Devotion to

Our first deck is very similar to Mono-Black Devotion, but RanXephon1 has added a second color to gain access to better removal and more powerful late-game tools. He's given up [card]Nightveil Specter" href="/p/Magic%3A+The+Gathering/Erebos%2C+God+of+the+Dead%5B%2Fcard+has+become+very+popular+on+%3Cstrong%3EMagic+Online%3C%2Fstrong%3E+in+the+wake+of+Grand+Prix+Louisville.+What+kind+of+new+strategies+have+risen+up+to+beat+up+on+Mono-Black+Devotion%3F+How+has+%3Cem%3ETheros%3C%2Fem%3E+started+to+make+its+impact+felt+in+other+formats%3F+Let%27s+take+a+look%21%0D%0A%0D%0A%3Chr+%2F%3E%0D%0A%0D%0AOur+first+deck+is+very+similar+to+Mono-Black+Devotion%2C+but+RanXephon1+has+added+a+second+color+to+gain+access+to+better+removal+and+more+powerful+late-game+tools.+He%27s+given+up+%5Bcard%5DNightveil+Specter">Erebos, God of the Dead[/card has become very popular on Magic Online in the wake of Grand Prix Louisville. What kind of new strategies have risen up to beat up on Mono-Black Devotion? How has Theros started to make its impact felt in other formats? Let's take a look!

Our first deck is very similar to Mono-Black Devotion, but RanXephon1 has added a second color to gain access to better removal and more powerful late-game tools. He's given up [card]Nightveil Specter and Grey Merchant of Asphodel in exchange for the second color, but that's seemed to work out well for him thus far. Let's take a closer look:

Green-Black Rock - Standard | RahXephon1, 4-0 Standard Daily Event

• Lands (24)
• 4 Forest
• 4 Golgari Guildgate
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 12 Swamp

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Desecration Demon
• 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1 Pharika's Mender
• 2 Reaper of the Wilds
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid
• 4 Witchstalker

• Spells (22)
• 3 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Bow of Nylea
• 1 Deadbridge Chant
• 1 Down // Dirty
• 1 Gift of Orzhova
• 2 Golgari Charm
• 4 Hero's Downfall
• 1 Putrefy
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 2 Underworld Connections
• 2 Vraska the Unseen
• 2 Whip of Erebos

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Abrupt Decay
• 1 Doom Blade
• 2 Duress
• 2 Lifebane Zombie
• 4 Mistcutter Hydra
• 1 Pharika's Cure
• 2 Pithing Needle
• 1 Putrefy
• 1 Underworld Connections

Buy This Deck

I'm a huge fan of the Mono-Black Deck, but RahXephon1 seems surprisingly well-positioned against it. While the Black decks are struggling to deal with their dead Doom Blades and Lifebane Zombies, you have access to both Abrupt Decay and Vraska the Unseen, which can both kill any of the relevant cards in the match-up from Pack Rat to Underworld Connections.

One of the things that I don't like about RahXephon1's build is that he's skimping on the cards that really let you grind your way to a win; things like Read the Bones and Underworld Connections. The Mono-Black decks can max out on Underworld Connections because they have Grey Merchant to regain all of their lost life, but this deck doesn't have access to very much lifegain outside of Bow of Nylea, which makes that an understandably risky proposition.

I would really like to see the full set of Desecration Demons in this deck, since that's one of your more powerful cards in almost every match-up. It's a huge roadblock against aggro decks and a quick clock against other controlling and midrangey decks. On the other hand, trimming back on those has made space for Reaper of the Wilds, which seems very interesting. It can protect itself, trade up, and gives all of your removal additional value.

Is it the time for this deck? Maybe this will really take off once we gain access to the Black-Green Temple later on in Theros block. I'm certainly interested in finding out!

In the beginning of the format, we saw plenty of people gravitating towards Blue-White-Red decks featuring Chained to the Rocks, as well as Black-White-Red decks built like the Jund decks from last Standard season. These decks have started to fall by the wayside, giving way to the more powerful, synergistic devotion decks. Amanderene thinks he might have found one of the three-color midrange decks in the format, and he's been putting up good results with it. Let's take a look:

[Cardlist Title= Naya Mirange - Standard | Amanderene, 3-1 Standard Daily Event]

• Lands (27)
• 1 Forest
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Plains
• 4 Sacred Foundry
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Temple of Abandon
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 4 Temple of Triumph

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Loxodon Smiter
• 4 Stormbreath Dragon

• Spells (25)
• 4 Anger of the Gods
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 4 Chained to the Rocks
• 3 Chandra, Pyromaster
• 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 4 Mizzium Mortars
• 4 Selesnya Charm
• 3 Xenagos, the Reveler

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Assemble the Legion
• 4 Centaur Healer
• 4 Mistcutter Hydra
• 2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
• 2 Wear // Tear

Buy This Deck

I really like what this deck is trying to do. Many of your cards are very well-positioned against the metagame, and your threats can single-handedly win games on their own. Anger of the Gods can almost win the game on its own against Mono-Blue Devotion, especially when it's backed up by Loxodon Smiter on defense.

One of the most exciting things about this deck is that you get to play both Chained to the Rocks and Selesnya Charm as answers to things like Thassa, God of the Sea and Desecration Demon. While other midrange decks have to jump through hoops to make Devour Flesh good against Gods, you get to just kill them straight up.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about this deck is the full four Assemble the Legions in the 75. Mono-Black Devotion cannot beat that card unless they can race. Black is poorly positioned to answer Enchantments and can't really deal with swarms of creatures now that Mutilate has rotated. Desecration Demon is their best way to race, and that doesn't do very well against swarms of 1/1's. If you want to beat up on Mono-Black Devotion, all you've got make sure you have insane topdecks like Assemble the Legion that are very difficult for them to beat.

Most of us didn't expect Thassa, God of the Sea to make waves in Standard, much less Modern. But there it is, in Wily Edel's take on Modern Merfolk, alongside Tidebinder Mage and Master of Waves. Let's take a look at this new Merfolk variant:

Merfolk - Modern | Edel, 3-1 Standard Daily Event

• Lands (22)
• 15 Island
• 4 Mutavault
• 3 Tectonic Edge

• Creatures (27)
• 4 Cursecatcher
• 4 Lord of Atlantis
• 4 Master of the Pearl Trident
• 2 Master of Waves
• 4 Merrow Reejerey
• 4 Silvergill Adept
• 3 Thassa, God of the Sea
• 2 Tidebinder Mage

• Spells (11)
• 4 Aether Vial
• 4 Spreading Seas
• 3 Vapor Snag

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Dismember
• 2 Hurkyl's Recall
• 2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 2 Spellskite
• 2 Threads of Disloyalty
• 1 Tidebinder Mage
• 2 Unified Will

Buy This Deck

There are a lot of interesting things going on in this deck that subtly take care of many of the problems that Merfolk has had in Modern. First, Tidebider Mage gives you another way to go around Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze. Even if you're already Islandwalking past, Tidebinder Mage swings the race in your favor, which is always a huge deal.

Second, you have Thassa, God of the Sea as a card that helps you grind out the long games, break board stalls, and is just an enormous threat. Almost every creatures in this deck is double-Blue, and you have things like Spreading Seas to help with your devotion as well. Thassa really improves your game against Lightning Bolt decks like UWR Control and Jund by making sure you don't run out of gas in the late-game.

Last, Master of Waves is a big deal against midrangey Lightning Bolt decks. Suddenly you have an enormous threat that present lethal out of nowhere, and is resilient to both Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix. You get to force your opponent to have Supreme Verdict or die, which is a big deal in a format where people tend to play just two copies.

My biggest concern about this deck is the number of colorless lands. Tectonic Edge just doesn't seem that good to me in a format like Modern. Sure, it's awesome at killing Celestial Colonnade and Treetop Village, but is Tectonic Edge really the land you want against Urzatron or Gavony Township? I'd be concerned that the colorless lands will make you stumble on casting your double Blue two-drops, especially since Willy Edel has cut the Phantasmal Images from his deck.

Infect has made its presence known in every format from Standard to Modern to Pauper, but hasn't really made an impact yet in Legacy. OlleR is looking to change that. Invigorate is a powerful card that leads to consistent turn three kills, and that's what is powering his take on Legacy Infect.

[Cardlist Title= Infect - Legacy | OlleR, 3-1 Legacy Daily Event]

• Lands (18)
• 1 Forest
• 4 Inkmoth Nexus
• 2 Pendelhaven
• 4 Tropical Island
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 3 Wooded Foothills

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Blighted Agent
• 4 Glistener Elf
• 4 Noble Hierarch

• Spells (30)
• 2 Berserk
• 4 Brainstorm
• 2 Crop Rotation
• 4 Daze
• 3 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Invigorate
• 2 Might of Old Krosa
• 1 Ponder
• 4 Spell Pierce
• 4 Vines of Vastwood

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Berserk
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 3 Force of Will
• 2 Gut Shot
• 1 Karakas
• 2 Krosan Grip
• 1 Mindbreak Trap
• 1 Nature's Claim
• 2 Surgical Extraction

Buy This Deck

There are a number of powerful things going on in this deck. The key combination here is Invigorate and Berserk. These two cards combine with any one of your infect creatures to generate exactly 10 points of poison damage as early as turn two, complete with Daze back-up.

One of the biggest issues with Infect in other formats has been that the deck is inconsistent. It's very easy to get draws that are all pump spells or creatures and not the mix that you need to present a fast clock. Brainstorm and Crop Rotation go a long way towards fixing this problem. Brainstorm is no surprise; it's the defining card of Legacy and is awesome in all combo decks, but what about Crop Rotation? Crop Rotation acts as additional copies of both Pendelhaven and Inkmoth Nexus to ensure you have a threat and help grind out damage in your slower draws.

One of the things that I like most about this deck is the inclusion of Gitaxian Probe. Sometimes you just have to know whether it's okay to go all in, or if you have to play around Swords to Plowshares. Sure, some people will tell you that you should be able to tell when to go for it or not; the problem is that realistically, you want to go for it on turn 3, and your opponent generally won't give up enough information by then for you to tell what you're playing around. Why jump through hoops when you can just turn their hand face up?

We've gone through most of the Theros Legends, but we've got a couple more to go before we start diving into Commander 2013 Legends and finding out what they can do. We've looked at most of the Gods, as well as Daxos. This week we're taking a look at Tymaret, the Murder King. Let's take a look at what kind of morbid graveyard shenanigans therichterlens has come up with for the Murder King's amusement:

[Cardlist title=Tymaret, the Murder King Morbid - Commander | therichterlens]

• Commander (1)
• 1 Tymaret, the Murder King

• Lands (36)
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 High Market
• 12 Mountain
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 1 Rakdos Guildgate
• 13 Swamp
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Blood Artist
• 1 Bloodghast
• 1 Carrion Feeder
• 1 Cemetery Reaper
• 1 Death Baron
• 1 Deathbringer Thoctar
• 1 Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
• 1 Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1 Geralf's Messenger
• 1 Goblin Sharpshooter
• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Graveborn Muse
• 1 Gravecrawler
• 1 Hissing Iguanar
• 1 Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1 Liliana's Reaver
• 1 Maga, Traitor to Mortals
• 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1 Nether Traitor
• 1 Ogre Battledriver
• 1 Olivia Voldaren
• 1 Reassembling Skeleton
• 1 Shadowborn Demon
• 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1 Siege-Gang Commander
• 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
• 1 Stalking Vengeance
• 1 Viashino Heretic
• 1 Zealous Conscripts

• Instants and Sorceries (10)
• 1 Army of the Damned
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Diabolic Intent
• 1 Dreadbore
• 1 Firecat Blitz
• 1 Reanimate
• 1 Torrent of Souls
• 1 Victimize
• 1 Vampiric Tutor

• Artifacts and Enchantments (25)
• 1 Animate Dead
• 1 Attrition
• 1 Barrage of Expendables
• 1 Bitterblossom
• 1 Dark Prophecy
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Grave Betrayal
• 1 Grave Pact
• 1 Necromancy
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Strands of Night
• 1 Tombstone Stairwell
• 1 Unhallowed Pact
• 1 Vicious Shadows
• 1 Warstorm Surge
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Cauldron of Souls
• 1 Grim Monolith
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Mana Vault
• 1 Mimic Vat
• 1 Phyrexian Altar
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring

Buy This Deck

The awesome thing about Tymaret is that he is very good at grinding out damage over a long game. He's much less threatening than something like Purphoros, God of the Forge, so you can fly under the radar a little more, but Tymaret is still very capable of getting people dead.

Therichterlens has chosen to go with a ton of recursive creatures so that you always have plenty of fodder for Tymaret. Bloodghast, Reassembling Skeleton, and Gravecrawler make sure you always have creatures to fling at your opponents' faces an Blood Artist, Hissing Iguanar, and Vicious Shadows give you plenty of reach while you're sacrificing your guys.

Skullclamp and Mimic Vat give you sources of card advantage so you can stall the board while you dig into removal and eat away at your opponents' life totals. Ogre Battledriver and Warstorm Surge give you even more reach and will let you generate huge amount of damage out of nowhere, particuarly with all of your recursive guys.

One thing that I really like to see in decks like this is Nim Deathmantle. Your Commander is a cheap sacrifice outlet, and that lets you turn Deathmantle into a pseudo Recurring Nightmare - a card that's good enough to be banned. Repeatedly rebuying things like Siege-Gang Commander and Shadowborn Demon is a good way to make sure that you stay ahead when games start going long.

All in all, I really like that Tymaret is very cheap, and has a very profound impact on the game from early on. You threaten to end games out of nowhere, and make sure that everyone knows they don't have time to mess around. If they take too long, they're going to die. That's exactly the kind of game I like to play; one where everyone gets to play and do the things their deck is built to do, but they also know the game is going to end sooner rather than later.