Some decks are just timeless. Think back on all the different incarnations of mono-colored aggressive decks, or U/W control, or combos featuring Replenish. On second thought, don't think about that; gamers already have high blood pressure.

For me, the Rath Cycle is my favorite time. The best weenie deck (Hatred or Sligh, but it's all the same to David Price) gained much of its core in the TP/SH/EX series. Decks like Toolbox and Survival of the Slivers would not exist without Rath. Even Secret Force owes much to the Spikes and Verdant Force that showed up in those critical three expansions.

But I'm a control freak - okay, I'm a Sliver freak too, but control is where my heart is. CounterPhoenix. TradeAwakening. Humility/Prayer. Some rouge U/B I can't find much info about. Mono U got a few cards worth mentioning in Rath: Forbid, Dismiss, Sapphire Medallion, Whispers of the Muse, Capsize - you know, the basic stuff.

Of all these wonderful control decks, none fascinated me like TradeAwakening. Life gain, fogging, countering, abusive tricks, and buyback are just too much for someone like me to resist. It's taken a while for me to find the cards and the build that I want, but upon receiving my second Spike Weaver I figured out what I want to play in a PTQ:

Wide Awake.deq

3x Tradewind Rider
3x Wall of Roots
1x Wall of Blossoms
4x Counterspell
4x Force of Will
3x Whispers of the Muse
3x Capsize
3x Impulse
3x Awakening
2x Spike Weaver
3x Spike Feeder
3x Treetop Village
3x Birds of Paradise
4x Land Grant
4x Tropical Island
6x Island
4x Forest
4x Wasteland

This deck is just that abusive. I'm tempted to run Thawing Glaciers and an Oath build, just to be that much more sadistic. As it is, Gaea's Blessing would keep the deck from drawing itself out, but you generally put more emphasis on bouncing your opponent's permanents that looking for cards.

For those of you who have no clue why this is so powerful: (barring any errata)

Awakening - GG2 Rare Stronghold
Enchantment
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, untap all creatures and lands.

Once you have six land and Awakening out, your turns look like this:

Untap. Play Capsize with buyback
Beginning of Upkeep: Untap all lands
End step: Play Capsize with buyback
Opponent's upkeep: Untap all lands
Opponent's end step: Play Capsize with buyback.

Notice that if you have an active Tradewind you can bounce six permanents per "cycle." I know all of you veterans have this down, and you pro players want to know why Survival of the Fittest isn't in it, but it could easily fit Survival - but that would be overkill. This deck does what it's supposed to, and it does it well. This deck was meant to handle Hatred (With Dark Ritual), for crying out loud! It better be able to handle a lousy Donate deck. (So it needs some Pyros or something; sue me.)

This is a deck of epic proportions! Build it! Play it! Love it! This deck can handle multiplayer as well - Awakening is a true sleeper card, what can I say?