I named this deck after Belle from Beauty and the Beast because, like Belle, this deck shows that all creatures have good inside them and "would never hurt a fly." I don't know if other people will appreciate this as much as I do, but it makes me smile at the deck even more, so... (PS, if you REALLY wanted to dig into the title, Kiora could be Belle.)
Recently, TurboFog has become a bit of a favorite deck format of mine, and this is my attempt to make it work in standard.
The primary win condition is forcing your opponent to draw his or her deck out. While this can be risky, I think this is the easiest way to keep the deck consistently able to Fog all attacks.
Secondary win conditions include Kiora, the Crashing Wave's ultimate and Garruk, Apex Predator. Kiora, the Crashing Wave is a great card so long as you aren't facing Thunderbreak Regent. If you do face that card, I would think it wise to just side Kiora out for counters. Obviously, Garruk, Apex Predator is a beast. He can give you needed lifegain in a match where
Stoke the Flames
is relevant, he can kill Ugin, and he puts deathtouch tokens out.
Breakdown:
The Fogs: For those unfamiliar with Fog decks, the principle is that most decks are designed to win with creatures, so why not eliminate the threat that creatures pose? Thus, the goal is to prevent all combat damage your opponents can deal to you. The fog cards in this deck are Winds of Qal Sisma, Defend the Hearth, AEtherspouts, and the newest addition
Revealing Wind
. I tried to keep CMC as low as possible to leave room for other spells.
The Turbo: Again, for those who don't know the TurboFog archetype, there is always a heavy universal draw mechanic designed to thin your opponent's deck away while giving you draw power to get more fogs. The turbo tech in this deck include
Dakra Mystic
and Dictate of Kruphix.
Recycling: Most TurboFog decks that are designed to force their opponents to draw out (there are other win-cons in TurboFog) require a safety net to keep them from drawing themselves out. I chose to use two copies of Learn from the Past to help keep cards out of the grave.
Counters: Counterspells are a vital part of the mainboard to defend against cards that Fogs cannot deal with, namely Palace Siege, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, or
Stoke the Flames
. Since the spells that threaten this deck are almost entirely non-creature, I chose to include 2 copies of Negate. I am also running 3 copies of Dissolve for pesky creatures like Brutal Hordechief and Purphoros, God of the Forge.
Sideboard:
As I said before, the decks that threaten this build the most are not creature-based decks but rather are control and aggro/burn (RDW-style) decks. Thus, the vast majority of the sideboard consists of counterspells. I also put in two answers to artifacts and enchantments just to be safe in case I couldn't counter one, and an answer in for decks that want to recycle their graveyards, too (I see UW control potentially doing this). The rest of the cards are designed to mainly combat control. Siding in the extra Negate and the two Monastery Sieges against burn should be fine, but I'm not sure yet.
Cards in the Back of My Mind:
Jace, the Living Guildpact: I know everyone hates on this guy, but he can be really great if you can get him to ult. I would put him in the sideboard as a one-of, and use him to potentially beat control at its own game. The problem is, that it restarts the milling process, which is an issue. That is the reason he did not make the cut in the sideboard.
Mind Sculpt
: This card could speed up the mill a lot. Unfortunately, I just don't see space for it in the main board. If I feel like it might come in handy against the control decks, I might throw a couple in the side.
Prognostic Sphinx
: This card is a powerhouse, but because of the wide array of flyers in the format, I thought that it wouldn't be all too helpful. Again, could be a good side against UB control.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: If I happen to pull this guy, he would definitely take a spot in the side. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening anytime soon, so I will have to do without.
Villainous Wealth: This could be a really fun one-of that could give me a boardstate of my own.
I think that's all I have, and I'm sorry for the short novel. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!