Premodern Landstill Deck Guide (2026)
Premodern Landstill is a blue-white control deck: it counters and sweeps, Standstill punishes the opponent's first spell and Mishra's Factory attacks. It wins with Factory attacks and with Soldiers from Decree of Justice, cycled at the end of the opponent's turn, and about half the lists add Exalted Angel in the main deck. Since September it holds about 5 percent of the MTGTop8 lists (100 of 1,914, seventh among the decks with a guide here), more than in the months before the Parallax Tide ban in January 2026. Navas won the 189-player side event at Eurofest Valencia on October 11, Lorenzo Malucelli the 116-player 4Seasons main event in Bologna on October 17, and Federico Yañez reached the top four of the 218-player European Championship in Gdańsk on September 5. Its hardest matchups are the decks that attack its lands or its untap step, Terrageddon, Oath of Druids and Stasis, and the two other Decree of Justice control decks, Tron and BW Control.
How the deck wins
- Standstill is the engine. Once it resolves, nobody wants to cast the first spell, but Mishra's Factory and Faerie Conclave keep attacking, since animating a land is an activated ability. Creatures already on the battlefield, land drops and activated abilities keep working for the opponent too, so cast it when your board is at least as good as theirs. When the opponent finally casts a spell, you draw three cards.
- Around it the deck answers what the opponent does: Counterspell, Mana Leak and Prohibit stop what matters, Swords to Plowshares, Powder Keg and Wrath of God deal with what resolves, and Impulse finds the right answer at instant speed. While your Standstill is on the battlefield, the first spell you cast gives the opponent three cards, so counter only after they have broken it, and cast Swords, Wrath and Impulse before it lands or after it is gone; a Powder Keg already on the battlefield works under it. Phyrexian Furnace, in about three of four main decks, exiles the one graveyard card that matters and draws a card for it.
- Decree of Justice wins under your own Standstill: cycling is not casting a spell, so the Soldiers you make at the end of the opponent's turn get past both Standstill and Counterspell. About half the lists also play one or two Exalted Angel in the main deck: cast face down it costs {3}, turning it face up for {2}{W}{W} is not a spell, and it gains you life whenever it deals damage.
Core cards
- 3 Standstill
- 4 Mishra's Factory
- 4 Counterspell
- 4 Swords to Plowshares
- 4 Impulse
- 3 Mana Leak
- 3 Fact or Fiction
- 3 Decree of Justice
- 2 Wrath of God
- 2 Disenchant
- 2 Phyrexian Furnace
- 2 Dust Bowl
- 4 Flooded Strand
- 4 Adarkar Wastes
Key cards
- Standstill: Two mana for a delayed Ancestral Recall: whoever casts the next spell gives the other player three cards, and your manlands let you keep attacking without casting one. Standstill on turn two behind a Mishra's Factory is the deck's best start. Most lists run three or four.
- Mishra's Factory: The main win condition, four copies in more than nine of ten lists: a land that becomes a 2/2 artifact creature for {1}, so animating it is not a spell and sorcery-speed removal never sees a creature. After it blocks, it can tap itself to give itself +1/+1 and fight as a 3/3. As a land it survives your own Wrath of God; animated, it does not.
- Decree of Justice: Cycle it for {2}{W} at the end of the opponent's turn and pay {X} more for X 1/1 Soldiers; you also draw a card. Cycling and its trigger are abilities, so Counterspell cannot stop them and Standstill does not trigger, though Stifle can counter the trigger. Cast for {X}{X}{2}{W}{W}, it makes X 4/4 flying Angels, but then it is a spell that can be countered and breaks Standstill.
- Impulse: Digs four cards deep at instant speed for the land, sweeper or counter the turn needs. Casting it breaks your own Standstill, so use it at the end of the opponent's turn before Standstill is down, or once Standstill is gone.
- Counterspell: Four copies in almost every list, usually with three Mana Leak and, in about two of three lists, one or two Prohibit, for seven to nine counterspells. Mana Leak gets worse once the opponent can pay {3}; Prohibit counters a spell with mana value 2 or less, or 4 or less if you pay {2} more for its kicker.
- Fact or Fiction: Three copies in most lists: reveal five cards at the end of the opponent's turn, they split them into two piles and you take one. Like Impulse, it breaks your own Standstill.
- Humility: One copy in about half the main decks. All creatures lose all abilities and have base power and toughness 1/1: Goblin Lackey, Goblin Warchief and Goblin Ringleader lose their abilities, Llanowar Elves and Priest of Titania make no mana, Argothian Enchantress stops drawing and loses shroud, and Phyrexian Dreadnought and Terravore are 1/1s. It also shrinks your own Decree of Justice Angels and Exalted Angel, so cast it when their creatures matter more than yours. Your manlands are the exception: animated after Humility is on the battlefield, Mishra's Factory is still a 2/2, though without abilities it cannot pump itself, and Faerie Conclave is still a 2/1 flier.
- Powder Keg: Two mana to cast, then free: in each of your upkeeps you may add a fuse counter, and at instant speed you can tap and sacrifice it to destroy every artifact and creature with mana value exactly equal to the counters. At zero it takes tokens, Mox Diamond and an animated Mishra's Factory, your own included; at one Goblin Lackey, Jackal Pup, Mogg Fanatic and Phyrexian Dreadnought; at two Goblin Piledriver. Ticking and firing it are not spells, so it keeps working under Standstill.
- Phyrexian Furnace: One or two copies in about three of four main decks. Pay {1} and sacrifice it to exile one card from any graveyard and draw a card, so it replaces itself; or tap it each turn to exile the bottom card of a player's graveyard. It exiles the reanimation target, Squee or a flashback card before it matters, and every card it takes is one fewer for Psychatog or Grim Lavamancer to exile.
Mulligan guide
Keep
- Two to four lands including a Mishra's Factory, plus Standstill and cheap interaction.
- Land-heavy hands: extra lands pay for Factory activations, Dust Bowl and Decree cycling, so the deck can use a flood.
- Against aggro, a hand with early removal such as Swords to Plowshares and a sweeper such as Wrath of God or Powder Keg.
Ship
- One-land hands, always: the deck needs a land drop every turn.
- Hands that cannot interact before turn three against an unknown opponent.
- All-answer hands with no engine (no Standstill, no manland, no card draw): you trade one for one and run out of cards first.
A good Landstill hand has lands, cheap interaction and one engine card: Standstill, a Mishra's Factory or card draw.
Play tips and sequencing
- Resolve Standstill when the board favors you (a Factory online, more lands in play), never when their board is better: while both players avoid casting spells, the creatures and manlands already on the battlefield decide the game.
- Under Standstill, play only what is not a spell: land drops, Mishra's Factory and Faerie Conclave attacks, Powder Keg's upkeep counters and its sacrifice, Phyrexian Furnace, Dust Bowl and Decree cycling. Leave the first spell to the opponent.
- Your own Impulse and Fact or Fiction break Standstill too and hand the three cards to your opponent, so cast them before it lands. Counterspells are different: when the opponent casts a spell, let the Standstill trigger resolve first, draw your three cards, and only then counter.
- Hold up counter mana through the opponent's turn, then cycle Decree of Justice with what is left at the end of it: Counterspell and Mana Leak cannot stop the Soldiers, only Stifle can, and you untap with all your lands.
- Animate only the manlands you need: each animation costs mana you may want for a counter, and an animated land is a creature that creature removal or a Powder Keg on zero counters can destroy.
- Use Dust Bowl when you have lands to spare: for {3} and a land of your own it destroys a nonbasic land, best their only source of a color or a utility land such as Gaea's Cradle, Glacial Chasm or an Urza land.
Matchups
- Stiflenought (favorable): Their free counterspells, Daze, Foil and Thwart, protect Phyrexian Dreadnought, and Stifle, four in every list, can also counter your Decree of Justice trigger and a Powder Keg, Dust Bowl or Mishra's Factory activation. Swords to Plowshares exiles the 12/12 and Powder Keg on one counter destroys it. Humility makes it a 1/1, but a Dreadnought cast under Humility gets no sacrifice trigger and is a 12/12 trampler once their Chain of Vapor, in most lists, returns Humility to your hand. After boarding Annul counters Dreadnought for one mana and Meddling Mage can name it. About two of three of their sideboards since September have Back to Basics, which keeps your nonbasic lands from untapping, and some have Tsabo's Web, which does the same to Mishra's Factory, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl; counter both, or Disenchant them. MTGDecks: 59 percent over 213 matches.
- Goblins (even): Wrath of God and Powder Keg punish overextension, and Humility shuts off Goblin Lackey's trigger, Goblin Warchief's haste and everything Goblin Matron, Siege-Gang Commander and Goblin Ringleader do when they enter. Without it, Goblin Ringleader grinds through one-for-one answers, so use Wrath only when it takes several Goblins, block early with Mishra's Factory, and keep Counterspell mana up for Goblin Warchief and Ringleader. Circle of Protection: Red and the blue blasts come in after boarding. MTGDecks: 46 percent over 142 matches.
- Sligh (even): Game one is close: Price of Progress punishes Adarkar Wastes and Mishra's Factory, and once Cursed Scroll, Grim Lavamancer and Mogg Fanatic are on the table, your counterspells can't stop their damage. After boarding, Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast and Circle of Protection: Red help a lot, and they answer the Circle with Anarchy. Keep your life total high and let Factory block. One Sligh list in four is a Black Vise build with four Pyrostatic Pillar, four Mishra's Factory of its own and only eight creatures. Pillar deals 2 damage to you for Standstill, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell and Mana Leak, and Flame Rift deals 4 to each player; Circle of Protection: Red prevents both. Black Vise and their Factory are colorless, so neither the Circle nor the Blasts stop them, but Disenchant destroys Vise and Pillar. Like Cursed Scroll, Vise and their Factory deal damage without breaking Standstill, and the three cards you draw from Standstill make Vise hit harder. Goblin Vandal, since mid-July in about a third of the classic Jackal Pup lists, destroys Powder Keg or Phyrexian Furnace if it attacks unblocked and they pay {R}; blocking it with your Factory prevents that. MTGDecks: 48 percent over 142 matches.
- Enchantress (slightly unfavorable): They present more must-counters than you can hold up and Replenish rebuys what you Disenchant. Humility turns Argothian Enchantress into a killable 1/1 without shroud, and once they cast Opalescence it strips every animated enchantment of its abilities, Solitary Confinement and Sterling Grove included. Post-board Annul is your best card; their Xantid Swarm is theirs. MTGDecks: 45 percent over 104 matches.
- Mono Black (even): Their creature removal has few targets besides Mishra's Factory, Faerie Conclave and Exalted Angel, but Duress, Cabal Therapy and Hypnotic Specter take your counters, and Cursed Scroll activations and their own Factory are not spells, so they keep working under Standstill. Powder Keg on two counters destroys their Ravenous Rats, Withered Wretch and Nantuko Shade, and Humility, in about half your lists, turns off Hypnotic Specter's discard and Graveborn Muse's draws. Save Disenchant or a Powder Keg on one counter for Cursed Scroll. After boarding Gloom makes your white spells cost three more, and Annul counters the Scroll. Cycle Decree of Justice to end the long games. MTGDecks: 46 percent over 125 matches.
- Replenish (favorable): They have to cast setup spells into your counters, and a resolved Standstill hands you three cards for the first Attunement or Intuition they cast into it. Counter Replenish itself when you can; a kicked Prohibit counters it too. Disenchant and Phyrexian Furnace in your main deck slow them, and Humility, in about half your lists, takes every ability from their animated enchantments while Opalescence is out. After boarding Annul counters Attunement, Opalescence and Parallax Wave, Meddling Mage can name Replenish, and Tormod's Crypt in some lists exiles their graveyard in response to it. Their outs are Abeyance and Defense Grid, which get Replenish past your counters, after which a returned Decree of Silence counters your next three spells, and Tsabo's Web on Mishra's Factory and Dust Bowl. MTGDecks: 64 percent over 58 matches.
- The Rock (even): Their removal has few targets, and Counterspell, Mana Leak and Swords to Plowshares answer their threats one for one. In return Pernicious Deed clears Standstill, Powder Keg and any animated Mishra's Factory, Duress and Cabal Therapy strip your counters, and Treetop Village plus Volrath's Stronghold keep the pressure up. Decree of Justice over the top wins the long games. MTGDecks: 50 percent over 56 matches.
- Deadguy Ale (slightly unfavorable to even): Their Duress and Hypnotic Specter take your counters, Gerrard's Verdict makes you discard two cards of your choice, Phyrexian Arena draws them an extra card each turn, and Exalted Angel, in almost every list, is the threat to answer: counter the face-down spell, or use Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God or Humility once it is on the battlefield. Disenchant the Arena early. Vindicate, in every list, can destroy any of your permanents. They will not break Standstill without a reason, their Swords and, in most lists, Wasteland answer Mishra's Factory, and Powder Keg on two counters takes Withered Wretch and Nantuko Shade. No match data.
- Aluren (unfavorable after boarding): In game one Counterspell, Mana Leak and Disenchant all answer Aluren, and Humility turns off every enters-the-battlefield ability their loops need. With Aluren on the battlefield they can cast their creatures at instant speed in response to Disenchant, so counter the enchantment rather than destroy it. After boarding Xantid Swarm is their best card, since you can't cast spells in a turn in which it attacks; expect Naturalize for Humility and Tsabo's Web, which keeps Mishra's Factory, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl from untapping. MTGDecks: 29 percent over 7 matches, very limited data.
- Zombies (even): Standstill is awkward against a board of one-drops that keeps attacking without casting anything. Mishra's Factory blocks the 2/2s until a lord arrives, Wrath resets, and Decree of Justice closes. Humility turns off Lord of the Undead and Shepherd of Rot, though not a cycled Gempalm Polluter. After board expect Engineered Plague naming Soldier on the Decree tokens and Gloom on your white spells. No match data.
- Terrageddon (unfavorable): Everything you do needs lands: Standstill, Mishra's Factory, Decree of Justice and counter mana. Their Wasteland, Rishadan Port in your upkeep and an Armageddon after two threats usually end it. Treetop Village, in almost every list, attacks without casting a spell and survives Wrath of God as a land, and Call of the Herd brings back a second Elephant by flashback after your Wrath. Humility makes Terravore a 1/1 until their Naturalize, in almost every main deck, destroys it, though a Treetop Village animated after it is still a 3/3 trampler, and Powder Keg destroys Mox Diamond and Elephant tokens on zero counters and Nimble Mongoose and Weathered Wayfarer on one. Teferi's Response from your sideboard counters a Wasteland or Port activation aimed at your land; they bring Aura of Silence, which makes your artifacts and enchantments cost {2} more and can destroy one. MTGDecks: 24 percent over 75 matches.
- MUD (slightly unfavorable): You need lands to untap for counters, Mishra's Factory and Decree of Justice, so Winter Orb, Tangle Wire, Sphere of Resistance, which makes your counters cost {1} more, and Rishadan Port all hurt, and Tsabo's Web keeps Mishra's Factory, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl from untapping. Resolve Standstill before the lock, and point Disenchant at a piece only when Goblin Welder is tapped, since in response an untapped Welder swaps the target for an artifact card in their graveyard. Powder Keg on one counter destroys Goblin Welder and on two Sphere of Resistance, Winter Orb and Mind Stone, Phyrexian Furnace exiles their Welder targets, and Humility turns Karn, Silver Golem into a 1/1 and stops Triskelion from shooting. After boarding Annul counters their lock pieces and Teferi's Response counters a Rishadan Port activation aimed at your land; expect Defense Grid. MTGDecks (Tinker Welder): 40 percent over 10 matches, limited data.
- Full English Breakfast (slightly favorable): Counterspells stop Survival of the Fittest, Unearth and Animate Dead, Disenchant also answers Survival, Swords to Plowshares exiles Hermit Druid, Humility turns off Hermit Druid's ability, and Dust Bowl has a target in almost every land they play. Phyrexian Furnace exiles the creature card on top of their graveyard that Volrath's Shapeshifter would copy. They try to win before you can hold up two answers, or wait until your hand is full and take it apart with Cabal Therapy, and after boarding with Duress. Then Xantid Swarm is the creature to kill at once: once it attacks, you can't cast spells that turn. They also bring Naturalize and Ray of Revelation for Humility. MTGDecks: 55 percent over 31 matches.
- Stasis (unfavorable): You fight Stasis with counterspells, Disenchant and, in some lists, Seal of Cleansing, Dust Bowl destroys their Forsaken City before the lock is in place, and Powder Keg destroys their Black Vise on one fuse counter. Standstill backfires under their lock: the three cards you draw only feed their Black Vise. Mishra's Factory needs untapped mana to animate. Fight over Stasis before it resolves, bring Annul for Stasis and Black Vise, and expect theirs for Standstill and Powder Keg. MTGDecks: 32 percent over 50 matches.
- Oath of Druids (unfavorable): Their prison is built for decks like yours: Sphere of Resistance taxes every counterspell, Wasteland, Thermokarst and Winter's Grasp take your lands, and Rishadan Port in your upkeep keeps counter mana down. Oath of Druids only triggers while you control more creatures, so make Decree tokens and cast Exalted Angel only when they can win the game. Humility, in about half your main decks, makes Terravore a 1/1, though manlands they animate after it keep their size. Disenchant answers Oath and Sphere, and Dust Bowl destroys their nonbasic lands. After boarding Meddling Mage names Oath, and Teferi's Response counters land destruction or a Wasteland or Port activation aimed at your land and destroys that Port. MTGDecks: 39 percent over 51 matches.
- Psychatog (favorable): Two counter decks, but you have more answers to their few threats: Swords to Plowshares exiles Psychatog whatever they discard or exile to pump it, and Mishra's Factory attacks while they hold up Counterspell, though their Smother, in most lists, kills an animated Factory. Phyrexian Furnace takes cards out of their graveyard before Psychatog can exile them, and a resolved Standstill punishes a deck that has to cast Gush, Portent and Accumulated Knowledge. Duress and Foil are their best cards; after boarding Annul counters Standstill, Powder Keg and Humility, and Tsabo's Web keeps your Mishra's Factory, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl from untapping. MTGDecks: 74 percent over 43 matches.
- Reanimator (favorable): Counterspell and Mana Leak stop Reanimate, Exhume and Animate Dead, Swords to Plowshares exiles what comes back, and main-deck Phyrexian Furnace plus Tormod's Crypt after boarding exile the target first. Watch for Cabal Therapy on your counters and for a reanimation spell on turn one or two, after Putrid Imp or Careful Study has put the target in their graveyard. After boarding they bring Multani, Maro-Sorcerer and Iridescent Angel, which Swords cannot target but Wrath of God and Humility handle, and most lists bring Oath of Druids, which gives them a creature in each of their upkeeps while you control more creatures than they do. Limited data: 59 percent over 22 matches.
- UG Madness (even to unfavorable): Their cheap threats outnumber your one-for-one answers. A discarded Roar of the Wurm is flashed back after Wrath of God, and Circular Logic can counter Wrath or Powder Keg. Stop adding counters to Powder Keg at the right number (0 for Wurm tokens, 1 for Basking Rootwalla, 2 for Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba), save Wrath of God for a board of three or more, and keep a counter for the flashback turn. Humility, in about half the lists, turns off Mongrel and Aquamoeba and makes their creatures 1/1. Limited data: 39 percent over 18 matches.
- Elves (even to unfavorable): Elves rebuilds for one mana a creature, so save Wrath of God for a big board, and Squee with Survival of the Fittest grinds through one-for-one answers. Powder Keg on one counter destroys Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, Quirion Ranger and Wirewood Symbiote at once, Humility turns off every mana Elf and Deranged Hermit's pump, and Dust Bowl destroys Gaea's Cradle. Counter Survival and Deranged Hermit, let the one-drops resolve, and expect Caller of the Claw right after a Wrath, Masticore, which pings your Soldiers and an animated Mishra's Factory and can regenerate, though not from Wrath of God, and Nantuko Vigilante, which destroys Powder Keg when it is turned face up. After boarding they add Naturalize and Tranquil Domain. Limited data: 36 percent over 25 matches.
- Tron (unfavorable): Their Decree of Justice cycling cannot be countered, the Urza lands give them more mana, and Stroke of Genius draws them more cards in the long game, so Standstill does little. Masticore, in most lists, pings your Soldiers and an animated Mishra's Factory, and Tsabo's Web, in about half the main decks, keeps your Factories, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl from untapping while their Urza lands keep working. Your best plays are Dust Bowl on an Urza land, Mishra's Factory attacks and Powder Keg on zero counters for their Soldiers; after boarding their Teferi's Response can counter a Dust Bowl activation. No match data.
- Clerics (even): Wrath of God and Powder Keg punish a deck that must commit bodies, but Rotlung Reanimator makes a 2/2 Zombie for each Cleric that dies with it, and in response Cabal Archon can sacrifice Clerics for {B} each to drain you 2 life apiece. Their Duress and Cabal Therapy strip your answers, and Rishadan Port, in most lists, taps a land in your upkeep. Counter Rotlung Reanimator and Graveborn Muse, or exile Rotlung with Swords to Plowshares, which leaves no Zombie, keep a Swords for Scion of Darkness, and cast Humility, which turns off Rotlung, Cabal Archon and Dark Supplicant. After boarding expect Gloom on your white spells. No match data.
- The Solution (even): They are the aggressor, and Mother of Runes protects their creatures from your Swords to Plowshares, but Wrath of God, counters, Powder Keg and Mishra's Factory hold them off once you stabilize, and a resolved Standstill draws you three cards for the first spell they cast into it. Humility makes every creature a 1/1 without abilities, so their Angels lose flying, Mother of Runes stops working and you can cast the card their Meddling Mage named. Expect Meddling Mage on Wrath of God, and bring Hydroblast or Blue Elemental Blast for Lightning Angel and Circle of Protection: Red. Very limited data: 100 percent over 6 matches.
- Dromar Control (unfavorable): They are the proactive deck: Shadowmage Infiltrator draws a card each time it connects, Exalted Angel, in almost every list, is the threat to answer, best by countering it when it is cast face down, Vindicate destroys Mishra's Factory, and their Duress takes your counters; casting Vindicate at Standstill only gives you three cards. An animated Mishra's Factory is an artifact creature, so it can block Infiltrator despite fear, though Dromar's Charm can kill it. Wrath of God on a board of Infiltrator, Meddling Mage and Angel is your best turn, Meddling Mage from your sideboard names Vindicate, and they bring Tsabo's Web, which keeps your Factories, Faerie Conclave and Dust Bowl from untapping. No match data.
- White Weenie (even): Armageddon is their best card against you, since you need lands for counters, Decree of Justice and Mishra's Factory. Wrath of God, Swords, Powder Keg, which destroys all their one-drops or all their two-drops at once, and Humility, which turns their shadow and protection creatures into vanilla 1/1s, are yours; Standstill helps them once their board is out, since they keep attacking without casting spells. Your Exalted Angel blocks their ground creatures, and Meddling Mage from your sideboard names Armageddon. Very limited data: 50 percent over 8 matches.
- BW Control (unfavorable): Their best threats are abilities: Decree of Justice cycled in your end step and Dust Bowl on your Mishra's Factory get past Counterspell, Mana Leak and Standstill, and so do Eternal Dragon's plainscycling and its return from the graveyard to their hand, though the Dragon itself is a seven-mana spell you can counter. Duress strips your counters, Gerrard's Verdict makes you discard two cards of your choice, and they rarely give Wrath of God a target. Phyrexian Furnace on Eternal Dragon, Humility against their Angels and Dragons, and your own Decree of Justice are your tools; counter Vindicate and the face-down Exalted Angel rather than the cheap discard. After boarding most lists bring Haunting Echoes, which exiles your graveyard and every copy of those cards from your library, and Aura of Silence, which makes your artifacts and enchantments cost {2} more. MTGDecks: 36 percent over 25 matches.
- Gro-a-Tog (favorable): Standstill punishes a deck of one-mana cantrips: the first spell they cast after it gives you three cards, though a Quirion Dryad or Psychatog already on the battlefield keeps attacking. Wrath of God takes Dryad, Psychatog and Meddling Mage together, and Mishra's Factory blocks a small Dryad, but Fire // Ice, in almost every list, kills an animated Factory. Their Meddling Mage, in about half the main decks, naming Standstill or Wrath and an Armageddon after a board lead are the dangers; counter those. MTGDecks: 70 percent over 23 matches.
- Pit Rack (even): Their deck wants to cast a discard spell every turn, so the first one after Standstill gives you three cards. Duress and Cabal Therapy take your counters early and Bottomless Pit makes you discard a card at random in each of your upkeeps, but The Rack does nothing while you hold three cards, or four with Bottomless Pit out, since they let the Pit resolve first. Cursed Scroll and their own Mishra's Factory deal damage without breaking Standstill, and Wasteland, in almost every list, hits your nonbasic lands. Disenchant destroys The Rack, Cursed Scroll and Bottomless Pit, Powder Keg on one counter takes The Rack and Cursed Scroll, and Mishra's Factory and Decree of Justice close the game. After boarding expect Dystopia and Gloom. MTGDecks: 50 percent over 28 matches.
- Rebels (even): Their searches are abilities, so Standstill does not stop them, and every Rebel they put onto the battlefield at the end of your turn needs an answer. Humility turns off the searches and Whipcorder's tap ability, and Powder Keg on one counter takes Ramosian Sergeant and Mother of Runes, on two Whipcorder and Defiant Falcon, on three Lin Sivvi. Counter Lin Sivvi when she is cast, save Swords to Plowshares for the searchers, though Mother of Runes can protect them, and wait for two or three Rebels before you cast Wrath of God. No match data.
- Contamination (slightly favorable): Counter Contamination while you can: once it resolves, Counterspell, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God, Disenchant, Fact or Fiction and Faerie Conclave's animation need white or blue mana your lands no longer make, though a Seal of Cleansing already on the battlefield still destroys it. Their Duress and Cabal Therapy go after your counters first, and Wasteland and Rishadan Port, in almost every list, go after your lands. Mishra's Factory, Dust Bowl, Powder Keg and Phyrexian Furnace still work under the lock, and Furnace exiling Nether Spirit breaks its loop. Limited data: 64 percent over 11 matches.
- Turbo Lands (slightly favorable): Standstill is strong here: their engine needs spells, and the first one they cast gives you three cards. Counter Exploration, Horn of Greed and Seismic Assault, Disenchant what resolves, and keep Dust Bowl for Glacial Chasm, which otherwise prevents all damage from Mishra's Factory and Decree of Justice. Their Horn of Greed draws you a card for every land you play too, and they bring Pyroblast after boarding. No match data.
- Fluctuator (favorable): Counterspell, Mana Leak and Prohibit answer Fluctuator and Songs of the Damned, and Counterspell their kill, Drain Life; the cycling itself is an ability you cannot counter, and it does not trigger Standstill. Disenchant and Powder Keg on two counters destroy Fluctuator, Dust Bowl hits their nonbasic lands, and Tormod's Crypt after boarding exiles their graveyard in response to Songs. After boarding expect Misdirection, Miscalculation, Gilded Light and Twilight's Call, which returns all creature cards from both graveyards; Tormod's Crypt in response exiles theirs. No match data.
- RG Zoo (slightly favorable): Zoo starts like Sligh and adds green threats your answers don't line up with: Call of the Herd is two Elephants from one card, Treetop Village attacks without casting a spell, and Circle of Protection: Red does nothing against green creatures. Standstill is good when their board is smaller than yours, though Grim Lavamancer, in almost every list, keeps shooting under it and kills an animated Mishra's Factory; Mishra's Factory blocks Jackal Pup and Mogg Fanatic, and Wrath of God, Powder Keg and Humility punish overextension, though their Naturalize, in most main decks, destroys Powder Keg or Humility; counter Call of the Herd only if you can also counter its flashback. After boarding expect Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast, which counter Standstill as it is cast or your Counterspell, and bring Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast for the burn. MTGDecks: 55 percent over 40 matches.
Sideboard guide
- vs Red decks: Sligh, Goblins, RG Zoo and The Solution: Circle of Protection: Red, Hydroblast, Blue Elemental Blast. Circle of Protection: Red, in 85 percent of sideboards, prevents the next damage a red source of your choice would deal to you this turn, for {1} each time; it does not protect your creatures. Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast counter Fireblast or Price of Progress or destroy a red permanent for one mana. Sligh answers the Circle with Anarchy.
- vs Combo and creature decks: Meddling Mage, Exalted Angel. Meddling Mage is in four of five sideboards: naming Phyrexian Dreadnought, Replenish, Oath of Druids, Vindicate or Armageddon stops the opponent from casting it, though it does nothing against a copy already on the battlefield, and the Mage attacks for 2. Exalted Angel is in about three of five sideboards and half the main decks: cast it face down for {3} and turn it face up for {2}{W}{W}, which is not a spell, and it gains you life whenever it deals damage.
- vs Stiflenought, Enchantress, Replenish, MUD, Stasis and Mono Black: Annul. A one-mana counter for an artifact or enchantment spell, which covers the cards those decks are built around: Phyrexian Dreadnought, Opalescence, Attunement, Winter Orb, Stasis and Cursed Scroll. In four of five sideboards, usually two copies, and cheap enough to hold up alongside your own plays.
- vs Land destruction: Terrageddon, Oath of Druids and MUD: Teferi's Response. Counters a Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Thermokarst or Winter's Grasp aimed at your land and draws two cards; a countered Port is also destroyed. In about two of three sideboards.
- vs Graveyard decks: Reanimator, Replenish, Psychatog and Fluctuator: Tormod's Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace. Tormod's Crypt, in about one sideboard in four, exiles a player's whole graveyard for free, in response to Replenish, Exhume or Songs of the Damned. Another Phyrexian Furnace takes one card at a time and replaces itself.
Budget and upgrades
Typical cost: $420–$1,110. The reference list is Avoellmer's, winner of the 126-player New England Summer Regional in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, on July 11, 2026, which also has a deck page here. It costs about $1,110 with its sideboard at the Premodern-era printings tracked here. Four Flooded Strand are about $480 of that, Powder Keg and Humility about $70 each, two Dust Bowl about $80, and in the sideboard two Tormod's Crypt about $60 and two Thawing Glaciers about $55. It plays no Phyrexian Furnace, Meddling Mage or Exalted Angel.
- Start with the spells: Counterspell, Mana Leak, Impulse, Prohibit and Disenchant cost under $3 each; Fact or Fiction, Swords to Plowshares and Wrath of God about $7, Standstill about $9 and Decree of Justice about $19.
- Four Mishra's Factory (about $9 each), Adarkar Wastes, Coastal Tower and basics make a working manabase, and Kor Haven costs about $18. Without Flooded Strand and Humility, with basic lands in their place, the main deck costs about $400.
- Add the singletons that swing matchups next: Humility and Powder Keg (about $70 each), then Dust Bowl.
- Build the sideboard in two steps: Circle of Protection: Red, Annul and Blue Elemental Blast cost under $3 each; Teferi's Response (about $10), Thawing Glaciers (about $27) and Tormod's Crypt (about $31) come later.
- Flooded Strand last: about $121 each, and the deck works without them.
Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.
