Wow nice devotion deck. I want to build a black devotion similar to this some day.

How well does Phyrexian Obliterator fair in pratice?

I keep trying to make changes here and there, vs many even meta decks it fairs well in my previous renditions, only time I haven't @ least put up a fight is when I get land starved, which I feel comes down to poor shuffling after a few games. As for Phyrexian Obliterator they are really good at keeping the opponent from attacking in fear of his effect :) either that or forcing every removal

Played at midnight pre release last Friday and opened an expedition Polluted Delta so I was finally able trade out for Liliana of the Veil (as well as some others) and looking forward to another test run hopefully this Thursday at modern

Good for you. That's a great way to finish a deck, I've gotta admit I'm very jealous.

4-0 Victory at Thursday night Modern, Phyrexian Obliterator mvp; although Gray Merchant of Asphodel got several killing blows as well, I will update with decks I vs'd,

This is a very strong deck I really like it... or hate it because I don't own it.

Will-o'-the-Wisp is an underrated card. he makes a great 1st turn drop that can stay out there protecting you for the rest of the game. might be good in SB vs. flyers. just a thought.

Only 3 bolt and the inclusion of Lashwrithe both seem very wrong to me. Lashwrithe is a 4/4 for 4 when it's played, and your deck never actually wants more than 5 lands, so a 5/5 for 4, but that just isn't that great imo. Obliterator is soooo much better and it doesn't have any devotion for Gary or Nykthos. And bolt is an easy 4-of. I tried playing with 3 thinking that I wasn't a burn deck and 4 bolts wasn't necessary. I was very wrong. I have never been sad to see it. From burning down creatures to handling planeswalkers to finishing off your opponent, it is unbelievably powerful and should definitely be a 4-of.

I believe I agree with that almost 100%, I love the idea behind Lashwrithe, however I find myself either Faithless Looting all my lands into the gy once I get Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or sideboarding Lashwrithe out first, I wanted to love it but the more I've played different matchups with it the more I find it doesn't do much for me

Also Figag, your suggestion of Faithless Looting, I LOVE this card for this deck, it has been amazing

I'm glad you have liked it. It is honestly the best card in my deck too. It's amazing how powerful it is despite being card disadvantage.

How has 13 creatures been working? Is it enough? Gatekeeper of Malakir is really good, but your 3 drop spot has so much competition already that I don't know if I'd run it, but it is really good.

Any thoughts on Dark Confidant instead of Phyrexian Arena? I guess the increased life loss and being boltable is a problem, but 1 mana cheaper and able to attack with is also relevant.

I do like the idea of a Dark Confidant over Phyrexian Arena, the more testing I did with arena the more I found myself dying to it's effect; thats why i switched out 2x Phyrexian Arena for 2x Underworld Connections, there have been multiple games where I have held off tapping an Underworld Connections due to health and it saved me the game till i could Faithless Looting flashback dig for a Gray Merchant of Asphodel. @ least the Dark Confidant is easier for me to get removed from the board, might be worth a shot. I do still like, however, the two Underworld Connections

as for the 13 creatures, so far in my testing has been fine being that 4x Bloodghast and 3x Geralf's Messenger and fairly sticky, and normally when obliterator resolves I end up winning shortly after If they have no answer, at that point with a nykthos and devotion on the field I can Faithless Looting through my entire deck for a Thoughtseize and gary for a cover setup

Cool glad to hear it. This is still easily one of my favorite decks on TA, but just so darn expensive. Keep updating with tournament records cuz I never get tired of seeing more of this kind of deck.

Ive faced several different meta decks, mostly grixis twin, and Ive had people say the deck is stressful to play against, another said that he just LOVED the deck. feels better doing well with a deck you built youself (with help from the TO community), notability Faithless Looting; nothing beats a turn 3 Phyrexian Obliterator with a t1/t2 Faithless Looting 2x Bloodghast discard and a t3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Shame I couldnt make it any cheaper but I am happy with my investment in building it and glad it is finally near it's finished product

Updated with another Thursday night modern

Still need work on sideboard, want to add 2-3 Rending Volley for twin/merfolk matchups, also for graveyard hate I like Leyline of the Void since it adds to devotion and it is graveyard hate that doesn't hurt me, downside however...is that if it isn't in my opening hand it doesn't help as much unless paired with something like a Rakdos Charm

Rakdos Charm should be all the grave hate you need. How often to you side in grave hate? Only when it shuts them down or anytime it's useful? For things like leyline and charm, I'd only use them against decks where it shuts them down because it's a -1 to card advantage, so it's generally not good against fair decks, unless you gain huge virtual card advantage from stopping their graveyard shenanigans. Against a deck like delver, for example, a turn 0 leyline stops tasigur and snapcaster mage. It does not stop any of their burn spells, Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, or Young Pyromancer, so I'd leave leyline and charm behind in that matchup.

Your other great grave hate option is Nihil Spellbomb, which is a cantrip. You don't lose card advantage by blowing it up so it's useable against decks like delver and Abzan which normally wouldn't need grave hate. In VERY rare occasions when playing against something like tron and you have to dig for a single specific card, you can use it as a 2 mana cantrip, albeit a terrible one. Unfortunately spellbomb is also nowhere near as powerful of hate as leyline or as versatile of a card as charm. Charm is super attractive because it is amazing against Twin and Affinity, the two top decks in the meta right now. I'd suggest maybe 2 charm and 1 spellbomb? I don't know your meta or matchups, but I can't think of any super popular decks where you'd rather have leyline than charm, but leyline does see more play so there has to be a few I'm overlooking.

Most of your sideboard looks good, but there are few things that worry me. I don't like Slaughter Pact. With only 2 mainboard Terminate, you'll side in removal against a ton of decks, the most important of which are Jund and Abzan. Pact misses Bob, Tasigur, and Siege Rhino, which is enough to turn me away. I'd rather see Dismember or just more Terminate. I might be overlooking something, but the nonblack clause is very relevant.

I've found Pyroclasm to be very good in the current meta. It kills tokens, wrecks affinity and is useful against almost all aggro decks these days. I have 2 in my deck and love it, but I don't know if it fits in here. I'd consider it.

Good luck!

Slaughter Pact is my sideboard for twin, allows me to tap out for an obliterator on turn for and still pact their twin attempt on their turn, it has been super effective for me, I kind of want to get possibly up to 3 Rending Volley to help vs both merfolk and twin as well, and for SB i did have a variety of different kill spells from Dismember, Murderous Cut, an extra Terminate etc for some matchups. I just did some switching up to see how i liked different cards, and I see your point with Leyline of the Void I would prefer a free permanent that adds devo from the beginning of the game, but if I dont have it in my opening I feel its immediately becomes worse then a Rakdos Charm

Very true. To be honest, it all comes down to what matchups are hard for you and personal preference. Which drawbacks are more relevant for the deck and what matchups you need the most help with is how you decide.

I would recommend that if you want to play cards with upsides and drawbacks, then I'd make the sideboard mostly 1-ofs. It looks a lot better now compared to last night. Test it out and see how it goes, and then adjust accordingly.

What decks are your tough matchups?

I tried against merfolk a few times, it's a painful one. Don't always do amazing vs tron, Ive gone against a lot of twin decks and my Slaughter Pact SB is amazing vs the matchup. Other then those I'm fairly 50/50 vs burn/infect because of their speed. I just have to be able to get the right hand to outrace burn or hand disruption vs infect

Cut the Faithless Looting. Use Sign in Blood or Painful Truths instead, but you really don't need that. I'd at least run a second Kolaghan's Command. Switch over those Underworld Connections to Phyrexian Arenas. Blightning is also worth running.

In my opinion Bitterblossom is favorable right now.

Phyrexian Obliterator, tons of removal, and Black Devotion? This has everything I love. +1. I wonder if it would be worth dropping a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or two for a couple Ghost Quarter. Just a thought

I would cut the Faithless Lootings all together and the Vampiric Links. Beef up on the Terminates and either add some Dreadbore, a Stormbreath Dragon, Liliana of the Veil #4 or some Sign in Blood.

I agree with the above, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx will almost never pay off in this deck and if you're going to add colorless then Ghost Quarter and Mutavault are both better choices. A singleton or two Lavaclaw Reaches wouldn't be bad either. 1x Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace or Kher Keep are other options.

Lastly you're weak to enchantments so perhaps some colorless tools would help you out. Ratchet Bomb, Engineered Explosives (u may need to throw in another shock), or Oblivion Stone are all valid SB options. If you do go with Engineered Explosives then I would recommend Painful Truths over Sign in Blood.

Like the deck! I have a similar mono black version in my profile.

Gatekeeper of Malakir is great in these black devotion type decks, and Graven Cairns should help if you have any mana issues. I don't like Vampiric Link in this deck very much, I'd replace them with Gatekeeper of Malakir.

The biggest problems I've had so far with the deck is it is normally weak to any fast burn, zoo, merfolk, tron kind of deck I had a suggestion to add the Vampiric Links to help vs those decks since I only had one source of healing otherwise and I had several other cards that have self inflicted damage already, so looking to see how they may or may not help, for things like tron, I've never drawn my sideboard Fulminator Mages vs one unfortunately and I haven't run into one since I got Blood Moon.

I have definitely been figuring out how to deal with enchants which is very minimal in B/R from what I've found, a few times I've considered splashing green for Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse

Removing Faithless Looting isn't something I'd really like to do, this card can give me early ramp with Bloodghast and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx it is also really nice when it comes to digging for answers