At first glance, I thought some poor soul had added Faithless Looting to their Jund deck. Faithless Looting might look like a solid value card, but you’re down a card whenever you cast one, so you absolutely need to get some synergy out of it if you want to play a lot of copies. Otherwise you risk flooding on them and putting yourself down too much material in a deck with a lot of one-for-one removal and discard.
But after a second pass, I saw the payoff, and it’s one of my favorites. Demigod of Revenge is a former Standard staple that is generally too slow for Modern, but it’s a great high-end threat for a high-interaction deck that wants to shift gears immediately.
So turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek. Turns 2 through 4, trade resources as appropriate and find a time to discard a Demigod of Revenge with Liliana of the Veil or Faithless Looting. Turn 5, cast a Demigod of Revenge, return the discarded copy, and voila, you have a two-turn clock that materialized out of nowhere.
If you’re under more pressure than normal, you can continue the control role longer into the game, perhaps setting up a triple Demigod turn that ends the game in one swing, aided by a few fetchlands and shocklands. There’s a flexibility in the plan that isn’t apparent at first, but it’s crucial to allow you to sequence as needed without being punished by your own cards.
Of course, a single Demigod of Revenge can still put some work in, maybe killing a planeswalker before eating a removal spell, lying dormant in the graveyard, and waiting to make its glorious return to the battlefield.
Notably, Demigod of Revenge still returns from the graveyard even if the cast copy is countered, so this deck, despite its low threat density, should be good against control decks provided you aggressively target their Path to Exiles with discard spells.
Is Demigod of Revenge enough of an incentive to play Faithless Looting in a midrange deck? I’m not sure, but it’s really sweet. If I were you, I’d make a lot of sound effects every time I attack for ten or more, just to hammer home the flavor. And tilt your opponent. I’m sure they’ll understand.
Creatures (7)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (22)
Spells (29)
