The banning of Aetherworks Marvel has opened up an astonishing amount of space in the new Standard format. There’s a whole dearth of cards like Metalwork Colossus and Torrential Gearhulk that are suddenly seeing play in larger numbers. Now that there are fewer games ending decisively early in the game and there isn’t a crazy card advantage engine in the format, there’s space for control and midrange decks to thrive. More decks have started playing to the board and trying to get midrangey, which might mean that this Jeskai Control deck is the best place to be:

Jeskai Control - Amonkhet Standard | PaoloTheWall182, 5-0 Standard League

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Kefnet the Mindful
• 2 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 4 Torrential Gearhulk

• Instants (25)
• 1 Commit // Memory
• 1 Confirm Suspicions
• 1 Forsake the Worldly
• 2 Blessed Alliance
• 2 Disallow
• 2 Magma Spray
• 4 Censor
• 4 Essence Scatter
• 4 Glimmer of Genius
• 4 Harnessed Lightning

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Fumigate

• Lands (26)
• 5 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Needle Spires
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 2 Irrigated Farmland
• 4 Aether Hub
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Wandering Fumarole

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 1 Fumigate
• 2 Magma Spray
• 1 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 1 Dispel
• 4 Fevered Visions
• 1 Negate
• 2 Sphinx of the Final Word
• 2 Thing in the Ice

Buy This Deck

The thing that I like about this list is the inclusion of Cataclysmic Gearhulk and Fumigate. These cards punish people that are playing midrange decks that try to play to the board. Even if they work through your counterspells, you have multiple sweepers to pick up the pieces. Gearhulk is particularly powerful because it helps can help you deal with cards like Heart of Kiran and other errant card types you might not typically have answers to.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this deck is that you’ve got a handful of ways to pulling very far ahead on cards. You aren’t just dependent on Glimmer of Genius and cycling. While some decks have opted for Hieroglyphic Illumination, this deck is playing a Confirm Suspicions to pair with Torrential Gearhulk and a Kefnet. Kefnet is a card that I’m excited to start seeing show up as a singleton across the 75 since it reminds me a quite a bit of Azure Mage, which was a mirror-breaker in Blue mirrors. Kefnet is a little less efficient as a card drawing engine since you have to bounce lands, but it’s a much more powerful blocker and threat in the mid- or late-game.

If you’re looking for a powerful control shell, I think this is a pretty reasonable place to start for the new format. You’ll certainly want to tweak the numbers depending on what you expect to play against, but this is a good mix of sweepers, counterspells, and removal for the format.