Hi buffy. I think these card evaluations are spot on. I'd also like to say that I love these articles/features are great! Anyways, please keep them coming!

buffy: Great article. I'm building Prime Speaker Bant with Karametra, God of Harvests . You can go so many different ways...

On an unrelated note, your tags at the bottom need work. The way they need to go is < a href="WEBSITE LINK" >Text that is linked here< /a >. The original way you had it was an unclosed tags with no text, so I (as an article admin) closed the tag, and I'll change it so it has link text. What text do you want to be linked?

What better BNG card to brainstorm than Chromanticore ?

Of course if you're looking for serious competitive cards/decks, this is not it. At least it's fun to play.

Great article, I hope to see more of this caliber on the homepage in the future.

Great article! what is you opinion on Phenax, God of Deception ? The cycle must be complete!

Hey buffy did you ever see that Simic flash list?

My friend and I were thinking, what if you added Advent of the Wurm and Selesnya Charm to it? That would be pretty neat. Now add Ephara, God of the Polis . You play a creature on your turn, ok on their upkeep you draw. Then you play a creature with flash on their turn, on your turn you draw 2.

I can see Bant flash coming around and kicking face.

The deck I was referring to

Great article, buffy! Well composed, and I couldn't agree more with your opinions on the new BNG cards. As someone asked above, I would like to hear your thoughts on Phenax, God of Deception as well... It's not like I'm going to use him in a deck or anything o.o

And, that deck seems like it would be a lot of fun, Ohthenoises. Are you going to pilot a deck like that on T/O? I'd really like to see where it goes and how it works.

no mention of Satyr Firedancer ?

To those with questions as to "why didn't you talk about this card" is that I actually WROTE this article several weeks ago when these were all the spoilers out so far! Be sure to look for the next one where I talk about all of the interesting cards from the whole set!

@Ohthenoises: that seems like an awesome deck, definitely another use for Ephara.

@Matsi883: Huh! Weird, that's how I always linked things before...

I have gifted you your token, gnarlicide.

Great article. Brimaz, King of Oreskos is certainly the card that I am most excited about for this release.

I can't beleive what was said about Bile Blight ok yea its uncommon one of those 4 usd uncommons in 2 weeks I'm betting. Ok lets talk about this card and its effect on devotion decks the very strongest showing results. At the heart of each one we have a 3 cmc double color hybrid either 2/3 or 3/3 and we have to of course have our hybrid 2 costs also 4x of each, so we get six devotion finally and bile blight wipes all your dup's and bye bye devotion. Devotion decks don't work without their creatures and maybe the worst one to face just got this gem. Yea play R/W devotion vs MBD now that bile blight is around. This card shuts down devotion cold turns out green maybe better than red and blue now or the popularity of Glaring Spotlight is about to shoot the moon. Not sure what deck would play the Infest scry one right off hand but it can really set back and pretty much crush the early devotion game as well. The problem is Boros Charm can't even save the day vs these -2/-2 and -3/-3 effects. My best answer for R/W is to side 3 Legion's Initiative and exile till next combat step. I think thats as good as it gets. For blue its slow down and save 2 mana for thassa's rebuff. If your playing MBD you just gotta worry about the mirror but hey heavy foot no brakes no worries. Yea MBD made out like New York City's on vacation and MBD is the only robber in town.

buffy, thanks man. Lol, I was getting worried about my deck dropping to 10 so quickly, then I realized... I play that deck just like that! Hahaha. I am an idiot in the morning.

I actually had a similar deck to what Ohthenoises described that I ran right after Theros came out. It was a bit clunky with Guildgates, but still did fairly well in tournaments. BNG brought the other 2 Scry lands Bant needed so it may be worth a second look; I also added in a couple Fated Intervention to the list: Hanratty's Favorite Superhero

My first disagreement with you is with Mogis, God of Slaughter . He wasn't meant for an aggro or RDW strategy, he was designed for a control list. Can you imagine how powerful UWx control would be if they were dealing an additional 2 damage every turn in addition to everything else they do? And for a control deck, keeping the board clear so that Mogis will deal the damage shouldn't be too hard. After all, RB has some of the strongest removal in the format. Here is a deck I designed that I hope will utilize Mogis to his full potential.

My second disagreement concerns Xenagos, God of Revels . Even though you did give him some credit, I believe he is much stronger than you imagine. He is basically Kessig Wolf Run with a body. He doesn't provide the trample, but there are so many RG spells that provide trample already that it's not too problematic anyway. I believe he will bring Jund Midrange back to the top. My example:

I do agree with you on the rest of the cards mentioned though.

As for my article, it's about learning the Modern format.

You know, I'm not sold on Xenagos, God of Revels , but then the fact that I play MBD might color that opinion.

You have a fatty out, it gets +X/+X and goes to swing, I cast Hero's Downfall , whoops. You pick a BTE, I'll eat 4 all day when I can come back with a Gary for more.

I know this is a bit of "dies to Doom Blade " here, and yes, he does synergize with himself really well, but it feels too much like "all your eggs in one basket" for me to fall in love with him. There is literally more removal in standard than one deck can hold, I have never seen this much removal.

Personally I think the list of top three gods should be, in no particular order, Ephara, God of the Polis , Mogis, God of Slaughter , and Phenax, God of Deception because they easily slot into already powerful archetypes an provide card advantage rather than combat advantages.

@gnarlicide: haha, glad I played it right! And your welcome!

• Ephara, i could see this run in bant flash together with Skylasher Boon Satyr Advent of the Wurm etc.

• Mogis, i see this in some form of control yes a turn 10clock but realy shouldnt be that bad for it, pair with some burn and maybe Master of Cruelties and i see some poisbilitys

Wow Hero of Iroas rated higher than Xenagos, God of Revels . Xenagos already has a deck that can easily play him on turn 3 (and possibly have him turned on by then too), I can't believe you're talking about how he's overcosted.

T1: Elvish Mystic

T2: Elvish Mystic, Burning-Tree Emissary , Sylvan Caryatid /Voyaging Satyr

T3: Xenagos as a creature. For even more shenanigans, Xenagos, The Reveler into Xenagos, God of Revels .

He's a 8/10 for me at least, and best of the allied-color gods by a long way. Ephara and Mogis can be good, but require you to basically build a deck around them. Karametra and Phenax aren't going to see any competitive play.

@omnipotato: yeah, I'm starting to come around. I agree that he's the best out of all the allied-color gods.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I think you all just gave me a new idea for my next article. Next time around I'll probably re-preview the cards that people challenged me on, and if you swayed me, I'll change my review!

omnipotato

Phenax, God of Deception AND Mogis, God of Slaughter can both slot into MBD depending on the owner's color preference. Both additions do some amazing things inside the MBD shell.

Ephara, God of the Polis does require being built around a little bit but Selesnya aggro and Simic flash can both easily support her to a nasty effect.

All of the above decks are current players in the standard meta. The only thing I don't like about Xenagos, God of Revels is that his ability is too easy to answer in this current meta, all of the other gods provide card advantage that is much harder to answer, Xenagos provides combat advantage which can be answered too easily for my tastes.

An example: You have Polukranos, World Eater in play, you cast Xenagos, God of Revels , you move to attack phase and Xenagos triggers (at this point you have to select a target), in response I cast Bile Blight (targeting the thing that you are attempting to make bigger) giving Polukranos -3/-3, Xenagos' trigger resolves and gives you +2/+2. You now have a 4/4.

Again, I'm usually the last person to cry "dies to doom blade" but in this standard meta there is SO MUCH kill magic. I could literally build a 60 card standard deck with nothing but kill spells and land.

This whole post brought to you by the letters I.M.O. which stand for in my opinion.

I honestly think Xenagos, God of Revels will be pretty good. GR can ramp it out t4 or even t3, and now you HAVE to leave mana open for the Doom Blade for the rest of the game if you're MBD (since that deck has no answers for Gods unless you're Ohthenoises and running Liliana of the Dark Realms ). You have to worry about every topdeck for the remainder of the game hitting you in the face for double its power, and even combo-ing with Blood for a quick kill. So no, it doesn't provide card advantage, but it increases the quality of your cards, which can be just as good.

On top of that, he fits into a deck that arguably has the easiest time providing 7 Devotion to make him a creature.

I'm not saying he is bad, far from it. He will be played, and he will be played well, I just feel that he doesn't provide as much advantage when compared against each other god and their prospective slots.

Gild is being printed. The "no answers to gods" is true (aside from Gild ) which is why part of the reason I splashed U initially was Curse of the Swine .

Some MBD decks were running Quag Sickness or Death's Approach as answers to gods pre-BNG. I think Gild will be the go-to afterwards.

(Unless the W version takes over and runs Revoke Existence )

It'll be interesting to see how much play Gild gets. I remember seeing a thread on the forums here recently in which almost everyone was bashing it and saying it is unplayable, to which I thought "Great! Don't have an answer for my Gods!" But ya splashing other colors in the MBD shell opens up a lot of better answers (Unravel the Aether for Golgari).

Ohthenoises, The whole reason MBD is so good is because the mana is great. If you introduce a new color into it, it will be extremely clunky and inconsistent, and more difficult to justify 4 Mutavaults maindeck.

G/R Monsters is already good against MBD because it has so much redundancy. Yes, you can Thoughtseize Xenagos away. But you still have to contend with Domri, planeswalker Xenagos, and Polukranos. You can Doom Blade the Polukranos that Xenagos just boosted. But next turn, you have an 8/8 Dragon coming your way and no way to deal with it. Planeswalker Xenagos and God Xenagos are absolutely mental together. A hasty 4/4 every turn for free.

Exactly, MBD is actually the most flexible deck for splashes and honestly I switch between W and U every so often.

W=Debt to the Deathless (powered by Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx ), Blood Baron of Vizkopa , Obzedat, Ghost Council , and add Revoke Existence to that.

R=Rakdos's Return (powered by Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx ), Dreadbore , Slaughter Games , and add Mogis, God of Slaughter to that.

G=Putrefy , Reaper of the Wilds , and add Unravel the Aether to that. (As you mentioned.)

U=AEtherling , Cyclonic Rift (powered by Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx ), and add Phenax, God of Deception to that.

omnipotato I haven't been watching any of the pro lists too carefully lately but we have at least 2 G/R monsters net deckers who know how to play the deck extremely well. I have not lost to them with my MBD yet.

I have no experience with the good matchup you are talking about but that DOESN'T make you wrong. (Just that I haven't seen it.) We have a few MBD decks at my shop and they fare about the same as I do v.s. G/R so who knows if it's skill level or something you are doing that the guys at my shop aren't (sideboards perhaps). /shrug, who knows?

Also, diluting the landbase doesn't really hurt you much when you are already running Temple of Silence (using the net deck as a yard stick here), all it would require for a splash is to add the appropriate shocklands unless you are splashing for more than just those few, easy to splash, things.

For example, I run Temple of Deceit and Watery Grave , it doesn't hurt me much to do so so I can deal with it. (I need to get more of those temples though, only have 2x atm....)

No deck has a truly good matchup against MBD (maybe Azorius control can win more than 50% of the time if it's tuned correctly). G/R is probably the best of the aggro decks against it. MBD annihilates mono red, G/W, and usually MUD too.

Fair point, usually I have a harder time with RDW (As in the non-slow MRD style RDW) but Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow (Why wasn't sorrow on your list buffy?) should fix that.

Yeah Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow will make RDW and MUD way worse.

@omnipotato: Really? I've never played MUD or MBD in a tournament but have witnessed quite a few matches between the two and it seems like MUD usually comes out on top thanks to Thassa, God of the Sea .

But yes Drown in Sorrow and Bile Blight might change that.

If you can keep MUD's creature count (the only way they build devotion) low, and keep them from hitting you too much with Bident of Thassa out Thassa, God of the Sea doesn't really do all that much aside from sit there and look pretty.

That's definitely how you want to play it, but it seems easier said than done since MUD has twice as many creatures as MBD's removal, if not more, and can add to Devotion with Bident of Thassa and Jace, Architect of Thought . Plus you always want to have a kill spell in your back pocket for Master of Waves . Idk like I said I've never played either in a tourny but from a spectator's point of view it seems like MUD has a slight upper hand in that matchup as long as they get a few 2- or 3-Devotion cards.

Great article, I look forward to seeing more in the future.

Now, I will submit:

I went ahead and brewed up a basic frame for what I think would be a good use for Ephara: I Bant believe it's not better!

Hey, I'd like to toss mine into the ring:

buffy - Ouch, not drawing a land until turn 7. It's intriguing seeing somebody else run your deck.

I'm curious as to why you swung with both Voices on turn 6. With another Bounty, Sphere of Safety and Nylea (also an Enchantment) it would have been better to keep them back as blockers (your opponent can't feed an ooze if it dies in battle), same for turn 7 (throwing voice into a Reaper seems like suicide to me). Unfamiliarity with the deck I suppose, a lot of people are use to Selesnya being aggro and you were possibly a bit overwhelmed with the Thoughtseize and duress. Especially with Ooze's on the enemy field (you want them to feed later rather than sooner).

I really ought to stop building decks that can't be piloted without knowing the deck card for card and knowing all the interactions. It does seem you were in a bit of a rush though so I can see why the opening hand would lead you wanting to play it aggro. You definitely made the right call to pacify the reaper though.

Anyway some more decks, although I should talk about the interactions and how to play a little more as again these decks have specific ways of being piloted:

Still toying with a helicopter hydras deck, hopefully I'll get that designed, still testing the bulk load of cards I got from the pre-release.

Also, Brimaz is strictly better than Hero of Bladehold . He cost 1 white less and the tokens he puts onto the field when attacking have vigilance, which if they go unblocked means they can block again as well. Plus he himself has Vigilance. Never underestimate the power behind Vigilance. The only drawback is he's Legendary, which won't bother EDH players.

I have quite a bit to say after reading all of this.

I agree with all of the people suggesting Mogis, God of Slaughter in a control deck. The ability to make them take 2 every turn is sickening. Especially depending on if you splash a 3rd color or not. Blue splash gives jace and cards, white splash gives elspeth, and wipes. All upside.

You're all talking about killing the thing Xenagos, God of Revels is buffing. What if it's a Reaper of the Wilds with hexproof mana open. Xenagos into the jund deck that got played at the end of the article, and watch the sparks fly.

@buffy you say Thassa's Rebuff is better as Dissolve . playing MUD on your turn you go, Judge's Familiar , swing all (if feasible), pass with 2 open to HARDCOUNTER anything you don't like. you'll have at least 2 devotion. it's your opponent's turn 3. they won't have the mana to pay for the rebuff. You're really underestimating the silliness of this card.

@Ohthenoises any control deck does well against GR devotion. because they poop their deck onto the field. if you kill the initial push, they don't have any card advantage to recover. MBD is still one of the most terrifying decks in the meta, but imo GR is kinda bad right now.

TL;DR I'm opinionated :P Giant IMO post

@kanofudo: So what exactly are you trying to say? On what turn are you countering for two? Turn two? It's not possible to counter for two on turn two with Thassa's, because you will have to play something that turn, using all your mana. Like I said in my review of it, your countering for X=1 on turn two at best (a strictly worse Stymied Hopes ) and on turn three X=3 at best, and by then you could simply cast Dissolve . Forgive me if I'm interpreting your post incorrectly. I DO see the value of it, though, which is what I said in my review.

@Ultimaodin: yeah, it wasn't pretty. Sorry if I played your deck incorrectly, I tried to put up a good showing with it.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos is better than Loxodon Smiter and Hero of Bladehold in most cases.

Concerning Thassa's Rebuff , I think the value of a counterspell in MUD doesn't occur until midgame (since early turns should be spent on creatures), in which case the lower CMC than Dissolve makes a huge difference because it means you have a better chance of playing something else on your turn. Dissolve was in many competitive MUD lists to start, but now is virtually non-existent because 3 mana was too much to hold onto. Time will tell if Thassa's Rebuff can avoid the same fate, but I can almost guarantee that some competitive lists will have it as a 1- or 2-of right after BNG is released.

@ChrisHansonBiomancin: I would agree with you. I also never said that MUD SHOULD run Dissolve , I just said that it seems to be Dissolve is the better counterspell in most cases, even when playing MUD. I do see your point on how Rebuff can be better in later stages, but I'm still uncertain as to whether it will make a large showing in MUD lists.

And on that same note, the later you wait to cast rebuff, the more mana your opponent has to pay the toll.

@buffy - no worries, the deck is very unusual. Plus, 2 land for a number of turns while the opponent hit land after land doesn't help. Turn 1 thoughtseize also made a hefty impact because that second opening Voice would have made a significant difference. :)

BNG decks? Got one. I built it after seeing this article. Mono white a contender?

ignore the blue section of the color wheel please. T/O is being weird. O.o