Topic: Mono White Devotion

Hey Guys!

I realize that this is probably my 3rd or 4th thread on a new deck, but the constructive criticism really helps the deck making process, and I really appreciate all the help that you guys give.

So far in standard, we've had every color based devotion to some degree. Mono Blue won the pro tour, Black won the everything else, Red is starting to win SCGOpens, and Green has started to make an appearance in places. However, I noticed that there was a distinct lack of white in this line up. So, I decided to try my hand at making a Mono White Devotion list. However, when I started the building process, I realized that there just wasn't enough white to be efficient, and because I already had Boros Reckoner in the list, I decided to make it White splash red Devotion.

http://deckbox.org/sets/533279

[Spoiler alert, mini deck tech coming up]

At the lower end of the curve, you've got your top contenders from White Weenie, Soldier of the Pantheon as a 1 drop, Precinct Captain as your 2, Banisher priest and Boros Reckoner coming in at the 3 spot.
From there on the curve, I decided to get a bit creative. I wanted this deck to be about the later game. I also wanted a creature form Heliod to be a typical occurence. So in the 4 spot, I've got Heliod and Firemane Avenger. The Avenger is included because with the number of tokens and creatures in general that I expect to be swinging with, a free lightning helix every turn is sure to help put me on top. Even if I can't get the 3, a 3/3 flyer for 4 still isn't too bad. In the 5 spot, I had to put in Archangel of Thune. The life gain is too much to pass up, and the counters can get really nasty after a few turns of Precinct captain picking away. Because why not, I put in one evangel of heliod, mostly to justify the name "Devotion". He'll eat up a counterspell, if nothing else, and I'm kind of ok with that in this build. If he goes unanswered, all the better. Finally, I've got Angel of Serenity because she's a tank. 5/6 in the air on top of a sure  Heliod activation is well worth the 7 mana, but getting back little threats from my yard is even more of a treat. I've got a 2/2 split of Heliod's spear and Path of Bravery for my anthems. The Lifegain from Path really helps me recover from any potential damage sustained setting up, and triggers archangel. the +1 off of path is really just a bonus. The spear is also nice for removal, and the assured buff is a lot easier to count on. Why fight between the two when I can have both? As another source of removal, i've got Celestial Flare, mostly to make up for my lack of presence in the first couple of turns. It'll throw a wrench in most larger aggro plans, and allow me more time to get my stuff done. Finally, I've got assemble the legion to put out more bodies, distract the opponent, and practically assure my win.

[/decktech]

So if you've got any advice, given that you know the intended battle strategy of this deck, that you can give, please feel free. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this deck plays and what you guys think of it. If it's too top heavy, bottom heavy, or totally hollow and i'm just missing it, please let me know.

Thanks!

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Re: Mono White Devotion

If you're after a mono-white devotion build... take a gander at Frank Lepore's Deck Tech from earlier today.

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11502

There are some options obviously, but it looks like fun.  I would probably run a few more removal options or at least Pacifism in the mainboard.  Evangel of Heliod can also be an option if you're interested.  I would potentially suggest the swapping of Ajani too...

But anyway, give it a look...

Re: Mono White Devotion

This is essentially the build that I am after. Though I believe that by going black, he's not really gaining anything over my going red. He's got Blood Baron, which replaces my firemane avenger, he's got the orzhov charm which is pretty much swappable with boros charm, and he's got thoughtseize. Where he is in disruption, I am in board presence.

I do like his build though, but I think it could be a bit more tuned. I think that he's going black as more of a meta call, just to get the blood baron against mono black and mono white strategies.

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Re: Mono White Devotion

I liked the 2nd place deck from SCG dallas. It was more on the red plan than the white plan.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat … ckID=60516

the reason why white devotion hasn't been a thing really is because the evangel card doesn't do enough to seal the game.  All of the cards do good stuff, but they just don't do enough.

The best white devotion deck I saw or played against used path of bravery, fiend slayer paladin and topped out at archangel and elspeth.

Re: Mono White Devotion

DarrenM wrote:

This is essentially the build that I am after. Though I believe that by going black, he's not really gaining anything over my going red. He's got Blood Baron, which replaces my firemane avenger, he's got the orzhov charm which is pretty much swappable with boros charm, and he's got thoughtseize. Where he is in disruption, I am in board presence.

I do like his build though, but I think it could be a bit more tuned. I think that he's going black as more of a meta call, just to get the blood baron against mono black and mono white strategies.

I'm certainly not advocating matching that deck exactly, but it's a proven winner, having finished well in two major competitive events... so there's that.  To be honest I would've taken the build more mid-range myself and focused more on fun stuff like Obzedat.... but that's just me.