Perhaps more than any other card, Steam Augury has been the subject of some wildly varying reactions from the Magic community. Some players see it as the second coming of Fact or Fiction, while some think the fact that your opponent chooses which pile you get is too large a drawback for it to see any play. My opinion lies somewhere in between, but I do think it's a solid card that is plenty good enough for Standard. Because of the mixed reaction, it's also fairly cheap to pick up right now, making it a prime target for a budget deck. Here's the one I put together.

"Izzet Control"

• Creatures (2)
• 2 AEtherling

• Spells (33)
• 2 Thoughtflare
• 3 Izzet Charm
• 3 Syncopate
• 4 Dissolve
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Magma Jet
• 4 Steam Augury
• 2 Curse of the Swine
• 3 Mizzium Mortars
• 4 Anger of the Gods

• Lands (25)
• 10 Mountain
• 11 Island
• 4 Izzet Guildgate

Buy This Deck

The other card-drawing instant I chose to include is Thoughtflare. Although it is rather expensive, it goes a long way toward ensuring you always have relevant spells to cast. In a deck based largely on one-for-ones like this one, this card advantage goes a long way.

Anger of the Gods is the other main reason I want to try a deck like this. Slagstorm was a format staple for a time, and Anger of the Gods is even more powerful, preventing cards such as Voice of Resurgence from giving you trouble. The ability to cast this on turn three can be absolutely devastating for the fastest aggro decks, coming down a turn earlier than sweepers like Supreme Verdict and making it much harder to leave mana up for Rootborn Defenses or Boros Charm while still having a decent clock with the creatures already on the battlefield.

This type of control deck is built around killing creatures, so I've included a selection of the best ways to do so. Magma Jet can only kill the little guys, but the scry 2 that's tacked on can give you a huge amount of value, helping you draw more lands, more removal, or whatever else you might need.

Lightning Strike is just as good as the Searing Spear it replaces, killing 3-toughness creatures at instant speed and helping you gain some card advantage through tricks such as killing a creature in response to an Aura, a play that seems certain to become more common with the influx of enchantments from Theros.

Mizzium Mortars is a sorcery, which is a pretty big drawback for this deck, but it comes with some other advantages to make up for it. First of all, it deals a whopping 4 damage for 2 mana, allowing you to kill a wide range of creatures that Lightning Strike can't handle, such as Loxodon Smiter and Blood Baron of Vizkopa. It also has overload, which gives you an extra sweeper when you need it, helping you produce more card advantage and secure your life total against creature decks.

Dissolve is the new gold standard for Standard counterspells. It has the basic 3-mana efficiency of Cancel and Dissipate, but it tacks on scry 1. Although scry 1 by itself isn't very powerful, with four copies of Dissolve and four of Magma Jet in the deck, it can really start to add up. You will probably notice that your games run smoother on average with even this incidental scrying.

I want to include one more counterspell, and Syncopate looks to be the best choice. Although it can be mana-intensive later in the game, you rarely cast anything on your own turn anyway in this deck, thanks to a whopping twenty-four instants. You can often leave mana open to Syncopate anything your opponent casts and then kill a creature or two with burn spells or draw a few cards during the end step. One important thing to note is that sometimes in this kind of situation, it's better to not kill an attacking creature even if you can. Taking a few points of damage is often a fine trade-off for the ability to have a counterspell open if your opponent plays anything huge. If he doesn't, you can still burn out the creature at the end of his turn, and the only thing lost will be a bit of life.

Playtesting

Mono-Red – Game 1

My opponent played a land, attacked for 2, passed back. I drew an Island, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent hit me with a Lightning Strike for 3 damage at end of turn.

He played a land, cast Chandra's Phoenix, and attacked for 4. I killed the Satyr with a Lightning Strike and dropped to 13. He ended his turn. I drew Izzet Guildgate, played it, and ended my turn.

My opponent attacked for 2 with the Phoenix, and I took the damage. He played a land, cast Boros Reckoner, and ended his turn. I drew Dissolve, played an Island, and cast Anger of the Gods. Boros Reckoner dropped me to 8, but both creatures were exiled. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a land and passed. I drew Lightning Strike and passed back.

My opponent cast Ash Zealot and attacked, but I killed it with Lightning Strike. He ended his turn. I drew Izzet Charm and passed.

My opponent cast Gore-House Chainwalker unleashed and ended his turn. During his end step, I killed the Chainwalker with Lightning Strike and cast Izzet Charm to draw, seeing two Islands and discarding Mizzium Mortars and the second Izzet Charm. I drew Syncopate for my turn, played an Island, and passed.

My opponent cast the Phoenix again, and I countered it with Dissolve again. He ended his turn. I drew Aetherling, played my Island, and cast it. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Boros Reckoner and passed back. I drew an Island, played it, and attacked with Aetherling, making it unblockable and pumping it to 6 power. I flickered it out and ended my turn.

My opponent attacked with the Reckoner, and I blocked with Aetherling and flickered it out again. He cast Firedrinker Satyr and ended his turn. I drew Izzet Charm and attacked for 6 unblockable damage again, dropping my opponent to 5. I flickered out my creature and passed the turn.

My opponent drew his card and conceded.

Game 2

He attacked for 2 and then hit me with a Lightning Strike and ended the turn. I drew a Mountain, played my Island, and passed.

He attacked again, and I cast Magma Jet to kill the threat and scry 2. He cast Boros Reckoner before ending his turn. I drew Curse of the Swine, played an Island, and cast it, targeting Boros Reckoner. I ended my turn.

My opponent attacked for 2 with his Boar and then cast Firefist Striker and Rakdos Cackler before passing. I drew Magma Jet and passed back.

My opponent cast Ash Zealot and attacked with everything. I killed Firefist Striker with Magma Jet and dropped to 7. I drew another Magma Jet, played my Island, and ended my turn.

My opponent attacked again, and I killed Ash Zealot with Magma Jet, dropping to 3. My opponent cast Shock, putting me to 1. He cast another Shock, but I countered it with Dissolve. I drew Izzet Charm and cast it to draw 2. I failed to find Anger of the Gods and conceded.

Game 3

I played an Island and ended my turn. My opponent cast Burning-Tree Emissary, followed by another Burning-Tree Emissary and an Ash Zealot. He attacked for 4, and I took the damage. I cast Izzet Charm to draw two at the end of his turn, finding Thoughtflare and Magma Jet and discarding Thoughtflare and Curse of the Swine.

I drew an Island, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent cast another Ash Zealot and attacked with everything. I killed a Zealot with Magma Jet and dropped to 8. He ended his turn.

I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast Anger of the Gods, clearing the board of creatures and dealing 3 damage to my opponent thanks to Firedrinker Satyr. I ended my turn. My opponent played a Mountain, cast another Firedrinker Satyr, and passed back.

I drew Syncopate, played an Island, and passed the turn. My opponent attacked with the Satyr, pumping it twice, and then played a land and passed. I drew Magma Jet and passed the turn. My opponent attacked with the Satyr again, pumping it for lethal, but I killed it with Magma Jet. He ended his turn.

I drew Anger of the Gods and passed back. He cast Burning-Tree Emissary and then used the mana to cast Lightning Strike on me. I countered it with Dissolve, and he passed the turn. I drew Dissolve, cast Anger of the Gods, and ended my turn. My opponent cast Gore-House Chainwalker, and I countered it with Dissolve. He hit me with a Shock while I was tapped out to take me down to 2. I drew Steam Augury and ended my turn.

I drew another Steam Augury and passed. My opponent passed the turn with no play, and I cast a Steam Augury. My opponent gave me Lightning Strike, Izzet Guildgate, and a Mountain over Syncopate and an Island.

I drew Aetherling for my turn, played my Guildgate, and passed. My opponent cast Gore-House Chainwalker and ended his turn. I cast Steam Augury during the end step, keeping Steam Augury and a Mountain rather than Steam Augury, Island, and Izzet Guildgate. I also killed the Chainwalker with Lightning Strike.

I drew an Island, played my Mountain, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Firedrinker Satyr and passed back. I cast another Steam Augury during his end step, This time keeping Magma Jet and Lightning Strike over Magma Jet, Anger of the Gods, and Mizzium Mortars. I cast Magma Jet to kill the Satyr and scry 2.

I drew Thoughtflare for my turn, played my Mountain, and cast Aetherling. I ended my turn, and my opponent played a land and passed back.

I drew a Mountain, played it, and attacked for 7 with Aetherling. I ended my turn. My opponent attempted to kill me with Shock, but I cast Thoughtflare in response, and he conceded when I found a Dissolve.

Wrap-Up

It certainly seems that this deck has what it takes to deal with the threats presented by aggressive decks, although crazy Burning-Tree Emissary openers can pose a problem without Anger of the Gods, and large amounts of burn can be an issue depending on how many counterspells you have and how much damage you're able to avoid early on. The card advantage you gain from Steam Augury and Thoughtflare certainly helps you avoid death, as going into a top-deck war with a deck playing far fewer lands than you is generally not a great idea. Aetherling's ability to close out games quickly is also valuable, as you may not always be able to establish complete control over the game. If you're interested in trying out the new take on Fact or Fiction, or if you're simply looking to prey on aggro decks, be sure to give this deck a try.