i am tired, so this probably reads like shit

I had a similar concept during Shards Block where i would just throw out an Emerkul at the end of my opponents turn and yeah sometimes it wasnt an Emerkul but it was a Terastodon or Pekkula Wurm. Whatever it was, it was a fat creature and it would always present an issue for the dominant Jund deck at the time And now is no different.
there are tons of decks that take off from the beginning of the match and most games end between around turn 3-5 in Modern so why not be one of those decks that races out of the gates. With this deck you have a few options, you can A. summoning trap a fatty into play after they attempt to Remand or Cryptic one of your spells B.Turn 3 Dramatic Entrance a Progenitus into play using Radha during combat phase C. Ramp into either Dramatic Entrance or Summoning Trap or Elvish Piper to get your fatties out. There are plenty of lines you can take with the deck.
 and yeah there are tons of things i still need to add to the deck, Obviously Emerkul and Stomping grounds seem like a good idea. the mana for the deck isnt the best at this point but it still produces positive results and can get those kills when you need them to. Temple of Abandon does a lot of work for the deck, so while it looks like it can be slow, at some points its ok because it lets you look past the bad stuff and put it on the bottom.
ill probably have more in the next few weeks as i am going to put more time and cards into the deck, so we will see what happens.

3 Elvish mystic
2 Llanowar elves
2 Elvish Piper
2 Arc Trail
4 Explore
4 Time of Need
1 Manamorphose
3 Radha, Heir to Keld
3 Dramatic Enterence
4 Thragtusk
4 Summoning Trap
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
3 Progentitus

3 Copperline Gorge
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Mountain
4 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits.

Sideboard
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Blastphomus Act
2 Boil
3 Char
1 Dramatic Enterance
3 Eyes of the Wisent
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Terastodon

 What Conley woods currently has this deck sleeved up as is completely different from what it originally was. It was an awesome graveyard games deck that not only let you dig through your deck and find the answer or fatty that you are looking for but also rendered your opponents thought seizes, counterspells and creature removal useless And that was the main appeal to me. Your graveyard is just as important as the cards you draw from the main deck and in some cases much more important. You were able to put creatures into play Via mana dorks and cheaper mana costs and if they were killed off or countered, you were able to whip them back into play the very next turn and they would still be a threat even if just for a turn. And if Whipping a creature back into play wasn't good enough, let us not forget the fun part of the deck, the part where we launch fatties with Jarad for a tiny cost. One of my favorite parts honestly, but this deck has so many layers and that’s what most people miss.

As I said, this deck renders your opponents answers to your threats quite useless for two reasons. 1! Whip of Erebos is I think the most important card in the deck. It keeps you in the race with fast decks like White Weenie, Red Deck Wins and Mono Red Akoran Crusader decks and it also lets you have answers late game by gaining a life advantage from a very large Nighthowler or Jarad, or in the late game just throwing out a Nemesis of Mortals with a very cheap Monstrosity cost of GG. Ten life and the potential to get in that lethal damage sounds good no? And 2! honestly ask yourself, if you had never seen this deck before and had planned for lets say Mono Black and White Weenie, how are you going to side against this? You have the upper hand playing a relatively unknown deck with many powerful angles to attack your enemy with while they are stuck thinking of how to stop your larger creatures or stopping Jarad from doing a sweet sweet launch at them while forgetting that Whip brings back duders or that Nemesis of Mortals can come down on turn three... and Four... and Five, it happens and its awesome and oh the amount of pressure you opponent is under when they don’t have board wipes. And while your opponent may have heard about this deck, there is a very very slim chance that they have actually played against it enough times to know how to strike you or make you struggle to win the match.

So while Conley has slowly but surely strayed away from the whip plan into the “hey! Look I can make fat guys over time” this is what I am currently working with

Der Land

4 Golgari Guildgate

4 Overgrown Tomb

5 Forest

6 Swamp

The dudes

4 Nighthowler

4 Lotleth Troll

4 Herald of Torment

4 Nemesis of Mortals

4 Sylvan Caryatid

4 Elvish Mystic

3 Shadowborn Demon

2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Non-Creature spells

3 Whip of Erebos

4 Grisly Salvage

4 Commune with the Gods

I am currently tweaking the sideboard so that’s why I didn’t post it but uhhhh Thats dope right? I know right, thanks. As you can see the dynamic of the deck is a little different but I am keeping a lot of what makes the deck awesome...well awesome and I am testing out a new way to attack your opponent when there is a stalemate or you just want to get ahead on life while taking away your opponents.

On a recent Top 8 Magic podcast, Mike Flores brings forth an interesting question about the future of black decks and questions whether black decks could just become Heralds, Merchants, Specters and Whips for maximum devotion damage. While the idea didn’t stem too far( it was a set break down and obv there are tons of cards to go over) it got me thinking about how I could just use Merchant to hit along side Jarad. While having 3 Jarads main deck, there are many ways to get him into your hand or graveyard you are only allowed to have one in play at a time and yes you can make them fodder for the Troll, you could also just change them into Merchants for an automatic 4 ticks of life loss with Whip in play.

Perhaps the two biggest changes from my list and Conley’s list are what I consider his biggest mistakes with the deck. He removes the whips completely from the list and making the cards he casts and draws the only resources left. No longer is the graveyard resource and no longer can he catch up in the late game against decks like Mono Black that have fantastic removal and Thoughtseizes while still having creatures that hit hard at your life total. He doesn’t even have them in the sideboard... easily the biggest mistake. And the second mistake he made with the deck is removing Shadowborn demons form the list completely then adding them to the sideboard only. The deck has zero removal main deck and has no way of clearing the way for the fatties to get through other than attacking into your opponents creatures and that’s where Demon comes into play. A hasted flying fatty that takes someone with him seems like a fantastic card to have in the main deck not only that but its reasonably costed. Yes, Mono black does run a Demon of their own but Specter isn’t a demon nor is Merchant and There are targets for the demon to hit and getting a demon of your own to stick is great isn’t too bad either.

As you see I have also added a new card from Born of the Gods, Herald of Torment, into the deck and it was something that involved a ton of thought. You already don’t have a lot of wiggle room to add and remove cards, but I felt that having a cheap flier that stops Specter, Precinct Captain and Pack Rat would improve the match up against aggressive creature based decks. While you do lose a life each turn, you have Whip to counter that ability and he has a reasonable Bestow cost that allows your fatties to fly over and get in that extra damage. So far my favorite interaction is with Nighthowler, Whip of Erebos and Merchant as you are able to stack so much Black Devotion to get in extra damage. As I said earlier you get four points in with Merchant and Whip but with the cheap cost of Herald and Howler you are able to get in more damage.

One creature card I am hesitant to add into the deck Is Satyr Wayfinder. Yes it is a creature that digs into the deck for more lands while pitching threats into the bin, but I have had a few problems with it in testing. The main one is that it is of 2 CMC and that is the same as Caryatid, Commune with the Gods and grisly salvage and potentially putting something down with 3 mana cost. There are just other things id rather be playing to further my board advantage or fill my hand with cards I actually want. Sure its a creature that add to the graveyard count for Jarad and Howler, but I dont think its enough. With the land count already at 19, simply digging for a land will most likely find you a creature you actually want or perhaps throwing away a Whip and yes you could be potentially throwing away a Whip with Grisly Salvage, you can choose to take a creature instead

Well, this is what I have been playing and if I am able to playing at the Large Channel Fireball event in the beginning of march, that is what I will most likely be playing as I know the Mono Black match up very well and feel the deck has a 50-50 chance against it. I have tried to stay as close as I can to the original list because I feel what Conley has turned it into is a different way to approach the “Dredge” and is slightly weaker compared to what it once was. No longer being able to attack from different angles and using your graveyard as another resource is no longer an option in his current build.

Which is this

Main Deck 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Elvish Mystic 3 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Lotleth Troll 4 Nighthowler 4 Herald of Torment 2 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord 4 Nemesis of Mortals 4 Commune with the Gods 4 Grisly Salvage 8 Forest 4 Overgrown Tomb 7 Swamp Sideboard 3 Golgari Charm 3 Shadowborn Demon 4 Skylasher 4 Thoughtseize 1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Well, thats all I have for now, thanks for reading :B

oh look, born of the gods stuffs :D

Hey look, cards that stand out from Born of the Gods

Hero of Iroas

I love love love this card! I haven’t fallen in love with a card this much since Kor Spiritdancer and they are kind of similar in a few ways and are both powerful engines once you get them going. Right now we have some awesome Auras including Flinching Courage, Ethereal Armor, Gift of Orzhov and Madcap Skills just to name a few. Those auras definitely give a power boost to the Hero which immediately make him a threat and with his first ability of lowering the cost of auras, you are able to protect him with cards like Gods willing which also trigger Heroic AND lets you scry for 1, awesome right?

I have been coming up with a bunch of lists revolving around auras, Hero and Fabled Hero and so far the best color combination is UW in semi-control shell and along with the hard hitting Heros. There is counter magic, protection spells and strong auras like Gift of Orzhova, Ethereal armor, Ordeal of Thassa and Aqueous Form. While Aqueous form may be the weakest aura in the deck, The Heroic Triggers on the Heros really give them the strength they need to hit hard. Fabled hero is actually...a hero in this deck as he can become a flying or unblockable , lifelink, doublestriker with Gods Willing mana up to protect it. I am really going to be putting some time into seeing if this deck could possibly become something competitive and of course it really depends on how the Standard meta game shifts, if at all.

Can I just say how much I fucking love Gild? Seriously, I think this card is so fucking great. Exiling the creature is what really sells this card for me. I play Elvish Mystic and having a Gild available on turn 3 is fantastic AND you get a Lotus Petal in the process! Yeah you do, not your opponent, you do! All the value from this card! Got a pesky god in your way? Gild that sucka! Opponent getting you down with a fatty Desecration Demon or Strombreath Dragon, Smelt those bad boys down to a gold token for yourself. I love this card and I will be watching and waiting with my sets sitting in my binder.

Nullify

I for one, welcome our new counterspell overlord. I practically shat myself when I first saw that this was a real card, OK maybe not actually shat myself but i got pretty fucking close to it. Right now, its pretty much Counterspell and if you were like me when Counterspell was legal, I fucking hated it and wanted to not play against blue decks fucking ever. And with the way Standard is shaping up, its pretty much Counterspell as there are a great amount of decks that are creature based and have tons of targets. For me, I feel like it should be an auto 4 of in most blue based deck,looking at you UW control and Esper and I guess Grixis if people are still willing to try that.

While there are a shit ton of Creatures out there that you can target, lets not forget about the powerful auras out there too. Detention Sphere, Underworld Connections,Boon Satyr, Chained to the Rocks, Domestication, the ENTIRE Hex-proof deck, Contaminated Ground, and pacifism...yeah pacifism... well maybe not the last two but considering Nullify counters an entire deck that is powerful due to your opponent not being able to interact with you, its a pretty big deal.

So welcome to standard Nullify, I am sure you will be just as annoying as Counterspell was and just as good.

Courser of Kruphix and Kiora, the Crashing Wave

I am seeing a lot of people make a big deal out of Courser of Kruphix and I guess I am not sure why? I see the interaction with Domri Rade and thats pretty cute right? And I also keep hearing the comparison with Oracle of Mul Daya and I just kind of chuckle at how ridiculous that statement is. I actually played with the Oracle and Courser is not that card. Yes, they both reveal the top card of your library. And Yes, they both allow you to play a land from the top but that’s it. Courser does not allow you to play extra lands and yeah she does trigger green devotion, but who really care about that? But let us not forget about the great CC and her awesome badonkadunk shes got going on with 4 toughness.... awww yeah badonkadunk. Yes I expect this card to see some kind of standard play as its easy to cast, the dadonkadunk and its life gain ability and the fact that you can play with the top card revealed...kinds sounds like I like this card doesn’t it? Its a good card don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think its as great as people are claiming it to be.

I love Kiora, the Crashing Wave. The art, the abilities and the casting cost, hell I am even glad that its green and blue and not just blue. I am also glad we all got the Two Explore joke out of our systems quickly, hurr hurr. While the Master Mike Flores didn’t really like the ultimate on her, I think its fantastic as you get a fatty forever. If you were able to watch the first Born of the Gods Standard event on SCGLive, you were able to see BBD place the emblem in play during the coverage and it was pretty much GG after that. You were also able to watch him lock down two creatures with two different Kioras, one after the other, which was really fucking sick. I originally didn’t think much of her other than Explore but after watching her in action I can see that she is going to be quite the handful in the future.

Randoms

While Karametra is my favorite god in the set, its pretty obvious that Xenagos is the most powerful god we have in Born of the Gods and potentially out of all of them competing with Thassa. While Mogis, God of Slaughter, has a powerful ability, pumping a Dragon or a fatty creature with trample can potentially end the game. The best part of the ability is that it happens the turn it comes into play and you don’t have to wait or pay for the trigger like you would with Ephara or Nylea.

Pain Seer is shit. OK maybe its not in a Black aggressive deck but come on everyone, its time we all stop comparing this card to Dark Confidant. Its not that card, and shouldn’t be treated as such.

Hands down Fanatic of Xenagos is the best Tribute creature in the set. And while I am think Oracle of Bones has some potential to drops some super sick bombs if allowed to, Fanatic is so powerful in both modes. I can see many players in future matches making the wrong choice with whether to give tribute or not.

I also read Satyr Firedancer wrong the first time and thought it was creature OR player and not just creature after you aim something to their face...meh lost complete interest in the card as a 1/1 for 2 with immediate effect doesn’t really do much until later in the game and if you hit your opponent in the face and they have no creatures what does this actually do...besides, doesn’t this card die to that one spell that kills a creature if its a cyclops?

Ummm Brimaz is fucking great Obv

Bile Blight and Drown in Sorrow change everything...like actually changes everything. The removal cards in black are already very powerful and with the addition of these two cards it only makes black based decks stronger, thanks for joining the party Thoughtseize.

Did I mention I love Auras? I am expecting big things from Herald of Torment. The body and casting cost on Herald of Torment is ridiculous. Sure you lose one life a turn but its not enough to not play this card. I think the best part about this card is that its flying and has a reasonable Bestow cost that really makes this creature something else. I know I read an article not too long ago but Owen Turtenwald about how much he liked this card and I share the same respect for the card. Should be fantastic in standard.

Welcome back to Standard, Rout.... or Fated Retribution. Instant speed board wipes are the shit and this one takes Walkers with it.

Good News everyone, we can go back to trying to make Biovisionary work with Fated Infatuation. Lets make some copies brah.

And I cant put my finger on Eidolon of the Countless Battles... I don’t know if hes good or not. Sure he could be put into a WW shell but at the same time he could also be put into the Naya Auras deck or any kind of deck with Hero of Iroas. I want this to be good but its like 70/30 to me.

And last but not least Unravel the Aether and Revoke Existence are...how can I put this lightly...well they are going to fuck shit up. I think it was Josh Silvestri that mentioned those two cards in his top ten cards from Born of the Gods list and I agree with him 100%. Green now has a way to remove pesky Gods and while white has a few options with dealing with them, those resources can now be aimed at creatures and removing game changing auras in play.

My actual sleepers for the set are Hero of Iroas, Herald of Torment, Hero of Lenia Tower, Whelming Wave and Oracle of Bones. As you can tell, I love auras and that explains the first 2 cards as my sleepers. I really enjoy Hero of Lenia Tower and her +X/+X from her heroic trigger, late game you are able to just attach something small and dump mana into her trigger which I think is pretty sick. Whelming wave is a poor mans Global removal card and hopefully we get some reasonably costing Octopuses to have in play and Oracle just maybe one day will let us cast Cruel Ultimatum for free. Its kind of like Browbeat more than anything else and thats not really a bad thing. But anyways, I bought sets and more of them and I am hoping some of these cards will jump up in value.

Well that’s pretty much all that’s going through my head about the noticeable cards in Born of the God's. There is a high chance that you have read something similar on other websites for some of the cards, but it doesn’t hurt to get someone else's opinions does it? Lets hope that Minotaur tribal gains some steam because that would be fucking awesome, eh? We have the cards people! We have the cards to do it!