Welcome back for Brewing with Journey into Nyx. I’m going to run you through some possibilities that this great new set has created for us. One thing I can’t do is provide complete sideboards, but I will provide some suggestions to look at when you decide to take one of these decks out for a spin. The other thing to remember is that these decks may require some tuning. As with every new set, the metagame shifts and makes it hard to predict the exact cards you will always want in your main deck.

Updating the Old

There are two decks that get cards that could be very good for them, but don’t really change how the deck looks, so let’s start off with those decks since I’m not going to bother with lists for them.

Mono-Black Devotion gains a few significant weapons with [card]Dictate of Erebos[/card], [card]Extinguish All Hope[/card], and [card]Silence the Believers[/card]. What [card]Dictate of Erebos[/card] means for this deck is not having to worry about dying to [card]Blood Baron of Vizkopa[/card] or hexproof creatures as often, as now you can just kill your own creatures to make them sacrifice theirs. [card]Extinguish All Hope[/card] provides a mid-game wrath effect that may or may not be good enough depending on hope the metagame develops. While [card]Silence the Believers[/card] is a pretty reasonable way to deal with gods and creatures, getting better the longer the game goes.

Mono-Blue Devotion gets a few cards that aren’t necessarily auto-includes, but are very solid none the less. One option is [card]Dakra Mystic[/card], which could replace [card]Judge’s Familiar[/card] to draw some extra cards when you run into a slow board state. The other card is [card]Hypnotic Siren[/card], which could also replace [card]Judge’s Familiar[/card], to allow you to steal your opponents creatures when you get into the late game, or even when you draw a [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card].

Brewing the New

[deck title= Selesnya Enchantress]

[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Voyaging Satyr
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Banishing Light
2 Unflinching Courage
3 Ajani, Mentor of Heros
3 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Mana Confluence
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Plains
6 Forest
[/Land]
[/deck]

Enchantress has really only been a deck in Legacy for the last few years, but with [card]Eidolon of Blossoms[/card], it is now a possible strategy in Standard. Getting [card]Ajani, Mentor of Heros[/card], to get even more card advantage and [card]Banishing Light[/card] to deal with hard-to-answer permanents, this deck can compete with the rest of the field. Running [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card], allows for some very explosive draws since everything in the deck sticks around.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Arrest[/card], [card]Deicide[/card], [card]Rootborn Defenses[/card], and [card]Sphere of Safety[/card].

[deck title= White Weenie]

[Creatures]
4 Dryad Militant
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Aegis of the Gods
4 Imposing Sovereign
4 Precinct Captain
4 Banisher Priest
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
3 Brave the Elements
3 Launch the Fleet
2 Spear of Heliod
2 Godsend
[/Spells]

[Land]
3 Mutavault
20 Plains
[/Land]
[/deck]

This classic strategy gets some very potent new toys with [card]Aegis of the Gods[/card] to slow the burn decks down and hinder [card]Thoughtseize[/card] until Aegis dies. [card]Launch the Fleet[/card] will be huge, allowing you to get in several extra points of damage while adding to your board presence. In addition, [card]Godsend[/card] is a very unique card that can push you through your opponent’s creatures. Expect mad rushes of white creatures in the immediate future.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Ajani’s Presence[/card], [card]Banishing Light[/card], [card]Deicide[/card], and [card]Fiendslayer Paladin[/card].

[deck title= Mono-Red Devotion]

[Creatures]
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Stormbreath Dragon
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
1 Blinding Flare
3 Magma Jet
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Harness by Force
3 Chandra, Pyromaster
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
13 Mountain
[/Land]
[/deck]

This deck is set up to maximize a mana advantage with [card]Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx[/card], with a plan to abuse [card]Blinding Flare[/card] and [card]Harness by Force[/card] to the max. It is also set up to gain card advantage from [card]Prophetic Flamespeaker[/card] and [card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card] while adding a lot of devotion to the board. Most of the creatures are reasonable threats by themselves as well. I won’t be surprised when I see this deck doing well in the near future.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Banishing Light[/card], [card]Chained to the Rocks[/card], [card]Deicide[/card], and [card]Eidolon of the Great Revel[/card].

[deck title= Jund Midrange]

[Creatures]
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Reaper of the Wilds
4 Stormbreath Dragon
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Underworld Connections
4 Hero’s Downfall
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Rakdos’s Return
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Malady
4 Mana Confluence
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
2 Forest
[/Land]
[/deck]

Jund is a deck that I just keep coming back to every set, sometimes it’s good in the metagame and sometimes its not. This version should play out a lot like the Mono Black Devotions decks by generating massive amounts of card advantage. The new cards that really help Jund out are actually just some lands, as smoothing the mana out was a huge concern before.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Duress[/card], [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card], [card]Sire of Insanity[/card], and [card]Vraska the Unseen[/card].

[deck title= Mono-Black Aggro]

[Creatures]
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pain Seer
4 Master of the Feast
4 Herald of Torment
3 Mogis’s Marauder
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
3 Hero’s Downfall
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Mutavault
20 Swamp
[/Land]
[/deck]

Mono-Black Aggro just keeps getting all the toys, this time getting [card]Gnarled Scarhide[/card] and [card]Master of the Feast[/card]. While adding these cards cuts back on the two-drop slot, they also allow you to play out two creatures on your second turn, more often leaving the three-drops still on curve but more dangerous.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Dark Betrayal[/card], [card]Duress[/card], [card]Gift of Orzhova[/card], and [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card].

[deck title= Orzhov Humans]

[Creatures]
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pain Seer
4 Cartel Aristocrat
3 Imposing Sovereign
3 Athreos, God of Passage
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Mogis’s Marauders
4 Xathrid Necromancer
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Bile Blight
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Temple of Silence
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mana Confluence
3 Mutavault
4 Plains
5 Swamp
[/Land]
[/deck]

Kind of an alternate to Mono-Black Aggro, the Orzhov Humans deck got the super powerful [card]Athreos, God of Passage[/card] to punish the slower decks that can’t afford to pay the ferryman’s toll. It also gets to run lots of very good cards in the sideboard that can turn the tide on any matchup.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Fiendslayer Paladin[/card], [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card], [card]Sin Collector[/card], and [card]Thoughtseize[/card].

[deck title= Big Boros Devotion]

[Creatures]
4 Precinct Captain
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Iroas, God of Victory
4 Stormbreath Dragon
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Chanined to the Rocks
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Banishing Light
3 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Mana Confluence
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
5 Plains
4 Mountain
[/Land]
[/deck]

Just go bigger is this deck’s motto. It has removal and creatures at nearly every mana cost, putting a lot of devotion into play each turn as well. The big new cards for this deck are [card]Iroas, God of Victory[/card], and [card]Banishing Light[/card], allowing the deck to just keep pushing through damage.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Anger of the Gods[/card], [card]Assemble the Legion[/card], [card]Deicide[/card], and [card]Hammer of Purphoros[/card].

[deck title= Selesnya Flash]

[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Experiment One
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Aegis of the Gods
4 Boon Satyr
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
3 Gods Willing
4 Selesnya Charm
4 Advent of the Wurm
3 Ajani, Mentor of Hope
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Mana Confluence
2 Mutavault
6 Forest
3 Plains
[/Land]
[/deck]

This will be the deck to give Mono-Black Devotion and the U/W Control decks fits. Being able to run twelve creatures that you can push into play on their turn while having [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] to keep them in check on your own can be a huge blowout quite often. I expect quite a few decks like this to be doing well early on while people push towards the old decks that they know.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Banishing Light[/card], [card]Deicide[/card], [card]Fiendslayer Paladin[/card], and [card]Unflinching Courage[/card].

[deck title= Golgari Rock]

[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Pharika, God of Affliction
2 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Reaper of the Wilds
[/Creatures]

[Spells]
4 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Underworld Connections
4 Hero’s Downfall
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Silence the Believers
1 Dictate of Erebos
2 Vraska the Unseen
[/Spells]

[Land]
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
2 Mana Confluence
2 Mutavault
5 Forest
6 Swamp
[/Land]
[/deck]

Golgari Rock is another deck that I like to work on to see if it’s viable each new set. Just like the Jund Midrange deck, Golgari Rock games play out a lot like those of Mono-Black Devotion decks that currently have a stranglehold on Standard. It already gets to run [card]Thoughtseize[/card], [card]Underworld Connections[/card], and [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card], so adding [card]Pack Rat[/card] to the sideboard to make it a pseudo mirror against Mono-Black Devotion is a pretty solid choice.

Sideboard Suggestions: [card]Devour Flesh[/card], [card]Extinguish All Hope[/card], [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card], and [card]Pack Rat[/card].

That concludes this brewing article. I’ll be back soon with some updates to my Mono-Green “Beast Wars” deck that seems to have taken off. I also hope to be back for some brewing with M15 in a few months as well. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below and I will do my best to answer them.

Thanks for Reading,

Josh Milliken

@joshuamilliken