Standard: Golgari Control - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

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Professor Dellian Fel has conquered more space in competitive Standard after the recent bans. In addition, in this format we have the mana base we need to build a mainly black/green deck but still access all five colors to get the most out of Together as One!

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Translated byEditorial

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Revised byJoey | Let

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Introduction

The latest bans slowed down the Standard meta considerably, and now Control and Midrange strategies have gained room to compete. Although their numbers have not impressed many of us, players who enjoy these archetypes now have something to play in Standard.

Golgari Control is one option. Its core is mainly black, but it splashes green for Professor Dellian Fel and Maelstrom Pulse. It also takes advantage of Firdoch Core and how easily you can get certain colors with Verge lands to get the most out of Together as One.

The Decklist

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Maindeck

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The main core centers around the interaction between the main sources of card advantage. Unholy Annex gives you extra cards at the end of the turn and a win condition (the Demon token it creates). If you cannot keep it on the battlefield, however, you can turn Firdoch Core into a 4/4 creature that puts pressures on empty boards and also triggers Annex. As a bonus, this artifact creates mana of any color, so it's quite helpful for the Together as One game plan.

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Core gives you Magic Symbol UMagic Symbol U for Deceit and lets you cast it a turn earlier. This creature acts like Distress early on, but ideally you should cast at least 2 copies for their full cost.

Professor Dellian Fel does a bit of everything: spot removal, life gain to make up for Unholy Annex, and an emblem that, together with this card itself and cards like Together as One, deals damage to the opponent.

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One-mana interactions remain essential, even though Standard has slowed down after the bans. Requiting Hex and Duress are better in very different matchups, but against certain archetypes in this format neither of them is useless when you draw them, and a full set of each means you are likely to draw answers when you're drawing first.

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To make up for the "bad topdecks" against Aggro lists, this list plays Deadly Cover-Up and Day of Black Sun. They'll clear the board and stabilize the game. Cover-Up also works in Game 1 against other decks, as it can deal with problematic cards permanently as if it were a Surgical Extraction.

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Shoot the Sheriff and Maelstrom Pulse complement the spot removal kit, especially against larger threats. Pulse is useful in most matchups, particularly to answer Tablet of Discovery, Sapling Nursery, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

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There are a few manlands and utility lands in this list that complement the win conditions. Alongside Restless Reef and Restless Cottage, a copy of Realm of Koh makes sure you have a threat every turn. Even though it starts small, it can grow and deal damage turn after turn as the opponent avoids using spot removals on 1/1 tokens.

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We included a few Verges to complement the mana base and make sure you can get Magic Symbol W and Magic Symbol R for Together as One. Great Hall of the Biblioplex also creates mana of any color for spells and supports the win conditions as another manland.

Sideboard

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Sometimes we need a card that can slow down an Aggro deck for a turn or two and make sure we don't lose because a Sunspine Lynx punished our greedy mana base. Qarsi Revenant fills that role. It also performs well in other creature matchups, and Renewing a Unholy Annex token or Deceit ends the game if the opponent is trying to race you to the victory line.

The End complements the spot answers to creatures and Planeswalkers and also exiles copies of troublesome cards. It is a great way to deal with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

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Boros Dwarves has become quite popular lately, so we included more effective answers against it. Intimidation Tactics answers artifacts or creatures and exiles a card, so it's an answer to Reanimator. Vicious Rivalry destroys artifacts and creatures for a low cost in this matchup and also acts as another sweeper against Orzhov Lifegain and Landfall.

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To deal with graveyards, Strategic Betrayal is both a way to wipe the board and a way to exile something completely. It is excellent against Spellementals, Reanimator, and Excruciator. Ghost Vacuum is a repeatable answer, but we only added one copy because we cannot rely on it because this is a late-game deck. Ancient Vendetta answers cards such as Superior Spider-Man in Reanimator permanently and is also a spot hate interaction against Jeskai Revelation and other key cards in attrition games.

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Speaking of attrition games, Inside Information and Outrageous Robbery steal cards from the opponent. In Golgari mirrors, or against Excruciator, and in other matchups centered around high-value cards, resolving them could give you so many resources that your opponent won't be able to keep up with you.

Arcane Omens takes advantage of this multicolor mana base and allows you to essentially cast a Mind Twist on the opponent. It comes in against Jeskai/Four-Color Control and in the mirror.

Sideboard Guide

Izzet Spellementals

IN

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OUT

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Mono Green Landfall

IN

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OUT

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Four-Color Control

IN

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OUT

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Mono Red Aggro

IN

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OUT

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Dimir Midrange

IN

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OUT

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Dimir Excruciator

IN

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OUT

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Orzhov Lifegain

IN

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OUT

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Sultai Reanimator

IN

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OUT

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Boros Dwarves

IN

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OUT

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Conclusion

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thank you for reading!

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