This may have been the most talked-about rogue deck from #SCGCOL, although it’s not from too far out in left field, instead drawing upon the success of W/B Control during Shadows over Innistrad Standard.
But where that deck was extremely creature-light and used Gideon, Ally of Zendikar to do the heavy lifting of generating pressure on the opponent, this deck employs an Angel-centric strategy centered around Gisela, the Broken Blade and Bruna, the Fading Light.
Obviously melding the two into Brisela, Voice of Nightmares is the ideal scenario, and not a particularly far-fetched one if you watched the coverage last weekend, but the most important part of this new package is that each piece can function effectively by itself. Gisela draws the most direct comparison with Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, given that it occupies the same spot on the curve, and for the most part they do similar things: pressure opposing life totals and planeswalkers and make attacking more difficult for your opponent.
And while Gisela matches up worse against Reflector Mage and removal spells, it is much more effective of a play when behind. The 4/3 first strike, lifelink body is excellent in combat and should discourage attacking altogether a large percentage of the time, whereas the Knight Ally token Gideon makes is easily trumped.
In order to blunt this newfound vulnerability to creature removal, Ritner’s deck incorporates two copies of Thalia’s Lancers and two of Liliana, the Last Hope. Both generate needed card advantage while also ensuring that you can recur your threats over the course of a longer game. And when all of your threats are must-answers, recurring them is very powerful. The reliance on creatures also allows you to maindeck Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, yet another threat that can dominate a game by itself and also generate card advantage.
The end result is that W/B Control has shifted down the spectrum some to more of a midrange-control hybrid, although the difference in terminology is largely cosmetic. The true gain is that the deck is better-positioned to come back from behind, which is a position that if finds itself in a lot, given the relatively high curve and lack of proactive plays before turn 4.
Many pilots of the deck were already shifting into a creature-oriented deck after sideboard anyway but preferred to commit to the near-creatureless maindeck to nullify opposing removal. This list makes a statement that the new angels are powerful enough to render that juke unnecessary.
Creatures (10)
- 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- 1 Linvala, the Preserver
- 1 Archangel Avacyn
- 1 Bruna, the Fading Light
- 3 Gisela, the Broken Blade
- 2 Thalia's Lancers
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
