Pro Tour Eldritch Moon is in the books, and it was an incredible weekend packed with exciting end-of-season races and intense competition. It’s also safe to say that the metagame didn’t look anything like what we might have expected based on the first few weekends of results. Most people were expecting Bant Collected Company decks to be an overbearing presence at the Pro Tour, but instead it was Emrakul, the Promised End who made her presence felt at the top tables. But, in perhaps the most flavorful twist we’ve ever seen at the Pro Tour, it was not Emrakul, the Promised End who took the tournament down, but rather the combination of Liliana, the Last Hope and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar led by Lukas Blohon:

Black-White Control ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Lukas Blohon, Pro Tour Eldritch Moon Champion

• Creatures (7)
• 3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 3 Archangel Avacyn
• 1 Linvala, the Preserver

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 3 Liliana, the Last Hope
• 2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis

• Spells (21)
• 4 Grasp of Darkness
• 4 Languish
• 3 Read the Bones
• 2 Anguished Unmaking
• 2 Hallowed Moonlight
• 2 Ruinous Path
• 2 Transgress the Mind
• 2 Ultimate Price

• Lands (26)
• 4 Plains
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Forsaken Sanctuary
• 4 Shambling Vent
• 1 Blighted Fen

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Duress
• 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 2 Dead Weight
• 2 Infinite Obliteration
• 1 Ultimate Price
• 1 Transgress the Mind
• 1 Anguished Unmaking

Buy This Deck

Black-White Control has been a presence in the format since last season, in large part due to the versatile combination of removal spells, sweepers, and powerful Planeswalkers like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Sorin, Grim Nemesis, and Ob Nixilis Reignited. The deck had fallen out of favor in recent weeks, but the rise of Emrakul, the Promised End may mean it’s time for the deck to make a big comeback. Lukas Blohon’s maindeck, and most previous builds of Black-White, were primarily focused on keeping pace with the aggressive White decks in the format, relying on sweepers and powerful Planeswalkers to help against Bant Company decks. The key is that there are tools available in the 75 to help contain and beat up on Emrakul, the Promised End decks.

The key is to start with Duress and Transgress the Mind to steal key ramp spells or delirium enablers like Tormenting Voice, Nissa's Pilgrimage, or Gather the Pack. Then you can follow up with removal spells on key creatures like Jace, Vryn's Prodigy or Nissa, Vastwood Seer. Powerful threats like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Archangel Avacyn let you pressure the Emrakul, the Promised End decks, while Blighted Fen gives you a clean answer to the Eldrazi monster as long as you can keep the board relatively clear with the rest of your removal spells. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in particular is a powerful threat against the Emrakul, the Promised End decks, as it can threaten huge chunks of damage on its own. Additionally, unlike many other Planeswalkers, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar doesn’t really offer any devastating options when your opponent steals your turn. You even have access to Infinite Obliteration to take key end game spells like Elder Deep-Fiend and Emrakul, the Promised End out of opposing decks.

Liliana, the Last Hope is one of a few exciting pick-ups this deck got from Eldritch Moon. Liliana, the Last Hope in particular is an incredible card in the format, as it can come down early to protect you from aggressive starts, start buying back key creatures like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet against aggressive decks or Archangel Avacyn against midrange decks, or you can just cast her on turn three and tick up towards an emblem to overwhelm Emrakul, the Promised End strategies. Additionally, the deck picked up clean, instant-speed answers to Elder Deep-Fiend like Murder.

As long as you can accurately predict what you expect to play against, and structure your 75 appropriately, this deck still has all the raw card advantage, versatile answers, and powerful threats that you could possibly need to fight against the format. The trick is that you’ve always got to be one step ahead; otherwise you’ll find that your answers don’t line up correctly and winning games will be very difficult.