​Controlling the Standard Metagame

Watching the standard metagame evolve over the past couple months has been an interesting journey. We’ve gone from domain is unstoppable to a bevy of aggro decks popping up each week. First with the toxic decks, then those in themselves evolving to include both bant and mono white builds. Picklock Ruiner top-8ing multiple standard challenges in a row, and more recently the convoke deck proving it has more room to grow in this environment. With the fall of domain, and the growth of small mana value aggro decks cropping up every week, I feel it's time for blue/white control to make a name for itself in this ecosystem.

The reason I feel this way is simple. Temporary Lockdown is a tailored tool to combat all the aggro decks. Toxic has a bevy of small creatures that get tagged by it in addition to Skrelv’s Hive being one of their better tools to grind through removal. Lockdown also being being removal that exiles matters against the Picklock Ruiner deck, since they play Tyvar’s Last Stand, which gives their creature Indestructible. Even all of the black based midrange decks play with a swath of creatures that cost 2 mana. Deep-Cavern Bat, Faerie Mastermind, Inti, and Bloodtithe Harvester to name a few.

Temporary Lockdown is the reason I want to be playing a deck like this. To round it out we have a good selection of removal spells in Get Lost, March of Otherworldly Light, and Lay Down Arms. The Wandering Emperor and Jace, the Perfected Mind as removal spells that win the game, and Memory Deluge alongside Deduce as ways to accrue advantage. The main way I envision to win the game is with Chrome Host Seedshark, and Ezrim, Agency Chief from Markov Manor. Markov Manor also brought the card No More Lies, as one of the best counterspells in the format. The main reason I believe in the counter spell so much, is that it's hard to be a dead card. Even when your opponent has the mana to pay, or even a Cavern of Souls, it can still be used to power out a March.

Thanks for reading. I’ll leave you with my current deck list, which I plan to play in some configuration this weekend at the NRG Chicago standard 5K.

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6179563#paper