Going into the final stretch of the World Championships, Sam Black was in fourteenth place. I can’t imagine he liked his chances at that point. However, the deck Craig Wescoe used to get third at the Philly WMCQ was an ample weapon, and Sam went undefeated, eventually finishing fourth on tiebreakers.
Both Sam and Craig are proficient with creature decks full of small, resilient creatures, so seeing them pick up the same deck isn’t crazy. It may have seemed like a bold choice for Worlds, but the deck is quite good against Abzan Aggro. Unfortunately, Abzan Control was the Siege Rhino deck of choice for that tournament, which Sam eventually lost to in Top Four.
This deck plays a small-ball game most of the time, but is certainly capable of hanging with the big boys thanks to Nykthos and Mastery of the Unseen. Wingmate Roc and Archangel of Tithes give you some resilience to Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, and allow you to fly over the ground stalls created by big, dumb green monsters.
In the meantime, you flood the board with small white creatures to get in some early damage. Cards like Valorous Stance and Banishing Light clear the way. As always, Hangarback Walker shows up to provide some utility.
Mono-White Devotion may have been a joke for a while, but I think the deck finally has enough pieces to shine. Hopefully you always have the Celestial Flare or multiple Mastery of the Unseens for their Stormbreath Dragons and you should be good to go!
Creatures (25)
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
- 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- 4 Wingmate Roc
- 1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
- 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Archangel of Tithes
- 3 Hangarback Walker
Lands (25)
Spells (10)
