Mono Black Devotion in Modern

When I mention Modern deck, you immediately think of Lantern, Death's Shadow

and whatever other marquee decks are currently making the rounds. But it probably does not call to mind Mono Black Devotion. I stumbled upon this list by accident and I love how it does relatively well going up against "tier decks".

3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Victim of Night
4 Thoughtseize
2 Phyrexian Arena
3 Fatal Push
2 Collective Brutality
4 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Geralf's Messenger
3 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Bojuka Bog
22 Swamp

1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Fulminator Mage
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Duress
2 Damnation

Let's take a look at the creatures:

Gatekeeper-of-Malakir

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Gatekeeper of Malakir

and Gifted Aetherborn

are the only two drops, and because you rarely want to play Gatekeeper without the kicker, it's basically a three drop. Gatekeeper also deals with Tarmogoyf

and Hollow One

quite handily. Aetherborn is versatile, picking off small and big creatures alike while still gaining life. Both cards ramp devotion with double black casting costs.

However, as good as they are, these mainly just stall for the real threats:

Geralf-s-Messenger

Phyrexian-Obliterator

Gray-Merchant-of-Asphodel

Geralf's Messenger

is a good recursive threat that can get in a few last points of damage, and trades well with many of an opponent's early creatures. Phyrexian Obliterator

stops opponents from attacking and forces them into punishing decisions when it goes on offense. Both tick up black devotion for the other finisher, Gray Merchant of Asphodel

(whom you might know as simply Gary). Gary can easily drain for 11 on turn 5, creating a whopping 22 point spread. He's also amazing when you're just playing the top of your library. As good as Gary is though, we only run three because of the high CMC. This is modern, after all, and hardcasting 5 drops is rare.

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Liliana--the-Last-Hope

We have 4 copies of Liliana of the Veil

- the best planeswalker in modern. I've been able to ultimate her in about 60% of my games. A single Liliana, the Last Hope

helps manage go wide decks like elves.

Thoughtseize

is a must-run in black decks, disrupting combo and decks with limited threats (Death's Shadow

, for example). Collective Brutality

is another combo breaker which also deals well with many creatures.
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Fatal Push

is another must-have in black decks. Use it to "bolt the bird" and kill goyfs or Death's Shadow

. Revolt will rarely be on, so the list includes Victim of Night

for bigger creatures. I prefer it over Go for the Throat

as we'll usually have double black unless the opponent's Spreading Seas

game is strong.

Sideboard

Leyline-of-Sanctity

Leyline of Sanctity

protects our hand from black decks, our face from burn and our library from mill. I know, I know. Hoping to get this in your opening hand means you'll often get a dead draw, but find me something better in black, and I'll play it.

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