Jund (2009) vs. Mono-Black Devotion (2013) | Best Standard Deck Ever Top 64

Hello everyone, and welcome to the next match in the Best Standard Deck Ever Tournament! This week, we have a battle between iconic midrange decks, with Bloodbraid Elf and Jund from 2009 taking on Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Mono-Black Devotion from 2013! Which deck is moving on to the Top 32, and which is going home? Let's get to the video and find out! Oh yeah, you can find all the decklists and the bracket for the Best Standard Deck Ever Tournament here.

Jund (2009) vs. Mono-Black Devotion (2013)

Jund from Shards of Alara Standard back in 2009 is the forerunner of the iconic Modern deck that would emerge a few years later. The deck is the epitome of midrange, playing the most efficient threats and removal possible while overloading on two-for-ones that come from the cascade mechanic on cards like Bituminous Blast and Bloodbraid Elf, removal like Maelstrom Pulse, and creatures that create more creatures, including Sprouting Thrinax, Master of the Wild Hunt, and Broodmate Dragon. 

The deck broke out at Worlds 2009, putting three players into the Top 8, and followed this up a couple of months later by taking the top two slots at Pro Tour San Diego. The archetype would remain near the top of Standard through rotation in 2010 and then, a couple of years later, find a home as the premier midrange deck in the newly created Modern format.

While none of the cards from Jund were banned while they were in Standard, the deck did have a long term impact on the format. After reprinting Lightning Bolt in Core Set 2011 (which was released in 2010), thanks to its power in Jund (and other decks), Wizards decided that the iconic instant was simply too strong for Standard, and it hasn't returned to the format once in the past 17 years.

When Theros was released in 2013, it brought with it the devotion mechanic, which quickly took over Standard. While there were devotion decks of pretty much every color, the strongest devotion colors were Mono-Black Devotion (which we'll see today) and Mono-Blue Devotion (which also made the tournament and will be coming up in the future). 

When you think of devotion, you probably think of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. But the land wasn't a big part of Mono-Black Devotion's plan, being just a one-of. Instead, it was Gray Merchant of Asphodel—which gained the nickname "Gary"—that powered the deck. By focusing on playing cards with a lot of black mana symbols, like Nightveil Specter and Underworld Connections, a single copy of Gray Merchant of Asphodel could easily drain for somewhere between five and 10 life, enough that it was difficult for aggro to kill you. And against slower decks, a couple of copies of Gary could straight-up win the game.

While the deck didn't get any cards banned from Standard, it is responsible for ensuring that Wizards would never print Thoughtseize into Standard again. The discard spell's dominance in Mono-Black Devotion made players salty enough that Wizards decided the card was too good for the format, and we haven't seen it since. Also notably, the deck runs four copies of Hero's Downfall, which doesn't look like much today but was a huge deal back in 2013. Planeswalkers first came out in 2008's Lorwyn, but in the early years of planeswalkers, Wizards refused to print any cards that directly destroyed a planeswalker. Hero's Downfall was the first "destroy target planeswalker" card, which made it not just one of the most played removal spells but also one of the most played cards during its time in Standard.

Updated Bracket

Each week, we'll update the bracket with the results of last week's match. (Today's matchup won't be included until next week, to avoid spoiling the results if you haven't watched the video yet.)

Next Week: Affinity (2004) vs. Golos Field (2019)

Next week features what I believe is a record number of cards that were banned in Standard, with 2004's Affinity (responsible for the banning of Skullclamp, Arcbound Ravager, Disciple of the Vault, and all of the Mirrodin artifact lands)—having a total of 23 cards in its main deck that were banned in Standard—going up against Golos Field of the Dead (which has Field of the Dead, Once Upon a Time, Veil of Summer, Agent of Treachery, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Growth Spiral, all of which were banned in Standard) and its 20 banned cards! Which deck goes home, and which moves on to the round of 32? Come back next week to find out!