Previews for Journey into Nyx are underway, and we've already seen some very interesting cards. One that caught my eye was Hall of Triumph. At first, I wasn't quite sure why I liked this card. After all, it's just a worse version of Glorious Anthem, Gaea's Anthem, or Spear of Heliod. The only advantage is that it doesn't cost colored mana. That’s not exactly a big deal when all the decks that want it are white anyway.

 . . . Or are they?

Traditionally, the two strategies interested in Anthem affects are tokens and White Weenie. But wait. The presence of this kind of effect is what differentiates White Weenie from other aggro decks. Red aggro has burn, black aggro has hard removal, and white aggro has Anthems. That's how it works. Now all the colors have access to white's tricks, so what's to stop a black or red aggro deck from using the Anthem strategy along with its own?

Absolutely nothing.

Mono-Black Aggro ? JOU Standard | Mike Cannon

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Lifebane Zombie
• 4 Gnarled Scarhide
• 4 Herald of Torment
• 4 Mogis's Marauder
• 4 Pain Seer
• 4 Spiteful Returned
• 4 Tormented Hero

• Spells (12)
• 2 Hero's Downfall
• 3 Bile Blight
• 4 Ultimate Price
• 3 Hall of Triumph

• Lands (22)
• 22 Swamp

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Gnarled Scarhide gives this deck another 2-power 1-drop. Redundancy at that critical slot is a huge boost for an aggressive deck like this one. Since aggressive black decks were starting to see some success before Journey into Nyx, the strategy will probably be even more prevalent with this addition. The bestow ability isn't something that will come up often, but it does make drawing this 1-drop late in the game a bit more palatable.

Tormented Hero is still an awesome 1-drop for the deck. In fact, with twelve cards with bestow now in the deck, it's better than ever. You won't be relying on the heroic ability, but stealing an extra life now and then never hurt anybody. Well, it hurts your opponent, but that's the point.

Pain Seer has proven to be far less powerful than many people imagined, but this is the perfect deck to let the card shine. Thanks to the aggressive strategy, attacking for 2 is far more relevant, and you'll never be losing more than 3 life from your extra card. Between the amount of removal in the deck and the evasion provided by Mogis's Marauder, the Seer is far more likely to survive long enough to draw you a card or two.

Spiteful Returned isn't the most durable creature in combat, but it does guarantee you'll be getting at least 2 life out of your attack. Like Pain Seer, removal and Mogis's Marauder make it more likely to skirt past blockers, leaving it free to attack again next turn. Hall of Heroes also helps immensely here, removing the Returned's tendency to die to pretty much anything.

Lifebane Zombie can snag a creature out of your opponent's hand if you're playing against a green or white deck, but it's just fine as a 3/1 with intimidate as well. Along with Herald of Torment, it ensures that you have a powerful and evasive threat to cast on turn three, setting up a big attack with Hall of Heroes.

Mogis's Marauder is extremely valuable against decks that can flood the board with blockers, punching all your creatures through for massive amounts of damage. It also works well with any 1-drops you draw later in the game, giving them haste as well. Even against decks where intimidate doesn't matter, that 4 power with haste can be game-ending.

The Spells

Bile Blight is an efficient removal spell that deals with a number of creatures capable of causing problems for this deck. The most obvious is Pack Rat. With the ability to copy itself and grow larger every turn, it can make attacking difficult. With Bile Blight, however, you can wipe up to three Rats off the board right away. Just make sure your opponent doesn't have a Mutavault hiding in the back to activate and pump them up. Bile Blight also takes out Nightveil Specter and Mutavault itself as well as almost any creature in the Mono-Blue Devotion deck.

Ultimate Price can't deal with a few specific creatures, such as Nightveil Specter and Reaper of the Wilds, but anything else is fair game. The 2-mana price tag is certainly appealing in a deck that doesn't want to spend a whole turn casting removal.

Hero's Downfall is the catch-all, killing just about any creature for 3 mana. Getting rid of Planeswalkers is also, handy, particularly if you run into Elspeth, Sun's Champion or Xenagos, the Reveler. Your evasive creatures will often be able to take care of opposing Planeswalkers before they do much, but it's always nice to have another out if your opponent has removal of his own.

Playtesting

Black Devotion – Game 1

My opponent cast Pack Rat and passed back. I attacked for 2 with the Scarhide, and he took the damage. I cast Pain Seer and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Nightveil Specter and passed the turn. I cast Herald of Torment and passed back.

He ended his turn after just playing a land, and I cast Hall of Heroes. I attacked with everything, and my opponent made a copy of Pack Rat. One Rat blocked Gnarled Scarhide, and the other teamed up with Nightveil Specter to block Pain Seer. I chose to kill the Rat rather than the Specter, and my opponent took 4 from Herald of Torment.

Nightveil Specter hit me for 2 again, taking a Bile Blight. My opponent cast Desecration Demon and passed the turn. I cast another Spiteful Returned with bestow, but my opponent cast Devour Flesh, forcing me to sacrifice my Herald. I attacked with the first Spiteful Returned, making my opponent lose 2 life before Gray Merchant of Asphodel killed it.

My opponent attacked for 8 with his flyers, cast my Tormented Hero, and passed the turn. I drew my card and conceded.

Game 2

I cast Spiteful Returned on turn two, and he played a Pack Rat.

I attacked with Spiteful Returned, and my opponent took the damage. I cast Herald of Torment and passed the turn. My opponent played a Mutavault and passed back.

I attacked with both creatures, and my opponent made a copy of Pack Rat. I cast Bile Blight to kill both, and he dropped to 11. I cast a second Spiteful Returned and passed. My opponent played a Swamp and passed back.

I cast Mogis's Marauder, giving my creatures haste and intimidate. My opponent cast Hero's Downfall to kill Spiteful Returned, and I attacked for 3 with the Marauder before passing the turn. He played another Mutavault and cast Nightveil Specter, and he passed back.

I bestowed Herald of Torment on the Marauder and attacked for 6. My opponent was forced to block with the Specter, and I passed the turn. He cast Desecration Demon and passed back.

I sacrificed the Marauder to tap the Demon and then attacked with Herald of Torment for the win.

Game 3

He cast Pack Rat on turn two and chose not to block when I attacked with the Hero. I cast a second Hero and passed the turn.

My opponent cast another Pack Rat, played Mutavault, and passed the turn. I cast Bile Blight to kill the Rats and attacked for 4 with my Tormented Heroes. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Desecration Demon and passed. I killed the Demon with Hero's Downfall and swung in for 4 again.

I passed the turn, and he cast Gray Merchant of Asphodel to drain for 2. I bestowed Spiteful Returned on a Tormented Hero, draining for 1 with the heroic trigger. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast a second Gray Merchant, draining 4 life this time. He ended his turn. I bestowed a second copy of Spiteful Returned on the Hero to drain 1 life and then attacked, making my opponent lose 4. He blocked with both Merchants, and Tormented Hero killed one while dying.

My opponent cast Desecration Demon and passed the turn. I cast Gnarled Scarhide and sacrificed it to tap the Demon, and I then killed the Gray Merchant with Ultimate Price. I attacked with both creatures, and Spiteful Returned's trigger brought my opponent to 1. With only one Mutavault to block with, my two attackers finished him off.

Wrap-Up

The large amount of removal in this deck really helps you fight off larger creatures that would otherwise cause you problems. Furthermore, I was very impressed with Hall of Heroes, and I think it might have earned a spot in the deck going forward. With so much of the set still to be revealed, there may yet be more cards for this deck hiding in Journey into Nyx. I'll be keeping my eye out, but if you're interested in going aggressive after the set is released, this is a great place to start.