The backbone of the deck. It gives you all the card manipulation you could want, especially with fetches. It turns a fairly slow, somewhat inconsistent deck into a well oiled consistent machine.
The lock of the deck. This is what gives you the ability to have a soft lock and control the game so well. It combined with Sensei's Divining Top can bring your opponent to a hault, giving you all the time in the world to actually win the game.
One of the primary win conditions of the deck. The card advantage he grants, plus the ability to reset miracles, plus the ability to remove threats, plus the ability to control your opponent's draws, PLUS an ultimate that almost always wins the game? Perfect for a deck with as much removal and control as miracles.
One of the most important, subtle, and skill testing cards in the format. Grants us wonderful card advantage, especially when coupled with fetchlands. Resets miracles, and allows us to put cards on top of our deck for
Counterbalance
I personally always play with a
Counterspell
or two. Sometimes your
Counterbalance
will miss, sometimes you won't be able to counter that hard-casted
Griselbrand
. It helps a lot with the close calls. But not entirely necessary in the deck.
The glue that holds the format together and keeps the degenerate unfair decks in check. An absolutely necessary evil. I hate active card disadvantage, but it's better than losing the game!
The best removal spell in the format. It's definitely necessary. It's the simplest and cheapest answer to those pesky creatures.
Another non essential, but I absolutely love being able to answer anything! Sometimes planeswalkers and enchantments can be difficult to deal with game one, so I like to have that catchall.
A debatable essential. It's another 3 mana spell, which is very important for
Counterbalance
. It's the traditional win condition of the deck. Sometimes making three 4/4 flying Angels at the end of your opponent's turn is enough to win the game. Who knew?
Your emergency "oh crap!" button. If things get too out of hand, or go too wide, it's a cheap and powerful way to wipe the slate clean. Plus having a 6 mana spell can be very important for
Counterbalance
.
Believe it or not, he can be another win condition. He's mostly used just for some extra advantage with our spells. But attacking for 2 a turn is very powerful when you can control the game as well as Miracles can.
A powerful threat that helps control the opponent's hand and give you information. Very good at taking down planeswalkers, and very powerful with
Karakas
A powerful threat that allows you some control over your opponent's spells and permanents. Has a lot of very esoteric interactions. Combos well with
Karakas
.
