The Coolest Tree In Standard - Destroying FNM

Standard BGW (Abzan, Junk) Combo Control FNM

idiotbane

Creature (6)

• 2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 4x Sylvan Advocate

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 2x Sorin, Grim Nemesis

Land (26)

• 3x Canopy Vista
• 2x Caves of Koilos
• 4x Evolving Wilds
• 3x Forest
• 3x Hissing Quagmire
• 1x Plains
• 3x Shambling Vent
• 7x Swamp

Instant (6)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 4x Grasp of Darkness
• 1x Ultimate Price

Sorcery (19)

• 3x Dark Petition
• 1x Declaration in Stone
• 2x Duress
• 3x Languish
• 4x Read the Bones
• 2x Ruinous Path
• 2x Seasons Past
• 2x Transgress the Mind

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Sideboard

Enchantment (5)

• 2x Dead Weight
• 1x Stasis Snare
• 2x Virulent Plague

Instant (4)

• 2x Natural State
• 1x Naturalize
• 1x Ultimate Price

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Declaration in Stone
• 2x Duress
• 2x Infinite Obliteration
• 1x Planar Outburst

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Seasons Past is a brilliantly powerful card, in tandem with tutor effects, such as Dark Petition. Here's the combo:

• Cast control spells of different CMC's (Duress at one, Grasp of Darkness at two, Ruinous Path at three, etc.). Once you have done this, draw into Seasons Past or Dark Petition to find one. Note: Use Dark Petition before casting Seasons Past as it will generate extra value. Casting Seasons Past will then put those previously cast control spells back into our hand. Seasons Past then goes to the bottom of your library. Cast Dark Petition and find the same Seasons Past in your deck. This allows you to recast an endless barrage of control spells over the course of a long game and whittle your opponent away.

These two cards form the basis of the deck's combo. From here, we need three things that all control decks contain in order to wreck some FNM: control spells, card advantage, win conditions.

CONTROL PACKAGE:

• Duress, Transgress the Mind: Hand disruption is important, in some number, in any midrange or control deck. The interest in this list is to deal with threats that may be a serious issue, before they have the chance to do so. Good examples are most all planeswalkers (though I find that Nissa, Voice of Zendikar can often be ignored for a few turns if a larger threat presents itself, such as Gideon, Ally of Zendikar), counterspells that look to disrupt our combo, and creatures that may be problematic, like Thought-Knot Seer or World Breaker.

• Grasp of Darkness, Ultimate Price, Declaration in Stone: Low-cost removal is very important in many matchups. Not to mention the fact that we have five mainboard answers to a cast Archangel Avacyn  . Prioritize Ultimate Price for the ever-vigilant Sylvan Advocate and use Grasp of Darkness on multicolored and colorless targets, like Reflector Mage and Thought-Knot Seer. Use Declaration in Stone more proactively, as the two mana to crack the clue is a greater tempo loss in the early game than the late game. As for as getting 2-for-1'ed by Declaration in Stone, just look to set up our combo and card advantage will be a non-issue.

• Ruinous Path: Planeswalkers are big and this spell is bigger. Great to be reused after a Seasons Past to generate extra value off of Awaken. Be careful to not cast this spell into a possible Archangel Avacyn   flashing in.

• Anguished Unmaking: Our third copy of Ruinous Path. We do not want to play too many of this guy as the instant speed is not terribly beneficial and the three life loss can stack up if it is recast over the course of a long game. This card comes into its own against decks that rely on artifacts or enchantments. For example, our game one against Sphinx's Tutelage is atrocious, but this single copy of Anguished Unmaking makes it a winnable bout. Also effective against the many variations of Pyromancer's Goggles decks running amok. Another bit, if you notice your opponent might go for an Ormendahl, Profane Prince  , it may be wise to tutor up Anguished Unmaking as a blowout play.

• Languish: This is the best boardwipe in the Standard format. Finally went down to three copies on this guy as Humans is not as prevalent as it once was and this spell is not spectacular against Bant Company or GW Tokens.

CARD ADVANTAGE

• Read the Bones is the glue that holds this little masterpiece together. Losing two life is almost never relevant and when it is, you probably would not have survived with the added cards anyway. We need this to dig for key removal and combo pieces. I have considered Painful Truths in this slot, but having all three colors by turn three is no guarantee. I would much rather guarantee the full effectiveness of a debate-ably weaker spell than risk an expensive Sign in Blood.

• Seasons Past: Infinite draw engine, requiring only more turns of the game to fully utilize. Namesake card and reason we sleeve up the deck.

WIN CONDITIONS

• Shambling Vent, Hissing Quagmire: Manlands are instrumental in any long game. Gaining life is great and slamming away big fatties with Deathtouch is often useful as well. These guys go from minor damage to a worrisome clock in a hurry when you add one or two...

• Sylvan Advocate: After lots of testing, this card has proven fantastic in basically every game he does not get exiled. He hits hard on his own, he makes our manlands MUCH more threatening. We also cast Ruinous Path for its Awaken cost often, thus our 4/4 becomes a 6/6 haster which is almost worth the eight mana by itself (seven mana to cast with Awaken, one mana to use the land that was just Awakened to attack). Even if our opponent hates out or beats to the point where they kill off both our Sylvan Advocates AND our manlands, we can get one of each back with a single Seasons Past and get the beats going again next turn.

• Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: I did not want to believe the hype behind this guy, blaming the crazy $30 price tag on its relevance in modern. If you can afford it, play with this guy in every black deck you sleeve up. Utter house in nearly every single matchup. He dies to a lot of removal, but his impact on a game where he can dodge a quick removal spell is immense. He gains life, he widens your board OR hightens your board, he hoses death triggers and graveyard interactions. I want to see this guy every game, preferably cast after seeing the opponent's hand and/or drawing out their removal on a different threat.

• Ob Nixilis Reignited: This is a replacement for the fourth Dark Petition in order to hedge against large creatures that dodge Grasp of Darkness, Ultimate Price, and Languish which is a concept deckbuilders are catching onto. Dragonlord Silumgar , The Gitrog Monster, and Reality Smasher are common examples of creatures that give our removal package trouble. With just how frequently I needed to Dark Petition into Ruinous Path to stomp these threats, it simply makes more sense to back that up with a Planeswalker. He'll draw us into more cards and possibly win the game if unanswered, via his ultimate.

• Sorin, Grim Nemesis: This guy staying on board for an untap step usually signs the writ of pwnage to be mailed to our opponent's side of the table. We can protect him easily and he generates the card advantage to assist us in doing so. Kills creatures and Planeswalkers by himself, while also gaining some much-needed life in a pinch. Going to the graveyard is no problem because Seasons Past decks rarely have more than one six drop in the graveyard to bring back. Total nightmare for the opponent, when played to an empty or nearly empty board. Almost never ultimate because of how easy it is to ignore a pile of 1/1 Lifelinkers with a flier, Declaration in Stone, heck, our own Virulent Plague out of the sideboard negates this strategy. I have never once used the ultimate off of Sorin, Solemn Visitor and I am pressed to see a scenario in which I would. Winning with this card is to use his +1 to draw and make our opponent lose life. I would love to see some more input on the matter, if anyone would like to share a different viewpoint.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Splash colors	WG
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 4 Rares 7 - 4 Uncommons 10 - 7 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.26
Tokens	Clue, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Vampire Knight 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Other Users Decks I Like, possibility, Standard decks, Cool Ideas, Interesting Build, Seasons Past, FNM DECK