I assume at this point that talking through a few games with Blue Devotion is basically mandatory, so let’s see if I can demonstrate why I like this deck so much and maybe show you all how to play it. I’ll be playing a very slightly modified version of the list from my article that is exactly what I’d play this weekend if, for example, I could make it to the Invitational.

Mono Blue Devotion

Sam Black

Test deck on 06-09-2013

Standard

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 (1)

• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought

Lands (25)

• 20 Island
• 4 Mutavault
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Spells (6)

• 2 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 3 Bident of Thassa

Sideboard

• 3 Gainsay
• 1 Negate
• 1 Dispel
• 2 Jace, Memory Adept
• 2 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 2 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1 Bident of Thassa
• 1 Dissolve

Round One

I’m not sure what to say here – one of the reasons we played this deck originally in the Pro Tour was that we knew the GW matchup was almost a bye and, while I don’t know what this deck was splashing blue for, this was a fairly representative example of that.

Round Two

I really thought I was losing that first game, but Thassa somehow pulled through and I managed to exactly steal it, much to my surprise. I like that the second game clearly demonstrated how ineffective both Thoughtseize and Ashiok can be, though in fairness that was against an absolutely perfect draw on my side.

Round Three

Fanatic of Mogis was very impressive in that first game, which I’d thought I had under control. The second game really made me wonder if playing a deck with only red removal is really viable in a world with Master of Waves, and the third game was a good example of how Mistcutter Hydra is beatable (I’ve won a substantial majority of the games in which it’s been cast against me).

Round Four

Missing that Judge’s Familiar activation to save my Frostburn Weird was really bad, but other than that those games were a pretty clear demonstration of how the deck gets under clunky removal decks and the power of both Thassa, God of the Sea and Bident of Thassa.

Overall, there was nothing too shocking here – I think the deck’s great, and I’d continue to recommend it. Esper is the only problematic matchup, and at the moment Mono Black Devotion is keeping that in check.

Sam

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