Mono-Black Devotion
Owen Turtenwald
1st Place at Super Sunday Series Championship on 2/9/2014
The creatures all remain the same with Pack Rat into Nightveil Specter into Desecration Demon into Gray Merchant of Asphodel working up the curve. The manabase also remains entirely unchanging with full sets of Mutavault which double in the deck as rats to bolster Pack Rat and Temple of Deceit the chosen Scry land although the deck doesn’t run any blue spells per se. The draw/discard package again is no different with Underworld Connections to not only fuel the hand but also devotion count and Thoughtseize which is perhaps the most powerful turn one play in Standard at the moment. Now where we find the changes are in the removal suite that still has a full set of Hero’s Downfall but has eschewed Pharika’s Cure and scaled Devour Flesh down to two in order to squeeze in Born of the Gods new offering Bile Blight.
Creatures (16)
Other Spells (18)
Sideboard
Owen Turtenwald takes down the first standard tourney of the year with what is becoming his stock Mono-Black Devotion. What an excellent way for him to start off 2014 after having such an incredible run last year! Owen won two GPs back 2 back in completely different formats last November, one of them here using a solid Mono-Black Devotion build. There were also two winners at the SCG LA in December here, one from the Standard Open and the other the Invitational mixed Legacy with Standard. When we compare Owen’s list with the last three we showcased, we see it’s mostly streamlining the list to fight the metagame. He removed Erebos, God of the Dead from the main and opted for 3 in the sideboard, which is strong card advantage against control decks and stops life gain from Sphinx’s revelation. Adding more Pharika’s Cure against aggro decks like White Weenie and RDW to both remove and heal back a few life points, and finally a full set of Devour Flesh which is supremely useful against Blood Baron of Vizkopa. Mono Black Devotion shows that it is still one of the biggest contenders in the current Standard meta. I can’t wait to see how it holds up and gets further tweaked once Born of the Gods is released.
Creatures (17)
Other Spells (17)
Sideboard
Creatures (17)
Other Spells (17)
This weekends premier tournament results came through huge for Mono-Black Devotion in Standard. Not only was the SCG Standard Open won by MBD but it was the SCG Invitational winner as well. The two decks were 72 of 75 the same list with identical main deck compositions, and only minor meta calls for sideboard tweaks. There’s nothing groundbreaking about the deck but it has matured into a solid fighting machine. The opening of Thoughtseize into Pack Rat has been said by many to be the strongest one-two punch in standard right now. Follow that up with Nightveil Specter or Underworld Connections into Desecration Demon then a backbreaking Gray Merchant and most games can be over before your opponent has even begun. Of course not all games play out quite that perfect so the deck is packed with removal wielding full sets of both Devour Flesh and Hero’s Downfall with a singleton Pharika’s Cure. Speaking of singletons there is also a one of Erebos which still catches opponents with the no life gain clause while also supplying a steady stream of card advantage. The deck can also go all in on the Pack Rat strategy which often is the last permanent you cast once dropped on turn two and is backed up by Mutavault which as rats themselves also take opponents by surprise and turn trades into chumps. Not that we didn’t already know it but this deck will definitely be top tier at least until Journey to Nykthos. Let’s not forget Owen Turtenwald took down the Grand Prix Albuquerque with MBD last month.
Orzhov Control
Marlon Gutierrez
Sideboard
Grand Prix Dallas-Fort Worth Champion Marlon Gutierrez took down the tourney with a pretty spicy Orzhov Control deck. It is strikingly similar to an Orzhov list that we featured last week from GP Vienna. The list is actually exactly the same with the exception of 2 additional Dark Betrayal found in Marlon’s sideboard to combat MonoBlack, replacing a Shrivel and a Wear // Tear. Looks like we were right to keep the Orzhov Control list on our radar and just like the UW Planeswalker Control list we spotlighted last week it was able to climb to the top of the mountain. I doubt they will continue uncontested but we did see a shift in the metagame from a more aggressive field to a more control oriented one.
Creatures (14)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
Continuing along the devotion themed decks we have here one of the usual suspects with a little twist. While this deck is primarily a Black Devotion deck the Red splash does allow for some heavy extra action to be played. The creature package boasts some requisite faces with Specter into Demon into Merchant for the devastating life swings and a miser Erebos for value. The pair of Sire of Insanity can be a real beating especially against control decks when you can capitalize on a superior board presence and strip them of any answers they might have been holding back. A full set of Thoughtseize and a pair of Rakdos’s Return also work hard to restrict your opponent from having many good options left against you. The devotion count is supplemented by standard includes of Underworld Connections and Whip of Erebos which both work to boost your side with card advantage. The rest is a robust removal package geared heavily against both creatures and Planeswalkers with full sets of Hero’s Downfall and Dreadbore backed up with a pair of Mizzium Mortars. All in all this deck looks to have a very strong mid to late game plan and could slip in as an alternative to just straight MonoBlack lists that have been running amok.
Creatures (13)
Sideboard
Here we have an interesting control deck with lots of hand disruption, seven in the main with Sin Collector and possibly three more post Sideboard. Giving you plenty of useful information on your opponents, allowing you to plan out your winning strategy as you chip away his hand. This deck has a very strong removal suite with twelve total in the main, most of the time you already know what your opponents will be summoning so your answers are in hand. Orzhov Control is mostly black with a splash of white for Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Sin Collector less aggressive than its cousin Mono-Black Devotion. Blood Baron seems to be largely a meta call against a field of White weenie (Boros) and Mono-Black Devotion, while Sin Collector is another Duress on a stick. The Pack Rat has turned out to be quite a bomb in this season, otherwise it was just bane in Return To Ravnica Limited. The rats allow you to build an army very quickly with the help of Mutavault to pump them even more. Overall this looks like a solid deck that I’d Like to sleeve up and test it out versus Mono-Blue Devotion. Anyone had a running or tried out this deck please leave us some comments.
WOW !!! A huge congrats to Owen T with his back to back GP titles in two wildly different formats. This deck that he used to win the Standard GP was a real beaut to watch him pilot. The true MVP of this deck is a card that most held as an overpowered limited card, but not a huge constructed powerhouse. Owen showed how crazy Pack Rat can really play. A typical opening of turn one Thoughtseize into turn two Pack Rat often meant you were going to face down a plethora of rats in the next few turns, and activating Mutavaults buffs them as they are also rats. Not that this was the only line of play as turn three would often see Specter, turn four Demon and then turn five could have a potential 8 devotion Gray Merchant. And the one of Erebos is good for some card advantage but amazing at stopping opponents from regaining lost life, especially in the mirror match from their Gray Merchants. A full set of Underworld Connections makes sure that there is a steady stream of cards flowing to your hands at the cost of some minimal life points. The rest of the deck is a very powerful removal suite with Hero’s Downfall, Devour Flesh, Doom Blade and Ultimate Price to ensure there isn’t heavy resistance against your heavy beaters.
Mono-black Devotion
Brian Braun-Duin
Champion Grand Prix Louisville – Standard
Main Deck
60 cards
25 lands
15 creatures
20 other spells
Sideboard
15 sideboard cards
