For another deck brew in the Standard format M15 legal, I have decided to check on an old favorite and to see what the latest coreset has to offer. The deck was Red Devotion splashed with Blue for Keranos and Turn/Burn. Scanning through the visual spoiler, I looked upon the Blue column card-by-card as I wanted new cards from that color to add and because Red already looks complete in the deck.

There are two cards that caught my attention: Illusory Angel and Quickling. The angel which is a reprint from Planechase 2012 Edition, is a cheap 4/4 Flying beater and works well with BTE for a consistent turn-three drop. Quickling on the other hand gets you lots of combat trick option and a cheap costing and flying 2/2 is also relevant for damage and can bypass Sylvan Caryatids and coursers.

Here is a decklist of the updated Red splashed Blue Devotion in Magic 2015 Standard:

Lands
1 Mana Confluence
11 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
4 Steam Vents
3 Temple of Epiphany

Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Fanatic of Mogis
3 Frostburn Weird
3 Illusory Angel
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
3 Quickling
4 Rakdos Cackler

Spells
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Disperse
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Turn/Burn

Stormbreath Dragon and Keranos were cut to lower the curve and replaced by Rakdos Cackler. Also, Disperse was added as a cheap bounce spell for any nonland permanent the opponent may cast. Nykthos was also removed as the deck needed consistent colored mana for it to work and you don’t need the huge mana boost late game aside from just pumping with Purphoros and overloading Cyclonic Rift which is rarely relevant.

There are a lot of options for the starting turns depending on your matchup. Cackler is obviously the best Turn one but on your second turn, you either go more beats with the zealot or you can switch to the flyer Quickling bouncing the cackler. You can later on cast it on your fourth turn to satisfy Illusory Angel’s casting condition.

Quickling can also save your best creature or my ideal move would be to bounce Fanatic of Mogis for another trigger. Given that if Purphoros God of the Forge is also in the field, that would be huge chunks of damage or can be a finishing blow.

The deck’s sideboard may again include walkers like Ral Zarek and Chandra Pyromaster, though I am also considering counterspells like Dissolve or Negate since the deck has twelve sources for Blue Mana. If ever I would play the deck on Friday, the sideboard cards would be these:

2 Ætherize
1 Cyclonic Rift
2 Dissolve
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Harness by Force
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Negate
1 Ral Zarek
2 Searing Blood
1 Turn to Frog
1 Turn/Burn

I am still consistent with my one-of card choices as these will just fix and replace irrelevant cards in certain matchups. Ætherize is still my top choice sideboard card for Auras and can also be used for Hasty Red matchups.

The four copies of counterspell make sure I would not get resolved by Elspeth or a Sphinx’s Revelation, though playing around Supreme Verdict can be crucial.

Overall, the deck is an interesting variance of Red Devotion and if you do want try Standard decks with the new M15 cards, I would personally recommend this build. If you have questions and suggestions, just post them on the comment box below.

Thanks for reading and until next post.

PS. Bonus Decklist! Here is an Izzet Aggro that you might like:

Lands
11 Mountain
2 Temple of Epiphany
1 Mana Confluence
4 Shivan Reef
4 Steam Vents

Creatures
4 Ash Zealot

4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Legion Loyalist
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Firefist Striker
4 Illusory Angel
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka

Spells
1 Disperse
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Lightning Strike
2 Searing Blood
1 Turn/Burn