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Main » Articles » Azorius Updates in Standard and Modern

Azorius Updates in Standard and Modern

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on February 28, 2020
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I skipped SCG Indianapolis due to a hectic time at work, but put a lot of work into the format. Magic tournaments are fun for me, but skipping rest days last weekend would be asking too much. When it feels like a chore it's all right to take some time off.

Grand Prix Detroit is coming up quickly so I need to stay up to date with Standard. I'm going to discuss where Azorius Control is in the metagame and where I'm taking it next. This deck plays like a Dream and I'm excited to battle.

Modern is just a great format and I play it every week. I stumbled upon a new approach to Azorius Stoneblade thanks to a list that won a MODO Challenge. I'll go over my improvements to the archetype.

Let's get to it!

Standard

Azorius Control is the only deck I'm planning to play at Grand Prix Detroit. Zach Allen has been crushing the SCG Tour for weeks and everyone knows it has a target on its back. It doesn't seem to matter.

For reference, here's the approach Zach Allen takes to the deck. This particular list is what he used to take down SCG Philly a few weeks ago.

Azorius Control | THB Standard | Zach Allen

This is now a very classic approach to the deck. There are six counters combined with some instant-speed drawing in Chemister's Insight. Three copies of Dream Trawler was good early on in Standard as players weren't aware beating this creature was a litmus test of the format. I can see dropping to two.

Zach is a big fan of Elspeth Conquers Death and so am I. Every time I see the spell being cast it's devastating. There are even appealing targets against Mono-Red. When your answers line up against aggro and control you're in the right place.

Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa won the World Championship playing Azorius Control last week. It's always good to see an underdog take down the title. I expect to see more from him in the future. Here's his list:

Azorius Control | THB Standard | Paolo Vitor Damo Da Rosa, 1st Place World Championship

It has been said Paulo and Ondrej Strasky heavily metagamed against a small field. It can be argued they expected a field littered with Blue decks which makes main decking Mystical Dispute appealing. I think it's defensible to maindeck Mystical Dispute because it's either medium or great in any given matchup. There's great upside potential.

I think this is even a valid approach in a wider field as Paulo increased the number of instants in the deck and reduced the number of expensive cards in Dream Trawler. You have more opportunities to cast Dispute for three mana.

He sacrificed the Game 1 percentage against Red, but I believe the matchup to be extremely favorable after sideboard anyway.

In situations like this I like to ask myself:

Here's my current take on Azorius Control:

Azorius Control | THB Standard | Kyle Boggemes

At a high level I stuck with additional tapout elements from Zach Allen's deck and augmented with some of the nimbleness from Paulo.

By now I'm sure you have realized I don't like to play stock lists. It's not interesting and my opponents would know exactly what I'm doing. The metagame is constantly moving as well which means a stock list is often for last week's mix of decks. Magic moves so fast there are often some small adjustments to provide an edge. I try my best to customize.

For Azorius Control the customization means I can take a proactive approach. Watching Paulo play on coverage was a delight and it would be a tall order to ask me to play tight for two days of a Grand Prix. I want some more easy buttons in Elspeth Conquers Death, Dream Trawler, and Archon of Sun's Grace. In fact, some of my best Constructed Grand Prix finishes are with tapout uwdecks. Stick to what you know when possible.

I like three The Birth of Meletis because they get cut frequently against slower decks. In most matchups it's just a slow Plains. I prefer a second Glass Casket over the fourth Birth because it can exile Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, Brazen Borrower, and Gadwick, the Wizened against Temur Reclamation. It's mainly weaker against uw Control.

Even when Birth and Glass Casket are dead they can be discarded to two Chemister's Insight. I wasn't impressed with Thirst for Meaning as Glass Casket, Shatter the Sky, and Dovin's Veto are likely cards to be discarded. The extra cards can also be used to give Dream Trawler hexproof. For this reason you don't have to worry about running out of Plains in the deck for Birth; uw uses every part of the buffalo.

Dream Trawler can slam the door in matchups such as Jund Sacrifice and Mono-Red, but can be too expensive elsewhere. Play one game against Temur Reclamation and you'll find there aren't many options to cast Trawler. A couple Archon of Sun's Grace can help close games quickly while being a good defensive measure against Mono-Red. For this reason I'm able to cut the third Trawler and fourth Shatter the sky to make room for the Pegasus.

Even when the Pegasus dies early in the game I can bring it back with four Elspeth Conquers Death. I rarely cut Elspeth Conquers Death and I get to play a tapout game as things drag out. Cheaper creatures and planeswalkers help make chapter 3 powerful.

I've seen some lists with three Omen of the Sea. Don't do this; the card is too good at letting you hit land drops. This is more important after sideboard without access to The Birth of Meletis. I also want to play as many enchantments as possible without sacrificing quality for card types.

At this point it is known that Castle Ardenvale is very good in the mirror which is a very popular matchup. I need to keep up in the arms race and play three.

Since I cut Birth in the mirror, a 26th land is in the sideboard - Field of Ruin. I would prefer a second Field to a fourth Castle Ardenvale because it can also blow up Castle Vantress against Temur Reclamation. It's not popular to board a 26th land, but it's important. The times you board out Birth are situations where counter wars are common. It's critical to hit your land drops.

Banishing Light is a catch-all in the sideboard. I would play it in the main if Teferi, Time Raveler didn't exist. It provides extra ways to deal with creatures against Temur Reclamation and deals with stickier planeswalkers out of the sideboard of Mono-Red. The last thing Banishing Light can do is exile Witch's Oven.

Commence the Endgame was popularized by Paulo at Worlds and is the top threat against opposing Blue decks. It cannot be countered so I like it more than Dream Trawler post board as it gets hit by Mystical Dispute. The amass token can be bounced against Temur Reclamation, but Petty Theft will get a good target as threatening a bounce on Teferi is already quite relevant.

Three Mystical Dispute is enough because games can go long and it's not necessary to have so many counters post board. There will be a time you can get a late dispute to be effective against Wilderness Reclamation given the amount of X spells in the deck.

It has been a while since I was able to play a big Standard tournament. I'm happy to say I'll be registering four Hallowed Fountain.

Modern Azorius Stoneblade

I thought I did everything there was to do with Stoneblade until I saw the winning list from a Modern Challenge piloted by TSPJendrek:

Azorius Stoneblade | Modern | TSPJendrek, MTGO Modern Challenge

The innovation here is to add a second Mystic Sanctuary as well as a Deprive. This sounds small, but it affected how I thought about the deck.

Here's my current take:

Azorius Stoneblade | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

The deck plays out quite differently despite the major change being a swap of a Celestial Colonnade for a second Mystic Sanctuary.

I still want a single Celestial Colonnade because it's a White source. I get to put an instant or sorcery on top of my library even if I don't control three other Islands with Mystic Sanctuary.

I cut the fourth Field of Ruin because Tron isn't very popular. The current ramp deck plays bounce lands, but Field isn't amazing in the matchup. It's most powerful effect against ramp is to shuffle the deck after Aether Gust has been cast to destroy a Cavern of Souls.

The counter suite also changes because I want to maximize Mystic Sanctuary with fetch lands. I never wanted to play two Mana Leak because they can become dead quickly thanks to Path to Exile. Deprive takes the place of the second copy. The opponent can't overload the Deprive chain with Mystic Sanctuary because Teferi and Sword of Feast and Famine pressure them to cast spells at awkward times. It has been a while since I cast Counterspell, but it still feels just as good.

I want four Cryptic Command with two Mystic Sanctuary, but I also want exactly two Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Six 4-drops is too many; what to do? The way to get my cake and eat it, too is to play a single Archmage's Charm. It's not quite as strong as Cryptic Command when cast, but a great spell to put back on top.

Another big change is to cut down to three Snapcaster Mage. I always felt four was too many given that Snappy was in most of the hands I would mulligan, but could never get myself to do it. Zach Allen asked if it was possible to cut a Snap and that was all I needed. Sometimes somebody just needs to ask the question and it all comes together.

The sideboard has also undergone some major changes.

Winds of Abandon received high praises from Zach and I'm giving it a try. TSPJendrek also played two in the sideboard; it makes sense when it can be cast early and then put back in top in the late game with Mystic Sanctuary to overload. It's a way to blow out all of the creatures from the Dredge deck at once, too.

Given the popularity of Ramp in the current metagame there are many tools to fight in the board. Three Aether Gust are there to put uncounterable Primeval Titans on top of the deck that can be shuffled with Field of Ruin or milled with Ashiok. Many Ramp decks are ready with Mystical Dispute so be ready to fight on the penultimate turn.

Disenchant can be played to fight equipment, Amulet of Vigor, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, and Thopter Foundry. I mainly want ways to fight Dryad that don't involve leaving in Path to Exile.

I feel pretty good about Hallowed Fountain in Constructed at the moment. It's a fun land and I suggest you give it a try.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, modern, decklist, kyle boggemes, thb standard, 02282020

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