Hello! First article on this new site, I think I’m going to be jotting down my thoughts here whenever the time presents itself.
I was a willing victim of Black devotion last time Gary (Gray Merchant of Asphodel) was in standard, and I’ve been hearing people hype it as a return to the glory days now that it is back. I’m not hear to stand on my soapbox and argue that the deck isn’t good, but rather to compare it to the deck of old, and see how we can effectively compare and replace some of the key cards that are missing.
Gary was actually getting cut towards the tail-end of the Theros format he was played in, he isn’t actually the powerhouse of the deck. The pinnacles of the deck were twofold: card advantage and resilience.
Card Advantage:
Thoughtsieze was legal the last time Gary was trolling around, often dealing with the few answers to cards like pack rat (more on this later). It made the deck have a fair to good matchup against everything, as even those who heavily interacted couldn’t always deal with your niche threats, or they were always a card behind. Plus the life loss was offset by Gary, so that’s just a bonus. Fortunately, Agonizing Remorse, aka Notsieze as coined by a friend of mine, just was given to us. I think this card should be a 3-4 of, certainly over cards like Lazotep Reaver that are appearing in early builds.
Underworld Connections held the deck together the last time around. Midrange was out-valued by it, Control struggled to keep up with it, and the mirrors were often decided by who drew it first. Once again, life-loss offset by Gary. Two standard cards do a great impression of this, Castle Locthawain and Bolas’ Citadel. Every game my opponent played Locthawain, it was significantly harder for me to win. The life loss never mattered, and they quickly buried even UW control in card advantage.
Citadel, if it hits the board, just ends the game, often representing 2-3 cards the turn it enters the battlefield. It’s worth noting that it’s a bit susceptible to Brazen Borrower and Teferi, time Raveler, but both those cards seem suboptimal against Mono B anyway. Play at least 2 of this main deck, and maybe another one in the board.
Swift End does a great Hero’s Downfall impression; it might even be better because it can add devotion later. If we are struggling with gods, or other resilient threats, Eat to Extinction might find a place eventually, but not yet.
Resilience:
Anyone who ever played against Pack Rat knew how demoralizing it was to have removal spells just be blank cards as the swarm grew and grew. Your sideboarded detention sphere gets tossed by a hand hate card. Felt real bad, and you die a turn or two later, god forbid they topdeck another one. But is it really topdecking when they draw 2-3 cards a turn.
Pack Rat is gone, but we got a new toy, and an old friend to call on. I don’t need to tell you to put Nightmare Shepard in your deck. A 4/4 Flier for 4 that blanks removal spells, or gives additional ETB effects is absolutely a beast of a card. It has to be dealt with the turn it enters, or it can get extremely out of control. Eventually if the banishing light dealt with the Shepard, it won’t deal with the citadel, and then it’s all over from there.
Scary threat #2 is our old friend Cauldron Familiar. The loop is just as good as ever in this deck, and not playing 4 cat and 4 oven is almost certainly incorrect. Extra cards and damage from Ayara, plus a difficult to interrupt, un-blockable damage source is still excellent. Because of escape, graveyard hate is going to be everywhere, so it might eventually be correct to cut the combo, but we could just keep it in the main, and board it out when they bring their hate in.
There are SO many directions this deck could go, and the toolbox is extremely large. Midnight Reaper (Which should already be a 4 of in the side), Erebos, Cavalier of Night, Rankle, etc. are all potential excellent hits for the deck depending on where the meta goes. We even have enchantment removal now if we get really desperate.
I’m really excited to see where this format goes, and hoping to maybe get in some more writing soon. Good luck with your prerelease!
Magic Musings 