NEW LISTS FOR SEASON 2: 

BANT CONTROL SEASON 2

BANT MID SEASON 2 (BO1)

3/23/19 - Updated! Sideboard modified and sideboard guide added. Still being finalized.

PRE-SEASON 3

In pre-season three, this list reached Mythic on March 8, 2019.

In pre-season two, this Bant Control made it to mythic with at least a 69.27% win rate. I ultimately hit Mythic ranking with 192 games won and 133 games lost. .This list is for the control variant of Bant, which, in my opinion is the best color combination for control presently available. Unlike Esper, Sultai or Temur control- Bant gives us access to the absolute best of all worlds.

Unlike Esper, you have the access to Wilderness Reclamation, Hydroid Krasis and Frilled Mystic. You also have the amazing synergy of (see below) of Wilderness Reclamation and Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin.

Unlike Sultai and Temur you have access to Ixalan's Binding, Settle the Wreckage and Warrant // Warden. Keep in mind that Wilderness Reclamation supercharges the effectiveness of Ixalan's Binding by diminishing the draw back of playing it on a main phase.

Bant has access to the best, and is uniquely strong in its positioning against the entirety of the current meta.

69.27% is probably a little lower than the actual winrate, because on a few of the nights I played way too late, got sleepy and started playing jank decks like land destruction. I know that win rate sounds a little high to be believable, so I decided to link a playlist of my twitch VODs below. All 24+ hours of the climb, less a few games played from a separate computer. My average game time was about 6 minutes per game

If you have a question relating to gameplay of this deck, post it in the comment section below. I'll try to respond to all of them very quickly. I also receive Discord notifications on my phone. @CaptainJamoke on the Aetherhub Discord or the Compleat Discord servers.

 
LETS START WITH THE CARD CHOICES
SCROLL DOWN FOR DECK MATCHUPS AND GAMEPLAY
 

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Wilderness Reclamation + Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin + Teferi, Hero of Dominaria Once you have a transformed Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin and Wilderness Reclamation out it’s important to do the following - especially if you have two Wilderness Reclamation on the board. First, place a stop on your end steps (the last two phases of your turn to be safe) and keep enough mana to use Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin (assuming you don't have a main phase play). Next, on your end step, tap Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin using it's ability. This will place it on the stack before Wilderness Reclamation resolves. Pick your card, hit resolve and let Wilderness Reclamation resolve. Repeat for multiple Wilderness Reclamation . If you also have a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria out and have used the +1 ability, the same concept applies. This synergy generates you a tremendous advantage against your opponents. NOTE that you should be keeping mana open for your opponents turn. Use your last casting of Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin on your opponents turn - essentially, you want to save one “search” to cast in response to an opponents spell or at the end of their turn as they will see which card you took selected. Also, its probably a good habit to just always place a stop on your opponent's end step. 

Settle the Wreckage as a 3-of provides a solid answer to creature based decks, and is integral to the gate matchup as well. One of the few ways to get rid of Gate Colossus. If you cheap out and run less than three you will get run over in the aggro match-ups.

Ixalan's Binding is fantastic in this meta. A single resolved Ixalan's Binding can shut down so many decks that are currently played at top levels. Also provides removal of a lot of cards that this deck is weak to, such as Rhythm of the Wild. Many popular decks that are currently played at high ranking use only a few win condititions, and a single Ixalan's Binding can often win you the game on the spot.

With no “x”-costed cards, Wilderness Reclamation might seem like an unconvential inclusion. However,  playing this four-cost enchantment allows you to abuse search for Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, safely play cards on you main phase while keeping mana for counter spells, and provides immense pressure upon your opponent as a bluff-tool. 

In my opinion, Warrant // Warden is one of the most underplayed and undervalued cards that was recently released; Warrant // Warden provides early game control against aggro while concomitantly functioning as a late game kill condition. Another oft overlooked benefit is the ability to return a creature to the top of the deck. Use this on an opponents attacker to lock-out your opponent’s next draw, or cast it on your own attacking Frilled Mystic / Hydroid Krasis to guarantee a clutch top-deck for yourself.

Growth Spiral allows you to play Wilderness Reclamation on turn 3, Settle the Wreckage on turn 3, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria on turn 4, etc. Alleviate wrong-color hands, dump extra mana. Early game, if playing against a deck with blue-mana, consider playing Growth Spiral on your turn to avoid being spell pierced. An early game Growth Spiral (or Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin) needs to make it onto the board. This is how you ensure that you have enough mana to hit spells on curve.

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If you have the emblem from Teferi, Hero of Dominaria  and you cast a Hydroid Krasis your opponent will probably be conceding immediately. The card draw from Hydroid Krasis will trigger Teferi, Hero of Dominaria multiple times, and you'll even be able to target their lands once you've removed everything else. Don't be afraid to use the -8 ability of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria even if it only has 8 loyalty counters. Getting that emblem out is a #1 priority.

24 LANDS (why not more??)
I see a lot of information saying that a deck needs to run 26 lands to effectively use Growth Spiral.  With 26 or even 25 lands I found myself flooded too often. Twenty-four lands, in my practice, has been the sweet spot for consistently hitting your four-mana-by-turn-four requirement. Keep in mind that Growth Spiral and Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin are what allows our land count to stay low. However, if you are without the wildcards for Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin or Growth Spiral stick to 26 lands (two more islands to provide turn 3 counterspell consistency).

ISLANDS ARE IMPORTANT.

ISLANDS ARE IMPORTANT.

And again, ISLANDS ARE IMPORTANT.

A two-land hand with one blue source is better than a three-land hand with no blue sources.

 
Matchups
I have a positive win rate against every matchup in the meta with this deck. Understandably, though, some can be tough.

Mono White Lifegain:

Ixalan's Binding and Warrant // Warden will win you games. Remember that Warrant // Warden will cause the card you target to go to the top of their deck. Use it on an Ajani's Pridemate and it loses its counters and clogs their next draw. Aggro decks typically play fewer lands, so Warrant // Warden can cause your opponents mana issues in a lot of games. Don't burn all your mana once you have Wilderness Reclamation / Teferi, Hero of Dominaria down- keep mana open to counterspell your opponent's Ixalan's Binding.

Boros Aggro:

Watch out for Heroic Reinforcements by floating enough counterspell mana. Try and keep your life out of Banefire range. Otherwise, this is similar to the Mono White Lifegain matchup.

Mono Red Aggro:

Warrant // Warden again. Sometimes its ok to use a Settle the Wreckage against a single creature if you're preventing spectacle activation (Light Up the Stage or Skewer the Critics. If you need to, use Absorb on one of your own spells to gain a little extra life in a pinch. Though favorable due to our life gain, our Settle the Wreckage and/or Warrant // Warden, this is the least favored matchup, ometimes your opponent will win by turn four and you will not have drawn a Warrant // Warden or an Absorb.

Gates:

Float mana to counterspell Guild Summit. Ixalan's Binding priority number one is Guild Summit, next is Gatebreaker Ram, and last is Gate Colossus. Be mindful of Banefire, and keep your lifetotal above your opponent's mana total.

Mono Blue:

Warrant // Warden on a creature with Curious Obsession hurts your opponent. Frilled Mystic is great in this matchup because it can't be countered with Negate or Spell Pierce. Get it out early and start swinging. Be wary of Siren Stormtamer and target that as a priority over every other card. Float mana so you can counterspell their counterspell. This is your second toughest matchup after mono red, though you are still favored due to the amount of counterspells you run and your Wilderness Reclamation.

Sultai Control:

Counterspell their Wilderness Reclamation. If your opponent lands a Wilderness Reclamation, this is going to be a long game. You run more counters, and instead of Vraska's Contempt you have a Ixalan's Binding. You have Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, which will put you at an edge over this matchup.

Esper Control:

Keep your mana open for counters. This is a slow but easy matchup. Wilderness Reclamation + Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin allows you to out-value your opponents here. You want to be the second to drop Teferi, Hero of Dominaria if you have no other removal so that you can use the -3 ability.

Mirror:

First one to resolve Wilderness Reclamation wins. Play it slow and safe.

Nexus:

This isn't going to be in Bo1, but if you're piloting the deck in Bo3 sideboard in Devious Cover-Up.

SIDEBOARD 

Due to popular request here's the write-up for the sideboard. The first thing you may notice is Nexus of Fate. YES, we will be siding that it for Bo3 games. By not having it in the main deck, you have a huge advantage in surprising your opponent.

Mono White Lifegain:

+ 3 Nexus of Fate

-1 Frilled Mystic

-1 Ixalan's Binding

- 1 Hydroid Krasis

Boros Aggro:

+ 3 Nexus of Fate

-1 Frilled Mystic

-1 Ixalan's Binding

- 1 Hydroid Krasis

 Mono Red Aggro:

+ 3 Nexus of Fate

-1 Frilled Mystic

- 2 Ixalan's Binding

-1 Sinister Sabotage

Gates:

+ 3 Nexus of Fate

-1 Frilled Mystic

-1 Sinister Sabotage

-1 Settle the Wreckage

-2 Warrant/Warden

Mono Blue:

+4 Kraul Harpooner

+4 Tithe Taker

-2 Absorb

-1 Sinsister Sabotage

-1 Wilderness Reclamation

-1 Growth Spiral

-1 Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin

-2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

 Sultai Control:

+4 Nexus of Fate

+3 Tithe Taker

+1 The Immortal Sun

-3 Settle the Wreckage

-4 Warrant // Warden

Esper Control:

+4 Nexus of Fate

+1 The Immortal Sun

+3 Tithe Taker

-3 Settle the Wreckage

-4 Warrant // Warden

Nexus:

+3 Devious Cover-Up

+3 Nexus of Fate

+3 Tithe Taker

-4 Warrant // Warden

-3 Settle the Wreckage

-1 Growth Spiral

-1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

Mirror:

First one to resolve Wilderness Reclamation wins. Play it slow and safe.

This list and minor variations got me to mythic in February 2019 with a 69.27% win rate. Almost the entirety of the climb was streamed, and the playlist of it can be found here:
https://www.twitch.tv/collections/bG2z9LKPiBU1TA

EDITS AND UPDATES:

3/23/19 - Modified Sideboard and added Sideboard write-up.
3/14/19 - Migrated deck to new list for Pre-Season 3. (old list here)
3/13/19 - Modified main deck to correspond with current list. Changed title as we are now in Pre-season 3. Modified sideboard for Bo1 including Immortal Sun.