The Grind

Standard BUG (Sultai) Competitive Control Midrange Superfriends

5p3nc3r

Creature (16)

• 4x Courser of Kruphix
• 2x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
• 2x Liliana, Heretical Healer
• 4x Sylvan Caryatid
• 2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• 2x Thassa, God of the Sea

Planeswalker (9)

• 4x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
• 3x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
• 2x Nissa, Worldwaker

Land (23)

• 2x Forest
• 2x Island
• 2x Llanowar Wastes
• 4x Opulent Palace
• 2x Swamp
• 4x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 4x Temple of Mystery
• 2x Yavimaya Coast

Instant (12)

• 4x Dissolve
• 4x Hero's Downfall
• 2x Murderous Cut
• 2x Sultai Charm

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Gaea's Revenge
• 2x Mizzium Meddler
• 2x Sigiled Starfish

Instant (8)

• 3x Bile Blight
• 1x Disdainful Stroke
• 2x Feed the Clan
• 2x Windstorm

Sorcery (2)

• 2x Drown in Sorrow

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Dragonlord Silumgar
• 1x Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

Instant (1)

• 1x Silumgar's Command

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Magic Origins season standard deck.

So after seeing the spoilers for Magic Origins in their entirety, I was mostly underwhelmed. There were only a few cards I was really excited for. One of those cards however was Liliana, Heretical Healer  . Anyway, at the prerelease event I chose to align with black and ened up pulling TWO Liliana, Heretical Healer  !! I had this random casual Sultai control deck in my catalog of decks and decided why not add her in and make it my Origins season deck. Especially since I love Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Kiora, the Crashing Wave so much and this will be my last chance to play them in standard.

Ok... I'm done rambling now. Onto business:

Mainboard summary:

So like I said above, this deck is built around an abundance of planeswalkers. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  , Liliana, Heretical Healer  , Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Kiora, the Crashing Wave help push my control to the top by disrupting your hand, stealing your creatures and leaving what creatures you do still have in a bubble. Nissa, Worldwaker is just another favorite I have and she's a nasty topper on the cake of Sultai goodies. Courser of Kruphix and Sylvan Caryatid, of course, help me make sure I have the mana I need when I need it (I chose Sylvan Caryatid over Satyr Wayfinder mostly do to it being a superior blocker). Originally I had Whip of Erebos instead of Tasigur, the Golden Fang for it's lifelink and reanimate effect, but ended up deciding Tasigur is just better for this deck. Now at first this deck was just called "Sultai Super Friends" since it's just a planeswalker deck basically, but it's earned the nickname "The Grind". Because it has the potential to do a whole lot of nothing without Thassa, God of the Sea out. Her making my 9/9 krakens or 4/4 lands unblockable is just a HUGE problem. Plus the scry is nice too. I would almost go as far to say that she is the most important part of the deck. Often times I can end up getting and Kiora emblem but can't get through a bunch of little blockers such as thopters, elves or goblins. This is the problem literally every time, but it seems like the games that I loose, I loose to the clock. Hence the title "The Grind".

Some notable synergy:

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver + Liliana, Heretical Healer   = laugh as your opponents creatures betray them when they block incoming attackers and die to flip Liliana!... So much fun!

Tasigur, the Golden Fang + Murderous Cut = Delving out stuff you don't needed again to force your opponent into putting exactly what you want back into your hand (sometimes).

Sideboard summary:

This deck hates decks that are faster than it. Typically it handles itself well against other midrange or control decks just due to its vast number of huge threats. Bile Blight, Drown in Sorrow and Feed the Clan are my support against those faster decks. If I can pop off one of these pseudo-boardwipe cards off after my opponent has committed their entire hand to the board followed by a Feed the Clan (even just for 5 can be a game changer), that can drastically swing the game in my favor. Sigiled Starfish may also come in against a faster deck that is running lots of burn to replace Jace, Vryn's Prodigy   since he's a superior early blocker and won't die to Searing Blood and Wild Slash . Disdainful Stroke comes in against any deck I suspect will be playing Languish and/or Crux of Fate since my deck relies quite strongly on it's creatures to get me the mana I may need. Gaea's Revenge comes in against other Sultai Control decks and maybe Abzan Control decks. Windstorm comes in against Jeskai Tempo and Temur Aggro decks almost 100% of the time since they tend to run Mantis Rider, Thunderbreak Regent and Stormbreath Dragon. I can't deal with too many fliers. Mizzium Meddler comes in against burn decks: because Exquisite Firecraft . That is all.

"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all of your fears to me."

-Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

Thanks much! And as always, thanks for stopping by!

Also I just have to post this: Hahahaha!! This is one of my favorite Cardboard Crack

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 23 - 3 Rares 12 - 8 Uncommons 4 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.30
Tokens	Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Emblem Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Kraken 9/9 U, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Standard, Standard Origins, Standard Archive