"Since recruiting the prophets of Kruphix we have documented a 120% increase in detentions" - Azorius archives
The problem I found when playing control is that I find myself unwilling to do anything during my own turns for fear that I will be unable to counter anything on my opponents. Now if I've learnt anything from building decks recently it's that Prophet of Kruphix is one of the most brilliantly versatile cards in standard right now, and here she is saving the day again. The basic idea is to stall the game until you can cast her, then you can do whatever you like on your own turn, safe in the knowledge that your mana reserves will be replenished in time to counter your opponent's feeble spells.
This is my first attempt at control so I'll try and explain all my card choices, but suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Creatures
Prophet of Kruphix - As mentioned above, she allows you to play during your turn without fear of being unable to counter during your opponent's turn.
Medomai the Ageless - Control is all about denying your opponent anything of use to them, so taking away an entire turn seems to me to be a worthy endeavor.
AEtherling - A potential win-con, but with the prophet he becomes even more versatile; on your turn he's an unblockable 8/1, or your opponent's he's a 1/8 with the ability to flicker away from danger.
Sylvan Caryatid - I'm not sure how necessary this guy is... All my other standard decks have ramp and I've gotten used to having 3 mana by turn 2... If nothing else he helps speed things up, provides mana fixing and makes for a bigger Sphinx's Revelation.
Instants
Dissolve - One of the best counterspells in standard; scrying seems very useful for siphoning off unwanted lands.
Render Silent - I love this card! A nice variation on the humble counterspell.
Syncopate - Na-ah-ah! With the ramp to help get a mana advantage you can always be ready to counter anything your opponent can throw at you.
Plasm Capture - The observant among you will have noticed that there is no Plasm Capture in this deck; while it's one of my favorite counterspells, I'm not sure this deck can provide the mana base to support it, what with green being the least represented color. If anyone has any thoughts on this matter they would be greatly appreciated; I long for the day I use it to counter Worldspine Wurm, then play a Sphinx's Revelation for a dozen cards!
Sphinx's Revelation - "All the cool kids are playing it!"
Ready / Willing - Ready provides great defense, and fits the untapping theme of PoK quite nicely, but it's main purpose of for the turn seven combo of Ready, then Supreme verdict to clear my opponent's side of the board table. Also Sylvan Caryatid allows for the casting of Willing which I suppose is nice removal/ life gain, but I've never really thought about that.
Sorcery
Supreme Verdict - Nice early boardwipe if your feeling the pressure and in conjunction with Ready it's fantastic.
Enchantment
Detention Sphere - Again, everyone seems to be playing this and I can see why, it's decent early removal. Four might be a bit much though; thoughts?
Land
I'll probably chuck in a bit more green just to make sure it's never wanting. Also when BotG is released I'll swap the guildgates for the corresponding scry lands. I don't think shocklands are the way forward in this deck; scryers, while slow, help you plan ahead while shock lands provide rarely needed speed at the cost of precious health.
So there are my justifications. A particularly nice set of moves is a turn 5 Prophet, then Medomai on turn 6 followed by Ready + Supreme Verdict on turn 7, clearing the board so that Medomai gets an almost guaranteed hit, thus granting you an extra turn.
Also as an aside, thanks to everyone for their feedback on my previous deck, The Zhur-Taa Negotiations, it's been in the top ten for some time now which is just amazing!
