Video: Abzan Devotion In Standard!
Sam Black updates the deck that he took to the Pro Tour! See his highly evolved list and get a great sense of his professional Magic process for testing it in this video!
I played G/B Devotion at Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir. The deck didn’t really pick
up after the Pro Tour, and I don’t think it was positioned that well in
the
Pro Tour. I played the deck because I was trying to go over other midrange
decks, but despite the success of Abzan, the field was more polarized
(meaning
there were more decks that were focused on being aggressive or controlling) than
I’d expected. Jeskai seems less popular, and the world seems to be
particularly full of
Courser of Kruphix’s
at the moment, so I wonder if See the Unwritten is
well-positioned again.
Of course, I’m not just looking to dust off my Pro Tour deck. I want to
incorporate some elements of other successful decks in this format,
specifically,
two of the best cards in the format: Whip of Erebos and
Siege Rhino.
I think I can make the mana support these cards while powering a devotion
strategy as long as I’m willing to drop Elvish Mystic
and go a little slower.
Given that I’m looking to grind out other
Doomwake Giant decks, and that it was likely right to
side out Elvish Mystic against
Doomwake Giant anyway, I
don’t think that’s too much of a sacrifice, and what I lose against
aggressive decks by missing out on the speed of
Elvish Mystic, I pick up with the
strength of Siege Rhino.
One big question I have is whether this needs to be a 25-land deck now that
I’ve moved away from Elvish Mystic. I suspect the answer
is yes, but I want to
try it at 24 first to see how it plays.
Round 1
That first game was really encouraging. I think maybe I needed to just block with the Satyr in game 2. I prioritized getting a bigger creature out, but then my opponent just turned off blocking long enough to kill me. It’s likely that I just don’t need the bigger creature and should block however I can.
Show Summary
Round 2
Well, I’m running into the exact matchups I thought I could expect to see less of, so I’m not terribly surprised that I’m struggling. I am surprised by how badly the second game went for me after the turn where my opponent moved all-in on finding End Hostilities. It looked like, even if that worked, I’d still be in good shape, but I couldn’t keep up with the chain of Dig Through Times. I’m not sure if that says more about the deck, or just my opponent running really well there. (I’m legitimately not sure–it’s possible the deck has enough power between Digs and planeswalkers that my opponent was actually favored there, given hitting End Hostilities.)
Show Summary
Round 3
Once again, I felt pretty good after the first game. The topdecked End Hostilities in the second was a brutal cap to a sequence of pretty good draws in the second. In the third, my draw was just pretty weak.
Show Summary
Round 4
I thought game 1 was pretty interesting. The Polukranos, World Eater induced boardstall was awesome for me, as it gave me time to assemble a huge constellation. Game 2, I lost to a topdecked End Hostilities again, but this time, I think maybe I could have played around it by killing the Fleecemane Lion when I had the chance, but it might have required letting my life drop too far. Again, my draw in the third game just wasn’t very good.
Show Summary
So I won every game 1 and lost every match. First of all, these opponents weren’t representative of the metagame I predicted. I’m inclined to think that’s probably due to an error in my prediction more than a particularly skewed sample. Moreover, I think my deck is just somewhat easy to sideboard against, especially for people with End Hostilities in their sideboard. I’m also not sure if cutting Elvish Mystic from Green Devotion and adding more tapped lands just costs too many free wins where you curve out perfectly.