An interesting thing happens at the end of almost every Standard format. While the format feels "solved," all the decks are "known," and there isn't really anything interesting happening, someone always throws a curveball.

Bolun Zhang was that someone this time around, taking a wild four color planeswalker control deck to the Top 8 of Magicfest Online last week. Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God has been a very powerful card without a home for most of this Standard format, but Bolun played a full four copies of the powerful planeswalker. Crafted around an Esper tap-out control shell held together by Interplanar Beacon, Bolun cut through a very difficult field to make it all the way to top 8 with his value centric build.

Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God may be hard to cast, but he's one of the best "basic" five-mana planeswalkers the game has seen.

Time Stamps:

Match 1 - 00:04:47

Match 2 - 00:52:31

Match 3 - 01:20:28

Match 4 - 01:45:49

Match 5 - 02:01:16

Bolas Buddies | Standard | Magicfest Online Top 8 | Bolun Zhang

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths

• Planeswalkers (14)
• 2 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 4 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 4 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God
• 4 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Duress
• 1 The Elderspell
• 2 Agonizing Remorse
• 2 Cry of the Carnarium
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Enchantments (6)
• 3 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 3 Oath of Kaya

• Lands (26)
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Steam Vents
• 3 Temple of Silence
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Interplanar Beacon
• 4 Temple of Deceit
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Command the Dreadhorde
• 2 Cry of the Carnarium
• 2 Despark
• 3 Devout Decree
• 3 Disfigure
• 2 Hero of Precinct One
• 2 Ritual of Soot

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That was a very clean run, aside from a bit of ugly sideboarding on my part.

We were able to grind our way through some of the grindiest decks in the format, while also keeping pace with the speed of Mono-Red. This was a great spread of matchups in the current Standard format, and with us being one poorly sideboarded game away from 5-0 the deck clearly has some power going for it.

Not only is this deck a great choice for any remaining tournaments or ladder play before Ikoria comes out, but it's also a deck to examine once Ikoria is here. Powerful planeswalkers, discard, and removal is often very good against large creature decks, meaning that while Godzilla will soon be on the prowl, Bolas may have the last laugh.