Black Devotion (Intro Deck)

Pre-release Casual Competitive Devotion Midrange Mono-Black Theme/Gimmick

Kelvin-escesare

Creature (13)

• 1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
• 4x Geralf's Messenger
• 3x Gifted Aetherborn
• 2x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2x Phyrexian Obliterator

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Instant (4)

• 4x Fatal Push

Land (16)

• 4x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Collective Brutality
• 2x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1x Thoughtseize

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope

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This 40-card educational deck is based on this Modern Mono-Black Devotion deck. Few changes needed to be made from the original deck. For the student's first few games, trade out the Lilianas for Gatekeeper of Malakir and Phyrexian Arena, Collective Brutality for Inquisition of Kozilek, and Leechridden Swamp for Polluted Delta.

Designed as part of a 6-deck cycle for teaching Magic to intermediate players (who have played a few games using janky intro decks to learn the game mechanics). Too often, introductory decks are designed only with simplicity in mind. This fails to consider other important factors, such as illustrating game theory, iconic strategies, and color pie philosophy. That's why these 6 decks feature historically iconic strategies in each color, covering the six most fundamental archetypes: aggro, ramp, midrange, control, aggro-control, and combo-control.

The student can start by playing black devotion (midrange) against the teacher playing humans (aggro) (giving the student the advantage). Then student humans vs. teacher faeries, and so on. The complete sequence is Black Devotion (Intro Deck) (midrange) > human intro (aggro) > Blue Faeries (Intro Deck) (control) > Black Devotion (Intro Deck) (midrange) > Red Burn (Intro Deck) (aggro-control) > Green Elves (Intro Deck) (ramp) > Junk (Intro Deck) (midrange) > human intro (aggro). In each new matchup, the student simply plays the deck that the teacher previously played to ease the student into each new deck. And the teacher plays a new deck that favors the student because fun is important. This allows the student to explore each archetype while learning the metagame strengths and weaknesses. The sequence fittingly starts with the simplest decks in Modern (tribal aggro and burn) and, unlike many introductions which just end there, goes all the way up to the most difficult decks to pilot (prison and control). That's why it's best to play each pairing (and even switching decks) until the student is comfortable before moving on. A life point handicap is also recommended.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Pre-release legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 13 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons
Cards	40
Avg. CMC	2.50
Tokens	Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Teaching Magic