If you wanted to get into Pioneer, now is about the time. Several bans have taken place and the format has mostly settled down. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind, so it’s understandable if you haven’t been able to keep up with which decks are great.
As the format has shifted post-bannings, I’ve written articles on Mono-Black Aggro and Simic Devotion, and now with Oko, Thief of Crowns gone, there’s a new best deck in the format. Control is finally good enough to compete in Pioneer and Azorius is the best of them.
That’s right, GerryT is writing a control article like it’s 2013.
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (15)
Spells (37)
I’ve scoured Scryfall and all the Azorius lists out there and can safely say that Azorius Control doesn’t exactly have a plethora of options. For the most part, Azorius Control is a collection of the best cards available without a coherent plan. Given how powerful each card is, that’s not necessarily a downside, but it does mean you won’t find much help when you go look for alternatives.
This deck wins with a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria emblem and tucking itself or with Castle Ardenvale beatdown. Yes, that does take a long time, so be wary of that.
Interaction
The removal suite is acceptable but I’m certainly looking forward to the next couple of expansions. A great one- or two-mana counterspell would go a long way toward solidifying Azorius Control’s position as well. Given how strong the deck currently is, it doesn’t need the help but those sorts of prints aren’t unlikely.
As is, the removal suite is fine but not exciting. One of the main issues is how much the deck leans on Supreme Verdict to get itself out of bad positions. I’ve considered playing a fifth sweeper because of how important it is. If your opponent doesn’t have a one-mana play, you might be able to keep up with them but most games come down to whether you find Supreme Verdict or not.
Blessed Alliance could very easily be Seal Away but it just depends on what you want to kill. Azorius Charm is already good against decks that attack with one big creature at a time whereas Blessed Alliance can help keep you stable in the mid-game.
I like Detention Sphere as a clean answer to problematic permanents and don’t understand the mass adoption of Cast Out, especially alongside Hieroglyphic Illumination. That leaves you with too few things to do on Turn 3 and way too many things to do on Turn 4, especially once you consider how important casting Supreme Verdict on Turn 4 can be. I’d much rather curve Detention Sphere into Supreme Verdict than wait around for Cast Out.
Cantrips
You want things to do with your mana early but you also don’t want to sit on a fistful of removal spells while your mirror match opponents start drawing cards. Cards like Azorius Charm are perfect for this because they allow you to play defensively against aggro while cycling to stronger cards in slower matchups.
Opt is the clear winner here but you can make an argument for Censor and Hieroglyphic Illumination as ways to utilize unspent mana while also filling your graveyard for Search for Azcanta or Dig Through Time. Censor itself is more than reasonable as the two-mana counterspell of choice and I’ve always been a fan of how low the opportunity cost is to put Hieroglyphic Illumination in your deck.
Card Advantage
Sphinx’s Revelation is the obvious exclusion but cards like Search for Azcanta, Dig Through Time, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria mostly do the job better than Revelation. Rather than win with a burst of card advantage, this deck relies on chaining answers together, which these card advantage spells are quite good at doing. With Sphinx’s Revelation, you’ll want to empty your hand and then refill it with cheap spells, and that doesn’t work very well with clunkier cards like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.
Between the cantrips and three-mana planeswalkers, you should be able to find a Dig Through Time or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria by the time you need it. I wouldn’t be surprised if my deck was a tad shy on either filtering or a big card advantage spell, though.
You could make a case for Jace, Architect of Thought as another card drawer and defensive tool but I haven’t been impressed by it. It dies too often for little value and if I wanted that effect I’d play more three-mana planeswalkers. Both Teferis and Narset are quite good, though.
Manabase
You could dirty up the manabase quite a bit. Geier Reach Sanitarium is incredibly powerful alongside Narset, Parter of Veils and is something I’d be very interested in were Narset stronger in the current metagame. The recent bans point the format more toward aggressive decks, so Narset won’t be accomplishing much.
Mystic Sanctuary is another card people have had success with but I’m not buying it. Putting Supreme Verdict back on top of your deck and cycling into it is cute but often unnecessary.
Field of Ruin is excellent and is becoming increasingly more important as the mirror becomes more popular. The various Castles and Search for Azcanta basically have to die on sight. Other matchups, like Mono-Green Ramp, have suitable targets but most of the time you’ll be using it to kill a Mutavault or make your opponent’s mana a little worse. Blast Zone is something you could run instead but Field of Ruin has enough worthy targets that I’m currently happy with it.
Fabled Passage and Temple of Enlightenment are suitable multicolor lands but you want basics to fetch with Field of Ruin and you need basic land types for the Castles, so there’s a lot of tension. For the most part, Irrigated Farmland is stronger than Temple of Enlightenment, at least in this deck.
Also, in case this needs saying, splashing isn’t necessary. There are enough answers in Azorius and the costs to your manabase are enormous.
Sideboard
Most of white’s great sideboard cards are pointed toward red aggro, such as Nyx-Fleece Ram and Authority of the Consuls. Sadly, red aggro decks aren’t the premier aggro decks at the moment, so all we can sideboard are some glorified Doom Blades.
Maybe using Ashiok, Dream Render as one-sided graveyard hate is correct but I find that hard to believe given how slow it is. It would be slightly better against Lotus Field (and any green ramp deck) but much worse against the Dredge decks. Either way, I expect graveyard decks to tick up slightly so I’m keeping my Rest in Peaces and anticipate going up to three copies before too long.
Against control mirrors and big mana decks, you need a clock. You’d also prefer to have additional disruption. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to tap out on your own turn and let the shields down. Spell Queller checks all those boxes. It might not be as fast of a clock as Monastery Mentor or Brazen Borrower but it’s good enough and the extra disruption more than makes up for it.
The rest of my sideboard consists of counterspells, some additional counterspells and a haymaker against creature decks in the form of Linvala, the Preserver. Given how easy it is for a deck like Mono-Black Aggro to have a Murderous Rider, I’d rather not lean on Lyra Dawnbringer.
Sideboarding Guide
VS Azorius Control
Out:
In:
Realistically, the only thing that matters here is Teferi, Time Raveler. If you really want to hammer mirrors, play a third copy of Mystical Dispute and the fourth Teferi, Time Raveler. With those and Spell Quellers, you should be able to win any early fight.
People will try to get you with Sphinx of the Final Word or Commence the Endgame, so be prepared for those. Monastery Mentor is another card in some player’s decks but Spell Queller is usually a fine answer for that. Keep in Supreme Verdicts or Detention Spheres as necessary.
VS Mono-Black Aggro
Out:
In:
Against aggressive decks, you will typically sideboard out the slower three-drops like Narset, Parter of Veils and Absorb. The same is true for Mono-Black Aggro but their sideboard might contain as many as four Duresses, which would make you want more card advantage.
VS Mono-Green Devotion
Out:
In:
This is the single matchup where I’d really like a Pithing Needle, as their plan involves sticking a planeswalker while forcing you to Supreme Verdict. For the most part, you can contain their meager aggression and counter their planeswalkers.
VS Sultai Dredge
Out:
In:
This is a difficult matchup since most of your cards don’t do anything. Counterspells are slow and awkward, your planeswalkers die, and you have very few ways to meaningfully attack the graveyard.
VS Lotus Field Combo
Out:
In:
Unfortunately, Lotus Field’s hexproof makes it very difficult to interact with. Let them have their mana and counter their card drawing and Fae of Wishes if you can. Rest in Peace is reasonable here because of their four copies of Dig Through Time but you also have two Digs and a Search for Azcanta, so I’m not a fan.
If this deck becomes more popular, you may want to sideboard some copies of Damping Sphere or Deafening Silence.
Out:
In:
Depending on their build, this matchup is either very easy or quite difficult. Experiment One and Pelt Collector are more difficult to deal with than Llanowar Elves and Elvish Mystic and, if they have Thoughtseize maindeck, you could be in trouble. Thankfully, the most common version closely resembles Mono-Green Devotion, except Hardened Scales is fairer.
VS Izzet Phoenix
Out:
In:
Newer versions of this deck use Young Pyromancer or Indomitable Alliance instead of Thing in the Ice, either of which is a huge upgrade for their deck but makes life more difficult for you. Aether Gust, Spell Queller, and Mystical Dispute are all reasonable here but which are best depends on the specifics of their deck. If they have powerful two-drops, Syncopate becomes much better even though the majority of their cards only cost one or two mana.