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Today, I am going to talk about the many faces of Five-Color Control, and in which metagame each version shines. I will first post lists of the three major versions (in my opinion), before going through the most played matchups. I’ll also examine the matchups in which each version performs the strongest.

The first list is from my last article. The second list is the deck Shuuhei Nakamura played at his Nationals this year. The third one is based on the Planeswalkers deck I posted earlier this year, one with which Antoine Ruel Top8ed a PTQ soon afterwards.

Five-Color Control Featured by Tiago Fonseca on 2009-07-26 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/17792_Positive_EV_Elementals_at_Swiss_Nationals.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Obelisk of Alara Creatures 1 Broodmate Dragon 1 Nucklavee 3 Plumeveil 2 Wall of Reverence Instants 3 Agony Warp 3 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 4 Esper Charm 2 Essence Scatter 3 Volcanic Fallout	Sorceries 2 Cruel Ultimatum 3 Firespout 1 Primal Command Basic Lands 3 Island Lands 2 Cascade Bluffs 2 Exotic Orchard 2 Flooded Grove 1 Mystic Gate 4 Reflecting Pool 3 Sunken Ruins 2 Vivid Crag 4 Vivid Creek 1 Vivid Grove 2 Vivid Marsh 1 Vivid Meadow	Sideboard: 4 Great Sable Stag 2 Runed Halo 2 Flashfreeze 2 Negate 1 Volcanic Fallout 2 Ajani Vengeant 2 Hallowed Burial
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5-Color Control A Standard deck, by Shuuhei Nakamura 1st place at a Nationals tournament in Tokyo, Japan on 2009-06-21 As reported at http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/jpnat09/welcome Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 3 Broodmate Dragon 3 Mulldrifter 3 Plumeveil Instants 2 Agony Warp 3 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 1 Doom Blade 4 Esper Charm 1 Essence Scatter 4 Volcanic Fallout Sorceries 3 Cruel Ultimatum 3 Hallowed Burial	Basic Lands 3 Island Lands 2 Cascade Bluffs 1 Exotic Orchard 2 Mystic Gate 4 Reflecting Pool 3 Sunken Ruins 2 Vivid Crag 4 Vivid Creek 3 Vivid Marsh 2 Vivid Meadow	Sideboard: 1 Pithing Needle 4 Great Sable Stag 2 Puppeteer Clique 2 Runed Halo 1 Essence Scatter 1 Liliana Vess 2 Deathmark 2 Identity Crisis
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Planeswalker Five-Color Control Featured by Manuel Bucher on 2009-08-02 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/17818_Positive_EV_The_Many_Faces_of_FiveColor_Control.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 1 Broodmate Dragon 3 Plumeveil Enchantments 4 Fertile Ground Instants 2 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 3 Volcanic Fallout	Planeswalkers 2 Ajani Vengeant 4 Garruk Wildspeaker 1 Liliana Vess 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker Sorceries 2 Cruel Ultimatum 3 Hallowed Burial 3 Mind Spring Basic Lands 3 Island Lands 2 Cascade Bluffs 1 Exotic Orchard 2 Flooded Grove 1 Mystic Gate 4 Reflecting Pool 2 Sunken Ruins 4 Vivid Creek 4 Vivid Grove 3 Vivid Marsh	Sideboard: 4 Great Sable Stag 2 Runed Halo 1 Volcanic Fallout 1 Ajani Vengeant 2 Jace Beleren 3 Deathmark 1 Hallowed Burial
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Fonseca’s list is completely based on instant speed. The Planeswalker list is a sorcery speed deck supported by a few counterspells. Shuuhei Nakamura’s list is somewhere in between.

Combo Elves
Against Elves, you want as many cheap answers to their threats as possible. Pretty much every cheap spell aside from card draw (and, sadly, Plumeveil) shines in the matchup. The list from Tiago Fonseca really shines in this matchup, as you have a very powerful mix of cheap spot/mass removal, and more cheap counterspells (or counterspells in general) than any of the other lists. Shuuhei Nakamura’s list is a touch worse in the matchup, but it’s still very good. Instead of some Firespouts you have the far slower Hallowed Burial, and you have fewer cheap counterspells. The Planeswalker list sadly doesn’t have a lot of early answers to their threats, and is very vulnerable to the deck if it doesn’t have a Fertile Ground or a Volcanic Fallout.

Best cards in the matchup: Volcanic Fallout, Firespout, Broken Ambitions, Agony Warp, Doom Blade, Essence Scatter

Best sideboard cards: Volcanic Fallout, Infest, Deathmark, Flashfreeze

Faeries
With Great Sable Stag you have another way to fight the Fae, and combined with Volcanic Fallout it is very effective. The only way they can really deal with a Stag is if they have multiple Mutavaults, or one Mutavault combined with Scion of Oona. Since Volcanic Fallout, it became difficult to combine Cloudthresher with Vexing Shusher, as the latter got killed by your own spells sooner or later. As always against Faeries, cheap spells and instants are good in the matchup. This is another match up where Tiago Fonseca’s list is better than any of the others I posted. The Planeswalker list is, once again, by far the weakest among those three. Planeswalkers are just not what you are looking for against the Fae. Post-board, Garruk Wildspeaker gets a lot better as you can build up more pressure and help your Great Sable Stag beat down while Volcanic Fallouts keep your opponent’s board empty.

Best cards in the matchup: Esper Charm, Volcanic Fallout, Plumeveil, Broken Ambitions, Doom Blade, Cryptic Command

Best sideboard cards: Volcanic Fallout, Great Sable Stag, Cloudthresher

White Weenie / Kithkins
Shuuhei Nakamura managed to create a list where every single card shines in this matchup. Therefore it is no surprise that his list is the best here. Any kind of mass removal is wonderful in the matchup, so the difference between Firespout and Hallowed Burial is only marginal here. Again, the Planeswalker deck is slightly the worst in this matchup, as it is missing the early spot removal which the other decks are featuring. Still, Ajani Vengeant and Garruk Wildspeaker are very good in fighting any early threat aside from Spectral Procession, and with the help of Fertile Ground you are able to accelerate into your Hallowed Burials and Cruel Ultimatum. The White Weenie and the Elves matchups are two good reasons why Five-Color Control is currently popular.

Best cards in the matchup: Plumeveil, Firespout, Volcanic Fallout, Hallowed Burial, Cruel Ultimatum, Broodmate Dragon

Best sideboard cards: Hallowed Burial, Deathmark

Jund Aggro
Again, Shuuhei Nakamura’s list excels in the matchup. Dropping an early Broodmate Dragon is very effective. The Firespouts are, for once, a lot worse as they are not able to deal with a Putrid Leech or a Chameleon Colossus later in the game. Tiago Fonseca’s list is the worst in this matchup, as dropping an early threat (even if it is Garruk Wildspeaker or Ajani Vengeant) is what you want to do here, and the additional Walls he has in his list don’t help a lot. Shuuhei’s list still trumps the Planeswalker deck, as dropping Broodmate Dragons and Mulldrifter is better here than dropping some Planeswalkers.

Best cards in the matchup: Plumeveil, Broodmate Dragon, Hallowed Burial, Cryptic Command, Ajani Vengeant

Best sideboard cards: Hallowed Burial, Deathmark, Ajani Vengeant, Runed Halo

GW Tokens
Shuuhei Nakamura’s list is the most effective in this matchup tool, like it is in all the other creature-based aggro decks. Hallowed Burials are much better in this matchup as Firespouts, and Planeswalkers are a good follow up to a mass removal. Broodmate Dragons are the better follow up to mass removal, of course, which is why I like Shuuhei Nakamura’s list more than the Planeswalker version. Tiago Fonseca’s list has some trouble dealing with Wild-Leaf Liege, as it doesn’t sport any Hallowed Burials or Doom Blades.

Best cards in the matchup: Hallowed Burial, Broodmate Dragon, Firespout, Cryptic Command, Doom Blade, Agony Warp, Cruel Ultimatum

Best sideboard cards: Hallowed Burial, Deathmark

Elementals
Shuuhei Nakamura’s list is the most standard list of all three, which makes it the easiest to play against for Elementals. I had the most trouble playing against Tiago Fonseca’s list even though it is the only one not featuring any Hallowed Burials. The amount of counterspells and all the cheap removal makes it much more complicated than playing against Mulldrifters, Hallowed Burials, and Broodmate Dragons. Also, if the deck drops an early Obelisk of Alara, it is almost always game, as the games in this matchup tend to go very long. The Planeswalker list is the easiest to play against, but the deck can lock you out of the game with its raw power and the ability to kill all your guys with counter backup, thanks to Fertile Ground with Garruk Wildspeaker – a.k.a. Coalition Relic.

Best cards in the matchup: Agony Warp, Doom Blade, Cryptic Command, Volcanic Fallout, Cruel Ultimatum, Obelisk of Alara

Best sideboard cards: Deathmark, Flashfreeze, Puppeteer Clique

Blightning Aggro
Surprisingly, the Planeswalker deck is the most effective in this matchup. All your Planeswalkers give you an immediate advantage, while the Red player has to deal with them in his turn – preventing a lot of damage that would be dealt to you otherwise. It is also able to cast Cruel Ultimatum earlier than any of the other Five-Color lists. Tiago Fonseca’s list also has a lot of ways to rebuild some life with Wall of Reverence, Obelisk of Alara, and Primal Command, and this is why his list is slightly better than Shuuhei Nakamura’s deck. I have to admit that dropping Broodmate Dragons is very effective in this matchup.

Best cards in the matchup: Plumeveil, Ajani Vengeant, Broodmate Dragon, Obelisk of Alara, Wall of Reverence, Primal Command, Agony Warp, Doom Blade, Cruel Ultimatum

Best sideboard cards: Deathmark, Runed Halo, Ajani Vengeant

Five-Color Control Mirror
Since the Japanese Nationals – or since the release of M10 - the Five-Color Control deck has become very popular again, as it is effective in fighting White Weenie and Combo Elves. The Five-Color Control deck has a lot of trouble dealing with opposing Planeswalkers, so it is not a surprise that the Planeswalker list is the best for the mirror. In addition, all the early Planeswalkers are able to deal with Great Sable Stag, so you have the most answers to that card. Between Shuuhei Nakamura’s list and Tiago Fonseca’s list, it is very close in regards to power. I think I would choose Fonseca’s list here. Obelisk of Alara and Nucklavee are both threats which are very hard to answer, and Primal Command can create some tempo and card advantage. On the downside, Nakamura’s list has more cheap card draw spells, in the form of Mulldrifter. It also has Hallowed Burials, which can deal with Broodmate Dragons.

Best cards in the matchup: Planeswalkers in general, Cryptic Command, Esper Charm, Cruel Ultimatum, Obelisk of Alara

Best sideboard cards: Planeswalkers in general, Negate, Runed Halo, Great Sable Stag

As for the best choice overall... It really depends on the metagame. With the rise of Five-Color Control, I would play the Planeswalker deck for the next few weeks if I had to jump into an unknown metagame, while Shuuhei’s list is the most solid and consistent of all three. Tiago Fonseca’s deck shines in the matchups that were big before the New Rise of Five-Color, so it might be a bad choice in the next few weeks, at least until the metagame shifts once more.

I’ve recently received a message from Tiago Fonseca. He won a PTQ last weekend with yet another Five-Color Control list. Here you go!

Five-Color Control Featured by Tiago Fonseco on 2009-08-02 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/17818_Positive_EV_The_Many_Faces_of_FiveColor_Control.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Obelisk of Alara Creatures 1 Broodmate Dragon 2 Mulldrifter 1 Nucklavee 2 Plumeveil Enchantments 1 Runed Halo	Instants 1 Agony Warp 3 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 4 Esper Charm 1 Essence Scatter 1 Path to Exile 3 Volcanic Fallout Planeswalkers 1 Ajani Vengeant 1 Jace Beleren Sorceries 2 Cruel Ultimatum 2 Firespout 2 Hallowed Burial 1 Primal Command Basic Lands 2 Island Lands 2 Cascade Bluffs 2 Exotic Orchard 1 Flooded Grove 2 Mystic Gate 4 Reflecting Pool 3 Sunken Ruins 1 Vivid Crag 4 Vivid Creek 3 Vivid Marsh 3 Vivid Meadow	Sideboard: 4 Great Sable Stag 2 Runed Halo 2 Flashfreeze 2 Negate 1 Volcanic Fallout 1 Ajani Vengeant 1 Jace Beleren 1 Identity Crisis 1 Planar Cleansing
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With so many one-ofs, you would expect something like Liliana Vess in the deck…

Anyway, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!

Manu B