Azorius Justiciar is a powerful uncommon inReturn to Ravnica Limited, with an enters-the-battlefield ability so good it tacks an extra 2 mana onto the cost of the card. In Constructed, however, few have even considered this seemingly overpriced Silvercoat Lion. With such a high-impact ability, though, I set out to make it work. With Cloudshift, Conjurer's Closet, and Deadeye Navigator, this deck is designed to abuse Azorius Justiciar's ability and those of several other creatures to build up a huge board advantage.

"W/U Flicker"

• Creatures (24)
• 2 Attended Knight
• 3 Captain of the Watch
• 3 Geist-Honored Monk
• 4 Azorius Justiciar
• 4 Deadeye Navigator
• 4 Fiend Hunter
• 4 Mist Raven

• Spells (11)
• 4 Cloudshift
• 3 Oblivion Ring
• 4 Conjurer's Closet

• Lands (25)
• 8 Island
• 9 Plains
• 4 Azorius Guildgate
• 4 Glacial Fortress

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Attended Knight
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 4 Champion of the Parish
• 3 Kraken Hatchling
• 2 Azorius Arrester
• 3 Rest in Peace

Buy This Deck

The Flickerers

Conjurer's Closet is a bit pricy at 5 mana, but once you cast it, it allows you to flicker a creature every turn for free. It also triggers at your end step rather than during your upkeep, so although you won't be able to remove your opponent's blockers before combat, you'll be able to generate value from the card almost immediately rather than having to hope it survives a turn.

Deadeye Navigator is far more mana-intensive than either of the previous options, but it's also far more scalable. If you're willing to dump some mana into it, you can gain a lot of value very quickly. Flickering a Captain of the Watch three times, for example, will leave you with an extra 18 power to attack with on your turn. Even if those are the only two creatures you've played, you can probably kill your opponent in one swing.

The Flickerees

Attended Knight's ability isn't all that amazing when repeated, but it does provide you with a solid source of early damage against control decks and an excellent blocker against aggro decks. Rakdos aggro in particular plays with a boatload of 2/2s and 3/2s, which means that a 2/2 with first strike can be difficult to work around.

Azorius Justiciar and Mist Raven are excellent tools for holding off opposing creatures, either by forcing your opponent to cast one of them again or by stopping two of them from attacking you for a turn. Each of them also has a body just large enough to be relevant, often allowing it to trade with a creature if necessary.

Geist-Honored Monk gives you a ground creature that will usually be fairly large in addition to two tiny flyers. Vigilance is a great way to allow your fatty to push in some damage without leaving you open to attack, and the Spirits can give you an evasive source of damage if the ground is clogged up. In addition, every time you flicker the Monk, you'll make another two Spirits, and your creature will effectively grow by +2/+2.

Captain of the Watch is the ideal finisher in this deck. It puts 9 power on the board for 6 mana, and you make another 6 power every time you flicker it. This card can end games very quickly after entering the battlefield a few times.

The last card in the deck is Oblivion Ring. Although it doesn't fit into either of the above categories, it's a key part of making sure you aren’t wrecked by a planeswalker or other noncreature permanent. It can be used against creatures in a pinch, but you'll almost always be better off saving it for when it really matters.

The Sideboard

The fourth Oblivion Ring is just a bit of insurance against decks relying heavily on noncreature permanents, such as five-color control. One card may not make a huge difference, but it can certainly help you out a little.

Champion of the Parish gives you some teeth against control decks. With it on the board, you can push in some damage early and force your opponent to use his removal or sweepers before your real threats hit the battlefield.

Azorius Arrester gives you another fast creature against control, and it can also be used against Rakdos aggro if you need a bit of extra help. It will usually detain one creature for a turn, then trade with another, preventing a good bit of damage coming your way.

Kraken Hatchling is a concession to Knight of Infamy. Since the only nonwhite creatures in the main deck are Mist Raven and the 6-mana Deadeye Navigator, a way to effectively block a creature with protection from white will often be essential to your survival.

Rest in Peace is a nod to the graveyard-based decks in the format, and it is probably the best hate card available to stop your opponent in his tracks. It works both retroactively and continuously, leaving no openings to exploit.

Playtesting

Game 1

I drew another Guildgate, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent played a Forest and cast Loxodon Smiter before ending his turn.

I drew Glacial Fortress, played an Island, and cast Fiend Hunter, exiling the Smiter. I passed the turn. My opponent played Gavony Township, cast Arbor Elf, and ended his turn.

I drew Mist Raven, played a Glacial Fortress, and passed. My opponent cast Cavern of Souls naming Beast, then cast Thragtusk. He gained 5 life and enchanted the Thragtusk with Rancor before ending his turn.

I drew Cloudshift, played an Island, and cast Mist Raven on Thragtusk, putting it and the Rancor back into my opponent's hand and giving him a Beast token. I passed the turn, and my opponent cast Rancor on the Beast. In response, I cast Cloudshift on my Mist Raven, getting rid of both the token and Rancor. My opponent played a Sunpetal Grove, cast Thragtusk again, and passed the turn.

I drew Azorius Justiciar, played an Island, and cast Geist-Honored Monk. I attacked for 2 in the air with my Mist Raven and ended my turn. My opponent put a Temple Garden onto the battlefield tapped and attacked with Thragtusk. I elected not to block, and I dropped to 14 when he activated Gavony Township.

I drew an Island, played it, and attacked with everything save Fiend Hunter. Thragtusk and Avacyn's Pilgrim teamed up to trade with one Geist-Honored Monk, and Arbor Elf chump-blocked the other. My opponent dropped to 10 from the flyers, and I cast Conjurer's Closet before ending my turn. I flickered my Geist-Honored Monk, making two more Spirit tokens, and my opponent activated his Gavony Township. On his turn, he cast another Thragtusk, gaining 5 life before passing the turn.

I drew Geist-Honored Monk and cast Azorius Justiciar, detaining the Beast token and Thalia. I attacked with everything, and my opponent was forced to block the 10/10 Geist-Honored Monk with his Thragtusk, taking 8 from the flying creatures. I ended my turn, flickering my Monk for another pair of Spirit tokens, and my opponent drew his card and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−2 Mist Raven

+2 Attended Knight

Game 2

My opponent put a Temple Garden onto the battlefield tapped and ended his turn. I drew Oblivion Ring, played a Plains, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Selesnya Charm during my end step, making a 2/2 Knight token.

On his turn, he dropped me to 18 with the token, played a Forest, and passed. I drew a Plains, played my Island, and cast Fiend Hunter, exiling the token. I ended my turn, and my opponent flashed in a Restoration Angel.

On his turn, he played a Sunpetal Grove and cast Wolfir Silverheart, pairing it with Restoration Angel. He dropped me to 11 and ended his turn. I drew Azorius Justiciar, played a Plains, and cast it, detaining the Angel and the Wolf. I attacked for 1 with Fiend Hunter and passed the turn.

My opponent played a Plains and ended his turn. I drew Fiend Hunter and cast Oblivion Ring on Wolfir Silverheart. I ended my turn. On his turn, my opponent attacked with Restoration Angel for 3, then cast Loxodon Smiter and passed. I drew a Plains, played it, and cast Conjurer's Closet. I ended my turn, flickering Azorius Justiciar and detaining Restoration Angel and Loxodon Smiter. My opponent cast a Selesnya Charm to make another 2/2 Knight token.

My opponent attacked with the Knight token and Avacyn's Pilgrim, and I dropped to 5. He ended his turn. I drew Glacial Fortress and played it. I cast Fiend Hunter, exiling the Knight token, then cast Attended Knight. I flickered the Justiciar at the end of my turn to keep Loxodon Smiter and Restoration Angel detained.

My opponent cast Thragtusk, gaining 5 life, and ended his turn. I drew Fiend Hunter and cast Mist Raven, bouncing Loxodon Smiter. I ended my turn, flickering Azorius Justiciar and detaining Restoration Angel and Thragtusk.

My opponent replayed his Loxodon Smiter and passed the turn. I drew Cloudshift and cast Fiend Hunter. I targeted Thragtusk with its enters-the-battlefield ability, then cast Cloudshift with it still on the stack. It flickered away and came back, making its leaves-the-battlefield ability resolve and return nothing, while another enters-the-battlefield ability went on the stack, this time targeting Restoration Angel. Both abilities resolved, and Restoration Angel and Thragtusk were exiled. The Thragtusk left behind a Beast token, and I attacked for 2 in the air with Mist Raven. I ended my turn, flickering the Justiciar to detain the token and Loxodon Smiter.

My opponent cast Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and passed the turn. I drew another Geist-Honored Monk, cast it, and attacked with my 4 power of flying creatures as well as a 12/12 Monk. My opponent blocked the 12/12 with Avacyn's Pilgrim and dropped to 16, and I passed the turn, flickering the Justiciar to detain the Loxodon Smiters.

My opponent passed the turn with no play, and I drew an Island. I played it and attacked with both Monks, along with the 6 power of flyers. Thalia and a Beast token bit the dust, and my opponent dropped to 10. I ended my turn, this time flickering a Fiend Hunter to exile a Loxodon Smiter.

My opponent cast another Thalia and ended his turn. I drew a land and attacked with everything, and although my opponent had another Selesnya Charm to exile a Geist-Honored Monk, it wasn't enough, and he died to the rest of my creatures.

Wrap-Up

This deck is a ton of fun to play and is surprisingly powerful, although I’ll admit it suffers somewhat against control decks. Flickering Azorius Justiciar with Conjurer's Closet essentially takes your opponent's two best creatures out of the game, and the Spirit tokens produced by Geist-Honored Monk, along with Mist Raven, give you some evasive attackers that can close out games even on an extremely clogged-up board. If you like flickering creatures or if you just want to play a fun, offbeat deck, give this one a shot at your next Friday Night Magic.

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