Use Duskmantle Seer instead of this devotion semi Net deck attempt.

This looks a little bit reliant, I understand the want to use a card that can be so strong. But inclusion of Whip of Erebos in the main board to not only keep yourself alive, and push through dmg is nice.

I think the reliance on heroic might be a mistake, the meta is creature heavy so I understand Agent of Fates, but you also have a lot of removal so it seems like overkill. With the 3 Hero's Downfall i doubt you need to play more than 2-3 other kill spell. Maybe just 1 of each Doom Blade and Ultimate Price . This would give you room for the whips and other utility spells. Possibly adding in the 4th Hidden Strings and Aqueous Form .

I would potentially add in another color for more utility and better creatures. I would say green or red.

Green would give you Giant Growth , Simic Charm , Golgari Charm , Skylasher , Mistcutter Hydra .

Red would give you Turn//Burn (though Far//Away is probably better, it would provide away to get rid of gods and troublesome creatures ), Magma Jet .

Just thins to get you thinking

@Schuesseled This is not a devotion deck. The only devotion card I have is Thassa, and I can't even turn her into a creature. While this deck does have similarities to MBD, it is not a net deck, mainly just a copy of the removal suite. Duskmantle Seer doesn't allow for the same amount of card advantage as Pain Seer, as well as giving advantage to the opponent. I do not think it is a good fit.

@Zurno1 I'd prefer to avoid going 3 colors if at all possible. The reliance on Heroic is because Hidden Strings and Triton Tactics are the best untappers in my colors, and they both target two creatures, so I thought I might as well get some more value out of them even when I don't draw Pain Seer. The Whip is a good sideboard card, but it's a little harsh when revealed with Pain Seer and the activated ability is not particularly useful in this deck, so I think I will leave it in the sideboard for now. It's only really needed against aggro, I think (hope).

Also, the split cards would deal their combined CMC when revealed. 5 damage just isn't worth it for Far / Away , unfortunately.

I was referring to using it in the place of deseceration demon and thasa. Neither of which suit your deck.

Duskmantle seer offers more card draw, As well as an evasive beater. Works great against devotion decks, because they tend to have lots of high cmc cards.

Whip would be good in main board,

@Schuesseled Oh, I thought you meant in place of Pain Seer! Yeah, that is actually better, I mainly had Thassa for the scry and Desecration Demon because its a 6/6 flier for 4.

What would you recommend switching out for the Whip?

Blood Scrivener and Read the Bones would also work well here.

I would side Mizzium Skin bring in the whips and an extra aqueous form. Your mizzium skins aren't very good unless your opponent has a large removal suite.

Consider switching out Tormented Hero for scrivener or read the bones, seeing as it doesn't really do much.

You might even want a 3rd whip, with all the life loss around you could defeat yourself easily!

What makes dark confidant the one of the best black cards, 2 drops, creatures, and whatever else, is that he's a staple in a format where the best cards are 1 and 2 drops, imagine revealing duskmantle seer, whip and heroes downfall, you just die.

Witches' Eye pairs really well with Pain Seer

I like where this deck is going, will keep looking! +1

@bantam1234 Witches' Eye is nice, but I think Springleaf Drum is a better fit, and I can't see what else could be taken out in favor of it.

Looks like a fair attempt on a deck around Pain Seer . I would recommend Nightveil Specter over Siren of Silent Song . It should expand your use of Springleaf Drum , not to mention that you need to run three or four of those, and you currently run two.

1+. Check my take on Dimir if you want, Vast Emptiness [Dimir Devotion]

Love this so far. I run an ultra similar deck with Agent and Duskmantle Seer. ( Nightveil Specter and Omenspeaker for Pain Seer and the Siren) as soon as they revealed pain seer, I was in love. So good luck with this. I hope these two next sets helps this style of play become competitive. I'm pretty sure Mizzium Skin won't protect your creatures from Drown in Sorrow , since they're not being directly targeted. I also think Retraction Helix is a great protection/ heroic trigger. In my area's meta there is tons of white and esper. So Chained to the Rocks, Pacifism, and Deletion Spheres are common. Dimir has no enchantment removal, so other than Disperse there's not a lot of answers to those cards. Hope that was some help and cheers!

@nukethevatican666 Mizzium Skin also gives +0/+1, making them 0/1s after Drown in sorrow resolves. I'm not sure what the meta will be after BNG, so I'll be adjusting once I actually play.

What exactly is this deck's win-con? The beefiest thing you have is a 4/4 Duskmantle Seer with minor evation. You have a clock with Mutavault . The other thing is milling them out with Siren of Silent Song . I don't think the siren is a good card, but who knows...

Card advantage is in my experience generally not enough. Personally I'd suggest adding:

• an AEtherling to close out the game.

• a couple of Dimir Charm for huge versatility.

@emelw The win-con of this deck is card advantage. Pain Seer, like Dark Confidant before him (though certainly not to the same degree) allows for a significant increase in card advantage compared to my opponent. Most decks can't afford to 1-for-1 threats with removal. In theory at least, this deck can. I don't need huge creatures to win, because I'll be beating your face in and killing anything you play.

Siren of Silent Song is not in there for the mill, but for the discard effect. It may also prove to not be worth it, as it is 3 mana.

AEtherling is simply far too big. I may already be pushing the number of 3 and 4 drops I have in this deck. Revealing Aetherling off of Duskmantle Seer or Pain Seer would straight up kill me.

Dimir Charm is versatile, but it is not useful. Almost no sorceries are run in any major decks right now, so the first mode is useless. Most creatures I want to kill have more than 2 power, and even then it is questionable whether this is better than Doom Blade . Only the third mode is even potentially regularly useful, and usually I'd be better off with Read the Bones for myself, and I don't care what my opponent draws.

Another inspired enabler for untapping is Crypsis , which would be absolutely evil when combined with Agent of the Fates while still being useful with Pain Seer and Siren of Silent Song . I really like this idea, and I might have to try making something like this at some point.

I agree with Zurno1., with Agent of the Fates and 3 Hero's Downfall , six more spot removal they maybe are to many, i think Boon of Erebos would fit in there, to protect against mass removals or block, kill a creature and save yours while setting up a trigged for inspired or heroic ability. Good deck +1

The thing that I do not like about this deck is that you have 15 spells that require you to have a creature in play to do anything, and only have 13 creatures. If you don't draw creatures or they all die you're going to lose quickly.

its easier to draw creatures with mad card advantage

notion thief in the sideboard against esper

But you don't gain card advantage when your Pain Seer dies the turn you play it. Then your next creature dies, and you have 2 or 3 things in hand that target your creatures and they're dead cards until you draw creatures.I understand that playing Agent of the Fates is really cool and all, but the fact is that a 3/2 deathtouch for 3 is not viable. It requires other cards to be good, and when you have nothing to target with your other cards you lose. The deck is fragile with the 15:13 self-targeted spell to creature ratio.

@Unitk2k This deck is currently tuned for anti-aggro and midrange mainboard. I would be sideboarding out a number of the non-removal spells if I were playing control, and in that case I only need a few resolved creatures lasting a few turns to win. Also, I'd only consider it 12:13, as Whip of Erebos can reanimate if I need it, so it doesn't really count.

@RobossVampireHunter thanks, I'll definitely consider it, but I won't add until I have a better sense of the local meta.

raithe000 Yes I see that the deck looks good against aggro right now because with the 9 removal spells you'll be able to cut down their creatures well.If you're using the reanimate mode on Whip of Erebos then you're going to be swinging for 2-4 damage, usually on the lower end of that range. Whip should not be more than a two-of to begin with.

I see you mentioned Dimir Charm earlier, and I feel like it is a good option to have, and depending on the meta, is one you should have. The kill condition on it will kill most aggro creatures, Mutavault , etc, and the counter sorcery is actually important. Drown in Sorrow kills almost every creature you play, and so does Anger of the Gods .

+1 pain seer