Dies to Removal

What is UW Devotion?

UW Devotion is a deck that started off as a deck at Pro Tour Theros as just straight up Mono-Blue devotion. It completely dominated the tournament, putting 2 pilots to the finals and putting up numerous top 8, 16 and 32 performances in that tournament, and proceeded to dominate future tournaments. With a good GR matchup and, at the time, a good control matchup with a 50/50 matchup vs. Mono-Black, the deck was considered by many to share the number 1 position as the "best deck" with mono-black for a very long time.

Unfortunately for Mono-Blue, then Born of the Gods happened.

After numerous top 8's and wins at GP's, with the arrival of some key cards from BNG, mono-blue soon started to lose some of the stranglehold it once had.

UW Control lists began running Archangel of Thune in the sideboard, a card that if left
unanswererd would completely take over the game. As Mono-Blue, the only possible answers post-board were running cards like Domestication or Rapid Hybridization, cards which are typically very bad post-board against a control deck. On top of this, RG Monsters soon became to transition into a deck that could actually fight back against the Mono-Blue deck, Mono-Blue began to fade with many people calling it a bad deck.

Enter UW Devotion.

Originally, people looked at Ephara, God of Polis and immediately thought "White Weenie. She's perfect!" Some of us saw her as a possible upgrade to Jace vs the field, but also as another option to splash white with, along with Detention Sphere as a generic answer against the majority of the field.

However, as time went on the deck became more and more popular online, showing that not only were D-Sphere and Ephara great cards in the deck, the sideboard options of Glare of Heresy could help alleviate the issue that is Archangel of Thune! It all began to fit
together and showed many lists looking similar to the following:

[deck]
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves
3 Ephara, God of the Polis

4 Detention Sphere
1 Rapid Hybridization

4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Mutavault
11 Island
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Godless Shrine[/deck]

Lets look at the card choices:

Cloudfin Raptor: Best one-drop we have vs. non-control decks, can get as big as a 5/6 if you are able to curve out perfecly
Judge's Familiar: Not spectacular, but sadly necessary. Need to have a 1 drop, it has flying, it gets the job done. If a better 1 drop comes forth in the future, is a very easy replacement
Galerider Sliver: An interesting piece of tech from a buddy of mine, makes our mutavaults into fliers which, against control, is
sometimes relevant to get over the soldiers/mutavaults for that last bit of life. Better than the 4th familiar, in my opinion.
Tidebinder Mage: Again, necessary. Very good vs. R/G decks, less than spectacular vs. the rest of the field, but produces 2 colored mana for devotion and is still a grizzly bear
Frostburn Weird: Actually a very good card. Is a wall vs Aggro, a very strong threat vs. Control, overall a good card
Nightveil Specter: A very good devotion card, adds 3!!!! devotion on its own, is a 2/3 flyer, and against the field (Mono-Black, UW) gets very good in that it can cast their spells
Thassa, God of the Sea: IMO the number one reason to play this deck. VERY VERY good card and the lichpin of the deck
Master of Waves: Another very good card, and the 2nd best reason to play this card. Run 4. Just do it.
Ephara, God of Polis: Every time you cast
a creature (which you have a lot of) you draw a card. If your D-Spheres and Bidents and whatever else begin to stack up, and eventually you get a 6/5. Good card, however a lot of UW lists are moving away from her. Although she is very good in the Mono-Black matchup, she is less than stellar in most other matchups. Bident is better vs. Control, Jace is better vs. Aggro decks. Definitely not worth as a 3 of, as a 1 or 2 of she is good, but I have moved away from her sadly.

Detention Sphere: In my opinion, the number one reason for running white in Mono-Blue. Adds an answer for everything that has given us problems in the past. Elspeth, Archangel, Pack Rat, Desecration Demon, Polukranos, Domri, Jace, EVERYTHING. Such a versatile answer and a very good addition to the mono-blue deck turned UW.
Rapid Hybridization: Still a very strong card, synergizes well with Tidebinder Mage in turning a problem creature into a tapped down froggy. Answers Stormbreath Dragon,
Blood Baron, and other problem Pro-White cards that D-Sphere cannot hit.
Bident of Thassa: a very good card vs. controlly decks. Allows every "midget" beater turn into "oh look, draw a card". can also take people by surprise with the threaten effect and can sometimes lead to blow outs if people forget about it.
Jace, Architect of Thought: Great card vs. Control and Aggro, not so good vs. Monsters and Mono-Black. Slows down aggro decks, is 2 devotion for thassa, draws you cards...overall a good card.


Islands: Best card in magic. Must run at least 10
Hallowed Fountain and Temple of Enlightenment: The reasons we are able to play UW. Although the tapped lands sometimes are an issue, rarely does it come up and late game allows us to scry away things we do not want.
Mutavault: Best land in standard. Running 4 is almost always correct.
Azorius
Guildgate: I personally hate this card, and will never run it in this deck. If I want another white source, I would rather run a one of Godless Shrine. Having 9 white sources has, for me, been enough and having only 4 that come into play tapped is perfectly fun with me.

Sideboard
Domestication: Very good mirror, mono-black and even burn tech. Whats better than exiling a chandra's phoenix? How about having a chandra's phoenix? #value
Counterspells: Negate, Dispel, Dissolve, Gainsay. All very good cards in certain matchups. Definitely have at least 2 gainsay for the mirror (duh lol). I personally run 3 Gainsay, 2 Dissolve, 1 Negate and 1 Dispel, but I'm debating going to 2 Negate. Counterspell lineup is interesting, and I recommend laying out board plans and if your 1 card over in 1 matchup and 1 card under in another, change a counterspell is where I normally start with.
Glare of Heresy: Another major reason to
splash white. Glare'ing an Elspeth, Archangel or D-Sphere vs. Control is back breaking, and against White-Weenie is basically a 2 mana free swords to plowshares. Seems good.
Revoke Existence: Another very good reason to run white, good tech in the mirror, good vs. Burn due to them having Satyr Firedancer and Chained to the Rocks, and pretty good vs. mono-black (but not necessary).
Curse of the Swine: A good card in that, if you have a d-sphere, can combo with it into a pseudo-board wipe. I dont like this card as much in UW due to the fact we have white cards to exile stuff we have issues with, but still worth a mention.
Jace, Memory Adept: Very good vs control, actually rather good in the mirror (without white) Due to largely being untouchable.
Aetherling: A card that I want to retry vs. Control (which is our worst matchup by far). A 6 mana threat that, if resolves, control just cannot touch. They just
cant do it.

Lets look at some matchups:

RG Monsters: Favourable.
With D-Sphere and Tidebinder Mage and Master of Waves, this matchup is generally rather good. Their only real threats are Stormbreath Dragons when you dont have a Mage/Hybridization, Domri (which is a machine gun vs. you), and Polukranos (which can wipe your board potentially). after board, mistcutter hydra is a problem but can be raced early. Curve out, dont dilute your deck with too much crappy stuff and just stick to the plan.

Mono-Black: Favourable.
Before D-Sphere, this matchup was about 50/50. However with D-Sphere, all of a sudden the matchup becomes, actually, favorable! Can you still lose to Thoughtseize into Pack rat? yes. Is the matchup losable? Very, mono-black is still a very good deck. However its not nearly as bad as some other decks vs. it.

UW/x Control: [
color=#FF0000]Unfavorable[/color].
Pre-board, you should not win (barring a good draw including a stuck thassa). Their wraths are uncounterable (stupid Verdict >.>) and they have answers for Master of Waves/Thassa, and by answers I mean many of them.

Post board, becomes a little bit closer to even depending on your plan. I'm trying to fix this matchup post board to make it favorable, but very difficult.

RW Burn: Even
If they resolve Firedancer and you cant answer it, you lose. Its that simple. If they dont have Firedancer, becomes a LOT easier. Depends on the pilots, mostly.

BW: Even-Unfavorable
Very good deck. Lifebane Zombie isnt very good vs. you if you arent running Ephara, but Blood Baron can cause a very large problem if left unattended. Few Domestication targets, so not as good in this matchup as it is in Mono-Black, and D-Sphere isnt as godly here.

Weenie Aggro Decks: [color=#
00BF00]Favourable[/color]
We have larger end game, can match their curve, and have the best sideboard answers vs them. Overall an easy matchup.

I'll continue to update this, but I believe this is a good start for now.

!!!!!DISCUSS!!!!!

My current list, for reference:

[deck]
4 Cloudfin Raptor
3 Judge's Familiar
1 Galerider Sliver
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves

2 Bident of Thassa
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Detention Sphere
1 Rapid Hybridization

4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
11 Island
1 Godless Shrine
4 Mutavault

Sideboard
3 Gainsay
2 Negate
1 Pacifism
1 Dispel
2 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Revoke Existence
2 Domestication
1 Rapid Hybridization[/deck]

I'm gonna update this continually as things go.

My current board plans:
Mirror:
-4 Frostburn Weird
-2 Bident of Thassa
+3 Gainsay
+1 Revoke Existence
+2 Domestication

UW/x Control
-4 Cloudfin Raptor
-4 Master of Waves
-1 Rapid Hybridization
-1 Tidebinder Mage
+3 Gainsay
+2 Negate
+2 Jace, Memory Adept
+2 Glare of Heresy
+1 Dispel

vs. Mono-Black
-4
Master of Waves
-1 Jace, Architect of Thought
+2 Domestication
+1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Dispel
+1 Negate
(can also cut 1 Tidebinder for 1 Negate, depending on play or draw)

vs Monsters
-1 Jace, Architect of Thought
-2 Bident of Thassa
+1 Pacifism
+1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Negate

vs. Burn
-2 Bident of Thassa
-1 Rapid Hybridization
-1 Thassa
-1 Galerider Sliver
+2 Domestication
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
(Considering -1 Jace for +1 Pacifism, depending on if they run YP or not)

Working on a version of the list that doesnt auto-lose to control game 1, and is (hopefully) favourable game 2/3 without wrecking other matchups

Excellent work DXI.

I think the real contention is weather it is worth going White at all; for example, Sam Pardee feels that despite the higher power level of the cards in the sideboard, the hit to consistency and tempo actually make the deck worse. Thoughts?

I havent actually felt a hit, and his biggest gripe was the fact he felt that Ephara did nothing.

I agreed with this, and decided to cut ephara and allow the splash just to be D-Sphere, Glare and Revoke existence (with a possible elspeth in the sideboard) and cut down until I only had the essential white sources. I'm at 9, considering going down to 8.

I'll tell you right now, having that little white sources doesnt affect the tempo as much, and I also went down to 24 lands allowing my scry lands to be more impactful. sometimes you have the ackward draw of scry land into scry land or a scry land when you want to cast a dude, but many times you have 2 one drops, a 3 drop, and 3 lands, one of which is a scry land. Thats perfect!

It also lets you dig deeper late game, allowing you to find the things you need.

IMO the splash is 100% worth it

1 list top 8'd this weekend.

Does no one want to talk about this?

Its definitely picking up online of late, which is good, I think the deck is better than it has shown so far.

FWIW, I was strongly considering playing UW Devotion at GP Melbourne; if not for Burn, this is my favourite deck in the format. My list looks pretty different to yours though; I don't run Ephara anymore (Bident + Jace in the main) and I don't have as much of a high end after sideboarding (no Aetherling) so I am much closer to Mono U splash Detention Sphere and white sideboard cards.

I have been tinkering around with the standard list for a while and gradually began making assorted changes (going down to 1 Ephara from 3, then none). I just have been struggling so hard against UW / Esper Control with the list --- it is very frustrating! Any tips for how to improve this matchup or how to approach it? I always seem to get burned when trying to beat them at the counter game when trying to get one my threats just to stick.

The GR matchup is sweet though and with the D-spheres the Mono Black matchup has been much easier as well. I do miss the more explosive starts from the standard mono blue list.

Zem my list doesnt play Ephara I'm just using Jace/Bident as well.

Whats your board look like?

I have been tinkering around with the standard list for a while and gradually began making assorted changes (going down to 1 Ephara from 3, then none). I just have been struggling so hard against UW / Esper Control with the list --- it is very frustrating! Any tips for how to improve this matchup or how to approach it? I always seem to get burned when trying to beat them at the counter game when trying to get one my threats just to stick.

The GR matchup is sweet though and with the D-spheres the Mono Black matchup has been much easier as well. I do miss the more explosive starts from the standard mono blue list.

The UW/Esper matchup is definitely the hardest, and the one I'm currently testing the most to try and find an effective plan against.

My friend was making this deck and was asking me some questions and advice since I ran it for three weeks at the start of BotG. I was discussing how aggro/GR Monsters is fairly favorable when he asks what can be done against burn. I suddenly remembered the siding of Blind Obedience in burn and thought to myself maybe it can fit into UW Devotion in the sideboard? Against burn it can hose Phoenix and Spark Trooper. It hurts aggro/GR even more and gives you a lifegain source, and most importantly it stops Mistcutter and Stormbreath for a turn. Against the few rogue Red Devotion it hits them too. I like them in place of Domestication. Thoughts?

Blind obedience is a house vs all agressive decks in a format. It screws burn and Rb agro and stops obzedats. Also has some good aplication vs Monsters as you can swing past them.

I wouldn't select BO as my first pick against Ux Devotion or Wx Weenies - BO stand out against builds with many haste creatures since your effectively gaining life from all the swings which they can't get in

Against decks without haste creatures BO just soaks up room which you could have used for more removal - in Uw Devotion case more control cards.

In mirror matches bo allows you to never be completely blocked by opponents master/specter, small drain dont matter that much, but faltering opponents creatures does.

Blind Obedience is much better vs. Hastey decks, however I dont know if those Red Aggressive decks are our issue.

We have counterspells for their burn post board if needed, we have Tidebinder Mage, we have Master of Waves, we have Rapid Hybridization if we need to kill a dragon, we have big guys, we even have walls.

I hardly think its necessary, but I am willing to be proven wrong.

I'm only suggesting BO since it's very diverse in the match ups it works against, not to mention no one really sees it coming. Like I said I personally like it in place of Domestication in the side board.

Pretty sure U(w) Devotion just wrecks red aggro. Burn is closer, but still good for U(w) IMO.

I still think BO should be tried out. To be honest I'm not a fan of Domestication so I've been looking for decent replacements for it. The only cards I would like to use it on is Courser and Reckoner.

Domesticating anything against aggressive decks is normally a huge beating, and a lot of the time its free devotion vs. anything

Current sideboard after realising that Aetherling is almost impossible to cast:

[deck]
3 Gainsay
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Revoke Existence
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Bident of Thassa
3 Domestication
2 Negate
1 Dissolve
1 Dispel
[/deck]

cards to try in the sideboard:
another JMA
Rapid Hybridization
Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Another Big Jace. He does wonders against control.

Your idea of Elspeth is intriguing though. I wouldn't have even considered her until I remembered Ephara is in this deck.

So, I just decided to pick up this deck the other day! I've always wanted to play it, but could never really afford until now, and I'll be playing it for the first time this Friday at FNM.

What does everyone's list look like, and what are the general SB plans against the top decks? And any advice anyone would like to throw in is welcome too!

Thanks in advance

This is my current list/sideboard

[deck]
4 Cloudfin Raptor
3 Judge's Familiar
1 Galerider Sliver
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves

2 Bident of Thassa
1 Rapid Hybridization
4 Detention Sphere
1 Jace, Architect of Thought

1 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Mutavault
11 Island

Sideboard
2 Domestication
1 Rapid Hybridization
2 Jace, Memory Adept
3 Gainsay
2 Negate
1 Dispel
1 Pacifism
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Revoke Existence
[/deck]

And i sideboard as follows:

Mirror:
-4 Frostburn Weird
-2 Bident of Thassa
+3 Gainsay
+1 Revoke Existence
+2 Domestication

UW/x Control
-4 Cloudfin Raptor
-4 Master of Waves
-1 Rapid Hybridization
-1 Tidebinder Mage
+3 Gainsay
+2 Negate
+2 Jace, Memory Adept
+2 Glare of Heresy
+1 Dispel

vs. Mono-Black
-4 Master of Waves
-1 Jace, Architect of Thought
n+2 Domestication
+1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Dispel
+1 Negate
(can also cut 1 Tidebinder for 1 Negate, depending on play or draw)

vs Monsters
-1 Jace, Architect of Thought
-2 Bident of Thassa
+1 Pacifism
+1 Rapid Hybridization
+1 Negate

vs. Burn
-2 Bident of Thassa
-1 Rapid Hybridization
-1 Thassa
-1 Galerider Sliver
+2 Domestication
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
(This may not be correct, but still tweaking some things)

Thats a general idea for my current list anyway

My friend(and former philipino nats champion) lost to playing for top 8 at the open to vidi with this list:



[deck]3 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves
2 Prognostic Sphinx

1 Bident of Thassa
1 Jace, Architecht of thought
4 Detention Sphere

4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Azorius guildgate
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
10 Island
4 Mutavault[/deck]

I don't remember his board, but I know it had these cards

2 Revoke Existence
3 Dissolve
3 Rapid Hybridization
1 Ephara
2 Blind Obediance

After reflecting on the open, he said he'd be interested in testing this.

[deck]1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
3 Prognostic Sphinx
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of the Waves
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Judges Familiar

1
Bident of Thassa
1 Domestication
4 Detention Spehere

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Mutavault
2 Azorius Guildgate
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
10 Island

SIDEBOARD
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Blind Obedience
1 Revoke Existence
1 Dissolve
4 Gainsay
4 Rapid Hybridization[/deck]

Sphinx in the mainboard? That's new to me.

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one that was considering Blind Obedience in the side.

It was actually disgusting every time he cast it. His round 7 I think, his opponent had 2 blood barons and a fist full of removal vs. the 2 prognostic sphinx's and an active thassa. That game was not close.

Sphinx is a sleeper right now. The scry 3 is absolutely brutal to play against since your setting up your draws. Using it in a control shell is just crazy, Divination or Jace -2 after scry 3'ing is just ridiculous. Using it in combination with the Bident and a couple of other attackers would be pretty crazy as well

I dont know if Prognostic Sphinx is worth it as a 3 of. That seems really overdoing it

Also, as a note in my list, I am testing both Ephara and Jace in the 60th slot, and I'm testing an island vs a godless shrine. The rest of the list has been very good and the numbers are great. The sideboard is also super tight right now, and I'm really happy with where its at right now

@DXI-Edge: What are your thoughts on Arrest over Pacifism? You can put it on a Polukranos without fear of it killing your Master of Waves. Just a thought!

It does cost 3 mana, but it is a thought for sure.

Maybe I'll try it out Friday and let you know how it goes

I'm not too crazy about Arrest over Pacifism. Polukranos is the only target it can hit that's worth the extra perk. Any other target you only need it to stop attacking/blocking.

I found godless shrine horrible. It's like everything bad about nykthos without any of the upside. THe most important thing is beig able to cast your 2's on curve since that sets up your gameplan. Godless shrine does not cast frostburn/tidebinder so it's a no-go for me.

I took this list to second place tonight going 3-0-1 at TNM:

[deck]
3 Cloudfin Raptor
3 Judge's Familiar
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Master of Waves
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Prognostic Sphinx

1 Bident of Thassa
2 Rapid Hybridization
4 Detention Sphere
1 Jace, Architect of Thought

4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Azorius Guildgate
3 Mutavault
11 Island

Sideboard
1 Aetherling
1 Domestication
1 Rapid Hybridization
2 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Gainsay
2 Negate
1 Dissolve
2 Blind Obedience
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Revoke Existence
[/deck]

The crazy thing is the first three matches were all control. I tied last with Jund Monsters and played for fun (lost 1-2 when I got hit with two Mistcutters in a row both matches I lost).

My sideboarding against control goes:
-4 Cloudfin
-4 Master of Waves
-2 Rapid Hybridization
-1
Tidebinder Mage
+1 Aetherling
+2 Jace, Memory Adept
+2 Glare of Heresy
+1 Revoke Existence
+2 Gainsay
+2 Negate
+1 Dissolve

In short, I won matches against control by out controlling them post board by being patient. Turn 1-4 or so have my creatures come down and after that I sit on my counters or wait for them to tap out to play Jace or Aetherling, which both won two games each on their own. Sphinx only came down one match and my opponent got really worried at the sight of him, forcing a Supreme Verdict to get rid of him. I was quite impressed with him and I may add a second copy. I love Glare in our sideboard since in one of the games I had two in my hand and hit a turn 5 Archangel and then a turn 6 Elspeth. I also felt really safe with Glare/Revoke in my hands after a resolved Jace. He got hit with D-Sphere twice and I was always able to get rid of them.

I'm not sure if I got lucky or not, but I feel post sideboard for us can be really good despite being labeled as unfavorable.

I forgot to note that LP's post is what inspired me to try the single Sphinx in the mainboard.

I know Sphinx was dumb in UB Midrange, that it might be really good here doesn't surprise me.

Its definitely strong, I just dont know what to cut from the mainboard for it. I guess one of the cloudfin raptors?

Its definitely strong, I just dont know what to cut from the mainboard for it. I guess one of the cloudfin raptors?

That's what I did.

I dont know how I feel about cutting a Cloudfin Raptor for a 5 drop. Im not running it yet, but in the future I will be looking into it.

On another note, I really want to make a deck work with the following shell:

Will edit it in in a moment

UW Devotion won the SCG Standard Open, dude is running 1 Sphinx main.

[deck]
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Master of Waves
4 Nightveil Specter
1 Prognostic Sphinx
4 Tidebinder Mage
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
4 Thassa, God of the Sea

12 Island
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Mutavault
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

4 Detention Sphere
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Bident of Thassa

Sideboard
2 Domestication
1 Pacifism
1 Cyclonic Rift
2 Gainsay
1 Negate
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Riot Control
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Glare of Heresy
2 Revoke Existence[/deck]

^ Dude nearly lost vs a RDW deck in the semifinals

Sadly the RDW player decided to keep a one land hander on the play with only a single one drop in hand in game 3

he didn't see a second land until turn 4

facepalmed so hard when I saw in on stream