Return to Ravnica is a set largely based on the guilds, and that means a lot of focus on multicolored spells. However, there are some small subthemes squeezed into the set at lower rarities. Axebane Guardian is the first card of the defender subtheme, capable of producing very large amounts of mana with a few friends to help out. The second is Doorkeeper, a card that can be devastating in Limited with access to multiple copies. With these two cards in the lead, I set out to see if a defender deck could be good enough for Standard. Here's the list I came up with:

"Defender Mill"

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Hover Barrier
• 3 Gatecreeper Vine
• 3 Primordial Hydra
• 4 Axebane Guardian
• 4 Doorkeeper
• 4 Fog Bank

• Spells (17)
• 2 Sphinx's Revelation
• 4 Dissipate
• 4 Syncopate
• 4 Increasing Confusion
• 3 Oblivion Ring

• Lands (23)
• 1 Plains
• 7 Forest
• 9 Island
• 1 Azorius Guildgate
• 1 Selesnya Guildgate
• 4 Evolving Wilds

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Rest in Peace
• 4 Azor's Elocutors
• 4 Grave Bramble
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 2 Hover Barrier

Buy This Deck

The Defenders

Gatecreeper Vine also helps smooth your mana, and although a 0/2 body isn't going to stop many creatures, it does up your defender count and can be used to chump-block a large creature if necessary.

Although Fog Bank can unfortunately still be killed by burn spells and other removal, it can stand in the way of any creature in Standard and live to tell the tale. Sublime Archangels tremble in fear at the sight of this tiny creature, and Griselbrand won't even give your opponent some extra life when he forays into the fog.

Hover Barrier loses some of the advantages of Fog Bank, but it eliminates some of the disadvantages as well. It can't be burned out of the way with a Pillar of Flame, and creatures with trample won't be able to just rumble right over it.

Doorkeeper is one half of the primary win condition for the deck. It's not uncommon to mill upward of five cards each turn with one of these on the field, and if you draw a second one, your opponent is in even more trouble. Although this incremental milling may not seem like much, it sets you up quite nicely to finish off your opponent's library with Increasing Confusion.

The Win Conditions

Primordial Hydra can be a faster way to win the game, but its vulnerability to removal makes me hesitant to rely on it as a primary win condition. It will work from time to time, however, and it can give you a better shot against decks with some way of shuffling cards from the graveyard back into the library.

The Support

Oblivion Ring is another answer to planeswalkers, which can present a real problem for the deck if they resolve. Ajani, Caller of the Pride is often cheap enough to sneak in past your countermagic, and the Ring helps to ensure that you can get rid of him before he makes a bunch of Cat tokens.

Sphinx's Revelation often stops red decks from just burning you out, and it can refill your hand with defenders after you've played several of them. It's also an effective way to dig for your win conditions, particularly when fueled by the mana from Axebane Guardian.

The Sideboard

Azor's Elocutors is another win condition that you can bring in against decks like reanimator. Your main plan of milling them out can be dangerous, and with their shortage on both removal and cheap threats, it shouldn't be hard to filibuster until you've won.

Grave Bramble is obviously powerful against Zombies, but it can also be brought in against decks that play a lot of small creatures. The Bramble's 3 power means that it not only stops creatures from pushing through for damage, but it can kill them as well, making it more difficult for your opponent to assemble an army large enough to punch through.

The extra Oblivion Ring helps out against decks with many planeswalkers and other threats that require removal, and the extra Hover Barriers often come in against decks that have several ways to get around Fog Bank, such as Pillar of Flame and Rancor.

Playtesting

Selesnya Midrange – Game 1

My opponent played a Sunpetal Grove and passed the turn, and I cracked the Wilds for a Plains during his end step. I drew Primordial Hydra, played an Island, and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Selesnya Charm during my end step to make a 2/2 Knight token. On his turn, he played a Forest and enchanted the Knight with Rancor. He dropped me to 16 and passed the turn. I drew another Oblivion Ring, played a Forest, and cast Hover Barrier. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a Forest and passed back. I drew Axebane Guardian, played a Forest, and cast it before passing the turn.

My opponent passed back with no play. I drew a Fog Bank, cast it, and ended my turn.

My opponent passed the turn with no play again. The hydra grew to 8/8 during my upkeep, and I drew Dissipate. I attacked with the Hydra, and my opponent blocked with Strangleroot Geist, which came back with a +1/+1 counter. I ended my turn, and my opponent cast Selesnya Charm to exile my Hydra. I countered it with a Syncopate for 3.

On his turn, my opponent paid 2 life to put a Temple Garden onto the battlefield untapped, then cast Thragtusk. I tapped my Axebane Guardian and countered it with another Syncopate, and he passed the turn. My Hydra grew to 16/16 during my upkeep, and I drew another Sphinx's Revelation. I attacked with the Hydra, and my opponent dropped to 2.

I passed the turn, and he drew his card and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−2 Fog Bank

+2 Hover Barrier

Game 2

He played a Forest and cast Call of the Conclave to make a 3/3 Centaur before ending his turn. I drew Selesnya Guildgate, played a Forest, and cast Doorkeeper. I passed the turn.

My opponent played another Forest, cast Strangleroot Geist, and attacked with both creatures. Doorkeeper blocked the Centaur, and I took 2. He passed the turn. I drew an Island, played it, and cast Axebane Guardian before passing the turn.

My opponent played a Plains and ended his turn. I drew Fog Bank, played my Guildgate, and cast the Wall. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a second Strangleroot Geist and passed the turn. I activated Doorkeeper during his end step to mill him for 3. I drew Evolving Wilds, played it, and cast Doorkeeper. I sacrificed the Wilds for an Island and passed the turn.

My opponent passed the turn with no play again, and my Doorkeeper milled him for another 8. I drew a Forest, played it, and passed the turn.

My opponent played a Forest and cast Thragtusk, which I allowed to resolve. He passed the turn, and I milled another 8 cards. I drew another Doorkeeper, cast Increasing Confusion for 4, and ended my turn.

My opponent played a land and attacked with everything. I blocked Thragtusk with Fog Bank, the Centaur and a Geist with my Doorkeepers, and the second Geist with Axebane Guardian. My opponent cast Selesnya Charm to pump up one Geist and kill my Axebane Guardian, but I countered it with a Syncopate for 5. He conceded.

Wrap-up

This deck is quite good at stymieing many decks that want to win by attacking with creatures, especially those without much removal. Your defenders can deal with most creatures, and anything you don't want to deal with can usually be countered by Syncopate or Dissipate. If you want to mill someone out, attack with giant Hydras, or sit around making filibusters until your opponent dies of boredom, give this deck a try.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.