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The Wandering Emperor Art by William Arnold

Standard Azorius Control Deck Guide: Classic Control Is Back

Do you miss the days of playing a classic Control deck? Miss it no longer! Skura is here to say that Control may be a good option again in Standard!

If you are a fan of passing the turn indefinitely, then there is one very strong deck for you in the current Standard environment. It has gotten slowly better and better with each set and Phyrexa: All Will Be One gave the deck even better mana thanks to Seachrome Coast.

Once you know what the shape of the current metagame is, you can tailor-make your deck to be able to answer all the key threats that are there in the format. There are grindy decks? You play more card draw and planeswalkers. A ton of aggro? You can main deck Temporary Lockdown. Decks like these reward metagame knowledge and preparation heavily and allow you to punish others. It fares well against expensive spells as it can counter them with cards like Make Disappear or Dissipate. On top of that, Control is much less afraid of permanents with enter-the-battlefield triggers as, preferably, those permanents won’t enter play in the first place.

Azorius Control
by Skura
Buy on TCGplayer $377.08
Standard
best of 3
6 mythic
37 rare
4 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (6)
Instants (20)
4
Syncopate
$1.40
2
Fateful Absence
$1.98
2
Make Disappear
$1.98
4
Dissipate
$1.40
4
Memory Deluge
$3.96
Sorceries (7)
2
Silver Scrutiny
$0.98
4
Depopulate
$3.16
1
Farewell
$6.99
Lands (27)
4
Island
$1.40
3
Plains
$1.05
4
Adarkar Wastes
$33.96
4
Seachrome Coast
$19.96
1
Blast Zone
$0.59
4
Deserted Beach
$21.96
60 Cards
$374.8
Sideboard
3
Negate
$1.17
3
Sunset Revelry
$1.05
15 Cards
$55.13

Deck Tech

I have tested Mindsplice Apparatus and have come to the conclusion that it is not the best thing you could be doing in an otherwise fair control deck. You need to devote 3-4 slots for Apparatus, spend the entire turn four to play it, and there is still the risk that it gets Abraded. When it gets going, it’s great, but the curve of such decks is already high enough to begin with. I’ve found that it fares better in decks whose Mindsplice payoff is a bit less fair like decks with Alrund's Epiphany in Explorer.

For all those reasons, this deck has 0 copies of Apparatus.

Threats

Control decks are not exactly known for having numerous threats. Let’s address the ones that are played in this shell.

The only planeswalker in Magic with flash. It fits perfectly into the game plan of passing the turn and trying to find the right window to play a more expensive spell. In the past, those spells have been some versions of draw effects like Glimmer of Genius or Behold the Multiverse. To that now we can add a really scary threat that can be deployed any time.

The Wandering Emperor is an exile removal on a stick which you can use in combat before damage or on the end step. Crucially, the walker stays on the battlefield after the effect so you can utilise it further. The best outcome for you is when you get rid of a creature that’s 4+ mana such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Serra Paragon, or Ao, the Dawny Sky.

Furthermore, it’s a self-contained token machine that can take over the board on its own.

I do believe this is a sleeper card in Standard. Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim is excellent at closing games and making the opponent have an answer immediately. When it makes the Spirit on an empty board, the whole situation can easily escalate out of control. Not only do the token and Teferi gain counters with each draw step, but more and more tokens can also get generated every turn. Consequently, the simple fact that you draw a card every turn makes your board position super threatening. I am not looking to ultimate Teferi, as there is no need, the Spirit tokens are going to be very tough to contain.

On top of that, we can draw even more cards to trigger tokens and Teferi and the best way is Silver Scrutiny. Drawing 3 on the end step will yield 3 triggers for each permanent. You can also cycle a Triome to get the trigger. There might be some other draw effects that can help with that such as Clue tokens or maybe new cards that you would include in the list. Crucially, Memory Deluge does not technically *draw*, so it wouldn’t work with Teferi.

While this walker can just act as a personal Howling Mine, it is much better utilised as a way to create super-threatening creatures every (other) turn.

Countermagic

As far as I’m concerned, this shell works great with a draw-go approach. We can pass the turn, assess whether a spell needs an answer and adjust accordingly. The most rewarding type of interaction with such a plan is undoubtedly countermagic. It will usually trade up on mana and give the most flexibility.

Syncopate is a super flexible piece of interaction that is particularly tricky to play against. I mostly like it as a Censor of sorts as interacting on the second turn is super crucial to counter Reckoner Bankbuster on the play or Fable of the Mirror-Breaker on the draw. The exile clause is not irrelevant as it comes in handy against cards like Phoenix Chick, Memory Deluge, or Voidwing Hybrid. While later in the game, other soft counters such as Make Disappear or Spell Pierce diminish greatly in value, Syncopate can still be cashed in to counter a card, even if it means that you have to sink a lot of mana into it.

I do think that you want to go for full four with such a draw-go-y strategy.

This is our Standard legal variation on Mana Leak. In the early game, it will do the job most of the time. It isn’t until turn six and later that it loses its efficacy and you need to use casualty or it just does nothing. Speaking of casualty, this deck is particularly well-equipped to take advantage of the mechanic as it makes plenty of tokens between The Wandering Emperor and Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim Admittedly, you don’t really want to cash in Teferi’s tokens as they are integral to the plan of closing the game but sometimes you may have to.

Strategically, you should cash in Make Disappear relatively early, knowing that there will be a moment when it expires. It’s usually not that much of a case with tempo strategies which close the game fast anyways. However, this deck aims to go long and, by definition, there will frequently be games where this counter expires.

There is one cheeky use that you can put into your arsenal with all the above in mind. Instead of not casting when the opp can pay 2, you can play it anyways with the sheer intention of tapping them out so that your Memory Deluge, Wrath of God effect, or planeswalker resolves. Those soft counters can engage in massive mental magic plays, as the opponent may be confused why you’re casting a pay-two counter when they can indeed pay two.

Cancel with an exile clause. As I’ve mentioned already, exiling a card does have its applications, and between Syncopate and Dissipate, we have got a ton of insurance against recurring threats.

Dissipate is a hard counter, no questions asked. There are cases in the late game where your soft permission may fall flat and you want to be able to say ‘no’, no matter the circumstances.

Try to gauge in any given spot whether using a soft counter will do it or whether you need to go with Dissipate. Sometimes it may be better to tap them out with Make Disappear and play a walker rather than Dissipate and have the rest of the mana unused.

Removal

As all the control decks, there is a large swathe of removal spells in the deck. Let’s look at all of them.

The most flexible removal spell in the format. March of Otherworldly Light‘s ability to tag enchantments and artifacts cannot be understated. In the past, control shells really didn’t want to see sticky permanents, but now, we don’t have to be afraid of Phyrexian Arena or Skrelv's Hive. There is downside to the flexibility and that’s the fact that you will always trade down on mana by the sheer virtue of how the card works. In order to exile a one-drop, you need to pay two mana; to exile a two-drop, you need to pay three; etc. This means that it’s going to fare pretty bad in the face of multiple one-drops as you won’t be able to keep up.

What’s particularly unique about it is the fact that you can pitch a card to reduce the cost by 2. The most common play pattern is going to be exiling a one- or two-drop very early in the game by paying a single white and exiling a card. Why would you rid yourself of cards to do so? Control decks have got this intrinsic characteristic that the cards are, on average, more expensive and more powerful. If a control deck loses, it will do so with multiple cards in hand that it hasn’t had an opportunity to deploy. With that in mind, it’s better to 2-for-1 yourself to ensure staying alive than lose with multiple cards in hand. On top of that, it’s easy to recuperate the lost card advantage thanks to those powerful effects that the deck plays. In the long run, that one lost card is not going to matter much.

As we cannot play more than 4 Marches, we need to add a different removal spell. Fateful Absence is an unconditional removal which, crucially, tags Planeswalkers. Its presence in the deck makes it so that we are not completely cold to a resolved walker. In more walker dense metagame, I could see playing even three or four copies of Absence.

While giving the opponent the clue is not desired, it is better to prolong the game. Again, the theme of us being much better in longer games comes through. If we stabilise, that one card won’t matter much. On top of that, the opponent has to commit two mana to eat the clue which is not trivial. If they do so in the early game, it might mean that they have to spend almost all the mana on turn three, or half the mana on turn four – which is very much what we’d like to see. I will give my opponent a card for free if it means they tap out instead of playing Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.

You cannot have an Azorius control deck without a variation on Wrath of God. In this Standard environment, we’re playing Depopulate which is functionally very close to the original. The opponent drawing a card has come up, but it wasn’t very frequent. There are many mono coloured decks in Standard now where Depopulate wouldn’t draw them a card, there are colorless or single colour prototypes, and sagas. The most popular multi-coloured creatures in the format would be Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Raffine, Scheming Seer, and Corpse Appraiser. All in all, you won’t have to deal with this condition being met too often. Even if it is met though, it’s not a big issue as the opponent is losing their entire battlefield.

Depopulate is a great way to reset the game and try to play from scratch. It’s particularly devastating if you have a planeswalker on the field or can play Depopulate and still hold up countermagic.

The most powerful mass removal in Magic. It truly removes all the angles of presence that the opp could have. The reason why I don’t play more is the cost – six mana is frequently too much to be able to rely on it. It’s more of a turn ten total reset while holding up Dissipate.

Card Draw

Another key deckbuilding element of any control deck is card draw. You cannot keep exchanging resources 1-for-1 without a way to eventually pull ahead. These effects are particularly important in a March of Otherworldly Light deck where you may need pitch cards.

Memory Deluge is so strong that it sees play in Pioneer, Explorer, Historic, and even Modern. The first cast is just good but once you flashback it, it gets really powerful. It provides the deck with inevitability of sorts as it always has a way to cast Dig Through Time when there is a window. Playing against it does feel super miserable when the control player has the luxury to flash it back.

It is the only card that uses the graveyard so more often than not you can freely exile the grave with Farewell. However, be mindful of the fact that there may be Deluge in the grave.

Silver Scrutiny is an additional piece of card advantage on top of Memory Deluge. I have found myself always casting it for x=3 at most in order to take advantage of casting it instant speed. I have not yet played it main phase but I can imagine long games where I top deck it and just tap out to completely refill.

When you are faced with the decision of whether to play Deluge or Scrutiny on turn four, ask yourself whether you’re looking for a specific effect. If you are, play Deluge. If you just want to get a sheer mass of cards, you can go with Scrutiny and Deluge later when you need to find a particular card, where Deluge’s card selection part shines.


Best of One

Azorius Control Bo1
by Skura
Buy on TCGplayer $331.6
Standard
best of 3
6 mythic
39 rare
2 uncommon
13 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (6)
Instants (20)
4
Syncopate
$1.40
4
Fateful Absence
$3.96
2
Make Disappear
$1.98
2
Dissipate
$0.70
4
Memory Deluge
$3.96
Sorceries (7)
2
Silver Scrutiny
$0.98
4
Depopulate
$3.16
1
Farewell
$6.99
Lands (27)
4
Island
$1.40
3
Plains
$1.05
4
Adarkar Wastes
$33.96
4
Seachrome Coast
$19.96
1
Blast Zone
$0.59
4
Deserted Beach
$21.96
60 Cards
$376.08

In Best of One there is more aggro so I play a bit more removal compared to the Best of Three list.


Budget

Azorius Control Budget
by Skura
Buy on TCGplayer $130.79
Standard
best of 3
4 mythic
7 rare
8 uncommon
41 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (4)
Instants (21)
4
Syncopate
$1.40
2
Destroy Evil
$3.98
4
Deadly Riposte
$1.40
4
Make Disappear
$3.96
4
Dissipate
$1.40
3
Memory Deluge
$2.97
Sorceries (4)
4
Depopulate
$3.16
Enchantments (4)
4
Ossification
$3.16
Lands (27)
7
Island
$2.45
8
Plains
$2.80
4
Evolving Wilds
$1.40
60 Cards
$116

The deck has a ton of rares and mythics so it was quite tough to make it more budget. The part I found most budget-able was the interaction and the mana base.


Matchups and Sideboard Guide

Hullbreaker Horror Art by Svetlin Velinov
Hullbreaker Horror Art by Svetlin Velinov

Grixis Midrange

INOUT
+2 Hullbreaker Horror-2 Fateful Absence
+3 Negate-3 Depopulate

A true grind fest. We want to take advantage of the fact that we blank a ton of their removal. The asymmetrical dynamic is that our removal is not dead, but theirs largely is. A key interaction is growing your token out of Cut Down range by buffing the creature with The Wandering Emperor‘s +1 and putting a counter on it.

When keeping your opener, think how bad it’s going to be if they play Reckoner Bankbuster into Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. If you assess that it would be pretty bad, mulligan that hand.

Mono White Midrange

INOUT
+2 Hullbreaker Horror-2 March of Otherworldly Light

Another grindy matchup. I like it more than Grixis as our exile removal is going to shine in the face of Serra Paragon. The early 1/1 creatures that they deploy barely matter and can easily be hit by Depopulate or just blocked by our Samurai tokens. The main thing to remember is that when they pass the turn they might be holding up The Wandering Emperor Don’t get too comfortable thinking they’ve got nothing.

Azorius Soldiers

INOUT
+4 Temporary Lockdown-2 Memory Deluge
-2 Silver Scrutiny

This matchup is tough. Games very easily slip out of control if they curve out with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben You should deliberately pitch cards to March of Otherworldly Light to keep the board clear. While Depopulate can be absolutely game-ending, but it might be tough to play as it may just be too slow, especially on the draw. Play a jund-esque game, feel free to tap out main phase, remove everything you can. The way you’re going to pull ahead is by deploying walkers, rather than by drawing a ton of cards. You want as many cards that interact and affect the board.

Mono Blue Tempo

INOUT
+2 Hullbreaker Horror-2 March of Otherworldly Light
+3 Negate-2 Depopulate
-1 Farewell

Mono Blue likes playing interactive on-stack games which is fine for us as they basically cannot beat Hullbreaker Horror. They have got powerful threats, but they get easily got rid of with Fateful Absence or The Wandering Emperor‘s minus ability. Do you best not to walk into Spell Pierce with expensive spells.

Mono Red Aggro

INOUT
+4 Temporary Lockdown-2 Memory Deluge
+3 Sunset Revelry-2 Silver Scrutiny
-1 Farewell
-2 Depopulate

Similar to Soldiers, but much more predictable. Sunset Revelry is a great stabilisation tool and Temporary Lockdown will tag everything early in the game. Even if you have Lockdown, you may need to cast a removal turn two just to preserve life total. I cut card draw as I need to focus on cards that interact or affect the battlefield.

Azorius Control Mirror

INOUT
+2 Hullbreaker Horror-4 Depopulate
+3 Negate-1 Farewell

Usually control mirrors are very much a positional game. There will be a ton of cat and mouse dancing to see who blinks first. You need to map out their best way to punish you for committing and play accordingly. The key is to make your land drops, especially as it will make the soft counters expire.

Tips and Tricks

Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim Art by Magali Villeneuve
Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim Art by Magali Villeneuve
  • When you play The Wandering Emperor on any given turn, you do not need to use her abilities right away. You can use them any time on that turn.
  • You can cast Fateful Absence targeting your own creature or planeswalker e.g. in response to opposing removal. This way you will end up with a Clue token.
  • If you pay five mana to cast Memory Deluge with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben on the battlefield, you will look at top five cards of your library, as Deluge cares about the mana spent, not its converted mana cost. The same is true for its flashback.
  • Generally speaking, if you are not sure whether to play your Triomes as lands, play them as lands.
  • Despite the infrequency of such an occurrence, the Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim‘s token has vigilance, even though it’s blue.
  • In desperate situations, you can use The Wandering Emperor‘s minus ability to exile your own creature, just to get two life.

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Skura
Skura

Also known as Skura or IslandsInFront on Twitter and YouTube, Filip started his career upon the release of Gatecrash and has been passing the turn in all formats ever since. He coaches and creates written and video content, mainly centered around the control archetype. He is passionate about Magic game theory and countering spells. Outside of Magic, he is a fan of snooker/pool, chess and Project Management.

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