Ghave is an extremely versatile general able to play aggro, control, combo, and tribal roles. This is because Abzan/Junk colors has access to some of the best tutors, creatures, and removal in the game. If you made a list of combos and synergies it would likely be better to make a list of things he doesn't synergize with. In my first iteration of Ghave (in My Deck/History) I stumbled across an infinite combo that I hadn't even intended to put in. This kind of discovery isn't uncommon because of his easy interaction with so many cards. Finally, Ghave himself can do so many little utility things like for 2 mana being able to make instant speed reusable chump-blockers or in response to a kill spell making a bunch of Saprolings for value.
Aggro/Midrange: The rise of Abzan Midrange in Modern has proven that Abzan has the tools available to pin its opponents down and pummel them to a pulp, using efficient removal and creatures. Abzan's removal suite includes the likes of Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Song of the Dryads and not to mention black's entire arsenal of creature removal. For beat down Abzan gets to play things like Serra Ascendant, Primordial Hydra, Grave Titan, and Thrun, the Last Troll to destroy what remains of the opponent's crippled defenses.
Control: In addition to the previously mentioned removal it has access to, Abzan can grind out games using things like repeatable discard and removal, stax, land destruction and other strategies to deny resources and claim victory. These include cards like Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos, Attrition, Mind Slash, Smokestack/Life of the Loam/Awakening Zone, etc. Furthermore, green and white together feature the best artifact and enchantment removal in the game including Krosan Grip and Aura Shards.
Tribal: Another less competitive (usually) but fun strategy is tribal. In this case, Fungus/Saproling Tribal. In this aspect Abzan supports this strategy wholeheartedly. BGW encompasses almost every Fungus and Saproling card in existence. Furthermore, Abzan colors have signifigant token, counter(s), and anthem support. This can lead to explosive board-states utilizing cards like Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Saproling Symbiosis, Intangible Virtue, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Collective Blessing.
Play Ghave if:
You like to combo
You like to swarm (tokens)
You like to play non-blue control
You like stax
You like to manipulate counters and kill people with dice (le best)
You want to play Fungus tribal
You like tokens
Don't play Ghave if:
You like playing blue
You like playing red
You want to play Abzan good stuff
Other Generals
Anafenza, the Foremost: Anafenza is primarily used in 1v1 Competitive decks. These are primarily tempo decks with little relation to combo. I personally like Doran more due to his synergy and interaction available to him. However, Anafenza's second ability could be useful if heavy graveyard strategies are employed in your meta.
Daghatar the Adamant: A worse version of Ghave, essentially the same ability for 3 mana of it 2 colored. Stealing 1 power and 1 toughness from an opponent's creature for 3 mana isn't really cost efficient should the creatures even have +1/+1 counters. Daghatar can be used to fly under the radar however if you were say running some infinite combos. Not recommended.
Doran, the Siege Tower: A versatile commander, 5/5 for BGW being able to fulfill control, tempo, aggro, infect, and Treefolk tribal roles. Synergistic spells are cheap due to being "toughness" boosting abilities rather than "power." Strong contender for commander, however abilities generally don't add anything to combo potential. Should you decide not to play Ghave, Doran is an excellent choice.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: A good candidate for "Abzan Goodstuff." Can fulfill multiple roles including Goodstuff, Combo, Stax, ETB/LTB effects, Boardwipe.dec, Dredge etc. Definitely has combo potential but doesn't synergize (directly) as well as Ghave in combo (Undying Creature Combo) however there are definitely some strong combos associated with him including the Boonweaver Giant/Pattern of Rebirth combo associated with him. An excellent choice for a commander.
Teneb, the Harvester: Arguably worse than Karador but would be a good fit in Karador's 99. Must connect in order to reanimate and doesn't have Karador's cost reduction ability. However Teneb can take creatures from opponent's graveyards. A decent choice for commander, and is is the easiest to vultron (buff up one creature and attack) since giving him +1 power making him a 3-turn kill and double strike and/or double damage making him a 1 or 2-turn kill.
About the Primer
In this primer, I am going to showcase three versions of Ghave: Combo, Control, and Tribal. Henceforth referred to as Combo Ghave, Control Ghave, and Tribal Ghave. Out of these lists only the Combo Ghave is really optimized towards higher level play. Both Control Ghave and Tribal Ghave are geared towards more non-competitive play, the control build being the more optimized of the two.
My Deck (Combo)
About My Deck: My deck is a hybrid combo/control version of Ghave. Being a combo deck, I run a LOT of tutors to find the pieces I need and combo off. I currently play in a more aggro oriented meta. My list reflects that. I previously played in a very heavy control/boardwipe meta and ran cards like Defense Grid, City of Solitude, and Dosan the Falling Leaf. City of Solitude was definitely a favorite of mine since it shuts down even mana abilities on other people's turns. The deck is designed to go off between turns 4-6, usually 7 at the latest (5-6 is probably most common. Failing in that the deck has spot removal to delay the game long enough to find additional combo pieces.
Note: I have more or less tried to keep the deck close to being legal for both traditional and Duel Commander (1v1). This is why there are few "fast mana" cards like Mana Vault and Mana Crypt as they are all banned in Duel Commander.
History of My Deck: Ghave was my first commander and since then I've become a rabid fan. Not only of him but the pet Saprolings that he produces. This deck is my second iteration of Ghave and the third deck built (in chronological order). The first version of Ghave was a token swarm/good stuff/Planeswalker/+1/+1 counter hodgepodge of cards. Add on to this two things: 1) The boardwipe/blue smurf heavy meta mentioned before, with 4 out of 5 players running blue, and me not... 2) Generally polished decklists all around. Very much a cutthroat/sink or swim meta. And Ghave sunk HARD. Playing a deck where token swarm/attacking is your primary win condition in a meta where everyone is running (3-4+ boardwipes, including me ironically enough) is just not favorable. Furthermore, since tokens weren't creatures I thought I technically wasn't losing cards. Nevertheless, I forged on, adding an increasing number of boardwipes and some mass land destruction. It must be clear by now that I didn't know what I was doing.
It took a bit of time but I eventually realized I was going in a very wrong direction and the first iteration of Ghave was completely dismantled. Starting from scratch I threw in about every infinite combo I could get my hands on. I wanted to end the long draw out control games all at once. Ended up with 80 to 90 cards not including lands. Time to cut, out went the Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo, the random Karn, Silver Golem/Voltaic Construct/Guilded Lotus combo, and many others. After much deliberation I was able to narrow down my card choices and build a deck with the dreaded infinite combo. Since then I've polished, replacing cards with better and more efficient ones and concentrated on a few infinite loops.
Ideally your opening hand should include 3-4 mana sources (or a way to ramp into 3-4 mana), 2 or 3 combo pieces/tutor, and card draw. Ramp and draw/filtering like Sylvan Library and Dark Confidant/Phyrexian Arena is not as ideal but acceptable (especially if you already have a tutor/combo piece). In most games I spend the 2nd and/or 3rd turn ramping. Tutoring comes after that (or when applicable spare mana left over from ramping).
In general you want to look out for a creature/creature tutor and a artifact/enchantment tutor. This way you can get the creature(s) you need and the proper enabler to go with it.
Ghave has some rather complex interactions and in this section I'd like to dissect some of the more common and viable ones and explain just how they work.
Ghave, Guru of Spores + Phyrexian Altar/Ashnod's Altar + an Undying Creature: Can produce amoung other things: Infinite Saprolings (with Infinite +1/+1 counters)/Mana/sized-Ghave/Death & ETB triggers.
1) Sac an undying creature to an altar producing mana
2) Use Ghave's ability to remove the +1/+1 counter reseting the undying creature to be sac'ed again. This produces an infinite number of Saprolings which can be sac'ed to procude infinite mana.
3) Using this mana you can then make any of your creatures as arbitrarily as you want.
Pattern of Rebirth + Creature + Free Sac Outlet: Pattern of Rebirth fetches Boonweaver Giant which brings back Pattern of Rebirth. Boonweaver Giant is sac'ed to fetch Karmic Guide which then brings back Boonweaver Giant. Sac Boonweaver Giant again to fetch Fiend Hunter exiling Karmic Guide. Sac Fiend Hunter to return Karmic Guide which brings back Boonweaver Giant which is sac'ed again to fetch Reveillark. Getting Karmic Guide and Fiend Hunter into the graveyard allows Reveillark to bring back both Karmic Guide and Fiend Hunter which gives you an additional trigger with Karmic Guide to use Boonweaver Giant to fetch any other creatures you like.
9/18/2015 (Removal of Strip Mine for Wasteland due to 1v1 Banned List, Addition of Lotus Cobra to add additional creatures.)
-Strip Mine
+Wasteland
-Farseek
+Lotus Cobra
5/31/2015 (Bloom Tender cut as it often only tapped for G considering the low number of non-green permanents I currently run, Dark Confidant is great card draw and suits my low mana curve. Lotus Petal was added to hasten combo plays and to break the 1-land per turn rule temporarily.)
-Bloom Tender
+Dark Confidant
-Basic Land
+Lotus Petal
Control Ghave is meant to be played in a more non-competitive environment. The purpose of the deck is to draw out the game, allowing your peers to play their decks while at the same time maintaining the board state and keeping anyone from spiraling out of control. Because of their similarities Control Ghave is maintained as a "sideboard" for Combo Ghave.
Control Ghave developed out of Combo Ghave and while maintaining a few of Combo Ghave's infinite combos focuses on controlling the board through reusable engines getting the maximum value possible out of your cards. This often involves "dies" triggers and Ghave's ability to instantly create and sacrifice creatures.
The first order of business is to establish a reusable engine by which to control the board. Ghave's abilities enable some of the cheapest engines involve him. Prime examples of this include Ghave plus Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos and/or Aura Shards. While many engines involve Ghave, he is not essential as there are other token generation engines including Awakening Zone, Creakwood Liege, and Nath of the Gilt-Leaf all of which can generate tokens for card advantage or removal.
Once control over the board is established there are several card drawing engines that are available that will draw you into a combo kill. Cards like Skullclamp and Deathreap Ritual
.
.
.
Ghave is an extremely versatile general able to play aggro, control, combo, and tribal roles. This is because Abzan/Junk colors has access to some of the best tutors, creatures, and removal in the game. If you made a list of combos and synergies it would likely be better to make a list of things he doesn't synergize with. In my first iteration of Ghave (in My Deck/History) I stumbled across an infinite combo that I hadn't even intended to put in. This kind of discovery isn't uncommon because of his easy interaction with so many cards. Finally, Ghave himself can do so many little utility things like for 2 mana being able to make instant speed reusable chump-blockers or in response to a kill spell making a bunch of Saprolings for value.
Aggro/Midrange: The rise of Abzan Midrange in Modern has proven that Abzan has the tools available to pin its opponents down and pummel them to a pulp, using efficient removal and creatures. Abzan's removal suite includes the likes of Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Song of the Dryads and not to mention black's entire arsenal of creature removal. For beat down Abzan gets to play things like Serra Ascendant, Primordial Hydra, Grave Titan, and Thrun, the Last Troll to destroy what remains of the opponent's crippled defenses.
Combo: Combo always likes tutors and Abzan has some of the best tutors available. We have the best generic tutors like Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor etc. As well as more specific but still excellent tutors like Worldly Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, Eladamri's Call, Chord of Calling, and Green Sun's Zenith)
Control: In addition to the previously mentioned removal it has access to, Abzan can grind out games using things like repeatable discard and removal, stax, land destruction and other strategies to deny resources and claim victory. These include cards like Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos, Attrition, Mind Slash, Smokestack/Life of the Loam/Awakening Zone, etc. Furthermore, green and white together feature the best artifact and enchantment removal in the game including Krosan Grip and Aura Shards.
Tribal: Another less competitive (usually) but fun strategy is tribal. In this case, Fungus/Saproling Tribal. In this aspect Abzan supports this strategy wholeheartedly. BGW encompasses almost every Fungus and Saproling card in existence. Furthermore, Abzan colors have signifigant token, counter(s), and anthem support. This can lead to explosive board-states utilizing cards like Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, Saproling Symbiosis, Intangible Virtue, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Collective Blessing.
Play Ghave if:
Don't play Ghave if:
Other Generals
About My Deck: My deck is a hybrid combo/control version of Ghave. Being a combo deck, I run a LOT of tutors to find the pieces I need and combo off. I currently play in a more aggro oriented meta. My list reflects that. I previously played in a very heavy control/boardwipe meta and ran cards like Defense Grid, City of Solitude, and Dosan the Falling Leaf. City of Solitude was definitely a favorite of mine since it shuts down even mana abilities on other people's turns. The deck is designed to go off between turns 4-6, usually 7 at the latest (5-6 is probably most common. Failing in that the deck has spot removal to delay the game long enough to find additional combo pieces.
Note: I have more or less tried to keep the deck close to being legal for both traditional and Duel Commander (1v1). This is why there are few "fast mana" cards like Mana Vault and Mana Crypt as they are all banned in Duel Commander.
History of My Deck: Ghave was my first commander and since then I've become a rabid fan. Not only of him but the pet Saprolings that he produces. This deck is my second iteration of Ghave and the third deck built (in chronological order). The first version of Ghave was a token swarm/good stuff/Planeswalker/+1/+1 counter hodgepodge of cards. Add on to this two things: 1) The boardwipe/blue smurf heavy meta mentioned before, with 4 out of 5 players running blue, and me not... 2) Generally polished decklists all around. Very much a cutthroat/sink or swim meta. And Ghave sunk HARD. Playing a deck where token swarm/attacking is your primary win condition in a meta where everyone is running (3-4+ boardwipes, including me ironically enough) is just not favorable. Furthermore, since tokens weren't creatures I thought I technically wasn't losing cards. Nevertheless, I forged on, adding an increasing number of boardwipes and some mass land destruction. It must be clear by now that I didn't know what I was doing.
It took a bit of time but I eventually realized I was going in a very wrong direction and the first iteration of Ghave was completely dismantled. Starting from scratch I threw in about every infinite combo I could get my hands on. I wanted to end the long draw out control games all at once. Ended up with 80 to 90 cards not including lands. Time to cut, out went the Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo, the random Karn, Silver Golem/Voltaic Construct/Guilded Lotus combo, and many others. After much deliberation I was able to narrow down my card choices and build a deck with the dreaded infinite combo. Since then I've polished, replacing cards with better and more efficient ones and concentrated on a few infinite loops.
The infinite loops I currently run are:
Ghave, Guru of Spores + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar and an Undying creature.
Ghave, Guru of Spores + Earthcraft and an Undying creature (minus Geralf's Messenger)
(Any two of) Reveillark, Karmic Guide, and Saffi Eriksdotter + Sac Outlet
In general you want to look out for a creature/creature tutor and a artifact/enchantment tutor. This way you can get the creature(s) you need and the proper enabler to go with it.
Sample Hand: Crucible of Worlds, Swamp, Chord of Calling, Path to Exile, Caves of Koilos, Bloodstained Mire, Young Wolf.
Here we have utility (Crucible), three mana sources, a creature tutor (Chord), removal (Path) and a combo piece (Young Wolf).
I this decklist I've focused on a few key combos in order to lower my average CMC and eliminate dead cards.
By Type:
1x Ghave, Guru of Spores
Land (36)
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bayou
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Command Tower
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
1x Forbidden Orchard
3x Forest
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Godless Shrine
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Phyrexian Tower
2x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Strip Mine
2x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Twilight Mire
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Wasteland
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Blasting Station
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Mana Crypt
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
Enchantment (7)
1x Earthcraft
1x Necromancy
1x Necropotence
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
Creature (23)
1x Academy Rector
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Bloom Tender
1x Boonweaver Giant
1x Carrion Feeder
1x Dark Confidant
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Geralf's Messenger
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Karmic Guide
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Protean Hulk
1x Recruiter of the Guard
1x Reveillark
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Sun Titan
1x Sylvan Caryatid
1x Viscera Seer
1x Young Wolf
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Cruel Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Dimir Machinations
1x Farseek
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Grim Tutor
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Imperial Seal
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Nature's Lore
1x Reanimate
1x Sylvan Tutor
1x Three Visits
Instant (10)
1x Chord of Calling
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Entomb
1x Path to Exile
1x Shred Memory
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Tainted Pact
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Worldly Tutor
By Purpose: (Not up-to-date)
1x Ghave Guru of Spores
Land (34)
1x Bayou
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Command Tower
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
1x Forbidden Orchard
3x Forest
1x Gaea's Cradle
1x Godless Shrine
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Phyrexian Tower
2x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Strip Mine
2x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Twilight Mire
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Wasteland
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Wooded Foothills
Ramp (10)
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Bloom Tender
1x Farseek
1x Lotus Cobra
1x Mana Crypt
1x Nature's Lore
1x Sol Ring
1x Sylvan Caryatid
1x Three Visits
1x Wood Elves
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Eternal Witness
1x Karmic Guide
1x Necromancy
1x Reanimate
1x Reveillark
1x Sun Titan
1x Volrath's Stronghold
Draw (5)
1x Dark Confidant
1x Necropotence
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Skullclamp
1x Sylvan Library
Tutors (23)
1x Academy Rector
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Chord of Calling
1x Cruel Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Dimir Machinations
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Entomb
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Grim Tutor
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Imperial Seal
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Shred Memory
1x Sterling Grove
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Worldly Tutor
1x Blood Artist
1x Boonweaver Giant
1x Earthcraft
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Geralf's Messenger
1x Karmic Guide
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Reveillark
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Strangleroot Geist
1x Sun Titan
1x Young Wolf
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
Disruption (9)
1x Defense Grid
1x Dimir Machinations
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Path to Exile
1x Shred Memory
1x Song of the Dryads
1x Strip Mine
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Wasteland
SacOutlets (6)
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Blasting Station
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Viscera Seer
Utility (2)
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sylvan Library
2) Use Ghave's ability to remove the +1/+1 counter reseting the undying creature to be sac'ed again. This produces an infinite number of Saprolings which can be sac'ed to procude infinite mana.
3) Using this mana you can then make any of your creatures as arbitrarily as you want.
1x Ghave, Guru of Spores
Creatures (22):
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Blood Artist
1x Butcher Ghoul
1x Devoted Druid
1x Dimir House Guard
1x Dosan the Falling Leaf
1x Eternal Witness
1x Geralf's Messenger
1x Ghave, Guru of Spores
1x Karmic Guide
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Reveillark
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Silent Arbiter
1x Strangleroot Geist
1x Sun Titan
1x Triskelion
1x Viscera Seer
1x Young Wolf
Artifacts (12):
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Altar of the Brood
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Blasting Station
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Coalition Relic
1x Defense Grid
1x Golgari Signet
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Skullclamp
1x Darksteel Mutation
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Lignify
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Sterling Grove
1x Sylvan Library
Planeswalkers (1):
1x Liliana Vess
Lands (37):
1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1x Brushland
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Command Tower
10x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Krosan Verge
1x Llanowar Wastes
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Overgrown Tomb
3x Plains
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Sunpetal Grove
7x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Woodland Cemetery
Sorceries (13):
1x Bitter Ordeal
1x Cruel Tutor
1x Cultivate
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Dimir Machinations
1x Farseek
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Nature's Lore
1x Search for Tomorrow
1x Tooth and Nail
1x Chord of Calling
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Mortify
1x Putrefy
1x Shred Memory
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Worldly Tutor
Significant Changes: (Most recent first)
4/14/2018
-Boonweaver Giant
+Natural Order
-Grand Abolisher
+Mox Diamond
1/22/2015-2/28/2018
-Song of the Dryads
+Ancient Tomb
-Sterling Grove
+Arid Mesa
-Blood Artist
+Carrion Feeder
-Wood Elves
+Sakura-Tribe Elder
-Strangleroot Geist
+Protean Hulk
-Recruiter of the Guard
+Fauna Shaman
-Defense Grid
+Tainted Pact
1/21/2015 (Additon of the Boonweaver Combo)
-Dawntreader Elk
+Fiend Hunter
-Abzan Charm
+Boonweaver Giant
-Krosan Verge
+Reflecting Pool
-Forest
+Forbidden Orchard
-Altar of the Brood
+Zulaport Cutthroat
~1/5/2015 (Additon of Grim Tutor and Imperial Seal)
-Jarad's Orders
+Imperial Seal
11/21/2015 (Addition of Survival of the Fittest engine(s))
-Argivian Find
+Sun Titan
-Arcane Lighthouse
+High Market
-Lignify
+Survival of the Fittest
-Maelstrom Pulse
+Fauna Shaman
-Lotus Petal
+Necropotence
11/8/2015 (Abandonment of 1v1 Legality)
-Forest
+Strip Mine
-Beast Within
+Council's Judgement
-Sandsteppe Citadel
+Sensei's Divining Top
9/18/2015 (Removal of Strip Mine for Wasteland due to 1v1 Banned List, Addition of Lotus Cobra to add additional creatures.)
-Strip Mine
+Wasteland
-Farseek
+Lotus Cobra
8/15/2015 (Removal of Sol Ring to reduce cards on 1v1 Banned List)
-Sol Ring
+Arcane Lighthouse
8/4/2015 (Readdition of anti-control Cards, cutting of slower/redundant pieces)
-Butcher Ghoul
-Coalition Relic
+Grand Abolisher
+Defense Grid
6/20/2015 (Pain and Check lands replaced with filter and original dual lands. Chromatic Lantern replaced with Three Visits)
-Sunpetal Grove
-Isolated Chapel
-Woodland Cemetery
+Wooded Bastion
+Fetid Heath
+Twilight Mire
-Brushland
-Caves of Koilos
-Llanowar Wastes
+Savannah
+Scrubland
+Bayou
-Chromatic Lantern
+Three Visits
6/12/2015 (Utter End and Diabolic Tutor replaced to lower curve for Dark Confidant. Oblation serves the same purpose but can additionally be used to save/reuse permanents to draw. Abzan Charm added for card draw/removal abilities while Diabolic Tutor was removed since it usually took up an entire turn to cast.)
-Utter End
+Oblation
-Diabolic Tutor
+Abzan Charm
5/31/2015 (Bloom Tender cut as it often only tapped for G considering the low number of non-green permanents I currently run, Dark Confidant is great card draw and suits my low mana curve. Lotus Petal was added to hasten combo plays and to break the 1-land per turn rule temporarily.)
-Bloom Tender
+Dark Confidant
-Basic Land
+Lotus Petal
4/10/2015: (Tooth and Nail/Mikaeus/Triskelion combo cut due to high mana cost. Devoted Druid cut because 1) Good on mana ramp 2) Combo with Mikaeus no longer applies. Khans Fetches were also added at about the same time.)
-Tooth and Nail
-Mikaeus, The Unhallowed
-Triskelion
-Devoted Druid
+Bloom Tender
+Crucible of Worlds
+Utter End
+Sylvan Tutor
-5 Basics
+Bloodstained Mire
+Flooded Strand
+Polluted Delta
+Windswept Heath
+Wooded Foothills
?/??/2013/2014
-Melira, Sylvok Outcast
-Kitchen Finks
Control Ghave developed out of Combo Ghave and while maintaining a few of Combo Ghave's infinite combos focuses on controlling the board through reusable engines getting the maximum value possible out of your cards. This often involves "dies" triggers and Ghave's ability to instantly create and sacrifice creatures.
1x Ghave, Guru of Spores
Lands (35):
1x Bayou
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Command Tower
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
5x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
1x Krosan Verge
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Overgrown Tomb
3x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Strip Mine
5x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Twilight Mire
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Wooded Foothills
Instants (11):
1x Abzan Charm
1x Argivian Find
1x Beast Within
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Mortify
1x Oblation
1x Path to Exile
1x Putrefy
1x Slaughter Pact
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Utter End
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Farseek
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Nature's Lore
1x Steelshaper's Gift
1x Three Visits
1x Vindicate
Enchantments (18):
1x Aura Shards
1x Awakening Zone
1x Darksteel Mutation
1x Deathreap Ritual
1x Dictate of Erebos
1x Doubling Season
1x Earthcraft
1x Grave Pact
1x Lignify
1x Mind Slash
1x Mirri's Guile
1x Parallel Lives
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Retribution of the Ancients
1x Song of the Dryads
1x Sterling Grove
1x Sylvan Library
Creatures (15):
1x Academy Rector
1x Archfiend of Depravity
1x Blood Artist
1x Butcher Ghoul
1x Creakwood Liege
1x Eternal Witness
1x Geralf's Messenger
1x Grave Titan
1x Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
1x Sadistic Hypnotist
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Strangleroot Geist
1x Viscera Seer
1x Wood Elves
1x Young Wolf
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Blade of the Bloodchief
1x Coalition Relic
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Golgari Signet
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Unity
Once control over the board is established there are several card drawing engines that are available that will draw you into a combo kill. Cards like Skullclamp and Deathreap Ritual