BotaNickill says... #6
PhyrexianPraetor. Thanks for the upvote and the suggestions! I always welcome feedback! That is awesome that you are also a fan of devotion! This deck served me well back when it was legal in Standard, it almost won me a tournament, but I lost to a Jeskai Heroics deck. I have been trying to keep it competitive and add the new cards as they come if they are better. I have never seen the Heartlash Cinder until now, but it looks like it would fit the deck nicely! I could look at them as a replacement for Kari Zev, Skyship Raider perhaps?? It has been tough filling out the slots with so many options available. This is an aggro deck at heart tho, and haste and damage to the face are all that matters in this case!
February 4, 2023 1:51 a.m.
PhyrexianPraetor says... #7
BotaNickill I also played standard around the time of RTR and Theros. I favoured Black Devotion myself.
Here is a list of cards you might find fun to test with.
1) Leyline of Punishment for the side, Stigma Lasher is a good alternative. I suggest these due to the prevalence of food decks. Gaining life doesn’t generally win the game, but it gives the opponent enough time to get control.
2) Harsh Mentor was a good card for a few years. It was used in traditional burn decks to punish players with lots of fetch-lands, effectively bolting the opponent every-time they cracked a fetch.
3) Vexing Shusher is a card that I have seen in the past in Naya Zoo and Green Stompy lists. Can be good against control or forces the control player to waste a spell to deal with it.
4) Boros Reckoner was a common choice I saw in standard Red Devotion lists. More often than not it will get through due to it’s ability.
5) Robber of the Rich is a cheap alternative to Ragavan. It doesn’t give treasure tokens, but it more or less achieves the same thing.
6) These last two are neat ideas. Shivan Devastator is a new card you probably have seen. It’s a good card that scales with the game and unlike most other “X” spells it has haste and if you ever added Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx it would be a strong combo. One other card I have seen on a few occasions is War Elemental. I played against a burn player sometime back and he had three of these in his deck. Was kind of annoying to deal with due to getting three +1/+1 counters almost every turn.
February 4, 2023 10:11 a.m.
BotaNickill says... #8
PhyrexianPraetor Thannks again for all the good card suggestions. I really appreciate it! I remember the black devotion decks well, good ol Gary! Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Phyrexian Obliterator, nasty stuff mate! The Shivan Devastator is indeed a pretty sick new card! I have a few but they are in my brother's Dragon deck with the Stormbreath Dragons and Thunderbreak Regents, but maybe I'll order another one or two for me! Boros Reckoner is a great card as well, I had them in the main board, and they have totally saved my skin in the past, I pushed them out to lower the curve a bit more, but I always keep them in the wings as a possibility. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx is already in the deck, gotta have that in any devotion deck for sure! Robber of the Rich is also a great card that can provide value and remove possible threats from the opponents deck before they become a problem, I wish I had paper copies, I have him in my historic RDW on arena for certain, I'll look getting some physical copies. As for the War Elemental, Stigma Lasher, Harsh Mentor, and Vexing Shusher, I do not have any of those cards, but I'll put them into consideration! Cheers!
PhyrexianPraetor says... #5
As a long time fan of the devotion mechanic and by extension the chroma mechanic from eventide I like your deck.
Have you ever considered Heartlash Cinder? It’s strictly a one shot card, but it can do a lot of damage in a single hit. Works wonders with Leyline of Combustion.
Not criticizing your deck. Looks fun and functional.
February 3, 2023 11:53 p.m.