There are some basic principles of the Energy decks that make them successful. Temur Energy has been the best deck in the format, but it’s not exactly a great game 1 deck. The ability to create better matchups across the board after sideboarding is what lets Temur stay dominant. Molding your deck to take a more controlling approach might be the best way to increase your game 1 win percentage.
No Longtusk Cub. No Bristling Hydra. These are creatures with no “actual” abilities. Sure, they can grow, take over a game, and are some of your best threats against an aggressive deck like Ramunap Red, but they can be some of your weakest cards in many other matchups. Servant of the Conduit is a nice way to make energy, fix your mana, and ramp, but it’s a bad topdeck. Glorybringer is a nice aggressive threat, but it also has no actual effect if it doesn’t get into the red zone. This deck isn’t interested in any of them.
All of your creatures can offer a real impact on the game even late. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is the only early drop, offering evasion, energy, and the ability to take over the game by drawing extra cards. You have a lot of spells to cast in the early game, but they’re almost all interaction. Siphoner turns on opposing cheap removal, so it often gets much better after sideboard, but if they don’t have the answer it can just take over.
Rogue Refiner and Whirler Virtuoso are easy carryovers from Temur Energy. Both provide energy and value when they enter the battlefield. Rogue Refiner has a big enough body to be relevant, drawing an extra card and getting some energy. Whirler Virtuoso is your energy sink. You can go wide, make Thopters, and ensure that you aren’t under too much pressure.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury can trade up with just about any opposing creature in combat and has an enters-the-battlefield ability that locks up some powerful card advantage.
The Scarab God is the late game. You are playing lots of removal and interaction and fewer creatures than other Energy variants, which is perfect to set up The Scarab God. This is the only creature without an immediate effect, but it’s resilient to opposing removal and crushes everyone once you have enough mana on the battlefield.
Attune with Aether is good enough to be banned in Standard. You get to fix your mana and get either a card from Siphoner or two-thirds of a Thopter from Whirler Virtuoso for just 1 mana.
Your removal suite starts with the full playset of both Fatal Push and Harnessed Lightning. This gives you lots of early interaction that scales up well. Harnessed Lightning is the best removal spell in the format and you can use your extra energy to clear out bigger threats, or kill something small and use the energy for more Thopters.
You continue being able to scale up with 3 copies of Vraska’s Contempt to kill off bigger creatures, Gods, and planeswalkers. Essence Scatter gives you even more to do with your mana and more answers to indestructible threats.
Your control deck is more than capable of going over the top. You have Search for Azcanta to filter your draws and take over in the late game. Vraska, Relic Seeker is a game-winner that dominates the board by killing problematic permanents while making Treasures and Pirates. Hour of Devastation in the main gives you a sweeper that opponents are unlikely to be prepared for, and you even have an additional copy in the sideboard.
The energy mechanic is totally busted, but the best way to build the deck is still up for debate. Going the full control route is just one recipe for success!
4-Color Energy Control
ELDER088, 5-0 in an MTGO Competitive League
