Versus Mono-Blue Devotion
As I mentioned, I played against this deck four times in Dallas. I started off with Owen’s plan of boarding out two Pack Rat on the draw and two Desecration Demons on the play. As the tournament progressed, however, I became more and more convinced that Pack Rat is just terrible on the draw. It’s either a 1/1 for two mana that’s too small to attack or block, or, worse, something that commits you heavily to a race you’re almost certain to lose. After scrying one to the bottom on turn 1 with no turn 2 play in hand, I decided to just board them all out. I also think Desecration Demon is great in the matchup and want to keep all four in the deck, especially on the play.
With my updated version, I would board as follows:
On the Play:
-4 Underworld Connections
-1 Lifebane Zombie
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Pharika’s Cure
+2 Devour Flesh
On the Draw:
-4 Underworld Connections
-4 Pack Rat
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Pharika’s Cure
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Lifebane Zombie
+1 Dark Betrayal
As you can see, Lifebane Zombie fills the role of placeholder when Pack Rat gets boarded out. It’s not great, but it does lend itself to racing, something Thassa often forces you to do. I was actually boarding in two Dark Betrayal in Dallas because of how important it is to kill Nightveil Specter, and because, after deciding to board out all four rats, I didn’t really have anything else. I think boarding one copy is acceptable since, not only are they likely to scry into Specter at some point, but killing your own Domesticated Specter is quite a bit better than the alternative of letting it run unchecked. Duress has a few good targets, but I think the likelihood of missing makes it worse than the other options.
Versus Mono-Black Devotion
The mirror is, first and foremost, about Pack Rat, which is why you want to keep most of your two-mana removal. In the non-Pack Rat games, it turns into a card advantage war fought with Nightveil Specter, Underworld Connections, and Erebos, God of the Dead. While I was boarding out all four Desecration Demons in Dallas, the shift away from Ultimate Price as the removal spell of choice makes it a little more plausible.
-2 Pharika’s Cure
-1 Lifebane Zombie
-2 Desecration Demon
+1 Dark Betrayal
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Erebos, God of the Dead
Versus Black Devotion Splash White
While this plays out in much the same way as the mirror, the presence of Blood Baron of Vizkopa increases the value of Lifebane Zombie. It’s not a great threat once it’s in play, but it does add to your devotion and attack through Mutavaults.
-2 Pharika’s Cure
-4 Desecration Demon
-1 Ultimate Price on the play OR -1 Hero’s Downfall on the draw
+1 Dark Betrayal
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Erebos, God of the Dead
+2 Lifebane Zombie
Versus Azorius Control
All of the two-mana removal is terrible and pretty much has to be boarded out. Pack Rat is also underwhelming but can still be a reasonable threat as long as you’re careful not to overextend into Supreme Verdict or Detention Sphere. Mutavault obviously helps in that respect, and discard can pave the way. Also, their Detention Spheres are overtaxed in the matchup, so allowing them to 2-for-1 your rat tokens is actually not that bad if it allows you to stick an Underworld Connections, Erebos, or Whip.
-2 Pharika’s Cure
-1 Ultimate Price
-1 Devour Flesh
-2 Hero’s Downfall
-1 Pack Rat
+3 Duress
+2 Erebos, God of the Dead
+2 Lifebane Zombie
Versus White Weenie Splash Black
The strategy here is pretty simple. All of your removal is great, and anything that forces you to lose life is not. Whip of Erebos is reasonable, but probably worse than anything else you could board out. The removal and Lifebane Zombies are too good not to bring in. I made a choice to include the second Shrivel in the sideboard even though I didn’t really need an extra card for the matchup because of how much of an upgrade it is over other options. It basically took the place of a second Dark Betrayal. The other removal spells are needed for other matchups and can’t really be shaved.
-4 Thoughtseize
-4 Underworld Connections
-1 Whip of Erebos
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Pharika’s Cure
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Lifebane Zombie
+2 Shrivel
While those are what I’d consider the important matchups right now, here’s a basic guide for a few other matchups you might face:
Versus Boros Burn (Young Pyromancer version)
-1 Thoughtseize
-1 Devour Flesh
-4 Hero’s Downfall
-4 Underworld Connections
+3 Duress
+2 Pharika’s Cure
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Lifebane Zombie
+2 Shrivel
As you can see, the sideboard was not built with this matchup in mind. Lifebane Zombie is not really doing what you want to be doing, but it does add to your devotion, and they will probably need to kill it at some point, especially if you have Whip of Erebos.
Shrivel does some work against Young Pyromancer but is really included as an answer to the four copies of Assemble the Legion they’re likely to board in. While it might seem counterintuitive to board in a card that only gives you a one-turn reprieve, I theorized that games will eventually result in a stall of rat tokens and demons vs soldiers; a stall they will eventually win either through overwhelming forces or from drawing enough burn. Shrivel gives you something else to build towards rather than just hoping against hope to get there with Lifebane Zombies and Gray Merchants.
Versus Green Devotion Splash Red (Mihara version)
This deck sort of disappeared from the metagame before I picked up Mono-Black. As a result, I’ve only played against it a handful of times. That said, I would start with something like this:
-4 Underworld Connections
-1 Whip of Erebos
+2 Devour Flesh
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Lifebane Zombie
I’m advocating a hedge by leaving in two copies of Pharika’s Cure to kill mana dorks and Burning-Tree Emissary. Minimizing Nykthos by keeping devotion in check seems important, though it’s possible that Duress is just better. If both Duress and Pharika’s Cure turn out to be good, I’d consider boarding out Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
Versus Red Devotion Splash Green (Channel Fireball deck from PT Dublin)
If I don’t have a lot of experience playing against Mihara’s list, I have virtually none here. I’m including plans for these matchups anyway since that’s what I would do if I was preparing this deck for a tournament. For the fringe decks, I like to come up with a base plan to use as a starting point. If I end up playing against it, I’ll look at my notes but also consider how the games seem to be playing out. You can’t always be fully prepared for everything, but I try to cover as many bases as possible while figuring the rest out on the fly.
On the Play:
-4 Underworld Connections
-3 Thoughtseize
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Pharika’s Cure
+2 Lifebane Zombie
On the Draw:
-4 Underworld Connections
-1 Lifebane Zombie
+1 Doom Blade
+2 Devour Flesh
+2 Pharika’s Cure