Hello everyone. Last week, I started showing you some two-color decks featuring cards from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. I made it through three color pairings and I have another three for you this week. Let's get started.

Azorius Mindsplice Control

We'll start by taking a look at an Azorius control deck that uses Mindsplice Apparatus as a way to gain quite an advantage over its opponents. Let's take a look at the deck.

Azorius Mindsplice Control | ONE Standard | SlothMtg, aetherhub.com user

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 3 Jace, the Perfected Mind
• 3 The Wandering Emperor

• Instants (14)
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Deadly Riposte
• 2 Memory Deluge
• 2 Syncopate
• 3 Fateful Absence
• 4 Union of the Third Path

• Sorceries (11)
• 2 Witness the Future
• 3 Depopulate
• 3 Farewell
• 3 Silver Scrutiny

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Mindsplice Apparatus

• Lands (26)
• 5 Island
• 6 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Mirrex
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 4 Adarkar Wastes
• 4 Deserted Beach
• 4 Seachrome Coast

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Once you've built up a few oil counters on Mindsplice Apparatus, the real power is more noticeable. Syncopate will act as a hard counter when you play it, as the mana reduction that Mindsplice Apparatus provides allows you to achieve higher values for X. Each oil counter provides one colorless mana when determining the value of X. This allows you to cast Silver Scrutiny, drawing even more cards than normal, providing you with more and more options.

In order to finish off your opponent, you'll need to be creative with this deck. One way to win is by milling out your opponent with the -X loyalty ability of Jace, the Perfected Mind. Since this is a control deck, you naturally want the game to continue for as many turns as possible, so milling out your opponent is very possible. Another route to victory is by attacking with the creature tokens you can create with The Wandering Emperor and Mirrex. Either of these routes to victory can work, and you can often combine the two for the best chance at winning.

Simic Combo Control

Next, I have a control deck that utilizes a powerful planeswalker ultimate ability to finish off games. Let's check it out.

Simic Combo Control | ONE Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (6)
• 1 Cemetery Prowler
• 1 Colossal Skyturtle
• 4 Topiary Stomper

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Nissa, Ascended Animist

• Instants (8)
• 4 Fading Hope
• 4 Memory Deluge

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Bushwhack
• 2 Titania's Command
• 3 Consuming Tide
• 3 Silver Scrutiny
• 4 Awaken the Woods

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Azusa's Many Journeys // Likeness of the Seeker

• Lands (27)
• 4 Island
• 9 Forest
• 1 Argoth, Sanctum of Nature
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Mishra's Foundry
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 2 Spara's Headquarters
• 4 Dreamroot Cascade
• 4 Yavimaya Coast

• Sideboard (3)
• 1 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Joint Exploration

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Azusa's Many Journeys also helps you gain additional life. While three life might not seem like much, it will go a long way toward keeping you alive. If you manage to play the full playset included in this deck, you'll end up with 4 extra lands in play and an additional 12 points of health. Titania's Command can help you gain even more health. This is especially true the longer the game has gone on, as both players will naturally have more cards in their graveyard. Don't be afraid to target your own graveyard for exile with this spell if you need to.

To finish off your opponent, this deck relies on the combo of Awaken the Woods and Nissa, Ascended Animist. By playing Awaken the Woods, you'll be able to create a fair number of 1/1 Forest Dryad land creature tokens. While 1/1's might not seem threatening, they soon will be. On your next turn, you can cast Nissa, Ascended Animist. You'll want to cast her for her full mana value, so that she comes into play with seven loyalty counters. Then, activate her ultimate -7 loyalty ability to give a massive boost to all of your creatures. Since this also gives those creatures trample, you can often attack and still deal lethal damage even if your opponent has multiple blockers.

Rakdos Vat of Rebirth

The final deck I have for you this week is a reanimator deck, finding value from the creatures in your graveyard. Let's take a look.

Rakdos Vat of Rebirth | ONE Standard | MTG_Nimi, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Voldaren Epicure
• 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Phyrexian Fleshgorger

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (6)
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Undying Malice
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 2 Voltage Surge

• Sorceries (4)
• 2 Brotherhood's End
• 2 Eaten Alive

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

• Artifacts (8)
• 4 Oni-Cult Anvil
• 4 Vat of Rebirth

• Lands (23)
• 2 Mountain
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Xander's Lounge
• 3 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 3 Sulfurous Springs
• 4 Haunted Ridge
• 4 Ziatora's Proving Ground

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As an alternative to reanimating Atraxa, another great target to bring back is Phyrexian Fleshgorger. By reanimating it with Vat of Rebirth, you'll get the full value from this Phyrexian Wurm, giving you a 7/5 creature with menace and lifelink. You might have already played Phyrexian Fleshgorger for its prototype cost earlier in the game. It could die in combat or be sacrificed with the help of Liliana of the Veil's -2 loyalty ability. Regardless of how it got into your graveyard, it's a terrific choice to be reanimated.

This deck also includes a couple of other ways to get your reanimation targets into your graveyard. You can discard a card when you activate Liliana's +1 loyalty ability. This also forces your opponent to discard a card, potentially messing with their upcoming plans. You also have Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. This saga's second chapter allows you to discard up to two cards, drawing the same number of cards in return. Finally, you might get lucky by milling yourself with the channel ability of Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.

Wrapping Up

Last week, we took a look at a few decks that were a little more aggressive than these decks. While control decks generally aren't something I want to play a lot, I do enjoy trying them out from time to time. Each of these decks look interesting to me, offering a variety of cards that I don't normally get to play in my usual aggressive decks. If you enjoy slower paced, more controlling decks, you should try these out.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes