Creatures (28)
Other Spells (5)
Planeswalkers (2)
Sideboard
Continuing on it’s path of dominance the Mono Blue Devotion deck has continued to show why it is one of the premier prevalant decks in the current standard metagame. Built on a solid curve from one through to four the goal of the deck is to drop a Master of Waves bringing with it seven elemental friends. The deck is built for aggression and that can been seen with the lack of permission despite being blue. What this deck really capitalizes on from the blue mana is the power of card draw from the Bident and Jace. Cyclonic Rift to clear away blockers allows you to build to a lethal alpha strike and power through for the kill.
Creatures (21)
Planeswalkers (4)
Spells (10)
What an interesting new idea which has potential for huge card advantage once it gets going. Bant has the particular quality of combining acceleration with control and card advantage. This deck attempts to accomplish that in spades. It all starts with a ten pack of mana dorks with Mystics, Caryatids & Satyrs to get the plan into high gear. From there the threats start at converted cost of four with Polukranos, which doubles as removal for the deck, and Jace, which also doubles against aggro with the +1 ability. We then hit the five spot and the centerpiece for this deck from Prophet of Kruphix which provides the unique ability to be proactive on your turn AND their turn while always holding up mana to threaten countermagic. Then we hit the top of the curve at six with a diverse package including premier control finisher Aetherling, card advantage beast Prime Speaker & the truly diverse Primeval Bounty. As with any deck using both blue and white mana should there is a full four Sphinx’s Revelation and the life gain can be a key in surviving against fast aggro. The control aspect of the deck is limited to Plasm Capture that plays into the plan of mass card draw by providing more fuel to spew out more threats as quickly as possible. The rest of the deck is comprised of a small removal suite with Detention Sphere which can work to hold off a swarm and Curse of the Swine which is either a sweeper or can be used to remove indestructible Gods. This is definitely an idea to keep in mind moving forward as it may not yet be properly positioned but a few tweeks primarily with respect to shoring up the aggro matchup could turn this deck into a premier powerhouse.
Esper Control
Alex Sittner – Grand Prix Louisville – Top 8 Standard
Main Deck
60 cards
27 lands
1 creature
26 other spells
6 planeswalkers
Sideboard
15 sideboard cards
Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska
Spells (27)
Lands (26)
Planeswalkers (7)
Sideboard (14)
Spells (5)
Lands (25)
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (29)
Sideboard (15)
Instants (8)
Lands (25)
Enchantments (3)
Planeswalkers (7)
Creatures (13)
Sorceries (4)
Sideboard (17)
Here is a very interesting Blue + White control deck which looks to abuse devotion to blue in a very strong way. Using the standard shell with Azorius Charm, Sphinx’s Revelation, Detention Sphere and Supreme Verdict it is already a very powerful control machine. Elspeth and Jace work their usual magic to power up the deck and work towards the end game. But the addition of Thassa and Master of Waves is what takes the deck in a new direction, and with Frostburn Weird, Jace and the other blue permanents it isn’t hard to get the devotion online.
