I’m not sure I like the mana-critter approach, although it may be the best option for a valid Standard deck. Board wipe (Pyroclasm/Fallout) isn’t super-prevalent right now, since everything seems to have 3-4 toughness, but I feel like it’s better to rely on permanents creatures that get more lands into play if possible. First, there’s a lot of creature removal out there, and second, getting two permanents for one card is great with WW, while mana birds/elves is mediocre at best.

That said, Lotus Cobra does seem like the most direct replacement for Fertile Ground in the two-drop slot, even if he is a giant target for removal. Khalni Heart Expedition is okay, but doesn’t accelerate you to your four-drops on three the way you want.

Borderland Ranger seems like a pretty solid option, too. In conjunction with Oracle of Mul Daya, he’s almost a strictly better Farhaven Elf, because you pretty quickly aren’t hitting all of your (extra) land drops when using the Oracle. He actually provides a good reason for running the one-drop mana elves, too, since they can accelerate him out on two instead of three.

A word about the Oracle. I’ve been running him in place of Bloodbraid, and I’m not entirely sure it’s an improvement. Bloodbraid is essentially mana accel, since (in my build) it only hits Fertile Ground/Trace or Farhaven Elf. I don’t know whether Bloodbraid is quite as solid with different early drops — cascading into an elf or a Khalni Heart Expedition doesn’t seem as good to me.

In contrast, while Oracle is great for playing lands and only drawing gas, it also tells your opponent what you’re drawing every turn. If you’re hitting nothing but creatures and lands then Warp World shows up on the top of your deck, you opponent knows it’s time to board wipe if possible. (Or to play Duress or other discard, if you don’t have mana to cast it yet.) Oracle is also pretty frustrating when you have something like Fertile Ground on top that you both can’t play via Oracle and that’s a weak draw for next turn.

@Sam: I would avoid Lightning Bolts and Harrows, since they’re blanks when you WW. Ob Nixilis is obviously nuts with WW, since he wins the game when you hit him, but I don’t own any and so I haven’t tested with him. I’d probably run two if I could, since even if you hit both with WW and they kill each other, their triggered effects are going to kill your opponent.

I am currently beating myself for not thinking of Oracle.
That was an awesome suggestion. I’ve played the cyclops but find a win more also. That’s not the real problem. I really hate seeing it in my hand. Not that it’s unplayable in hand it’s just I want to only play it after warping.

First, I really like the Ally version. I hadn’t even considered taking WW in that direction, but it looks like a lot of fun and has some early board presence with the Survivalists.

Second, I think you’re misrepresenting Emeria Angel’s value by counting 3 landfall triggers. That’s great for considering how many permanents you’ll have post-Warp, but you really want to know how many you’ll have pre-Warp, to know how much cardboard you’ll be putting into play. My goldfishing with Emeria Angel has been less than satisfactory.

Third, it seems like there are several good green four-drops that you’re ignoring. In my experience, Keeper of Progenitus has been an utter house, since you can usually make use of the mana far more effectively than your opponent(s). Oracle of Mul Daya is also pretty solid — you basically only ever draw gas while he’s on the board, and hit extra landfall triggers and accelerate mana (and permanent count) all at the same time. Ant Queen is also a decent one- or two-of, providing permanent advantage and a mana dump if the Keeper is on the board. I’ve actually thought of running WW as mono-green with just a splash of red for WW itself, but I haven’t tested it.

My original WW deck was RBG with a dragon theme, with Bogardan Hellkites, Broodmates, and a singleton Karrthus. Once Zendikar hit, I swapped out the Broodmates, Karrthus, and one of the Hellkites for a playset of Rampaging Baloths and a pair of Madrush Cyclops. The Cyclops is kind of a win-more card, but for casual play, it’s hard to beat Warping into it and swinging with a dozen or more 4/4 Beasts from your land-army.

I remember when I first heard the rumor that Harrow might come back. I was so hopeing for a Harrow “on a stick” like Sakura tribe elder did with Rampant Growth. That would be in this deck in a heartbeat. Maybe faster.

You know what would work best, I’m going back to doing the typie-type. I want to finish this Swedge article before it falls off the rack completely, then I gotta type up states for the lulz, then I’ll do something fun.

I would love to see that piece. it’s a very overlooked part of the game. We all once started without net decks and it was just more fun (in some ways)

I’m going to try switching Birds to Knights. We’ll see. Your scenario looks fun and it doesn’t switch my ratio any. The main bummer is Cobra dies so fast.

I want to write a follow-up to your article in the near future, talking about fun and how decks that don’t win all the time can be better to play than netdecks that win 90% of the time.

One dude that would be awesome in your deck is Knight of the Reliquary. Throw him out turn 3 right after lotus. They need to have a turn four Day of Judgement or and answer to Cobra or you’re going to Warp all over them. Here’s how it works in best case scenario. Land, Land Cobra, Land Knight, Land, tap land for mana, destroy land with Knight to pull a fetch land out, crack fetchland for a new land. Tap 3 for warp world. That’s 3 mana off Lotus Cobra and your choice of a turn 4 Warp World, turn 4 Balroth, or turn 4 anything else. Not only do you get to Warp for what should be a time of fun and awesome, but you also get to have every one of your Knights that come in after be a 4/4. You can easily accelerate out a Warp World per turn if you want in order to capitalize on your ridiculous Warp Ratio. Just a thought.