Mono White Control RCQ Win Tournament Report

 Hey, Magic spikes!

 Suppose you're spectating standard from the outside looking in. In that case, you've probably heard through social media or other Magic players in your area about how Izzet Vivi Cauldron has been terrorizing the format. To an extent, there's a lot of truth to that. Vivi decks giving 39% meta representation as of this writing (Cauldron & prowess combined) these past couple of weeks have had players looking for the checks and balances necessary to combat the explosive turns that an unchecked Agatha's Soul Cauldron offers. We, as a community, can speculate that an emergency ban is warranted. However, I'm less convinced of the idea, as we're just starting the first of two standard seasons with WOTC committing efforts to limiting standard bans to around once a year, and this new Vivi Cauldron deck has been more prone to a wider range of answers format-wide and still a little less consistent compared to the uniquely homogenizing madness we saw yester-format in Cori-Steel Cutter, among other banned red cards (as crazy as that may sound). On the assumption that Vivi Cauldron is here to stay, we'll need to accept that it's likely going to be the strongest deck in the format for some time and plan accordingly.

 In my opinion, Vivi Cauldron has the far-and-away highest ceiling in standard, but it also needs some setup to get there, and can retract to its floor rather than its high ceiling quickly without a timely developed Agatha's Soul Cauldron or Winternight Stories. Pivoting into straight-up beatdown combat with Fear of Missing Out and Proft's Eidetic Memory will always be on the table, but beatable. That said, Dimir Midrange and Mono Red continue to be great choices in having their core 60-card maindeck relatively unchanged to Vivimania. Azorius Control has also solidified a stronger place in the format with efficient counterspells and great top-end cards like Marang River Regent and Overlord of the Mistmoors to shred any prolonged advantages Dimir Midrange and Vivi Cauldron will attempt. My deck choice this season will similarly attack the top tables, with some differences from Azorius that play into my strengths and offer nice percentage points against mostly everything.

THE DECK

 With Azorius Control being the clear favorite in decks that prefer nose-to-the-grindstone Magic, Mono White currently has less than a percent representation according to MTGTop8. Like Azorius, we're afforded the luxury of playing four Seam Rip (excellent in light of Lay Down Arms rotating out) and four Get Lost to disrupt Vivi Cauldron and Dimir Midrange right off the bat. Elspeth, Storm Slayer and Overlord of the Mistmoors are excellent win-cons on their own that can congest the board immediately in a way that you don't need to fear tapping out for them. And when all else is in doubt and we need to equalize, we've got boardwipes in Day of Judgment and Ultima. So what makes Mono White the move for me this season if we don't get to play Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, or counterspells?

 For starters, this deck compensates by offering a greater wealth of creature win-cons, complemented by the card draw engines we get instead of the ones named above. Enduring Innocence and Caretaker's Talent maximize the potential of the playset of Fountainport, Voice of Victory, and Carrot Cake. This deck shines greatest when you lead off with a turn 2 Voice of Victory, force the opponent to interact with it on their own turn, then cast Enduring Innocence or Caretaker's Talent on turn 3 to immediately start drawing cards if Voice sticks. This core setup of the deck is an absolute nightmare for our opponents in the control pseudo-mirror. Even if you draw into a hefty amount of lands, you'll almost always have something to do with all of the card draw and mana sinks this deck offers.

 Secondly, the ability to be proactive while geared to openly welcome a drawn-out endgame is attractive to me in a world where I can match Dimir and Vivi Cauldron's board state relatively quickly without deviating from what the deck already does. Planting down an early Voice of Victory or Carrot Cake to buy time for turns 4 and beyond will almost always be fine if you don't want to hold up mana for an early Get Lost or counterspell in Azorius (and Sultai, with other removal).

 Finally, Mono White offers a haven of simplicity in not splashing a second color. It feels nice to have fourteen Plains in the deck to quietly reduce worries into just hoping we don't get mana screwed and knowing we'll never be off a color. Not for nothing, the eleven lifegain cards in the mainboard make life less stressful early too. Although I'm aware that others have tried light splashes of red or black to this core, I'm not yet interested in them enough to sacrifice the high consistency of more unconditional untapped lands and mono-colored stops.

 After about 250 matches on Mono White and consistently hovering the top 100 area of Mythic rankings on Arena, I've concluded that Mono White has game against everything with careful play if not being outright favorable (yes, the favorable sometimes including Vivi Cauldron post-board), with only stinkers among the somewhat common decks in Temur Battlecrier and Green Landfall. To ensure that I'm best prepared to match the results in paper before the RCQ season, I made a few changes to the stock list I started with.

 One noticeable difference compared to Mono White lists of the recent past is that I'm playing one mainboard Exorcise, which used to be an Elspeth's Smite to respect Dimir and not nosedive into a turn 3 Kaito loss. I find myself siding Exorcise into nearly everything already and would like another answer to Agatha's Soul Cauldron or another unknown big threat in game 1. It's an extension of the playset of Get Lost that can hit artifacts. I also tried Ishgard, the Holy See, and didn't like it coming into play tapped. However, it led me to the one-of Secluded Starforge, functionally a fifth Fountainport. Being colorless isn't a detriment in a mono-colored deck, and coming in untapped feels like a free spot for another mana sink in exchange for what would've been a fifteenth Plains. If you're lucky enough to have two copies of Sunken Citadel, you'll only need to tap three lands for the 2/2 robot. Very doable. In the sideboard, I'm supposed to have two Pinnacle Starcage instead of one, but received only one of two in a shipping error when buying the deck. I'm trying Astelli Reclaimer as a value win against the control mirror to retrieve a Carrot Cake, Caretaker's Talent, or even an Elspeth, Storm Slayer back from the graveyard twice after we trade multiple removal spells. My other mirror-breaker in Ugin, Eye of the Storms has felt incredible for its guaranteed removal (its exiling is a cast trigger, right through counterspells) and demands a Get Lost (like Elspeth), otherwise it will rarely die in combat with so many loyalty counters and snowball quickly.

 In the weeks following this tournament, I've made some changes to the deck and some of my sideboarding philosophy after receiving some excellent feedback from players in paper events. Be sure to read to the end of this article for an updated list and sideboard guide.

PROLOGUE

 It's only week 2 of the RCQ season as I'm heading to Finch and Sparrow Games just east of Long Beach, the same store where I took my first invite on Azorius Oculus last standard season. Breakfast was sadly skipped this time, as the diner I had in mind nearby before the event was packed to the brim, but I had enough water with me and a decent amount of sleep from the night before. Going 7-1-3 in swiss through my first two RCQs on the deck so far, I'm playing fast and feeling confident. Additionally, I'm joined by Logic Knot teammates Kazi Baker, Adam Fischer, and Dana Fischer. This event is a two-slotter with five rounds. As usual, I'll be sharing my experiences and sideboarding philosophies throughout the day.

 Onto the tournament!

ROUND 1 - LOSS 0-2 VS Green Landfall (0-1)

 NOT the start I wanted. I get what I discover to be my most difficult matchup in the common field against my teammate Adam Fischer, fresh off winning the Gen Con Championship in Indianapolis. Not gonna lie. I got crushed.

 I'm on the draw and am met with a turn 1 Llanowar Elves, followed by Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, and Mossborn Hydra to quickly put me from 20 down to 2 without any Seam Rips or Get Losts. I'm also a step too late for Day of Judgment being on the draw. Unwinnable without stops.

+3 Exorcise
+3 Elspeth's Smite
-3 Carrot Cake
-2 Caretaker's Talent
-1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

 Our opponents will always have strictly suboptimal cards against us in game 1. Adjusting to the list I'm playing against, I trim a number of Caretaker's Talents postboard against mostly everything except the control mirrors. Talent doesn't immediately impact the board in the way that Enduring Innocence does, and we can trade its longevity for better cards depending on the matchups. Generally, the more aggressive stops I need, the less I care for Talent. The power of Carrot Cake will fluctuate with it. In this matchup, Adam has many tramplers, so Carrot Cake is good mostly just for an occasional card draw and scrying for other things. Green Landfall has a tricky strat in bringing in an Island from the sideboard to play Dragonback Assault and Repulsive Mutation. I know Adam plays this, making game 2 inherently harder.

 On the play, I land a Get Lost at a Bristly Bill, Spine Sower, and even develop with an Enduring Innocence and Caretaker's Talent. However, Adam sticks the Dragonback Assault, and even with an Exorcise, I find myself missing land drops and not finding anything to trigger Innocence or Talent. Adam counters a Day of Judgment, then casts another Assault teamed with a Mossborn Hydra. Too much for me to deal with on a poor follow-up.

 We play three more friendly games, sometimes with me voluntarily being on the draw to see what improvements I can make. It's still rough, and I lost all three. In conclusion, though, I decided that I needed to sideboard more aggressively into this matchup and get extra removal and continuity in congesting Landfall's board. Elspeth, Storm Slayer does both despite being five mana. Pinnacle Starcage also sweeps the two drops in Bristly Bill, Spine Sower and Tifa Lockhart. In future matches, I would add the third Elspeth in with Starcage, trimming two Voice of Victory. We're never really attacking much here.

 Round 1 has gone terribly, so you know what that means, chat. The tournament is essentially over. I'm selling my entire collection. The ozone layer is #cancelled. Bitcoin is going to zero. Life sucks, and I hate everything.

ROUND 2 - WIN 2-0 VS Mardu Control (1-1)

 Competitive Magic: The Gathering™ is a vicious cycle between "It's so over" and "We're so back".

 My opponent is on an interesting Orzhov Control list splashing red for Lightning Helix and Inevitable Defeat. In a mundane game 1, the opponent showed me an Elspeth, Storm Slayer that I quickly met with a Get Lost, but couldn't show me much else aside from creature lands. Even in the face of multiple Deadly Cover-Ups exiling my Overlord of the Mistmoors and Caretaker's Talent, Fountainport shines as an x-factor in the pseudo-mirror. My opponent eventually runs out of cards in the face of my multiple draws a turn, and I am able to win with a handful of rabbits and fish through the attrition.

+3 Exorcise
+1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
+1 Astelli Reclaimer
+1 Ugin, Eye of the Storms
-4 Seam Rip
-2 Carrot Cake

 Both of us will take out our bad removal post-board. Ours is Seam Rip. Depending on what your opponent shows you, sometimes Beza, the Bounding Spring will be less exciting, but decided this time I'll back off on trying to maximize Carrot Cake on the assumption my opponent's exile removal will snipe my card draw engine in Caretaker's Talent and Enduring Innocence.

 This time, I'm able to jam a turn 2 Voice of Victory, turn 3 Enduring Innocence, turn 4 Overlord of the Mistmoors impended. Voice is met with a Lightning Helix. The 2/1 insects and Innocence are met with Deadly Cover-Up without exiling. I'm able to find a Fountainport early, and with Mistmoors promoting into a creature soon, the aggressive initiative has my opponent permanently on the back foot in trying to respond to everything. Even a Ketramose, the New Dawn (a mirror-breaker with proper setup) is met with an Exorcise. We proceed to still bowl over the opponent.

ROUND 3 - WIN 2-0 VS Vivi Cauldron (2-1)

 We've got the big bad in round 3. I'm on the play and have a great start in turn 2 Voice of Victory and turn 3 Caretaker's Talent. On the flip side, my opponent gets a turn 2 Proft's Eidetic Memory, but lags behind in missing the third land drop until eventually dropping a Tersa Lightshatter. Carrot Cake gives me two 3/3's after sending the Talent to level 3 to put the pressure on the opponent for the slow start. Not part of the gameplay for game 1, but we take those.

 Variance aside, the game plan is to prioritize the Seam Rips for Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Fear of Missing Out. FOMO is what enables the explosive combats, and Cauldron obviously unlocks absurd Vivi mana turns or making 4/4 dragons off of Draconautics Engineer. Don't fire Seam Rip at the first Marauding Mako or Proft's Eidetic Memory that you see early. Board wipes and Elspeth, Storm Slayer are great equalizers for this matchup when the deck can try to overwhelm us quickly with four copies of Winternight Stories. The deck is still absurd, so be ready for a prolonged game.

+3 Exorcise
+3 Rest in Peace
+1 Pinnacle Starcage
-4 Caretaker's Talent
-2 Carrot Cake
-1 Beza, the Bounding Spring

 Playing against Vivi more since this match, I've later concluded that although it's hard to safely get Caretaker's Talent online in this matchup, Voice of Victory is much less effective and gets caught under Pinnacle Starcage. Beza is one of many four-drops, but still plays decently when we're behind, so I would now keep it and some Talents and bank on the removal to give us the time to ease into our plan.

 However, the improvements that could have been made in sideboarding don't come to light this time, as I stick a turn 2 Rest in Peace to stop all Cauldron lines, delirium shenanigans, and flashbacked Winternight Stories. Now the opponent needs to get there the old-fashioned way with a Fear of Missing Out and Steamcore Scholar backed by Proft's Eidetic Memory triggers. Get Lost and Seam Rip are available for me early, followed by a Beza, the Bounding Spring to clog the board and gain some life. My opponent trades a lot of cards with me with Abrade and Fire Magic. They can draw Winternight Stories or Quantum Riddler to quickly claw back in, but I'm able to find my good topdeck first in a hardcasted Overlord of the Mistmoors to eventually get in.

ROUND 4 - ID VS Sultai Control (2-1-1)

 Yes, I took a round 4 intentional draw. I'm paired with Logic Knot teammate Kazi Baker. He's convinced that we're not going to finish the match and wants to draw. I was also about to approach him for the draw through teammate etiquette, basically meaning we both still have a win-and-in match for top 8 and we don't have to dreamcrush each other. Regardless, we quickly draw and go get food to prepare for round 5. Don't try this without doing tournament math first. You can still bubble out of top 8 at X-1-1 if there are too many players alive by then. After post-tournament analysis, Kazi believes Sultai Control struggles mightily against Mono White via Fountainport and Sultai having poor interaction in game 1. I'd still rather be a good teammate and help keep Kazi alive. I don't mind the draw bracket either. I go to Carl's Jr for a Double Famous Star to make up for not getting food before the event, much to my boy Kazi's flaberghasted shock and awe. 🙃 Me and the boys are going straight goblin mode for the win-and-in fast food.

ROUND 5 - WIN 2-0 VS Azorius Control (3-1-1)

 Being in the draw bracket gave me heightened chances to play my best matchups! Voice of Victory obviously shuts down countermagic on my turn and creates insane potential tempo loss for the opponent in needing to pay for spells at sorcery speed. Fountainport continues to be amazing in light of having so much build-around in this deck. Even when we don't have them, we'll never truly have "do nothing" turns. A sizable advantage in this matchup. One Enduring Innocence or Caretaker's Talent sticking will create a large, long-term liability for the opponent. An important consideration for this matchup is Get Lost. Assuming we both have four, we need to count how many each of us has used, as it's the best removal we're offered. We're still advantageous despite not having counterspells, as we have more must-answer targets in the eight draw enchantments, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Overlord of the Mistmoors. The opponent's must-answers are just Mistmoors and Elspeth. Get Lost is the only answer to Elspeth if we're behind on board, so it's kill on sight. That aside, among all control decks in standard, we are the fastest turtle in the race, and Azorius doesn't appreciate that proactivity very much.

 In game 1 on the play, I don't have a Fountainport for a while, but Voice of Victory does a great job holding down the city for a while as we trade Seam Rips back and forth to get it in and out of the field. After throwing a few answer-it-or-suffer haymakers while hitting land drops, we trade more cards until I stick an Enduring Innocence. I eventually find the Fountainport and a Secluded Starforge. Now we're gaming. His counterplay in Overlord of the Mistmoors doesn't last long as I continue to draw cards and present answers with my own board wipes camping in my hand for a while until my advantage snowballs with many fish and robot tokens after about twenty minutes of play.

+3 Exorcise
+1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
+1 Astelli Reclaimer
+1 Ugin, Eye of the Storms
-4 Seam Rip
-2 Carrot Cake

 Game 2 doesn't take as long for us to finish. Fountainport is in my opening hand paired with two Caretaker's Talents. Voice of Victory doesn't come up, but I'm slowly able to add to my card advantage after one Talent sticks. After a few more trading turns, and I impend two Mistmoors, my opponent blows up my field and tries to turn my pace down by hardcasting Marang River Regent to bounce some of my board. In tapping out, though, I hit my seventh land drop and windmill slam Ugin, Eye of the Storms to immediately exile the 6/7 flier and gain more card advantage. With an Overlord coming alive soon and an Espeth, Storm Slayer also to follow, my opponent is overwhelmed by the continuity even after finding a Get Lost for Ugin.

 Kazi sadly draws his win-and-in against another Azorius Control player, knocking him out of Top 8 contention. Teammate Dana Fischer wins hers, and I'm feeling confident after seeing a lot of manageable matchups at the top tables throughout the day.

TOP 8

 I'm the 5th seed going into top 8 and Dana is on the opposite side of the bracket from me at 6th. We say no to splitting prizing. Onto playoff Magic!

QUARTERFINALS - WIN 2-1 VS Esper Pixie

 Another favorable one. The main payoff cards that Nurturing Pixie, Sunpearl Kirin, and Fear of Isolation maximize play very poorly into us in game 1. Trying to one-for-one a field of disposable tokens in a Fountainport deck with Momentum Breaker, Nowhere to Run, and Tragic Trajectory can't feel good. This deck still plays Kaito, Bane of Nightmares with a package of small creatures, so we need to respect that these suboptimal options can still protect the planeswalker if we're not careful.

 My opponent mulligans to six, and although I'm off to a bit of a weird start, mostly waiting to impend Overlord of the Mistmoors and buying time with two Carrot Cakes, the rabbits eat a Long Goodbye and Tragic Trajectory in a clunky start of their own. They try for a Cosmogrand Zenith, probably their best card in this matchup, but I quickly shoot a Get Lost at it. Pixie and Kirin get a Tinybones Joins Up taking my hand down a few cards, but a late Beza, the Bounding Spring and the now online Overlord of the Mistmoors have made it insurmountable quickly, and we take game 1.

+3 Elspeth's Smite
+1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
+1 Pinnacle Starcage
+1 Exorcise
-3 Carrot Cake
-2 Voice of Victory
-1 Caretaker's Talent

 Keeping my mainboard Exorcise and adding another from the sideboard was a mistake. Despite being a deck full of enchantments, there are no good targets. Elspeth, Storm Slayer will quickly overwhelm their board and possibly remove a Cosmogrand Zenith.

 I mulligan to six and don't find my fourth land drop for a while. This time, my opponent is slowly chipping away with a Cecil, Dark Knight and Sunpearl Kirin bouncing a Stormchaser's Talent. Worse yet, they have Cryogen Relic to tap my creatures and counterspell backup in the sideboard with Annul and No More Lies as they press forward in hitting my life total. Enduring Innocence and Fountainport buy me time for a little bit to try and draw lands in casting Day of Judgment or Beza to stabilize Sadly, the counterspells pin me down just before I can stabilize as I draw the fourth land.

+2 Voice of Victory
-2 Exorcise

 Now that the necessary changes have been made post-board and I've seen that a counterspell package is on its way, we're ready for game 3.

 I go to six, while my opponent goes to five. Turn 3 Enduring Innocence is met with an Annul. Turn 4 impended Overlord of the Mistmoors is hit with No More Lies. I don't mind these trades when I'm up a card on the play and my topdecks are much better. My opponent has nothing proactive, so thankfully, Fountainport gives me a lifeline until I can present more threats to the opponent. After some mostly do-nothing turns for both of us (outside of Fountainport), Caretaker's Talent shows up. Good enough. I can clone some fish tokens and eventually send it to level 3 and buff my tokens, all the while drawing more cards. Turns out the opponent had only removal spells left before trying to jam a Stormchaser's Talent and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. An impending Overlord of the Mistmoors resolves, and my opponent scoops it up for the match.

 Top 4 agrees to split prizing evenly. My opponent in the semifinals for one of the two invites is Ryan Slone from Team Collector Legion, the number one seed. Ryan wants to renegotiate prizing. We agree to have $40 and the invite go to the winner, with the rest of the money going to the loser so that they don't feel as bad. I haven't been to my home state of Wisconsin (#GoPackGo) since leaving, so I need to lock in for that RC Milwaukee invite.

SEMIFINALS - WIN 2-1 VS Dimir

 On the draw in game 1, I'm blessed with two Seam Rips to stop the first and second turn threats and not allow an early Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Although I only have a Carrot Cake going for me early aside from this and my opponent gets to stick a Preacher of the Schism followed by an Enduring Curiosity, Elspeth, Storm Slayer successfully blockades the board. As I hardcast an Overlord of the Mistmoors, Dimir's top end isn't enough to keep up as I steal game 1.

+3 Elspeth's Smite
+1 Pinnacle Starcage
-4 Caretaker's Talent

 Like Seam Rip, Elspeth's Smite is crucial in this matchup, especially on the draw. Preventing a potential turn 3 Kaito hitting the field heavily prevents games from being dead lost.

 Game 2 does not go as smoothly. Ryan still sticks the turn 3 Kaito, and although I have a decent curveout myself, it does not include a Get Lost. An impending Overlord is denied on the 2/1 insect triggers with a Tishana's Tidebinder (great card for Dimir), and a Disdainful Stroke on my attempt to blow up the board after he begins presenting more threats with Faebloom Trick and Enduring Curiosity. Too much to overcome with counterspell backup.

+1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
-1 Ultima

 In a last-second audible, I decided that I was more likely to get ahead on board and need Elspeth to help congest and close it out than the odds of falling behind and needing an Ultima being on the play.

 Game 3 is pretty crazy. Details are fuzzy on how we got here, but with me on the play, we get into a situation where we both have a well-developed board where I have some 2/1 insects, an Elspeth, and some rabbits. Ryan has a few Spyglass Sirens, Deep-Cavern Bat, Kaito, Preacher of the Schism, and a Cecil, Dark Knight. It's tight, and I should feel like I'm winning, but I'm only getting lands. Ryan can't safely advance either and has to -0 on Kaito to surveil away poor cards without being able to draw. He's representing Tishana's Tidebinder very hard for a bit, so I go to combat first before activating Elspeth to let him dress down my Mistmoors' abilities and keep going with Elspeth. I sacrifice a Carrot Cake to scry with nothing left in hand, and it's another Elspeth. I took a long time to think about how he could potentially remove my active Elspeth, and decided I could find a better draw and send it to the bottom. Very difficult decision.

 Ryan kills Overlord with Shoot the Sheriff, and I eventually find a great complex line with Pinnacle Starcage exiling all of the small creatures (including a Voice of Victory I drew), then using the -3 ability on Elspeth to blow up Tidebinder to let the board go empty. He then casts his one-of Bitter Triumph to remove Elspeth. I draw more lands, albeit mana to eventually activate Pinnacle Starcage for eight, and my stomach sinks thinking about that other Elspeth I sent to the bottom. I hate to think that my topdecks aren't going to show up, as if I just blew the invite.

 I draw a Voice of Victory again, but decide to activate Pinnacle Starcage first to get the two 2/2 Robots. Possibly from an act of God, I draw the third Elspeth that I added in for game 3 and cast it alongside Voice of Victory. Voice gets blown up. I draw another Overlord of the Mistmoors, abruptly stifled with another Tishana's Tidebinder. He makes one last effort with a Faebloom Trick to get something going, but I'm too far ahead. We win the invite in a mentally taxing war. This one tested my decision-making in a way that makes me glad the tournament is over. With Ryan being another strong grinder in the area, our games are always bangers.

FINALS - WIN 2-0 VS Vivi Cauldron

 Similar story as the last time we were here. My opponent wanted to go home. We do a slight renegotiation to where I get the cool looking lanyard. Free elo and less pressure the rest of the way with one invite in hand already in the pursuit of RC Portland.

CONCLUSION

 I only play one deck per season, unless I'm borrowing another one from a teammate, so I will commit to Mono White for the rest of the season. That said, the great results against decks not named Vivi Cauldron are obviously dwarfed by its relationship with the best deck in the format. With Vivi Cauldron making some recent improvements to the deck to better suit the mirror match, I think my matchup with it accidentally became harder, with Into the Flood Maw surprisingly being strong in pushing me further behind on board and releasing Pinnacle Starcage for an explosive turn. Quantum Riddler is no longer a secret either. Another card I don't want to see. Rest in Peace, Ultima, and Pinnacle Starcage are about as good as it gets against Vivi Cauldron, but it's still a tough one with the decision tree being what it is when having to forecast around the opponent drawing six cards a turn, or even now surprise combats with Wild Ride. If not Mono White, I'd like to try Dimir or Mono Red to still hang with it.

 I've made some adjustments to my list in following RCQs to get better stops against Vivi Cauldron and play more interaction to help deal with playing from behind against anything I see in game 1.

 No changes to the sideboard for now. I may play a 4th Rest in Peace over the 3rd Exorcise if I can get my hands on one. Mainboard, I've replaced one Caretaker's Talent, one Exorcise, and one Beza, the Bounding Spring with two Split Ups and one Pinnacle Starcage. Two boardwipe effects felt like too few these past tournaments, so we're getting more hard stops with five in the mainboard.

 Caretaker's Talent can safely be trimmed by one copy, as we still have seven draw enchantments once we've reset the board. We lose points against Azorius Control, but I'm at peace with it as we're still favored. Shown below is how I would sideboard with this new list.

PERSONAL STATS FOR NERDS

 Give me a shout on Discord at PrezKoumori if you have any questions on the deck or a specific matchup. Special thanks to my Logic Knot teammates for the continued support and giving me a platform to share my resources. Be sure to say hi if you see me in Milwaukee! (Or possibly Portland)

 Good games, everyone.

~ Prez Kuhnke