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Perhaps I'm off here, but I can see where you would be better suited trying to adapt it toward a more Grixis shell to take advantage of better removal and a more solid creature base.  To be honest I'm looking forward to the Rakdos scry land and such from Born to be able to make a better Rakdos control with Sire of Insanity (who I've loved since his spoiling).

That aside, the deck seems so counter-productive in how it's setup that a singleton Desecration Demon would just beat you.  Young Pyromancer works just fine, except for the fact that Anger wipes out him and all the little guys you've worked so hard to spit out.  What does that leave you with?  Some overcosted land hate (Wizards realized land destruction at the three spot was pretty mean), 3x Ember Swallowers, and Hammer of Purphoros.

Maybe it's the sort of deck you need to play to follow but I just don't see where it stacks up successfully in a format so filled with ramp, devotion, and mana dorks.  The only reason I could justify Ember Swallower at the moment is in R/G Devotion because it could actually go off on T4... leaving both players with only one land and you happily sitting on a 7/8.  Sorry...

So the first thought would be to just proxy them to see how it plays.  If you can get in some casual games that'll let you see if you like the feel for them in the deck and if it's worth shelling out the cash.  They're certainly a good investment as Mutavault sees a fair bit of play across formats... so there's that.

Personally, I know it's a good card and I definitely see where it does work for mono-black letting them further pump their Pack Rats but if I were to do my take on mono-blue I certainly wouldn't be putting Mutavault in there.  Think about it, mono-black wants a LOT of black symbols, but they aren't really making that many plays until turn 3 or later, so a Mutavault & Swamp draw doesn't stick them in a bad spot.  Mono-blue, on the other hand, NEEDS to be able to hit those double blues on T2 - Tidebinder Mage, Frostburn Weird, etc... if you were to draw 2x Mutavault for lands... well... you're sitting there ignoring 95% of the deck for a couple of 2/2 lands.  That's not exactly ideal if you were to ask me.

I would likely cut them for 2-3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx as you can really just forge into tons of mana and, given the card advantage you're likely to enjoy care of Bident of Thassa and Jace, AOT, you can use that mana to further drop your hand G/R Devotion style.  Obviously that's not ideal for a control matchup, but against almost everyone else you'll be able to drop more stuff, faster, as you can replenish your hand while they really can't.

For control, counters and/or Cyclonic Rift are your best bet.  You're already sitting on the majority of the pieces out there in the sideboard.

I would suggest; however, making a slight change in that both Hands of Binding and Jace, Memory Adept are unlikely to really give you much value.  You would be better suited with Domestication or just plain draw spells like Divination or Opportunity.  Aside from those changes... just read up man, there's a TON out there on how to run the thing and it seems like a pretty linear deck without too many different lines of play.

Is this deck meant for casual play?  Competitive play (at an FNM)?  Do you have a format you're looking to stay in?  Do you have a budget you're willing to spend to improve it?

What is the plan behind the deck?  How do you envision winning the game?  If you were to think up an ideal first hand, what would it look like and how would your first few turns play out?

The more info you can give us on the deck, the more likely we can provide useful, meaningful feedback.

So first off, for anyone who hasn't seen the link to Kiora, you can see her here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/a … eature/279 (I'll also link in the General Discussion forums).

Now to the two brews you've pieced together, I think the BUG list has a lot more promise than the RUG one.  As much as it pains me, Ral Zarek really just doesn't get the job done and Xenagos, the Reveler is really at his best when you flood the board (see G/R devotion).  You have less removal, less quality removal, and really not much of a win con there.  In the BUG list, you're focusing a bit too much on the walkers, leaving some of the prime creatures in those colors on the sidelines... Reaper of the Wilds, Desecration Demon, Prophet of Kruphix, Polukranos, Prime Speaker Zegana, etc... So to that end I think there's some real promise in that area and that a solid mid-range deck is left to be brewed (you can see my current BUG list that I'm considering taking to GP Vancouver here: http://deckbox.org/sets/540787).

All that being said, I'm thinking Kiora will be best suited in a creature based build rather than control.  Her +1 is solid protection against a single target, but really won't do much if you don't have other critters there to run interference against a clogged board (the starting two loyalty doesn't help either as only 3 loyalty is pretty easy to pick off).  Explore on a stick SCREAMS to use some mana dorks, draw spells, and some HUGE beaters... so I'm thinking something fun like Shipbreaker Kraken, Arbor Colossus, Polukranos and whatnot... but we've also yet to see how the demigods will shape up and such... so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.  I can say that she works rather nicely with Horizon Chimera... so that could be a thing.  If you really want, she could be a nice addition to Maze's End comically enough...

A few cards I'd consider:

Jace, AOT... he's kinda a solid piece in the sense that his +1 ability will often let you swing without as much fear that the opponent will deal meaningful damage on the crack-back... the card advantage is just gravy.

Domestication - outside of a few problem creatures, this will take a LOT of their stuff and add to your devotion count.

Strionic Resonator - so here's your outside the box card... it lets you copy any triggered abilities (which means any ETB abilities)... so consider the following scenario, you have four blue devotion on the field and six mana at your disposal... Do you a) play another spell and drop Master of Waves to produce five elemental tokens OR b) drop Master of Waves and then copy his ETB ability with the Resonator, in turn creating TEN elemental tokens?  It can also copy Tidebinder Mage, Bident of Thassa, Thassa's scry trigger, and things of that nature... so depending on what other pieces you have in there, you could actually have all sorts of neat new interactions.

All that being said, I think there's still a TON of room to be innovative in the format.  Look at the Japanese decklists from their GP this last weekend, where an Esper aggro/midrange deck actually came in second... everyone sees Esper and assumes control... but nope!  So to that end, there's still quite a bit of leeway, especially with everyone hopping on the same 5-7 decklist bandwagons.  I have a friend who is trying to run U/B devotion with BOTH Master of Waves and Gray Merchant... to say the least Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a LOT stronger than people give it credit for.  I'm also tinkering through a BUG midrange deck and my GF and I recently discovered that Worldspine Wurm of all things is an absolute all-star in G/R devotion... so don't jump ship too early... there are a LOT of options out there and the format is going to change in just about a month anyway.

Keep brewin' man!

Simply put, flooding the board.  If you can resolve more threats than they can shoot out removal spells, you have a chance.  Typically mono black gets hammered pretty hard by aggressive decks as it normally takes them a while to stabilize the board.

So think low CMC critters that pressure them.... double up on one-drops and two-drops as every time they have to spend three to Hero's Downfall your one or two drop, you're gaining advantage in terms of mana spent, and, in turn, tempo...

If the link is still the same as in the OP with the updated build I'll take another look to see if there's anything that can help in that matchup.

Vorel and Biomass Mutation could easily be pulled for Cyclonic Rift and Rapid Hybridization.  Remember that you'll need to remove at least some threats on the opponent's side.

Okay, so to clarify, you're saying this will be played at FNMs and your local FNM features several of the top tier decks, so some combination of mono-blue devotion, mono-black devotion, boros devotion, U/W control, and esper control?

If I'm reading that right, I'm not entirely sure I see how you're performing well.  As it stands the deck is currently far too frayed across a smattering of non-optimal creatures and 1-offs.  Remember that consistency is one of the hallmarks of a great deck.  Now this doesn't mean you need to just drop to a collection of 4x cards, but you should strive toward something like that and very few, if any, 1-offs. 

So, how do you improve this to a better, more competitive deck (remember, I'm assuming you're going to be facing the tier 1 decks)?  Well, at current there are a few green strategies that have been demonstrated to work effectively: green devotion, naya hexproof (Frank Lepore JUST did a piece on this Friday Dec 20th), Selesnya Aggro, and I even saw a Selesnya Heroic deck that did alright the other day.  But, from the look of the creatures you're using, you want to do something a bit different - which is quite alright, as long as you recognize that you probably will not be as successful against the tier 1 decks as you might want.

Cards I would suggest dropping and finding replacements for:

Centaur's Herald - This really doesn't do much for you.  If you want centaurs, you can get them via Call of the Conclave on T2 easily.  If you want a 1 drop other than Mystic to do something, Experiment One is a better option (and one that fits your +1/+1 counters idea better anyway).

Vastwood Hydra - If you're looking for a hydra to play, Polukranos, Mistcutter, and Kalonian are all just better options.

Voice of Resurgence - doesn't really fit your plan AND can be trade bait for a LOT of pieces you might want to finish off a deck.

Centaur Healer - good SB card, normally not in the maindeck

Renegade Krasis - a decent card for EDH and the like, but it's unlikely to evolve more than once in a constructed setting (unfortunately)

Wayfaring Temple - also a decent card in other formats, but given the lack of token generation here, you don't really need the populate, nor are you likely going to be making him all that big as he's an easy target early on.  That being said, if you want to stick with him, you'll need more.

Sylvan Primordial - This is another decent SB card or potentially something you would manage in a devotion deck where mana is in major abundance, but as your deck stands, it'll take forever to cast this guy, likely dropping him after the game is pretty much decided.

Trostani's Summoner - I could see this guy in some sort of a reanimator build going forward, but you never really want to be hard casting a 7-drop that doesn't just end the game.

Druid's Deliverance - I'm normally a big fan of Fog effects, but I don't really see it fitting the strategy all that well...

The artifacts - I'm not entirely sure I can see justification for any of these unless you're looking for some weird combo off Strionic Resonator.

Verdant Haven - great for sealed and draft play, not so much for constructed (unless you're in need of enchantments for some new version of Pillow Fort).

Angelic Accord - Outside of Elixir and Centaur Healer you have zero life gain, meaning this card will almost NEVER trigger.  So why use the space?

So that's nearly the whole deck that's sub-optimal (sorry... but you said tier 1 competition).

What cards do you add to make this better?  Thankfully there are a lot of good options to choose from given the colors you're in.

+4 Experiment One - evolves, fits the counters, good early game pressure

+4 Kalonian Tusker - pressures the board, triggers evolve on both Exp and Gyre Sage.  As an aside, at the two drop you can also use things like Precinct Captain, Call of the Conclave, and Fleecemane Lion

+4 Fleecemane Lion - they're SUPER cheap at the moment (and will go up with Born of the Gods), provide more pressure, more evolve triggers, can be made into indestructible, hexproof beat-sticks (and consequently AMAZING targets for Unflinching Courage)

+ X Witchstalker - a solid option at three, gives you hexproof, a solid body, some hate against control, etc some number would be good, although I don't know that I would go a full 4x... perhaps 3... then again, he might just be for the SB if you want to go a heroic route.

+ 1-2 Kalonian Hydra - I know they're pricey, but this guy is your ace in the hole, so to speak, as one that resolves and gets to swing will frequently win you the game.  The full suite of 4 would be ideal, but let's not go overboard here.

I don't want to flood you out on the top end, but really this is where Green shines - Polukranos and Arbor Colossus are both solid options to consider as well.  If you're into counters, white really shines with Heroic guys  - think Favored Hoplite and especially Phalanx Leader.

Flesh out the other creatures I didn't mention dropping, Gyre Sage, Scavenging Ooze, Crowned Ceratok.  You'll definitely want a second copy of Nylea, God of the Hunt.

What else do we add?  Well, you need two things out of the rest of your cards - the ability to put some more +1/+1 counters for creatures that wouldn't get them on their own out there AND some protection for your major win cons.

+X Common Bond - if you go with heroic guys, this becomes a HUGE pump spell, but otherwise it can be a combat trick, it can add counters to guys who otherwise wouldn't get them, etc etc.  In a worst case scenario, you can use it during the opponent's end-step to force grow your Gyre Sage into producing two more mana the next turn (to drop a hydra for instance).

+X Ranger's Guile/Gods Willing - given the integral role Kalonian Hydra is going to play here, it's kind of a big deal to make sure he lives.  Either card will provide some protection, although Willing gives you more options so it's probably the better card to use here

+2 Bow of Nylea - makes even the smallest mana dork into a deathtouch threat AND can put counters on your guys.  Probably not the best card in the world, but it's worth a shot.

+X Some sort of removal option - could be Selesnya Charm for BIG opposing threats, Celestial Flare, Renounce the Guilds (although this probably isn't ideal given the devotion decks running around), Last Breath, Pit Fight, Pacifism... something.  The point is that you WILL need to interact with the opponent's side of the board given the speed of your plan.

Other cards to consider in some quantity:

Forced Adaptation - not an ideal option, but hey, it's cheap, counters are added... toss it on a mana dork and force them to use a removal spell on it... sure you get two-for-one'd, but that's one fewer removal spell to worry about...

Nylea's Presence - if you're hard up for color fixing this is a better option than Verdant Haven as it replaces itself in your hand via the cantrip.

Garruk, Caller of Beasts - he'd be a HUGE boost, but I recognize he's probably not a realistic option

Mending Touch - regeneration can be huge quite often

Spear of Heliod - not really what you're doing as they're not counters, but anthems are typically pretty good

For the land, adjust once you have the rest of the build pieced together, but you probably will want to splurge for at least 2x Temple Garden.  You're really at a disadvantage until Born of the Gods brings the Selesnya Temple.

In the sideboard you can easily add specific hate for various cards, Pithing Needle, Sylvan Primordial, Bramblecrush, Riot Control, Nylea's Disciple, etc.

I don't know that the numbers I gave you above work out to a complete deck (they're probably off by a few cards), but the point I'm making is that you REALLY have to focus on a single strategy and run with it.  The deck as currently constructed is just too fragmented to really be that effective.  If you want to go a counters route, there's probably a fun build in there that might catch some opponent's off guard, and could even be king of an FNM scene (although unlikely against Tier 1 competition).  But, having said all of that, you said you've been quite successful with the deck thus far, so I would imagine the tweaks I've suggested above will push you leaps and bounds in the right direction.

I hope some of this can be helpful.  I know it looks expensive, but I'd wager that if you're crafty, you can make 90% of the changes I've suggested for $40ish (which also happens to be the trade value of Voice...).

Good luck!

I almost completely forgot... another good piece to add is Ruric Thar, the Unbowed.  He's a solid SB option for the most part, but he REALLY plays into your strategy as he pressures the board (he will frequently be the largest creature out there given the speed with which you ramp into it) AND he locks down the opponents who rely on non-creature spells to keep them in the game - in the worst case scenario, it's a six point burn spell.

I'm actually in the exact same boat... Revised through the start of Mirage and took a break until Avacyn Restored.  I almost crapped my pants when I saw that Force of Will runs $60+ these days and the original dual lands are almost all $100+.