Pioneer: Azorius Spirits Deck Guide and Sideboard Guide

Azorius Spirits is a typal, as the name suggests, which uses low-cost creatures which together can force a powerful clock on the opponent with the support of cheap interactions which protect your board from removals. The deck is a variation of Mono Blue Spirits, and it behaves the same way, but with access to resources from White which make it a bit more versatile in certain situations.

The strategy has grown in popularity in the format, and has conquered many positive results for tabletop and Magic Online (MTGO) in the hands of various players.

Main Plan

As mentioned before, our plan is to put your creatures on board and attack through the air. All creatures in the deck have evasion, and with Supreme Phantom they can get much bigger. If the opponent can't interact, the game can end very quickly.

Mausoleum Wanderer is absurdly strong. Capable of imposing a powerful clock, its activated ability can transform it into a counterspell which becomes better according to its power. For instance: if its power is 2, you can counter spells unless their controller pays 2, for example. Of course, sacrificing a creature might be considered a drawback, but, in most situations, that won't affect your game plan all that much.

Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr is a kind of bomb in the deck and can be cast from the graveyard later. As for Shacklegeist, it is one of the most fun cards to use, and it gets much better when you have various spirits on the board. With it, you can literally prevent your opponent from attacking or blocking, tapping their creatures when passing and coming back into your turn with your creatures ready for the attack, a path clear ahead.

Mana Base

The mana base is quite solid, being one of the main reasons the Azorius version is more played than Mono-Blue or Bant, as the UW base is much more solid and versatile.

Mutavault is the deck's manland, many times being able to help you finish the game, and, once it counts as a spirit, it can be used to enable Shaklegeist and get Supreme Phantom's +1/+1.

Otawara, Soaring City is a utility land, serving as a bounce which can help you in many situations, including with some tricks, such as returning a flipped Wedding Announcement to your hand.

Card Advantage

A very effective way of winning the game without counting with an oppressive board presence is to win through advantage. Spectral Sailor can be cast on the opponent's turn, and can grant you an extra draw for the cost of four mana.

Another source for draws is Curious Obsession. You can enchant a creature and attack with it, creating value and hoarding resources to protect it from removals.

Interactions

Rattlechains and Slip Out the Back have a similar role; these are cards which can protect a creature at the same time they enhance their power on board.

Rattlechains has a different application, because it is a creature, allows you to cast your creatures at instant speed, and can rapidly become a nuisance when you have one or more Lords on board.

Spell Queller can work as a removal on a body, interacting with the spells on the stack, and having a significant body for combat. Lofty Denial and Geistlight Snare are the deck's main counters, being quite powerful in this archetype.

Invasion of Gobakhan is a card that fits like a glove here, useful to remove some important card from your opponent and acting as a Lord and extra protection later on.

Mulligan and Game Posture

UW Spirits has as its main plan to populate the board with its creatures quickly, and finish the game in a few turns. For that, we count on small, low-cost bodies, but which together work in a synergistic and powerful way.

You can adopt many game postures with this deck depending on your initial hand and the opponent's. Against more aggressive opponents, you'll favor a more Aggro plan to take advantage of evasion.

Against Midrange decks, a strategy with protection and counters might bring you to victory, adopting a more Control approach. As for Control decks, you can prefer an approach focused on value, pressuring with the fewer number of creatures as you hoard resources.

This is a deck with a very low curve, so an ideal hand doesn't need many lands.

In our sideboard, we have access to more cards which will be useful in many matchups. The extra copy of Katilda will serve well against other Aggros.

Skyclave Apparition will act as a removal alongside Portable Hole and Declaration in Stone.

Tocasia's Welcome is an interesting card in the deck, as it can be an extra source of card advantage, just like Wedding Announcement, which, besides card advantage, also fills the board and works as a Lord.

Destroy Evil and Aether Gust close the sideboard as one-offs which will serve as hate in various matchups.

Vs. Boros Pia

Boros Pias is a Midrange deck which can adopt a very aggressive posture while it interacts well with threats and progresses in the game very quickly. The strategy in this matchup is to build a good board with Rattlechains and Mausoleum Wanderer while you protect your main creatures, locking down the opponent's attack and counter-attacking through the air.

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Vs. Mono-Green Nykthos

This is a more favorable matchup. The approach here is to pressure down the opponent on the first few turns, and prevent them from being able to start their chain of explosive actions.

Countering Old-Growth Troll, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner and Cavalier of Thorns can delay the opponent quite a lot. Counter the opponent's main pieces and keep your pressure through the air, and all will go well.

Post-side, we have access to Portable Hole and Skyclave Apparition, which are excellent cards in this matchup.

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Vs. Rakdos Sacrifice

This matchup, I consider to be very balanced. The opponent, if they fit in the right cards, can end the game very quickly. On the other side, Spirits also puts on a very fast pressure and can close out the game very easily. Curious Obsession has a very important role here.

Protect your source of draws and hoard resources while you pressure the board. As it is a game of friction, I prefer not taking out too many things out of the deck while sideboarding, and leaning to play with 61 cards.

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Vs. Azorius Control

This match, I consider slightly favorable for Spirits. The opponent has two cards which can end the game, Supreme Verdict and Temporary Lockdown, which can both give Azorius Control the time necessary to control the game. With that in mind, our game plan is to impose a clock with creatures such as Mausoleum Wanderer and Spectral Sailor, and draw many cards with Curious Obsession, hoarding the necessary answers to protect your board.

Don't let the game take too much time, as that is Azorius Control's game, but be careful and use your counters well.

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Vs. Spirits

Besides Azorius Spirits, the meta also counts on Mono-Blue and Bant Spirits, both less popular than the first one, and I'd say a bit weaker too.

Mono Blue is the closest version to Azorius, counting on a good number of interactions, and more or less the same number of creatures. Bant uses more creatures and has access to Collected Company's power.

Whatever version you're facing, focus on keeping your counters ready, and try to build a powerful board quickly. It is a game defined by resources, as in whoever has the more resources wins the match.

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We're reaching the end of another article. UW Spirits is an excellent option for Pioneer currently, being able to compete against the main decks in the format, and also having a quite accessible price when compared to other options.

In case you have questions or suggestions, leave them in the comment section. See you later!