// Lands
4 [UNH] Forest
8 [UNH] Island
4 [ALA] Seaside Citadel
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
2 [ZEN] Magosi, the Waterveil
2 [M10] Glacial Fortress

// Creatures
3 [ZEN] Scute Mob
4 [ARB] Lorescale Coatl

// Spells
3 [MOR] Negate
3 [M10] Garruk Wildspeaker
3 [M10] Jace Beleren
4 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
2 [M10] Essence Scatter
2 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
4 [M10] Time Warp
4 [M10] Ponder
4 [CFX] Path to Exile

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [ZEN] Day of Judgment
SB: 4 [ZEN] Cosi's Trickster
SB: 3 [M10] Sleep


The point is pretty simple: counter spells, draw cards, remove threats, play some Scute Mobs and Coatls, take some extra turns, and bash for 20.

I started out trying to play just G/U, but blue in standard is weak enough now that it really needed a splash to make it work. White was a pretty easy choice, as it gave me access to two cards the deck really needed: Day of Judgment and Path to Exile. I considered black as a splash, but the better black cards really want you to have a lot of swamps, which wasn't a concession I wanted to make.

Like I said before, blue has been significantly weakened in Standard since we lost Cryptic Command and Broken Ambitions, so the control suite is a reflection of the sub-par permission spells available. Running Negates and Scatters is dicey, sure, but Spell Pierce has been an incredible card for me in testing. It helps keep red's burn spells and white's token/pump spells at bay, and blows out control match-ups where counter battles are critical. Mindbreak Trap is pretty cool, but four mana to counter a spell (even an uncounterable spell) is a steep price. Two feels like the right number, but two more in the board can't hurt. I haven't nailed a three-spell cascade yet, but after abusing cascade last PTQ season, I have certainly cast enough to know that they happen frequently enough to want some protection.

Jace is still the best card-draw available, but isn't enough alone - hence the full set of Ponder. It's nice to help craft better hands, and a ratio of 1 mana: 1 card is better than you get out of Jace a lot of the time. Don't argue against this; you know people play Maelstrom Pulse.

Time Warp could probably be cut to three, since it's so awful to see two in your opening seven. But taking extra turns with Mobs, Coatls, and planeswalkers on the board is so pro I hesitate to run less than the full set. Magosi is pretty interesting, too. I don't know if you guys have messed with it much, but skipping a turn with a Silence or relevant counters in hand is really a breeze... Not that there are any Silences in the deck, although I haven't ruled it out.

The sideboard isn't really a sideboard, more of short-list of cards I wish I could squeeze into the main. Needles seem extremely relevant with the new Zendikar cards, and DoJ is pretty important against creature-heavy decks that want to outpace you. Sleep isn't totally necessary with all the Warps. Trickster is situational enough to be almost useless, although I have had opponents choose not to search for a land when he's on the board, and fetch-lands can make him pretty huge. On the whole, Coatl is just, you know, better, so the best I can offer Kosi is a sb slot.

Anyway, more testing is the next step. Wish me luck!