Hello folks, and welcome back to the column that investigates various aspects of the casual world. Today I want to discuss the Divine Vs. Demonic decks after having played with them after I got the set from my order with StarCityGames. Luckily, I have a few staff who like the occasional game of Magic, so I was able to get some games in with the new decks, facing off against each other.
Today, I wanted to talk about the decks after having played them, sharing my impressions, what I like, what I don’t like, and then, as always, make some controversial changes that will guarantee comments in the forums.
Without further ado, let’s start.
Demonic
24 Swamp
2 Barren Moor
1 Lord of the Pit
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Foul Imp
1 Daggerclaw Imp
2 Dusk Imp
2 Overeager Apprentice
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Soot Imp
2 Demon’s Jester
1 Souldrinker
1 Abyssal Specter
1 Cackling Imp
1 Fallen Angel
1 Reiver Demon
1 Kuro, Pitlord
2 Dark Ritual
1 Duress
2 Unholy Strength
1 Cruel Edict
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dark Banishing
1 Oni Possession
1 Barter in Blood
2 Breeding Pit
1 Promise of Power
1 Corrupt
1 Consume Spirit
1 Demon’s Horn
The Demonic deck uses imps as its early creatures to give you an early game, because otherwise the Demonic deck would have no early drops. After that, it uses some classic themes like Breeding Pit/Lord of the Pit and such to keep the game going and give power to the deck.
There are three sacrifice outlets for the Breeding Pit thrulls — the single copies of Lord of the Pit, Fallen Angel and Oni Possession.
In addition to Dark Rituals, there are also Overeager Apprentices whose job it is to accelerate your big guys and start the damage. Despite what the guide says, Dark Ritualing out Daggerclaw Imp on the first turn is often a good play that can get you really ahead in the life game. Dark Ritual + Abyssal Specter on the second turn is also really good. On the other hand, I’d stay clear of powering out some of the other cheaper creatures, because Divine has some early drops that can prove to be problems for you, like Sustainer of the Realm.
You do have removal in Dark Banishing, Barter in Blood, Cruel Edict, and Abyssal Gatekeeper, plus Corrupt and Consume Spirit can go to someone’s head.
The theme of this deck is Demonic, and we do have some cards with Demon in them, like Demon’s Horn and Demonic Tutor. Oni Possession will turn a creature into a demon. Then we have three demons to bring the pain.
If that seems like a low number to you, you are not alone. The Divine deck is not the Angelic deck, and yet it still has fourteen angels in its deck, but here we only manage three demons. You can expect that I will change that in my modifications later.
Now, before we fret too much, it is important to state that, for the record, the Demonic deck has the single most powerful card in it of the two decks — Reiver Demon. The Divine deck doesn’t even have Wrath of God, which would have been very on theme. Reiver Demon, when the Demonic deck has the mana, is massively good, and it is my favorite Demonic Tutor target already.
While I am talking about it, I think Demonic Tutor was a great inclusion and an ideal choice for new art. I think a good job was done here.
I think the sacrifice removal of the deck is also very flavorful. Barter in Blood, Abyssal Gatekeeper, and Cruel Edict are great choices because White has some built in protection like Luminous Angel’s token making ability and Otherworldly Journey. In fact, there may actually be too much protection from the three Edicts, but I do like the edicts. I join Ben in wondering why Diabolic Edict was not included since it’s a more classic favorite. You know they had to have tested it and found it to be too powerful or something.
Let’s be honest, the Divine deck is better outside of Reiver Demon. Replace Reiver Demon with Grinning Demon and the Divine Deck should win a lot more. The only thing keeping it down is Reiver Demon and Demonic Tutor for Reiver Demon, plus the occasional Consume Spirit or Corrupt for the win.
I think that WoTC had a difficult question to answer. How much should they have pushed the Oni theme (Ogres and Demons) from Kamigawa Block? They chose to run Oni Possession, Kuro, Pitlord and that’s it. They could have increased the demon count by adding additional demons like Gutwrencher Oni, but that needs ogres to work. They could have added the ogre helpers for demons, but then the Demonic deck would begin to look too insular. Just imagine that some of the imps were pulled for ogre helpers and some more demons like Minion of Tevesh Szat or Painwracker Oni.
I think Unholy Strength is fine in this deck, just fine. However, I wonder why the Divine Deck is not running Holy Strength. That would have been a great place to have showed each off. Instead, the Divine deck is running the much better Serra’s Boon. The counter to that here is Phyrexian Boon, which would fit the deck really well. Unfortunately, it isn’t likely to get played because of the Phyrexian label.
Still, White gets removal or pump while Black gets just removal, although the Black deck sports just four creatures with a toughness of one for the Boon to kill, so it’s not as if it is massively great removal or anything.
Promise of Power is a great choice. It is another of the heavy lifters for the deck and can draw more cards than any other in the format.
Anybody else find it funny that Lord of the Pit is listed as a Mythic rare? Could you imagine how much that’d suck as a base set Mythic? I think it’s funny.
Now, we all know that the banner card for Demonic, Lord of the Pit, is not a good card, while the banner for Divine, Akroma, is really, really great. Before you believe that must mean the Divine deck is better however, you have to account for the overwhelming power of the Reiver Demon. Akroma trumps Lord of the Pit, but Reiver Demon trumps Akroma (but Otherworldly Journey trumps Reiver Demon and the Divine deck sports two while the Black deck can set up with the Demonic Tutor.)
I think the Divine deck has an answer to every Black problem. Edicts? Reya Dawnbringer, Luminous Angel, Otherworldly Journey, Twilight Shepherd. Reiver Demon? Otherworldly Journey, Reya played afterwards to bring them back slowly. Got a big beater? Pacifism and Faith’s Fetters are running around. Kuro, Pitlord bothering you? The same as before is around.
By the way, total love to Fallen Angel. First of all, it provides an alternative sacrifice outlet in the deck for the Breeding Pit. Second, it is a total flavor masterpiece. I love seeing it there!
Duress, I’m not hot for. Yes, it gives Demonic a chance to hit the 14 non-creature, non-land cards in the Divine deck (most of which you don’t care about). I feel like Duress’s inclusion and new art was simply a way to sell the set to players of Eternal formats where Duress is legal and commonly used. After all, do you see many discard cards in the Demonic deck? Doesn’t Duress look sort of lonely? Surely you’d want discard that could hit the big mamas of the Divine deck including Serra Angel, Akroma, Reya, etc. it seems like Hymn to Tourach would be a better call, or even something like Coercion. Against Divine, perhaps you’d prefer even Ostracize.
Modified Demonic Deck
24 Swamp
2 Barren Moor
1 Lord of the Pit
1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Foul Imp
1 Daggerclaw Imp
2 Dusk Imp
2 Overeager Apprentice
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Soot Imp
1 Demon’s Jester
1 Woebringer Demon
1 Grinning Demon
1 Abyssal Specter
1 Cackling Imp
1 Fallen Angel
1 Reiver Demon
1 Kuro, Pitlord
2 Dark Ritual
1 Duress
2 Unholy Strength
1 Cruel Edict
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dark Banishing
1 Hell’s Caretaker
1 Barter in Blood
2 Breeding Pit
1 Promise of Power
1 Corrupt
1 Consume Spirit
1 Demon’s Horn
-1 Souldrinker
+1 Grinning Demon
We need to up the Demon count. Souldrinker is neither a Demon nor an Imp nor anything Abyssal.
-1 Duress
+1 Painwracker Oni
We need to up the Demon count. Fear is unblockable versus the Divine deck, so having the Lord of the Pit disadvantage is pretty acceptable.
-1 Oni Possession
+1 Hell’s Caretaker
Oni Possession doesn’t do that much. Hell’s Gatekeeper is another sacrifice outlet, and will actually use the dredge of Stinkweed Imp. Right now, you gain nothing by Dredging the Imp, except to draw the Imp. The Imp is pretty good in the deck since it can trade with a Serra Angel and such, but you are punished if you dredge too much because you can deck yourself and nothing uses the graveyard. Now you have something to use that dredge with, plus you can sacrifice thrull tokens or Imps to the Caretaker to bring back a big guy.
-1 Demon’s Jester
+1 Woebringer Demon
I understand why a card called Demon’s Jester would make the cut in a deck called Demonic. However, the card itself does not match the theme of the deck, so I’m not sure why there are two in here. I think cutting one for a Woebringer Demon would have been a great play. First of all, it ups your demon count. Second, it gives you another sacrifice outlet. Third of all, it continues the sacrifice theme of removal like Barter in Blood and Cruel Edict. It can seriously, deal some damage to a Divine deck that is not rocking Luminous Angel or Reya. Woebringer just fits this deck perfectly.
Other cards I considered were Demonic Hordes, Mark of the Oni and Minion of Tevesh-Szat. Each would make fine additions to my mind, but I wanted to keep the deck lighter in mana cost. I would have loved to have seen a single copy of Demonic Torment. I think it would have been great.
Anyway, as a reminder, printing a rare for a set like this is no more expensive than printing a common. Therefore, I’d prefer to build a better deck without as much regard for commonality. The deck cannot be perfect, it needs to be able to grow. An owner can start modifying the deck with new cards coming in for things like Demon’s Jester and Demon’s Horn. This gives you cards that are more on theme than Souldrinker and Duress, while also adding abilities more in line with what the deck is trying to do.
Divine
24 Plains
2 Secluded Steppe
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
2 Icatian Priest
2 Angelic Page
2 Charging Paladin
2 Venerable Monk
1 Angelic Protector
2 Serra Advocate
2 Sustainer of the Realm
2 Angel of Mercy
1 Serra Angel
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Luminous Angel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Healing Salve
1 Angelsong
2 Otherworldly Journey
1 Pacifism
1 Serra’s Boon
2 Faith’s Fetters
1 Angelic Benediction
1 Serra’s Embrace
1 Righteous Cause
1 Angel’s Feather
2 Marble Diamond
As a deck, the Divine deck is flat out stronger than the Demonic one. The Demonic deck has only one pinpoint removal card, so Luminous Angel or Reya Dawnbringer can keep your big guys alive through Edicts. You have answers for every problem the Demonic deck tries to throw at you except for Reiver Demon. You can Otherworldly Journey your best creature, but you are going down card disadvantage lane when that gets played.
However, note that the Demonic deck has no answer for many of your cards. This deck has nine artifacts and enchantments, but the Demonic deck has no answers to them. You can Otherworldly Journey and answer a Cruel Edict when all you have out is Akroma, or to avoid the solitary Dark Banishing. The Demonic deck can only sacrifice a creature enchanted by Pacifism or Faith’s Fetters. Unless the creature is the single copy of Stinkweed Imp, it is not coming back.
You don’t have many pure card drawing spells, but you do have some card advantage engines, namely Reya Dawnbringer, Luminous Angel and perhaps Twilight Shepherd. You also have some cycling cards that may prove useful.
This deck features six creatures that can make your creatures bigger. Angelic Page and Serra’s Advocate can tap to make a creature bigger, thereby helping you out in combat. Icatian Priest can use extra mana to inflate one of your beaters. As a result, this deck has the support necessary to insure that the Divine creatures win combats against the Demonic ones. Your Serra Angel need not fear the opposing Reiver Demon after it has hit the table, simply because it is a 6/6. Your Akroma can deal 20 damage in two turns. The deck supports itself.
Just like the Demonic deck has a ton of flyers in the Imps, you have a bunch of early flyers too, and yours win. Sustainer of the Realm blocks and survives every 4 drop or less the Demonic deck can muster. There are only five creatures in the whole Demonic deck that can punch through a Sustainer — Lord of the Pit, Fallen Angel with sacrifice, Reiver Demon, Kuro, and Demon Token off Promise of Power. You have two Sustainers, so you can block ad infinitum until one of those five shows up (and if the Reiver Demon is the one that shows up, your Sustainer is biting it.)
You do have a little lifegain in the deck. Angel of Mercy, Venerable Monk, Angel’s Feather, Healing Salve Faith’s Fetters, and Righteous Cause all add to your life total. You can easily stop the Imp-aggro early game with a few well placed blockers like Serra Advocate or Sustainer of the Realm, and then build until you can start playing your big guns.
You can attack with some of your early creatures into the Imp side of the Demonic’s early game. Charging Paladin is a 2/5 on the attack, and that will make it very hard to kill by the Demonic Deck. You can use your pump creatures to turn your early offense into a winning offense. While the Demonic deck is playing Foul Imp and Dusk Imp, you are playing Charging Paladin, Serra Advocate and Sustainer of the Ream. Looks like Divine wins.
The write up says that Demonic is supposed to be the early aggro deck, but in my games, I have not noticed that too much. What I have noticed is that the Divine deck is often at 20 or 22 or 23 or 25 life by the time it “stabilizes” while the Black deck is sitting at 15 or 12 life because of things like Foul Imp and getting hit by Charging Paladin or even a Venerable Monk with Serra Advocate backup.
Obviously, this deck will want room to grow as well. Angel’s Feather and Venerable Monks are cards that should easily be identified as sucking and replaced by players once they get the deck and start shuffling and playing.
I love Luminous Angel in this deck, and it was the perfect choice for new art. Good job!
Anyway, the point is that the Divine deck is simply a much better deck against the Demonic deck than the Demonic Deck is against the Divine deck. The Demonic deck has four cards that you should fear: Kuro, Reiver Demon, Promise of Power, and Demonic Tutor for one of those three. On the other hand, you have Akroma, Angel of Wrath; Reya Dawnbringer; Luminous Angel; and Twilight Shepherd that the Demonic Deck should fear, plus your removal is better. Let’s be honest, the Black deck has one targeted removal spell in Dark Banishing. The White deck has Serra’s Boon, 2 Faith’s Fetters, and a Pacifism. The normal weakness of these cards is that they can be disenchanted (or bounced) and the Demonic deck can do neither, so they really work. The Demonic Deck has Edicts which are foiled by Reya, Luminous Angel, Twilight Shepherd, or any of the smaller support creatures like Venerable Mink or Charging Paladin. Plus you have the two Journeys.
Now, there are some cards in this deck that do not work for me, but not many. Let’s make some modifications:
Modified Divine Deck
24 Plains
2 Secluded Steppe
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
2 Icatian Priest
2 Angelic Page
1 Charging Paladin
1 Venerable Monk
1 Angelic Protector
2 Serra Advocate
1 Paladin of Prahv
2 Sustainer of the Realm
2 Angel of Mercy
1 Serra Angel
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Luminous Angel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Radiant, Archangel
1 Angelsong
2 Otherworldly Journey
1 Pacifism
1 Radiant’s Judgment
2 Faith’s Fetters
1 Angelic Benediction
1 Serra’s Embrace
1 Holy Strength
1 Righteous Cause
1 Angel’s Feather
2 Marble Diamond
-1 Healing Salve
+1 Radiant Archangel
Radiant is still an old time favorite of the casual crowd, and has not been printed in ages, so a new printing would be really nice.
-1 Serra’s Boon
+1 Radiant’s Judgment
This makes the deck better by giving it more removal and more cycling for land, so I get that. However, it is so in flavor with Radiant in the deck that it is hard to stop. Please note that simply because something is named after Serra, the planeswalker, does not make it Divine.
-1 Charging Paladin
+1 Paladin of Prahv
This deck is supposed to be mid-range deck, not the aggro deck, so let’s pull one of the early attackers out for another paladin. It’s nice to have two paladins of different names since we only have two paladin slots.
-1 Venerable Monk
+1 Holy Strength
I still like the idea of Holy versus Unholy Strength in the decks.
This gives the deck a bit more rounding.
Ben wanted Decree of Justice, which would totally screw up Black more than the Otherworldly Journeys. If I wanted to go that route, I’d pull both Journeys for a Decree and something else. I like the idea of including the Decree, but then the Demonic deck is even more screwed. To make a cycle and show the power of Black, I’d want to find space for Decree of Pain in the Demonic deck. That way, we have a cycle and a way for Demonic to fight Divine’s powerful array of cards.
…
Well, that brings us to the close of another article. I hope you enjoyed today’s excursion of the latest theme decks. I’ll see you next week when the Alara Reborn articles are likely to start!
Until later…