The metagame has shifted considerably since the big three ruled the world. Darksteel arrived, and what happens? People are inventing new decks, rogue decks, and revivifying old ones. Such a small set like Darksteel has triggered so much! So what does it do to the tier 2 decks that never got their chance to shine? It gives them a chance, by golly! Green/White control wasn't ever a tier 1 deck, it didn't win any States (though it T8'ed in a few of them making up 4.11% of the Top 8) and wasn't ever a considerable threat to anyone. But that's all about to change <insert maniacal laughter here>.

Be ready, I'm going into a mini-rant. If you want to get to the decklist and how it plays, just skip the next two paragraphs. No need for me to insult your intelligence by attempting to explain control decks (I mean, they're pretty simple and straightforward. They have their objective in their name, for crying aloud). However, I thought it would be good to explain the difference between countering answers and having answers.

So, let's talk about control decks. What does it need to be successful? A pretty easy question to answer. Control decks need to be, in, wait for it. . . control! Gasp! What a foreign concept. To be in"control," the deck needs to deal with every possible threat that the other deck can dish out. The reason U/W control did so well (and continues to do well) is that White can deal with most"problem permanents" (PP) that are out on the field, enchantments, creatures, and to a lesser extent artifacts. Lands aren't as easy, but how many"problem lands" are there that aren't based upon other permanents (Contested Cliffs, Goblin Burrows, and the like all depend on creatures)? Since U/W control can do so well with Wing Shards, blowing up the world in three styles, and over-priced Disenchant (Altar's Light), it can deal pretty well with PP.

What White does have a problem with are sorceries, instants, and Decree of Justice tokens at your EOT. What solves that? Counterspells baby! All these reasons are why Blue has been a successful archetype with White in Type 2.

So what does G/W control need in its arsenal to be in control? It's got White's ability to deal with PP while Green is able to add efficient artifact and enchantment removal, nice and efficient threats (lay down a Troll Ascetic and a Worship against that Goblin deck and see what happens), and land searching. The problems now lay within the problem instants, sorceries, and EOT Decree of Justice Tokens. What happens is that White becomes more of an answer color whilst Green becomes the threats and"card drawing"-esque color.

Green searches for lands and thins out the deck, White puts answers in the form of damage prevention and life gaining. Green puts down an untargetable regenerator, White lays down a flying, spirit-link angel (Exalted Angel). Green gives you a Time Stretch (Plow Under), while White blows up the world. Batman and Robin they are not, but G/W control has such great synergy with each other, it's baffling. Green produces lots of mana and fuels the deck into fifteen-token-generating Decrees. The problem is you have to make sure that no card in the deck is dead. So cards have to do one thing, and yet be generally useful all the time. They need to either cycle away, thin out your land so you can find answers in the late game, or be a permanent. At long last, here's the decklist!

24 Lands
3 Elfhame Palace
2 Windswept Heath
7 Forest
7 Plains
4 Cloudpost
1 Stalking Stones

36 Spells
3 Eternal Dragon
2 Worship
3 Wrath of God
3 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Plow Under
3 Decree of Justice
3 Exalted Angel
2 Story Circle
2 Gilded Light
3 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Rampant Growth
2 Renewed Faith

Sideboard
2 Ivory Mask
3 Naturalize
2 Leonin Bladetrap
2 Altar's Light
3 Sacred Ground
3 Circle of Protection: Red

It's a bit strange that there are no Darksteel cards are in the deck. A suggestion of Panoptic Mirror has been considered, and testing will no doubt ensue. (Plow Under each turn? Remove an artifact each turn? Panoptic Mirror can provide a great reusable effect that G/W desperately needs). Instead, G/W tries to combat the instability Darksteel presents.

Very uninteresting, isn't it? It has a lot of two- and three-ofs. The only card that has that"must be four of" is Plow Under. There is no other effect that can copy it, and no other card that can win you games. Tempo, land denial, and a mini-Time Stretch all rolled into one card.

So Jon, how do you play the deck? It seems pretty straightforward. Search for some early land, and do what needs to be done that turn. Do you need to wrath? Wrath away! Apply some pressure with early Angel Beats? W00t w00t! There are no first-turn plays with this deck, so at any chance possible, you should always play first. Try to get up on the upper end of the mana curve as soon as possible, chump block, and find those threats/answers. Time for the obligatory card analysis.

Card Analysis
Stalking Stones
A single stalking stones? What has he been smoking? Well, nothing. The justification for a single Stone is that by the end of the game, you're drawing non-basic lands or spells. This is a good 3/3 creature that gets through opposing Story Circles and doesn't hurt the mana curve that badly.

The rest of the lands are pretty self-explanatory. There are only two Windswept Heaths because in the late game where you have no basic lands left (and you'd be surprised how many times that happens), I'd rather draw an Elfhame Palace than a Windswept Heath. Elfhames don't hurt for the last point of life when you have a Worship out, either.

Eternal Dragon
Hurrah for colorless, instant speed, Plains tutoring effect with a big body to boot. It comes back to life, and helps filter out all your Plains.

Worship
Troll Ascetic + Worship = Yummy goodness. Worship is a nice answer to Goblins and Affinity. U/W control has problems with it too, if they don't draw a Wrath effect (unlikely, I know, but when both decks are trying to dig for answers, U/W control just might not have an answer to every permanent, because they're going to rely on countering everything. Slipping a Worship and possibly Decree of Justice tokens into play can win games like no one's business).

Wrath of God
Obligatory Wrath effects. God's Wrath never tasted so great. This card is especially great with a Solemn Simulacrum out. Destroy all creatures, cantrip? Can you say bra-oken? [Rum Raisin ice cream. - Knut]

Akroma's Vengeance
The other White meat. I mean, White wrath. Yes, this does destroy your enchantments, but resolving this against Affinity is so crucial. It's a bit idiotic to lump all Affinity decks together, so if they're playing the control match up, try to bait out a counter spell with Troll Ascetic, Worship, or Story Circle. If they're playing the aggro build, do a victory dance upon their grave, provided it's later than turn 5.

Plow Under
"Tempo, land denial, and a mini-Time Stretch all rolled into one card." Enough said. Thought it may be slow, it turns the tides of the late game top decking into a one sided affair.

Decree of Justice
It has"win condition" written all over it. Hard casting it gives you more bang for your buck, so remember that if your opponent is tapped out or has no counterspells.

Exalted Angel
This card allows you to race, putting you eight life away each time you hit your opponent. All on the fourth turn? Geez, no wonder it wins you games. Lots and lots of games.

Story Circle
When Worship just won't do. This can get under Affinity's counterspell radar when played third turn. Broodstar is null, now you just got to worry about that Enforcer and Frogmite. It helps against other odds and ends, like Suicide Black and Consume Spirit.

Gilded Light
Mind Sludge? I don't think so. Wing Shards? Whatever, it is now ignored. Siege-Gang Commander and Goblin Sharpshooter tricks for the win? Nope. Keep your Gleemax to yourself, thanks. Cycles when it's not needed, and it can dig for the answers you do need. Great utility. Also, its nice to note that if an opponent playing Mind's Desire plays the lethal Tendrils of Agony or Brain Freeze, before the storm triggers, you can play this so they have to target themselves with the storm. It is always refreshing to see your opponent get milled by his own Brain Freeze.

Solemn Simulacrum
Pure card advantage says that this gets the same mileage as an Ancestral Recall. It's a good card that turns Wrath and Vengeance into cantrip effects, while providing a nice body to chump cantrip with.

Troll Ascetic
A creature that endures the ages, chumps endlessly (provided with mana), survives a Vengeance, and doesn't die outside of Wrath and Flamebreak type of effects. I'd say that's a pretty good card for a Trained Armodon's cost. On a pretty nice body, to boot.

Rampant Growth
This card powers you into so much sick stuff while thinning out the deck. Fourth turn Vengeances never tasted so good.

Sideboard
Sideboards always should be customized to supplement the deck against the metagame, so this sideboard is not the best one there is for you. Be wary of the big three, while trying to minimized your weakness, and getting rid of the problem permanents you couldn't otherwise.

Ivory Mask
Mind's Desire has no way to deal with this, while MBC has Oblivion Stones, this stops their Persecutes, Mind Sludge, and a lot of other nasty things. Also useful against Goblins.

Leonin Bladetrap
Okay, this card needs some explaining. Think of the Bladetrap as an Echoing Truth. Its sole reasoning for being there is to destroy tokens. It also helps a lot against Goblin Bidding, being able to stop the onslaught of x/2 goblins. G/W control needed an instant-speed way of dealing with Decree Tokens, and it found it in the form of this unlikely artifact. [Rain of Blades can also serve this purpose, and while it is just as janky, it's also a lot cheaper. -Knut]

Altar's Light
This is here to deal with Darksteel Colossus. MWC and Tooth and Nail decks are plentiful in my metagame, so I needed to pack removal. An Indestructible Myr Matrix can also be a pain in the ass.

Sacred Ground
Land destruction hurts. You might want to up the ante to four, and subtract a Naturalize to minimize the pain that is LD. It's anti-Flashfires tech, too.

Circle of Protection: Red
Goblins, Sligh, Atog, and Red burn can kiss my grits. Those goblin decks that put Green in sideboard and Wooded Foothills in maindeck get my applause, because they're smart.

I originally had Karma in sideboard as well, but Mind Bend and Mourner's Shields are becoming plentiful in my metagame, so it was considerably dead in most cases. Karma can be added if you need that extra oomph against Black (though you're pretty much teched up against them as is).

So how does this deck fair against the metagame? Remember that skill has a lot to deal with the percentages and the environment you are in. While I do fairly well in my local card shop, I'm sure the deck would perform differently in another environment. This is just a friendly reminder the percentages can be misleading and are in no way, shape, or form to taken as the absolute, concrete facts of the metagame. [Hey, somebody who"gets it." Bravo - Knut, thinking the same things the readers are] They are to provide insight on how well the deck does against a specific archetype, provided the player knows how to play and how the deck runs.

Affinity (Sarnia Affinity and Aggro)
Pre-Sideboard: 43.33% Post-Sideboard: 66.66% (For Aggro only)
Before side boarding, it all depends on resolving that all-important Akroma's Vengeance. Against Sarnia Affinity (the control affinity deck that has become very popular), the percentage goes down a considerable 10%. Luring out the counters, reading bluffs, and laying early answers in the form of Worship and Story Circle while they still set up board position is possibly the best answer. After sideboarding in Naturalize, you can sometimes catch them with only two or three mana open, so destroying a land at EOT before you cast the Vengeance widens your chances of winning a considerable amount. Against aggro affinity, your percentage raises up higher. Disciple of the Vault's life loss can hurt, so try to Wrath them away with Frogs and Enforces before the big Vengeance.

Sideboard options: -2 Gilded Light, -3 Troll Ascetics, +3 Naturalize, +2 Altar's Light

Trolls become essentially useless when you want to blow up the world ASAP. Rampant Growth effects become that much more important to fuel out the all-important Vengeance. Waiting a turn when they left their mana open to Naturalize or Altar's Light EOT might be the best idea to get them with their pants down. With aggro affinity, side out the 2 Gilded Light for 2 Naturalize and you should be fine.

Goblins (Pure, Sligh, Bidding)
Pre-Sideboard: 52.75% Post-Sideboard: 68.50%
Bidding brings down Pre-Sideboard percentages down to 40%, being able to recover the Wrath and Vengeance but Pure Goblins can't do much against your mini-combo of Worship/Troll Ascetic pre-sideboard. [Excepting Flamebreak out of the sideboard, of course. - Knut] Worship and Story Circle can stall while you Wrath when they overextend. Post-sideboard, the Story Circles become CoP:Red and your chances increase a heck of a lot more. Sligh, being a tricky mix of burn and multiple Blistering Firecats can hurt a lot, but again, your Story Circle (soon to be CoP), Worship, Trolls, life gaining, and Ivory Mask all fuel your stalling game. The percentage goes down Post-Sideboarding if they bring in Oblivion Stones (I've seen it happen), or Naturalize. Your answers lay within your enchantments.

Sideboard options: -2 Story Circle, -2 Gilded Light, -1 Plow Under, -1 Exalted Angel or Troll Ascetic. +3 Circle of Protection: Red, +3 Sacred Ground

Take out the Troll if they had a lot of burn first game, because they'll probably take out pinpoint burn for Sulfuric Vortex, Flashfires, Stabilizer, and anything else they have teched up against you. The Angel comes out if they had little burn and main deck Vortex. It becomes a mind game with the Red mage to see who brings what. But, pre-teching against Flashfires is a must with this deck, such that you'll sometimes have the dead draw, but the devastating effects that a resolve Flashfires has will almost always hurt you more. If you are absolutely sure that they don't have the Fires, then go +1 Gilded Light, +1 Plow Under, +1 Exalted Angel. For Bidding, the Bladetraps go in for 1 Akroma's Vengeance, 1 Wrath of God. Bladetraps become instant speed, one-sided Wrath effects.

U/W Control
Pre-Sideboard: 50% Post-Sideboard: 52.5%
Whoever gets the better Decree gets the game. They also have sideboard tech against your Decree through Stifle or Echoing Truth. You guys might as well just play rock paper scissors, because the game is long, annoying, and is anyone's to win.

Sideboard options: -2 Gilded Light, +2 Leonin Bladetrap.

More mind games ensue. Your deck is aimed for beats, and not backed up with counterspell mana. You could just let the deck go as is. The Bladetrap provides instant-speed answers to decree tokens that U/W control had, but G/W control desperately needed. They cycle Decree of Justice at end of turn, you cast Leonin Bladetrap in response (to get under counter spell). Usually they'll do that, tapping out their mana. You have lived for another day. Remember to keep two mana open though.

Slide, R/W Control
Pre-Sideboard: 50% Post-Sideboard: 60%
Again, another toss up first game. Their Wrath effects get annoying, but you have CoPs, Ivory Mask, Leonin Bladetrap, and Naturalize to go in for your Wrath of God, Gilded Light, and Renewed Faith. You don't want to be cycling when they have the Lightning Rift out. Troll Ascetic is MVP, but he still dies to Wraths effects.

Sideboard options: -2 Gilded Light, -3 Wrath of God, -2 Renewed Faith, +1 Circle of Protection: Red, +2 Ivory Mask, +2 Naturalize, +2 Leonin Bladetrap.

MBC
Pre-Sideboard: 45% Post-Sideboard: 55%
Story Circles should come down ASAP, and Gilded Light used to protect your hand from mass discard. The Ivory Masks help tons, while Naturalize comes in to protect the world from Oblivion.

Sideboard options: -3 Wrath of God, -3 Akroma's Vengeance, +2 Ivory Mask, +3 Naturalize, +1 Altar's Light.

Keep two Wraths for an Altar's Light and a Naturalize if they had Graveborn Muse instead of the Phyrexian Arena. Letting them draw too many cards can provide a huge problem. Stall with Gilded Light until you can get that Ivory Mask down, and they'll probably take out some mass removal (Infest or Barter in Blood) for Mind Bend or Mourner's Shield. You have no Karma, but bluffing like you do always helps.

Land Destruction
Pre-Sideboard: 20% Post-Sideboard: 50%
Concede the first game, roll over, play dead. You will almost always lose the first game, though it is possible to get out an early Troll or to Rampant Growth into early mana. You have a slim of a possibility, but second-turn land destruction when they're going first hurts you so bad. Sacred Ground helps considerably, but with eight answers to it, it just stalls while you're able to get into the game with a morphed angel, Troll, or Story Circle. The second game gets better, but the third game can just be as gruesome as the first, barring in mind the great start Land Destruction can get sometimes. Good thing they're a bit inconsistent with when they start doing the actually LD.

Sideboard options: -2 Story Circle, -1 Wrath of God, -3 Akroma's Vengeance +3 Sacred Ground, +3 Circle of Protection: Red.

Plow Unders are subpar, but if you can get in control, it can turn the tide. Circle of Protection or Ivory Mask can be good, depending upon their win condition (Rorix Bladewing or Lightning Rift via cycling). If it's Rift, sideboard options are now -2 Story Circle, -3 Akroma's Vengeance, +2 Ivory Mask, +3 Circle of Protection: Red. Wrath can get Rorix, Birds of Paradise, or Vine Trellis if need be.

Well, G/W control is finally out in the open. I'm glad I was able to share one of my favorite archetypes since my obsession with Judgment. I'm just so surprised that not many people have talked about their matches against G/W, because it is a pretty good deck. Packing the answers to most everything and anything the metagame can throw at them.

The weakness in G/W control, like in most control decks, are their lands. They need land. I'm not quite sure how accepting this will be with the populous, but being able to write about my favorite archetype has been more then enough reward, everything that follows is just gravy. Thank you for taking this archetype seriously. Go out there and destroy the metagame!

Jon-Carlo Canezo
E-mail: SeathYamashira@hotmail.com