{"ops":[{"insert":"The goal of this deck was to build a deck that felt like a classic control deck with stax elements without completely shutting down opponents in a grindy mess. I love building around commanders that don't see a lot of love and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Azor, the Lawbringer"}},{"insert":" definitely fits that bill. His ETB effect inspired the goal of the deck: don't shut down opponents completely, but restrict them to play in a certain predictable pattern. Thus, the deck has a bunch of cards like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Drannith Magistrate"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Voice of Victory"}},{"insert":" that restrict opponents to playing only on their own turn, as well as other control pieces like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Drannith Magistrate"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Authority of the Consuls"}},{"insert":" to slow opponents down. \n\nConversely, I also wanted to reward us for doing the opposite. The deck has a bunch of pay-offs for casting more than one spell in each turn, and the curve of the deck is pretty low to accomodate this, with only 5 cards (including the commander) having a mana value greater than 4. Although there are a couple of cards in the deck with storm ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tempest Technique"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Amphibian Downpour"}},{"insert":") this isn't a storm deck; the idea is to merely be incentivizing yourself to be doing more than your opponents may be able to. \n\nThe deck wins in one of two ways. The simpler win-con is casting "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Approach of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":" twice. If your opponents can't interact on your turn, it will make pulling this off far easier. The other win-con is through commander damage. A 6/6 flier is impressive but the deck also has three ways to buff Azor. "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tempest Technique"}},{"insert":" rewards casting a lot of spells and can make your commander quite large, whereas "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Empyrial Armor"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Empyrial Plate"}},{"insert":" both reward having a lot of cards in hand, which also isn't hard to accomplish in a deck like this. \n\nHere are some of my favorite/pet cards in this deck:\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vigilant Martyr"}},{"insert":": This is a super underrated white card that would definitely see more play if more people knew about it. There are a number of good enchantments in the deck to protect and this card is a one-drop, so it is easy to cast him into casting another spell to trigger your effects that want multiple spells in a turn. \n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Serene Master"}},{"insert":": This card admittedly is not super synergistic with the rest of the deck, but this is one of my favorite white cards and I always try to find ways of including cards like this in decks. The card is quite powerful as well. Oftentimes it sitting there will dissuade an opponent from attacking you altogether. \n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mandate of Peace"}},{"insert":": This is a fog effect and a silence effect in one spell and often feels like a second "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teferi's Protection"}},{"insert":" in many circumstances. This card is a super underrated way to defend against a big, game-winning attack. \n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Illusionist's Gambit"}},{"insert":": This is a similar card to "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mandate of Peace"}},{"insert":", except instead of ending the combat, it just sends what was going to kill you at your opponents instead. \n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sudden Substitution"}},{"insert":": One of my favorite underplayed blue cards. You're often going to have cheap creatures to exchange for their removal spell, or bomb noncreature spell. Alternatively, late-game manarock draws turn into ways to steal creatures with this card. It's super versatile and opponents never see a card like this coming when you have open mana. \n"}]}