The major essence of a control deck is to make sure they do not miss out on their land drops to have enough mana to cast their big spells. One way to do this is to have more lands in the deck such as 26 in the number of more or have ‘ramp’ spells in the list. One good example of this is the Standard deck I am sharing today. The deck is Bant Control and was one of the undefeated decks in the recent MTGO Standard League.

Check out its complete decklist below.

28 Lands
4 Breeding Pool
2 Fabled Passage
2 Forest
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
2 Plains
4 Temple Garden
2 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Temple of Mystery
3 Temple of Plenty

11 Creatures
3 Arboreal Grazer
4 Hydroid Krasis
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

14 Spells
4 Elspeth Conquers Death
4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
2 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Growth Spiral
3 Shatter the Sky

Sideboard
2 Aether Gust
2 Devout Decree
2 Dovin’s Veto
1 Heliod’s Intervention
4 Lovestruck Beast
2 Mystical Dispute
2 Sorcerous Spyglass

Source:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/standard-league-2020-02-27

For today’s Standard deck feature in Theros Beyond Death metagame, we have a version of a control deck that just does its main functions and these are: gain ahead in board presence, disrupt opponents’ game plan and overwhelm the late game with card advantage. This is provided in the Sultai colors so check out this deck build played by username Sheffielddeckwins in the recent MTGO Standard League tournament.

Maindeck
4 Breeding Pool
4 Fabled Passage
2 Forest
2 Island
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
2 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Mystery
4 Watery Grave

4 Hydroid Krasis
4 Paradise Druid
4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

2 Casualties of War
4 Growth Spiral
4 Thought Erasure
2 Tyrant’s Scorn
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
2 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
3 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
2 Vraska, Golgari Queen

Sideboard
3 Agonizing Remorse
1 Casualties of War
4 Lovestruck Beast
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Noxious Grasp
2 Ritual of Soot

Hydroid Krasis and Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath are your main creatures that can sustain early and late-game strategy on getting ahead on the board and cards in hand. Krasis can be cast for at least 4 for X and with the various ramp spells in the deck, this can be achievable in your early turns. For example,

Turn 1 Land drop
Turn 2 Growth Spiral land drop or Paradise Druid
Turn 3 Uro, ramp additional land
Turn 4 Land drop, Krasis for 4

The planeswalker choices in the deck fit on specific roles. Ashiok and Liliana shine as game enders in the late game whereas Nissa ramps your Green mana while giving additional board threat. Tamiyo also provides gas and fills your graveyard so you can Escape Uro as soon as possible while Vraska deals with specific threats on 3 mana or less and also a late-game card draw source.

As for the deck’s removals and disruption, we have two to take note. Casualties of War is devastating in scenarios where your opponents seem to be getting ahead on the board. Thought Erasure disrupts their relevant spell while you can also plan out on how you can deal with their remaining threats they can cast. This discard spell is effective against Blue-White control though their recent build includes Mystical Dispute which is a Force Spike to counter this spell. I’d suggest you include Duress on the board as additional support.

The current sideboard looks to be efficient enough and straightforward answer for the metagame. Agonizing Memories is the best discard spell in the format at the moment and the extra Exile effect makes it efficient even when top-decked. Lovestruck Beast halts aggro decks and can be your additional threat in your matchup against slow control decks.

I will verify this list with my card pool mate if it will be possible that they can build this so we can try it on our next FNM or Saturday Standard.

If you get to test this in your MTG Arena or Magic Online account, please do so and let me know if you have any peculiar observations on its performance. Thanks in advance.

I have been considering Big Red as one of my favorite archetypes in the recent Standard format and has been building versions and list ever since. I have mentioned on my previous blog post regarding the build-around deck on Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded. However, that one was not complete without a decklist and so I am sharing it today.

Here below is my recent take of the Big Red midrange deck in Theros Beyond Death Standard:

Creatures
4 Bonecrusher Giant
1 Cavalier of Flame
2 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
4 Phoenix of Ash
2 Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded
4 Runaway Steam-Kin
3 Tectonic Giant
2 Skarrgan Hellkite

Spells
1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
3 Lava Coil
4 Omen of the Forge
2 Slaying Fire
2 Storm’s Wrath
1 Ugin, the Ineffable

Lands
19 Mountain
2 Labyrinth of Skophos
4 Temple of Malice

The Standard deck archetype Fires of Invention still seem to be a powerhouse in the metagame post-Theros Beyond Death. I have seen its power in our local Magic: the Gathering tournaments and with the new set, it has acquired an efficient mass removal in the form of Shatter the Sky. This new version of Wrath of God gets the deck additional access to its removals in support of Deafening Clarion which is only good in the early game in dealing with 3-toughness or lesser creatures.

The same win condition strategy plan of the Blue and Red Cavaliers is implemented. Also, there is Kenrith, the Returned King with abilities useful in the late game and the Blue flyer Sphinx of Foresight which gives you free Scry when it is in your opening hand.

Here below is recent decklist from the Magic: the Gathering Online Premier tournament piloted by shadow_PT:

Mainboard
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Cavalier of Flame
3 Cavalier of Gales
2 Kenrith, the Returned King
4 Sphinx of Foresight

4 Deafening Clarion
2 Shatter the Sky
2 Shimmer of Possibility
4 Fires of Invention
4 Teferi, Time Raveler

3 Castle Vantress
3 Fabled Passage
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
2 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Steam Vents
3 Temple of Epiphany
3 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard
1 Aether Gust
2 Devout Decree
2 Disenchant
2 Legion Warboss
4 Mystical Dispute
4 Tithe Taker

Source:  https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/standard-premier-2020-02-03

It is time again for another deck feature for Standard post-Theros Beyond Death. It was the set’s Prerelease last weekend and if you have participated in one, I am pretty sure you have enjoyed playing the cards’ interactions, mechanics and abilities. Anywho, for today’s decklist we have one of the staple archetypes which has been consistent in attendance in terms of the format’s metagame. The deck is Blue-White Control and Theros has introduced some new juicy cards to utilize.

First, the decklist:

Creatures
3 Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft
2 Dream Trawler
2 Gadwick, the Wizened

Spells
4 Absorb
2 Dovin’s Veto
4 Shatter the Sky
2 Time Wipe
1 Planar Cleansing
2 Thassa’s Intervention
4 Opt
1 Anticipate
1 Banishing Light

Planeswalkers
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Ugin, the Ineffable

Lands
2 Castle Ardenvale
2 Castle Vantress
2 Fabled Passage
4 Hallowed Fountain
7 Island
5 Plains
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Labyrinth of Skophos

The Theros Beyond Death cards added were Shatter the Sky, Dream Trawler, Thassa’s Intervention, Banishing Light, Labyrinth of Skophos and Temple of Enlightenment. Let us discuss each by detail.

Shatter the Sky – is basically the newest version of Wrath of God, or your 4 mana-cost mass removal. The draw might be a of little relevance if your plan to is to sweep off the early aggro. It is of a playset and is supported in the late game with Time Wipe and the single copy of Planar Cleansing.

Thassa’s Intervention – has two main functions: additional counterspell and a late-game card draw. That is why only two copies were added as you would only want to draw them when you have a lot of land.

Dream Trawler – is the deck’s newest threat that is a cross between Baneslayer Angel and Prognostic Sphinx. A Flyer and Lifelinker which draws you cards while can also protect itself is a very good value. All of these abilities mentioned are just very relevant. Two copies are enough as you have your card drawers and this is one of your late-game plans.

The reprinted Temple is best to filter your draws while fixing your mana and is a better upgrade from Tranquil Cove. Labyrinth of Skophos is your backup for preventing damage from late-game threats.

Overall I think the deck is a viable archetype to consider for the coming Theros Beyond Death Standard metagame. The sideboard plan can lean on graveyard hate and enchantment removals. Discard spells can be a nuisance but you can just bury them with card advantage as long as you’d survive the early game.