U/B Cycle Control

Standard*

smans

Land (25)

• 4x Desert of the Glorified
• 4x Desert of the Mindful
• 4x Drowned Catacomb
• 4x Fetid Pools
• 2x Ifnir Deadlands
• 5x Island
• 2x Swamp

Instant (17)

• 4x Censor
• 4x Countervailing Winds
• 2x Essence Scatter
• 4x Fatal Push
• 3x Hieroglyphic Illumination

Artifact (1)

• 1x Abandoned Sarcophagus

Creature (12)

• 4x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 4x Curator of Mysteries
• 4x Vile Manifestation

Enchantment (5)

• 4x Drake Haven
• 1x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip

---

Sideboard

Instant (7)

• 2x Essence Extraction
• 1x Essence Scatter
• 4x Negate

Creature (4)

• 4x Gifted Aetherborn

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Bontu's Last Reckoning
• 2x Duress

Artifact (1)

• 1x Sorcerous Spyglass

---

Want to play with Tarmogoyf in Standard? With Vile Manifestation, you can! This deck is a control deck where almost 2/3 of the deck has cycling. It can play the slow, Drake Haven game, but also pressure the opponent with high-power creatures. It can also stick an Archfiend of Ifnir to completely turn a game around. I have been posting good results at FNM and decent results online with this deck, and it is fun to play as well as offering many decision points.

Game Plans:

vs Control: This can be a fairly easy matchup. The most important card here is Drake Haven, sticking that will allow you to overtake the game. Don't overextend into wrath effects, and always ask yourself if adding a creature will speed up the clock enough that you would be OK losing it. Abandoned Sarcophagus is a powerhouse in this matchup, often being a 3-mana "draw 5+". Save your counterspells for their wincons (The Scarab God or Approach of the Second Sun). Sideboard into Negate, Duress and Sorcerous Spyglass if they have/you suspect a good target for it. Sideboard out Fatal Push and Archfiend of Ifnir.

vs Tokens: Absurdly easy matchup. You have a repeatable wrath with Archfiend of Ifnir and can grind them out even from absurd life totals with Drake Haven. Save your counterspells for Anointed Procession and Vraska. Sideboard out Fatal Push and a couple Hieroglyphic Illumination, and bring in Negate and Duress.

vs Aggro & Temur Energy: These are your tough matchups. Use cards like Vile Manifestation and Fatal Push to stem the bleeding. Don't be afraid to trade off creatures for one of theirs + a removal spell if it preserves your life total. If you are able to untap with an Archfiend of Ifnir, the game is pretty much over, but be wary of Glorybringer or Chandra ruining your day. Sideboard into Gifted Aetherborn, as well as Essence Scatter, Essence Extraction and Bontu's Last Reckoning when appropriate. Sideboard out Abandoned Sarcophagus, Search for Azcanta  , Hieroglyphic Illumination and Countervailing Winds.

Tips:

• Plan out your turns far in advance, as the deck has a lot of come-into-play-tapped lands. It is usually correct to cycle Hieroglyphic Illumination early on instead of waiting to cast it, and deciding whether or not to cycle Curator of Mysteries early is a tough decision. I tend to be very aggressive with cycling early to power up Vile Manifestation and Countervailing Winds.

• Drake Haven is a trigger that goes on the stack, so if you have a Curator of Mysteries in play, you can scry before deciding whether or not you want to pay the mana to make a drake by putting the Drake Haven trigger on the stack first.

• If your opponent has Winding Constrictor out, Archfiend of Ifnir and Ifnir Deadlands will put extra -1/-1 counters on their creatures.

• All of your non-Drake creatures have cycling, so if one dies to first strike damage or a removal spell, that will pump up your Vile Manifestation before they can do their damage.

Alternative Cards:

• Yahenni's Expertise is possibly better than Bontu's Last Reckoning, as all of our non-Drake creatures have 4 toughness, but it can't kill Glorybringer, Bristling Hydra or Longtusk Cub

• More Essence Extraction, as well as Vraska's Contempt can help preserve your life total, but they will dilute the number of cycling cards in the deck. Worth trying in the sideboard against Ramunap Red.

• Scarab Feast if God-Pharoah's Gift is prevalent in your meta. Graveyard hate with cycling!

Updated 27/09/17 for Rotation

Updated 16/10/17, removed Hollow One for being too clunky, added Essence Scatters to the maindeck and another Countervailing Winds and Island, added more alternate cards and tip about the Drake Haven trigger

Updated 31/10/17, retooled matchups section

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	22 - 1 Rares 14 - 7 Uncommons 17 - 7 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.89
Tokens	Drake 2/2 U
Folders	Favs