This week, we are going to be approaching things slightly differently. In the weeks prior, I have first explored Legacy, then, in a separate article, explored Extended. This week, I believe the best option is to look at the two formats simultaneously. Any deck that ends up being control in the new Throwback environment is either going to be a more or less straight port of an Extended deck, or an odd mishmash of decks from both formats. Legacy control decks simply lose too many cards to try and plug holes in their archetypes (mostly).

Legacy has a smattering of control decks, with the most popular arguably being Countertop. The shell of the deck is certainly in place, with both Counterbalance and Sensei's Divining Top both legal in the new format. Let's look at a recent winning list:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

2 Trinket Mage

2 Vendilion Clique

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

3 Counterspell

4 Force of Will

4 Sensei's Divining Top

2 Fire // Ice

4 Counterbalance

2 Spell Snare

1 Vedalken Shackles

2 Ponder

4 Brainstorm

1 Pithing Needle

4 Swords to Plowshares

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

[/Spells]

[Lands]

1 Seat of the Synod

6 Island

1 Plains

2 Volcanic Island

3 Tundra

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Flooded Strand

1 Karakas

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

1 Mountain

2 Disenchant

1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Engineered Explosives

2 Pyroblast

3 Hydroblast

2 Submerge

1 Pithing Needle

2 Grim Lavamancer

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

Force of Will is a big loss from the main deck, as are the Swords to Plowshares. We can certainly make do with Path to Exile, but the purpose is far different. Karakas enables a lot of Vendilion Clique shenanigans that we can probably live without, but might make the deck clunky at times. Shock lands in place of duals are obviously suboptimal, but again, can probably be worked around. The sideboard is actually where we lose some of the more important cards. Hydroblast and Pyroblast have no legitimate replacements in the new format, and that's something that will need to be looked at in greater depth.

On to our next Legacy list, Thopter/Sword combo. Sword and Thopter made a big splash in Extended last year, going so far as to be banned in the new Extended season. The same pieces are in place in Legacy, and have been ending games for quite some time. A typical version of the deck looks something like:

[cardlist]

[Spells]

1 Ensnaring Bridge

1 Wrath of God

4 Force of Will

3 Thopter Foundry

1 Blood Moon

3 Sensei's Divining Top

4 Counterbalance

2 Engineered Explosives

1 Sword of the Meek

1 Moat

4 Enlightened Tutor

4 Brainstorm

1 Future Sight

1 Pithing Needle

4 Swords to Plowshares

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

[/Spells]

[Lands]

2 Academy Ruins

2 Plains

6 Island

4 Flooded Strand

1 Karakas

1 Volcanic Island

2 Tundra

1 Tropical Island

1 Scalding Tarn

3 Arid Mesa

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Leyline of Sanctity

2 Wrath of God

1 Tormod's Crypt

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Ethersworn Canonist

1 Wheel of Sun and Moon

1 Humility

3 Red Elemental Blast

1 Serenity

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

Standard remarks about the mana base aside, this deck actually has a few more issues than a straight Countertop list, though notice that the engine is also incorporated here. Enlightened Tutor, and the one-ofs package it brings to the table, are no longer really an option. This might mean needing to run more Trinket Mages, but it could also mean running a whole new set of cards. Teferi's Moat is a poor substitution for Moat proper, and also cannot be produced on demand. Similar statements can be made for some of the cards we cut to singletons in order to pack in more disruption. This deck will need more consistency if it hopes to contend in Throwback.

Control doesn't always need to be heavily into Blue, and the most recent SCG $5K winning deck list showcases that. A rough control/discard deck with a few big finishers, the deck beat up on the field. Let's look at the list presented and see what gaps we have for Throwback:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Tombstalker

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Force of Will

2 Engineered Explosives

3 Hymn to Tourach

4 Ponder

2 Go for the Throat

2 Snuff Out

4 Brainstorm

4 Daze

2 Predict

1 Sylvan Library

4 Stifle

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Polluted Delta

4 Wasteland

2 Tropical Island

1 Bayou

4 Underground Sea

4 Verdant Catacombs

1 Misty Rainforest

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Ghastly Demise

1 Darkblast

2 Consuming Vapors

3 Pithing Needle

3 Krosan Grip

2 Dispel

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

Unfortunately, we fall a few cards short in some key areas. Sylvan Library is a loss that also plagues Zoo, and there is no really good replacement. Hymn to Tourach can provide some major disruption. Gerrard's Verdict might be the closest thing in Throwback, but it definitely requires dipping into another color. Yet again, Force of Will is going to be missed, but probably not quite as much as Wasteland. Keeping your opponents off their optimal mana, if even for a turn, is so good when you are swinging for 5 to 7 damage a turn!

I will briefly mention New Horizons, which can take a few forms. One of the more successful lists is here, which appears to be a cross between New Horizons and Death and Taxes, letting us kill two birds with one stone!

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

1 Birds of Paradise

2 Qasali Pridemage

3 Tarmogoyf

1 Gaddock Teeg

2 Quirion Ranger

4 Knight of the Reliquary

4 Mangara of Corondor

2 Mother of Runes

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

2 Gerrard's Verdict

2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Thoughtseize

3 Green Sun's Zenith

3 Mox Diamond

4 Swords to Plowshares

[/Spells]

[Lands]

1 Gaea's Cradle

1 Forest

2 Horizon Canopy

1 Dryad Arbor

3 Savannah

1 Scrubland

4 Wasteland

4 Windswept Heath

1 Bojuka Bog

2 Verdant Catacombs

2 Karakas

1 Bayou

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

2 Pernicious Deed

1 Tormod's Crypt

2 Thrun, the Last Troll

2 Reverent Silence

2 Extirpate

1 Kitchen Finks

2 Runed Halo

2 Null Rod

1 Bojuka Bog

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

We lose so many cards in both of these decks that it's almost not worth mentioning. Karakas is really the lynchpin, allowing multiple uses of Mangara, and Wasteland will not be around to destroy opposing mana bases. That being said, it's certainly worth mentioning that this deck does exist! If you can find ways to keep untapping Mangara, there could be some advantage to remembering this list. Another big issue that crops up with these types of lists is the typical secondary kill condition, which is Progenitus being snuck into play through Natural Order. Without the Order, it can be quite difficult to cast the giant hydra, and I think that's another knock on playing such a list.

Finally, we have my favorite deck, Deadguy Ale, AKA Black/White control. I have a great respect for a control deck that can put up solid numbers and literally only loses a few cards in rotation. A recent winning list looks something like:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Vampire Nighthawk

4 Dark Confidant

4 Tidehollow Sculler

4 Mother of Runes

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Vindicate

1 Umezawa's Jitte

1 Sword of Fire and Ice

1 Sword of Light and Shadow

4 Thoughtseize

2 Inquisition of Kozilek

1 Diabolic Edict

4 Swords to Plowshares

[/Spells]

[Lands]

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

5 Swamp

3 Plains

1 Karakas

4 Wasteland

4 Scrubland

4 Marsh Flats

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

3 Engineered Plague

2 Duress

1 Path to Exile

4 Faerie Macabre

4 Pithing Needle

1 Diabolic Edict

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

In the main deck, we lose Wasteland, Swords to Plowshares, and Mother of Runes. Karakas mostly serves a defensive purpose in this list, and the singleton Diabolic Edict could easily become Chainer's Edict if need be. We could certainly make some additions like Chrome Mox, Smallpox, and even Flagstones of Trokair. We could run Jotun Grunt if we wanted to metagame against decks that live out of the graveyard. I think that this deck has major potential, and I see it being a contender in the new format.

I guess things ran a little longer than expected talking about Legacy! Join me next week for the second part of control decks, where we look at the few Extended control decks, and I bring up an old favorite I think can be a major player in Throwback!