Mono-blue devotion a year a go was fun, was it not? But ever since RTR rotated out, the deck lost half the cards that really made it tick, even though Thassa, God of the Sea and Master of Waves are still in. The main issue has been the lack of efficient 1 drops, value 2 drops with two devotion and the ever annoying Nightveil Specter. But I do belive that with Fate Reforged and Dragons of Tarkir, we may finally have the cards we need to make this deck work once more.
1 drops
Where we previously had Judge's Familiar and Cloudfin Raptor our best cards are now Gudul Lurker and Hypnotic Siren. Sadly, these are not quite as efficient, but still rather decent. And where the siren might have been a one-off previously we can now run four, which increases the chances to use the ever so fun bestow ability in the late game. The lurker is just a decently efficient chump, who can almost always get in for some chip damage.
2 drops
This is where things get tricky. As is the tendency, Tidebinder Mage and Frostburn Weird provided major value to the deck, as well as each giving two devotion. For our purposes, Frost Walker and Stratus Dancer seem to be our best alternatives. The walker provides the best damage for a blue 2 drop, and the downside to the card is essentially irrelevant as it does to the flap of a butterfly's wing anyhow. It does get a buff from Master of Waves though, as it is an elemental. Stratus Dancer provides some utility and a bit of mystery through morph, as well as buffing itself slightly and having flying.
3 drops
Nightveil Specter was a key component as it provided the all important devotion and an annoying flyer. Shorecrasher Elemental is our new friend here. It can be morphed in (is it a dancer or an elemental, who knows?), it can buff itself eitherway just like Frostburn Weird and it can evade removal while setting itself up for a megamorph. And indeed, it works with the Master by being an elemental.
Additionally [Thassa, god of the sea]], Master of Waves,
thassa's bident
and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx are core to have in this deck of course.
Spells
One of the more important cards of the old deck was rapid hybridisation, which provided the best removal for blue at the time. In order to deal with those big nasties now, Reality Shift is our best bet. Slightly more expensive, but does exile. Provides a manifest, but resultning in a 2/2 instead of a 3/3. Can still be used on your own creatures if that should ever be needed.
Anticipate is a decent way to draw the cards you want, but shouldn't be overdone. You have the bident too.
Cloudform occupies the 3 drop slot as well. It does give one less devotion than the elemental, but provides an almost unremoveable flyer, and a manifest. I believe it is worth running in the main board, as it is consistent damage and a pseudo sort of way to draw cards.
Lands
The land base is the same as the old deck, but without Mutavault, which is a bit annoying, but easier on the wallet ultimately.
Sideboard
Here we have ways to deny the opponent their spells in different ways. Note that Silumgar sorceror does provide devotion and that Polymorphist's Jest can be a blowout. Mirror Mockery might be playable against more passive decks, as the synergy with Master of Waves can be quite insane.
Final notes
I have now said pretty much all I have to say about this deck and the thoughts behind it. I am rather certain that I've gone though all the viable replacement cards for this deck, although the right balance of cards is probably still to be had. I've chosen to run 3 of Gudul Lurker and Thassa, God of the Sea since the devotion is less certain and the lurker is not quite as good as Cloudfin Raptor. This makes room for the extra creature that Cloudform basically is and the extra spells.
Anticipate is a bit uncertain, I'm not sure if it's even needed. And a card previously played but not found here currently is Hall of Triumph, which might be worth playing one or two of.
So please share your thoughts, despite this wall of text. Would you have more or less of a certain card? Different cards altogether? Lets make this fun deck work once more.
