RG Mana Ramp *updated

Here is the updated version. This deck is pretty stinking fun. Deus is a great card. I can't figure out how I never noticed how good he is until now, which is too bad because I would have rocked him at FNM if I had only known. The Hellkite is pretty much the best combat trick wizards of the coast has ever printed. It's a four for one pretty much every time. Plus it clears away some little turns to ensure my deus gets in his 6 damage.

Sarkhan Vol got added. FoD did not. That may be a mistake on my part.

4x Llanwar Elves
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Rampant Growth
4x Lash Out
4x Farhaven Elf
3x Garruk
3x Sarkhan Vol
4x Primal Command
4x Deus of Calamity
3x Bogardan Hellkite
23 lands


Sideboard
4x Guttural Response
3x Murderous Redcap
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Spellbreaker Behemoth

RWG, updated. Kind of.

So I'm thinking of trying to keep a current standard deck without having to buy a bunch of new cards. My RWG deck still has some punch, I think. It is full of good cards. I haven't used it in a standard tournament in about six months. It might be a little behind in the times, especially with the pain lands going out. So I've been looking over the decklist. I haven't decided on one slot, but I feel pretty good about the rest of it. What do you all think?


4x w/r figure of destiny
3x g birds of paradise
4x 1g elvish visionary
4x 1g bloom tender
4x rgw naya charm
4x rgw wooly thoctar
3x 2gg garruk wildspeaker
3x 2rw ajani vengeant
2x 2rg sarkhan vol
2x 2ww elspeth, knight-errant
3x 3rgw realm razor

lands
4x jungle shrine
4x rootbound crag
4x sunpetal grove
4x reflecting pool
2x fire-lit thicket
2x rugged prarie
2x forest
1x mountain
1x plains

sideboard
3x 1gw dauntless escort
4x 2w oblivion ring
4x 2gg chamaleon colussus
4x gw qasali pridemage


So I'm not completely set on Elvish Visionary. I've tried to carefully consider everything that costs one or two mana in the current standard build (trying to avoid lorwyn, since it won't be in much longer) and here is the short list I've come up with.

creatures:
1g elvish visionary
g noble hierarch
gr naya hushblade
gr rip-clan crasher
1r sparkmage apprentice
g wild nacatl
rw ceradon yearling
gr jund hackblade

removal:
wr sangrite backlash
w path to exile

combat tricks:
gr colossal might
w harms way

card advantage:
r/g fossil find
gw reborn hope

interesting:
w silence

Creatures seem to be the immediate need and most glaring lack in this current decklist. I have lots of great cards, and not a lot of creatures. Card advantage is a big lack, also. That's why I decided on the elvish visionary. But what about something weird like Silence, or Fossil Find, both interesting choices for 1 mana. Harms Way and Colossal Might are both good, but I fear they aren't great in this deck because I don't automatically have creatures to play every turn, so I'm afraid I'll be holding a colossal might and not have any creatures to play it on. On the other hand, giving my wooly thoctar trample, and pumping his toughness and strength to keep him alive, that could be useful. But I'm thinking not useful enough. I need something good, really good. And after lack of creatures in my decklist is lack of removal. That is fine, since hopefully I'll mana ramp into my combo and kill my opponent before they can get out any win conditions. But that is a best case scenario.

That all gets me back to Card Advantage to enable the combo (elvish visionary) and creatures to help my planeswalkers, or REMOVAL, so my topdeck sarkhan vol doesn't die the next turn. Which means I need Path to Exile main deck.

So there it is. I'm pretty much going to have to decide between path or visionary, and I don't know what the right choice is.

Thoughts? Maybe you have a better more perfect card in mind? Am I even right to think the maindeck is otherwise a solid foundation?

******

(edit, drok's suggested decklist) Just to get this on the front page:

Creatures:
4x figure of destiny
4x Bloom Tender
4x Wooly Thoctar
3x Realm Razor

Planeswalkers:
3x Garruk, Wildspeaker
3x Ajani Vengeant
2x Sarkhan Vol
2x Elspeth, Knight Errant

Spells:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
3x Martial Coup

Lands:
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Forest
4x Plains
3x Mountains

Challenge of the Week: Protean Hydra

Protean Hydra XG
Creature - Hydra Mythic Rare
Protean Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to Protean Hydra, prevent that damage and remove that many +1/+1 counters from it.
Whenever a +1/+1 counter is removed from Protean Hydra, put two +1/+1 counters on it at the beginning of the end step.
Illus. Jim Murray 0/0

I figure there are a couple of ways to try to abuse this guy. After about four seconds of careful consideration, I decided mana ramp to go with mana ramp and (edited) clear the board with lots of board clearers............and a couple of reckless planeswalkers, Chandra Nalaar and Sarkhan Vol.

And I have combat tricks! Jund Charm gives my boy 2 extra counters to get removed!

Volcanic Fallout and Lavalanche can't really be considered combat tricks, but it can be considered da bomb. Hopefully these will work like Prized Unicorn by clearing out the blockers, but not actually suck. Like Prized Unicorn.

Chandra can be a win condition by herself, but she also makes my hydra a little bigger in the process, or helps get extra damage so a fallout can take care of business.

Sarkhan doesn't quite fit the synergy of what's happening here with the hydra, so I gave him a goblin assault. Plus, he's a game winner.

The Hellkite is cool because I can do it at flash speed. I'm pretty sure I can wait until the hydra's ability goes to the stack at the beginning of the end step, flash in a hellkite removing creatures and hitting my own hydra a couple times, then add some counters. Right? Plus this guy is a finisher.

Thirnax is a beast, and banefire is yet another finisher.

4x Rampant Growth
4x Jund Charm
4x Farhaven Elf
4x Volcanic Fallout
4x Sprouting Thirnax
4x Protean Hyrda
2x Sarkhan Vol
3x Chandra Nalaar
2x Bogardan Hellkite
2x Banefire
3x Lavalanche
4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Rootbound Crag
9x Forest
5x Mountain
2x Swamp

too bad story circle went out

4x goldenglow moth
3x mesa enchantress
2x dawnfluke
4x harm's way
4x inquisitor's snare
1x cradle of vitality
1x sigil of the empty throne
4x holy strength
4x honor of the pure
2x indestructability
3x elspeth, knight-errant
3x ajani goldmane


So the idea is to get down some awful creature like goldglow moth, then keep playing bad spells in an effort to stay alive long enough to get elspeth and/or ajani out. With ajani your creatures can have vigilance, and elspeth means they will never get to kill your moth.

Dawnfluke is in there because it is the only creature I would draft AFTER goldenglow moth, so i figured if it didn't make it into this decklist, it would never be in any deck at all. Plus, it adds to the fun of beating people down with bad cards.

Now if i had only built this deck a year ago, i could have had ajani and elspeth AND story circle, which would have been fun mono-white fog. But alas, it isn't a M10 card...

Tell me this isn't the worst deck you've ever seen?