UR Landstill

Question: when do you want your opponent to play their spells? Answer: when you’ve got a Standstill in play! Landstill decks have been around for a long time; making use of the awesome power of manlands such as Mishra’s Factory and Faerie Conclave, the deck aims to put pressure on your opponent without having to cast any spells yourself. This means that the person across from you has 2 choices: die slowly to your Factory Workers and Faeries or cast a spell and let you draw a bunch of cards. Good deal!

UR Landstill is a control deck that tries to grind out wins while stopping the opponent from developing a board presence. The deck contains a lot of burn and counterpells to accomplish this task, as well as numerous sources of card advantage to replenish its hand. What the deck doesn’t contain however, are ‘bombs’. UR Landstill is designed to stop the opponent from posing a threat as it whittles away their life total, which means that you want to focus on control instead of trying to jam in more win conditions.

Despite its focus on control however, the deck contains a surprising amount of ways to win. We are talking about a bi-colour red deck after all, which means that a lot of its removal can target the opponent as well. The deck also contains Grim Lavamancer, which can be a great source of offense as it “re-uses” cards from the graveyard to remove their creatures and/or attack their life total.

Counterspells and removal are not the only way this deck can control the opponent’s board – land destruction/denial are another. The deck contains a playset of Wastelands in order to help keep the opponent from casting their spells. It also has 4 Stifle, which are very effective against decks that contain a lot of fetchlands to smooth our their mana base. Heck, even Ice can be used to tap an opponent’s land for a turn, as could the addition of some Rishadan Ports to further hinder them. Adding more colourless mana to the deck could pose its own problems, but finding a solution is part of the fun. Happy brewing!

UR Landstill

Land:

4 Volcanic Island

5 Fetchlands

4 Mishra’s Factory

4 Faerie Conclave

4 Wasteland

2 Island

1 Mountain

Total: 25

Creatures:

3 Grim Lavamancer

Total: 3

Spells:

4 Landstill

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

4 Stifle

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Chain Lightning

4 Counterspell

2 Fire // Ice

2 Fact or Fiction

Total: 32

Sideboard:

2 Pyroblast

2 Hydroblast

2 Fire // Ice

2 Pyroclasm

4 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Chain of Vapors

1 Boomerang