Azorius control splashed for red to allow access to Assemble the Legion, Counterflux, and
Pyroconvergence
.
Assemble the Legion is great in this format that has seen a lot of monoblack, monoblue devotion decks, and the occasional red aggro decks. Red and Black have no way of interacting with it, unless they are splashing green for Destructive Revelry or Golgari Charm. Blue has bounce spells to reset the counter when recast, such as Cyclonic Rift.
Counterflux is a metagame choice that I decided to mainboard. While Dissolve is more flexible in terms of casting cost, Counterflux allows me counter anything without having to back it up with a second counter spell for must stop plays. It also allows me to force through crucial cards to the battlefield at an additional three mana cost. Control matches tend to run late game anyway, so while they're getting countered at pivotal plays, I'm getting threats on board safely at turns 8, or 9.
Pyroconvergence
in this deck is just sick, so I run two. It dodges Abrupt Decay at a mana cost of five, and the enchantment destruction card of choice in this format,
Glare of Heresy
. Like Assemble the Legion it's hard for a lot of decks to interact with. The best part is it turns all of our many multicolored spells into Shocks. I get to blast for two damage at creature/player for just doing business as usual. This allows us to interact with planeswalkers quite well. It also gives me outs against Blood Baron of Vizkopa, and
Obzedat, Ghost Council
outside of Supreme Verdict. The added removal ability gives relief to the deck cause by the lack of access to black's removal spells. This card can win games by itself, puts them on a clock, and when combined with Elspeth/Assemble is almost certain death. What I like most about this card is the fact that resolving a card doesn't mater as far as damage is concerned. Even if countered, the trigger on
Pyroconvergence
activates as the card was cast.
That is the main game for this deck, but now lets talk about the rest of this deck.
Mana Base
The mana base here is pretty solid, and will get better when Born of the Gods is released. Temple of enlightenment with replace the Azorius Gates giving us more Scry lands. Two Mutavault give us defense/attack options. I've considered going up to 26 lands, or replacing a Mutavault with a Chromatic Lantern, but I haven't had any problems due to the card draw engine.
Card Draw Engine
Divination, Sphinx's Revelation, Azorius Charm, Jace, Architect of Thought, Elixir of Immortality.
I'm not the biggest fan of Azorius Charm. I'd rather destroy creatures rather than bounce them any day, but in this deck, I love Azorius Charm. On turn 2, it can bounce a creature to buy another turn and spare us from damage, or allow us to cycle for lands. In the mid to late game it gets way better. We can use it in combination w/
Pyroconvergence
to shock, as well give our soldier tokens life link at two mana.
Divination gives us a play on turn 3 to search for lands or Supreme Verdicts for turn 4 if needed. This card is great in the early game, and can help offset the effects of Thoughtseize, Duress, or,
Sin Collector
. In the mid/late game your able to search for answers to problems.
Sphinx's Revelation...Enough said.
Jace, Architect of Thought is my favorite planeswalker. +1, gives us a reduction in damage from aggro creature, and tokens. Jace protects himself well, and distracts opponents from our life. -2, helps us get further into the deck to find lands, threats, and counters. -7, allows us to play a card from our library and our opponents without paying mana cost. What's not to love.
Elixir of Immortality lets us tear through the deck with reckless abandon. Once it is on the field, full speed ahead. We can max out Sphinx's Revelation for life and answers without fear of decking ourselves. If they try messing with it on the field, just sacrifice it, and repeat the cycle. When playing it against decks with countering ability, just make sure to have a Counterflux in hand to make sure it resolves. Counterflux is also a great way to put a frown on an Azorius Control players looking to resolve an Elixir. It also gives us an additional win condition in possibly decking our opponent.
This draw engine is really solid, and makes hitting land drops a lot easier. Finding answers and threats gets easier too. Life gain gets out of control late game, and opponents will often concede that they are boned.
Removal package
Supreme Verdict, Detention Sphere, Ratchet Bomb.
Pyroconvergence
, Azorius Charm, Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Supreme Verdict is our wrath, and it will become your best friend. What I like most is the fact it doesn't interfere with creature product. Clear the board, and at upkeep, tokens are right back up.
Detention Sphere is too good, and will serve you well in isolating singular threats between verdicts, and removing gods from play.
Ratchet Bomb at first was a side board card, but I found myself bringing it in more often than not. Clears tokens, agrro creatures, Pack Rat and deals with hexproof micro creatures with ease.
Pyroconvergence
turns the deck into powerhouse and burns creatures to ash.
Azorius Charm give you a cheap bounce to deal with problems short term to buy time for Surpreme Verdict, or Detention Sphere.
Elspeth's -3 bails us with certain creatures that are hard to remove. Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Stormbreath Dragon to name a few.
Counter Package
Syncopate, Counterflux
I've already talked enough about Counterflux, so on to Syncopate. Early game this card is spectacular, but falls short in the late game. It's usually the card that gets side boarded first. It does its job though and runs interference when we are at our weakest, turns 1-4.
Threats
Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Assemble the Legion,
Pyroconvergence
Elspeth gives us a consistent defense with three tokens at each turn. These add up quick and the sick part is, its her +1. - 3 destroys creatures power 4 or greater, which covers hard to remove creatures. Her -7 gives creatures +2/+2 and flying which plays into a late game Assemble the Legion. She can win games on her own, and protects herself quite well.
I've said enough about Assemble and
Pyroconvergence
. Great cards. I run 1 Elspeth, 1 Assemble, 2
Pyroconvergence
which presents 5 total win conditions when combine with Elixir. This helps in control match ups when facing down 4 Detention Sphere.
Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion- In certain match ups where I'm facing an opponent running Elspeth, I sideboard in an Assemble to replace my Elspeth. This allows me to play Pithing Needle without weakening my deck in the process.
1 Blind Obedience- This helps with the aggro match up, and helps stall AEtherling should he be cast. The extort also adds value in form of 1 life and 1 damage to the opponent.
2
Celestial Flare
- This is added in mainly to add outs to deal with hard to destroy creatures, primarily Blood Baron of Vizkopa.
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge- this indestructible "enchantment" turns this deck into a brutal war machine. Tokens inflicting life damage while pumping said tokens twice. Elspeth +1 would inflict 6 life damage, and give me 3/3 token dudes. Assemble does compound damage. Turn 4 verdict, into turn 5 Purphoros, into turn 6 Elspeth/Assemble can be a 2-3 turn clock. Plus once again Purphoros/Elspeth/Assemble dodge the control staple
Gainsay
. I also have Counterflux to protect and force cast them if needed. With
Glare of Heresy
, and
Gainsay
in the sideboard Detention Sphere become momentary road blocks on the path to assembling Voltron.
2
Gainsay
- A staple in the format, helps with control, and monoblue match up.
2
Glare of Heresy
- White permanent removal to the graveyard sucks, but exiling a white permanent is awfully useful in the control match up. I primarily want to free up exiled permanents by opponents Detention Sphere. A mid game return of Elspeth, Assemble, or
Pyroconvergence
is huge. If they're running Elixir, that's potentially Detention Spheres or Elspeths that won't be returning to haunt you later. It also gives you 6 ways of exiling cards.
1 Jace, Memory Adept- Gives you card draw, while milling our opponent for 1 card as a +1. That's good, but milling an opponent for 10 cards at -0 is even better. Its great in the control match up, and draws out a Detention Sphere, one that is not targeting our main threats.
2 Anger of the Gods- A great card that would be way better at instant speed, but it's not. I've considered running this instead of
Fiendslayer Paladin
for the White Weenie, and Red Aggro match ups. Same mana cost and it catches the vast majority of threats in those colors; however it doesn't fair as well in monoblue, monoblack, and decks utilizing green. In monoblack, Desecration Demon, and Gray Merchant can dodge. In monoblue, it misses
Frostburn Weird
, and Master of Waves. On the pro side, it exiles hexproof, Fiendslayer, Voice of Resurgence, and Xathrid Necromancer for three mana. The biggest upside for me is it interacts with Nightveil Specter, without having to play
Last Breath
which gives opponents life and only targets one creature with a power of 2; however
Last Breath
as a two drop is not bad, what do we care about giving our opponent life. Were in for the long haul. It also plays well after
Pyroconvergence
is on the field. I can play Sphere, shock a creature for 2, and play into Anger of the Gods to sweep a number of creatures that are -/3, a creature at -/5, and bind a planeswalker/enchantment/artifact all for six mana. or Azorius Charm for a 5 mana combo.
1 Negate- Useful cheap counter utility card. Nuff said.
2 Pithing Needle- A very useful utility card, a cover all for planeswalkers, god abilities, monstrosity, Underworld Connections, Pack Rat and most importantly AEtherling.
Elephant in the Room
What, no AEtherling? I get this a lot. People are ready for it, AEtherling is that good.
Gainsay
, Pithing Needle, Blind Obedience...sideboards are all set to handle it, and so are we. I aim to punish people for playing AEtherling. We don't play it so we don't have to weaken our deck in matches that feature AEtherling. Sphere and Pithing Needle really hurt in mirror matches that have similar goals. Our
Pyroconvergence
can keep AEtherling blinking, Blind Obedience to tap down, and Needle backed with a counter to make him irrelevant. While they're looking to get him in on turn 7, we are ready because our goal is to set up on turn 5. I feel they same way about Elspeth mirrors. Also, I don't have to play into
Gainsay
. Most people run 2 Elspeth, so I swap mine for another Assemble to punish their Elspeth with Pithing Needle and Sphere. Most decks run 8 counter spells at most after sideboard with normally a 50/50 split, half being
Gainsay
. I love the metagame.
Maybe cards
Mizzium Mortars- I like this card, it deals with Blood Baron, and has sweeping potential at a cost of seven mana; However, as a sorcery, I have better plays on turn 7, and I like to keep counter mana open. Plus I have
Pyroconvergence
, Supreme Verdict,
Celestial Flare
, Elspeth's -3, six counter spells, and all the multi-colored cards that trigger
Pyroconvergence
. That makes 13 direct outs to play, and an addittional 21 outs combo w/
Pyroconvergence
. Mizzium Mortars seems a bit greedy in this deck.
Warleader's Helix
- I like the card, 4 damage to target opponent or creature, gain 4 life at instant speed representing and 8 life point swing. Here is what's holding me back on this one. 4 mana cost, and it takes up a valuable card spot. It misses Stormbreath Dragon, Blood Baron, Desecration Demon, and Master of Waves. Does snuff out Obzedat. I'm going to playtest with it and see if the life gain is worth it. Anger of the Gods seems better here in terms of mana cost, creatures destroyed, and turn position. I have better plays at turn 4, and Anger can preserve enough life through multiple creature destruction to offset the potential life gain from Helix at 4 mana cost.
Cards to be aware of before storming the gates, and Wrathing
Boros Charm- two drop, 4 damage to opponent, Permanents are indestructable, target creature gains double strike til end of turn. Anger of the Gods is nice here to drop on turn 5, backed with Syncopate. Your going to run into this card, it will happen, but like most cards versus control, it lose it's flare the further you get into the game. It can win games on Turn 4 after a failed verdict. Be mindful.
Golgari Charm- two drop, Opponents creatures get -1/-1 til end of turn, destroy target enchantment, or regenerate each creature you control. This is more dangerous throughout the game than it is early game. It blows up our tokens, blows up Assemble/Pyroconvergence/Sphere, and blanks our wrath. Once again, Anger of the Gods looks nice here because it exile creatures, so they can be regenerated. Some monoblack deck are splashing for green just for this card.
Obzedat, Ghost Council
- We don't have a lot of good ways to interact here.
Pyroconvergence
,
Celestial Flare
, Early Ratchet Bomb cranked to five asap, Azorius Charm, and counters of course. Good news is it's a slow clock unless he attacks, then you got four turns to find answers. Which is what we excel at. Bounce him and when recast, play a counter. Get creative. This why I considered Quicken, but not sold on it yet.
Sidenotes and Tips
This is not a brain dead deck. To be good with any control strategy it takes proper decision making skills, metagame knowledge, card familiarity, and match up knowledge. Here are a few tips to help you on your journey.
-Turns 1-5 are pivotal in any match up regardless, but more so for control. Take your time in these turns, don't rush. Get familiar with what constitutes a good hand, a playable hand, and a mulligan hand. A mulligan on the draw isn't a big deal.
-Your life total is a resource, nothing more. You're going to lose life, a lot of life, maybe rapidly in the first few turns. Do not panic. This is normal, it doesn't mean anything is wrong with the deck. It's just the nature of the beast. One moment you'll be at 5 life, then 10 turns later you're at 40.
-Be careful on what you counter. Why counter an Ash Zealot, when there is a Stormbreath Dragon right around the corner? Why counter a Pack Rat in an Esper match up, When Blood Baron of Vizkopa is far more deadly? Know what is worth of a counter spell, and what is better left to Detention Sphere. P/S, you see
Obzedat, Ghost Council
...you counter that bastard!!! Counters should be reserved for clutch scenarios involving cards that are hard to deal with once they hit the field. Stormbreath Dragon, Blood Baron of Vizkopa,
Polis Crusher
and
Obzedat, Ghost Council
..these are cards that have to be planned for and dealt with swiftly.
-Watch you're opponents mana base and treat them as if worse case scenario match ups until proven otherwise. You see a plains and a mountain on turn 1/2, start thinking about Boros Burn deck. You see a plains and a swamp, get ready for Blood Baron. Island and a plains, start thinking about AEtherling on turn 7.
-Unless your opponent is dropping islands, it's perfectly okay to play aggressively. Turn 5
Pyroconvergence
or Assemble is safe because of a lack of counters in other colors than blue. Turn 6 Elspeth could run into a Hero's Downfall in black or
Dreadbore
in black/red. In that case, plus her or minus her in response. Get three dudes or destroy some creatures. The other option is to hold it till turn 9, cast Elspeth, leaving three mana untapped for a Counterflux. Most black decks are running multiple Hero's Downfall if not a full playset. We can always cycle Elspeth back from the graveyard.
-Casting
Pyroconvergence
into blue decks isn't that risky, because the staple counter in most decks is multiple
Gainsay
from the sideboard, and most decks just run two Dissolve. Plus most control decks run AEtherling and Elspeth at turn 6/7, so opponents make sure to leave counter mana up for those turns, not on turn 5. I love metagame.
-The turn before dropping Elspeth, if possible Supreme Verdict. Otherwise instead of having creature advantage, you could be chump blocking for a few turns. If you you do verdict later, verdict then plus one for some dudes.
-Put a coin on top of your deck to remind you to check your triggers. Whether it be adding a counter on Assemble, triggering Elspeth, or shocking your opponent from
Pyroconvergence
. There is a lot going on, keep track, or lose valuable damage or tokens.
-Sphinx's Revelation on opponents endstep to optimally use your mana. Versus control it's probably best to at least have a
Gainsay
/Negate ready with two mana untapped to protect your Revelation just in case.
Match ups
Monoblack Devotion
Monoblack is probably the most represented deck in the format right now, and for good reason. It is synergistic and is reliable. While there are different variations, most follow a similar game plan. Build up devotion, then Gray Merchant of Asphodel gaining them life while draining yours. A typical build will feature playsets of Desecration Demon, Pack Rat, Nightveil Specter,Mutavault and a lone copy of Erebos, God of the Dead. The spell line up includes playsets of Hero's Downfall, Devour Flesh, Thoughtseize, Underworld Connections, and a
Pharika's Cure
. It's a pretty stellar line up.
Good news...A lot of the creature removal blanks against us. Devour Flesh doesn't do much, as we rely on tokens. Thoughtseize and Underworld Connections drain their life. These decks tend to drain their life early to establish control and board presence. so when
Pyroconvergence
comes online on turn 5, they could be on a 6 spell clock. We have counter options as early as turn 2/3 whereas they have none. Early game Mutavault interactions are unlikely as they want to set up devotion. Desecration Demon is useless once tokens come online, and can be stalled out by Azorius Charm. Pack Rat is laughably bad against Detention Sphere, Surpreme Verdict,
Pyroconvergence
and Ratchet Bomb. It gets even worse after a Pithing Needle is added from the sideboard. This Deck tends to run playsets of creatures which means we can get value for our Detention Sphere with possible 2 for 1, or hopefully 3 for 1 interactions. Gray Merchant of Asphodel has a many cost of 5 giving us time to draw for counters, and stabilize. Erebos, God of the Dead is a horrible god card. Card draw at the cost of 2 life, and can be chump blocked. He keeps us from gaining life, but one Detention Sphere and done. Nightveil Specter can take our cards, but lacks the mana base to cast them.
The Bad News...Nightveil Specter has to be dealt with sooner rather than later. He steals our cards, hits us for two damage, and adds three devotion. Thoughtseize weakens our hand, and drains valuable counter spells to protect hands of quality. It gets even worse in game 2 when a playset of Duress are added. We can't stop it until turn 2. Underworld Connections adds two devotion and requires a Detention Sphere to remove. Devotion ramps up quick, and a turn 5 Gray Merchant can really break a game. Ratchet Bomb can't be used at three counters because of Detention Sphere. However we get to sideboard too.
Sideboarding....Pull Elspeth for Assimble. It;s harder for them to deal with. 2 Pithing Needle come in to address Pack Rat, and Underworld Connections; pull Elixir, Ratchet Bomb. Ratchet can only function at 2 counters and isn't very good here. I wouldn't mess with the counters because Syncopate is actually very good here with Monoblack's tap down strategy.
Final Thoughts...Game 1 is in our favor. Azorius Charm shines bouncing Nightveil on turn 3 or Demon on turn 4. With only 4 hand disruption spells to hinder us. This deck has a superior draw engine that can put us back in the driver seat.
Pyroconvergence
and Assemble can run the game on turn 5 and beyond. Ratchet immediately goes to two counters in preparation of Pack Rat. Having a bunch of removal in hand that never gets full value hurts.
Games 2/3 are a little rougher with the addition of Duress and Erebos from the sideboard. Pithing Needle really shines here blocking Connections and Pack Rat. Sphinx's Revelation in response to Thoughtseize/Duress helps negate the loss mid/late game. Stopping they're card draw engine is really what breaks their back in the match. Now their stuck with Connections that only add devotion
Overall I'd say the match up is 60/40 in our favor.
Monoblue Devotion
Monoblue is the second best devotion deck in the format. It's really aggressive and jumps out quick. Master of Waves, and Thassa, God of the Sea are the beatdown cards of the deck. Master creating massive amounts of tokens and having protection from red. Thassa, a 5/5 who can make himself and others unblockable, plus scry. Bident of Thassa and Jace, Architect of Thought are the card draw engine. Creatures in this deck as played in playsets. Cloundfin Raptor, Judge's Familiar, Tidebinder Mage, Nightveil Specter, and
Frostburn Weird
round out the roster with Mutavaults in tow. Spells are are Cyclonic Rift, and Rapid Hybridizaton,
The Good News...All counter spells are sideboarded, and half are
Gainsay
. Which doesn't affect
Pyroconvergence
. Ratchet Bomb can blast everything but Nightveil. My counter spells are better. [[Syncopate is great in this match up. Tidebinder Mage is solely a devotion creature. The deck doesn't gain life. Cloudfin Raptor gets worse as the game progresses. Detention Spheres can nab multiple creatures. Azorius Charm can bounce and bounce often. Pithing Needle allows us to chump block Thassa. They're card draw engine doesn't kick in till turn 4.
Domestication
, and Rapid Hybridization are blanks for the most part. Jace's +1 neutralizes a lot of damage. My Wrath gets plenty of victims.
The bad new...Nythos makes crazy stuff happen when Bident is drawing for it. Tokens can be neutralize by Jace. Counter spells in games 2/3 are a thing. Thassa is a beast and puts you on a clock real quick. 3 creatures have flying, one being Nightveil, and he can play some of my spells. It doesn't take much to activate Thassa, and I can't burn Master of Waves.
Frostburn Weird
is hard to kill via tokens.
Sideboarding....
Gainsay
can come in for Syncopate. Pithing Needle is an option to make Thassa chump blockable. Another Assemble would be nice, and maybe Blind Obedience for the extort gain and damage. This is where I think side boarding Anger of the Gods makes sense. still thinking about adding it.
Final Thoughts...Game 1 is in our favor. The lack of counters lets us run business as usual. The crazy life gain in the late game, and
Pyroconvergence
will seal it. 65/35
Game 2/3 get way rougher. Having to play around counter spells slows us down, and Nykthos gives blue the mana to cast counters without having to reserve mana. The match is keeping Thassa and Bident off the field or binding them. 40/60
Overall it's probably a 50/50 match up
Selesnya Agrro Match up
This is a real good deck against us...A typical line would look like
Boon Satyr
, Experiment One,
Fleecemane Lion
, Loxodon Smiter, Soldier of the Pantheon, Voice of Resurgence, Ajani, Caller of the Pride,
Advent of the Wurm
, Gods Willing,
Selesnya Charm
.
The Bad News...Experiment One can regenerate.
Fleecemane Lion
can become hexproof/Indestructable when monstroused for 5 mana, or when one counter is added from Ajani. Voice of Resurgence can add token when destroyed or when I cast spells on their turn. Loxodon Smiter can't be countered. Soldier of the Pantheon has protection from multicolored and gains life when I cast multicolored spells.
Advent of the Wurm
lets them flash in a 5/5 worm with trample for 4 mana. Gods Willing lets the protect a creature for a turn from a choice color.
Selesnya Charm
lets them give a creature +2/+2 and trample for a turn or put a 2/2 knight token with vigilance in play. Not done quite yet. In the sideboard we have
Glare of Heresy
which can blow up Elspeth, Assemble, or Sphere. Mistcutter Hydra can't be countered, has protection from blue, and has power/toughness equal to "X". Good ole Pithing Needle. Rootborn Defenses is like Boros Charm that give you a token. All with a mana curve that tops out a four. Not fun.
The good news...They have to draw cards the good old fashioned way...one at a time. No card draw engine to deal with here. We can Pithing Needle Ajani, and
Fleecemane Lion
as those are the only targets in their deck. Azorius Charm can bounce creatures to stall their next turn, and get rid of tokens. They have no way of interacting with
Pyroconvergence
. Their creatures are ran in playsets so hopefully we can 2 for 1 or get 3 for 1 exchanges with Sphere. Ratchet Bomb is great here as it covers all bases. This is a prime example of where Purphoros would be great. Card draw and life gain are going to carry us to victory.
I haven't playtested this match up, but it doesn't look good. Knowledge of the deck will be paramount.
