How They Brew It - Devotion to Everything

Omnath, Locus of All | Illustrated by Bryan Sola
Nothing's scarier than the Ancient Ones, Those Who Rule the Realms In Between Consciousness and Unconsciousness. These abominations assume forms mere mortals can't comprehend, and they influence everything from who we see to what we eat to which functionally identical brand of scented plug-in to purchase. Of course, you've heard of Cthulhu, you've heard of Azathoth, you've heard of Nyarlathotep, Kassogtha, Dagon, Y'golonac, and Aslan, but that just raises the question: with so many Ones and so little time, how do you choose your object of worship? Who do you devote your entire being to resurrecting and ultimately ushering in the end of days and the destruction of all reality as we know it?
Cult-ure Shock
Greetings, followers! The Whisperers call me Michael Celani, and I'm here to tell you that if you're looking to dress up in creepy robes and hawk fanatic dogma at unsuspecting people, you no longer have to attend Star Wars conventions. That's right: I have been chosen to be your new leader after the previous one died in an unfortunate sloth incident, and yes, I'm talking about the animal, not the sin. There's going to be some changes around here. First, No Cult Meeting Wednesdays are back on. Second, the phrase "going to mass" no longer means seeing your mom. Third and most importantly, we worship every god all the time now.
Omnath, Locus of All
Devoted Druids
The Ancient Ones -- Those Who Rule the Realms In Between Light and Shadow -- are not a force to be played with. Like an aging refrigerator, they are cold, power-hungry, and full of harmful chlorofluorocarbons. That's why we must appease them by increasing our devotion, and the easiest way to do that with Omnath
- The Lorwyn Lieges are all you need to instill a strong sense of hierarchy in your cult. Not only do Ashenmoor Liege, Creakwood Liege, Glen Elendra Liege, and Deathbringer Liegeeach give other creatures of their colors +1/+1, they also have thematically appropriate and often relevant abilities. Keep an eye on Deathbringer Liegein particular; it turns all your black and white spells into a free Murder, which doctrine says thou shalt commit.
- No fanatic fervor is complete without enforcers; Deathless Knightwill be hard to keep down for good with the incidental lifegain the deck has, and Elite Headhuntercan sacrifice artifacts and creatures to shock pesky opposing dorks.
- Divinity of Prideand Ghastlord of Fugueare not only both excellent metal album names, but they're also both evasive beaters with relevant abilities that add five devotion to two different colors.
- Spoiler alert, the best rewards for being devoted to white and black involve recruiting more into the flock, which is why we believe in an apocalyptic Dramatic Finale. The additional fliers it creates just mark a decent denouement for any unbeliever's continued existence.
- Dire Undercurrentslets you draw a card whenever a blue creature enters the battlefield under your control and makes an opponent discard a card whenever a black creature enters under your control. Not only is this an incredible source of card advantage, it's also really weird that blue cares about creatures.
- Altar of the Pantheonis a better Manalith, which is a bar so low even an ant can step over it. It increases our devotion to all colors by one, which is pretty small, but it's also ramp, so why not?
Of course, not all spells can be as multifaceted as we'd like them to be. We'll need to introduce a few choice mono-black cards as well just to push some of our payoffs over the edge:
- Ayara, First of Locthwaincares about black creatures entering the battlefield, and boy, do we have a lot of them. She's also a source of incidental card advantage, and if you can recur Deathless Knight, you'll keep your hand stocked.
- K'rrik, Son of Yawgmothis the go'enq'wo jni-pl krnnnn fople of our deck, so to speak in tongues. He turns any black mana symbol Phyrexian, and since so many of our cards are just a cavalcade of black pips, we end up able to cast lots of expensive spells for free.
- Bolas's Citadelis just an amazing card in general, but that three additional devotion doesn't hurt. Side note, independent research has shown that God-Pharaohs do count, so make sure to include Bolas in the rotation too.
- Gravestormis laser-focused against decks that play too many spells, since their graveyards are usually pretty clean. You can also use Bojuka Bogto guarantee your draw.
Prayer Points
Our flock is now so devoted it makes rabid Homestuck fans look as wishy-washy as modern Magic: the Gathering fans. The Ancient Ones -- Those Who Rule the Realms In Between Peanut Butter and Jelly -- are as pleased as the punch we're all drinking after this meetup. Now, they shall bestow their wonderful gifts upon us like Santa Claus, except that, unlike Santa Claus, they're real! These payoffs turn worship into wine, and the effect on our board state is transubstantial.
- For worship to reach critical mass, we need followers, and that's why we turn to Master of Waves, Reverent Hoplite(and its older brother Evangel of Heliod), Underworld Hermit, Abhorrent Overlord, and finally, the 1.0 version, Springjack Shepherd, who brings
lambsgoats to the slaughter.- Mogis's Marauderis a choice follow up play. Later in the game you can double-spell into it to give all your newly spawned tokens haste and intimidate, but you can also play it over the course of two turns for a brutal blowout.
- Mogis's Marauder
- If swinging with creatures isn't your thing, Fanatic of Mogisand the just-objectively-better Gray Merchant of Asphodelboth hit your opponents directly in the soul.
- And finally, we can make a ton of mana off of our devotion with both Nyx Lotusand Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. These two mana-generating stars can put you up ten mana in a single turn!
Paint It Black
While we are equally devoted to all colors, there is one unequivocal truth about our deck's construction: we'll always end up more equally devoted to black. If only we could trick the gods into interpreting worship for one of them into worship for all of them, then we could cut down on total time spent praying and get to other cult activities like ritual sacrifice and [DATA EXPUNGED]. Luckily, I have a double major in blasphemy and art history, so I feel like I can easily forge classic works that can convince each of the Ancient Ones -- Those Who Rule the Realms In Between Coke and Pepsi -- that we've always been with them, specifically.
Cards like Sleight of Mind
But it's not just the devotion payoffs that benefit from our deluge of deities. We can hack any color words on cards like Creakwood Liege
And if you combine a Glamerdye
Call of the Gods
Do you hear them? The Ancient Ones! They whisper to me! Can you not hear them? You must inspect your soul, inspect the cosmos, inspect this page! You better be twice as introspective by our next meeting! Anyway, here comes the donation till...
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[Commander]
1 Omnath, Locus of All
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
1 Dockside Chef
1 Corpse Knight
1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
1 Ornithopter of Paradise
1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
1 Mogis's Marauder
1 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
1 Ashenmoor Liege
1 Creakwood Liege
1 Deathless Knight
1 Elite Headhunter
1 Fanatic of Mogis
1 Glen Elendra Liege
1 Jetmir, Nexus of Revels
1 Master of Waves
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Springjack Shepherd
1 Deathbringer Liege
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Ghastlord of Fugue
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Reverent Hoplite
1 Evangel of Heliod
1 Underworld Hermit
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
1 Vandalblast
1 Ruinous Ultimatum
1 In Garruk's Wake
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
1 Sleight of Mind
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Whim of Volrath
1 Alter Reality
1 Despark
1 Glamerdye
1 Heroic Intervention
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Mystic Reflection
1 Reap
1 Spectral Shift
1 Brokers Charm
1 Crystal Spray
1 Endless Detour
1 Void Rend
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
1 Sol Ring
1 Arcane Signet
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Altar of the Pantheon
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Nyx Lotus
1 Bolas's Citadel
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Compost
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Ceta Sanctuary
1 Gravestorm
1 Dramatic Finale
1 Swirl the Mists
1 Dire Undercurrents
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
1 Bojuka Bog
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Grand Coliseum
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Plaza of Heroes
1 Secluded Courtyard
1 The World Tree
1 Thriving Bluff
1 Thriving Grove
1 Thriving Heath
1 Thriving Isle
1 Thriving Moor
1 Unclaimed Territory
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
3 Forest
3 Island
3 Mountain
3 Plains
[/Lands]
[/Deck]