For years, Mono Black Devotion was the "poster deck" of Pauper. The combination of Gray Merchant of Asphodel with creatures containing various black mana symbols became the foundation of Midrange decks in the format's early days until the Monarch mechanic introduced new ways to generate card advantage.
In Brazil, Mono Black was also one of the most popular strategies in tabletop tournaments. After all, the archetype was intuitive to play and easy to build a good list with, while rewarding a good skill ceiling in mirror matches—this connection of the deck with the country led to the origins of variants like Rakdos Monarch before the power creep wave.
Now, Devotion is forgotten in Pauper. From Affinity being a stronger strategy to the transformation of black Midrange decks into lists like Golgari Gardens, there are few reasons to revisit a strategy that relies too much on board position for its key card to work, but perhaps adding the new artifact-based value engines is the formula to revive one of the most traditional strategies in Pauper history.
The Decklist
This list follows the classic Devotion list pattern, mixing Gray Merchant of Asphodel with Cuombajj Witches and Chittering Rats, but adds to the equation the package of black artifacts that Pauper has received in recent years with Blood Fountain, Tithing Blade and Grim Bauble.
The three cards help in the equation to guarantee Affinity with Refurbished Familiar — the best black creature in the format today — added to the possibility of using the Dispute effects as a cheap source of card advantage.
Maindeck
The classic Devotion package.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel requires building a favorable board to be used optimally, with the potential to guarantee five or more damage with its ETB while possessing a decent combat body. In this list, Blood Fountain helps to reuse it to finish games.
Cuombajj Witches possesses a decent body and repeatedly deals with X/1 creatures. With the return of Faeries and Elves, in addition to the presence of Mono Red Rally among the main competitors in the format, it has regained relevance in the Metagame.
Chittering Rats is a bit slow, but it can function as a pseudo-Time Walk if the opponent has cards "stuck" in their hand and/or fails to find land drops.
We complement the devotion package with artifacts that count towards the board with black mana symbols.
Refurbished Familiar is still one of the best cards in the format. The ETB can remove resources from the opponent or replenish your own, and we can cast it for up to one mana if we have the right sequence.
Blood Fountain puts two artifacts into play for one mana and one card, allowing you to filter your hand and reuse your best creatures in longer games.
Mephitic Draught as a one-of serves as an Ichor Wellspring that counts towards devotion. We can add more copies or remove it for another Toxin Analysis if we prefer.
Grim Bauble and Tithing Blade function as board interaction, artifacts for Dispute effects, and have extra abilities that ensure relevance in longer matches.
A 2-2-2 split between Reckoner’s Bargain for life gain, Fanatical Offering for affinity, and Eviscerator’s Insight for attrition offers versatile ways to balance the needs of each matchup. The numbers can change according to the demands of your Metagame.
Crypt Rats functions as a board wipe against go-wide decks and a finisher in longer games. It has a combo with Toxin Analysis to clear the board for 
, or we can use this interaction to gain a significant amount of life.
Cast Down is the best and almost unconditional black removal spell in the format, and there's no reason to run fewer than four copies.
Troll of Khazad-dûm is an alternative win line for longer games that also allows you to run 20 lands and have consistent ways of finding them with cards that serve other purposes. It can be reused with Blood Fountain.
Witch’s Cottage as a one-of guarantees another recursion tool that we can find with Troll of Khazad-dûm.
Bojuka Bog functions as graveyard hate in the main deck. Since our list is monocolored and we have few lands that enter tapped, the concessions to using it are minimal, and we can even increase the quantity. [
[Vault of Whispers]] is an untapped land that also counts as an artifact for Refurbished Familiar or the effects of Dispute in the late-game.
Sideboard
Graveyard-based decks continue to be popular, and we've tried to diversify our answers for each of them.
Faerie Macabre works best against Spy Combo or Dredge, which attempt to reanimate Lotleth Giant for lethal damage, and we can answer Dread Return for free with this card. It also counts as two devotion points and a creature with Flying in rare cases.
Faerie Macabre Nihil Spellbomb is a more effective answer against Mono Blue Terror or in Midrange mirrors with Blood Fountain.
Crypt Incursion also works against Dredge and Spy Combo, with the bonus of serving against Aggro decks as a way to gain many "extra turns" with three life for each exiled creature.
Duress is the standard answer against any archetype with important non-creature spells and/or where we don't have as much need for removal. It can be run against Tolarian Terror and Midrange mirrors.
Campfire used to protect us from High Tide for a while, but now it's still a recurring life gain tool against Aggro.
Thorn of the Black Rose is useful in Midrange mirror matches, especially against Black Gardens, Jeskai Ephemerate and other slower decks.
Arms of Hadar complements Crypt Rats as a sweeper, being faster to use and without harming our board position. We can swap it for Suffocating Fumes if we want to prioritize Faeries and Mono Red Rally.
Extract a Confession provides another removal spell against Bogles and other creatures with protection and also works effectively against Writhing Chrysalis if we have enough cards in the graveyard to pay the additional cost.
Sideboard Guide
Mono Blue Terror
IN
OUT
Mono Blue Faeries
IN
OUT
Jund Wildfire
IN
OUT
Mono Red Rally
IN
OUT
Madness Burn
IN
OUT
Elves
IN
OUT
Spy Walls
IN
OUT
Mono White Aggro
IN
OUT
Golgari Gardens
IN
OUT
Wrapping Up
That's all for today!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Thank you for reading!
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