Welcome to what I like to call The Shepard. The name implies that it is a zoo hate control deck.
The goal of this deck is to get a lockout in the mid to late game with Ethersworn Canonist + counter spells while nosing in moderate damage every turn until victory is achieved. The principle behind this deck is that every card nets a value of more than a 1 for 1. Eventually you will have a handful of cards to play while your opponent is at the point of top decking every turn.
Key Cards and Combos
Ethersworn Canonist: Is a staple for this deck as it limits your opponent to one spell per turn. This combined with the many counter spells in this deck make for a very strong combo, it turns Remand into Time Walk! It also is a hate card against storm and any deck that runs Snapcaster Mage, and ruins all decks built around cascade. In addition to this it can slow a weenie deck to a trickle like Niagra falls through a coffee straw.
Aether Vial: This is the key to a smooth curve out and and being able to play our own Snapcaster Mage's while Ethersworn Canonist is on the field. Most importantly it allows you to play uncounterable creatures while holding up your own spells. It also allows you to play Ethersworn Canonist on the stack to surprise your opponent, preventing further spells that turn. The deck was designed to have the majority of the creatures at CMC 2, the reason for this is so that you can leave Aethervial on 2 with the highest chance of drawing into a playable creature.
Noble Hierarch: This is the card that allows "The Shepherd" to work at all. It does both mana ramp and turns our creatures into a threat with its Exalt ability. Along with it is qasili pridemage who also boosts with Exalt. And it opens up a turn two Vendilion Clique and turn three Cryptic Command.
Vendilion Clique: This card is a beast in this deck as it is everything you would ever want. It is a flash 3/1 evasive creature that lets you peak at your opponents hand and remove their most threatening spell. It will swing a game in your favor by moving you from the control player to the aggressor.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: This is one of the win conditions... Giving a creature flying and +3/+3 on top of Exalt. Or against a more controlling opponent producing an army of 1/1 Soldier Tokens. Although it takes an entire turn to cast it, often it is a bomb that is insurmountable for the opponent if you don't lose in the subsequent turns.
Fair Questions:How on earth does a 20 land control deck ever work? -For one, the curve is actually very low, there are only 7 cars with CMC higher than 3. Secondly with the combined efforts of both cantrips (Remand + Serum Visions) and Noble Hierarch plus AetherVial, the supposed 20 lands is closer to 26. This is how I calculated this
Won't I have an overwhelming number of 1 land hands that I will have to Mulligan? -In reality you can almost keep any 1 land hands that you are on the play with if you have a copy of either Noble Hierarch, Serum Visions, or Aether Vial. Each of these cards carry you to land number 2, and with 33 spells in the deck that are CMC 2 or less we are ready for action.
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