UW Standlands

Today we’re going to be looking at a pretty old and pretty awesome deck. I actually wrote about the UR version a couple years ago, but never revisited it to check out the UW one, despite it being a popular choice back then as well. Today I thought we should change that. To be honest, I barely made any changes to the oldest Legacy versions, as they were pretty darn playable as they were, and thought I’d keep it that way. Besides, you can make any changes you want as well. So with that, let’s take a look at UW Standlands.

As one can tell, due to Standstill being a build-around card, it plays a key role in any deck that uses it. As such, you want to get it in play both when you can and when it is to your own advantage. The card is pretty unique in that it allows you or the opponent to use it, thus making both players work around it. Now obviously, with your deck built around it, then it should be you who does so. That means drawing your win conditions, as well as additional control pieces, to stomp your opponent and take the match.

Because card advantage is so key in maintaining answers, you should consider other means to draw as well. A pretty standard piece to see in the meta game back in the day was Fact or Fiction, which allowed you to choose such answers. Now to those who might not know about this card, it is an awesome spell to cast and provides both you and your opponent with some decisions to dwell on. The good news is that generally, the hard calls are on your opponents’ shoulders since you have a pretty good idea what you want to do.

While the deck’s namesake enchantment is indeed awesome, it does make library construction a bit tricky. How do you get around casting your own spells once it hits the board? You could try Mercadian Lift or Quicksilver Amulet, but they seem a bit slow and should not be played once The Stand is sitting there. Manlands are the better way to go, as they provide mana and can be played/used whenever you want. This is not true with spells, as Standstill can be triggered by either player, allowing the other to draw their cards. We don’t want that! I also included 2 Jade Statue because they can avoid Humility and Wrath while providing some blocking power, but that is entirely optional on your part.

So we’ve looked at card drawing as an advantage, but let’s look at versatility. Wasteland serves several purposes in Standlands, which is why it is important you include a play set. Not only can it help control the opponent via mana denial, but it can also destroy opposing Wastelands that might target your manlands and/or destroy your opponents’. Versatility is always welcome in a control deck, as it means you never have a dead card in your deck, no matter the opponent’s strategy.

Lastly, let’s talk about why Daze? Despite this deck clearly wanting to go the long game, there are 4 Daze to help get there. Not only does it stop the opponents’ early attackers landing on the board prior to your own cards but it can also help keep combo pieces in check. With the card advantage and selection provided in the deck, later copies are easy to replace. Naturally, these are meta game and player choice calls, so do what you believe to be right. Happy Brewing!

UW Standlands

Land

4 Island

1 Plains

4 Tundra

4 Faerie Conclave

4 Mishra’s Factory

4 Flooded Strand

4 Wasteland

Total: 25

Creatures

Total: 0

Spells

4 Force of Will
4 Standstill
4 Brainstorm

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Counterspell

2 Humility

2 Disenchant

1 Fact or Fiction

2 Decree of Justice

2 Wrath of God

4 Daze

2 Jade Statue

Total: 35

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Stifle

1 Nevinyrral’s Disk

2 Disenchant