Bant Stoic Control [Budget/Casual]

Modern Budget Casual Control GWU (Bant)

Kazierts

Creature (23)

• 3x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 3x Bounding Krasis
• 4x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Frost Titan
• 1x Loxodon Hierarch
• 1x Murkfiend Liege
• 2x Soulherder
• 4x Stoic Angel
• 1x Sunblast Angel
• 1x Tempest Caller
• 2x Wall of Blossoms

Land (22)

• 2x Evolving Wilds
• 12x Forest
• 3x Island
• 1x Plains
• 4x Seaside Citadel

Instant (2)

• 2x Incubation / Incongruity

Enchantment (7)

• 4x Abundant Growth
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 2x Verity Circle

Sorcery (6)

• 4x Explore
• 2x Sleep

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Sideboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
• 1x Linvala, the Preserver
• 2x Manglehorn

Instant (2)

• 2x Echoing Calm

Artifact (4)

• 2x Dragon's Claw
• 2x Sentinel Totem

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Oblivion Ring

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor
• 2x Teyo, the Shieldmage

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Croaking Counterpart
• 1x Winterthorn Blessing

Creature (3)

• 2x Dreamshackle Geist
• 1x Scion of Stygia

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One of the interesting things of older sets that doesn't happen quite often anymore, at least not that I remember, is a creature or cycle of creatures with very interesting and unique abilities, sometimes quite janky to be honest, that a lot of people don't pay too much attention. Stoic Angel, along with some very peculiar cards from the Alara Block fit this description particularly well.

Taking into account the angel's janky ability and a bit of spare time, I decided to brew this fun, casual and budget list so I can play with my friends without them focusing on me because of my Monoblack Infect and to have something that's relatively cheap to show to a beginner.

You'll notice I'll mention a few of Modern staples/decks when discussing why I included some cards. This deck is not intended to play competitively anywhere. This is a just a personal choice so I can better orient myself rather than build something only good against my personal meta. My goal is to make something anyone can pick up and play.

What's the Goal? Show

This whole deck revolves around Stoic Angel and, as such, it doesn't work without the angel. So, to make sure the deck can get to it, the deck has cards like Abundant Growth, Incubation / Incongruity and a few more to help the deck find it.

Once Stoic Angel hits the battlefield it's important to make sure to pin down as many creatures from the opponent as possible. Bounding Krasis can prevent something from attacking or be flashed in at the end of a turn facilitate an attack. Frost Titan is a big beefy body with repeatable tap effects. Tempest Caller taps everything the opponent controls. There's quite a few other things that can be done, but here I'm just giving an overall view of the plan.

After the board is locked down, the Angels can proceed to beat down the opponent, as they have vigilance, alongside the other threats present in the deck. Murkfiend Liege also makes other creatures able to finish the game, as even Bounding Krasis becomes a 5/5.

Creatures Show

4x Stoic Angel {1}{W}{U}{G}

As said, the aim of the deck is to limit what my opponents can do. Being able to untap only one creature per turn means that the amount of combat damage, in theory, is reduced, since fewer creatures will be able to attack and when choosing to attack the choices must be made carefully as Incubation / Incongruity allows me to pick the most important creature on my opponent's board and even though it produces a 3/3 token, Stoic Angel easily blocks it.

Despite thus, one might still say that its ability isn't that great. One of the reasons, and problably the biggest, is that my opponent can simply hold its creatures back for an all-ou attack or to keep. However, there are ways to circumvent said problems. First, the angel itself has vigilance which means it can attack while also being able to defend me and with more than one on the field damage is sure to pile up. Second,Bounding Krasis and Sleep work really well with the angel's ability by both basically tapping creatures indefinetly, depending on my opponent's board, of course, as if only one creature is on the other side of the field the Bounding Krasis just taps for a turn. Lastly, if I haven't forgotten something, Sunblast Angel works as a huge bomb that is sure to leave any opponent thinking twice about which creatures to tap.

4x Avacyn's Pilgrim {G} and 4x Elvish Mystic {G}

Putting these two togheter because they serve the same purpose: ramp and mana fixing. Must be noted that it looks like it's a nombo with Stoic Angel but isn't as bad as it looks like. Due to the angel's abilty to allow only one creature to be untapped, in combination with it's built-in vigilance, most of the times I'll be able to untap at least one of them. And Besides, the deck has tons of ramp mixed with card draw so over the course of the game they should soon become disposable, and when it happens, they'll instantly turn into Evolutionary Leap fodder.

3x Bounding Krasis {1}{U}{G}

It's combination of being a 3/3 with flash and capability of tapping a creature makes it really useful in this deck. Also Evolutionary Leap fodder.

A small update about this card. Since the deck now has Soulherder, Bounding Krasis now has even more synergy with the deck as it can be blinked to tap down even more stuff and potentially serve as card draw if Verity Circle happens to be on the field.

1x Frost Titan {4}{U}{U}

I said that this deck's tactics has problems regarding combat if my opponent pays attention to tapping. Icefall Regent makes it so I'm able to remove some of my opponent's choices while giving me a flier with a reasonable body that can't be easily targeted.

1x Sunblast Angel {4}{W}{W}

As mentioned above, this a nuke combined with Stoic Angel. However, works exceptionally with Sleep.

2x Soulherder {1}{W}{U}

Replacing the slots previously reserved to Dovin Baan, Soulherder is definitely a good pick for this deck and opens a few paths for strategies.

One thing it allows is to repeatadly tap down creatures by blinking Bounding Krasis or Icefall Regent, but that's just the surface. It can sneakily become a threat itself if not answered, as the more it blinks creatures, the more it grows. It can also blink attackers, giving them pseudo-vigilance, since after they becoming tapped after attacking, they can be blinked in order to come into play untapped and ready to block. However, the sweetest interaction has to be with Sunblast Angel. Basically, it turns Sunblast Angel into a repeatable boardwipe.

1x Loxodon Hierarch {2}{W}{G}

Even though the lifegain can be used on some matchups this guy is mostly here to protect the entire board if needed.

Support the strategy Show

2x Dovin Baan - A relatively decent planeswalker for 4 mana that can be cast on turn 3 and can either basically pin down one of my opponent's creature, could be the untapped one, or act as a semi card draw engine that gives me life. His emblem is another win condition too as I doubt anyone can win a game with just 2 of their permanents untapping.

4x Explore - A cheap ramp like spell that also works as a cantrip.

4x Abundant Growth - Mana fixer working part time as card advantage.

2x Harmonize - Decent card advantage for decent mana.

3x Sleep - Since this causes creatures to not untap during the next untap step, it can be used to give me a "free" turn needed to survive or even make my opponent's wide open for a finishing blow. However, it's really here due to its synergy with Sunblast Angel making it a one-sided nuke and Stoic Angel which is self-explanatory.

1x Evolutionary Leap - Turns late game mana dorks or even a creature that's going to die anyway into something more useful. Regarding the mana dorks case, it's even more useful due to their nombo with Stoic Angel as if they can't untap they better be another creature.

1x Verity Circle - Card draw "engine"(?) that punishes decks running mana dorks and works as a Tap down engine during the late game. Only problem is that it can't tap creatures with flying.

Manabase Show

12x Forest {T}{G}

3x Island {T}{U}

2x Plains

4x Seaside Citadel

Sideboard Show

2x Manglehorn {2}{G}

I wasn't able to find Creeping Corrosion in any of the LGSs I usually buy. So, I decided to swap it for Manglehorn. That being said, keep in mind this is a matter of preference and one can choose between any of the two.

Manglehorn can come down as early as turn 2 and, despite not being an artifact boardwipe, it serves basically the same purpose, while also being a target for Soulherder.

I'm also considering making a Yorion version of this list, which increases the Manglehorn value.

2x Oblivion Ring {2}{W}

Definitely not as good as Detention Sphere since it only has a single target. However, it fits the budget a bit better and it's still a catch-all removal, which the deck really needs. I'd definitely suggest swapping this for Detention Sphere if the budget allows.

2x Dragon's Claw] {2}

An utilitiy card against more fast paced red decks (Burn or Aggro). As many people pointed out, this deck is pretty slow, so anything to help it stabilise is pretty good.

1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor {3}{U}

A planeswalker that provides protection to my creatures while giving some sort of card selection and token production.

1x Lavinia, Azorious Renegade {W}{U}

I'm not saying this deck would necessarily go against tron buuuuut here's hate against it.

2x Leave No Trace - An enchant hate that can kill their protection enchantments along with other enchants unless they assemble some kind of lock, something the likes of double Greater Auramancy.

1x Linvala, the Preserver - A backup in case I fall behind and need some lifegain and blockers.

2x Sentinel Totem {1}

I'm pretty sure every single format has the need for some form of graveyard hate. Dredge, Reanimator, Storm and many more archetypes use the graveyard almost like a second hand. As such, a colorless tool with Scry as ETB makes it a poor man's Relic of Progenitus.

I know Tormod's Crypt may be better, but I get tired of running the same card every single time. If for some reason, someone decides to pick up this deck, feel free to swap for any grave hate you think is better.

2x Teyo, the Shieldmage {2}{W}

Maybe it's a bit of overkill since I already have Dragon's Claw in my sideboard, but, as a Control player, I'm afraid of Burn killing me in a few seconds. In addition to protecting my face against Lightning Bolts thrown at it, he also stops discard and Grapeshot, which actually gives him some kind of versatility.

0/3s are decent blockers in the early game too

Honorable Mentions Show

Icefall Regent {3}{U}{U}

Previously in the deck but ended up replaced by Frost Titan. Despite having been substituted, there a few qualities it has over the giant. First, Flying is pretty good evasion on a 4/3 body. Second, it pins down a creature for as long as it stays on the field, which, in some cases, can be better than tapping something temporarily. Last but not least, it costs one less mana to cast, which may look silly but it can make a significant difference in a lot of cases.

So, if it has quite a few advantages over the Titan, why did I elect to swap it? Well, Frost Giant does cost one more mana, but has a sizeable bigger body. In addition to it, having a repeatable tap down effect, without needing to be blinked, synergizes better with strategy. Plus, if the ETB comes into the discussion, then the Giant gets much better.

Overall, this depends more on the preference of the player in my opinion. There are qualities in both that can attract people to each respectively. I just prefer Frost Titan.

Imposing Sovereign {1}{W}

Kiora, the Crashing Wave {2}{U}{G}

Eladamri's Call {W}{G}

Date added	4 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 1 Mythic Rares 10 - 1 Rares 16 - 11 Uncommons 17 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.71
Tokens	Angel 3/3 W, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Wall 0/3 W, Wizard 2/2 U
Folders	Angels!