>Begone Long Description<
First, I want to start off with the main aspect of this deck, the Processor mechanic. The Processor mechanic was released in BFZ on certain Eldrazi cards. Basically, it allowed you to take cards from your opponent's exile zone, stick them into the graveyard (essentially "processing" them) for a certain effect.
The biggest concern most people had with Processors was fueling them, and indeed that was a problem in Standard, but in Modern there are a lot of cards that just wipe the entire exile zone, making this incredibly easy to do.
Now, I'm only actually using one processor card, Ulamog's Nullifier as a 3 of. Yes I know that kinda defeats the purpose of utilizing a mechanic for your deck if you don't abuse it enough, but the problem is is that there aren't enough good processors. Sure there is Wasteland Strangler, but 3 mana for a sorcery speed bolt on a non-evasive creature that dies to every removal spell and every creature that blocks it, is not a good investment. Sure I'm getting extra value, but it just isn't good enough. Without flash I cannot effectively get enough value out of a card that has such a limited kill range.
The cards that I use to fuel the processors? Rest in Peace and Relic of Progenitus as a 2/3 split are my choices. You don't need more than one Rest in Peace on the field, and having it be 2 cmc does actually cause problems when you want to drop it down turn 3 along with having mana for a counterspell/removal spell up, so restricting it to 2 is good enough. Relic of Progenitus is a 3 of as it doesn't require any coloured mana, which is excellent in a 4 colour deck, it costs 1 mana meaning I can play it down turn 3 and hold up mana for counterspells/removal, and it cantrips, allowing me to effectively have not wasted any space for a card that fuels the main aspect of my deck.
Now I know that control in Modern is lack luster, its counterspell base is lacking for the long game and its win conditions cost too much to close off games fast enough. However the ability to use excellent sideboard cards in the mainboard helps against a lot of decks by shutting down a playset or two of cards for each deck. I shut down Snapcaster Mage, Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Kolaghan's Command, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Gurmag Angler, Living End, Pyromancer's Ascension, Lingering Souls and Kitchen Finks. In a nutshell, Grixis Twin, Grixis Control, Delver, Junk, Jund, certain Storm builds, Living End and Collected Melira are all the decks that I get an automatic boost against.
Sure they can remove Rest in Peace in anticipation that I have Ulamog's Nullifier in hand so that things don't stay exiled and they can utilize the grave hence onward, but keep in mind the majority of the damage has already been dealt with and I can choose which cards I want to process, which is mostly fetches. They can't really deal with Relic of Progenitus unless they use Suppression Field.
But I'm rambling. The reason why the Processor mechanic works so well in control is because I have effectively countered 4-12 cards in a large amount of decks. This sort of passive boost is what control needs, to bring the opposing deck's power level down enough to properly control them out. And yes, this won't work against all decks (mainly the aggro decks) but that is what our sideboard is for, since those decks are weak to a lot of sideboard cards.
Now I shall describe the second feature of this deck that many will be questioning: the 4th colour. I'm splashing green here mainly for the ability to have superior late game plays (and some sideboard cards too). I can immediately guess some questions already: "Why no Abrupt Decay/Maelstrom Pulse if you have green?" My answer: its because the requirements to satisfy those costs so early in the game is very strict, difficult to accomplish, and very damaging to my life total. They are effectively cards that I play turns 4-5 because I cannot guarantee the mana to cast them. Instead, I play cards that come out on turns 4 and 5, so I won't have to worry about getting screwed over mana.
The third point of this deck that many would be scratching their head over is my control suit. My choice of counterspells and removal spells is DEFINITELY controversial, and needs explaining. Basically, the entire suit functions around the general result that Ulamog's Nullifier comes down on turns 5-6 due to requiring another card to fuel its processor mechanic. In order to explain what I mean, I have to explain the general attitude of how each turn in this deck works on the play or on the draw.
Turn 1: A land etbt if on the play. Preferably a man-land, if not, evade the damage of a shock. If on the draw, it needs to be untapped to cast Spell Snare. Turn 2: A land untapped. Hold up mana to respond to their play at their turn with either a 2 drop removal spell or a Spell Snare. Aggro decks have the advantage in evading my plays turn 1. Turn 3: A land. Tapped if you don't have a Relic of Progenitus in hand. Untapped and play that relic if you do. The other two mana is used to spend on a 1-2 cmc counterspell or removal spell. Turn 4: If you have Mystic Snake or Rest in Peace in hand, the land play for this turn needs to enter untapped. If not, feel free to have one enter tapped and keep casting those 1-2 cmc counterspells. against aggro decks a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar can be pretty important in order to draw the aggro to it, and remove a creature through its token production. Turn 5: Mystic Snake almost always comes down on this turn. If you happen to have gotten an exiler down, Ulamog's Nullifier can come down on this turn to. The land play almost always etbt. Turn 6: Against most decks, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar comes down on this turn, with mana held up for counterspells/removal. If I don't have Gideon or if the opponent's hand is too full, Ulamog's Nullifier is the better choice. Turn 7: From here it is just redundancy, counter and remove whatever comes down, play a Restoration Angel or Painful Truths and profit from controlling the game.
What I want to point out is that out of the first 6 turns of a game, I need to be able to cast a removal spell and/or a counterspell for 4 of those turns while playing other things at the same time. All of my early game control suite is low cmc, 2 or below, and only has one coloured mana in its casting cost. This allows me to prep my mana base for my 4+ drops without taking so much damage, which is important in allowing me to prolong the game much further. Basically, my early game control suite is meant to be flexible and open. As a bonus, Wrath of God can quickly back up whatever my removal base cannot. I hope I explained that well enough. It's just that getting a 2 drop kill anything or counter anything spell in modern is just not going to happen.
So the first two criteria are that the early game control suite must not cost more than 2 cmc and only have one coloured mana. The third primary criteria is that it must be able to kill almost anything if it is a removal spell, and be a hard counter if it is a counterspell. The only two guaranteed 2 cmc hard counters in modern are Negate and Essence Scatter. The only 1 cmc one is Spell Snare. The removal was harder to determine beyond Path to Exile. Go for the Throat was my first choice as it is only dead against Tron (which I'm not killing much anyways) and affinity (easy to side), so the real hard choice was the final set. Doom Blade, Slaughter Pact, Ultimate Price and Smother are all too restrictive, and Dismember is far too risky in terms of life. So I chose Devour Flesh, because it also deals well against infect and bogles, can occasionally save me the game against RDW (happens rarely), and it is unrestrictive. Sure they get the choice, but I'm controlling their creatures so they don't really get one. If I see tokens or merfolk or zoo, it generally gets swapped out for Engineered Explosives.
Now my truly non-conditional stuff, the 4 cmc counters, I chose because having creatures on my counterspells is very beastly, much more so than most people realize. Against an aggro deck Mystic Snake might very well be a removal spell and a counterspell because it can almost always trade with a creature, and Ulamog's Nullifier has evasion and 3 toughness, being able to survive many blocks. It's the small incremental value gains out of these that are tremendously powerful, as each turn that passes I get more value out of that 4 cmc counterspell.
The fourth part of this deck (pretty much everything really ...) that makes people scratch their head is the creature/win con base. A lot of people will agree that Restoration Angel is powerful and that being able to run her is definitely awesome, but the limited number of Creeping Tar Pit/Celestial Colonnade and 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikars will definitely have people scratching their head.
First I want to look at the man-lands. I focus primarily on Shambling Vents for a variety of reasons. The first one is that 5 cards hold in their casting cost, meaning the most of my man-lands need to be white. The second one is that Shambling Vent is cheaper to activate than Celestial Colonnade. The third one is the life-gain. Sure it is boltable, but the biggest bonus this deck can have is some much needed lifegain to prolong the game in my favour, preventing the general ticking down of life from fetches, shocks and Painful Truths, and slowing down aggro decks till I've secured a position. But the biggest bonus of that lifegain, is that it secures my position against Jund decks once I've gotten to the mid-late game. Just a few swings with it and gaining 2 or 4 life is enough to have me out of an instant kill range and keep me comfortable enough to be more aggressive with my win cons to provide pressure.
I've chosen Gideon, Ally of Zendikar as my main win con because it can evade numerous types of removal spells. It is out of bolt and Abrupt Decay range, which is a definite bonus, and being an indestructible creature means that Terminate can't kill it either. Sure indestructible on an animating creature isn't the same as having hexproof, as Path to Exile still exists, but a 5/5 body is incredibly powerful and there currently is nothing in Modern that can survive a beating like that. So having something that can swing for so much so early and be so resilient is a great boon. Additionally, the 2/2 token that is generated the moment he comes down is an excellent reason to play him turn 4 against aggro decks, particularly RDW. This lets me draw aggro to Gideon instead of my life total and abruptly stops their creatures most of the time as the 2/2 token can effectively trade with their creatures.
I hope I've explained everything here, do look for more information below about sideboard and what not.
