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By: Plainswalker83, Plainswalker83
Feb 19 2019 1:00pm
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Shortly after my article went up last week, I jumped right into playing Azorius Aggro on Magic Online. It is a style of deck that I am very familiar with having just played the almost the same thing but with a red splash. I shared the decklist last time but for reference this is what I have been playing recently.


I already decided that I was going to dedicate some time to this and learn the deck and do what I could to play it effectively and play it well. I jumped into some friendly leagues and I was loving the results. I did five or six leagues and always had a winning record. There were times well I felt going 3-2 was almost normal and with tight play and good matchups it was possible to do even better.

That was exactly how it worked out for me. I managed to squeeze out a few 4-1 finishes and then even a 5-0. I was certain there were things that I could do to tighten up my play so I decided to search out some sort of sideboard guide or even watch some matches being played with the deck.

That is when I stumbled across Eric Hawkins and a video sideboard guide that he did in preparation for the Dallas SCG open. If you are interested in this deck, I highly recommend that you check out his thoughts on it and that you watch the footage from this past open.

He actually ended up going into the Top 8 in 1st place. He did however get paired up against Esper Control in the Top 8 and things did not go so well.

It was funny to hear earlier in the broadcast the commentators mention how bad the blue splash was in the deck and then have 2 of the decks make it into the Top 8.

This deck has very few “bad matchups” and I think the blue cards in the board really help improve your chance against some of the tougher decks. Even if a game 1 feels unwinnable you would be surprised how much better the match gets when you have access to a few counterspells.

Esper Control may be the hardest deck to beat, especially with their access to removal and sweepers. Though in games 2 and 3, a well-timed Negate or Disdainful Stroke can really sure up the victory for you.

Sultai Midrange can also present a challenge, especially if they have an early Wildgrowth Walker. The lifegain and how big it can get will really put them ahead and you can only hope to remove it before things get out of hand. In the board you get options like Tocatli Honor GuardAjani, Adversary of Tyrants, and the counterspells. That makes things a bit easier but a win will still require some good sequencing and smart play making.

The Nexus of Fate decks are interesting but most times you can pull ahead and finish them off before they get going. Then once you get to board you can stop them from slowing you down.

There was another version of Azorius Aggro that made Top 8 though and one that I also like. This one by Juan Leyva:

 

I have been messing with a Mono White Lifegain/Aggro deck on Magic Arena but here Juan is keeping the blue splash. The main difference is the various one drops that make Ajani's Pridemate very good. If you are facing down a lot of other aggro decks than the life gain is very good. So maybe it was just a meta call, assuming there would be other aggro to slog through.

I have never played with Dovin, Grand Arbiter but it does seem to work well in the deck.

I might have to test out this version of the deck and compare which I like better but either way the core is the same.

This open also had two different things happen that I think are very good for the future of Azorius Aggro.

First, I want to briefly talk about the Mono White list that Tom Ross brought to battle with. I will never doubt the ability that Tom Ross has with aggro decks. In fact, I hope this deck picks up steam because I feel that Azorius has the edge with the Deputy of Detention. I saw some games the Tom played. If he had access to the counters in the board, he may have been able to win and not sit there and watch his opponent do very powerful things that he could not interact with. Deputy of Detention really shines in the mirror and if you are against mono white that just means they will have no Deputy of their own.

The main argument against the blue splash was for the “bad” mana and if main boarding blue cards like Deputy was worth it off of only eight blue sources. I think the results show the blue splash is very worth it and I will continue to try it out.

For the record Tom did finish in 10th place and here is his list.


Once again, totally fine and it even placed 5th in the classic. Though it may be worth noting that Azorius took 1st and 2nd.

I will be sticking with Azorius for now. The 2nd good thing that happened was that Mono Blue Aggro won the open. Mono Blue is a great match up for a white based aggro deck. I am unsure if Mono Blue will see increased play on Magic Online but it already had a small presence. It is also a very cheap deck to build being under 15 tickets. Having it do so well this past weekend might encourage others to pick the deck up and play it.

I played against it multiple times and the only time I really struggled is when I had a poor draw or they quickly got a Curious Obsession on a flier. Even then it can still be a win for you but that is when it gets a lot harder. The deck does have a good match up against the midrange and control decks though, which is why it took down the weekend.

Moving forward I will be sticking with this deck until it becomes unplayable. I like its matchups and I love the speed it has. The blue splash gives you the ability to stay in games that a normal white weenie deck has no business winning.

If you like aggressive decks then I suggest picking this up and playing it. Standard is fun again and there are multiple decks that are very good. You can play a good deck without breaking the budget and have a great chance to succeed.

Playing the blue white deck has inspired me to brew again. Next week I will be bringing you Modern deck that I have been piecing together. Will it be good? I don’t know but I cannot wait to test it out and see how it does.