The.
Great.
Aurora.
This is not a card I expected to appear at the top tables of a Grand Prix. It’s probably not a card anyone expected to appear at the top tables of a Grand Prix. But here we are. Sam Black was one win away from a Top 8 berth with an exciting brew that, while reminiscent of the Seasons Past Control deck that Pantheon took to the recent Pro Tour, was significantly different in style.
Like Seasons Past, it’s still a control deck, but this list leans more toward the ramp end ot the spectrum with Nissa’s Pilgrimage and Explosive Vegetation so it can get enough mana to cast The Great Aurora and use it effectively.
The control part of the deck has, let’s say, a lot of variation. The number of singletons may make the deck look unfocused, but it makes sense in the context of Dark Petition and the velocity gained by Tireless Tracker. Also, there is plenty of overlap among the singletons themselves, with removal spells, ramp spells, and card advantage alongside the utility of cards like Pulse of Murasa.
The wide range demonstrated in Sam’s list shows how customizable the deck is, which means you should be able to tweak the list going forward for a changing or local metagame. As a fundamentally reactive deck, tuning the list for what you expect is paramount to your success, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Every singleton has a ton of value because you can find it consistently with Dark Petition and return it with Seasons Past.
A major issue with the Seasons Past Control deck is just how reactive it was. Without a proactive element, you were left with little recourse against the myriad of difficult-to-deal-with threats in the format, from planeswalkers like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar to creatures like Hangarback Walker and Catacomb Sifter. With the proactive element in this list, you can overpower decks that try to slowplay their threats using Sylvan Advocate and Tireless Tracker or go over the top of them with The Great Aurora after making a pile of Clues.
It’s easy to look at a list like this and dismiss it as absurd, and a single finish is not enough to prove it has a place in the Standard metagame, but this list looks like it solves a lot of the issues that the Seasons Past Control deck had. Having a multi-faceted approach is important in Standard unless your deck is incredibly powerful, and while the end game of Dark Petition plus Seasons Past creates a lot of card advantage, it is not enough to carry the deck by itself.
So if you are one of the people to be disappointed by the lack of staying power from Seasons Past, not all hope is lost. You just have to think outside the box and get a little aggressive.
Creatures (14)
- 1 Den Protector
- 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
- 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
- 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- 1 World Breaker
- 4 Sylvan Advocate
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Ulvenwald Hydra
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
