Much of the hype going into the Invis revolved around Darkness/Water/Fire Control decks. Although D/W/F Control decks have claimed many top four spots, the Circuit also has marked the appearance of some truly surprising rogue builds and confirmed the resiliency of some largely dismissed builds like Mono-Water. Cookie cutter decks aren’t the only decks winning—thanks goodness. Oh, and did I mention that Light has appeared in several 1^st place decks? And, that it was more that just Holy Awe splash? Yeah, let that marinate a bit…Craze Valkyrie has catapulted Light decks into the limelight, giving them a finisher that has high utility and a well-supported base creature pool. Alcadeais may be able to cripple many decks, but Crazy Val’s just more accessible. But, are Craze Valkyrie and Big Al the only Light creatures worth building a Control deck around? I’d daresay say no:
 

Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian
Light Civilization
Creature
5 mana
4000 power
When you put this creature into the battle zone, you may return a spell from your graveyard to your hand. 

Phal’s all about card advantage through recursion. Provided you have a spell in your graveyard when you summon it, Phal is going to replace itself in your hand with a spell option and provide field presence. Phal’s spell recursion is non-random—you can choose whatever spell you need from your graveyard, and therefore are afforded the chance to pre-plan some plays with the spell you grab. Phal also helps minimize the need to rely on drawing another copy of a spell from your deck in order to use it again. Tutor cards like Logic Cube allow for spell singles in a deck, and Phal Eega extends that benefit giving you a way to use that singleton spell again. In other words, you can afford to lose some draw consistency in order to gain some versatility if you run tutors, recursion, or both. In addition to those benefits, Phal Eega holds its own against two of the deadliest cards in the game: it’s Searing-Wave proof and Corile unfriendly. Also, Phal has combo potential with spells like Shock Hurricane and Darkness Reversal, and is essential to decks centered on abusing Future Slash.  

With Phal’s goodness in mind, I’d like analyze the “Phal Control” deck that I created and used to win 2 major events and several local tourneys. It incorporates Phal Eega in a strategy that doesn’t rest its win condition on spells like Future Slash or Diamond Cutter. I’ll start with the version that claimed a 1^st place Invitational Circuit finish: 

Phal Control

Version 1.0

1^st Place Invitational Circuit-IL

Created & played by: cecillbill

3x Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian
2x Magris, Vizier of Magnetism
4x Sarius, Vizier of Suppression
4x Senatine Jade Tree
3x Holy Awe
2x Pyrofighter Magnus
2x Twin-Cannon Skyterror
1x Magmarex
2x Searing Wave
2x Burst Shot
2x Apocalypse Vise
2x Crimson Hammer
2x Lost Soul
4x Terror Pit
2x Hopeless Vortex
3x Locomotiver
3x Corile
3x Aqua Hulcus
1x Energy Stream
2x Brain Serum
1x Thrash Crawler

Total: 50 cards

Evolution of the Deck: The Recycling Process

Phal Control was inspired by the JP meta’s 4cc Hell Slash decks that ran as little as 8 creatures, but I removed the deck out focus to run utility creatures and a creature-focused win condition. Like any Control deck, Phal Control seeks to win thru card advantage and is a methodical deck. However, Phal Control also reaps card advantage through recursion. Spells comprise almost half the deck (22/50) to take advantage of Phal’s effect. I chose versatility (1,2, 3ofs) over consistency (maxing out cards) because I prefer a flexible deck where I can produce similar answers and threats with a varying mana supply. My weird card counts, like 3x Hulcus, 3x Corile, 3x Locomotiver, are carried over from my 1^st place deck out and 1^st place 4cc with Nature decks. 

During duels at the Invi it became painfully clear that with all the doubles and singles in the deck it needed tutoring. I made this deck at the event, so I rushed its construction and didn’t test (I banked the deck working on having played something like it with deck out and winning with it). Ryoma posted an article on Realms about how Forbos is vastly underrated, and used my deck to illustrate the creature’s effectiveness. I actually wrote an article on www.duelmasters.com about how Forbos enhances spell heavy decks before I made this build, so I feel very silly not having it (or any tutoring) in the first version. I was impressed by Ryoma’s breakdown, so I added Forbos to Phal Control. Forbos’s brings so much more consistency to this deck that it’s not even funny. I went on to win a local tourney with Forbos in the build before the Thundercharge event.  

I also was impressed by Fult’s rendition of this type of 4cc (he posted it on Realms) that ran Bazagazeal Dragon and Emeral (no Merfolk). I ran a version of Phal Control with Emeral, Merfolk, Baza, and Dark Reversal, and it won a tournament. With Emeral and Reversal in the deck, it covered manipulation on nearly all fronts: graveyard recursion for spells and creatures, mana zone draw, shield setting, card drawing, and tutoring. After more testing I decided that I really wanted to develop this deck without Merfolk to do something different, but Emeral and Reversal might come back into the build. However, I kept Fult’s Bazagazeal tech. I also decided it was about time to tech in Craze Valkyrie for some fun and to push Light’s control role in the deck even further. Here’s the most recent version of the deck version: 

Phal Control

Version 4.0

Update of my 1^st Place 5 Civ feat. Thundercharge deck

Created & played by: cecillbill 

2x Craze Valkyrie, the Drastic
3x Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian
3x Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q
3x Magris, Vizier of Magnetism
3x Senatine Jade Tree
3x Sarius, Vizier of Suppression
2x Holy Awe
1x Thrash Crawler
3x Aqua Hulcus
3x Corile
2x Crystal Memory
3x Energy Stream
1x Bazagazeal Dragon
2x Twin-Cannon Skyterror
2x Searing Wave
2x Apocalypse Vise
2x Burst Shot
3x Crimson Hammer
2x Hopeless Vortex
3x Locomotiver
2x Lost Soul
4x Terror Pit

54 cards

This version has about a 5 card difference from the version I used to win the Thundercharge 5 civ event. My Thundercharge 5 Civ 1^st place deck ran every card you see in this version except Crimson Hammer (I ran Phantom Dragon’s Flame instead) and one other metagamed card choice not in the deck above. The deck flows better despite the jump in the card total. Phal Control now tutors for the right spell answers and threats, and draws cheaply with Stream. I may put Pyrofighter back into the build, but don’t find the deck suffering without it. This version’s major weaknesses are what tend to plague many Control decks: it’s slow, it can have bad opening hands, it needs all the civs out to operate properly, hand discard hurts it, etc. Also, it focuses so much on removal and spell use that it doesn’t apply the type of swarm pressure other Control decks can. Let’s breakdown the role of the cards Phal Control 4.0 runs: 

The Spells

I’ll delineate why each spell was chosen and rate how important it was to tutor for them and recycle them: 

Holy Awe

Offensively it allows me to bypass blockers. Defensively it saves me from swarms, buys some time if triggered early by Rush decks, and allows me to clear away opposing creatures. Recycle rating: D—my kill could handle what Awe tap or help me fly over. Tutor Rating: D. Same reason, but if I need to fly over blockers and can’t get to Vise then I’ll grab it. 

Searing Wave/Burst Shot/Apocalypse Vise
Reset buttons allow you to stabilize the board. Searing Wave is the 1^st hard-cast line swarm stopper. Burst Shot offers chance to halt early weenie swarms off the trigger & mana advantage. Vise won’t always hit all creatures out, but it can target whatever you need to go—fat, weenies or both. Recycle ratings: Shot C-B—depends on how many 2000 and below guys I have out. Searing Wave C—when have shields, A—when without shields. Vise A+—hit the fattie or swarm if opponent is able to rebuild field. Tutor Ratings: Wave: C-B depending on matchup, defense I had out, and number of shields I had, Vise: A+, Shot: C-B depending on matchup and number of 2000 or below guys I had out. 

Crimson Hammer

It’s cheap, hits combobait and evobait. Can offer up mana advantage hitting something more costly like Corile. Recycle rating: D. Phal can recycle it when played 5^th turn. It’s a one-for-one with a narrow power target range so it’s not much for recycling. Tutor Rating: F. I haven’t tutored for this spell once.

Terror Pit/Hopeless Vortex

Kill something—no stipulations and no drawbacks outside of those pseudo-indestructible guys. Recycle Ratings: Pit—A-, Vortex A due to being cheaper. Great when there’s one thing you must get off the board again and don’t have Vise on hand to hit more than one thing. Tutoring Rating: B, Vise is the number one kill spell to tutor for unless opponent only has one major threat out and you don’t have out enough mana for Vise. 

Lost Soul
Shutting down your opponent's whole hand cuts off his ability to make plays, forces him to topdeck answers and threats, and cuts into his ability to progress his mana. Great answer to Bazagazeal/Pyrofighter being in opponent’s hand late game. Recycle Rating: A+—versus Control, B+—versus Aggro-Control, D versus just about everything else since most builds without draw tend to topdeck. Tutor: A+ versus Control, B+ versus Aggro, D versus everything else.

Energy Stream

At 54 cards large, I want to thin this deck relatively quick to get the proper colors of mana out, get my answers in hand quickly, and to counter discard. This is also spells Phal can recycle as a 5^th turn drop. Recycle Ratings: A. I am more inclined to recycle draw after being hit by discard or after I have some defense out. Tutoring Rating: C, if I need to comb the deck more and don’t have to immediately kill something, then I’ll tutor for draw.

 Crystal Memory

Nabs anything from the deck and I don’t have to show my opponent—with the deck being so variegated he may have a hard time guessing what I’ll grab. I run singles of creatures like Bazagazeal, so it offers a way to grab them out of the deck. It has the same kind of benefits as Forbos, minus field presence, and is another spell that could be in the graveyard when Phal drops 4^th turn. Recycle rating: A+. Tutor Rating: C, I only grab it if I what I need is a creature and if the tutor card used is Forbos. Otherwise, I tutor for the kill or discard spell I need.  

As you can see, the spells that get recycled for the most stand to generate massive card advantage over my opponent (Vise and Soul), or thin my deck to get more answers and threats (Stream), or the exact card I need (Memory). I mostly tutor for Vise and Soul (or a finisher).

 The Creatures

While Phal Eega and the deck’s 22 spells are the focus of the deck, they weren’t the only components that make the deck tick.  

Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q

Forbos helps stock the graveyard more consistently with what I need to recycle—I have many 2ofs. I gain more field presence, and Forbos is Wave and Corile unfriendly. Also, Forbos’ shuffle effect could jiggle some good cards to the top of my deck, and it’s search effect lets me see what options I have in my shield zone. It’s oodles of fun when one Forbos is out and I play another.

Craze Valkyrie, the Drastic

Ties into removal, provides offense-push by giving way to fly over blockers, 7500 can kill a lot, and is a double breaker win condition. It needs support to be effective, so I do not depend on Valkyrie for the wins.

Magris, Vizier of Magnetism/Aqua Hulcus

Thinning the deck helps get each of the colors of mana in hand quicker, and helps keep answers and threats in hand. Both of these guys replace themselves and are Corile unfriendly. Magris has the wonderful benefit of being Hammer-proof. I chose not to run Merfolk because I didn’t want to depend on combo draw.

 Sarius, Vizier of Suppression/Senatine Jade Tree

Blockers = defense. Light blockers = can hit tapped threats and work with Awe’s tappage. Sarius = early Rush deterrence. Senatide = Pyrofighter killer & lives. With some blockers out I can create a “cushion” to safely make card draw plays and recur spells.

Twin-Cannon Skyterror/ Bazagazeal Dragon

After spending so many resources and so much time trying to control my opponent I need win conditions that don’t need support to seal the game. Twin-Cannon does what normally takes 2 creatures to do, and it does it immediately = great card economy. Baza can slam as soon as it hits, and it can hit untapped guys granting you card advantage. Great when opponent is topdecking.

 Locomotiver

Part of that whole card advantage thing. Body plus card removed from opponent's hand at 4 mana. Nice. Trigger so sometimes it gives you mana advantage too. Great. Corile unfriendly to boot. Wonderful!

Corile

Control decks lose tempo by virtue of the fact that it's mostly more expensive to cast cards to remove a creature than it is to play one. You gain great tempo, card advantage, and the benefit of knowing what threat is coming to your opponent’s hand next.

Thrash Crawler

Turns mana advantage into hand advantage, and has the benefit of being a blocker so it compensates for the mana you lose by being able to prevent loss of another resource. It’s also another Pyrofighter killer. 

 Some Matchups – How The Deck Ticked

With the card selection covered extensively, let’s dive into how I approached 2 of the matchups Phal Control has faced. That way you’ll get more of a basic idea on the deck runs:

 Darkness/Water/Fire Control

You are facing a deck that can do the same things as you can, but it can do some of them better than you can (i.e. hand discard with Touch, Mutant, Horrid Worm). In this matchup, you cannot expect to build a swarm field due to Wave and Vise, so you should use careful pecking whenever possible and kill your opponent’s attempts at swarms with your sweepers. Corile is your enemy due to your blockers as obvious targets, and your friend so use it wisely. Kill, discard, and repeat. Slam the hand with Soul, as these tend to pack Merfolk. I won’t lie: this is painful matchup where you cannot afford to make mistakes. The win ratio isn’t exactly in your favor if the deck is running heavy hand discard and loads of creatures with CIP kill effects, so play a good game. Soul, Corile, draw and Vise/Wave are very important in this matchup. Recycle Vise, Soul, Pit/Vortex, Stream. Tutor for Vise, Soul, other sweepers and draw.

 Water/Fire/Nature/Darkness Control

This 4cc can generate tempo gains over you through mana acceleration in addition to other control measures. It can do some of the same things as you, but the big threat here is this 4cc could get out Soul/Vise/Wave much sooner than you. Do not let the deck build up a swarm with Cryptic looming about, and take advantage of any mana that’s given to you by Snare. Another worry is the build’s access to tutoring (Terahorn and Memory), so try to time discard like Soul to their searches where you can. Slam the hand with Soul, as these tend to pack Merfolk. Some good things here is the deck tends to run many weak creatures, so you can get more mileage out of Wave/Vise, and it can run into mana issues due to being 4 civs (though it can correct them quicker with acceleration). Soul, Corile, draw and Vise/Wave are very important in this matchup. Recycle Vise, Soul, Pit/Vortex, Stream. Tutor for Vise, Soul, other sweepers and draw.

Phal Control has a great deal of potential, and can be customized to address the threats in your meta. I have tested the build with 1x Bolemeteus Steel Dragon, 3x Phantom’s Dragon Flame, 3x Emeral, 3x Illusionary Merfolk, 2x Darkness Reversal, 2x Death Smoke, 1x Riptide Charger, 2x and 2x Garatyano. I’ll give heads up and tell you that the deck has some difficult matchups with Control decks that can do more hand discarding, more card drawing in creature form, and that run more creature presence. My most difficult matchups with this deck so far have been D/W/F, 4cc with Nature, and a few swarmers, and there are some builds I haven’t tested it against yet. Give Phal Control a try and add your own special touches to it! 

What’s Up Next?

Each week I’ll spotlight 1-2 top 4 Invi/5 Civ decks from the US, German, AUS, or UK metagames. I’m focusing on multi-civ Control decks for the next few weeks, so I hope you like Control decks, lol. If you'd like to share your top 4 Invitational or 5 Civ deck with the Duel Masters community, then hit me up with an email at: kaiserpso@hotmail.com. Please be sure to include your first name or forum nickname, the cards in your deck and the quantities, where you played, and your placing when you send your email.