This deck is a variation on azorius control using yorion and Rule of Law effects.
The main win condition of the game is to utimate Jace, Unraveler of Secrets while having Rule of Law or Archon of Emeria on the battlefield : each player can only cast one spell each turn, and the first spell they cast is countered.
This essentially soft-locks your opponents out of playing any spell that is counterable. You can then finish the game with the additional win-con : Dream Trawler and Shark Typhoon
Because we play rule of law, counterspells become much better and oppresive : they essentially end the turn of the opponent. Rule of law also mitigates any loss of card advantage that you may have playing counterspells instead of "actual" spells
Card choice :
Archon of Emeria/Rule of Law : these cards are the central piece of the deck. Once you play either of those the game is significantly slowed. Because you can cast only one spell a turn we can be a little lenient on the curve for CMC>3 after a rule of law is on the battlefield. Archon is better because it is a 2/3 flier but it's less resilient to removal , be especially careful against red decks.
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is our combo card with rule of law. Being a planeswalker it creates value even after being cast and it's resistant to Day of Judgment. his +1 is good to draw what you need before casting your spell for the turn, his -2 is useful to gain some time against big creatures and put back creatures after his ultimate. His ultimate allows you to counter the first spell each opponent cast each turn, with rule of law all your opponents are locked out of casting any spell from anywhere. When you reach this state of the game the only thing you need to win is to clear the opponents' board.
Memory Lapse is the most synergizing counterspell in the deck : when rule of law is on the battlefield, memory lapse skips the opponents turn while locking their next draw step. Rule of law applies on casting a spell and not resolving, which means that memory lapse prevents that player from re-casting the spell.
Unsubstantiate has the same use as memory lapse. It also is useful when your opponents are locked but still have creatures on the board. You can return a creature to an opponent's hand, either to delay an attack or to counter that spell the next turn.
Dovin's Veto a better Counterspell in our colors. We use this for spell that gain too much value on their own to just use Memory Lapse. I typically use this on planeswalker spell which create value right after being casted and also are moe resilient to our removal spells.
Ixalan's Binding the only real interaction to get rid of enchantments and planeswalker along with flood of tears. Use it wisely, unless you want to use it against Ruin Crab or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Mazemind Tome/Birth of meletis/Omen of the Sea these three have the same use. They are nice 2-drops that can be played on turn 2 and bring value later when rule of law is on the battlefield and we have extra mana. They also combo nicely with yorion if you have time to play it. These three are also permanents which is useful in some matchup (i.e Doom Foretold), they help cast Flood of Tears
Flood of Tears has two use cases: either it is a board wipe for anything other that creatures or it is a way to end the game when your opponents are locked. You can return all permanents to your opponents' hands and prevent them from casting their cards again.In any case you want to play flood of tears with 4+ permanents on the battlefield to put back Rule of Law/Archon of Emeria for free.
Day of Judgment is a board wipe for aggro decks on T4 and any creature-based deck on later turns.
Shark Typhoon/Dream Trawler are self explanatory: we use this to close out the game if your opponents haven't conceded already after seeing the lock. Dream trawler allows us to draw more and discard cards we don't want while gaining life. Shark typhoon can be cycled as an instant to kill/block an opponent's creature
Elite Guardmage synergizes well with yorion. All around it is a nice blocker that gains life and draw. Use this to create card advantage the turn after wiping the board.
Teferi, Master of Time same as jace, teferi creates much value with just one cast, it is useful to draw and can phase out creatures to prevent damage to our other planeswalkers. Because the threat of the -10 is seen as much higher than the jace ultimate, it is also a nice scapegoat so jace can live. Taking two extra turns can put jace from +6 to ult directly and end the game.
Narset, Parter of Veils Prevents card draw and can dig through the deck to find the combo pieces or a board wipe, it is going to be a prime target when facing mill/rogues decks and can pave the way for jace of teferi.
Yorion, Sky Nomad we use yorion as an always available 4/5 flier. because we always have extra mana from casting only one spell a turn, you can put yorion into you hand without loss of tempo. Can be used in synergy with the other cards in this list. You can blink any planeswalker to bring it back to strating loyalty and use it's ability again in the same tun. You can blink rule of law to cast other spells after yorion.
Additional info
Matchups:
Aggro : if you survive after T4 you're good. Don't forget that Elite Guardmage is very potent. Fetch a boardwipe asap. Against red aggro you always want to keep a Dovin's Veto for Embercleave. Against elves don't be greedy on the boardwipe, destroying even 4 elves on T4 is a serious hit on their tempo.
Ramp : try to build a board and value in the earlier turn , no need to keep a counterspells before they have 6+ mana to spend. You can chose to Dovin's Veto Ugin, the Spirit Dragon or let it resolve to cast Ixalan's Binding. Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider has haste and is very scary.I have seen Koma, Cosmos Serpent as a ramp payoff, don't forget that unsubstanciate is not a counterspell !Emergent Ultimatum doesn't work with rule of law on the battlefield
Control : nerve racking matchup, because you can cast only once per turn you can't react to their counterspells. Try to put as much planeswalker as you can on the battlefield then stall with counterspells in your hand while your planeswalkers gain value.
Angels : the worst matchup i have found so far, it is explosive even before T4. If you don't have a boardwipe you're dead so use it wisely. In the version of the deck i play right now i replace Memory Lapse by Essence Scatter because i don't have the rare wildcards, essence scatter might be better in this matchup.
Rogues/mill : They're crippeled by Narset and rule of law. They usually don't run much interaction against enchantments. Despark, Drown in the Loch and Tyrant's Scorn miss narset and rule of law. You can play archon of emeria to bait their removal spells. Because we run 80 cards we are more resilient despite being a slower deck.
Tibalt's Trickery : doesn't work with rule of law just like emergent ultimatum
Considering the meta is full of creatures only deck, I recommend putting Essence Scatter in the deck if you want to play it on the ladder.
Rule of law doesn't shut down Collected Company, you can run Test of Talents instead of dovin's veto against it
Creature (7) | |||
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Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (37) | |||
$0.76 | |||
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$32.558.51 | |||
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$0.49€0.220.03 | |||
$3.06€1.860.04 | |||
$0.98€0.600.02 | |||
$0.23€0.130.03 | |||
3
Cast Out
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Land (26) | |||
$0.35€0.200.02 | |||
$5.072.01 | |||
7
Plains
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$0.160.03 | ||
7
Island
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$0.150.03 | ||
$8.25€9.460.17 | |||
$0.54€0.600.02 | |||
Planeswalker (7) | |||
$0.85€0.740.04 | |||
$0.58€0.750.02 | |||
$0.28€0.130.02 |
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