(Withered Heath is here over Flooded Strand because it's the one I own - obviously Flooded Strand is better.)
The plan on this one is simple and fun. Play a
Thraben Inspector
, which gives us 2 permanents, then interact with the opponent through oodles of removal and a limited counter spell suite. (The counters are really more for protecting our lategame threats, but they can let us interact early.) We also have
Ichor Wellspring
to fill a similar role. Then we can trade the Thraben Inspector/Ichor Wellspring up for a 3/3 golem through either
Generous Gift
or
Cavalier of Dawn
. With the Wellspring, this nets us 2 cards and a 3/3, which is kind of sweet. Cavalier of Dawn can even get us back the Wellspring when it dies, letting us recur it for more cards. It's worth noting that, at absolute worst,
Generous Gift
is a Beast Within and Cavalier of Dawn can snipe a permanent in exchange for giving them a 3/3 that it itself can murder in combat. (Vigilance is actually really sweet here, since we can attack without risking damage on the crackback.) This actually gives us a lot of flexibility in the maindeck, as there's very little we can't answer.
We also just have some generic Azorius blinking goodness thanks to
Restoration Angel
. We can blink Thraben Inspector, Blade Splicer or the Cavaliers, all of which are beneficial for us. Restoration Angel is so good anyway that it by itself raises the floor of our deck significantly.
The rest of the deck is filler to plug gaps.
Supreme Verdict
does what it do.
Winds of Abandon
is mediocre single target removal and a bad board wipe, but doing both is very flexible and helps us quite a bit. The cycling lands give us a little extra oomph in the card advantage arena at a fairly low opportunity cost, especially since
Irrigated Farmland
is tutorable with fetches.
Serum Visions
does what it always does, smoothing out our draws. Maindeck
Field of Ruin
is as sweet as always (FU TRON), especially since as a two-color deck we can afford to play it.
The sideboard probably needs a little explanation.
Gideon Blackblade
gives us another threat that can crunch in on its own or give something else lifelink, indestructible or vigilance, most of which can shore us up against aggro decks.
Lyra Dawnbringer
lets us pretend to be Angel tribal and also helps stabilize us against aggressive decks while still being an effective finisher.
Disdainful Stroke
gives us a counter for a lot of finishers, such as Teferi or Prime Times or whatnot.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk
is a fun, somewhat underrated pick. It's a pseudo-board wipe that works against multiple permanent types, has the body to be a finisher and is blinkable by Restoration Angels (of which we have another in the sideboard for the matchups where it's great). Cavalier of Gales is just kind of interesting as a Brainstorm on a beatstick with a scry death trigger, and I kind of want to see how it performs. Relic do what Relic do, and extra copies Supreme Verdict and Path let us round out our control suite when necessary.
EDIT: Just realized that
Flickerwisp
can kill the golems should we choose to blow up an enemy permanent.
