There’s no question that Demonic Pact is a powerful card. It’s a cheaper version of Cruel Ultimatum that doesn’t have the same raw power, but is more impactful early in the game. However, there’s always that fourth effect to deal with. Previously, people have utilized cards like Disperse, Silumgar's Command, and Crush of Tentacles, which let you reset your Demonic Pact and continue grinding out value. Eldritch Moon provides a new option, one that’s reminiscent of one of the most classic combo decks in Magic’s history: Illusions of Grandeur plus Donate. Let’s take a look:

Grixis Demonic Pact ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Michael Majors

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
• 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

• Spells (29)
• 1 Harmless Offering
• 1 Languish
• 1 Silumgar's Command
• 1 Virulent Plague
• 2 Duress
• 2 Oath of Jace
• 2 Read the Bones
• 2 Ruinous Path
• 2 Transgress the Mind
• 2 Ultimate Price
• 3 Grasp of Darkness
• 3 Oath of Liliana
• 3 Dark Petition
• 4 Demonic Pact

• Lands (26)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 6 Swamp
• 3 Foreboding Ruins
• 3 Smoldering Marsh
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Sunken Hollow

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Duress
• 1 Infinite Obliteration
• 1 Read the Bones
• 1 Virulent Plague
• 2 Dead Weight
• 2 Dragonlord Silumgar
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2 Languish
• 3 Negate

Buy This Deck

This deck can exist in this form because of the printing of Harmless Offering. Now you can freely play your Demonic Pacts and tear through your deck to find Harmless Offering. As long as you give your opponent a Demonic Pact that’s about to trigger for the fourth time before your own “lose the game” trigger resolves, you don’t have to worry about bouncing your own pact. This frees up all kinds of deck space, and allows the deck to function as a normal control deck in the absence of Demonic Pact.

Beyond the Demonic Pact suite, the deck is largely unchanged from pre-Eldritch Moon. The deck doesn’t need maindeck Kalitas anymore since Demonic Pact allows you to gain the life you need against aggressive strategies. Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Kolaghan's Command are less important in this style of deck since you aren’t looking to play a particularly protracted game. You’re just looking to stall until you can afford to Dark Petition for Harmless Offering.

What’s interesting is the suite of Oaths that Michael has chosen to play. Oath of Jace has seen play in other Demonic Pact decks, but that’s typically because you can net cards by bouncing all of your value enchantments with Crush of Tentacles. What’s interesting is the inclusion of Oath of Liliana as a straight-up removal spell. There are no Planeswalkers to net Zombies, so it appears that a three-mana Diabolic Edict with no additional value may be an effect that people are looking to play in the new Standard.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Demonic Pact decks, and they’ve been shockingly absent in since the card was printed. The effect is monstrously powerful and fun to play with, and I sincerely hope that Harmless Offering is the card we need to make the deck viable.