MTG Salvation

so i m considering the following two decks for post 15 rotation, all thoughts and crit are welcome.

the prediction I am making is that post m15, the format would be some what slower (with some fast deck in the mixes as well with an improve mana base for some decks)

So here's the two decks I am considering for post 15 rotation:

Mono Black Devotion

You know nothing rotates at m15, right? Rotation happens at the next block when the rtr block will go along with m14. Also, you have no use for urborg. The rest I won't comment on since it isn't a post rotation deck but the use of 4 urborg stood out.

Quote from Nev »

You know nothing rotates at m15, right? Rotation happens at the next block when the rtr block will go along with m14. Also, you have no use for urborg. The rest I won't comment on since it isn't a post rotation deck but the use of 4 urborg stood out.

I think the "post M15" makes it sound like he does. The bigger problem is that a sloid portion of both these decks will not be standard legal once rotation happens. Supreme Verdict, Sphinx's rev, devour flesh plus many others.

Also considering we have no idea what Khans of Takir will bring and this will make up roughly 1/5 of the total card pool that makes it useless to try to make post rotation decks.

verdict doesnt rotates out till khan, this is pre khan but post m15

Okay, then. The word rotation threw me off a bit. Anyway, urborg helps you about zilch. All it does is help your pain lands ping you less and your mutas tap for black in exchange for giving your opponent black fixing and playing 4 legendary lands which will result in some dead draw lands. The creature package is shrunk and the removal package massively increased. Why? I see 4 ulcerate there and this isn't modern with dismember. It looks to me like you're tilting badly afainst control but at the same time, ulcerate will likely hurt you against aggro... but ulcerate isn't killing midrange either. I'm not understanding the shift towards a bigger and more frantic removal package. Maybe you could explain your thoughts.

yeah the word rotation made me think of, ya know, a block rotation.

The mono black deck does not have enough threats to make whip very effective and I agree urborg is at most a 1 of.

Also I don't see resolute angel being anything more than a draft bomb. Angel of serenity is just better.

i m thinking the format might be faster post m15 with the amount of good creatures that are 3 drop or less to slow down the rush. i m thinking urborg should be a 2 of as well, i think it was because at some point i was considering Nightmare, but that's a stupid idea and forgot to replace the urborg with basic lands.

as for resolute archangel vs angel of serenity, i was thinking about that too, the angel of serenity provides removal and possible retrieval at the same time while resolute archangel does provide a soft reset if needed..... i don't know which one is better still.... i might want to playtest that first...

-4 Ulcerate
Not good against control, midrange, or aggro. Only decent against combo. Dump it.
+4 Lifebane Zombie
Hits Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Obzedat, Ghost Council. Unblockable in most situations.

Here is my suggested decklist:



This should make you pretty well-positioned against a majority of the metagame.

Duress is arguably better against burn than Sin Collector. But I like that it 2 for 1's them.

Wall of Essence is great for aggro matchups. But does nothing against burn except block their ground pounders.

Also if your meta is largely composed of aggro, you can swap the Doom Blades (or Ultimate Prices) in the sideboard and the Underworld Connections in the mainboard.

any thoughts on the second list?

Well, superfriends lists aren't really my forte. However, here is my understanding of it.

If you want your planeswalkers to be your win conditions, then they ALL need to be a condition in some way. Ajani Steadfast definitely has a home, but this isn't it. None of its abilities except for its ultimate do anything beneficial enough for you. Rather with the upcoming comments I'm going to make, I'd actually recommend some number of Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

- Ajani Steadfast

In this deck, Thassa will never be a creature and will almost never get to use its activated ability. Having 4 in the deck of something that is very narrow for such an archetype is not a good thing to do.

-4 Thassa, God of the Sea

+2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

Wall of Mulch isn't really much of a blocker. If you want a more effective blocker I'd recommend Hornet Nest. One thing I've learned is that board presence is tantamount to both staying alive, protecting planeswalkers, and winning the game. When Hornet Nest dies, it replaces itself with a number of flying, deathtouch tokens equal to the power of the creature it blocked. Hornet Nest is also absolutely absurd when combined with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.

-4 Wall of Mulch
+4 Hornet Nest

I can't really say much about Resolute Archangel, other than I think it's a powerful stabilization tool against anything that isn't non-damage-based combo or control. If you can get to that point in the game against aggro, it will almost hands down win you the game much of the time. I'd be even more impressed if it had Convoke.

I also don't like Nissa's Expedition. It's a sorcery and tapping your walls on your turn is not a very wise thing to do.

-2 Nissa's Expedition.

That leaves 5 open slots.

I would:

+1 Nissa, Worldwaker
+3 Dissolve
+1 Negate

How about Devotion to Gray

@ Lord

the reason i did end up choosing wall of mulch over hornet's nest is because if my opponent decide to reset the board (or if I do), i can at least draw cards off the walls I have present.

I do agree with you on the Thassa thing.

other than that, would you recommand running Detention Sphere and Banishing Light then?

I also like your suggestion on the Orzhov deck, whats your thought on running the god in that version?


@ Zero

I cant play aggro worth for *****. or else i would consider making black devote aggro....

Fair enough on the wall. I'm just biased towards Hornet Nest So much flavor

I think Detention Spheres and Banishing light can both be run as a split of maybe 3-1 or 2-2.

I included Erebos in the sideboard as a way to fight opposing Orzhov decks and control. Or decks that gain lots of life. If you're talking about Athreos, wrong shell. He's geared for a grindier aggro shell.

@Zero

It looks like you mixed Monoblack aggro and monoblack devotion. I say pick one or the other as they actually require different amounts of lands. Aggro decks use fewer lands so they can run more cheap efficient creatures and apply constant pressure. Monoblack devotion runs more lands and is geared for a grindier game, something aggro deck typically try to win before it gets to that. Which is why I don't like Athreos even in MBA.

dont get me wrong, i love hornest nest, i think its going to be a very format defining card in the upcoming format.