up to three cards, both giving you action and thinning your deck and the cards it allows you to find however specific, are going to be great over the next two turns.
So that concludes our look at the green cards of Hour Of Devastation, stay tuned to Game Changers for the Multicoloured and Aftermath cards after which will be the final article looking at the Artifacts and Lands.
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