The deck is called HOTLINE MIAMI, and you better not wear it out, kiddo. It's HOTLINE because Leyline of Anticipation is a HOT GODDAMN CARD, and it's MIAMI because we're going STRAIGHT to the MOTHER-LOVING OCEAN with this mono-blue, semi-budget goodness. Now, I got absolutely cooked in draft today and I've just had a glass of excellent Prosecco, so I don't see any reason not to jump straight the into this. Are you ready? You better be ready.
ABSTRACT:
Let me get the obvious out of the way. Blue is the best color in Magic, and if you're going to be playing an archetype literally called Devotion to Blue, you'd best get it through your head that your non-blue opponent (in a non-mirror match) is, in the words of a great man, a junkyard of disappointment, and it's time to take out the trash. But you? You are no junkyard. You are a glorious toolbox. The name of the game here is... well, it's "Magic: The Gathering," but it really should be "adaptability." The list is stuffed with efficient creatures strapped with powerful ETB effects, all-purpose instants for pure utility, and enchantments to hold the whole thing together. The deck doesn't really hard-counter anything - except maybe some combo builds with less interaction, or beatdown after sideboarding - but it should have answers for everything and multiple paths to a win after your opponent has wasted away like a pathetic rock under the ceaseless force of ocean waves. What results from this philosophy is a very fun, tempo-oriented affair that's sort of a midrange deck wearing control as a hat. Everything in the list has some kind of synergy with everything else, and ideally your spells should be coming out on curve (but very possibly during your opponent's turn).
THE GOON SQUAD:
Your one- and two-drop creatures are key to making this deck work. Siren Stormtamer is a 1/1 in the air with a terrific creature type (can't really beat Siren Pirate Wizard, except maybe with a Bird Soldier Wizard) that stays relevant into the late game because it's strapped with an anti-removal counterspell for just . Four of them are totally welcome here, just like with Merfolk Trickster, the real bread-and-butter of the creature department here. A 2/2 body with flash for is already pretty good here because of what it does for your devotion, and the tap/strip ability ETB that comes with the fish is extremely useful at instant speed. Quickling is another 2/2 flasher for 2 that can save something from removal when it pops in, get you more utility from your ETBs, and flies besides. Wait to play this one reactively and you'll find that it saves your curve rather than messing it up. Spectral Sailor is another great one-drop which can repeatedly draw you cards and turn into a decent engine in grindier matchups.
THREES, A CROWD:
Your three-drop creatures occupy that awkward space in between the top and bottom of your curve, but these guys handle middle child status pretty admirably if you ask me. Nimble Obstructionist is a proud, under-appreciated part of the history of blue 3/1s for 3 with flash and flying, and the hardworking bird won't cost your bank account nearly as much and has a much more interesting, responsive kind of additional affect than its faerie brethren. Countering abilities is more useful than it might sound, and then the Obstructionist replaces itself when you do so to boot. Tempest Djinn is a little more vanilla, but that's three pips right into your devotion there and the thing reaches out of hand levels of efficiency in slower-paced matches.
BIG BOYS (AND LARGE LASSES):
Tempest Djinn is kind of a win-con, but it's really more of a combat all-star than anything else, even if its power will take you over the finish line when the chips are down. To be a real "win condition," especially in mono-blue, I think a card has to be more than just a big dude with wings, which is why a big dude riding a HORSE with wings is my favorite card in this deck. Like, come on, it's a 5/5 flier for 5 that gives you 3 devotion on its own, never truly dies (and even when it sort of does it still scries for you), and casts Brainstorm for free every time it enters the battlefield. Brainstorm is restricted in Vintage. I wonder if there's a way to take advantage of that with a mono-blue blink effect that - oh. Oh. The new Thassa is a complete godsend (ha ha) to a list like this, pairing pretty perfectly with Cavalier of Gales to sift through your entire deck for whatever you need while the devoted knight nearly turns your indestructible 6/5 into a creature all on its own. The tap effect is a nice mana sink, too. Master of Waves is sort of the third wheel here, but it obviously has great synergy with Thassa and also boasts some sneaky chemistry with the Cavalier, which pumps up your devotion for it while getting +1/+1 while both are on the battlefield, thanks to the Master's lord effect. It's also the only win-con in the deck that relies on a bunch of bodies instead of just one.
EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK:
There aren't just creature spells here, of course. Leyline of Anticipation is part of the deck's name, after all, and even though we only run two in the mainboard (mainly to keep the curve in check, and also everyone and their mom has Flash in this list), it just turns your win-cons into complete bombs, boosts your devotion, and can't be passed up. Frogify is a terrifically affordable all-purpose creature neutralizer (that's often more effective than just killing something) that's absolutely insane with a Leyline out - like, think about the potential as a combo breaker or even a combat trick - and still works perfectly well against nearly everything in the format if you're happy to main phase it when you have to. Omen of the Sea is premier, 2-mana card draw in blue devotion, and I'm honestly just so happy that my favorite TBD common is seeing so much play in constructed. As Foretold is kind of like a much cooler Aether Vial, and when you've got it and a Leyline around at the same time you can flash in some truly sick plays for free. Rounding out your enchantments is Monastery Siege, a very nice modal 3-drop that can give you impulsive draw (if you need cards) or tax removal (if the guys you already have out need protection). We're also running four mainboarded counterspells, two each of Spell Pierce and Thassa's Rebuff, for combo pieces and late-game bombs respectively.
EXTREMELY INTRICATE AND COMPLEX MANA BASE:
20 Island. One each of four useful utility lands that all have pretty good effects that are nice and hard to interact with since they're not attached to cards. That's it. I love monocolored decks.
And I won't pay for Nykthos.
SIDE DISHES:
In its original form, the deck can kind of react to anything, but it doesn't absolutely oppress anything, either. What the sideboard here wants to do is help the deck commit to what it wants to answer - two more each of Leyline of Anticipation and Frogify for creature matchups, Aether Gust and Tidebinder Mage for outmuscling red and green, and a little counterspell package with Baral for overall synergy and utility, two Wizard's Retort for what is basically Counterspell whenever one of your many Wizards is out, and Disallow (for when you really want something to just, y'know, not happen). Pithing Needle can completely screw over combo decks, and this list does thrive against combo, so maybe the little one-drop artifact that could will draw removal for you as it has for so many in the past (and hopefully mess up the stack ferociously if you flash it in with a Leyline up).
CLOSING REMARKS:
That's all I've got for you on this one! Advice would be much appreciated, and I hope you appreciate a mono-blue devotion list without Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Thassa's Oracle. I hope it's interactive, prompts some cool stack interactions, wins with style, and most of all is fun to play.
