Standard has been constantly on my mind the last couple of weeks. From recent bannings to rotation, to a whole new set entering the fray, all I can think about is what decks I want to play for the upcoming RCQ season. To the surprise of no one I've been tinkering with various Control lists since the spoiler season for Edge of Eternities started, and for good reason. Edge of Eternities has a much higher density of spells for Control decks than any Standard set I've seen in recent years. While some recent sets have had pretty important cards for the archetype, like Ultima in Final Fantasy and Stock Up in Aetherdrift, there are more than half a dozen spells in Edge of Eternities that I think will make a significant impact on the Standard archetype.

Before we get into the specific cards it's important to understand a few key aspects about current Control decks, before rotation happens. Azorius Control as an archetype doesn't really lose many cards. The biggest loss is probably Temporary Lockdown, but we also lose a win condition in Jace, the Perfected Mind, land destruction in Demolition Field, and a few fringe sideboard cards like Destroy Evil. Overall, the deck doesn't lose that much during rotation, and with no cards banned from it I'm still pretty confident this deck will show up in spades post-rotation. Without further ado, let's get into some of the cards...

First, "The Big Four"

Out of all the cards of Edge of Eternities, these will probably have the biggest impact on Azorius Control as an archetype. First up Pinnacle Starcage, a nice replacement for Temporary Lockdown. Pinnacle Starcage will be vital to the Azorius Control archetype for the same reason Temporary Lockdown was - it helps stop early aggression. With Standard being a three-year rotation cycle instead of two, I'm sure at some point we'll see some sort of resurgence of Aggro, whether it be Mono-Red or Mono-White, or something completely different. Pinnacle Starcage is really here just to stem the bleeding against those kinds of decks, however it has a lot of other relevancy in the current format.

Pinnacle Starcage also hits cards like map tokens from Get Lost, Agatha's Soul Cauldron from Izzet Vivi, and various other tokens and cheap cards. I also like the added text on this card that Temporary Lockdown didn't have - the ability to sacrifice it, putting all cards exiled with it into the graveyard, and making a small army of tokens in return. This pairs nicely with cards like Fountainport and Elspeth, Storm Slayer, cards that already saw play in Azorius Control - so you get a bit of an added bonus there. I don't know how often you'll be using this ability, but Control decks aim to get to the point in the game where they have this kind of mana at their whim. With Jace, the Perfected Mind leaving Standard I like that this wrath-esque card also kind of doubles as a way to potentially win the game down the line.

However, there's one key aspect about Pinnacle Starcage that makes it a bit of a liability in Azorius Control, and that reason is Ultima. Ultima destroying all artifacts is the ultimate nonbo with this card, so unfortunately you can't play this amazing wrath effect if your deck also relies on Pinnacle Starcage. You can get to a point where you end up sacrificing Pinnacle Starcage, but the last thing you want to do is rely on your wrath, only to free your opponent's early aggression once again. This leads me to believe you have to construct your Azorius Control deck one of two ways: either with Ultima and no Pinnacle Starcage, or with Pinnacle Starcage and Beyond the Quiet. I'm guessing the latter will be more common.

Beyond the Quiet is the new Sunfall, and probably a lot worse. I have no real idea how viable Spacecrafts will be in Standard, and I honestly haven't done my due diligence on the matter. What I do know is that your Azorius Control deck with Pinnacle Starcage needs wraths, and while Day of Judgment is in the format, you might have a need to exile with Beyond the Quiet. This card is by no means anywhere close to how good Ultima is, but it's at least a nice alternative if the format requires slower decks to play Starcage to stem early bleeding.

Next up is a card I've already talked about to some degree, but one I think will be the backbone of Control decks going forward - Consult the Star Charts. This card is the messed-up child of Anticipate and Memory Deluge; I still can't really put into words how good I think this card is. At two mana you get an instant-speed Sleight of Hand, at three an Anticipate, but anything at four or more mana and you get a Memory Deluge +. One important aspect of this card I pointed out in a previous article, was that later in the game, this card just becomes a Demonic Tutor, as Control decks aim to make it to the late game with lots of mana at their disposal anyway. This is why Consult the Star Charts is so powerful in a Control shell.

Early on it can help you hit land drops or find interaction like Pinnacle Starcage or Split Up. Later on in the game it can help you shore up your defenses with counterspells like Three Steps Ahead. Finally, in the late stages of the game it can find you your win conditions, like Elspeth, Storm Slayer. At the end of the day it acts as both a card that can smooth out your draws while also being a way to pull ahead. The flexibility of this card is unmatched by previous iterations of this effect, and that's why I believe it'll be a cornerstone of Blue-based Control decks until it leaves the format.

The last big important Control card from Edge of Eternities is Seam Rip. I think the viability of Seam Rip will depend on the format overall, but knowing how playable Portable Hole was, and still is in Pioneer makes me think this card will be an important removal suite option for Control decks. It's also worth noting that as an Enchantment, this card doesn't get swept up into Ultima or Pinnacle Starcage. I think this is a more non-conditional removal spell you'll want in your deck as opposed to Elspeth's Smite. There isn't really much more to add here, the numbers of this card in my lists will probably wax and wane with the percentage of high-velocity Aggro decks in the meta.

The Uncertainties

There are a few more cards for Azorius Control that seem playable, although I'm not sure about how viable they are. First up is Space-Time Anomaly, a win condition that might be Control-playable, albeit it has its restrictions.

When I first saw this card my mind immediately went to Jace, the Perfected Mind. Jace was a cornerstone of a lot of Azorius Control builds, especially of how it played with multiple copies in your deck. Jace mainly acted as a one-two punch, as two copies later on in the game could finish off your opponent, milling them for 30. Jace was also flexible, as it could lock down your opponent's singular creature, making them have to play more cards into your inevitable wrath. Jace also could just sit there and generate some card advantage by activating his -2 ability, +1'ing a couple of times, then using -2 again for an additional card. While Jace wasn't the best Control planeswalker card of all time, he did have his time in the sun, as this card won me a lot of matches against slower decks like Domain.

Space-Time Anomaly is no Jace, but it does have a similar function in that two copies might end the game on the spot for your opponent. The issue, however, is that it doesn't do anything else. Against Aggro this card might just rot in your hand, and if your opponent can Burst Lightning their Screaming Nemesis so that you can't gain any more life, this card becomes even more useless. This card also is rough against Midrange decks, like Black-based decks that have cards like Deep-Cavern Bat and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Because of the presence of hand disruption your individual cards matter so much more in those matchups, meaning this card only becomes good when you cast it to win the game.

Due to this inflexibility, my thought then becomes this card is a sideboard card, and probably a stellar one at that in the right matchup. If you can gain enough life with Beza, the Bounding Spring against decks that don't attack, one copy of Space-Time Anomaly might be lethal. I think this will come up in mirror-matches, but even decks like Jeskai Control still have Lightning Helix, and slower decks like Naya Yuna have Overlord of the Boilerbilges. Again, this card feels like a really strong sideboard win-con for matchups where you can pave a way for one copy to do enough damage that it will either end your opponent on the spot, or make it so they'll eventually deck out. I'd be curious about also trying this in more of a Mono-White Control deck, with Carrot Cake and Enduring Innocence.

Next up is Unravel (cue Tokyo Ghoul Opening 1). To be honest, Unravel will probably not see much play while both Cavern of Souls and Three Steps Ahead remain in the format, but I do find this card quite interesting. I think originally it felt like this card was designed to counter the Overlords, netting you a card against your opponent casting one for its Impending cost. However with Cavern of Souls still in the format thanks to the three-year rotation cycle, Unravel becomes kind of pointless in that regard. Additionally, there's no real reason to play this card when Three Steps Ahead is already so powerful, and only sees a max of one or two copies in current Azorius Control lists. The ability for your counter to scale with the game and do much more broken things is much better than the occasional card. I think I'd wait to see what counter magic we have at our fingertips once Outlaws of Thunder Junction rotates before putting this card in my deck.

Annul is a nice reprint that I think has a place as a one or two-of sideboard slot in Azorius Control. The card has a couple of applications against decks that are mostly Artifacts or Enchantments that I think are important. If you lose Ultima to make room for Pinnacle Starcage, it makes your matchup against Azorius Artifacts (the Experimental Synthesizer deck) much much worse. I also think while you have the tools to beat it, Naya Yuna can be pretty grindy against Control. Annul will probably be a nice answer that trades up on mana against these decks. On turn one it can even snag a Dredger's Insight. There's not much more to say here than I think this card is a nice way for Control to snag an early engine card from these decks, and then have room to Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts on the following turn.

Honorable Mention: Singularity Rupture

Look, I know this article is supposed to just be about Azorius Control, but bear with me. Singularity Rupture caught my eye during spoiler season as another potential win con for Control that is also reminiscent of Jace, the Perfected Mind. Six mana is a heck of a lot of mana for a wrath effect, especially when you already have Day of Judgment, Ultima, and Beyond the Quiet already in your format. While the banning of Heartfire Hero and Monstrous Rage have crippled Aggro significantly, I'm still not sure this card is castable in the current environment.

It's certainly a powerful spell if you have other ways of dealing your opponents mill, or as I like to call it, "deck damage." You can pair this with cards like Deadly Cover-Up and Space-Time Anomaly, assuming you can survive to those turns in the game. Esper decks also aren't out of the question with Edge of Eternities, as we get both Godless Shrine and Watery Grave in the half shockland cycle (although shocking yourself is not the best with Space-Time Anomaly).

While my mind drifts to Esper, I actually want to try this specific card in more of a Sultai deck. With its intense mana cost, I'd like to pair this with Ancient Cornucopia, so you can effectively play this on turn five and also gain some life in the exchange. I'm not sure if a few copies of this card are enough to win a game, but it might be if you also have Space-Time Anomaly or Restless Reef in your deck.

Ultimately this is probably not the thing to be doing in a format where Vivi Ornitier and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares are two of the best strategies, but it does make me want to brew...

Overall, rotation and Edge of Eternities make me incredibly excited for Standard and the chance for Azorius Control to make a comeback. While the last few Standard sets have only had one or two new cards for Control, Edge of Eternities has a couple of key players that make me hopeful for the future of the archetype. While I'm still working on a week one list I know my preliminary one will have Pinnacle Starcage, Consult the Star Charts, Seam Rip, and Beyond the Quiet.

-Roman Fusco