This is a really cool deck that just went 5-0 at a tournament. I played it a bit today, and I'm hooked. You'd think this deck would be obvious - marrying two of the most powerful cards in standard into a strong deck that also has game against other control decks that are gaining the top spots these days in Standard. It also game against aggro decks - just being able to actually play stuff to block creatures and what not is more useful than draw-go. Nobody really thought to try this yet until now - the Guilds of Ravnica color pairs are all the rage. The deck has won a lot of games for me today, and I guess the added surprise is that people are going "wtf" probably. Something to try if you're looking for something new. It's a pretty obvious yet non-obvious deck that I think has some legs.
I think this could definitely be optimized for sure. It is really nice to have the counters on turn 4/5 for a control's decks sweepers though. Sometimes you get those knight + history draws and then protect it with counters and removal that they are hopeless, and it feels pretty good to do that.
I did lose one game to jeskai control - the list with explosions. I was 1 counterspell short after we both went through most of our decks. I almost decked him though - was super close and down to the wire of 1 card in his library and only 2 cards in hand (which were both counterspells). I had one counter, but not 2
I think there's promise here to work from. I'm hopeful this can be a real deck, especially once the next Ravnica set is released. It feels a lot more proactive and does a good job targeting decks on the rise.
A control (a midrange deck actually) deck with a twist that isn't all reactive ? I like this.
My main concern is the manabase, without Hallowed Fountain it is very shaky and slow.
Also I'm not sure why Karn is here over Tezzeret which would be better here imho though it does cost 1-more mana.
My main concern is the manabase, without Hallowed Fountain it is very shaky and slow.
Yeah, it is not the best. In order to cast History of Benalia consistently on turn 3, we need 18 white sources and the deck only has 15. I think the Field of Ruins actually have to go, and we probably need to swap an island for 1 more plains. This means Sinister Sabotage has to go, since we can't have both 18 white sources and 18 blue sources by turn 3 without Hallowed Fountain.
We also need 16 white sources to cast Settle the Wreckage consistently on turn 4 as well, and so adding more plains is the right choice.
So yeah, we need some different 2 and 3-mana cards - not a ton of options yet without the Azorius cards. Besides the angel, maybe a main-deck Negates? We could also think about running Exclusion Mage, but that really helps Golgari decks. Response is a card we can actually play too if we want more removal for green decks. I'm pretty much okay with only 2 Seal Aways - cards are dead sometimes. Besides a Treasure Map, there's no artifacts I really want to play.
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2 Karn, Scion of Urza (DAR) 1
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (DAR) 207
4 Knight of Grace (DAR) 23
1 Cleansing Nova (M19) 9
3 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
1 Disdainful Stroke (GRN) 37
2 Essence Scatter (M19) 54
3 Settle the Wreckage (XLN) 34
4 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
1 Syncopate (DAR) 67
4 History of Benalia (DAR) 21
1 Ixalan's Binding (XLN) 17
2 Seal Away (DAR) 31
2 Search for Azcanta (XLN) 74
1 Arch of Orazca (RIX) 185
2 Field of Ruin (XLN) 254
4 Glacial Fortress (XLN) 255
7 Island (XLN) 265
4 Meandering River (DAR) 274
1 Memorial to Genius (DAR) 243
7 Plains (XLN) 261
1 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
2 Seal Away (DAR) 31
2 Lyra Dawnbringer (DAR) 26
1 Mystic Archaeologist (M19) 63
3 Negate (RIX) 44
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide (RIX) 45
2 Shield Mare (M19) 37
3 Tocatli Honor Guard (XLN) 42
I did lose one game to jeskai control - the list with explosions. I was 1 counterspell short after we both went through most of our decks. I almost decked him though - was super close and down to the wire of 1 card in his library and only 2 cards in hand (which were both counterspells). I had one counter, but not 2
I think there's promise here to work from. I'm hopeful this can be a real deck, especially once the next Ravnica set is released. It feels a lot more proactive and does a good job targeting decks on the rise.
My main concern is the manabase, without Hallowed Fountain it is very shaky and slow.
Also I'm not sure why Karn is here over Tezzeret which would be better here imho though it does cost 1-more mana.
I'm also not a fan of the SB Tocatli Honor Guard, what is it for anyway ?
Some random creature options for this deck (maybe for the SB) can be:
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, Murmuring Mystic, Leonin Warleader, Shalai, Voice of Plenty and maybe even Surge Mare.
Yeah, it is not the best. In order to cast History of Benalia consistently on turn 3, we need 18 white sources and the deck only has 15. I think the Field of Ruins actually have to go, and we probably need to swap an island for 1 more plains. This means Sinister Sabotage has to go, since we can't have both 18 white sources and 18 blue sources by turn 3 without Hallowed Fountain.
We also need 16 white sources to cast Settle the Wreckage consistently on turn 4 as well, and so adding more plains is the right choice.
So yeah, we need some different 2 and 3-mana cards - not a ton of options yet without the Azorius cards. Besides the angel, maybe a main-deck Negates? We could also think about running Exclusion Mage, but that really helps Golgari decks. Response is a card we can actually play too if we want more removal for green decks. I'm pretty much okay with only 2 Seal Aways - cards are dead sometimes. Besides a Treasure Map, there's no artifacts I really want to play.