I think the thing I enjoy most about this deck is that it's basically Volatile Rig personified. When it works, it's so crazy and fun that it works awesome. And when it doesn't, well, boom! You've lost haha.

I guess my first suggestion is to pick which cards you really like here, and get more copies of them into the deck. An example of this being, get rid of the Immortal Servitude (which really shines when you have a ton of low cost creatures in an aggro deck, not so much here), and get in another Supreme Verdict or a second Sphinx's Revelation.

Azorius Charm and Far // Away at 4 of's each is good, I like that. I also like the synergy between Trading Post and Sanguine Bond. But only having one copy of Sanguine Bond is going to hurt since you won't be playing that combo often. I'd add another one, and get rid of the Gift of Immortality. I've tried using it, it's nice when it comes out, but against control decks and decks heavy on removal, you are fighting just to keep creatures on the board that you can rarely spare the three mana needed to toss that on someone. Lastly, I think you might have more success taking out the High Priest of Penance for more control and card draw. Yes he trades with anything that he blocks, but just removing a threat with a kill spell, or drawing answers with a Revelation is probably more useful.

All this being said, I will never admit to being a control player. You might want to go the opposite route and add in more creatures, dunno. Anyway, those are my thoughts on the deck, good luck with it.

Please stay away from where I live. I like winning at FNM. But seriously, badass man like the combos.

Fantastic_Mr_King: Of course! Go for it! :) It's incredibly fun to play.

linkzap: Thanks, good to meet another fan of the Rig!

kyuuri117: Thanks for the suggestions. It would need some more play-testing, but the choices for the deck are partly based off of my meta. I definitely agree with your analysis of the deck, but the stuff I have in there is stuff that I need in there to deal with specific threats in my meta.

Immortal Servitude is actually very good when I get it, but I have considered taking it out. We shall see after some more games.

Sanguine Bond is really nice as a one-of. If I get it, it helps, but I don't need it out. It's one of the multiple alternate win cons I have in here. I would never want more than one on the field so if I drew another one it would be a dead card. My meta is also surprisingly light on enchantment removal, so when it hits the field it always sticks and doesn't go away.

Gift of Immortality I actually haven't had a chance to test yet. I just moved to a new place, the internet was only installed today, and I'm farther away from my playgroup, so I'll be playing online a bit more against them and will test it out soon enough. If I don't like it in there, I'll take your advice.

Sphinx's Revelation is great, and I have 3 in my other Standard deck. I tested this one for a while with just 2 in it and even that seemed like too much. The Azorius Charm s come often enough that every now and then I use one of those to draw a card, and most of the time that's all I need. Just 1 Sphinx's Rev has been working very well for me even though my logical side tells me I should be running 2 or more.

I also rarely play control. If I do, it's an odd mixture of control mixed with other things. With some more play-testing I'll be able to determine more accurately what the best balance of creatures and non-creatures is in the deck, but I am very satisfied so far with the current balance.

Thank you all for your comments, be sure to +1 the deck if you like it! Any more suggestions, critiques, and comments are appreciated! :)

athena95: Haha thanks. I'm sorry to say, but I'm coming to your FNM (wherever it is) and there's going to be Rig all over the place.

I LOVE THIS DECK!

I am seeing a HUGE increase in decks running Trading Post , Akroan Horse , and other cards that people tend to discount.

I am thinking of using the Angelic Accord in my own deck, because I could SERIOUSLY abuse it...

unfortunatly, the Volatile Rig wuld set me back, even though I employ many of the other mechanics that make your deck work...

+1

Thanks Calavon! Glad you like it. :) I think you may have forgotten to +1, I know I do that all the time.

Now I'm tempted to make a deck with Akroan Horse, even though it doesn't seem nearly as abusable as the Rig... hmm.. ~starts plotting~

Yea man, -1 Gift of Immortality turns to 1x Angelic Accord . Definitely. It is a mini-Elspeth, Sun's Champion ... just a 1-off... you should not count on it or need it, but when its out it is ICING ON THE CAKE!...

look man you dont HAVE to let opponent progress through steps without your approval, he MUST pass priority in all phases...

what that means is they are attacking or whatever, then the battle over, they go your turn... BS man, I say "in your last main-phase, i activate my Trading Post or my Elixir of Immortality , so that it BASICALLY has a flash effect like Advent of the Wurm etc... but then again, I gain life much faster than you do, I typically gain 20-40 life by turn 15, and at turn 20-25 (it DOES happen... Esper, etc...)I have around 100 life average, and I have seen totals MUCH higher...

My MVP vote for a GREAT draw card, that ANY DECK can use: Elixir of Immortality . It is just awesome. The lifegain is sweet, but thats not what I am talking about.. I am talking about having around 10 lands in my hand and board combined, and then think about the "thinning" effect this has on your deck? and it lets you re-play any threat you used up, like casting Sphinx's Revelation for 1-3 without ANY hesitation, and knowing I will, on average game, cast 3-7 Sphinx's Revelation s because of the Elixir of Immortality ...

Artifact control has an amazing array of weapons, and my deck is capable of doing what made mono-black so feared: "hitting you from all angles, with the best removal in the format."

So enough about me, how does that help you?

For starters, I now know the value of 1-2-3-4... how many of any card to play...

4-of-a-kind: Early targeted or mass removal spells in 4-off slots, mainstays of your deck as well; any mechanic trigger that is required to win that you know of.

3-of-a-kind: all your favorites and your best removal, or your triggers that boost your core mechanic, or your known, current, meta (last applies to main and SB both.)

2-of-a-kind: something you want vs a TYPE of deck, something you are not SURE will even be any good, or is CONDITIONAL upon THEIR deck playing something specific. exceptions: if it is something like how 'kills enchantments' and everybody plays 'pillow fort' then it should be above in the 3's. if it is just because you hate a whip and Underworld Connections or something, then 2 is enough to add... what if they side their 5 enchantments out? I dont count Erebos, God of the Dead because he cant BE killed...

1 -of-a-kind: icing on the cake, or something realy powerful that will end (or shift momentum instantly) the game, then it belongs here.. If it requires being 'set up' by mana ramping, or by having 4 artifacts out, or whatever, then it belongs here. If it will save your ass any time you had it in hand, it belongs in the 3-4 range =)

Immortal Servitude does not belong in this deck, because you have not enough 1,2,3 or 4 drops (you have them all) so it will never really do much, other than draw out a little removal, as it will not be cast early for two reasons: nothing will be in your GY (or not enough to justify 'using' your '1-drop-bomb-slot'... so what IS it doing here?

Your land base has a bad tempo. I would say it has NO tempo, but no, it has none, almost all your lands come in tapped, thus leaving you behind in the mana race..

lets examine my base, 27 lands for control, as 3 are Mutavault so I MAY end up with 24 lands, but I have recursion so I worry less... I have played 13 mutavaults in one game with my recursion... so I reccomend: +2 Mutavault , maybe run 26, and cut 2 spells....

I know you can pay 2 life to increase tempo when needed, I can too, but what is missing is the fact you HAVE to do this, I dont... with 18 basic lands, I can tempo out at 2,3, or 4, whatever I choose, and I can maintain it for those critical turns 3-6 in this meta, you cannot... what good would, say, a Syncopate do if I was behind them by tap, life loss vs their aggro, or tempo advantage? none.

Supreme Verdict does not interact with your creatures very well, dealing no actual damage, it will trigger neither the Boros Reckoner nor the High Priest of Penance ... so two of your best trigger abilities get blown without effect, thus making your earlier plays null and void.. and if you need to verdict, then its probably bad for you already, am I right?

Azorius Charm and Far , both -1, they are not CORE mechanics, they are something that interacts VERY GOOD, mind you, but interacts, not causes, an effect... and azorius' other ability is nice as a setback, but you need speed , you need to shove that deathwagon down their through as early and often as possible..., and I would make it unblockable somehow if I could, as a 1-of slot...

SB: -1 Rest in Peace +1 Blind Obedience it is just so much better... only recursion is whip, and this is shut-off by Pithing Needle or whatever anyways, so it is not very strong recursion...

I would add Underworld Connections to this deck, and maybe that aformentioned Elixir of Immortality (it is just great in every deck, I think...) Its deck-thinning ability provides re-distribution of card odds based on what is NOT going back in, and you can tell if it increases or lessens that ration with a quick look at your junk, so.... and the stall-out is great... its a must have for a deck running any control...Thoughtseize is great, if you find yourself being foiled by a particular opponent, just surgically remove his nuts... =)

Duress too..

Hover Barrier and Glare of Heresy are trash... both can be out-performed, ad neither is needed to start with.. When you find you have no tempo vs a deck, and you always seem to lose to it, you need more threats... not more control...

multi-angled threats... something that can defeat a particular strategy (you ARE digging in your SB at this point)... and provide an advantage, a perfect example is a card like Rootborn Defenses .. not in your deck, but in selesnya it does those things for that deck... so what can help you here, with that level of effect? a chump-wall, yay!... hey how about my 10 token generators, that all get going, and do that every turn cumulatively?.. just saying, spending a slot on what effectively is just a chump blocker (that your going to verdict in a minute) is NOT my idea of economical use of my 60...

Sin Collector is not as effective as Thoughtseize or Duress , and the 2/1 is a 3-drop, so it is not aggro, so why is it in here?

Pithing Needle is your only good stop to PlanesWalker cards, so it should be a 4-of SB card, against many decks in my meta, I see like 4x domri, with 3-4x xenegar, and then 2-3 garruks, all in one deck... and Esper? ok, 6-8 jace cards and 2-4 ashioks, and perhaps a random elspeth here and there.... SHUT THEM DOWN

PW are a huge part of the meta right now (thats why I use only 2) because I would rather pith them, or a whip, or a god, or LOTS of stuff can be pithed in this meta, its never dead, its great removal and good utility, it gets a "B"

maindeck: -3 Boros Reckoner +2 AEtherling +1 High Priest of Penance

I read the deck thinking, huh Ratchet Bomb deck? First card I see is boros reckoner, so i'm like wtf, then I see high priest of penance, and think ohhhhh that's what you're doing. This is a actually a really good idea, someone finally found a GOOD use for volatile rig!

Wolfninja: Thanks for the comment! Glad you like it. However, I have to disagree on one point.. every use of Volatile Rig is a good use! :D

In all seriousness, it did take a while to find a way to make him good in a competitive format, and this deck evolved into something so much better than I thought it would be. It keeps up very well with other decks while being crazy fun to boot. My meta has learned to quake in fear when Volatile Rig hits the field! Mwahaha!

Calavon: Now that I have time to go through your huge comment, I'll try addressing it piece by piece;

Angelic Accord was in here originally but was cut because it was too slow, cost too much mana, and only activated once per turn. It was decent, but there's better stuff for my deck to be doing.

You're correct with the usage of Trading Post , I rarely activate it on my turn. I usually leave it untapped to make them wonder what I'll do with it, since there's so many options, and then use it at the end of their turn if I don't need to use it to respond to anything.

I've always overlooked Elixir of Immortality , but it does seem interesting. I don't feel that it fits this deck, because I like my Rigs being in the graveyard with Trading Post on the field. I'll be sure to keep it in mind for other decks though.

My land base hasn't been a problem so far and the scrying definitely helps early game. Gets me to my lands faster if I need them, or cycles them out of the way for other things. Or it keeps me from drawing, for example, a second Trading Post when there's already one in my hand. If it becomes an issue, I'll switch out a couple Scry Lands for Basic Lands.

I don't feel that Underworld Connections would perform well in this deck. I'll keep it in mind, but for now I believe it's not the best fit. Good, but not great.

Yes, Supreme Verdict does not interact with the rest of my deck. However, it's not there for synergy. It's there to reset the board and pull me out of a bad situation. My deck can recover from a board wipe better than most. Oftentimes when I use it I sac Volatile Rig to draw a card with Trading Post , then, if he didn't wipe the field (coin toss fail), I use Supreme Verdict . I can then return my Rig to my hand the following turn.

Azorius Charm and Far / Away are both extremely good utility spells in this deck. I am never disappointed to draw either of them, even if I already have one in my hand. I rely on them far too much to have them at anything other than 4 each.

Hover Barrier is a surprisingly good sideboard card. It holds back aggro decks fairly well until I can get my deck rolling. It also blocks big threats like Blood Baron of Vizkopa , Obzedat, Ghost Council , and Desecration Demon (if only for a turn). I took it out though and edited my sideboard to be a little more hateful towards aggro decks, since that's my weakest match-up. Midrange and Control decks are rarely a problem.

Boros Reckoner performs far too well in this deck to take out. I also tested this deck with more than one AEtherling in it and it really hurt the deck, so I'll keep those how they are.

Thanks a ton for the in-depth comment, much appreciated!

This is by far one of the most innovative control decks I have seen. I had to show this deck to people because I couldn't believe it would work.Some questions I have with the deck are how do you continue to recover after Volatile Rig blows up your board? It seems like your main creatures are Boros Reckoner , High Priest of Penance , and Volatile Rig and the Rig blows up all of them. That leaves only your Obzedat, Ghost Council and AEtherling to do clean up. I can't see that being effective against like a Gruul ramp deck or another control deck. That leads into my next question, how has this stood up in competition? I would like to see Assemble the Legion in this deck with a card that dealt damage when another creature is destroyed. I do not know if that card exists in standard but I feel like it does and that could be could if Volatile Rig blows things up every other turn. Just something to think about. +1 from me man and from my friends. Awesome deck

Honestly, he wants boros reckoner on the board when he wipes it, in multiples if possible. Why? The Rig does four damage to your opponent, Reckoners trigger will do four damage to your opponent. That's eight damage and a board wipe. Then, you just nail anything they put down with removal until reading post brings rig back. Very simple, very efficient.

And if high priest dies, and your opponent has creatures with more than 4 toughness, priests trigger will kill them

HR_Ludacris: Thanks a ton for the comment! I think you forgot to hit the +1, :)

In answer to your question, you'll notice that I have a fairly light creature count, so there's not always others of my creatures on the field when it blows up. I also don't drop my hand the first chance I get. There is a lot of utility in this deck. I may not be doing damage every turn, but with only 20 starting life, the Rig being a 4/4 with Trample that does 4 damage when it explodes, and Boros Reckoners redirecting damage, the opponent's life total is below 10 before they realize it. Then they panic and start doing their best just to survive when they should be focusing most on going all out damage at me. By that point, I usually have some sort of set up that will keep poking away at them (Sanguine Bond being a prime example as it triggers off of so many things my deck does (lifelink, Trading Post , Obzedat bouncing in and out, etc.). Considering adding a second one..

Anyways.. in short, it's hard to explain, it just... works. Far better than I had hoped for. Gruul Ramp and other fast aggro decks it has a tough time against and depends a fair bit on the hand. The Sideboard, High Priest of Penance , and my removal spells do a pretty good job early game of holding them back long enough to start counterattacking. Control, on the other hand, is my strongest match-up. This deck runs right over control, and matches up evenly against (good) Midrange and Midrange/Control decks. Devotion to Blue is a bit difficult as well, though I have had the Rig explode with lifelink a few times vs all of Master of Waves' tokens. Not a happy ending for them.

I haven't actually had a chance to take it to FNM yet (work work work) but the people I play with are many and varied, but all play competitively, as you may see reflected in my EDH decks. They all take their decks to FNM and are always the top placeholders (their decks are the more commonly seen ones, not quite as wacky as this), and this deck has been matching, and most often beating (quite badly at times) those decks. I also play on an online simulator vs anyone who joins the game I make and have yet to lose a game on there (though I probably just jinxed it).

If such a card as you suggest exists I would definitely consider splashing in some Red (with the bonus of making Boros Reckoner easier to cast) for Assemble the Legion .

Thanks again!

kyuuri117: You hit the nail right on the head. That's exactly how it plays out. And if they have no creatures left, High Priest can also take down pesky Planeswalkers or other non-creatures. One of the many, many perks of the Rig exploding is that I can hit Planeswalkers with the damage rather than the player if I need to. I rarely do, but it's nice to have the option.

Clever and cool. I love it. I'd like to know how you sideboard against most of the formats archetypes. Great deck +1!

Wouldn't you not have to redirect the damage? It says each creature and each player. Planeswalkers count as player targets, so it would do four damage to you, four to whoever your are playing, and four to any planeswalkers on the board. I could be wrong about that, but that's my current understanding of the card.

Kyrulli... priest n reconer must be dealt damage.. verdict does not deal damage was my point

That's what I had thought, kyuuri117, but someone showed me some rulings on it. It seems like it just does damage to the creatures and players.

However, if a source would deal damage to a player, the source's controller can choose to have that damage dealt to one of the damage-receiving players' Planeswalkers instead. I say "damage-receiving player" rather than "opponent" because you could Lightning Bolt yourself and have it hit your Planeswalker instead, if you had the inclination.

That's my current understanding of the rules, but I could always be wrong.

Ah no, you are correct. Me and most everyone else I play with kind of just target th planeswalker with kill spells etc, but the "correct" way to do it is to hit the player and then state you are directing it towards the planeswalker , or if they take damage, they can choose to redirect it. Forgot about that.

I don't think that the person taking the damage can choose if their Planeswalker takes the damage instead. I believe it's only the damage source's controller. Otherwise people could just have decks full of Planeswalkers and have them take all the damage. Gideon Jura would be especially powerful with his third ability.

I love it! It looks like a lot of my decks that I build, uses jank cards (at least in other peoples opinions) and then does amazing things with them. +1 would really love to have you take it to FNM and tell us how it performs, it could possibly get me to come back to standard. Also Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver , great card personally though I feel it might be a bit out of place here, perhaps Jace, Architect of Thought for help with 'draw' and against aggro, or if you want a threat that can be draw power, why not Jace, Memory Adept ? The only issue I could see you having with them is their cost (CMC, I'm assuming you don't care about $).

Palisade Giant would be perfect in this deck ;) Nothings Triggers. I see this being more of a casual deck than a competitive, I'd remove 1x Heliod, God of the Sun for another Whip of Erebos . I believe since Volatile Rig does the damage to each creature and player, you gain life equal to the damage delt, because it would have lifelink however I 'm not sure if the lifelink would still be in effect at the trigger of 'dies'. I think that should be investigated, because again, this would also effect Boros Reckoner .

@kyuuri117 You may only deal damage to a player then redirect that damage to a planeswalker, this is of course, the choice of the person who dealt damage (non-combat). That's what I've read.

@I_H8_U_M8 When Volatile Rig and Boros Reckoner 's abilities activate, their entire ability, including all damage dealt, must resolve before they are considered "dead" and put in a graveyard. Therefore, lifelink will trigger as they are both still "in play" as their abilities resolve.

I do concur with I_H8_U_M8's suggestion of another Whip of Erebos over the one Heliod, God of the Sun . I'm not really sure what the latter does for you, but I know the former would give you more static lifelink.

firerunner36: Thanks! Once I get the chance I'll definitely take it to FNM. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is actually very good in this deck and I'm always happy to see her, She helps draw aggro away from my life total and gives me additional blockers/threats. Oftentimes I end up taking creatures that are good against their owner's deck (Blood Baron of Vizkopa being a prime example). Jace, Architect of Thought could go in my sideboard, if I get my hands on one, but I don't think he'd fit too well in here. I haven't felt like I'm missing draw power.

I_H8_U_M8: This deck has performed very well for me against many other decks that are regularly placing at the top of tourneys in the area. It's no pro tour deck by any means, but it can definitely hold its own. Palisade Giant is a good suggestion, but it just doesn't do enough for my deck for costing 6 mana. And the lifelink does apply to all of their abilities as they resolve before they die. Otherwise Boros Reckoner 's ability would do nothing if he took 3 or more damage. Volatile Rig just flatly states that it deals 4 damage to everything when it dies (if you lose the coin flip, of course).

Took I_H8_U_M8's and Dawnsever's suggestions and took out Heliod, God of the Sun for a second Whip of Erebos .

I would also like to add in a second Sanguine Bond but am unsure what to take out. Any ideas?

Thanks for the comments guys, be sure to +1 if you like it!