Drakewing Krasis is strictly worse imho. I would run Elusive Krasis instead. He fills that three drop slot, is unblockable (and thus combos nicely with Bident of Thassa ) and gets progressively bigger as the game goes on. Also a nice target for Boon Satyr . It just fits well imo. Otherwise I really like what you've done here. I would also still consider Master Biomancer though. Him plus Master of Waves is rather ridiculous. But you can of course test it out and see how biomancer performs. If you think it slows the deck down too much, stick with your option b.

Thanks for the advice,

After attaining a single Master Biomancer , and doing some testing, found that he fit quite well, he slows down my offensive a bit but his 4 toughness is enough to stop a few things, and of course he can get crazy with Master of Waves . Elusive Krasis could be worth running so ill look at play testing those.I've also found that i'm not a fan of Boon Satyr , simply because he doesn't give me devotion to blue, but I'm not sure what to replace him with.

This is a very tiny change, but I would probably

+1 Cloudfin Raptor

-1 Frostburn Weird

It might slow down your deck, it might speed it up, I'm not sure. You do have quite a bit of card-draw, though, maybe cut out a Thassa? Possibly for an Urban Evolution , or something? I'm a bit biased, though, that card has saved me a bunch of times.

Hey guy, I have a U/g deck too, devotion as well. I'll run through how I got to my choices, (even though I'm still trialling my deck) and see if that does anything for you (only just made it public for this post). Master of Mutants.

First and foremost, Nightveil Specter s are great, simply because you get a flier with a decent butt, and strong devotion. Where possible, always fit them in. I'd replace Horizon Chimera with them, simply because it's not offering much more for the extra 1 mana cost.

In my playtesting, I didn't find Prophet of Kruphix to be a strong contender in this deck (bearing in mind i actually love prophet), and found it just left me vulnerable. By the time I hit turn 5, I expected to be dropping a gigantic Master of Waves , which could arguably be done next turn, but if they have removal you have just been set back a turn.

I was running Simic Charm mainboard, but I have been playtesting Fated Infatuation , as it does allow for combat tricks and suprise blockers. Pairing that with a Master Biomancer or a Master of Waves is pretty devestating.

Also, it may be a cost issue, but can you slot in 4x Breeding Pool ? For my mana base, I found that all sources need to be blue (bearing in mind our decks are a little different), so I actually went to the point of putting in 2x Simic Guildgate s as well.

For sideboard, I recommend Mistcutter Hydra and Skylasher for mirror matches, and Unravel the Aether or Fade into Antiquity for dealing with Gods.

Thanks for all the advice, all of it seems sound.

Unfortunately Breeding Pool and Nightveil Specter are outside my price range right now, which is why they are not in the deck, i'll have a look at Fated Infatuation though.

Have you thought about adding a Nykthos or two to help overload those Rifts? Also, having 8 1-drops seems kind of important, so that you can start building devotion on turn 1. Why not run Hypnotic Siren as well?

Thanks Cory,I have indeed considered Nykthos, unfortunately at the moment I don't have any, but if i get some i'm going to test them out.And while having a turn one play is nice, I don't have any trouble building up lots of devotion as it is and I think the other cards are more important.

Thanks for the advice,Zypher

I think more people need to think about the Master Biomancer + Master of Waves combo. It always makes me sick seeing everything die when he does. +1 for the deck

Thanks! That is pretty much the reason I made the deck.

I like it! Mssrs Biomancer and Waves together is always stronger than simply mono blue.

Problems with Mizzium Mortars - I run Syncopate and Thassa's Rebuff mainboard. I find it better just to have a few counterspells in the mainboard, that way you can decide which things you don't want to resolve, whether it's removal, creatures or planeswalkers.

Your more devoted to blue than I am, but feel free to check out my deck for some idea's - we're working along fairly similar strategies:

I would run Thassa's Rebuff instead of Negate , since this is a devotion deck.

I've been reluctant to run inconsistent counters such as Thassa's Rebuff in the past, but i'll test it out because I also think it could work well.

Also, Vorel of the Hull Clade would be a good addition. Since you are running Master Biomancer .

I have tested with Vorel before, but I find him too slow, especially since my deck only has 1 +1/+1 counter making card. overall I don't think he is worth running over anything else.

Well, you do have the Cloudfin Raptor , and you could always throw in Bow of Nylea .

True about the raptor, but I still find Vorel very slow. I wont be using the the bow because of the double green in its cost.

I pull off 5 turn wins because of Vorel of the Hull Clade . For Standard, that is pretty fast.

I would take out 4 Island for 4 Forest. If you are going to run a duel cost 2 drop and 16 lands of 1 color, you are pretty much saying that you don't need to play it second turn.

I would side board AEtherling , Master Biomancer , and an Island to main board Tidebinder Mage , just for easier devotion. Replace the Island in side for another Negate , or run 3 Gainsay instead of Negate . If you are using that for blue, then you can counter a Jace, Architect of Thought .

I agree that Kiora's Follower is a bit hard to hit on turn 2, and I was considering taking it out for mainboard Tidebinder Mage . However, because I am running both Nightveil Specter and Fated Infatuation I really need all my lands (with the exception of Nykthos) to produce blue. Because of that I was considering 2 Mana Confluence though they are a bit pricey at the moment.

On the note of Thassa's Rebuff , I really only use Simic Charm for Hexproofing my creatures anyway so do you think it's worth cutting it for Thassa's Rebuff mainboard?

Oh yea, put Thassa's Rebuff in then. If you are only using Simic Charm for hexproof, I would suggest using Mizzium Skin instead. That way you don't need G to cast it.

Since you are pushing more towards Blue Devotion, there really is no need for Kiora's Follower in here. Yea, you have the chance to play something a turn earlier. Again, your mana base doesn't guarantee that it is a 2nd turn drop. It just seems like it is slowing the deck down.

If you could pick up at least 2 Mana Confluence , do it. That would work great with Nightveil Specter . Not to mention, make it easier to play the Simic cost cards.

Alternately, I could remove Kiora's Follower because of the difficult turn 2 green. Remove 1 Master Biomancer and then run 3-2 mainboard Tidebinder Mage and 2-3 Vorel of the Hull Clade . What do you think?

First you need to decide if you want to stick with devotion or go for more of a Simic build. Either way is good.

If you are going to run Vorel of the Hull Clade , I would suggest running some Forest and keeping Kiora's Follower . Maybe take out Master Biomancer for Zameck Guildmage .

Here is my Simic build: Jungle Juice, this is going to fall apart when rotation hits.

Here is my devotion build: Yellow Submarine, this is more rotation friendly.

I am definitely going to stick with devotion, But I do need think taking out Kiora's Follower is the way to go, so i'll run Tidebinder Mage mainboard.

Alright, everything looks pretty good. Well, find 4 more cards for side board. Such as: a third Pithing Needle , Simic Charm , and Unravel the Aether . Again, if you are only using Simic Charm for the hexproof, Mizzium Skin would be the better choice.

If you are only going to run 2 counters, you might as well not run any at all. Try to bump that up to 4 to have a better chance to draw when needed.

If you play the deck right, AEtherling will never have to see play. So, I think you could do with that. Maybe replace it with Ordeal of Thassa or Aqueous Form , to give the deck more early game aggro. Hour of Need for late game aggro.

I want to keep Simic Charm in the board because it can still act as a hexproof enabler but against heroic or Madcap Skills decks the bounce ability is very useful.

I also believe that it is worth keeping AEtherling in, simply because it is not always possible to win before turn 6, and he gets past board stalls, and can easily kill Elspeth.