(Todays article is brought to you by a nerdy guest, Tyler McDuffee!)
Greetings PlanesWalkers! I would like to start today’s entry with a few questions: Are you tired of playing the same old deck against your friends? Are you wanting to break out in the local competitive scene? Are you wanting to play something interesting yet frightening?! If you answered yes to any of these questions, or if you answered no and are just along for the ride, then I have the deck or decks for you. They are Mono Colored “Devotion” decks. “Devotion” is a mechanic introduced in the “Theros” Block. Your “Devotion” to a certain color is based upon how much of that color you have in the mana costs of permanents that exist on your side of the field. For example, let’s say you summon “Twin Headed Cerberus”. “Twin Headed Cerberus” has a mana cost of two “Red” mana and one mana of any kind. So that means the two Red mana from his mana cost will give you two “Red Devotion”. “Devotion” doesnt only come from creatures, it can come from “Enchantments” as well!
The question you may be asking now is what about devotion makes it so special that it has a deck built around it? That question has many answers! Some of them will be answered along with a deck list of a few mono color Devotion based decks. The reasoning for this is that each Devotion deck has different style and way to be played. But an upfront reason I can give you as to why “Devotion” is special are the Gods. The Gods are Legendary Indestructible Enchantment Creatures with two unique abilities. When a God is summoned it is treated as an “Enchantment”. If the God is an Enchantment you may still use it’s abilities but it may not attack or block. At anytime if you meet the “Devotion” cost for a God it becomes a creature, allowing to swing at your opponent or block his/her creatures. 
“Devotion doesnt only apply to the Gods! There are actually Instants, Sorceries, and Creatures that benefit from “Devotion” as well.
Now that you have a pretty good idea of what “Devotion” decks are about I am going to post some different deck lists for you to examine, choose whichever one you like best!
Mono Red Devotion
Creatures:
2x Purphoros, God of the Forge
4x Stormbreath Dragon
4x Fanatic of Mogis
4x Frostburn Weird
4x Ash Zealot
4x Burning Tree Emissary
4x Boros Reckoner
Instants:
4x Magma Jet
Sorceries:
4x Mizzium Mortars
Enchantments:
2x Hammer of Purphoros
Land:
2x Nykthos Shrine to Nyx
22x Mountain
The purpose of “Mono Red” devotion is to burn into your opponent’s health as well as his creatures with your burn spells, while summoning beefy blockers such as “Boros Reckoner” and “Frostburn Weird” to keep the opponent at bay. Then you finish them off With “Stormbreath Dragon” or drop the big boss “Purphoros God of the Forge”. Alternate win conditions for this deck can be the use of Purphoros’s burn ability. When you summon a creature while Purphoros is on the field he deals two damage to each opponent! That ability also hits PlanesWalkers! (Elspeth I’m looking at you.) If you happen to be stuck on a pocket of land you can use “Hammer of Purphoros”. By paying 3 mana and sacrificing a land you can make 3/3 Golems, and since Hammer is on the field they have haste! Mono Red is a fantastic match up against the hardcore control players. “Stormbreath Dragon” has “Haste”, “Flying”, and “Protection From White”. No “Detention Sphere” for that lousy Azorius Mage! Sorry Azorius Mages I got a little excited…
Mono Blue Devotion
Creatures:
4x Thassa, God of the Sea
4x Cloudfin Raptor
4x Judge’s Familiar
4x Frostburn Weird
4x Nightveil Specter
4x Tidebender Mage
4x Master of Waves
PlanesWalkers:
2x Jace Architect of Thought
Instants:
1x Cyclonic Rift
2x Rapid Hybridization
Enchantments:
2x Bident of Thassa
Land:
20x Island
4x Mutavault
1x Nykthos Shrine to Nyx
Ah yes Mono Blue Devotion. Mono Blue Devotion has one purpose. His name is “Master of Waves” The guy is an absolute monster, “Master of Waves” has “Protection from Red” He gives Elemental creatures you control +1/+1, and when he enters the battlefield you put a number of 1/0 “Blue Elemental” creature tokens onto the battlefield equal to your “Devotion” to Blue. WOAH THATS CRAZY! I know right? what is even crazier is his synergy with “Thassa God of the Sea”. “Thassa God of the Sea” allows you to pay two mana and make a target creature you control “Unblockable”. If you have enough mana you can make your “Elemental” army unblockable and swing in for lethal damage! “Thassa God of the Sea” along with “Bident of Thassa”, and “Jace Architect of Thought” allow you to draw and “Scry” away to all of your answers to the board state. Whether it be “Cyclonic Rift” or another “Master of Waves” this deck will get you there!
Mono Black Devotion
Creatures:
4x Desecration Demon
4x Pack Rat
4x Nightveil Specter
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Instants:
4x Hero’s Downfall
3x Devour Flesh
3x Bile Blight
Sorceries:
4x Thoughtseize
Enchantments:
4x Underworld Connections
Land:
18x Swamp
4x Mutavault
4x Temple of Deceit
Mono Black Devotion is very sinister deck. Mono Black Devotion can win very early game and race aggro decks with the card “Pack Rat”. “Pack Rat’s” Power and Toughness are equal to the number of “Rats” you control. With “Pack Rat” you can pay three mana to discard a card and put a token onto the battlefield that is a copy of “Pack Rat”. This means that every “Pack Rat” you have on the field will have Power and Toughness equal to the amount of “Rats” on the battlefield. So if you control four “Pack Rats” every single one will be a 4/4. A cool combo do with “Pack Rat” is to use “Mutavault”. “Mutavault” is all creature types. So That means he is a “Rat” as well! More “Rats” more power! Mono Black Devotion also allows you to control the board with it’s kill spells such as “Hero’s Downfall” and “Devour Flesh”. Mono Black is the only “Devotion” deck with hand disruption. The card “Thoughtseize” allows to look at your opponents hand and pick a nonland card from it, that player then discards that card and you lose two life. The deck is known for it’s immense draw power. The “Underworld Connections” enchants a land. You may then tap the “Enchanted” land to draw an additional card. Much like Mono Blue, Mono Black is another “Devotion” deck that lets you dig for your answers to the opponents board state. Mono Black also has the incredible “Gray Merchant of Asphodel”, when he enters the battlefield your opponent loses life equal to your “Devotion” to Black and you gain that much life! (The list doesnt include “Erebos, God of the Dead”, but at least get one. He is so cool!)
You may be wondering why I have not included “Sideboards” into each decklist. This is because I believe that a “Sideboard” is strictly up to interpretation. Make whatever “Sideboard” that fits the situation and decks you are playing against.!
Well that about wraps it up! The question that stands is what color will you be devoted to?! Until next time this is Tyler McDuffee. May you walk the Planes with honor!