Supreme Verdict I see a weakness... lol I like it, its alot better then my bant deck stupid things been wonkier since rebuild for 2014.

Glad you like it MrKnify. Did you do any playtesting? How do you feel the deck performed?

I try not to think of this as a Bant decks as this one is really a 5-color deck in a Bant shell. Without cards like Ral Zarek and Merciless Eviction the deck would be very different.

You use Ral Zarek. He's my favorite card ever. The rest of the deck could be basic swamps and I'd still +1 this.

Thanks for that, Talmanes. Ral Zarek is definitely my favorite planeswalker.

Yeah it would I did, and unfortunately your deck lost in 6 turns, you had one 2/4 for 3g (4 mana) creature out not the right mana for Supreme Verdict I had turn 3 and 4 brought out my little 2/2 flyers with haste, by the start of the 6th I had a nice flying goat (chimera) slapped you for 4 that you prevented with a green fog like spell from theros, (typing this fast have to pee) on the sith turn (i am scatterd atm) attacked with 3 creatures, and slapped you with 2 Lightning Blast so in the end of my combat phase you had enough to drop you to 0 health.

I will do more testing, as you had a bad mana draw. The next one I will track each turn and get pictures.

Crackling Perimeter works well

MrKnify after another set of playtesting I went 2:1 with my deck coming out on top. Again, it's likely due to bias lol :P

The goats in your deck really do well. I had a Jace, Memory Adept out and milling your deck every turn, then you landed a goat and swung for lethal the next turn.

notamardybum I do like Crackling Perimeter and will add one to the mainboard shortly. Having another win con is great in gimmicky decks like this.

you might also want to put in elixir of immortality in the side incase you go up against a mill deck.

and instead of wear // tear, you could run Fade into Antiquity . yeah its more to cast and isnt instant speed, but it gets around indestructible gods and keeps your detention spheres there for other things

Fade into Antiquity is a great suggestion. I've been using Wear / Tear as it allows me to hit two targets at once, but exiling indestructible permanents is great. I'll try it out, thanks!

as good as Crackling Perimeter is... for your deck it would work as you use alot of gates, but it works best in multi-player, side board if necessary and watch out for Dimir mil or Bant control

I know it's gruesomely expensive, but Sphinx's Revelation does tonnes of work for me against life loss/burn effects in my list - Atlas Shrugged

I've been considering Sphinx's Revelation for a while now. I would probably cut one Urban Evolution and one Jace, Memory Adept for 2 Sphinx's Revelation (if I can find them locally).

I have found Ral Zarek to be a dead draw most games. He's too hard to protect and his +1/-2 abilities aren't relevant enough to keep him around. Most games he has been a 4 CMC lightning bolt. I think I am gonna trade him out for Warleader's Helix .

Seems good enough, but be careful when trying to protect your Planeswalkers. Most of the Fog abilities in Standard only stop damage from hitting players, not Planeswalkers.

Planeswalkers are considered a separate player, zandi. So those spells would protect it still, if needed.

Riot Control and Druid's Deliverance do not protect planeswalkers.

To my knowledge Defend the Hearth and Fog can protect Planeswalkers while Druid's Deliverance and Riot Control cannot.

I don't play my Planeswalkers unless the board is clean or I have blockers, though.

@rbk84: Planeswalkers aren't considered separate players. Only players count as players. For example, you can't target a Planeswalker with Mind Rot or Corrupt . Planeswalkers can have damage redirect to them through players and they can be attacked as though they were players, but they aren't players.

Druid's Deliverance and Riot Control don't protect Planeswalkers. In fact, even if they WERE players, those spells only prevent damage dealt to you, and not your Planeswalkers.

(I wasn't done but hit "Post"... =P)

Since Planeswalkers aren't players, Defend the Hearth doesn't protect them, either.

AFAIK, the only Fog effect that protects Planeswalkers in Standard right now is Fog itself, since it prevents all combat damage period, and Pay No Heed and Hindervines to a lesser extent.

Added Bow of Nylea to the sideboard for some additional life gain and graveyard recycling.

I've removed almost all of the spot removal and added two Merciless Eviction .

Replaced the shock lands with basics. Losing 2 life to play a fast land isn't where this deck wants to be.

I'm not sure if I still like Gatecreeper Vine in this deck. Mana fixing is good (especially when running 4 Supreme Verdict ) but slots are tight and this deck really doesn't need blockers. Should the vines be replaced?

I am considering exchanging one of each guildgate with two of each basic land to speed up the deck. This would require replacing the mainboard 4 Saruli Gatekeepers and 1 Crackling Perimeter with 2 Bow of Nylea and 3 Warleader's Helix . This replaces the lost lifegain and planeswalker/player damage.

Bow of Nylea also lets me bring back discarded/removed Guildgates from my graveyard.

As I already have 3 basic lands, I would replace them with 1 Defend the Hearth , 1 Druid's Deliverance , and 1 Riot Control . This brings the Fog count from 13 to 16.

I considered using shocklands instead but paying 2 life for a fast land is not going to work in a deck like this.

Thoughts for or against this idea?

why do you run Saruli Gatekeepers ...Heroes' Reunion instead...with nothing else to spot remove, most decks will default to removing him; gaining you only the 7 life, same as heroes reunion for 2 less mana. being able to fog and reunion on their turn is nice.

i disagree with the basic lands...just run more gates....urban evolution will get you caught up if needed.

have you considered Uncovered Clues just a suggestion; im trying it out too currently and its interesting.

mainboard Elixir of Immortality ? or sideboard at the least...esper and azorius control both run milling jace in the sb...one mill and you could be outta wincons.

how do you beat the burn list? dega burn with Skullcrack , Toil / Trouble , and Rakdos's Return . consider Swan Song in the sideboard, also stop erebos, purphoros, thassa; all pretty deadly.

The Ender's Game is my take on it...nice deck though man, i just wanted to maybe toss ideas your way and see if u've considered these, and why you may have ruled them out.

Saruli Gatekeepers has a big butt. Against decks where it matters most (RDW, Boros), they won't be able to remove it very easily with the spells they have available to them.

Heroes' Reunion isn't really a good card, ever. Gaining life is neat and all, but it's not going to slow down your opponent at all; it might make the game go an extra turn, but your opponent isn't being hampered by it. At least the Gatekeepers put something in the way of your opponent's creatures.

I'd be running closer to 26 lands by adding 2 shock-lands, probably a Breeding Pool and a Hallowed Fountain . The reasoning behind this is that you'll have a decent-enough chance to land a turn-4 Supreme Verdict which, against certain decks, you just flat-out need. You don't need more Gates; most competitive Maze's End decks run just 1 of the Gates that have colors they don't necessarily need and free up the remaining space for shock-lands and basics. If you're only running Gates and Maze's End with no ramp, Urban Evolution comes out on turn-6 minimum and then puts another tapped land into play. If you have shocks or basics, you can speed up the process by a turn without losing any functionality.

This looks great! Have you considered Prophet of Kruphix ? All your lands enter tapped so she opens them up to be used for instants on your opponent's turn, and she can double the damage you deal with Crackling Perimeter .

I second thatI'll actually be making a deck like this very shortly running a LOT of enchantments such as Detention Sphere , Crackling Perimeter and Sphere of Safety . I'm sure I'll add the Whip of Erebos , Obzedat, Ghost Council , and AEtherling as well. not too sure quite yet though, still searching around for ideas.