Hell out of heaven

Modern Control WUB (Esper)

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Land (27)

• 4x Aether Hub
• 4x Evolving Wilds
• 5x Island
• 3x Plains
• 3x Prairie Stream
• 2x Shambling Vent
• 3x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp

Instant (17)

• 3x AEther Tradewinds
• 4x Echoing Truth
• 3x Fatal Push
• 3x Glimmer of Genius
• 2x Negate
• 2x Spell Snare

Creature (9)

• 3x Flickerwisp
• 4x Thing in the Ice  ^Flip
• 2x Torrential Gearhulk

Sorcery (3)

• 3x Painful Truths

Enchantment (4)

• 4x Demonic Pact

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Flickerwisp

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Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven

Welcome to Demonic Pact Control! This is not a demonic pact deck that is designed to use the Demonic Pact + Harmless Offering combo to win, but rather plays Demonic Pact over and over again for value.

Like any good control deck, this is divided into 4 key parts: removal, win condition, card advantage, and lands. There are a few extra considerations for this deck because of its style though, including tempo effects, counters, and stabilizers. This means the deck has seven levels...sound familiar? Let's descend.

Level 1: Purgatory (lands) Show

These are the cards that are neither good nor bad for your opponent, so they're in purgatory with Socrates.

Aether Hub: For the most part a Tendo Ice Bridge, though Glimmer of Genius can refuel it. Multi-hub hands can be rough if you want to play a pact early.

Evolving Wilds: The deck cares more about being on color than playing things on turn 1 and two, and it helps to get BB for turn 4.

Prairie Stream: color fixes and there are plenty of basics

Shambling vents: You won't activate it often because you want the 4 mana for something else, but it stops 2/1s in a pinch and can make a life buffer

Sunken Hollow: same as stream.

Level 2: Lust (tempo effects) Show

You just couldn't keep your hands off your opponent's cards, you creepy card perve.

Echoing Truth: Card disadvantage? Yes. Really annoying to bounce the Gideon your opponent just cast? Hell yeah. Additionally, all cards in this section can be used to bounce a Demonic Pact that's about to kill you.

AEther Tradewinds: Same as disperse, but worse when considering just as a tempo play. However, it's better for bouncing Pact because it bounces an opponent's card too. It can be used to bounce a land on either side of the table too, putting your opponent behind a land drop or allowing you to get another energy off of hub.

Flickerwisp: Primarily used to flicker Demonic Pact, but an effectively by a 2/3 flyer for 1 mana if you bounce a land you just tapped when you don't have a land drop

Level : Gluttony (Stabilzers) Show

These fatties couldn't stop themselves from eating multiple burn spells

Thing in the Ice  : The 0/4 on turn 2 can seriously slow down some decks, stopping Grim Flayer in delirium until delirium is enabled, and stopping nacatl or goblin based aggresion

Torrential Gearhulk: A 5/6 can be huge in this format, and the ETB effect can kill creatures, stop spells, or draw cards with the instant suite in the deck. Dropping Hulk when an opponent is swinging with a Reality Smasher is also funny.

Level 4: Greed (Card advantage) Show

Just took all the cards you could get your hands on, you pig.

Card advantage is obviously good for the deck, and it's a major part of how it works.

Demonic Pact: Divination+Mind Rot+Soul Feast for 4 mana? Heck yeah! There is that issue of losing to the fourth effect, but the 10 bounce effects and the ability to reuse Kor Skyfisher through Thing in the Ice   and the ability to flash back the instants means that won't happen often.

Glimmer of Genius: Scry, draw, energy. This is an efficient instant speed draw spell that also fuels hub.

Painful Truths: Staple in 3 color black decks. 3 mana for 3 cards is great, and the deck gets that rate often.

Level 5: Anger (Removal) Show

HOW DARE YOU HAVE CREATURES!

There's only one card that really fits here, but the sideboard can be tweaked to include more like Murder.

Fatal Push: Kill small creatures to live. Push can easily kill most things, but I may switch back to path because of the lack of fetches in this deck.

Level 6: Violence (Win Conditions) Show

Went for the kill, and see where that got you.

Awoken Horror: After you flip one or two of these you just hammer through damage and keep mana untapped to bounce, counter, or kill their answers.

Level 7: Fraud (Counters) Show

You think your 1 mana counterspell is worth their scapeshift? You mana-pinching fiend (P.S. This is the area I need the most help on. Not sure what to run and what to take out)

Negate: There are a lot of non-creature spells in the format. temur battle rage+grow immense, Scapeshift, various burn spells, etc. Stopping game winning spells is great, and this deck can deal with creatures with its 7 bounce spells fairly regularly.

Spell Snare: But for those creatures you just don't want resolving, there's always this. Snapcaster Mage in anything blue, Tarmagoyf in anything green, Dark Confidant in most things black, Eidolon of the Great Revel in half of red (burn), you get the idea. Plus, it gets splash damage against stuff like Temur Battle Rage and Sakura-Tribe Elder in the matchups where it's not stellar.

Disclaimer Show

I now realize there are 9 levels of hell, but I didn't until I hit level 6. So, this is modified hell, where satan ended up being short on budget.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Demonic Pact + Harmless Offering
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 17 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.79