B/R/W Control

Standard BR (Rakdos) Control RBW (Mardu)

Casanova

Creature (3)

• 3x Master of Cruelties

Planeswalker (3)

• 3x Liliana of the Dark Realms

Land (23)

• 4x Blood Crypt
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of Triumph

Artifact (1)

• 1x Elixir of Immortality

Instant (10)

• 2x Devour Flesh
• 3x Hero's Downfall
• 2x Magma Jet
• 1x Pharika's Cure
• 2x Wear / Tear

Sorcery (21)

• 3x Anger of the Gods
• 2x Dreadbore
• 2x Mizzium Mortars
• 4x Rakdos's Return
• 2x Read the Bones
• 4x Slaughter Games
• 4x Thoughtseize

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 4x Pack Rat

Artifact (3)

• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 2x Pithing Needle

Instant (5)

• 2x Aurelia's Fury
• 2x Dark Betrayal
• 1x Pharika's Cure

Sorcery (2)

• 2x Merciless Eviction

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With the current standard meta, I wanted to try to find a archetype that can match-up against the best of them and that wasn't being widely played. While much of the format is more aggro (Devotion decks, GW, RG, Boros aggro etc.) with maybe the exceptions of UW and Esper control, I decided to see if I could make Dega/Rakdos standard viable.

The goal of the deck is to remove every threat our opponent can produce, until you can ultimate a Liliana of the Dark Realms or amass enough lands to fire off a few big (or one) Rakdos's Return for the win.

This is my take on what I'm calling "Dega Control" or B/R/W Control:

Deck Tech:

Removal

• Dreadbore - cheapest Planeswalker removal in standard
• Mizzium Mortars - spot-removal for large percentage of creatures, notably Blood Baron of Vizkopa
• Devour Flesh - best edict in standard
• Magma Jet - 2 damage isn't the best, but in a control setup, the Scry 2 is huge to make sure you always have removal
• Pharika's Cure - spot 2 damage removal, and solid lifegain to offset Shock Lands, Thoughtseize and Read the Bones
• Anger of the Gods - boardwipe for aggro weenie decks

Key Spells:

• Thoughtseize - arguably the best card in standard, takes away early threats, and/or mana ramp
• Wear / Tear - instant, one-mana, removal for keys enchantments like the Thero's Gods' Weapons, Underworld Connections, Chained to the Rocks, Detention Sphere.
• Elixir of Immortality - refuels your deck, minor lifegain
• Read the Bones - Scry 2, draw 2 allows you to dig deep in your deck
• Underworld Connections - repeated card draw
• Slaughter Games - probably the best card that isn't being played in standard. Allows you to, uncounterably, take out threats of your opponents deck, hand, and graveyard
• Liliana of the Dark Realms - allows you to hit land drops, thinning your deck to hit threats, ultimate is the kill condition with Rakdos's Return
• Rakdos's Return - the engine for this control deck, discard, damage, everything you want. Completely strips hands early, and then with a Liliana ultimate, can be fired off for 20-30+.

Sideboard

• Dark Betrayal - spot removal against black
• Elixir of Immortality - insurance for the long-game in control mirrors
• Pithing Needle - shuts down Planeswalkers and Monstrous abilities
• Pharika's Cure - additional removal/life gain against weenie aggro decks
• Pack Rat - produces a creature that needs to be dealt with immediately for opponents.
• Erebos, God of the Dead - shuts down mono-black devotion life gain, as well as UW control. And turns Devour Flesh into a straight Diabolic Edict
• Merciless Eviction - efficient late-game board-wipe
• Aurelia's Fury - another late game ender, or early answer to hyper aggro decks

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 3 Mythic Rares 19 - 8 Rares 8 - 3 Uncommons 5 - 1 Commons
Cards	61
Avg. CMC	2.74
Tokens	Copy Clone, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms
Folders	Control Decks