Not all that surprisingly, after writing my last article I tried some other decks briefly but found that I’d rather just be playing Mono-Blue Devotion and have had a little success with it. I know that some portion of my audience prefers the level of competition offered in a Daily Event, so today I’ll play through one of those with my current version of Mono-Blue Devotion to help figure out if the format has actually moved passed it. I suspect that it hasn’t.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Judge's Familiar
- 4 Frostburn Weird
- 4 Cloudfin Raptor
- 4 Nightveil Specter
- 4 Tidebinder Mage
- 4 Thassa, God of the Sea
- 4 Master of Waves
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (5)
Sideboard
Well, the first game was basically just a fluke where my opponent got unlucky, which happens to everyone. The second game played out exactly how I drew it up when I decided on my sideboard plan. It’s worth noting that the one Cyclonic Rift was pretty awesome and that it was likely better than Nykthos, Shrine to Nix would have been even though I was missing lands. This makes me feel good about the choice to sideboard the way I did. It might also make it tempting to leave the other Cyclonic Rift in, which might be right, but at the moment I think the other cards are more important. I really think my current plan requires a critical mass of early pressure, so I don’t think I want to cut anything else.
Those Nykthos draws are so powerful, and backing it with Chained to the Rocks was just too much for me. Domestication in the second game was a huge topdeck, and in the third game I think it might have been a lot closer if he’d drawn his fourth land a little earlier, though I did have Tidebinder Mage for his Stormbreath Dragon.
That first game was a great demonstration of just how powerful being on the play is, how significant life totals are, and how great Thassa can be. The rest of the match played out similarly, where going first felt game defining.
My opponent’s draws definitely weren’t great, but I’m not sure what his specific concerns were. He didn’t miss a land drop in the first game or any of the first four in the second. Overall, I think I’m pretty happy with how my current plan plays out in this matchup. It’s early to call it favorable, but I’m not terribly afraid of it and definitely don’t miss the expensive spells.
So this is where I’m at with the deck currently. The biggest questions for me are whether I think it’s correct to play a Domestication in the maindeck and whether I think the second Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx might be better than the fourth Mutavault. Both of these changes would help me in the mirror but make me much worse against U/W Control.