Topic: My attempt at Mono Blue... [Suggestions]

Hey guys!

So right now in standard, after 2 months of trying and failing at building my own 100% pure concoctions, I have decided to build and pilot 2 blue decks that I am currently torn between. The first is found on my profile as UW Millstone, which is basically the UW infinite control deck that gets things done faster. The second is my personal attempt at Mono Blue.

After scouring the interwebz for a few hours, I saw pretty much every version of Mono Blue that there was. However, I didn't feel that any of them were quite... me. I love playing tempo builds, so I knew that I wanted to go for a mono blue list, but the big silver J on my Johnny Belt was shining reminding me that there was no way that I could take any of these lists to any sort of event. So, I decided to make my own. I'd like to get some input on it regarding my choices.

I didn't feel like posting this up on my profile until it was complete, so i'll just leave the list here:

---

Creatures:
4 judge's familiar
3 cloudfin raptor
4 frostburn weird
4 vassal soul (Because who needs nightveils....)
4 Thassa, god of the sea
2 Master of waves

Spells:
2 Blustersquall
2 inaction injunction
2 spell rupture
3 cyclonic rift
4 claustrophobia
2 Bident of Thassa

Land:
2 Nykthos, shrine to Nyx
22 Island

---
This deck is fairly typical in the way of devotion creatures, because let's face it, there's just not a huge selection. Where my list varies is in the spells. Most decks seem to be relying on creatures with maybe 6 supporting spells to get them through. I didn't think that this was a very efficient way of doing things, especially in the current meta game.

In my limited testing that has happened tonight, I have discovered that this list will easily take down any tier 2 deck, and most tier 1.5 decks that i've tested (I had some trouble with MonoRed lite). I haven't had the opportunity to test against any tier 1 decks yet, but the only ones that I expect to face in my LGS are Mono Black, MonoRed, and the mirror.

I'm wondering what you guys think of how I changed things up, and whether or not you believe that these changes were for the better, along with any suggestions you may have for me.

Thanks!

-=Profile=-
Buying cards for store inventory, check my profile!

Re: My attempt at Mono Blue... [Suggestions]

Well consider Mono-U plays pretty close to an aggro deck most of the time Im not sure I like Inaction Injunction. Early game you want to be in control of the board and by late game where it could be nice to remove a chump or two from blocking you should have Thassa to provide unblockable.

If you're going to run so many spells have you considered NivMagus Elemental? Considering you're also running light on heavy U requirement spells you could fit in 3-4 Mutavaults if you were so inclined. (It looks like you might have some budget on this deck perhaps?)

I think you're running a bit short on devotion stuff but If you want it more tempo-y then its certainly work able.

How about:

Creatures: (22)
4 judge's familiar
4 cloudfin raptor
2 Galerider Sliver
4 Nivmagus Elemental
2 Tidebinder mage
3 Thassa, god of the sea
3 Master of waves

Spells: (14)
3 Blustersquall
3 spell rupture
3 cyclonic rift
3 Triton Tactics
2 claustrophobia

Land: (24)
2 Nykthos, shrine to Nyx
18 Island
4 Mutavault

Re: My attempt at Mono Blue... [Suggestions]

A few cards I'd consider:

Jace, AOT... he's kinda a solid piece in the sense that his +1 ability will often let you swing without as much fear that the opponent will deal meaningful damage on the crack-back... the card advantage is just gravy.

Domestication - outside of a few problem creatures, this will take a LOT of their stuff and add to your devotion count.

Strionic Resonator - so here's your outside the box card... it lets you copy any triggered abilities (which means any ETB abilities)... so consider the following scenario, you have four blue devotion on the field and six mana at your disposal... Do you a) play another spell and drop Master of Waves to produce five elemental tokens OR b) drop Master of Waves and then copy his ETB ability with the Resonator, in turn creating TEN elemental tokens?  It can also copy Tidebinder Mage, Bident of Thassa, Thassa's scry trigger, and things of that nature... so depending on what other pieces you have in there, you could actually have all sorts of neat new interactions.

All that being said, I think there's still a TON of room to be innovative in the format.  Look at the Japanese decklists from their GP this last weekend, where an Esper aggro/midrange deck actually came in second... everyone sees Esper and assumes control... but nope!  So to that end, there's still quite a bit of leeway, especially with everyone hopping on the same 5-7 decklist bandwagons.  I have a friend who is trying to run U/B devotion with BOTH Master of Waves and Gray Merchant... to say the least Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a LOT stronger than people give it credit for.  I'm also tinkering through a BUG midrange deck and my GF and I recently discovered that Worldspine Wurm of all things is an absolute all-star in G/R devotion... so don't jump ship too early... there are a LOT of options out there and the format is going to change in just about a month anyway.

Keep brewin' man!