Civic Saber is a card that has intrigued me since I first saw it. The possibility of playing Bonesplitter in Standard is endlessly intriguing to me. Bonesplitter has always been near to my heart, and it was the card that made me fall in love with Equipment. It's undercosted and awesome in aggressive decks, especially those with evasive creatures. Thinking about the Standard environment at the moment, an aggressive deck filled with evasive creatures seems like it might be a solid choice. Is this Civic Saber's time to shine? Here's the deck I built to find out.

"Blue-White Saber"

• Creatures (19)
• 3 Deathcult Rogue
• 4 Cloudfin Raptor
• 4 Judge's Familiar
• 4 Lyev Skyknight
• 4 Vaporkin

• Spells (19)
• 2 Gods Willing
• 2 Voyage's End
• 4 Dissolve
• 3 Detention Sphere
• 4 Ordeal of Thassa
• 4 Civic Saber

• Lands (22)
• 12 Island
• 6 Plains
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

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The Threats

Cloudfin Raptor doesn't need any help to grow larger. Although it will rarely grow to more than 3 power, that's more than enough for a 1-drop. Since it picks up its own +1/+1 counters, it's also an easy way to turn Ordeal of Thassa into two cards immediately.

Vaporkin is . . . well, it's Welkin Tern, but sometimes, a good Tern can be rewarding. It has a reasonable-if-not-particularly-impressive power and toughness for its cost, and it does have flying, making it much more effective in combat. It helps you keep the pressure on early, and it gives you another turn-two option besides pumping a creature with Civic Saber or Ordeal of Thassa.

Lyev Skyknight's detain ability is awesome for shutting out a blocker for a turn, helping your other threats push through without spending extra mana. It's also a serious threat, particularly when wielding a Civic Saber. A 5/1 Skyknight will hack away a quarter of your opponent's life total in a single swing.

Deathcult Rogue is even more difficult to block than the army of flying creatures. It's not as powerful as them either, but having a threat that can't be stopped by Desecration Demon or Nightveil Specter is valuable. The hybrid mana cost also allows it to enjoy the Bonesplitter boost from Civic Saber.

The Spells

I've talked about Civic Saber a number of times, but I do think it's the primary reason to play a deck like this. The ability to turn any of your creatures into a significant threat at any stage of the game is just awesome. Drawing a Judge's Familiar after all your creatures have been killed is much less painful when you can immediately make it a 3/1. In addition, spot removal is far less effective since it only deals with half the problem.

Detention Sphere is another great reason to play white and blue. It can get rid of almost anything. It takes care of Thassa, God of the Sea and Desecration Demon as well as noncreature threats such as Underworld Connections and Xenagos, the Reveler. It also completely annihilates Pack Rat, which is a sweet bonus.

Dissolve can be used to stop any Supreme Verdicts or Anger of the Gods you run into. It also counters tough blockers such as Desecration Demon—and really anything else you run into. With one of these in hand, it’s often best to stop casting spells one you have a decent clock on the board, enabling you to stop any removal spells or creatures that might disrupt it.

Gods Willing also stops removal spells, which can be critical when you've suited up a creature with Ordeal of Thassa. It allows you to force your biggest creature past blockers to finish off a game, and it can protect something from Anger of the Gods as well.

Voyage's End only temporarily removes a creature, but that one turn is often all you need. It's less effective than Detention Sphere, but in a deck with as few lands as this one, that extra 1 mana can be backbreaking at times. You'll often need a way to clear out a blocker without taking up your entire turn.

Playtesting

Mono-Black Devotion – Game 1

I drew Ordeal of Thassa, played a land, and cast it on the Familiar. I attacked for 2 and passed the turn. My opponent played a land and passed back.

I drew Ordeal of Thassa and cast Civic Saber, equipping it to my Bird. I attacked for 5 and then ended my turn. My opponent played a land, cast Nightveil Specter, and passed back.

I drew another Ordeal of Thassa and cast it on Judge's Familiar. I attacked, sacrificing the Ordeals to draw four cards. My opponent took 7, dropping to 4 life. I played an Island and passed the turn. My opponent played a land and then cast Whip of Erebos and ended his turn.

I drew Lyev Skyknight and attacked for 7. He blocked with Nightveil Specter, going up to 6. I ended my turn. My opponent played a Swamp, activated Whip of Erebos, and attacked for 2, going up to 8 life.

He passed the turn, and I cast my last Ordeal of Thassa on the Familiar to pump it for the win.

Game 2

My opponent played a Swamp and passed back. I drew Cloudfin Raptor and cast Vaporkin, evolving the first Cloudfin. I attacked for 1 and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Swamp, cast Nightveil Specter, and passed the turn. I drew Detention Sphere and cast Civic Saber. I equipped it to Vaporkin and then attacked for 3. My opponent took the damage, and I passed the turn.

My opponent attacked for 2 with Nightveil Specter, exiling Civic Saber. He played Mutavault and then cast Desecration Demon and passed the turn. I drew Ordeal of Thassa and cast it on Vaporkin. I sacrificed Cloudfin Raptor to tap the Demon, and I then attacked for 4. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast Whip of Erebos and attacked for 9, going back up to 21. He played a land, cast my Civic Saber, and ended his turn. I drew an Island and cast Detention Sphere on Desecration Demon. I attacked for 5 and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Swamp and equipped Civic Saber to his Nightveil Specter. He attacked for 4, cast Desecration Demon, and passed the turn. I drew Lyev Skyknight and cast it, detaining the Demon. I attacked for 6, sacrificing the Ordeal to draw two cards. I drew two Judge's Familiars and ended my turn.

On his turn he attacked with Mutavault, and I dropped to 1. He cast Desecration Demon again and ended his turn. I drew a Plains, played it, and attacked with Vaporkin. My opponent took the damage, dropping to 5. I cast Cloudfin Raptor and Judge's Familiar and then equipped the Saber to a Familiar and ended my turn.

My opponent activated Whip of Erebos, returning Nightveil Specter. He animated Mutavault as well and moved to combat. I sacrificed the unequipped Familiar to tap Desecration Demon, and he attacked with the other creatures. Judge's Familiar traded with Mutavault, and Cloudfin Raptor blocked the Specter. My opponent went up to 10 life and passed the turn. I drew Ordeal of Thassa and cast it on Vaporkin. I attacked for 6, sacrificing the Ordeal and drawing Vaporkin and an Island. I played both and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Ultimate Price on my untapped Vaporkin. I cast Gods Willing to protect it, and he conceded.

Wrap-Up

This may not be the fastest aggro deck in the format, but a turn-six kill with only a Judge's Familiar isn't bad. I managed to put away that match despite playing against the deck with the most flying creatures in the format, and decks without as many flyers will have a much harder time.

As far as changes to the deck, I've not been particularly happy with Dissolve. The idea was to make a big threat and then counter anything that stops it, but in reality, it seems you're more often worried about the things that are already on the board. Moving forward, I'd like to try taking those out in exchange for the fourth Detention Sphere, two more copies of Gods Willing, and another Voyage's End.

Killing your opponent with an 8/6 Judge's Familiar is certainly a lot of fun. If you like the idea of playing with a deck full of evasive creatures, or if you just love making tiny things big and scary, give this deck a try.