Today, we look on a deck list that is a somewhat different take on the typical Solar Flare control. This deck was piloted by Jeremy Neeman on the Standard portion of the recently concluded Worlds Championships 2011. As we check on the list, you will certainly notice a few unusual card choices for the deck.

But first, here is the decklist:

Maindeck
2 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Snapcaster Mage

1 Gideon Jura
3 Day of Judgment
3 Dissipate
4 Doom Blade
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Think Twice
2 White Sun’s Zenith

2 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Day of Judgment
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Negate
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Surgical Extraction
4 Timely Reinforcements

The cards worth mention are the following:

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite – with the rise of tokens aggro, both on Green White and Blue White archetype, the legend nicknamed “Lady Gaga” is probably the best White creature card to add for control. It also works well with the next card I’d site.

White Sun Zenith – with the deck’s seven counterspells, it is not wise to tapped out for a biggie creature bomb. Instead, Neeman used the instant spell zenith to put in 2/2 threats at EOT. The card’s shuffle-to-library bonus let him cast the spell again for future turns.

Gideon Jura – a singleton in the deck. Gideon has been fading out in Standard in the recent months, maybe because his abilities do not fit in the meta. Aggro is getting popular again so I think he will be coming back to the highlights.

Ghost Quarters – it seems very hard to fit in colorless mana in a three-color deck but this one has its purpose in dealing with Nexuses and other non-basic land shenanigans.

The sideboard seems good and generic enough to handle the possible matchups on aggro, mono red burn, other control and against Thrun. Overall, I’d personally give this list a try in our local tournament.