Thanks for the comment JPODS0717. Cataclysm is in the maybeboard. It won't go into the main deck until I pick up a copy. Rafiq, while not being used to his full capacity is a beautiful commander. I keep the board as clear as possible and usually don't have many creatures out together, he turns almost any single creature into a beater. Besides the look on my opponents face is priceless when connect with Medomai the Ageless with rafiq and Finest Hour out. There's also some good stuff in the green c14 deck that fits, see Titania, Protector of Argoth and wave of vitriol.

Sylvan Primordial is banned. awesome deck though.

Thanks rocketexec. My group still allows Sylvan Prime, but he will be removed as soon as the C14 cards are in the database. Any suggestions on what else to remove, or what to add. Currently I'm planning on adding Titania, Terastodon , and wave of vitriol from C14. Also thinking about splurging for Ravages of War .

Woodfall Primus could help fill a similar role to your Terastodon . Also Putrefax can knock out a player with an open field when you've got rafiq out, and you seem to do the board control thing really well.

If you really want to do land desctruction, a combo I put in my Rafiq you might have seen is Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Natural Affinity. people never see it coming. It's beyond heinous and usually besides killing lands you can just swing with you new army of 4/4's. It's another not-so-friend-friendly combo I love. Also, thanks for the input on my Rafiq deck too!

mathimus55, THAT IS AMAZING.

Thanks for the suggestions rocketexec and mathimus55. I will be adding primus and the norn combo. Just gotta figure out what to remove.

Hey sorry about the delay, I had bla bla bla busy bla bla holidays bla bla bla bla graduating from college this semester, you get the idea.

So when I first saw this deck, the first thing I thought was "oh no, not a Rafiq 'voltron' deck!" (Rafiq "voltron" and Olivia "vampires" are among my least favorite decks to look at and talk about because for some odd reason, everyone has decided what they should be best for, and they're all wrong, but this is just a side note). So, thank you for not running Rafiq voltron.

But what do I see in this deck? It looks like a mixture of counterspell/control, land destruction, and blink, which I think could be streamlined and focused. The issue is that the deck has its efforts spread at doing too many things like an over-worked parent, so everything it does is either lackluster or at least pretty easy to play around. So what options do you have? Well if you stay with Rafiq, you can play a control build that utilizes him as a win con since he is a three turn clock, and you can keep a couple of the land destruction spells for when the time is just right. This would require taking out the flicker sub theme from the deck, but it would be for the best. Here's my Rafiq deck that ISNT a control deck, but has some useful synergy that could be worth checking out: MagicalHacker - Rafiq of the Many.

There is a better option than Rafiq though, and it's something I highly recommend. If you add more land destruction and more artifact mana, you can play Derevi, Empyrial Tactician control like nobody's business. Here are the reasons why Derevi is the best Bant commander for control:

1. Flash. With her ability, you will never have to play her during your main phase, which by itself is perfect for control decks.
2. Flying. Being able to attack/block better than a non flying creature makes her great whether you need a chump blocker to lethal in the air, or you need to use a tap ability twice in one turn.
3. Cost. She will NEVER cost more than 4. Period.
4. Uncounterable. If you use her ability, only a Stifle-type effect can counter it. Not casting = can't be Counterspelled.
5. Pre-combat tap effect. "Beginning of your combat: I will pay and put my commander on the battlefield. The ETB will trigger, and I'll tap your Blightsteel Colossus."
6. Gives versatile advantage to other creatures. After dealing damage, you can untap lands to make mana, untap your creatures for blocking time, or untap other things to do powerful effects again.

Definitely worth at least testing. Here's my Derevi deck that also ISNT a control deck, but has some synergy that might be useful in considering using her as a commander: MagicalHacker - Derevi, Empyrial Tactician.

However, both of these require getting rid of the flicker sub strategy to make room for a tighter control build. the good news is that you can build a really powerful blink deck in Bant, but it requires both large amounts of mana and a focused decklist to be powerful, so no room for either land destruction OR control elements. It is a lot of fun to play with though, since you can flicker creatures that have control like abilities, like Acidic Slime, Sun Titan, and Prime Speaker Zegana. I'm sure you know who I'm going to say the commander is, and I'm sure you know how powerful he is (he's in the deck after all). Roon of the Hidden Realm is a powerful card and can get out of hand very VERY quickly. Here's my noncontrol build for inspiration: MagicalHacker - Roon of the Hidden Realm.

Now you might be saying that it's kind of a cop out to offer help that cuts out one half of the deck or the other, but in bant, that's really all the options available. If you really want all of your strategies at the same time, there is a commander that can do it, if you sacrifice green. It's a bit tricky, but i know first hand how powerful it is. Control Edh commanded by Brago, King Eternal can employ all three of your strategies, and the reason why is because he can flicker MULTIPLE cards per damage. This means he can play lots and lots of artifact ramp and just untap them for the second main phase. Because of that, there's no issue running lots of control elements and land destruction, since you can flicker your way to control heaven. Again, the sacrifice here would be the possibility of using green mana, but that is one way to streamline the deck. Here's my Brago deck: MagicalHacker - Brago, King Eternal. I also recommend checking out my friend's Brago deck to get an idea of what other possibilities await for a Brago control deck: Eternity is Fleeting.

I'd love to know what you decide to do, and if you want to keep the current strategies AND colors AND commander, no hard feelings! I would still like to suggest more control cards for you to check out. I run a control deck in Edh as well, so I know how difficult it can be sometimes to get it just the way you want it.

Again, let me know if I can help (more?) after you read this!

How about Tromokratis as your single attacker?

Thoughts on Static Orb? Derevi's face pounding makes it nearly one-sided, I think. Makes the incoming land destruction all the more inevitable.

oh and Dauntless Escort